Training Archive: 'Bent

Adventure Racing race 8:51:00 [3]

Stage 5 of the Coast Raid.
A bit of a delayed start, after a late night.


This stage started with another paddle, this time with a little exposure to some swells. The wind picked up as we entered shelter.
Next was a short bike ride, which included a massive climb up a 17% grade. Pixie and Tiny zipped ahead, while I towed up slowly behind them and arrived at the top just pooched, TA-ing to trek. We had a long, rugged and scenic hike next, but it took me half the section to get my energy back, as Bash powered on.
Next was a bike to a zipline with massive cheering crowds, then a section following some confusing ATV trails in strong cross winds. We had nice clean nav here, as opposed to teams behind us that had some real trouble. Finally near the finish in Blanc Sablon, we had missed the advanced cut-off and had the option of hiking or bike-pushing over a high plateau. We hiked, with winds so strong we could barely move (They closed the section after we went over) and we met one of the top teams on bikes who took a long time to pass us.
Finally into the finish where we were given Canadian and Ontario flags to run to the podium, with cheering crowds, massive bottles of beer, blaring music and announcers- you'd think we'd won the triathlon at Bejing!

A long night of feasting, partying and then bike disassembly (Yes, I was dopey, sleepy and grouchy by then) and a 5AM wake up to make the ferry boat.

EA put on such an amazing event. They have an army of volunteers like no other organization, and are more into the fun factor than the extreme. Tons of safety (We had sat phones, GPS tracking and the Coast Guard out) and they make us all feel like heroes.

C • Ouch! 3

Adventure Racing race 7:50:00 [3]

Stage 3 of the Coast Raid
Started on boats again. We chose a longer, more scenic route over the direct line that involved a 500M portage, and it was one of the best paddle sections with narrow passages and tidal rips on a perfect day. All the teams that did the portage were long gone, and I just boiled in my dry suit. We had a 1km road portage which went quickly, then more paddling. At the end I dumped probably 1/2L of sweat out of the dry suit!

In Middle Bay we changed onto the bikes for a long hilly ride to a second lengthy trek on a flatter island. The soft ground sapped our energy, but the spectacular beach scenery and crashing waves made up for it. Found a whale skull and bones on the beach too. Again, we had moved up ahead of the usual teams even though we took tons of pictures and ate tons of berries.

We returned to Middle Bay, only to find the entire town welcoming us. They were all wearing "Middle Bay Welcomes the Coast Raid" shirts, which they had us sign. They waved flags of each team's nation, decorated their houses, and again fed us with home cooked salmon pie, 3 kinds of chowder and more seafood than even I could eat.
Wow, we felt like Olympians!

Here's our campsite, inside the local church:

Adventure Racing race 2:49:00 [3]

Stage 4 (Night) of the Coast Raid

This was a rogaine style, with CPs possible by bike or on foot.
We started on bikes, and Tiny lead us into the first CP ahead of the elite teams. We were doing quite well, but got in a wrong gully on the trek portion and lost some time. We came in under the 3hr limit, but not by all that much.

Adventure Racing race 10:17:00 [3]
shoes: Brooks CP Green

Stage 2 of the Coast Raid.
Again we started on boats, paddling across to Little Esquimault Island in last place. From there we had a long circular trek with incredible views, on another excellent day. With Bash leading the way with her accurate nav and solid marching pace we moved up several spots in the trek again.

Back on the boats, Tiny and Pixie were moving fine today and Pix enjoyed the paddle a lot more. Some rough landing to punch CPs, then we decided to do a portage. It turned out to be a shallow marshy area where we could just paddle at high tide and we passed the Brazillian team dragging their boat before a short liftover.

On to the bikes for some riding and trekking up a spectacular peak, then a bush bash to another ascent and rappell. From there a ride through an overgrown trail to a big climb on the bikes.
We were loaded with pack rafts, paddles, dry suits and life jackets for the upcoming 700M adventure swim crossing, smug in our ability to dust the swimming teams in the rafts, but when we got there we learned the section was closed due to the tidal current, so we had a small trek instead.

Back on the bikes and into St. Paul, where we again chose not to do the advanced section when we found out that the locals had put on a seafood "Degustation" ie all the crab legs, scallops, mussels, salmon, salt cod cakes etc we could possibly eat after a day's racing.
The town really came out to cheer and feed us. Wow! I guess no KD today.

C • I hope you don't call this a race report? 3

Adventure Racing race 7:36:00 [3]

Stage 1 of the Coast Raid with Bash, Tiny and Pixie.
Our cunning strategy for this race was Adventure Vacation, as Pixie's not done a long race before, and this was the deal for Tiny to come.

We started this day inflating our kayaks, which were a lot better than Tomcats. We'd been warned about 4 degree water and were worried about the rough seas we've seen, but we were in a sheltered area where the water temps are more like 10-12 degrees. Still wore the dry suits.
Paddling turned out to be Pixie's least favourite discipline, and she wasn't enjoying the first bit. Scenery was spectacular though, and these rafts portage better than Tomcats too.

Next up was a trekking/coasteering section. Hiked over terrain that was soft tundra with bits of near-impenetrable Tuckamore and rocky sections down to the coast. Pixie was in her element here, checking out the peat and all the wildlife. Team racing rules state berries must be picked and photos must be taken, and we sure did. From there it was scrambling on rocks, climbing over some sections, wading others and swimming around cliffs. It was cold, but not lethal. Tiny and I were the princesses here.

I did a ladder climb to a rappell, then back to Coasteering. A short paddle across the bay to bikes, then a bike-rogaine section that included riding the edge of lakes up to the hubs in water. We'd moved up a few places from last on the trek and bike. We made it back in time for the advanced cut-off, but again Adventure Vacation Rules meant we passed and set up camp in the school gym. Several team behind us did the advanced section, while we got a 4 hour penalty.

Hiking 4:30:00 [2]
shoes: Brooks CP Green

Nice hike with Bash, Tiny& Pixie up Gros Morne. Great views on the way up but at the top the only thing visible was Team Salomon Suunto.
Saw caribou and a moose on the way down, as it cleared.