How tough and grueling could an Urban Adventure Race be?

 

It's not often the race itself becomes your opponent but it did this day.

 

Taming of the Slough......2 mile Paddle, 7 mile Mountain Bike, 2 mile run.

 

Results are in Bold

 

It didn't sound that tough. I mean really, given the distances how hard could it be.

 

You could enter this race as an individual, a 2 man team or a 3 man team. I raced this as part of a Two Man Team. Niether myself or my team mate were quite prepared for what was coming.

 

Being part of a two man team meant that we would Canoe together then our Bike times and run times would be averaged together for the final result. The weather was perfect......comfortably cool and sunny. I had taken my daily commuter, which is a mountain bike frame, and equipped it for your typical urban MTB trail (MTB = Mountain Bike) I left my platform peddles on and put semi aggressive tires on. Tuned the shifters and tightend up the brakes. My plan was to canoe and bike in my running shoes to reduce the transition times.

 

Canoe

Mistake #1. My team mate has 0 paddleing experience. Mistake #2 Although he has no paddling experience I put him in the back where the experience counts. This made sense at the time becuase he weighs nearly 80 lbs more than me and the heavy person goes in back to plane out the canoe. He couldn't turn that boat if he had 50 yards to do it in. We were sent of in heats of 3......We started with our boat pointing backwards.....we easily lost 2 minutes trying to turn that thing around. We spent the next mile zig zigging. Something typical of every newbie....overcorrecting. We hit the turn around....made a huge wide swing giving up even more spots. Now we were paddling against a slight current. I am happy to report that my partner and I managed to figure out our timing and were able to keep a good line for the up stream portion. We passed a few boats and really had our act together.  35min 25 secs  47/171 OA and 19/71 division Actually not bad. A little practice and we would have been a force here.

 

MTB

Holy Pinturns and treestumps Batman ! This I was not prepared for. I have years of MTB experience but that is a decade ago and I have not been down a knarley trail in a coons age. Mistake #3. How tough could an urban MTB trail be. Surely it's over-ridden and packed hard. This is how I chose my tires....Wrong. Loose dirt, sand and plenty of rocks, bricks and what looked like coal. A very technical course with tons of turns, obstacles, jumps, drops.....Honestly, they thru more $hit at you in this course than any MTB race I ever remember. The trail club did an excellent job of setting up this course. It was two loops around the island. I was passed by 2 maybe 3 true to life MTB'rs. I could not even begin to hang with these guys. The first lap felt like an eternity. There was one spot where we had a nearly vertical climb with a contcrete ledge at the top. Volunteers were stationed to give you a heads up and shout out "You got to HAMMER IT....You need speed!" On my first encounter I looked like a pro going over this wall. By my 2nd attempt.....was hurting and tired. I made it up an over but not with the gusto of my first time. The 2nd loop I was catching all kinds of non experienced MTB'rs. I would have to wait for the trail to widen to get around them or for them to pull off. I honestly didn't mind this because it provided for some nice recovery time. We cleared the trail head and were back onto the bike path......3/4 mile to the transition on welcomed concrete. I hammered it with all that I had.

44mins 55 secs 45/171 OA   13/71 Division

 

The Run

What I knew about the run was somewhere there would be an off trail hill climb. I never bothered to ask what exactly this was. Mistake #4. I took off on the run.....a very fast 1/2 mile then started pulling in the reigns for this hill. I kept looking ahead but did'nt see any hill.....just a slight upgrade lined by cones. Well the cones looked like the went around the corner......they didn't. They stop just before the corner with a sign and an arrow pointing left. I turned and there was my hill. My first thought was $hit....where the hell is the rope ? 100 yards of steep knobby grass embankment. I walked it, well a three point of contact crawl actually. Over the top and resumed my run down the other side.....something like a stutter step....didn't want to get the feet too far apart else it would be a face plant. Met my team mate starting his run on the my home stretch. We slap fives as we met. Finished very strong. Next year I will run at a very aggressive pace to the hill. There is no running up it so holding back gained me nothing.

13mins 28 secs. 10/171 OA 3/71 division

 

I crashed once on the bike course and laid my bike down 2 other times. My crash consisted of an out-of control skid downhill into a tree. I have a nice knot on my knee, a swollen knuckle and a big bruise on my chest. Pretty minor to the free flowing blood I seen on some others.

 

Awesome Awesome Wickedly Fun Race !

 

As a team we finished 9th overall in our division (2 man team). Next year with a little paddleing practice and some MTB time we'll be in the hunt for some hardware. !

 

Free Micro Brews and local Pizza Pie at the end. (And lots of stories!)

Yikes! You want to do it again next year?     

OMG what a riot!! That sounds like some of the stuff the trail runners do around here. I've never even considered participating, except for the fact that it's a sort of triathlon that does NOT require swimming in frigid waters. What a cool trip you had! Can't wait to hear about how well you do next year.

SLO, it sounds like you and your partner did well even though you didn't really know what to expect.  I'd guess that with the knowledge of this year's race, you could do very well next year.  I enjoyed reading about your adventures but am not tempted to try that race myself.  Congrats to you and your partner.

 

TomS

LOVE . . . IT!  That's the stuff that great videos are made of. Any pics by chance?  Sounds like although it was hard, you had a great time.  Masochist, indeed.  On to the next great adventure!!

Love the title!! And the race report - sounds like great fun!

Holy Crap Batman Slo!!  That was some race and I was giggling uncontrollably during the canoe portion of your RR.   You two will certainly be a team to beat next year.  

 

Great Report!!

I can think of easier ways to get beer and pizza. 

 

But it sounds like fun--in a weird masochistic sort of way--and your report was a blast to read. 

 

Get yourself focused.  We're expecting great things from your marathon.