Vail-Beaver Creek
21.4 miles/ 4607 feet climbing

Often, the last day of a stage race is a formality as the winning teams are usually decided long before the last stride is taken. The 2009 GORE-TEX TransRockies Run flipped that on is head with a dramatic last day which saw the leads on both the Open Men’s and Women’s races in serious jeopardy. The route for Stage 6 covered a gruelling 21.4 miles from Vail to Beaver Creek Resort and included over 4600 feet of climbing including a final last 700’ grunt up to the finish line in the exclusive surroundings of Beaver Creek Resort.

The Freedom Riders Story
Gravnetic and KGB Productions and its partners for the film Freedom Riders, does not promote illegal trail building, rather we encourage riders to work with local land managers to create and promote sustainable trails.

Freedom Riders a core group of riders who evolved from covertly building rough and unsustainable trails, to creating a precedent setting relationship with the Forest Service and creating some of the best Freeride trails in the country.

>Red Cliff-Vail
23.4mi/ 4407ft climbing

The 2009 GORE-TEX TransRockies Run saves two epic stages for the end of the event and today, the participants took on the first of these, a 23.5 mile run from Red Cliff, up and through the legendary back bowls of Vail Mountain and then down into the village itself for the last race night of 2009. All told, runners would climb over 4400 feet iand reach an maximum elevation of over 11,700 feet while running through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Rockies.

Camp Hale-Red Cliff
23.4 miles/ 4407ft climbing/ 4868 feet descending

It’s no secret that individual sports like ultrarunning attract personalities who are not only drawn to the solitary nature of the activity but also the ability to set goals and train individually. The team format of the TransRockies Run is nearly unique because it forces distance runners out of their comfort zone, adding teamwork to this most individual of pursuits. Runners who have different strengths must learn to co-operate and compensate different strengths and weaknesses or even how to work around one teammate’s bad day.

Leadville-Camp Hale (Nova Guides)
24.2 miles/2930 ft climbing

The weather in the Rockies can change in a flash, surprising in turn with its violence or beauty. After a cold, overcast day on Stage 2 which included heavy rain showers at the finish line in Leadville, Tuesday dawned clear with only a few clouds moving past the peaks of Mt Elbert and Mt. Massive which loom over the valley. Though the cold of a 10,000ft above sea level made layers a necessity as runners started lining up for breakfast at 6am, it was obvious that the air would heat up quickly and competitors came to the start line ready for a long hot day of running.

We recently posted a video about the European Junior Championships IndoorCycling which looks quasi like synchronized biking but done so on one wheel and even one person standing on the other. Now…the below video shows a man riding his mountain bike without a front wheel. Like wheelie meets unicycling down the mountain. Very bizarre.

There’s a well-polished chestnut of wisdom which goes “different courses for different horses”; meaning what suits one person won’t necessarily be right for the next one. Stage 2 of the 2009 GORE-TEX® TransRockies Run proved that it still holds true with shake-ups at the top of the podium in three of the categories and winning gaps of less than 35 seconds in three divisions.

Defending champions, an attempt at the course record, new runners, and veteran runners created many questions and anticipation prior to the Leadville Trail 100 mile race. Race day, the talented group of athletes gave outstanding performances spawning lead changes throughout making the race nothing short of pure excitement. After an unfortunate drop-out by race leader, Anton Krupicka, at mile 70, the drama increased as first place was then up for grabs.

Buena Vista-Railroad Bridge Campground
20.4 miles/2721 feet climbing

After all the training, packing and preparation that participants do in advance of the 2009 GORE-TEX TransRockies Run, the mixture of nerves and exuberance on display in at the start was completely understandable. Under clear Rocky Mountain skies, over 260 runners from 10 countries lined up at the start line in Buena Vista, Colorado for the third and largest edition yet of the TransRockies Run.

Thanks to Kraig Becker for this most recent update on the Primal Quest Badlands site. Since the race started last weekend….Kraig and the PQ media crew have been keeping us in the loop with up to date information on the race. We will post the final standings tomorrow when they become available. Congrats to all that have competed in the longest expedition adventure race in North America.

An amazing field of talent is assembled on the team list for the 2009 Adventure Racing World Championships in Portugal this November. Adventure racing luminaries such as OrionHealth (fresh off their impressive victory at PrimalQuest Badlands and the defending 2008 AR World Champions), Quechua (a very strong European team), Lundhags Adventure (a Scandinavian force to be reckoned with), and Blackheart (a top Australian team) jump out at you . . . but there are also some fantastic teams from North America that are going to join the party!

Third stage started Wednesday afternoon, with 40 km long canoeing section. The only trouble was a few kilometers from the start, where teams had to get their canoes over dam of the Jesenice Lake. This showed how teams are able to cooperate. Some teams waited for each other and pulled the canoe in all four. But in some teams first canoe left and second had problems. There were no problems on this leg, but it created differences over 12 hours between the teams.

Adam Chase will be competing in the TransRockies Run on August 23-28. On this 6-day stage race through the Colorado Rockies, up to 150 teams of two will cover 113 miles in this spectacular running experience. The TransRockies Run will take teams from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek, through the heart of the White River and San Isabel National Forests. The course includes a mix of singletrack and forest road with nearly 25,000 feet of elevation gain (reaching altitudes of over 12,500 feet). Adam has given us his 6-tips for running/preparing for such an event.

Patagonia Fleece Hoody… Not enough technical hoodies out there, but when the wind starts kicking up, or you`re relaxing after a day of skiing what you´re really looking for is a hoody.

Patagonia has really done a great job designing clothing with layering mind, this hoody is close fitting, stretchable, wickable, breathable and comfortable.

Perfect mid layer, thumb slots for style, comfort, and keep sleeves in place when putting on/taking off other layers. This is especially nice for adventure racers who have to change clothes quickly at checkpoints, etc. …

This short clip has team members reflecting about their time on the course at PQ Badlands. Don Mann (Primal Quest Director), Travis Macy (Team Salomon/Crested Butte) and others discuss the magnitude of the race and some of the highlights of the event.

The 2009 GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run is sold out. A total of 250 teams of two coming from 27 nations have registered for the eight days lasting stage race across the Alps which will take place from September 5th, 2009, to September 12th. The event will kick off in Oberstdorf on Saturday in two weeks at 10 AM. From there on, the routing leads the 500 participants, of which 185 runners have Transalpine-Run experience including twelve athletes starting for the fifth time, on the west course over 240 kilometres and more than 15,000 metres of elevation gain to Italy. The field will cross Austria and Switzerland on its way to Latsch im Vinschgau where the fifth edition of the GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run will wrap up.

We highly anticipated a late night/early morning arrival last night when we posted about Team OrionHealth.com’s position in relation to the finish line. However, due to some navigational errors…it was actually later on Thursday when they finally crossed the finish line. And following in succession after them came Team Salomon/Crested Butte and Team Merrell/Zanfel Adventure. More teams will continue to migrate towards the finish line in the coming days. Congrats to the first three finishers.

Primal Quest Badlands is the 6th installment of the expedition adventure race. Founded in 2001, the adventure race has been dubbed the “The World’s Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition.” Its goal was to bring a world-class, multi-sport expedition race to the North American continent. Each race lasts up to 10 days with the top teams finishing in 5-6 days. Each team is required to be co-ed and have four members.

Surly has been able to fill a gaping niche in the biking community, offering bikes that you didn´t even realize you dreamed about. From the Pugsley with 4″ tires that lets you ride in the snow/sand or race in the Ultrasport 350, to the Travelers Check with special couplers that allow it to collapse into a nice little case so you can check it in on an airplane without paying extra.

I stopped by their blog the other day and between the post about eating crickets and machine gun toting bike shop owners in Philadelphia was an epic adventure trip. Alpaca Raft, Travelers Check, bags from Epic Designs all head to the Minnesota River. Check out the photos and story:

Primal Quest River Director Josh Galt discusses some of the challenges that teams faced swimming and paddling the designated course at this year’s event. Wind, no wind, dark and other factors have shown why adventure racing is not predictable.

Czech Adventure Race, the toughest race in the Czech Republic, started Wednesday in Cheb. The route is 360 km long and expected time of the winner is 75 hours. The first stage was just a prologue. Five km of city orienteering was not hard and teams arrived a couple of minutes from each other. First three teams, Tilak, AlpinePro and Swedish SWECO, arrived together, fighting for a single punch. They set of for the next stage quickly.

Word from Primal Quest HQ is that Team OrionHealth.com may finish tonight around 11pm or 12 midnight. These are rough estimates based on time trials — they may come in ahead or behind them …