Article Archive for October 2009
I can’t believe that the World Championship are just a little more than a week away. Are we ready? Physically, I think we are. Logistically, we’re definitely a little behind in terms of getting our gear cleaned, inpected, and packed but we’re well on our way. This will be another mad rush to get everything done on time while still managing to take care of the rest of our lives and get enough sleep. But, as is always the case, we’ll pull it off.
Most teams will begin their travel to Portugal within the next few days in preparation for the AR World Championship event. We caught up with Cyanosis team captain Nicholas Mulder before their departure. This will be there first World Championship race since 2005. Ryno Griesel, Debbie Gerrand, and Clinton Mackintosh make of the rest of the team.
The 17th edition of La Ruta de los Conquistadores is two weeks away. The drum roll can be heard and fireworks are in place for the arrival of some of the best Mountain Bike racers in the planet.
With much euphoria and enthusiasm the 17th edition of La Ruta de los Conquistadores has been carefully handcrafted for racers from all over the world. Over 200 mountain bikers from 17 different countries will be part of this year’s edition.
After coming off an impressive win at Primal Quest Badlands this summer, Team OrionHealth.com is preparing to head to Portugal to defend the title that they took back to New Zealand last year. Team captain Wayne Oxenham spends a lot of time traveling with his day job but took a few moments to answer a few questions for us in our continuing interviews with some of the teams heading to the AR World Championship early next month.
Top Results for USARA Nationals:
Coed Division
1. Granite AR
2. Granite AR-1
3. IMONPoint.org
4. Wedali
5. MOAT
6. BikesPlus – Little Rock
7. nuun – FeedTheMachine
New Hampshire based adventure racing teams, Granite AR and Granite AR-1, set off to Pilot Point, Texas last week in hopes of bringing home the United States Adventure Racing Association (USARA) National Championship trophy; a dream amongst all adventure racers, a dream amongst the newly formed team, a dream that came true for six dedicated athletes.
Top 20 Results for USARA Nationals (Unofficial):
1 & 2. Granite AR
3. IMONPoint.org
4. Wedali
5. MOAT
6. BikesPlus – Little Rock
7. nuun – Feed the Machine
8. Proformance Physical Therapy II
9. Team SOG
10. Alpine Shop
A colleague in New Zealand sent me this video of a local kayaker taking to the river he normally paddles to try some of the same rapids on a jet ski. The waterfall that …
Last night was the nationwide premiere of ‘Race Across The Sky’ which highlighted the Leadville 100 race this season. The event next year is scheduled for August 14.
We caught up with Troy Farrar, president of the United States Adventure Racing Association, to talk about the history of AR and where the sport is headed.
How did you get started in Adventure Racing?
I got interested in the 90’s after seeing the first Eco Challenge. We saw it and said wow, that’s something we have to do. Financially and job wise it was not possible at the time so I decided to produce an event that was accessible for the average weekend warrior.
We will be posting a new web episode each week from the 2009 Primal Quest Badlands race.
On September 9, Tellman Knudson left New York City’s Battery Park to run 3,200 miles across America. Others have run across America. However, the thing that sets his quest apart from similar journeys is the fact that he will be doing it barefoot! If successful, Knudson will be the first person to run barefoot across America.
The 5th annual Coast 2 Coast event took place this past weekend on the island of Trinidad. I was in Trinidad last year for the event but was unable to compete due to having been in an altercation with an automobile which compromised my ability to train. However, I spent a great week with some great athletes from around the world along with a phenomenal race staff.
The Tropical Power Coast 2 Coast 2009, the Caribbean’s premier Multi-Sport Race, took place last weekend, October 17 and 18, along Trinidad’s picturesque North Coast. This year marked the fifth anniversary of the race, in which athletes competed in three disciplines – trail running, cycling and paddling.
We are still following up with teams following Primal Quest about their mandatory gear for the race in South Dakota. We followed nuun-FeedTheMachine leading up to PQ focusing on their training for the event.
I must say, I do like happy endings, and with SPOT Messengers out there, the odds increase exponentially.
Ed Cooley, a nature photographer, went out on a hike to photograph Twin Falls for a series on `Arkansas Beauty` and while scouting a good spot to shoot – he slipped and fell 10 meters to the bottom of the creek, suffering serious injuries. Fortunately, he recently got a SPOT Messengers and pressed the emergency button 30 minutes later. A rescue crew was assembled within an hour or two and were able to make contact with Ed about 4 hours later. They eventually got him out of the woods and he was flown to a hospitable where he is in pretty bad shape (open book pelvic fracture, broken collarbone, shattered ankle), but is alive.
If you want to send him an email to wish him well: ed@traviswilliams.net
Here is the story as told by his son in law Travis Williams (from his blog):
Last month, Pittsburgh was the host city for the G20 Summit. To kick it off, Venture Outdoors wanted to see if a team of riders could ride the 335 miles from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh, PA in 24-hours in time for the official opening of the Summit. They began the journey at 6pm on Tuesday, September 22 and rode along the C&O Towpath and Great Allegheny Passage and arrived in Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning. This is a short video of the journey.
Ben Saunders, 31, is a record-breaking long-distance skier, with four North Pole expeditions under his belt. He is the youngest to ski solo to the North Pole and holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton. Since 2001, Saunders has skied more than 1,500 miles in the high Arctic, which he recently worked out equates to two percent of his entire life living in a tent.
Saunders is currently preparing for three pioneering expeditions between 2010 and 2012: solo and unsupported speed record attempts on both Poles and the 2011/12 Scott Antarctic Expedition, the first return journey to the South Pole on foot, and the longest unsupported polar journey in history. Ben and his team mate Alastair Humphreys depart for Antarctica in late October 2011.
Last weekend I raced the 24 Hours of Moab which was also the USA Cycling 24 Hour National Championship for 2009. After a long, hard, successful season, I elected not to race Moab as a solo. The course is physically very brutal, my season has been going strong since February and I have accomplished more than I set out to do this season. So, I let myself relax a little on this one and teamed up with Colorado mtb pro and good friend, Gretchen Reeves as a women’s duo team. Gretchen has a long, impressive resume in cycling and is a blast to hang out with. My biggest fear was that she’d be significantly faster and I’d be a disappointment. It turned out we were a perfect match up.
With an overall increase in distance to 428km, this year’s Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge will be longer, tougher and even more exciting than ever.
Abu Dhabi City, with its skyline of tall, modern buildings interspersed with delicate minarets and elegant seafront promenades will repeat its role as urban showcase for the event by hosting the opening act of this six-day adventure epic. On the 4th December this flourishing cosmopolitan metropolis, offering all the attractions associated with a vibrant capital, is the perfect venue for a triathlon-style opener that involves 34km of running, cycling, swimming and sea kayaking to Lulu Island.
With a great feature on Greg Kolodziejzyk who plans to cross the Pacific Ocean on human power, and another by Jim Bastis about a father´s perspective on adventure racing, AWM has brought subscribers a great new issue. Including, a great athlete profile of Melanie McQuaid, more solid gear reviews and a story about a bear chasing a bike tourist. As a bonus there are two great articles with tips for planning your next adventure or bike tour that will inspire you to get out and
Explore. Compete. Live.
What is adventure racing? Not many people have any idea. In fact, when I try to explain it, the response
I usually get is a blank stare or a nodding of the head in such a …
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