The Red Bull Rampage begins tomorrow outside Virgin, Utah. Nearly 25 riders will take on two runs with the top 10 moving on to the finals on Sunday. The video shows some of the best wrecks and crashes from past events.

Photo at top by John Gibson/Red Bull Photofiles

Thanks to The Adventure Life for the heads up on this video.

By Ty Stevens

Asheville, a rather ‘hip’ mountain town nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains thrives with a diverse art community, epic outdoor landscapes, a colorful downtown atmosphere, and one of the most well attended half marathons in the Southeast. The Asheville Citizen-Times Half Marathon & 5K is the largest road race in Asheville, selling out well in advance each year.

On race morning, the weather was perfect. Runners cruised through rolling (and some steep) hills, leaving downtown and passing through Asheville’s most pristine neighborhoods. Light fog and low morning temperatures kept runners cool as the intensity heated up. They were in hot pursuit of their individual goals, which were as diverse as the runners themselves. Some ran in honor of a loved one who passed away, others ran in attempt to win the generous prize purse, and still others wanted simply to finish – perhaps for the first time.

Taylor Essick, a first time racer and founder of Brown Dog Adventure Tours, is a superb mountain biker (finishing the epic Leadville 100 Mile in 2009). Even though Essick made it back downtown in just under his goal pace, he was surprised at how challenging this course proved to be,

“Given it was my first ½ marathon, and even my first time running over 8 miles, I didn’t know what to expect. It was great to be out there running amidst friends, community, and in my hometown. The scenery was phenomenal and helped keep my mind in a good place. I settled in with a 2 hour pace group with a personal goal of finishing under the 2 hour mark. So when I crossed at 1:59, surrounded by downtown streets filled with screaming Asheville fans, you can imagine the smile on my face. It reminded me of what an amazing place I live.”
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I keep waiting for the Spanish organization to publish complete information on who is actually racing at the Adventure Racing World Championships, but time is running out.  I get paid the big bucks to write articles, not wait for websites to be updated, so I’m going to see what I can do!

I do have a preliminary list in my email from the Spanish (not to be distributed publicly), updated this week, that shows the 53 teams that they expect to race (as opposed to their list of 70+ on the website).

So here goes; I’ll attempt AR World Championship podium predictions, but with just the name of the team (and team names are frequently in flux!) along with the name of the team captain, it’s very difficult.  Take the following predictions with several grains of salt because my understanding of the composition of a team could be way off from the reality of who lines up at the starting line.  In many cases, I’m relying on “I heard that XXX is racing with team YYY” sort of intel!

So . . . with the big caveat out of the way . . . here are my top 3 predictions and I’ll follow up tomorrow with my picks for positions 4-6, and some notes on other teams to watch:

My predicted 2010 AR World Champions – Team Blackwater (Team #2 on the race roster I’ve been sent) from USA / New Zealand

• It’s Kloser’s last stand, with a new team name but it will always be Team Nike to me.  Kloser is joined by Monique Merrill (fresh from her scary near-death experience in France earlier this year) and Kiwi Chris Forne.  The clincher for me to pick them to win was their 4th teammate, another Kiwi: the legend from Team Seagate’s days of domination in this sport, Nathan Fa’avae.  Although he “retired” from the sport a couple years back, he’s been popping up at big events here and there and I would be foolish to pick against the combined experience of this team.

2nd – Silva/Gerber Adventure (Team #6 on the race roster I’ve been sent), from Sweden/New Zealand

• This Swedish team (Lundhags in years previous) won Europe’s longest race this year, Explore Sweden, in decisive fashion (they were like a day ahead of the organization’s fastest estimates!).  That was nearly 3 months ago and, while the Silva/Gerber team has had time to fully recover, they’ve also had time to win at Sweden’s national series just a few weeks ago.  They finished 3rd at the World Championships in 2009, and I’m predicting them to jump another notch up the podium this year.

3rd – Orion Adventure (Team #3 on the race roster I’ve been sent), New Zealand

• It’s been a couple injuries and DNFs for this team since the World Championships last year, so I think they’re due for a successful race.  For this team, the 2008 World Champions, the third spot on the podium may not sound “successful” but this is where I placed them.  I don’t know if Marcel “the Savage” Hagener is racing for them or not (once again, a complete race roster would be nice!), but he can be a key piece to the Orion puzzle.

I’ll forge on with 4th-6th place predictions, and other darkhorse teams, tomorrow.

By Ty Stevens

The 2010 Ironman Louisville delivers blazing temperatures and equally hot competition. Louisville is home to a few of “the greats” – Muhammad Ali, The Louisville Slugger, and Kentucky bourbon. There is no question as to why this humble yet colorful town serves as the backdrop to what has become a milestone in the multisport world, “The Ironman.”

Over 1500 triathletes toed the line race morning. The temperatures were high, surpassing 90 degrees by mid-afternoon. Many were forced to withdraw during the bike and run due to the extreme conditions. Those that did prevail had a lot to be proud of.

For the women, defending champion Nina Kraft was first out of water, followed by Maki Nishiuchi of Japan. The heat proved too much for even the top contenders. Kraft and Nishiuchi did not finish the bike leg. This cleared the path for Rebekah Keat who took over the lead by the finish of the 112 mile out and back bike ride through Kentucky’s rolling countryside.

Turning in the fastest bike split on the day, Keat would continue that effort into the 26.2 mile run, finishing the run course in 3:23:50, and an overall Ironman win in 9:33:15. Her chase pack included Kim Loefler of Colchester, VT, finishing second and Bree Wee of Kailua-Kona, HI, in a respective third.

1. Rebekah Keat (Australia) – 9:33:15
2. Kim Loefler (USA) – 9:44:23
3. Bree Wee (USA) – 9:50:35
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By Grant Killian

The 2010 AR World Championships start this weekend. I contributed this piece to Adventure World Magazine on the topic . . . and I have some more material to share there, but I thought I’d take an informal stab here at the topic of why so few US teams appear on the race roster.

First thing: that race roster is terribly out of date, there are 53 teams actually planning to race as opposed to the 71 shown on the race website — Wilsa, Team Explore, Blackheart, and many other teams aren’t competing due to illness (jungle fever caught in Costa Rica for Sweden’s Team Explore!), injury, or finances. These sorts of withdrawals happen all the time, and isn’t cause for alarm besides the fact that the race organization has a woefully inaccurate race roster posted a few days prior to the event. I’m just aware of one “US” team that isn’t currenly listed: Team Untamed New England will be racing (with mostly Canadian personnel). Team Nike is now racing as Team Blackwater, which will ensure they get even less love from the locals than they would’ve before the name change; I hope Blackwater wrote them a very hefty check!

Now, even with the addition of a Team Untamed New England to the mix, there are not many American teams attending the World Championships. I think this is due to a few basic reasons:

1. An American team didn’t win the World Championship Qualifier in August held in the USA, Untamed New England, which would’ve earned them a paid entry to the Championships in Spain and a nice chunk of change to pay for their travel. The race was won by the Canadians of GUATS Adventure (formerly SupplierPipeline team).

2. An American team didn’t win 2nd place at Untamed New England, which also would’ve earned them a paid entry into the World Championships. 2nd place was claimed by the impressive Danes on “Team Skandia.”

3. The team finishing 3rd in New England was Team Granite AR — from America — and while 3rd place qualifies them to compete at the World Championships there wasn’t a paid entry set-aside as a prize for third place in New England, so they would have to pay there own way.

Team Granite AR, shown above (top left) at CP 16 in New England, are certainly a strong enough team to compete at the World Championships, but the US economy and sorry state of sponsorship support in the US means Team Granite will be sitting it out next week (more on this below).

4. Looking over the results for the other AR World Series events, no American teams earned their way into the Championships abroad.

To read the rest of this insightful piece…click HERE!

The Atmosphere Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race (MOMAR) celebrated the end of their eleventh season this past Saturday, September 25th in Cumberland, with Vancouver Island racers topping the podium.

Todd Nowack of Victoria came in first overall for the 50 km Enduro Course, with a time of 4:21:16. This was Nowack’s seventh MOMAR title, tying him with legendary racer Dave Norona of North Vancouver for most MOMAR overall wins.

“Todd [Nowack] dominated the race,” says Race Director Bryan Tasaka. “Not only is he super fit, but he’s also an incredible navigator, which gives him a big advantage on a course that relies on self navigation to get from one checkpoint to the next.”

Team PIT, Shane Ruljanich and Garth Campbell of Victoria, came in second overall and first in the team of two categories, with a time of 4:53:47. Jeremy Grasby of Cumberland, last year’s MOMAR Cumberland champ, was third overall, followed by Ryan Stuart of Courtenay. Genevieve Burdett of Courtenay was the first solo female racer to cross the finish line at 6:08:51. Team Sportin’ in the River, consisting of Powell River’s Graham Cocksedge, Chris Bratseth, Erik Hanson and Vancouver’s Val Litwin, came first in the team of four categories at 6:03:11.

Victoria’s Fergus Bagley and Kelly-Ray Bouchard topped the podium for the 30 km Sport Course, with a time of 3:42:14, followed by Matt Ewonus and Hayley Shearer of Kelowna.

Both the Enduro and Sport Courses were sold-out, with a combined total of 325 racers at the start line. Race stages included kayaking, mountain biking, trekking, bushwhacking and orienteering through 27 checkpoints on Comox Lake and Cumberland trails. Participants came from all across Canada and the USA.

Forecasted heavy winds and rain were of concern on the eve before the race. “There was a major wind warning and we were concerned that the kayak stage would have to be cancelled or modified drastically,” says Tasaka. “When we arrived at Comox Lake on race morning the water was flat calm and we were able to stick with Plan A.” Heavy rains held out until 3 pm, when most racers were completing final race stages.

Via press release

Photos by David Silver Photography

The 2011 North Georgia Adventure Race will result from the combined efforts of it’s founder, Tony “Don’t Blame Me For The Weather” Berwald and Checkpoint Zero racers Jon Barker and Peter Jolles.

The 30 hour, supported race is set for March 12th, 2011 in Ellijay, GA.

It’s baaaack!!

Registration opens October 1st via Checkpoint Tracker.

More information is available on the race website at http://www.adventureracingsoutheast.com.

The competition at Checkpoint Tracker‘s inaugural Adventure Racing National Championship just got a lot hotter.

WEDALI, currently ranked 1st in Checkpoint Tracker’s Coed Elite division, will be competing in Moab. This team is fast, smart, experienced and perhaps most important of all…consistent. They are currently the only team with a perfect 500 points in Checkpoint Tracker’s National Rankings, having accumulated seven 1st place finishes so far this year.

Can they make it eight against the likes of DART-nuun-SportMulti, Trakkers, Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic, Checkpoint Zero and IMONPoint.org/Odyssey Adventure Racing?

We’ll find out on October 29th.

Final preparations are in the works the Atmosphere Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race (MOMAR), set to take place in Cumberland, BC, this coming Saturday, September 25th.

Over 400 athletes and volunteers will be descending on Cumberland for the race weekend, beginning with Friday night registration at the Riding Fool Hostel. The post-race festivities for racers, volunteers and organizers will be held at Mount Washington Alpine Resort on Saturday evening.

Cumberland’s Jeremy Grasby, last year’s MOMAR Cumberland champion, will be defending his title against the 2010 MOMAR Squamish champ, John Markez of Vancouver, and the 2009 MOMAR Squamish winner, Bart Jarmula of Revelstoke. Courtenay’s Genevieve Burdett will also be returning to defend her spot at the top as the 2009 MOMAR Cumberland’s top solo female racer. Locals will be joined by racers from across Canada and the US.

Spectators are encouraged to come out to cheer on the athletes at the Cumberland Lake Campground, where the race both starts and ends. The race begins at 9 am with racers crossing the finish line typically between 1 pm and 5 pm. The course routes are known only to race organizers up until 7:30 am on race day, at which time racers will be given a course map.

Both race courses, the enduro (50 km) and short (30 km), will include mountain biking, kayaking, trail running, orienteering, and bushwhacking.

Participating in a MOMAR, either as a racer or volunteer, also means you’ll be supporting MOMAR’s official charity, the Make-a-Wish Foundation. More information on racing, volunteering, MOMAR training clinics and their official charity is available at www.mindovermountain.com/momar or call 1.866.912.3331.

Via press release

Pic at top by Dave Prothero

Last week we posted a video from the Red Bull 5000 Down race earlier this month in Whistler, BC. The below video shows even more carnage and well worth the watch!

This is the official video from the Red Bull 5000 Down.

We have been following the Pedal The Ocean expedition planning for almost two years now and have spotlighted Greg Kolodziejzyk in our digital magazine. It seems that after almost four years, Greg’s quest for a first ever attempt to ‘pedal’ WiTHiN from Canada to Hawaii has been mothballed.

From an email that we received from him today…he stated:

I believe that where I have failed, is investing too little consideration for general stability and comfort in moderate to advanced off-shore weather conditions. Because of WiTHiN’s narrow, but slippery beam of only 36 inches, she rolls excessively. After six sea trials trips where I have been repeatedly exposed to 25 to 40 knot winds and seas between 3 to 4 meters, I have discovered that I can barely withstand a few hours of this cruel punishment, whereas I would have to live through days or weeks of bad weather on a 3 month ocean crossing journey. It’s exciting for sure, but just not really very fun.

We wish Greg the best in his future endeavors and know that he will have another adventure for us to follow soon!

[UPDATE: some key info has just been shared with me so note the big UPDATE section at the bottom of the original post]

The Adventure Racing World Series culminates with the World Championships in Spain, starting next week.  I’ve been covering the World Series all year and this final fiesta in the center of the Iberian peninsula should be fun to watch.  While I would normally be there in person, and I have several inside connections that give me a unique perspective, our family is welcoming a new baby in a few weeks and it’s not feasible to be at the race in person this year.  I’m hopeful, however, that following the race from afar is better than it was in Portugal in 2009 . . . ultimately, we’re at the mercy of the race organization and what they put together.

There is a lot to discuss in advance of this race.  Foremost in my mind is the format: this race will be a traditional “first to the finish wins” affair, returning to the classic adenture racing style that the Portuguese championship so controversially deviated from (see the Adventure World overview of the format from 2009).

One glance at the PDF list of teams at the Championships shows a large international field will attend.  That PDF is a month old, however, and I know of some changes to the race roster that aren’t reflected on it.  At a minimum, I know another North American team will be racing — Team Untamed New England (actually composed just of Canadians, but racing as representatives of North America’s AR World Series event) — and there are some other last minute withdrawals and additions.  The Spanish organizers should have final information posted soon, I would hope!

It sounds like the Spanish are pulling out all the stops for this race.  They advertise rafting, ropes, and the ever-popular (in Europe) inline skating to go along with trekking, paddling, and mountain biking.  While the race requires support crews, the race organization is emphasizing the special measures they are taking to correct what happened in Portugal last year: teams with the “race provided” support crew were at a severe disadvantage in the 2009 Championship!
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Astral GreenJacket Rescue PFD
By Susan Hollingsworth

For kayakers who flirt with the boundaries set by nature, Astral’s Greenjacket Rescue PFD prepares them for anything.  Need to rappel to look at that waterfall?  How about grab that rope quickly for a rescue?  Greenjacket is there.  

An avid whitewater padder knows that having a PFD that is comfortable and functional make descending more difficult runs easier.  It might be the lifted weight of having a…

Quick access lash tab for your knife
Protective reinforced flotation along the torso and spine
A specific pocket for a throw rope
Another pocket for a web tow
Spectra safety loop integrated into frame for a harness system up to 1100 lb strength

Aside from all the practical and functional features Astral went ahead and added in extra features to make the jacket more form fitting and comfortable to wear.  Get rid of the idea that a life jacket feels like a corset.  Elastic in the back and separate foam panels for upper and lower torso in the front increase mobility in every direction.  It tightens around, down and up; creating unlimited custom fits.  

The Greenjacket even works for the ladies, whose upper bodies are…well…not the same shape as guy’s.  

Keeping with the idea that paddling rivers might be one of the most fun activities, Astral’s designers have released Limited Edition styles and colors.  Who says technical gear has to be ugly?  

About Susan:
Susan paddles with the some of the country’s most talented female whitewater kayakers, known as the Femme 45 girls. On some of the hardest runs in the Pacific Northwest, she puts female paddling gear to the test every day.

Come April 2011, lucky tenants of the Teva Fiji “house-boat” will be flown round trip to Viti Levu Island. The adventure begins with a river trip guided by O.A.R.S. through the remote Upper Navua Gorge, where the black lava rock walls overgrown with cascades of lush ferns are so remarkable that this stretch of river has been hailed “a river of Eden.” Guest will live aboard the 140-foot Tui Tai sailboat and cruise to remote locations only accessible by boat. Guests will snorkel over reefs that are a hundred miles from the closest resort, go on epic hikes off the beaten path and meet local villagers and learn their customs.

“We opened the first Teva House in Vail during the Teva Mountain Games in June,” said Liz Ferrin, Teva Global Branded Content Manager. “The Vail house was a perfect hub where our athletes, artist, Life Agents and contest winners could mix and mingle. It wasn’t hard to decide to do it again for 2011.”

The Teva tribe gathers in, around and on the water so what better location for their second Teva House than returning to the waters of the South Pacific where their 2011 photo shoot took place aboard the Tui Tai.

“Through the Teva House, we’re offering our tribe a chance to escape from their everyday lives and take part in something bigger,” continued Ferrin. “It’s about living better stories that keep us inspired until our next departure.”

Want to escape to Fiji with Teva? Become the one guest selected from the U.S. to hop on board by entering to win at TevaHouse.com.

Via Press Release

Competitors that intend to cross the Finish line at Checkpoint Tracker’s inaugural Adventure Racing National Championship will first have to overcome the stomach churning fear that goes along with pulling oneself across a 350′ rope…200′ above the desert floor.

Time to suck it up buttercup.

If an epic Tyrolean Traverse weren’t enough, racers will also be treated to an 80′ rappel off a dry (or wet if it’s raining) waterfall into a spectacular slot canyon…from which they will have to rely on their navigational skills to escape.

When we hired Gravity Play Sports to produce our first ever National Championship we told them we wanted more than run, bike, paddle. We told them we wanted a race that lived up to it’s name. We wanted equal parts adventure and racing.

Man did they deliver.

We’ve got running, biking and paddling…and riverboarding, kayaking, rappeling, an epic tyrolean, canyoneering and…oh wait…can’t tell you about that just yet.

We’ve got one more course shocker we’re saving for race day.

It’s big. People will talk. You should be there.

Via press release

The AR World Series, as noted in a previous post, had a very crowded August calendar.  The United Kingdom hosted their World Series event  — named the Addidas TERREX — over the final weekend of August in the scenic Lakes Region of the UK.

I recently caught up with one of the course planners for the UK event, Bruce Duncan, and got a great overview of the race.  He shared a detailed course breakdown for me, and you can click on the map below for a great visual look at the race . . . but here are the rough pieces to the TERREX 2010 course:

• Leg 1 Bay Run (24 km)
• Leg 2 MTB Eskdale (110 km)
• Leg 3 Coniston Paddle (9 km)
• Leg 4 Coniston Newby Br Trek (14 km)
• Leg 5 Windermere Paddle (30 km)
• Leg 6 Langdale MTB (18 km)
• Leg 7 Central Fells Trek (30 km)
• Leg 8 High Street MTB (40 km)
• Leg 9 Ullswater Paddle (13 km)
• Leg 10 Helvellyn Trek (21 km)
• Leg 11 Skiddaw MTB (42 km)
• Leg 12 Derwent Water Paddle (12 km)

According to Bruce, this race will be remembered for “the horrific weather that we had for the Central Fells Trek, it lashed it with rain for about 18 hours, so teams really suffered on this section.”

Having done some of my college education in the UK, I can personally attest to the punishing rain, winds, and cold that can afflict that area — nobody goes to an adventure race in Britain expecting gorgeous weather!  Still, nearly a day of non-stop freezing rain is more than most racers at Addidas TERREX bargained for.

Bruce went on to explain: “Many teams had good hospitality from local people, one team saw a guy walking out of his shed, and asked if they could have a sleep in it, which he said was fine.  Another knocked on a hotel door and slept in the foyer, and were brought cups of tea.  Another slept in the drying room of a youth hostel for a wee while to warm up and dry out!”

26 teams eventually reached the TERREX finish line (out of 32 teams that started the event), which is an excellent outcome given the racing conditions.  The winners, racing as “Team adidas TERREX,” were the current AR World Champions so no surprises to find them atop the podium here; we’ll have to see how this top UK team does at the World Championships in Spain (in just a couple weeks!) to get a true read on their 2010 form.  Full race results from the UK event are on the TERREX website.

Special thanks again to Bruce Duncan for taking the time to discuss this race with me and share the great map overview; you can find Bruce on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bikingBruce.  For the record, Adventure World Magazine is on Twitter at  http://twitter.com/AdventureWorld– and not to be left out, I’m on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Untamed_Adv.

What do you get when you take a mass start of 250 racers, a vertical descent of more than 5,000 feet and some epic riding? You get the Red Bull 5000 Down. This mountain bike race starts at the peak of Whistler Mountain in British Columbia and takes competitors down more than 7,000 feet to the finish line at Whistler Village. Taking place this past weekend the Red Bull 5000 Down took racers from the snow capped peak and through some gnarly singletrack. Check out the video to watch this wild ride and some great footage (including helmet cam) and some wipeouts as the racers merge on the singletrack.

Thanks to the WEND Blog for the heads up on this video!

Contour, a market leader in the hands-free video camera category, introduces ContourGPS, the first hands-free video camera to incorporate real-time GPS data while shooting high-definition, 1080p video. To complement this new GPS camera, Contour is launching a unique location-based video community that allows users to share their stories, track adventures and discover new places.

“We’re excited to introduce location as the next innovation in hands-free video cameras,” says Marc Barros, Contour’s CEO. “GPS adds an exciting new element to video storytelling. It allows you to map your own adventures and discover new places posted by other users. Our seamless camera-to-community experience is like combining The Flip, YouTube and Google maps together into one simple, easy to use product.”

By means of an integrated GPS receiver, ContourGPS captures location once per second with pinpoint accuracy. The GPS data, along with crisp HD footage, can then be easily edited using the new Contour Storyteller application. Compatible with Mac or PC, Contour Storyteller also makes it easy to organize videos, configure the camera and post stories online.

Click here to see the ContourGPS in action!

With the introduction of ContourGPS, Contour.com becomes the world’s first location-based video community, bringing video and mapping together into a rich user experience. Already home to thousands of videos from around the world, Contour.com will soon become the only community where users can watch an epic run down any mountain while tracking progress, speed and elevation on a map.

“We call this new form of storytelling “Video Mapping” states Barros. “The inclusion of GPS brings a whole new level of context to any video, making location, speed, time, and conditions as important as what you recorded.”

A rugged camcorder for the estimated 100 million outdoor enthusiasts around the world, ContourGPS makes it easy to capture video from within the action and share it online in seconds. Shipping world-wide over the coming days, ContourGPS ($349.99 MSRP) joins the company’s award-winning ContourHD model ($279.99) and is available at retailers such as REI, Amazon, Helmet Camera Central, and POV Cameras. Visit www.contour.com/camera to learn more or to find a complete list of retailers.

Via Press Release

We will be taking the ContourHD head-to-head with two other cameras at the USARA Nationals next month. Stay tuned to our review in late October.

So, I haven’t gotten my paws on one of these ‘waffle treats’ just yet but I am sure they are in the mail. I am a big fan of the Honey Stinger line and have used their other products in races and bike touring adventures. We will give our full assessment after our stash arrives!

Honey Stinger, the leading manufacturer of honey-based nutritional products, introduces a completely new energy product to the US market – Stinger Waffles. Suggested by Honey Stinger co-owner Lance Armstrong, the new Stinger Waffle provides 160 calories of great-tasting, organic energy.

“The Stinger Waffle is an early example of the positive impact Lance has made in new product development,” states Bill Gamber, Honey Stinger co-founder. “He’s a big fan of the stroopwafels he’s eaten while racing in Europe and suggested that we try making some with honey. As it turns out, they’re delicious.”

The traditional stroopwafel, which originated in the Netherlands over 200 years ago, is a waffle made from two thin layers of baked batter with syrup filling. In the Netherlands and Belgium, stroopwafels are sold in the streets and are popular with European cyclists looking for a quick boost of energy.

Rather than syrup, the Stinger Waffle use organic honey and other organic ingredients, making Stinger Waffles a certified USDA Organic product. Each waffle is wrapped individually for easy transport and retails for $1.39. Stinger Waffles will be available at specialty sporting goods retailers and natural food grocers nationwide on October 15.

Via press release

Charity bike rides are no new concept. Many many good people have donated their time to raise money for worthy causes by riding their bikes and collecting donation pledges. I love this concept and wanted to do a charity ride of my own. But where would I go? What charity would I support? I thought these would be the toughest questions to answer, but it turns out the hardest was answering the naysayers who couldn’t comprehend how I could ride a bike for seven days straight – or why I’d even want to.

I live near Nashville Tennessee. Just south of this great city lies one end of the Natchez Trace Parkway. This scenic byway has a speed limit of 50 mph, doesn’t have power lines or commercial signage, and lacks any commercial business on its shoulders. The other end of “The Trace” dead-ends in Natchez Mississippi, forming a 442 mile cycling dream. The well-maintained National Park roadway slips through the farm land and hardwood and coniferous forests of the American south. Including all my side trips to small towns and historic sites, I plan on pedaling around 500 miles on this charity ride. The funds being raised for this effort are going to the Humane Society, and donations can be made online at FirstGiving.com/PedalforPups.

The ride is sponsored by Merrell, who supports many charities through various programs. Merrell has kindly given to the cause and donated gear for the trip. I’m always impressed with this companies openness to give back. Thanks Merrell!

Most people that I’ve talked to about my trip are excited about the idea and love the fund raising aspect. Those not initiated to endurance sports don’t quite understand how a person can pedal a bike 500 miles in a week. This is the one question I didn’t prepare for since I ride my bike over 100 miles a week (in my spare time) and know people who easily ride over 100 miles in a day. Many people I’ve told have even said, “You could just drive a car, ya know?” But what fun would that be? And who wants to donate money to someone who is going to drive their car 500 miles?

For the readers of the Adventure World Magazine blog and digital magazine, I know I’m preaching to the choir. Many of you have accomplished much greater feats than this, and have most likely raised much more money than my campaign will. Adventure is in our blood. I wish it were more contagious, but I know journeys like this aren’t for everyone.

How do YOU explain why you challenge yourself the adventures you take on? I’d love a great one-liner that could help people grasp the concept of doing something slightly outside your comfort zone, for a good cause.

August was a frenzied time for AR World Series races — the absence of an active central governance for the Series can make for situations such as this: the 3-day Raid in France 27-29 August . . . the 3-day Terrex race in the UK 27-30 August.  These events are both in the World Series, and only about 700 miles apart.  To fuel the fire a bit more, the Quechua team — arguably France’s finest adventure race team over the last several years — skipped the race in their home country to go to Costa Rica and race the World Series event scheduled there a few days prior to Raid in France.   Costa Rica’s race took place Aug 24-29.  It’s not like there’s a couple World Series races each weekend — in fact, from March through June there were zero events on the World Series calendar.

I’m not going to turn this into an exploration of the AR World Series schedule and coordination (full disclosure: I organize the Untamed New England race that has been North America’s AR World Series event for the last couple years, and also scheduled in August this year), I’ll save that for another time.  Let’s agree to declare August a very busy month for the Series and start looking at the events outside of North America starting with France.

Raid in France 2010 was organized as a shorter edition over past years, and they included a new beginner-oriented division to the race.  This beginner initiative, called the ICDI (“I Can Do It”) race, would be a 10 hour version of the full 3-day Raid in France and help teams develop the skills to compete in longer races.  I think it’s a great concept, but as a race organizer I know our staff must focus 100% on just a single race — having a  shorter race going on at the same time has always caused us more headaches than rewards.  I haven’t heard how the ICDI race worked out for the French, but I think they only had 7 teams competing on this more gentle race course.  It seems a shame to go through all the effort to plan and organize an ICDI event for just 7 teams, though!

As for the main Raid in France 2010 race, they had 35 teams participating and — in a nostalgic twist for North America, where races requiring support crews have all but disappeared, Raid in France 2010 would still require “team assistants” to stage gear and setup transition areas for each team.  The course was in southwestern France, including the southern Hautes Alpes and traversing through Provence.   Having seen a bit of this terrain myself, I can say emphatically that it’s an amazing location for an adventure race!

The hot sun of Provence took a toll on the teams, with some having to withdraw from the race due to heatstroke.  The speedy ERTips team dropped out of the race after a serious mountain biking accident.

Route selection played a key part in the outcome, and even the eventual race winners Team Raidlight of France found sections to be extremely challenging — they declared themselves “out of the race” based on a few poor early navigation decisions, but overcame these to claim the victory.  Paddling, caving, trekking and mountain biking (with some apparently signature Raid in France hike-a-bike) over 53 hours . . . Team Raidlight emerged the winners and earned the paid entry into the World Championships in Spain in late September.

By Miles Ohlrich

I’ve been impressed with the quality of races that Trioba puts on here in Washington state, and was looking forward to Trioba’s 33 hour “midnight start” adventure race that would take place in Chelan this fall. I attended as part of Team Mergeo: our team was Miles Ohlrich (me), Roger Michel, Andrew Feucht, and Beth Brewster.

We discovered that the gear drop was an adventure in itself when our team arrived together in Chelan Falls. Staff directed us to drop off our kayaks and continue to the next drop-off spot in Entiat. As we drove, we tried to guess what the course would look like, but we never suspected when we dropped off our bikes that we would next be going to Plain, at the far end of the Entiat crest. I suspected that we would need to be transported somewhere, and when we arrived in Plain to get our maps and final directions, we discovered that we would be boarding a bus for an hour and a half bus ride to somewhere back in the Chelan area.

The map work was somewhat daunting – we copied checkpoints onto 10 maps that covered a 100+ mile point to point race across northern Washington. I feared that at least a few of the roads on the USGS maps that we received would not exist any more, and that there might be a few new unmapped forest roads that would keep us guessing, making our navigation a little trickier. We used as many supplemental maps as we could to identify the most appropriate routes in the two hours that we had before we boarded the bus.

We rested as much as we could while the bus carried us on the 1.5 hour trip back to a park in Chelan for the midnight start of the race. There, we were given an orienteering map of Chelan containing 12 marked check points (CPs), and in “street scramble” style, we raced around town to visit the CPs in any order, answering a question on our answer sheet about some object at each location. We turned in this answer sheet at the finish location just outside of town at the base of Chelan Butte. During the next leg, we trekked through the Chelan Butte Wilderness Area, mostly off trail. We travelled through rugged scrubland with occasional thick sagebrush and scattered trees and bushes. The initial climb from Chelan up to Chelan Butte was incredibly steep, and we found ourselves sliding backwards on the steep gravelly terrain as we struggled up the 2600 foot climb. Ahead of us, we could see the bobbing headlamps of the two teams in the lead, and behind us, a line of small glowing orbs snaked up from the bottom of the hill. The moon and stars danced above us.
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