LBL Adventure Challenge – 24 Hours

Sunday, March 25, 2012
By: Garret Bean

Tecnu Adventure Racing arrived in Nashville at 11:00pm on Thursday night for the Bonk Hard Race Series – 24 Hour LBL Adventure Challenge. The team consisted of Kyle Peters and Garret Bean from northern California, Ryan Ognibene from Boulder, CO, and Mindy Fernando from Michigan. This was to be the first time these four had EVER raced together before, and it was the be the first race of the 2012 season for Tecnu’s new domestic squad, and expectations were high.

On Friday afternoon, after another quick stop at the Waffle House, the boys met up with Mindy, the new Queen of the Machine, at the Paris Landing Inn. The stage was set in a room overlooking the lakes and it was time to unpack and get the gear ready. The bikes came out of the bike boxes and after a quick rebuild it was evident that the airport had done damage and the pulley on my derailleur was broken in transit and Kyle’s brakes that were recently serviced weren’t grabbing like they should. Rather than risk broken parts on the trail and losing control on the bike, it was time to do some shopping. I headed into town and found a bike shop that got me a pulley and worked on Kyle’s brakes for about 2.5 hours. Meantime the rest of the team was assembling gear, sleeping, and eating.

We reconvened at 7 PM that night, got our gear wrapped up, and headed to the pre-race briefing. As expected, everyone there knew Kyle from his two years at the helm as Captain of Tecnu. Mindy, Ryan, and I were relatively unknowns and some thought we were brought over from the Tough Mudder series. It was great seeing the teams that we knew about, the ones that we have raced against in the past and a lot of new faces for some of us. The course had been set; it was a trek, to bike, to paddle, to orienteering course, to bike, to paddle, to trek, to bike. A lot of transitions that would make organization and planning a key part in the race. Earring Doug Judson, Tecnu Team Manager, was tracking all of this from Nor-Cal and relaying the briefings to the friends and sponsors of team Tecnu.

At 7:25 am saturday morning, there were 120 adventure racers singing the national anthem, although I’m sure the campers in the nearby State Park were not appreciative of our early morning revelry. We lined up at the gate and bolted out at the proverbial gun, some racers yelled go. The teams were off and Tecnu bolted to the front. We went up and a little off trail and down a mountain. Within the first five minutes we had lost our passport… whoops. Well so much for the blistering start. We doubled back and went searching, contemplating whether or not to get a new one from headquarters. After some searching on the hillside, we found it; the passport was never put in the cursed pocket again. We reset and it was time to catch up, from first to last, argh!. Shortly we came across the walking racers in the back; yes we were dead last and passed by all. Then we started chipping away, I followed Mindy as she took charge, parting the sea of people and led us past about 70 % of the field. The first checkpoint (CP) was in a re-entrant and by this time we had caught up to Alpine Shop, one of the best known teams in the field that day. We grabbed it quickly and set off to knock out the next couple CPs. We bush whacked and attacked each CP with precision, by the time we got to the bikes we had traveled about 10 km, and reset the rankings and found ourselves in 3rd place out of 51 teams.
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Global excitement is running high as the countdown begins to the toughest all-female sporting competition on the planet, the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles. An all-female rally raid through the deserts of Morocco, the event will kick off in less than two weeks at the Trocadero Gardens in Paris on March 17th, and end with a finish at the beautiful coastal town of Essaouira on March 31st.

Started by French woman Dominique Serra in 1990, the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles brings women from across the globe together to battle the off-road terrain of the Sahara with only a compass, a ruler, and a few outdated maps. No cell phones, no GPS, and no support crews. The goal is to reach each checkpoint in the shortest amount of distance. Rather than speed, dead-on navigation is the goal, with the winner having the fewest excess kilometers and penalty points. There is no prize here, just pure glory.

Two teams from the U.S. will join the rally this year, one returning for the second time, and another brand new to the event. Amy Lerner and Tricia Reina, two sisters from the east coast, are competing for the second time, and hope to bring their experience and knowledge from last year into the grueling nine-day event. Lerner will reprise her role as the pilot, and Reina will handle the navigation duties. For Rachelle Croft and Julie Meddows, 2012 marks their first year as participants in the rally, and they have trained in the deserts of Southern California to prepare for Morocco’s unique terrain. Croft will use her off-road skills as the pilot, and Meddows is preparing for the role of navigator. Both American teams have transported vehicles specifically for the event: Team Lerner/Reina had their Jeep Rubicon customized by AEV shipped overseas, along with Team Xelles’ (Croft/Meddows) customized Toyota FJ Cruiser.

Spectators and fans anxious to keep up with the results can watch the teams live via satellite tracking on the official rally website: http://www.rallyeaichadesgazelles.com

The rally’s extensive humanitarian efforts will once again be in full force this year. The Heart of Gazelles, a partner non-profit dedicated to providing services through Northern Africa alongside the event, brings aid to the region through extensive medical services, support to orphanages and schools, sustainable development for villages, and job development for women. The Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles is also the only motorsport event globally with ISO 14001 Certification, having adopted strict environmental and citizen-friendly mandates and commitments.

Ty Stevens

In the words of Todd Branham, Swank 65 race director ”it’s the most laid back, serious MTB race in the Southeast”. Well, I guess so, if you consider 40 miles of gnarly downhills, fast twisty single track, long steep climbs and sheer rock drops, all within the backdrop of epically scenic Pisgah National Forest, a fun way to spend a day. I sure did.

Todd founded Blue Ridge Adventures in 1998 as a bicycle guide and race promotion company. His company now comprises of 3 premiere and highly respected mountain bike races in Western North Carolina. As well, his company represents the Carolina Youth Mountain Bike League, or CYMBL, a series of low cost races for kids held throughout the Summer. Each event is coupled with an educational clinic to teach kids about nutrition, trail etiquette, bike maintenance, and stretching.

Swank 65, considered by its participants to be a truly authentic mountain bike race experience, has been bringing riders to tears and to Western North Carolina for 13 years. This race dishes up some of the best and most iconic riding Pisgah has to offer. Riders can expect mixed terrain single track sections, multiple creek crossings, lengthy fire road climbs and unpredictable downhills – some technical, some sudden with rock gardens and ledges, some flowy and FAST. It’s not uncommon to expect a good deal of hike and bike at certain times through the race. And you will get dirty.

“The key to being successful at Swank is the ability to flow” says Todd, “the course is designed to flow, if you’re not flowing, you’re not having a good day out there”.

Whether you are flowing or not, it’s you against the elements in effort to pedal your way through and earn a spot amidst the Pisgah mountain biking gods and godesses, so to speak. In the end, the reward; cold brew, fresh off the grill burgers, some of the most beautiful scenery in all of Western North Carolina.. and of course, serious bragging rights. I’d consider Swank, or any of Blue Ridge Adventure’s hair raising mountain bike races, a right of passage of sorts.
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The APEX Race, (Alpine Expedition Adventure Race) returns to Berner Oberland for the second edition of “the most beautiful adventure race in the world”.

The beautiful Swiss Alpine region of Berner Oberland will once again host the Swiss World Series Adventure Race, the APEX Race. Host venue will be the town of Interlaken, known as the “Adventure Capital of Europe”, situated beautifully at the foot of the Alps and right in between the Lakes of Brienz and Thun.

Dates for the 2012 edition have moved forward a couple of weeks and are set for June 5th – 10th, which will again ensure adventurous experiences from different seasonal conditions.

The race in 2011 was set up to be one of the most beautiful and scenic races in the world and afterwards many teams would also regard it as one of the toughest and most challenging.

30 teams representing 17 different nations took part in the event and all greatly contributed to the positive, and friendly atmosphere that also came to characterize the event. Continue Reading

When thinking of world class cycling races, European locales such as Spain, France, and Italy come to mind. The last spot one might imagine as a candidate for a pro cycling battle royale is a subtropical  island in the south Pacific known for manufacturing. Nonetheless, that’s just where I traveled to race and mingle with some very well known cycling teams recently.

To westerners, Taiwan could be easily lumped into that group of  “Made in …” countries we see on all our clothing labels and stamped on the bottom of most everything we buy at the almighty Wal Mart. But, as I’ve discovered, Taiwan is working on their image and making a convincing case as a contender for serious road racing. Dramatic emerald-colored mountains dropping swiftly to the sea, deep gorges draped in smooth marble, and sweeping valley vistas create a phenomenal backdrop for a one day classic race. Continue Reading

It was action and upsets aplenty at today’s Anaconda Adventure Race National Series held at Augusta, in Western Australia, with the Kiwi contingent taking its first ever win in the Trans Tasman Trophy, an annual grudge adventure match-up between New Zealand and Australia.

The Kiwis conquered the reigning Australian team by 30 minutes and 17 seconds, the Trans Tasman winner decided by the cumulative times of each of the three individual racers representing their countries.

World Multisport Champion Richard Ussher won outright to give his team a healthy early showing, crossing the line in 3 hours 55 minutes and 5 seconds. The win also returns Ussher to being the overall leader of the Anaconda Adventure Race National Series with only one round remaining.

West Australian elite athlete, Sean O’Neill came home second to restore some adventure racing pride for the Aussies with a time of 4 hours and 37 seconds.

Third place was snatched by a New Zealander, however Braden Currie was not a member of the Kiwi team racing for Trans Tasman honours. His first place in the previous Anaconda Adventure Race outing at the Gold Coast in September came too late for selection.

Rounding out the dominance of the New Zealanders were Trevor Voyce in fourth and Fleur Lattimore, who won the overall female category in her first ever Anaconda Adventure Race in a time of 4 hours 43 minutes and 31 seconds.
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By Cyril Jay-Rayon

After completing an expedition length adventure race, you find yourself reliving parts of the race for weeks following such an intense experience. The journey you go through is so profound that memories percolate at random times after returning to normal life. You might be engaged in such a mundane activity as grocery shopping when a vivid memory pops into your mind. Sometimes you don’t know why the memory surfaces while other times you see the connection. The simple sight of an eggplant might trigger the memory of the purple bruise on your teammate’s leg after an unwelcome crash or the hallucination you had one night that eggplants were hanging from trees (I’ve had stranger hallucinations). The vivid memories that inhabit your mind bring back all sorts of emotions and feelings you experienced during the race. Joy, awe, satisfaction, exhilaration, camaraderie, disappointment, frustration, and pain are only some of the sensations that weave themselves into a tapestry of emotional ebbs and flows. During these long races on little sleep, it is not uncommon to experience emotional extremes in a matter of just a few hours.

The Gold Rush Mother Lode World Championship Qualifier was no exception in the sense that it brought about strong emotions. What was different though, for me, is that after the first day, only three emotions permeated my world and these were at the less enjoyable end of the spectrum, misery, frustration, and disappointment. I felt miserable because halfway through the race, I could no longer take full breaths, my throat was on fire, and coughing sent pain throughout my weakened body. I felt frustrated because my mind was still clear but my body produced no power, and I felt disappointment because I ruined my team’s chances of winning the race after leading it early on.
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Team “HT-18” from Helicopter Training Squadron EIGHTEEN (HT-18), from Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Milton, Fla., were named the 2011 All-Military Wilderness Challenge champions, October 8, with a winning overall time of 7:30:47. Team “Motor City Racing” from Coast Guard Medical Clinic in Detroit, Mich., came in second with a time of 7:34:08 and Team “Paradoxical Trinity” from Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., was third with a time of 7:40:17.

The challenge was sponsored by Mid-Atlantic Region, Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) Department, Naval Weapons Station (WPNSTA) Yorktown and ACE Adventure Resort, West Virginia’s largest outdoor outfitter. More than 100 military personnel representing all five branches of the armed forces competed in a series of five outdoor adventure races over two days in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains and on the New and the Gauley Rivers in West Virginia.

“We wanted to finish first,” said Cmdr. John Quillinan, U.S. Navy, HT-18 Team Captain. “At the end of the first day we were up by three minutes, so we started thinking we can do this. On day two, we pushed ourselves hard to get to the finish.”

Teams participating in the Wilderness Challenge competed in an 8K mountain run, a 10-mile mountain bike race, a 15-mile forced hike through the mountains, a 14-mile whitewater raft race on the Gauley River and a 7-mile kayak race on the New River…more than 50 miles covered in two days.
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By Paul Cox

The first annual Kawnivore lived up to its billing

Those of us who rush to paddle our local rivers after work and every other chance we get do so, I’m guessing, because we enjoy the rhythm of the paddling motion. The sensation of propelling yourself through the water as quickly as you can by channeling your effort in the most efficient manner is energizing. The sound of the paddle jabbing the water, the blade slicing toward and away from you as you rotate in the seat and pull, and the clean swishing sound the water makes as it slides off your paddle as you lift is joy. Repeat. Repeat. It’s a good feeling … but, unfortunately, there would be very little of that during the first annual Kawnivore paddle race July 22-23. At least there wouldn’t be much of that in succession.

The temperature in Manhattan, KS, according to the digital sign at a local bank, hit 105 degrees a few hours before the start of the race. God knows what the heat index was. I was too scared to find out. Even though we’d race through the night, I knew there would be enough time for the heat to melt my will to paddle in the incredibly shallow water of the Kaw River.

Because the Missouri River has been at flood stage for so long, the faucets essentially had been turned off in those rivers that feed it. The Kaw River (the Native American name for the West-to-East ribbon of water that now is named the Kansas River) dumps into the Missouri, so paddlers knew this race would be no float trip. We were going to have to earn every one of the 94 miles.

Still, more than 124 boats had registered for the race. Paddlers lined up for the start in the Blue River maybe 100 meters from its confluence with the Kaw in Manhattan. The race would end in Lawrence, KS. The multi-person and solo female boats began at 5:30 p.m. The solo males — my group — took to the line at 5:45 p.m. and sat in our boats waiting for the 6 p.m. start. I figured those in my group would burst off the line in an all-out sprint to catch a ride on the wake offered by the fast tandems that had a 30-minute head start. I prepared to suffer. Then, as nervous energy built, I began tightening and tinkering around with my rigging, lighting, GPS, etc. Bad idea. The start was just a few minutes away when I snapped my bow light clean off! Good Lord!! I couldn’t possibly miss the start! I paddled my kayak to the shore where, thanks to the generosity of another racer who happened to be stowing a full roll of duct tape in his cockpit, I was able to tape down my light just good enough so it didn’t drag in the water. Good for now, I thought.
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A new venue served as a fitting place to crown new XTERRA world champions.

The 16th XTERRA World Championship turned into a sweet celebration for Michael Weiss, Lesley Paterson and Kapalua, Maui.

Weiss and Paterson earned their first XTERRA world titles on a new course that was described as both beautiful and brutal. After 15 previous years at Makena, the XTERRA World Championship off-road triathlon moved to the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua this year. A total of 675 athletes representing 28 countries and 42 states participated in the event, which featured a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 30-kilometer mountain bike and a 10-kilometer trail run.

INSPIRING BIKE SURGE LEADS WEISS TO WIN
Weiss was the overall winner, completing the course in 2 hours, 27 minutes, including an astonishing bike split of 1:19:32. No other competitor finished with a bike time under 1:21:03. It was a breakthrough win for the 30-year-old Weiss, who had finished second at the 2008 XTERRA Worlds, and then third in 2009 and 2010.

“It’s amazing,” said Weiss, who is from Vienna, Austria. “I still cannot believe it. A big dream came true, and it was a really tough course.”

Weiss was in the middle of the pack after the swim, but made his remarkable move to the front on the bike. By midway through the bike course, Weiss and South Africa’s Dan Hugo were riding next to each other in second place.

The only rider in front of them was the legendary seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who was competing in the XTERRA World Championship for the first time.

Weiss and Hugo actually talked about working together so that they could conserve energy in their pursuit of Armstrong.

“That was a critical moment for me, about three-quarters of the way through the bike and I was with Weiss, and we said let’s work together, but (Weiss) was one notch stronger and he kind of took off from me and he bridged to Armstrong,” said Hugo.
Shortly after breaking away from Hugo, Weiss closed in on Armstrong, and said it gave him an adrenaline rush that pushed him all the way to the finish line.

“It felt amazing,” Weiss said. “I had goose bumps. It’s something very special to catch Lance on a climb. It was an amazing feeling, and even motivated me more.”

Weiss used that motivation to do the unthinkable – he passed Armstrong on an uphill bike climb.
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It was mid-summer, 4:30am in the Green Mountains of Central Vermont. Prime adventure race time. This was GMARA‘s summer event, the 12-hour MVP Health Care Bitter Pill adventure race.

The captains meeting took place in the dark, and teams got about 10 minutes to look at their maps before a 5am start. Teams took off on foot, trekking to 6 points in any order — some beautiful sunrise vistas, a huge field of wild blueberries, and then teams returned to the start to pick up their bikes for some fun logging roads and hike-a-bike out to a reservoir. There teams trekked and swam to pick up four points. Comments from the local fishermen seeing teams of three swimming the reservoir towing drybagged backpacks were priceless!

More biking, followed by some bushwhack to a surprise mountain climb, and teams enjoyed one truly incredible view over Lake Dunmore. Another swim/trek leg, this time around Vermont’s Silver Lake, and then teams completed more mountain biking to the finish.

In the words of race director Tim Curtin, “At the end of the day, team Untamed New England was unstoppable, turning an early lead into a course-crushing 9 hours 56 minutes – finishing an hour and a half faster than the next team.” GMARA president, Chris Yager, observed how the Untamed New England team were “Consummate professionals and great ambassadors of the sport. We loved having them on the course.”

The Untamed New England race team consisted of Dave Lamb, Molly Housman, and Dave Romilly. In winning the race, they earned a place at the USARA National Championship race later this year. Continue Reading

A portion of the tagline for Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme (RTNX) reads “Real Wilderness.” After more than three days of racing the RTNX unmarked course in BC’s West Kootenay, participating teams have no doubt that they are being tested in some of the most ‘real wilderness’ imaginable. And they have to be prepared for it physically and mentally.

Challenging weather earlier in the week took its toll on some racers, leaving teams to deal with ill and injured teammates. In these cases, teams have to decide whether to rest and hope time heals; call for help, take care of the injured teammate and continue on as a smaller team; or, return to the last major transition area and withdraw from the race.

By Wednesday morning, four teams had faced setbacks that left them at TA3 at the end of the first paddle on standby to complete a shortened version of the course: Adrenaline Rush, Blue, HTFU/Sunovion, Nord Vrai, Suburban Rush. Cranksports Team Currahee, the last on the paddle, arrived at TA3 mid-morning, greeted by staff and Shaw TV and were able to proceed onto the shortened course in the afternoon. Though HFTU/Sunovion set off on the short course, they returned later that night to TA3 due to one team member being ill.

Custom Cellular had made it into the high alpine of Valhalla Park and were in second place when cold, wet weather, including ice pellets, exacerbated a previously existing medical condition in one team member, so they elected to return to TA3. The team arrived early morning visibly disappointed but safe. Pentahlondesneiges.com elected to move forward as a team of three from TA3 after some irreconcilable differences with a teammate. SOG was at CP8 Ice Creek Lodge when one of their members elected to withdraw from the race. The team moved forward as a team of three. Dancing Pandas, after 20+ hours in Valhalla Park, elected to return to TA3 and take on a shortened course so that they would be able to experiemce as much of the course as possible rather than risk missing a cutoff while in the Park. The Pandas rested at TA3 for a few hours and set off again at midnight. Climb4SMA (Torti) was at the base of the trail up into Valhalla when one of their team members fell ill and they elected to return to TA3.

The remainder of the field is working their way through Valhalla Park and into the rest of the course. There are incremental cutoffs in place at various CPs to expedite the flow through the course as the finish line cutoff creeps closer. This allows teams to continue to move through the course, experience its challenges, and make their way to the finish line unassisted.

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Mother Nature added an extra layer of complexity to the Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme day two challenges as racers worked their way through the Slocan Valley and into Valhalla Park. The weather fluctuated between brilliant blue skies and epic proportion downpours throughout the day and well into the night.

Current race leaders, Team WildernessTraverse.com are living up to their reputation as a team to watch during this RTNX event as they have a commanding lead over the next ranked team. Team WildernessTraverse.com were seen in Kootenay Lake paddling and testing out the demo canoes after Kaslo’s Welcome Dinner. WildernessTraverse.com were through the third transition and into canoes very early on Monday. Chasing after them are Team Custom Cellular and Team GearJunkies.com/Yogaslackers.

Meanwhile the remaining teams continued to work their way to the transition area at Retallac over the course of the day. A few gear, navigational and medical issues affected some of the teams, which caused several delays in the estimated arrival time for many. Some teams came into Retallac with a quick turnaround strategy; as the day wore on and the longer teams were out on course, the more transition time they would elect to take. Event medical staff kept busy attending to blisters, scrapes and bruises from the trekking section. The overgrowth of aggressive plants like Devil’s Club and Alder are making the treks very arduous in some places. Foot care is of the utmost importance during events of this intensity and these are early times as yet.

Local team Kootenay Kaos arrived at the paddle transition in Silverton after 9pm, in the dark, in the midst of almost monsoon rains, and to the supportive cheers of friends and family. They would have spent 5hrs on mountain bikes riding in less than ideal conditions and were preparing to trade their bikes for canoes to paddle 20km down Slocan Lake to the next transition. As they changed clothes, fueled and got organized for the paddle, more teams continued to arrive by headlamp in the dark, damp night. Despite the challenging conditions, teams’ spirits were amazingly high with anticipation of the paddle and subsequent stages that lay ahead.

As weather conditions deteriorated throughout the night, more and more teams were suffering from the side effects and were spreading more thinly throughout the course. A few teams lost racing companions due to injury so substitutes were made (or in some cases not) to enable teams to go on and complete the course as uncategorized or unranked. Some injured or sick racers elected to press on, with the commitment of first aid check-ins at each possible checkpoint and transition area.

At the Silverton transition, some teams opted to wait out the weather and get some rest before moving forward. Other teams were gone within 30 minutes.

The next series of challenges arise in the much-anticipated Valhalla Park area where racers will be visiting heli-accessible Ice Creek Lodge high in the alpine. And snow.

A year’s worth of training and preparation were put to the test today for 120 athletes from around the world as Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme (RTNX) kicked off at 10 am in Meadow Creek, BC. Blue skies and sunshine smiled down on the prominent start line arch as racers cycled though.

The introduction to RTNX was a lengthy, challenging mountain bike stage on a forest service road that gained 1000m of elevation over 15km. This seemingly short distance was taking some teams as long as 4hrs to complete due to the elevation gain. Such a challenge early in the race saw racers employing teamwork tactics to conserve energy. Stronger climbers towed weaker climbers, stronger riders pushed their teammates, and fatigued racers pushed their bikes up the steep inclines. With a 500km unmarked course to cover, racers will employ a variety of strategies like these to ensure each team member has the fitness to tackle the rugged terrain ahead.

A big factor in teams’ success yesterday was proper management of hydration and exposure to the sun. With temperatures climbing to normal summer highs and teams climbing to higher and higher elevation, heat from the sun became quite oppressive at elevation. One racer was overheard saying that it was “nice, beautiful weather for suffering!”

The first transition stage was located at Retallack Lodge, a cat-ski lodge located in the area of a former 19th century mining town. RTNX Base Camp relocated to the Lodge and awaited the first team’s arrival. Retallack provided very comfortable and welcoming accommodations for race staff and crew as they supported racers coming through the transition area. The first team arrived into Retallack at a little before 1am. Team WildernessTraverse.com spent approximately 30 minutes refueling, changing clothes and donning equipment to transition to a mountain bike stage in which they would eventually make their way, sometimes through snow pack, to the top of Idaho Peak, which is renowned for its vistas. From the top of Idaho Peak, racers will ride the historic Wakefield Trail, which zigzags its way down from the peak with extreme exposure, which can be an intimidating factor for some.

Teams will eventually make their way to the second transition area for a 20km paddle south on Slocan Lake from Silverton to Slocan City.

Team Nord Vrai is currently in Nelson, BC getting ready to start the check-in process for this year’s Raid the North Extreme. This team consists of 3 Coloradians and one New Yorker. This will be the first time this team combination will race together.

Who are the team players for this year’s RTNX?

Chrissy “The Greek Freak” Nacos
Age: 36
Biggest asset to the team: Chrissy greatest asset is her Greek determination. As a chemical engineer, let’s just say she is the “organized one of the bunch. This special skill is highlighted in everything from her final preparation including labels to her meticulous training schedule down to the minute. As a single parent with a full time job, we all know how challenging it is finding enough time to train. Yet she still crushes her team mates.

Lisa “Bone Crusher” Lieb
Age: 41
Biggest asset to the team: Bringing “Foxy Roxy – the Trek Top Fuel 99” – one hot Mountain Biking chick that can hammer. She is a professional mountain biking guide from Colorado who gets to ride incredible terrain on a daily basis. As an ex – Xterra Athlete, she has the ability to downhill while texting multiple people. Her experience base will come in handy as she is towing her boys up the mountains. Lisa has been known to practice crashes just to prepare for a race to toughen her up, thus the reason they call her the “bone crusher.”

Scott “The Mule” Cary
Age: 37
Biggest asset to the team: Lead navigator. He has spent time with local animal trackers, Indian spirit guides and other non orthodox ways of making sure we can successfully navigate the local landscape by all means possible. Scott has been known to find secret passage ways and short cuts just by tasting the land. Recent reports out of Colorado has confirm another sitting of Sasquatch, however we know it was just Scott in the back country. Although he tells us he has trimmed so he does not scare the local kids. Scott “the Mule” is known for carrying large loads and eating everything in sight, but don’t call him an a$$.

Keith “Krash” Ash Continue Reading

Anticipation continues to build for the 120 exceptionally fit and skilled adventurers who have signed up for the 2011 edition of Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme (RTNX). After a comprehensive registration process, including skills tests, racers received the course maps on Friday night and were given 36 hours to research and plot their strategies.

Today was the second and final pre-race preparation day during which the racers, their gear, and the entire RTNX Base Camp were relocated approximately 1 hour north of Nelson to the beautiful, welcoming Village of Kaslo. Here racers had access to their bikes and gear boxes for the last few hours; received SPOT tracker radios, which organizers will use to track each team along the course via GPS (the live tracker map is accessible at the Live HQ for the race www.raidthenorthextreme.com); and attended a final course and safety briefing where they had their last opportunity to ask questions and clarify concerns.

Later in the day, Kaslo Mayor Greg Lay walked throughout the waterfront Base Camp location, greeted racers, spoke with the local team, Kootenay Kaos, and extended a warm welcome to racers during the racer briefing.

Atmosphere RTNX made closer connections with the Kaslo community last night by partnering in a fundraising dinner with parents of a local group of 5th graders from JV Humphries School. The fundraiser contributes to sending the children on a school trip to Fort Steel Pioneer Village, approximately 4hrs away, near Cranbrook BC. The pasta and salad buffet was entirely prepared and served by the children’s parents. Anyone interested in supporting the fundraiser efforts can email sinclairjsarah@gmail.com

With full bellies and a tight timeline Racers donned headlamps and huddled around their maps until well after dark as it was their last chance to transfer additional information onto their race maps. Quiet time hit close to 10:30 pm as this would be the last solid night of sleep teams will see for several nights.

Tomorrow morning racers are transferred to Meadow Creek for a 10 am start.

Checkpoint Zero/Tech4o heads into Raid the North Extreme as the points leader in the Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Series with the National Championship just a few months away.

Who are the team players for this year’s RTNX?

Michele Hobson, 42, Tough as nails competitor willing to drag the team to the finish line if necessary. Good with a bo staff.
Paul Humphreys, 37, Strong on foot, great team motivator, and ropes expert. Token kiwi of the team. Nunchuck expert.
Peter Jolles, 35, Lead navigation, strong mountain biking, and computer hacking skills.
Chris Brown, 37, Expert mountain biking skills, top notch navigation skills and long race experience. Can dance like nobody’s business.

What is your team doing to prepare for the big race?
Peter Jolles:

Most of our training has been as individuals as we all have different schedules and live fairly far apart. Most recently we used the two day Endorphin Fix as a training race. We learned a few key things there that we hope will help us in RTNX.

In a longer race you’ll surely need to catch a bit of sleep; can you talk about your sleep strategy?
Peter Jolles:

This race will be slightly difference from the other long races I’ve done, so I’m not really sure how we plan to address sleep. In past races we’ve pushed hard until we can’t go any further, and then take a bit of rest. That works in 2-3 day races, but in a longer race we’ll need more. I’m hoping that 2-3 hours a day will be enough to keep us sharp, but not slow us down too much.

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WEDALI, the 2010 winner of the USARA National Championship is on the ground in British Columbia and prepping for the start of tomorrow’s Raid the North Extreme. Justin Bakken sent his answers that he typed via his iPhone while traveling yesterday.

Who are the team players for this year’s RTNX?

Scott “Erl” Erlandson, 42
Team sweeper. Keeps everyone together. Stays awake to drive us home safely.

Fredrik Goransson, 35
Woods walker. Speaks in Swedish to the wildlife. Carries food in beard to “save it for later.”

Rachel Furman, 28
Whipper snapper. Bushwhacker. TA fire cracker.

Justin “Biz” Bakken, 31
Moonlit walks on the beach with map and compass. Can time travel.

What is your team doing to prepare for the big race?

We put on a Sprint AR two weeks ago to limit our training as much as possible. We did a lot of armchair AR involving watching RTNX DVDs, visualizing, and harnessing the power of hope. A little trekking, biking, and paddling to spice things up. We’ll be sitting in a car for three days to taper as well.

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The picturesque city of Nelson today played host to more than 120 racers from North America and beyond as they completed a detailed registration process and attended the Opening Ceremonies for the 2011 edition of Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme (RTNX).

Atmosphere RTNX, Canada’s premiere expedition-style adventure race takes place from July 23 to 31, 2011 in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. Four-person co-ed teams will face extreme challenges including a rugged wilderness, team dynamics, sleep deprivation and gear failure as they bike, trek, paddle and use ropes to navigate more than 500km of unmarked terrain through the Selkirk, Purcell and Monashee mountains over six non-stop days.

The inherent risk in a race of this nature means teams must bring a high level of skill and endurance to the start line. Atmosphere RTNX designed a comprehensive mandatory registration process-including navigation and rope skills testing, bike and first aid gear checks, medical and insurance paperwork, and more-to ensure that racers have what it takes to safely challenge the course.

“A number of teams were exempt from some of the mandatory skills tests today,” said Race Director Geoff Langford, “which really speaks to the caliber of competitors attending this race. It’s going to be an exciting week!”

Following registration, teams gathered together for the Opening Ceremonies, which included a welcome from Trail, BC (the finish line location) Mayor Dieter Bog, race staff introductions, and a mesmerizing Cirque de Soleil style demonstration of “acrobatic yoga for adventure racers” by members of Team GearJunkie/YogaSlackers.
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After winning the 2010 Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Championship, Odyssey Adventure Racing/ImOnPoint.org is heading to British Columbia for Raid the North Extreme. They are currently in 2nd place with the 2011 Checkpoint Tracker rankings and 3rd with the USARA National Rankings.

Who are the team players for this year’s RTNX?

Charlie Roberts, age 37.
Biggest asset to the team: Charlie is an excellent navigator, an incredibly gifted athlete and is very strong in all the AR disciplines.

Sara Dallman, age 42.
Biggest asset to the team: Sara is a fast racer and she brings the most racing experience to the team. She has raced all over the world, and that will be a huge resource to draw on as the race progresses. She will also be the team “doctor” watching out for all of us – especially late in the race.

Jen Moos, age 28.
Biggest asset to the team: Jen is insanely fast, extremely motivated and always positive. Whether it is in a TA, on the bike, paddling or on foot she doesn’t stop.

Shane Hagerman, age 41.
Biggest asset to the team: I am the Captain. That means I should have a cool hat. Unfortunately, I don’t have a cool hat and even if I did they wouldn’t let me wear it.

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Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme (ARTNX), Canada’s premiere expedition-style adventure race, is proud to announce a new media strategy that focuses on gaining maximum exposure for all stakeholders through a unique online experience that evolves in tandem with the race itself.

“Adventure racing is a dynamic and exciting sport and we have chosen to move away from our traditional media approach to develop a content-rich, in the moment, online experience including daily videos, blogs, social media feeds, and interactive message boards.” said Geoff Langford, Race Director for Atmosphere RTNX. “This bold new move allows us to share all of the race week excitement and drama with as many people as possible, as close to real time as possible.”

Atmosphere RTNX’s innovative media strategy will allow viewers to be immersed in many aspects of the race – from watching daily racer videos and tracking their locations on an interactive map, to catching a rare glimpse of behind the scenes action – as it unfolds. It will be the next best thing to being there.

The newly designed race week portal is now live at www.raidthenorthextreme.com with pre-race information and updates. Live action race feeds will commence with the crack of the starter’s pistol at 10 am on July 24th, 2011.

Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme, the six-day, non-stop expedition race, takes place from July 23 to 31, 2011 in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. It will feature four-person co-ed teams from around the world as they navigate more than 500 kilometres of unmarked terrain through the Selkirk, Purcell and Monashee mountains. Teams will face extreme challenges including a rugged wilderness, team dynamics, sleep deprivation and gear failure as they bike, trek, paddle and use ropes to navigate their way to the finish line in Trail, BC.

ABOUT FRONTIER ADVENTURE SPORTS & TRAINING INC:

Frontier Adventure Sports & Training Inc (Frontier) is the leading adventure racing company in Canada, operating the popular Raid the North adventure racing series. Now in its 14th year of operation, Frontier has an international reputation for solid logistics, challenging courses and events built around the history and tradition of each region. Atmosphere Raid the North Extreme is one of just two qualifier events in North America for the Adventure Racing World Series to be held this year in Tasmania. Each Raid the North race always remains true to its slogan: Real Wilderness. Real Navigation. Real Adventure.

Collectively, team DART-nuun-SportMulti has some of the best experience heading into this year’s Raid the North Extreme. We caught up with Cyril last night as the team will be leaving for Canada today.

Who are the team players for this year’s RTNX?

Mari Chandler – 34
She drives the team on foot and on the bike and is the master of TAs. All the boys train to make sure they don’t slow Mari down.

Aaron Rinn – 32
The team’s powerhouse. Tows, powers the boats, carries all the gear and when we all falter, tows everyone and navigates. He’s an amazing route finder

Matt Hayes – 30
Navigator and all-around speedster

Cyril Jay-Rayon – 45
The old dude on the team. Navigator and loves the technical stuff, which the RTNX should have plenty of

What is your team doing to prepare for the big race?
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