Salomon Adventure Challenge
Kawarthas Long Course
(Bobcaygeon, Ontario)
July 17,
2004
Oh what a
race! The second ever Salomon Adventure Challenge long-course saw
29 teams start their 60 km race at 4am!
START to
CP2/TA1: Trekking
The early
morning saw teams test their skills at night navigation with a trek
from the start line. Teams were instructed to follow a trail that
would take them to CP1. How tough could a trail be? With in a few
short minutes the trail branched into three choices. This option
had teams scattering in all directions and would see the first
opportunity for teams to break away from the pack. Teams P.I.T.
and Plod along were 1st and 2nd into
CP1. Teams Kinetic Konnection, Axis Gear and Had no Plans
were hot on their tales. Two teams we would see a lot of later, team
ESAR.ca and Intrepid-Dickson Printing were 19th
and 24th respectively into CP1.
With the
easy part of the trek over, teams would then travel overland to CP
2. There were no trails to this checkpoint – but the fastest route
was to stay slightly West and travel over the high ground. If teams
chose a straight south bearing they would find a few swamps and more
than their share of mosquitoes.
At CP 2 we
saw some of the better bushwackers push their way to the front of
the pack. Lather Rinse Repeat who were 9th into
CP1 had now taken over first place. Beowulf/Lightning was
only one minute behind and also the first co-ed team into CP 2.
Axis Gear – one of the lead teams to CP 1 had now dropped into
21st position after a tough swamp trek. Teams P.I.T.
and Plod along had dropped to 6th and 13th
respectively. Kinetic Konnection was still holding 3rd
position through this section.
CP2/TA1 to
CP3/TA2: Paddling
This second
leg of the course had teams paddle 14km to CP3. Different portage
options were available and teams tried everything! What was
surprising were the number of teams that had trouble navigating to
the various portages as well as the marina at the end of the
paddle. The coves and inlets on the lake proved to be a little
trickier than what could be seen on the 1:50000 topo map.
Still holding onto first place, Lather Rinse Repeat paddled into
CP3 with only a minute lead on Beofwulf/Lightning. Kinetic
Konnection would win the award for consistency as once again the
were third into CP3. This transition had the lead teams in
transition for approximately 10 minutes. The average TA time was 16
minutes and Soggy Bottom Boys held the Transition title by
staying for 29 minutes! By this time team BonkAvengers.ca
had moved into 4th and team ESAR.ca had slid into
5th place. CP3 saw our lead all female team the
Adidas Divas arrive feeling great as the first all female team.
CP3 to MP1
to CP4: Mountain Biking
Lead teams
were now well into the fourth hour of racing. With over half of the
course to go, the race was still tight between the top ten teams. A
fast ride to MP1 would soon find teams facing the Beaver trail. Two
options: Go through the waste deep mud swamp or around the rideable
snowmobile trial to the right. Many teams were perplexed to find
teams that had passed them somewhere on the trail. Teams that took
the longer route around the swamp ultimately came out in front.
Many of the lead teams ploughed ahead through the swamp only to find
they had to pass teams later in the bike ride.
Lather
Rinse Repeat was still holding 1st
although their lead was still only 2 minutes ahead of co-ed team
Beowulf/Lightning. At this CP, teams that arrived before 12
noon were given the option to try the advanced trek and advanced
bike section. 19 teams made the cut off time and 18 of them chose
to continue on the advanced section. Team Priority One chose
to remain on the regular course even though they had made the cut
off time. This would prove to be a wise choice later in the race.
CP4 to
CP4A: Biking
An easy ride
to the top of the quarry held teams in their current place. From
here, teams then had an off trail trek that would change the outcome
of the race and test teams in their route finding choices.
CP4A to
CP4B: Trekking
Eighteen
teams would leave CP4A and only 14 teams would make it to CP4B.
Team ESAR.ca had the fastest trek time through this section –
2hours and 44minutes! Having started the race in 19th
they had moved up in the ranks to 2nd place.
CP4B to CP5:
Mountain Biking
CP4 to CP 5:
Mountain Biking
This was a
fast bike for the advanced course teams. A combination of fire
roads and trails would lead teams to CP 5 and the final canoe leg.
Regular
course teams mountain biked from CP4 into CP5. Adidas Divas were
still holding their own as they biked into CP 5 tying up first place
in the women’s category. Team Lather Rinse Repeat had a full
10 minute lead on Team ESAR.ca coming into this paddle
section off the advanced course. Team Beofwulf/Lightning was
the only team that actually had a time credit due to lightening on
the course. (perhaps a name change would be in order). Team TNT
also got a break at CP5 due to some missing paddles. They were
credited 19 minutes for the untransported TA gear. Once again, team
Kinetic Konnection arrived in third place 16 minutes behind
the leaders!
CP5 to
Finish: Paddle
There were a
few route choices teams could make to the finish line. Teams could
portage over the land and paddle to the finish or they could portage
their canoes over 1km through the city to cut off approximately 2km
from the paddle! Our lead teams chose the long portage which
resulted in the closest finish ever in an SAC. Team Lather Rinse
Repeat and Team ESAR.ca came running down the road neck
and neck into the final stretch. Due to the lightening the FAR
staff was not able to put up the finish line and the teams scrambled
across the arena doors in a dead sprint with canoes in tow! The
result was a first ever tie in the Salomon Adventure Challenge!
Team Beowulf/Lightning was the first Co-ed team to cross the
line and the Adidas Divas held onto to their first place in
the women’s category.
Congratulations to all the teams that participated! This was a
great step in challenging yourself to the next level of adventure
racing!
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