Adventure Racing race 4:55:00 [4] **
STORM The Trent - 1-day Trek adventure race. The well-organized STORM weekend consists of two 1-day races, the longer Trek and the shorter Hike. There is also a concurrent 2-day stage race with support crew, which we would like to do, except for the support crew part. In all STORM events, much of the race course is marked, with the exception of paddling sections and the advanced section. Thus the weekend attracts a large number of participants compared to other ARs around here. It's a great race for newbies, and also a great race for experienced racers who want to put their heads down and push hard on a fun multi-sport course.
We started off with an 8K paddle on Rice Lake. There was a stiff breeze, and we started with 2K into the wind, followed by 4K downwind, then 2K back upwind. The boats all lined up in the water for a mass start, then we took off into the wind. Since paddling involves so much upper body, I don't look to compete with guys, but I guess today's conditions were perfect for a relatively small, Trayling-coached person sitting low in the water in a long kayak. To my surprise, I was one of the first boats to the first CP - even ahead of 'Bent, then I turned around for the 4K downwind stretch. It was no longer helpful to be small and low in the water, so I waited for the crowds to pass me, but only saw 'Bent's kayak and Dave Zietsma's coed canoe (which I drafted for awhile as we chatted). After getting the 2nd CP, we turned back up into the wind. Just to be able to say I did, I pulled ahead of Zietsma's team about 400 meters before the finish. However, he was the first of several boats that passed me on the 350 m portage to the boat corral - one of the disadvantages of being a solo woman.
Next we biked south on fun country roads with great views, arriving at the Northumberland Forest, where we did a nice stretch of single track. My energy level had been pathetic since the start of the race - perhaps because of my cold last week - and in this section, I realized that I was holding it together today entirely through skills that I've put time into learning - paddling in the first section, climbing hills on my bike and now single track where I could pass some people who were walking. Nice to see that it actually helps.
So I was looking forward to the upcoming trek section. The regular course followed winding marked trails to 4 CPs, and I would take this opportunity to use my compass to bushwhack and cut corners to save time over the faster trail runners. ***Sigh*** The first two CPs were misplaced in such ways that someone navigating off-trail like me, with only a trail map to work with, could only find them through extensive wandering and pure luck. The people who simply followed the longer marked trail route were led to the CPs in their wrong locations. Overall, I gave up 13-15 minutes on the trek section because of this, and ended up surrounded by teams I'd been well ahead of - grrrrr. The other two regular CPs and the three advanced CPs (without marked trails leading to them) were placed perfectly - yay.
From there, we rode our bikes through some nice Oak Ridges Moraine hills, rocks and sand, leading to dirt roads and finally hilly paved roads. I'm not usually a happy road rider because of the cars-coming-too-close-to-bikes factor, but even I really enjoyed this road ride. In fact, virtually all of the biking we did today was as fun as any biking we ever do, which is unusual for an adventure race. (Except ESAR, which is run by keen bikers in areas with good bike trails.)
We had an off-road bike orienteering section at the end (very fun!), then a quick ride to Golden Beach Resort, where 'Bent awaited with the amazing news that he was the very first person across the finish line!!!! Considering that his bike handle bars snapped in half last weekend, and he had two flat tires this morning, it was quite a victory for him to be able to ride in first on his recumbent.
I'm very proud of him!!!!!! I'm not sure how many teams were between us, but I was the 2nd solo overall this year. I'm happy about that, of course, and I had a fun day playing outdoors, but I'm not happy about my low energy or the misplaced CPs. I like each race to be a positive learning experience though, and today's main takeaway was that working on sport-specific skills can save my butt on days when I don't feel strong physically.