Training Log Archive: Bash

Packing, drying, throwing out, giving away, napping, walking, chatting, eating, drinking coffee, eating more, cheering MBR at the closing ceremony... Another delicious dinner and great conversation with our Canadian "family" as we celebrated our terrific experience in this spectacular area.

Sadly, no accommodation available on Easter weekend so we spent our final night sleeping on the gritty floor of the TA area and using washrooms that Mr. Funderstorm declared "unfit for terrorists".

TIERRA VIVA
6-day expedition adventure race, part of the AR World Series
Villa Traful, Northern Patagonia, Argentina
March 26-31
Team Tree Huggers - Paul Hingorani, Chad Spence, Vince Trudelle, Barb Campbell

I was researching March backpacking trips in Patagonia when Tierra Viva came onto my radar. My criteria for international adventure races include spectacular scenery, no silly race disciplines, and minimal risks from infected ticks or poisonous snakes. This race fit the bill. Also, the timing was perfect since I'd be home in plenty of time to prepare for the 168-km Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc in August.

Warning: This race report is detailed so I can refer back to it. Unless you're an adventure racing afficionado - or my parents - you may prefer to just scroll through the photos. :)

To summarize for the photo scrollers, this was a beautiful region of Argentina, the organizers treated us very well, the central camp race format simplified logistics considerably with the trade-off that it felt more like a stage race, the treks were tough and spectacular, some of the biking was very scenic but the bumpy roads rattled our bodies, and the paddling was beautiful with simple navigation on very long lakes. Our team completed the majority of the race - about 450 km - but stopped on the 5th day when the weather turned and a teammate was feeling rough. I'm grateful for the experience and look forward to spending more time in Patagonia.

And now the more detailed version...
________________________________

As the cliché says, getting to the start was half the battle, and I've already written up that half-battle with photos. Part 1 of my report finished a few hours before the race.
http://ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_920/per...

Here's the landscape around the quiet village of Villa Traful where the race started and finished, and where the central camp was located. It looked like we might have to climb some hills. :)





This one's for you, Sally.



Race HQ was in the middle of the village.





Our central camp area was in a building half a kilometer away. Very civilized.







On the eve of the event, we got a general overview of the course. There would be five stages and we would return to the central camp after each one.

1) Kayak 36K

2) Bike 60K, Trek 35K, Bike 60K

3) Bike 80K, Trek 36K, Bike 84K, Kayak 32K, Trek 20K, Bike 55K

4) Trek 45K

5) Bike 14K, Trek 30K, Bike 14K

Some of these numbers proved more accurate than others but since I haven't measured our real distances, I'll just go along with them. We received our Leg 1 map of Lago Traful without CPs marked. They would be finalized on race morning based on the weather, thus we couldn't do any map work before the race. This, along with our two days of race preparation plus the easy logistics of the central camp, meant that we had little else to do but try to get a decent sleep. As an orienteer accustomed to getting my maps on the clock, I was happy. The race was set to start at 12 noon, and as a night owl, I liked this too. :)

LEG 1 - PADDLE, PADDLE AND PADDLE SOME MORE
Kayak 36K

An hour before the race, a master map with CPs was posted at Race HQ, and we drew them on our maps. It worked this way for every leg. There were no written instructions but we got verbal instructions from race staff, and these varied a lot depending on who happened to be around. Our paddle started at Villa Traful near the southeast corner of the map and went counterclockwise to pick up CPs.



Leg 1 would not require any real navigation since all 20 teams would stay within sight as we paddled to the CPs. With slow plastic sit-on-top kayaks, it would be a hard physical effort though.

Paul was in the stern of my kayak, and Chad paddled in the stern for Vince.



The Milton Basement Racers were ready.



We had perfect weather and spectacular scenery.





A few minutes before the start, the instructions changed. We now had to take our paddle gear bags with us. Ugh - we'd crammed them with extra food, dry socks and bottled water for later in the race. After ditching the water, we strapped the duffel bags onto our kayaks. Extra ballast!

The start of a long race is always a little surreal. You know you're about to enter a completely different world where basic needs like sleep and bathroom breaks will become a subject of negotiation, both with yourself and with teammates. You know you'll get too hot at some point; you know you'll be too cold. On this side of the start line lies my normal, comfortable, independent life. On that side of the line, I will instantly become part of a little family that is always together, always moving forward and thinking about how to spend every minute. Naturally, I spent a few of these precious minutes taking photos. :)



Here's our boat.



And here's Vince.





The boys were outpacing us so Paul and Vince changed places at the second CP, which evened things out. I put up our Windpaddle sail when we started heading east but we would have needed a strong wind for it to help much. We tried it for awhile, and I was able to paddle awkwardly behind the sail but we eventually hauled it down. Most of the teams around us tried their sails too but no one seemed to have much success, regardless of sail area or shape.

This was our rig.



Triangular shapes were also popular. They would interfere less with the bow paddler - if they didn't fall on his or her head when the wind died!



There were conflicting sets of instructions at the finish of the paddle. We were told to complete our transition to mountain bike gear at the central camp before sending someone to check in at Race HQ and get the next set of maps. Other teams did it in the reverse order. As a result, our paddle ranking should have been higher - somewhere in the middle third. The Milton Basement Racers are actually *proud* to have been the second last team off the water since it shows how well they performed for the rest of the race!

LEG 2 - BACK TO VILLA LA ANGOSTURA
Bike 60K, Trek 35K, Bike 60K

We started Leg 2 around 6 p.m. with a couple of daylight hours left.





The 60K bike ride would take us back to Villa La Angostura where we'd stayed before the race, following the same hilly roads our bus had taken yesterday. This map includes the entire race area so it's good for context. We went west on a rutted gravel road, then headed south into town, eventually reaching a paved road.



Perhaps now is a good time to describe the Typical Tierra Viva Bike Ride. We did 320K of riding like this so there is no need to describe it each time:

1) Climb, climb, climb.
- 1a) Or sometimes climb, climb, climb, climb, climb, climb.

2) Descend on washboard roads with every body part getting jackhammered, feeling grateful that no one on our team plans to expand their family since that may no longer be possible.

3) Repeat.

There was no trail riding but between the mountainous terrain and the poor road surfaces, we needed our technical skills. There was very little flat terrain.



We had to carry trekking shoes when we biked, and we were always out for a long time so our packs were heavy. This is one of our friends from the Italian team carrying a typical-sized load.



The scenery ranged from quiet roads surrounded by trees to spectacular mountain vistas. Because our team did most of our riding at night, we seldom knew which was which - although it often appeared that the shoulder of the road dropped off into a black abyss so I steered clear of the edge.



The race staff warned us about dangerous drivers; Argentina has a high rate of traffic accidents. I am famously afraid of road biking but nearly every vehicle that passed us showed great respect, reducing their speed and giving us lots of space. Back home, I'd estimate that maybe 5-10% of cars are as cautious. The main problem with the traffic was dust. The fine volcanic ash that settled over this area two years ago got stirred up easily and hung in the air. I've never done so much riding while holding my breath!

About 40 minutes into our ride, the Milton Basement Racers flew by us and stayed ahead for the rest of the race. Good on them! (I think this photo may show a different team but it's close enough. :) )



Compared to the guys on my team, biking was my weak discipline. If I do another southern hemisphere race during the Canadian winter, I'll have to train differently. Since all of our biking was on roads, and my teammates had 29ers, they rolled faster anyway. On top of that, I had three sleepmonsters episodes in the race, all on the bike, which I'll need to figure out .

Chad and Vince were amazing for the first couple of hours today, pushing and towing to keep us all together. It felt like a 24-hour race pace to me though so I enjoyed it thoroughly while it lasted but we didn't end up towing much in the rest of race! Paul was often the hero who stayed and motivated me when I dropped back. It was fun today since the teams hadn't spread out yet so we had people to chase.

We rode into Villa La Agostura around 9:45 p.m. and dropped our bikes at the CP at the La Barrica cafe in town. Most food places were closed but luckily we found the Empanada Lady getting ready to shut down. We bought all her remaining empanadas (baked ham turnovers) after a battle of hand signals over fast microwave heating (us) vs. proper oven heating (her).

We trekked on the highway out of town then took a trail north into the mountains. The first CP was on an open hilltop right on a trail bend so it would be a good warm-up before some of the famously tough Patagonian bushwhacking. The problem was, the trail didn't go anywhere near the hilltop but it did keep going up toward a higher summit, which took awhile to figure out in the darkness.

There were no passports or SI cards on the treks. Each team had to get photos showing all four team members beside the CP sign, usually in two groups with different photographers and preferably on two cameras just in case. This meant that we usually took four photos per CP. The CP signs were small, reflective on one side only, and easy to miss if they were tucked behind a rock.



Then we crashed down to the trail through a kilometer of truly nasty bush. Young bamboo is now on my blacklist! We were aiming for an indistinct trail so we weren't even sure when we were done. We followed the wrong trail for awhile before descending farther to the right trail. Cattle make lots of informal trails in this region just like the deer in Palgrave so it's not uncommon for a faint trail to just peter out.

We trekked through the forest for the rest of the night, often losing the trail and fanning out to look for it. Shortly before dawn, we stopped for a 20-minute nap, then we climbed up to the next CP high on a mountain ridge. The scenery was magical as the light of the full moon shone on the fine volcanic dust - like the surface of the moon - and then the sky turned purple and pink as the sun neared the horizon. The ridge was sandy with loose rock, and it got cliffy in a few places - a little scary.







It was mandatory to wear bike helmets on the treks because of all the loose rock - not that they would help if the rock was much bigger than a golf ball.





From this CP, we just needed to head back to the highway to Villa La Angostura, past the Cerro Bayo ski area.



It was a steep descent with loose rock, a thick layer of volcanic ash and occasional cliffs but at least we could see where we were going now.



It's hard to tell but this was the view down a very steep slope. It was autumn in Patagonia, which felt wrong since we'd come from the Canadian winter. Check out the volcanic dust - like ankle-deep sand.



We started following a creek down but it was taking us the wrong way and getting cliffy, which was something Sacha had warned us about, so we climbed out of the gully and bushwhacked down through open forest to the main valley where we hit the river and a major hiking trail to the ski resort.







Even though we wore gaiters, we had to shake the volcanic ash out of our shoes after the long descent.





Back to La Barrica to pick up our bikes. It was early afternoon and we ordered a quick meal before riding back to Villa Traful. We were going to be riding on roads for most of the night so there was no urgency to make use of daylight. The roads were less dusty at night because there were fewer cars, and the bike nav was straightforward, even in the dark.

We got to enjoy some views from the highway this afternoon although the traffic was heavy.



Suddenly, I yelled and hit the brakes hard while Chad was right behind me. The poor guy just missed crashing into me - sorry! :) A long section of the pavement ahead of me was littered with broken beer bottles. I wonder how many teams had to stop here. Vince escaped disaster but Paul's tire went flat instantly.



My feelings were torn between, "Oh, that's too bad" and "What a nice, soft place for a nap. I hope they're not too quick."

We went through an extensive, dusty construction zone on the highway - less fun in the daylight with workers running machinery and traffic rumbling past.



Then we were back on the familiar, hilly 27K road that followed Lago Traful back to Villa Traful.

LEG 3 - ARE WE THERE YET?
Bike 80K, Trek 36K, Bike 84K, Kayak 32K, Trek 20K, Bike 55K

Vince and I checked in and picked up the Leg 3 maps.



This time we would ride east to Confluencia then north across a high mountain pass, Paso Cordoba, before arriving at a camp on the banks of Lago Filo Hua-Hum. We would do a trek from there, then ride around to Lago Falkner for trek and kayak sections that we could do in either order, then we would bike back to Villa Traful - and yes, we would ride that same 27K section of jackhammer road we knew so well. We'd be gone for at least 2 days.



We arrived at the central camp at dusk, packed for the next leg and set a 2-hour alarm. Between the lights in the building and a sudden urge to Leukotape my feet, I only slept for about 75 minutes but the boys did better.

We left before 10 p.m., knowing we would spend most of the night on our bikes. As we left town, I heard footsteps beside us and heard Chad gently scolding an animal, "OK, that's enough. You go home now." I turned to see a horse trotting along beside him! This was a change from the cattle we sometimes met in the road.

I started seeing occasional large spiders on the road. As one must always do with such things, I confirmed their existence with a teammate to ensure they weren't hallucinations.



Although we didn't get to see it until our bus ride to the airport, the scenery along the lake was spectacular. All we knew was that we were continually climbing up and down big hills as moonlight sparkled on the water below.

Vince was out in front when he suddenly stopped partway up a hill. His light pointed back toward us. Strange. Then Chad halted abruptly, and Paul and I pulled up beside him. "Rockslide!" he said in awe. Sure enough, good-sized rocks were pummelling the section of road between us and Vince, sending up a big dust cloud! Paul and I had the same thought at the same moment... Let's get out of here! We rode back 30 m and watched the finale from there.

Vince was wide-eyed when we rode up. "A wild boar came out of the forest right beside me!" We'd been warned to steer clear of these ill-tempered beasts. Luckily for Vince, this boar wanted nothing to do with him and dashed up the crumbling slope, setting off the big rockslide.



The road got flatter as we followed Rio Traful to Confluencia, then we turned west onto the road toward Paso Cordoba. In case anyone is wondering, it was mandatory to go all the way to Confluencia and illegal to swim the river as a shortcut to the road leading to the pass.

We started hitting stretches of volcanic dust that grabbed our wheels like sand. We wove around constantly looking for the best track. We were riding along the boundary of Lanin National Park and even in darkness, the full moon revealed wild volcanic rock formations all around us. I would have loved to do this ride in daylight like MBR did - although we were lucky to do most of our treks in daylight so it was a fair trade.

My photo below was from the bus ride to the airport where we travelled south of this park on a different road. I've also "borrowed" this wonderful photo by Martin Papalia.





We climbed steadily - gently at first, and then we started going up switchbacks with steep hairpin turns. We finally reached the lookout at the top - which we only knew because there was a parking lot by a wooden deck - then we flew down the other side. It was a loose gravel road with tight turns, a bumpy, rat-a-tat-tat washboard surface, and steep drop-offs alongside so I kept my speed in check. This would be a bad place to crash or skid off the edge, especially in the dark.

After awhile, I saw the boys in the middle of the road with their packs off, putting on warm layers with numb fingers. We wore nearly everything we had. The air temperature was in the low single digits, and the wind chill on the descent made it crazy cold. We seemed to go down forever, which would normally be a nice reward after such a big climb but the road rattled our bodies so much that we just wanted it to be over. Sitting on my bike saddle had become less pleasant, and I overheard the boys sharing a few private comments about their nether regions.

We entered the park and arrived at the CP on Lago Fila Hua-Hum. These aren't my photos; we got there well before dawn.





This camp was a luxury resort by adventure racing CP standards. As soon as we arrived, a volunteer ushered us to a table for four and asked if we would like hot pasta and bread. Oh yes, we would! She pointed out the washroom building next door, which had showers. Some racers were sleeping on the floor in the dining area; others gave us weary smiles as they scarfed down their food. We checked the timesheet and were thrilled to see how well MBR was doing.

Leaving some gear behind with our bikes, we followed the road west from the camp. We had to visit two CPs above the treeline southwest of the lake, about 1000 meters higher than the camp. There were many route choices and I'd picked one close to the camp that minimized bushwhacking since we'd seen how slow that could be. It looked steep on the map but the terrain looked steep everywhere.

First light came just as we arrived at the planned starting point so we could see that we wouldn't be cliffed out - at least not on the first part of our ascent. It was steep and we had to grab tufts of vegetation as handholds while trying not to kick rocks onto one another.



It was like going up a staircase so we gained elevation quickly.



It was Day 3, and the racing was starting to take its toll. Amongst our team members there was a sore knee and assorted foot blisters. The boys had forgotten sunscreen for Leg 3, and I only had a small supply that wouldn't last everyone for two days. It got quite warm - mid-20s - but I stayed fully covered with long sleeves, the same Windstopper tights I'd worn during the cold night, trekking gloves and a brimmed hat to fend off the sun. I was warm but it wasn't as bad as I would have thought, and I survived better than usual in the heat.

After a few hours of climbing, we reached the treeline.





Then we emerged onto a mountain plateau with incredible views. It reminded me of our last trek at the Apex Race in Switzerland. We still had some distance to go across the plateau.











After 5.5 hours, we reached our first CP. It was tucked away on a forest edge, a little hard to find.



We emerged from the trees and purified drinking water at a stream (possibly the one that gave a couple of racers giardia!) Two other teams arrived, both of whom had left the camp before we did so I knew our route had been efficient. The Italian navigator asked me how we had come up since he didn't want to return to the camp by the same stream valley route they had taken. I explained what we'd done and as both teams headed into the trees to look for the hard-to-find CP, I wanted to get some space between us so we wouldn't have to show other teams the specifics of our route. We're not a fast team so we have to capitalize on small opportunities.

We made good time to the second CP on a rocky knob almost 3K away.













There were several route options to the road 1000 meters below with unknown difficulty in terms of bushwhacking and cliffs. All we knew for sure was that we'd reached the first CP faster than two other teams, and at least one of them wanted to descend by our route rather than returning the way they'd come. When we saw both teams approaching along the ridge, I made a quick call to stick with the same route down - relatively easy terrain that was familiar to us even though it was about 1 km longer and spent more time off-road. If we hurried, we could avoid showing others the good lines we'd found through the trees.

This didn't work out well. I didn't realize that my teammates weren't merely uncomfortable in the sun like I was; they were suffering. I felt energetic and wanted to use this opportunity to be strategic and try to move up the rankings but this meant moving quickly across the open plateau. Under the circumstances, a shady route with bushwhacking - no matter how slow - would have been better for the team.

The Italians caught up easily as our pace slowed on the plateau, and our teams ended up chatting and going down most of the way together since one of their team members was feeling the heat too. Paul felt light-headed for the last part of the descent. When we reached the road, Vince ran ahead to the camp and returned with cold Cokes - the most delicious drinks anyone has ever had. :)

We arrived at the camp after dark, and they were making fresh pizza. Yum - gooey, cheesy goodness. :) I was thinking we might need an extra long sleep here to revive Paul but it only took one slice of pizza and a Coke to return him to normal!



We took our second "long" sleep of the race after dinner - about 2.5 hours. Two teammates awoke on separate occasions before the alarm and thought it was time to get up. Given the trouble I have falling back asleep, I didn't get much rest. I think we left around 1:30 a.m.

The bike ride to the camp on Lago Falkner was shorter than advertised and nobody was complaining. We arrived in the dark. (Not my photo.)



Just a reminder. The camp was on the road between Lago Falkner and Lago Villarino.



From here, there was a kayak leg and a trek leg that both finished at the camp. We could do them in either order and we chose the mountain trek first so we would have daylight. Shortly before sunrise, we headed up, up, up.



There was a trail until we got above the treeline then we picked up the first CP by a stream, and it was mountain scrambling from there. In this pic, we were on our way up and over the ridge in the distance.



We were baking in the sun so we ducked into a tiny piece of shade while we waited to get the team together.





I was nervous on this climb with all that loose rock and sand. When I've been with mountain guides in areas like this, they've made us travel in parallel to avoid rockfall accidents but with other teams around, we didn't have that luxury. One teammate kicked down a large rock and fortunately, there was no one below. I took a slow, circuitous route to the top to avoid walking below any of my teammates. Or at least I *thought* I did but this photo proves that I didn't always succeed!



There were some race safety staff on the ridge, including Nuna the rescue dog. That's Lago Falkner down there, where we had started our day.



The pass was well worth the climb. We took a lunch break in the shade.







Here's what we had to go down. Once again, I stayed back and took a different line - this time to avoid kicking rocks onto people's heads.



As we approached the CP, we had a rare sighting of the Milton Basement Racers. They had already done the kayak section so they were well ahead of us. They looked good and it was great to see them!



They were doing the CPs in a different order so they'd spent some time looking for this one, which was tucked low behind a rock. Our verbal instructions had been more helpful than theirs since we were told to look beside rocks near the stream.



This is the pass we had come down from.



And this is where we were going next - to the right, skirting the base of the cliffs.



After that, we were treated to some of the most open forest we'd seen in Argentina.



We met another team at the next CP - a communications tower - and got a rare full team photo.



If you look *really* closely at this photo, you might see the other team's four lime green bike helmets as they trek across the plateau. And check out those clouds! Clearly, the weather was about to change.





A couple of teammates purified water for the long trek back to the camp.



The kayak section was a pair of out-and-backs. We paddled 12 km from the camp to the end of Lago Falkner and down a small river into Lago Nuevo where the CP was located at the far end. Then we paddled back past the camp and another 7 km through a river into Lago Villarino and down to its far end. It was close to 40K of paddling. Here are some helicopter views of Lagos Falkner and Nuevo.





Here's the view from the camp.



More professional pics. We didn't see much of this in daylight.





The funky clouds we'd seen earlier must have been a warning of the heavy wind that hit us shortly after we got on the water. It was hot when we started paddling in late afternoon but it would get below freezing overnight with wind chill so we were prepared with lots of warm clothing.



Luckily, the wind was at our backs, and this time the sail made a big difference. I just hung onto it for awhile as Vince paddled in the stern. Paul and Chad had their sail up too. The wind was strong enough that we worried about making progress upwind on our return paddle but on the bright side, we got to the end of the lake in no time.



When we landed on the east shore of Lago Nuevo, our first priority was to pull on our warmest paddling-at-night layers, even though we still had a few minutes of light to search for the CP. I was wearing neoprene vest and pants, light and expedition weight polypro tops, paddling jacket, rain pants, neoprene socks, Goretex shoes, toque, neoprene cap and thick neoprene gloves.

The wind died instantly when we started our return paddle, and the water stayed calm after that. Chad got chilled and I asked if he'd like to detour to the camp for a warm-up between the two lakes. He thought he'd feel better if he switched to paddling with Vince so we did that for the Lago Villarino portion. When we got to the far end, Chad was still chilly so Vince ripped arm and head holes in his emergency bag to make a fashionable foil robe for him.

In my boat, Paul was warm and paddling well as always until he started suffering from sleepmonsters in the last couple of kilometers. No matter what, it's difficult to make a big plastic sit-on-top kayak go where you want it to. Now try doing it when the person in the stern is incoherent! I talked non-stop for 30-40 minutes, trying to keep him awake and explaining in excruciating detail exactly what he had to do as we meandered toward camp. "We need to go to the right to avoid hitting that rock, which means you need to paddle harder on the left. Left. Left! LEFT!!" It turned out Vince was in the same situation with a sleepy Chad in the stern. I could relate since biking made me sleepy in this race!

As soon as we arrived at camp, Vince helped Chad get into his warm sleeping bag indoors while I took all the gear off both boats and started packing up. Paul got a nap too, and I got everyone bowls of hot pasta before we rode off on our bikes into the dark again.

The adrenaline that had fuelled me when two teammates were struggling vanished as soon as I started pedalling. The next couple of hours felt like endless climbing with my eyelids at half mast. At one point, I said (probably with a slur), "I'll need a quick nap at the top of the hill." I meant the hill I could see just ahead but it turned out the hill kept going as the road curved, and the guys kept on riding. I contemplated lying down right where I was, wild boars and all. But at last we hit a high point and collapsed on the volcanic ash. I don't think anyone set an alarm but we weren't there long since we were awakened by the lights of a passing team. :(

I still felt foggy after the nap but it helped when the sun rose and when Vince stayed with me on the familiar gravel road back to Villa Traful. We finished Leg 3 mid-morning on Day 5, just as Adidas Terrex crossed the finish line at the end of Leg 5 to win the race.

LEG 4 - YAY, NO BIKING!
Trek 45K

We picked up our maps for a long trek south of Villa Traful. Adidas Terrex came over to share information about the leg. It was great to meet world class racers who were so friendly and generous. They suggested that we tackle the three CPs in the reverse order of what they did because we might be able to see a better line into the second CP if we came from the east. That made sense. They warned us that it had been really slow going off-trail.

Volunteers told us to expect a 24-ish hour trek, which meant we would have no chance of doing Leg 5 before the cut-off the next afternoon. Even Leg 4 would be tight. Nobody could tell us whether completion of Legs 1-4 would be considered a ranked short course or whether we were already doomed to a DNF. I think we were about 9th of 20 teams at that point, and we just wanted to finish as much of the race course as possible.

We followed the back roads of the village to find the trail leading to the summit of Cerro Piedritas 1000 m above the village. What we didn't know was that the trail did not start in the location shown on the map, and the trailhead was, in the words of a top racer, "impossible to find" with the information we had. Some other teams received detailed directions to the trailhead with their maps but we weren't one of the lucky ones this time.

We picked up some trails that headed roughly south, then we went for a heinous, unplanned bushwhack. We should have bailed to the village right away and tried something else but it seemed so harmless at first. "I can see the summit we're headed for right up there, and the forest gets thinner as we go higher up. For now, it's easier to keep climbing but soon it should be easier to head east to the trail." I figure we'd lost 1 hr 40 min by the time we joined the trail partway up the mountain.



This is when the sunny weather we'd enjoyed all week ended abruptly. We'd been promised a cold, wet night and as the rain started, we pulled out our Goretex jackets for the first time in five days. Paul's neck was killing him from biking the bumpy roads, and it eventually got so sore that he tried carrying his pack on his chest. We each took some weight but he was still hurting. Until I saw this photo, I didn't realize how bad his neck must have felt.



We climbed a short distance above the treeline in blowing rain on a trail coated with hailstones. The summit was still well above us. Another team marched past us.



Vince stopped and, drawing on his emergency services experience, pointed out that we appeared to be making a classic mistake by heading deeper into the mountains for another 20 hours when night was falling, the temperature was dropping, we were wet, and a teammate was hurting already. Maybe we could visit the two CPs on trails, he suggested, but Adidas Terrex had warned us that the off-trail CP had taken them many hours - and we'd be doing it in the dark.

Until that moment, I was completely in the mindset of moving forward, helping teammates and dealing with any obstacles that stood in our way - but as soon as he said it, I knew he was right. I also believe that if one teammate has a serious concern about safety, that trumps everything. So there wasn't much debate. I may have shed a few quiet tears on the way down but, unlike our Apex experience, I felt that our team had raced well, and we were smart to stop when we did so there was no regret. The guys on our team have 8 kids between them so the most important thing is for them to go home healthy to their families.



After more than three hours of climbing, we turned back toward Villa Traful, which we could still see below us. We may have been out of the race but on the bright side, tonight we would sleep in a warm bed and eat a restaurant dinner.





We went down on the trail we should have taken all the way up from the village and realized that we would *never* have located the trailhead without specific directions from someone. It doesn't start where it's shown on the map, and it just looks like a minor side trail with a log blocking it off.

We got a finish line photo. No, we hadn't completed the course but this was our 5th day, and we'd raced 450 km. That had to be worth something!



Just as we arrived at Race HQ, Vince's adorable children ran up with huge smiles and hugs for Daddy. His wife Cathy had just arrived with them for a post-race vacation.



As it turned out, there were no warm beds to be had on Easter weekend so we spent the next two nights sleeping on the gritty concrete floor at the central camp - but we did have a couple of nice dinners out, and we got showers at Vince and Cathy's motel.



We spent hours packing. Paul had a little trouble closing his bike box at first.





During that first night of half-sleeping on the floor, I heard the Milton Basement Racers arrive, so I got up to congratulate them on their incredible 4th place sprint finish. They were just 10 minutes off the podium - what a great job! I was really excited for them.



You've come a long way, Tiny!



Here they are at the closing ceremony.



Final thoughts... I'd recommend Tierra Viva for people who are flexible enough to enjoy an expedition race that isn't a point-to-point journey. In fact, it would be a great first international expedition race to try because the central camp makes logistics so manageable. It's a beautiful part of the world, and the organizers treat international teams extra well. For a top team aiming to win, the inconsistency in verbal instructions could be frustrating so it might be worth chatting with organizers in advance about how to solve this problem. It should be easy enough. If you go, learn some Spanish since there were many occasions when we had to communicate with non-English speakers.

I was happy with my preparation for the paddling, mountain trekking and navigation components of the race. I needed more bike-specific fitness to ride all those hills, and I also need to solve the problem of biking putting me to sleep! That hasn't been a big problem before, and I'm thinking we probably just needed more sleep in the race.

I was happy with my gear choices. It's hard to single out any particular winners since I used so many items. Just to pick a few... My BashBlaster light worked perfectly - thanks, 'Bent. My Salomon WindStopper tights worked for warm days and cold nights. My Black Diamond UltraDistance trekking poles were essential for all the climbing we did. My Salomon XA Sky 30 pack held a ton of stuff inside and in its outside pockets. Long-fingered mountain bike gloves helped with gnarly bushwhacking. I'm still not tired of Honey Stinger Energy Chews. Etc.!

As with every expedition race, there were highs and lows but it was an amazing experience, and I am looking forward to the next time! :)

Tierra Viva 6-day expedition adventure race in Villa Traful, Argentina. Part of the Adventure Racing World Series.

It's a cliché but it's true... Getting to the start of a big adventure race is a huge part of the challenge. You need to line up teammates, book flights, find accommodations, figure out ground transportation, change currency, collect mandatory gear, decide what other gear you need, test it all, coordinate which teammate is bringing what, buy a compass that works where you're going, watch weather forecasts, check out maps, find an international phone plan, get a plug converter, tune your bike and take it apart, charge batteries, choose a few favourite race foods to take, make arrangements to be away from home, weigh your bags, take out gear and weigh your bags again, etc., etc.

Oh, and if any time is left, you need to train enough to be able to race for 500+ km through mountainous terrain. It would also help if you could log some extra hours of sleep in the weeks leading up to the race. Good luck with that.

There's never enough time but at least it's the same for everyone. The Tree Huggers arrived at Pearson Airport on Friday, March 22. I was short on sleep but otherwise as prepared as I could ever be.



Paul Hingorani, Barb Campbell, Vince Trudelle, Chad Spence

We had a nice flight routing to Argentina that included a dinnertime stop in Miami where we had Cuban food. I got my first chance to practise my limited Spanish with the servers. Had I known how little English we'd encounter in Argentina, I would have started brushing up my Spanish much sooner!



Naturally, Paul ordered the "I Love Lucy" special - not that he had any choice.

The long leg of our flight was Miami - Buenos Aires, and I got a few hours of decent sleep. One nice thing about travelling to South America is the lack of jet leg; we only turned our watches one hour ahead. We arrived in BA early on a Saturday morning and had to collect all our bags (4 bikes + 5 big duffel bags) and transfer from the international airport to the domestic one. Travellers are advised to allow 4 hours between flights since this is not an easy process. To make things simpler, I had sent our luggage dimensions to an airport limo company. They said they had reserved us a private mini-bus. It seemed a little expensive at $75/person but we really had no idea, and we wanted to stay all together with our luggage in a city with a reputation for crime.

It turned out they had reserved us a full-sized 48-seat bus! Lots of room for the transfer, which took the better part of an hour once we got going. All that room to spare and Paul *still* put his feet up on my row of seats while he was snoozing! ;)



The domestic airport in Buenos Aires is right in town by the ocean. We'd been cooped up indoors for the past day so we headed out to a small park across the road. The fishermen were busy.







The final leg of our journey was a 2-hour flight from Buenos Aires to San Carlos de Bariloche on the edge of the Andes. It was hot when we arrived and I worried that I'd packed the wrong stuff but it turned out that my cold weather gear saw plenty of use in the race.



The terrain looked dry and the mountains looked fairly tame with minimal vegetation. We were going to be OK.



During the drive from Bariloche to our accommodation in Villa La Angostura, the vegetation got thicker and the mountains got pointier. Uh oh, maybe we flatlanders were out of our league.



The race organization spoiled the international teams with two nights of free accommodation outside of Villa La Angostura, a resort town in the lakes region. The main Race HQ would be 60 km away in Villa Traful but it was only Saturday afternoon and we didn't need to be at HQ until Monday night.





We saw the Milton Basement Racers on their way into town to get some bike parts, and we made fashionably late dinner plans. After settling into our beautiful lakeside suite, we assembled our bikes. We would need to take them apart again for the trip to Villa Traful but this was a good place to test our bikes post-flight since there was a local bike shop if we needed it. I'd gotten some snafus out of my system at home so my bike went together easily, as did Vince's. Chad's bike was not working well after getting a new chain a few days before we left. Paul's chain arrived as an origami puzzle that took awhile for him and Vince to sort out.



While the boys played with bikes, I went for a short ride on dirt roads near the hotel. Thankfully, everything worked just fine.



We had our first of several dinners out with the Milton Basement Racers on Saturday night. I can't say enough about how great it was to share our Tierra Viva experience with friends; we were like a little Canadian family. Most of us were on the same page when it came to sharing bottles of Argentinian Malbec and drinking good strong coffee so we enjoyed several very nice restaurants together. :)



Chad Spence, Tim Grant, Barb Campbell, Andrew Reeder, Mike Simpson, Audrey Kelly, Vince Trudelle, Paul Hingorani

It was wonderful to wake up on Sunday morning and enjoy the lake view from the balcony with a cup of coffee (from my emergency stash of Starbucks Via) while the boys all slept until 10 a.m. There was a tree full of noisy birds nearby.



The balcony was a good place to be because as soon as I awoke, I covered my bed with piles of gear.



Our first priority on Sunday was to take the sample race kayak out for a short test paddle from the resort. Other teams were lining up for the kayak so we needed to be ready to grab it at the first opportunity. The boats were small so we wanted to practise attaching our big packs (in dry bags) to them.



Our MEC kayak seats clipped in as if they were made for these sit-on-top Atlantikayaks. Awesome! They're big but it was worth hauling them down to Argentina. I'd also brought foot straps made of webbing since built-in plastic foot rests don't always allow me to brace myself properly so I can paddle with my core.

After seeing how cold we got in sit-on-top kayaks at night at Apex, I was planning to wear neoprene this time. It's hard to get too overheated sitting in cold water while your teammate flings water at you with his paddle.





A brief stint in the stern of this kayak showed me that I probably shouldn't paddle stern in this race, which was unfortunate since I was probably the teammate with the most experience in the stern. The kayaks were slow and tracked poorly so if I were in the stern, I'd need to use a lot of upper body strength to steer to allow the bow paddler to focus on providing power, and with my bad rotator cuff, that would wreck me if I did it for hours on end.



Like most teams, we had brought sails in hopes of using them on the long lakes. Our gadgeteer Vince figured out a system of carabiners and webbing that would allow the bow paddler to use the sail and still do a little paddling.



Another team came down as we were testing the kayaks. Through some Spanish miscommunication, we thought they were Columbia Vidaraid but I can see now this was Karen's Aventura, a team from Colombia. On the right in this photo is Sacha, a young adventure athlete and outdoor store operator who did an awesome job as liaison to the English-speaking teams.



Having completed our kayak testing, we took the bus to town for lunch and food shopping. Unfortunately, the good grocery store wasn't open on Sundays so we didn't have great selection. Also, the good bike store wasn't open either, which was disappointing because Chad's bike had become unrideable, and we only had until Monday at noon to get it resolved. Some shops were open today but a lot of them were guarded by weekend security staff.



To my surprise, Villa La Angostura has a Salomon brand store! And yes, I bought something I'd never seen in Canada. :)



We had another great dinner with MBR on Sunday night. Stuffed lamb for me after a big steak the night before - and more Argentinian red wine, of course. There aren't a lot of vegetables here but it's a great place for a carnivore.

On Monday morning, Chad took the first bus into town so he could be waiting when the good bike store opened. Fortunately, they were able to sell him a new rear cassette that should work with his new chain, and Sacha was kind enough to install it. Chad was able to ride 9 km back to the hotel on hilly roads - phew, crisis averted.

At noon, the international teams were asked to be outside the hotel with all our gear.



I asked MBR to put on their "competitive tough guy" faces for this photo but apparently Andrew doesn't have one.



Then they posed "normally" - if one can ever say that about adventure racers. :)



Our team doesn't do "tough" at all!



We went to Villa Traful by mini-bus - lots of hills and plenty of opportunities to look at the forest. Sacha had warned us about a few things. Vegetation on the west side of hills was often easier for bushwhacking since thick bamboo tended to grow on the east side. He mentioned that some teams tried to follow creeks to avoid bushwhacking but that waterfalls often made the creeks impossible to follow for long, and the maps weren't detailed enough to indicate their locations. We'd read race reports that talked about the thick forest so we were prepared for some serious slogs.

The eruption of the nearby Puyehue volcano in 2011 had dropped a thick layer of dust-like ash on everything in the area. Sacha recommended lycra gaiters to keep the dust out of our shoes and suggested that we not use foot lube. Although we noticed the volcanic ash on our treks - like walking on a sandy beach - it was a bigger factor when we were biking on gravel roads since we would sometimes hit a section of ash that grabbed our tires like fine sand and made us skid. When cars went by, the fine dust flew up and remained suspended in the air for awhile.

Villa Traful is a small mountain village on the shore of Lago Traful. It is popular with tourists and has only a few facilities. I would love to spend some time here and just explore.





The central transition area for the race was in a large building used for sports.



Each team was assigned some floor space with a wall and table. By adventure race standards, it was luxury - a single, secure indoor location to set up our gear, take naps, set out our food, assemble and test our bikes, etc. People who have been to the Chico Racing 24 Hours of Summer Solstice will know what I mean when I talk about the teams who get the sites with electricity - the ones who set up fancy campsites. The same thing happened here with local teams who had driven their gear to Villa Traful. They had pop-up tents, big air mattresses and stacks of coolers with ice.



By comparison, we international teams had pathetic-looking, spartan set-ups!



We assembled our bikes once again. My good luck streak ended; the valve had snapped off my front tube so Vince kindly changed it for me.



We walked a few minutes to Race HQ to register.



I haven't done it so often that it feels old... It is exciting to be part of an Adventure Race World Series event.



MBR was looking good.



Kinda cool that we got a custom "pasaporte" for our team.



Even cooler that the bike plates featured the team's national flag.



Then we visited the local coffee shop that became a regular stop - at least for me, since I can't live without my caffeine.



Coincidentally, most shops in this part of Argentina offer a huge selection of homemade chocolate too.



We went for a walk to buy water and to check into our beautiful 2-storey log cabin a kilometer from town ($73 for a cabin with full kitchen and living room that sleeps 5 people!) Too bad we weren't able to stay there after the race but accommodations were fully booked for Easter.



The time of the race briefing kept getting pushed back because they wanted it to be dark enough to show us a video of last year's race. After all the teams were introduced, we had a very primal "roast meat on bread" meal and enjoyed some good conversations with racers who spoke English, including Adidas Terrex.



Along with a general outline of each leg including disciplines and distances, we were given a map of Lago Traful for the first kayak leg. However, the CPs would be determined in the morning based on the weather forecast so there was nothing we could do with the map. As an orienteer accustomed to receiving my map on the clock, I was happy to just go to bed without feeling any need to be reviewing maps, choosing routes and marking things down. After a final e-mail to Richard on Tuesday morning, I shut down my phone and started the countdown to the race.

These next entries were made when I was down there.
_____________________

Yay!! Wokitoki was able to buy a rear cassette this morning and our amazing, versatile local contact Sacha installed it for him. We are loading trucks to send gear to Villa Traful. There may not be cell service there, depending on whom we ask so I'll say goodbye for now! :)

We are in Villa Traful. The scenery is spectacular and we have found free wifi for now. Our transition area is a huge indoor area where each team has an assigned area with a bench and tables. My bike finally had a problem - a broken tube valve - but that was quickly fixed.

The race briefing and maps were going to be at 5, 6, 7 and now... probably dark since they want us to see a video outdoors. After this, we'll ride our bikes to our cabin at the edge of town. We could sleep in the transition area but the race won't start early - maybe 10, maybe 12. :)

This is a really well organized event if you're patient and just trust that things will work out. We've been treated like royalty by AR standards. We're the first Canadians to do this race. I'm amazed that no U.S. team is here. I'm looking forward to seeing the maps! :)