RACE: ESAR-8 hour Sprint Adventure Race.
DATE: 13 June 2009
LOCATION: Blackdown Park, Base Borden.
I have raced the last three ESAR races. I love their course design and the organization level that seems to get better with every year. The venue was excellent supplying great affordable accommodations (aka the shacks) which included a cadet mess hall only step away. This was my second race with my two relatively new male race partners. I started this race recovering from a sprained ankle I rolled the previous weekend. Armed with an ankle brace and a fist full of Advil my only apparent disadvantage with my inability to effectively twist my left ankle outward to release my bike pedal. The first leg of this race was a 16km bike ride. This leg started following a pace car for a short loop around Blackdown
Park to spread the riders out. Subsequently, we were dropped off at the trail opening, one of my team mate’s was having bike problems. A little trail side maintenance was attempted and proved futile. His bike chain was skipping, the remainder of the race he had to bike gingerly, being careful not to break his chain. This bike leg soon turned into a bike-hike in the deep sand tank tracks and large mud holes we found ourselves in. This section was short, but challenging with a bum bike and my slow exit from my pedal. Upon exiting this trail we rode along a gravel road to the first TA. The first TA was into the paddle. The paddle was 11km and gorgeous as always on theNottawasaga
River. We paddled feverishly passing many teams in our effort to climbing back up to the front of the pack. By the end of the paddle leg we were feeling pretty good about our position. The second TA was into a trek. This was a short 2km trek across the Town of
Angus.
At the third TA we transitioned back onto our bikes. This second bike leg was 13.25km and included a ride around the top of the base with a fun, cool and wet river crossing. The cool water was welcomed at this point in the race. This leg was mostly gravel road, and a little trail riding. .
The fourth TA was into the first real trek requiring any orienteering. The distance covered was 3.5km. Entering into this section we were at the front of the pack. However, things changed for us during this leg. We had a little navigation nightmare. We were rushing and eager to keep the lead and forgot that when taking a bearing the mirror side of your compass faces the direction you want to go. We ended up bushwhacking one kilometre in and back out again before we got ourselves straightened out. We burnt approximately an hour doing this. Once back on track, spirits crushed, it took a bit to get motivated to expel the energy needed to work our way back to the front of the pack. The fifth TA was back onto our bikes. After a nightmare trekking section I don’t think I had ever been so happy to get back onto our bikes. This leg was 8.25km, mostly gravel and paved roads, back in toBlackdown
Park near the start and finish line area. The sixth TA brought us into the last leg of this race. We had a lot of time and placing to make up. This leg was 7.4km orienteering trekking leg with an obstacle course to break things up. Team had the option of completing 5 or 7 check points. We opted for all seven checkpoints. The obstacle course was at the first checkpoint and was a lot of fun. It reminded me of playing in the playground as a kid. The rest of the race was all about orienteering to locate the last six checkpoints in the shortest possible time. All of these checkpoints required at least a little bushwhacking and significant navigation. At this point in the race my energy level was dropping, my legs were seizing up and my ankle and calf was reaching a freakishly large state. Our team navigator was a genius during this last leg. He navigated us flawlessly, we did not trek a single step more than necessary and we made up considerable ground. Thank you Patrick.
We completed this race with no broken bike chains, no further injuries and it third place in our class! I credit our finish to quick transitions, a fast paddle, and awesome orienteering in the last leg. We raced hard, had lots of fun and proved come backs from misfortunes are accomplishable at least twice in an adventure race.
The venue and organization was great, the course was excellent. I truly enjoyed this race and recommend this race. The only portion of this race I would gripe about was the lack of technical riding. Most of the riding was roads and open trails. I usually enjoy some challenging single track and/or steep inclines/declines. However, due to my team’s circumstances this race I was very appreciative of the smooth ride to save the chain and my ankle.
