Logs, Rocks and Steel 2013
Short Course (5km canoe, 14km mountain bike, 6km trail run)
When: Saturday September 21, 2013
Where: Haliburton, Ontario, Canada.
Host Site: Haliburton Forest & Wild Life Reserve
Every year I get the insane notion that I am meant for adventure racing. I love biking, canoeing and running so I think that doing a race with all three will push my athleticism and training to a whole new level. It also breaks up the monotony of just running for the rest of the year. The one thing that never really seems to cross my mind is that out of all three events I am horrible at two of the them. This is the mindset that led me to participate in Logs, Rocks and Steel 2013. Although we finished near last, we never laughed and had so much fun doing it. Which is what most likely will prompt me to do it again next year.
Set against the truly stunning backdrop of the Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve, this race boasted the most beautiful scenic views of Ontario on the cusp of changing colour into fall. The camp grounds where the runners set up camp were conveniently located close to the main transition area and within a short walking or running distance to the beginning of the race.
The race began with a 5km canoe. The canoeing part of the race was very straight forward. A simple out and back over a large lake. The participants were sent out in three waves so congestion was no problem and gathering rented canoes, life jackets and paddles were well organized.
THEN CAME THE BIKE SECTION…
Every person I spoke with upon completion of the race had the same comment about the day. “Everything was good until the biking.” “That bike section almost killed me.” “That biking was way out of my ability level.” “That biking was tough.”
To be fair, the biggest problem that was created on the bike trails was that it had poured rain for 12 hours right before the race started. So needless to say, the trails were very slippery and puddles were now closer to ponds. I love mountain biking and I really enjoy a moderately technical trail ride but this section of the race is what slowed us down to the equivalent of snails. The mountain bike was in two sections. The first section was about 6km through rocky technical trails and the last 8km is on a open gravel road with some hills. We completed the first 6km in almost 2 hours and the last 8 km in 30 minutes. This will give you an idea of where the rain really affected the course. My teammate and I have done many adventure races together before but this goes down as the only one where we had to push our bikes for a large portion of the bike section.
Last but not least, the running…
The trail run was a very easy run with wide open trails with a few roots. Most people I spoke with commented on the ease at which they moved through this portion on the course.
Overall, I would recommend this race to anyone. It was well organized and set on very beautiful landscape. The course was very easy to follow and the transition area was easy to navigate. The only recommendation I would make that if you are considering competing in this race in 2014, regardless of the weather, organize your training bike heavy!
