The G-Rant : Grant's Rants on Adventure Racing

May 2006 - Posts

• Check out some of the competition

  We're on the home stretch to the Tidewater Traverse . . . this week is lots of emails with race staffers & volunteers (we're all volunteers, really), teams with last minute questions, and lots of racer bags and maps to deal with.  A few teams at the TT have their own websites so thought I'd take a moment and pass them on, along my 2 cents: New Balance / Big Head Crew These guys just got in with New Balance VB so they're pumped for this race; their website is very well done (Kevin does web design, I think) and funny.  Richmond ASR (Adventure Sports and Racing) One of the contenders for the top of the 2006 Series, Richmond ASR is actually many many people who race together once in a while.  They're based out of Richmond and, I think, more like an adventure racing club than just one specific team.  Eric and Wendy Cone of RichmondASR will be joining me up in Canada for the Raid The North (RTN) this July. Team Sutliff Hummer It's a long story how a Pennsylvannia Hummer dealership became a household name in Hampton Roads adventure racing . . . I'll save it for another time.  They're gearing up for PrimalQuest.  They raced with Mike Jones (of Team HRAdventure) this past weekend at the 60-hour PHEAR and they came in first or second -- the cell phone coverage is lousy in West Virginia.  Way to go Mike and Mark and Sammy!  The Tidewater Traverse will be a chance to loosen up for these folks, not sure they'll have their A-game. Trailblazers of Delaware Not to be confused with the southeast's prominent AR club (www.TrailblazerAR.com), these Trailblazers are from Delaware and have a lot of enthusiasm showing through on their website.  Their "Latest Info" page has a little bit on their preparations for the TT and it is really worth a look; my favorite is the latest comment starting with "Well, I am very sore tonight. . .".  This is part of what I love about the sport of adventure racing: such colourful characters and teams (not so much individuals) and a wide range of abilities.  Should be a fun weekend following these teams and all the others . . . Posted May 30 2006, 12:23 PM by gkillian with no comments

• A 12 hour race means 12 hours of racing (to us)

  In talking with people the last few weeks, I've found that some think a 12-hour race means the slowest team will be done in 12 hours . . . and that the winning team could be done in considerably less time.  A race I was considering up in New England said it was "12-hours long" but advertised a winning time of 6 hours; that's not worth the drive up to New England!  Not that I would expect to win the race, but I'm fairly confident we would be within in an hour or two of the winning time.  It comes down to each racing organization having different senses of what race duration means.  For the record, HRAdventure considers a "12-hour race" to be one where teams will be on the course for around 12 hours.  We accomplish this by planning a very challenging/long course and strategically placing cut-offs so that slower teams aren't on the course for way beyond 12 hours.  In the eyes of another race group with a different standard, the Tidewater Traverse might be advertised as an 18-hour course. There are downsides to our approach.  It takes a lot of careful planning and logistics to make a race course that can deliver 12-hours of racing to all levels of competitors.  Some teams will miss out on all facets of the course, so we work to place the majority of really fun legs in the realm of the basic race competitors.  In some cases, only a few very speedy teams will get to cover all the race terrain.  It's a balancing act to make sure the experienced/faster teams come away challenged, and the less experienced/slower teams come away challenged in their own way but not dead.  Ultimately, everyone should come away with smiles on their faces . . . usually once the bruises and soreness wares off a few days after the race. Like our marketing partner for the Virginia Beach AdventureFest said, "You come back relaxed from a good vacation.  You come back sore from a great one."  Posted May 26 2006, 07:12 AM by gkillian with 2 comment(s)

• Tour de France for map geeks

  Adventure racing attracts a wide variety of people, but I've found a frequent characteristic of adventure racers to be "map geekdom."  We like maps.  I am an unabashed map geek.  I could look at maps for hours, skimming over the terrain and visualizing the real terra firma that the map represents.   Topographic maps, atlases, most any kind of map will do the trick for me.  There's something special about getting a birds-eye view of an area -- it confers a sense of understanding like nothing else.  And don't get me started on dioramas or 3D models . . . So, imagine my excitement at finding this very cool interactive map showing the Tour de France stages along with elevation profile, etc.  Local.Live.Com is a very cool technology and, if you're a map geek or Tour de France fan, this is worth checking out! Posted May 25 2006, 09:47 AM by gkillian with no comments

• iPods in our shoes & corn that tastes like candy

  A sensor that fits inside Nike shoes and a wireless receiver that attaches to your iPod . . . "Nike shoes embedded with a sensor that can communicate with Apple's iPod Nano music player to track a runner's performance and help choreograph songs to the moment." The full article is here.  I don't really care about songs choreographed to the moment (I'm the type that actually enjoys the quiet of my thoughts when training), but this is an interesting idea as a tool to improve performance.  The day could be approaching when our "shoe monitors" will join "heart rate monitors" to make quantitative analysis of our training even easier.  I wonder how it handles running through water or snow?  Maybe Nike ACG will come out with a "hardened  for adventure" version? What's next, corn that tastes like candy?  I can't wait . . . Posted May 24 2006, 11:13 AM by gkillian with 7 comment(s)

• Final tips for rookies at the TT . . .

  Just wrote this response to a team doing the Tidewater Traverse; their question was "any final tips for adventure racing rookies doing the TT?": As for final tips to rookies, let's see . . . you've picked a great event as your first race.  The course has a lot of variety and natural beauty, so you're in for a treat.  The course will be very challenging, both physically and mentally, and as a team new to adventure racing the mental aspect will probably be the toughest part for you.  It doesn't matter how much you run-bike-paddle in your training, it's hard to prepare for the stresses of choosing routes, team dynamics, decision making, tracking which map is for which area, making sure your team has enough food/water for each leg, etc.  The mental endurance is considerable and hard to train for and the heat on June 3 is likely to contribute to the mental fatigue.  If your definition of "doing well" is to have some laughs, see some amazing wilderness, make some tough decisions, and get dirty while keeping a heart rate over 100 BPM all day long, then your team will "do well."  If you go into it with the right attitude, that you're in it for the experience and unlikely to win the race, then you will do fine.  Oh yah, you should also know how to plot UTM coordinates. The final captain communication goes out tomorrow . . . Posted May 24 2006, 09:32 AM by gkillian with 1 comment(s)

• Aconcagua and Team Axis Gear / HRAdventure

  My wife and I are considering vacation destinations and I uncovered a cardinal rule of family trip planning: Don't suggest a place that mentions an "almost compulsory" visit to the "Mountaineers' Graveyard" before you get started.  It's amazing what a damper that can be on my wife's level of interest! So, while a trip to Aconcagua in South America is still something I'd really like to do . . . because of this page on the Aconcagua travel website I'll have to pick a different opportunity to visit. On a more positive note, my Eureka was heard (even if I spelled it Yureka) and we've got our team together for the Raid the North race near Ottawa, Canada this July.  We'll be racing as Team Axis Gear / HRAdventure and I'm getting excited for it. Axis Gear is a manufacturer of custom jerseys and other AR specific stuff . . . their bike map holder is a great innovation, for example.  If you order something from them, use code HRAR (either in the order comments or in your name) to get the special treatment from Norm and company. Posted May 22 2006, 02:36 PM by gkillian with no comments

• Even the best components will wear-out if you use them enough

  This past weekend at our Powhatan Trail Race (a cheap knock-off of the Kokopelli Trail Race), I became reacquainted with one of the challenges of moutain biking for adventure racing: Even the best components will eventually wear-out if you use them enough To a recreational rider, this still holds true, but adventure racers are particularly nasty to gear and I know some racers who end up with an essentially new bike each year due to the slings and arrows of outrageous adventure racing fortune.  Things like dragging your bike across ponds and rivers, hike-a-bike down steep wooded slopes for miles at a time (or worse: up those steep wooded slopes!), and even the "simple" grind of a 30 mile bike leg on lousy jeep roads will eventually put a hurtin' on your bike and if you do it with any regularity then forget it . . . adventure racers are asking for bike problems. And don't give me "buy XTR components" as a solution, because the lightest and fanciest piece can sometimes be the most delicate and prone to failure.  I've seen several XTR derailleurs come to transition areas in racer backpacks instead of attached to their bikes.  So what can you do? It seems to me there are a few avenues to pursue: Build a good relationship with a local bike shop (LBS).  I've sung the praises of the LBS before, but when it comes to broken gear the local shop can be a great place for advice, alternatives, and -- if appropriate -- advocacy on your behalf to the manufacturer.  My rear rim cracked at the PTR and I'll hand it over to the guys at BikeBeat; they'll contact the manufacturer and see about sorting out any warranty issue.  Sure, I could do this leg work myself but I've got other things to do and I think a bike shop has more credibility in the eyes of a manufacturer than an individual.  The LBS can take this monkey off my back! Learn to take care of your bike and to be a passable bike mechanic.  On the trail, you could be hours away from assistance and you need to have some confidence in your ability to sort out your own mechanical problems . . . this will also make you a more valuable teammate.  The more you know, the more you'll be able to identify issues before they turn into race-ending crashes or equipment failures.  This is an area I could improve on; while it's tough to find the time to become good at everything, this is an important enough skill that I should move it near the top of my priorities. Don't blindly buy the "best" gear as ranked by a magazine, friend, or website.  Adventure racing puts different demands on gear and a really light bike frame might sound great until it cracks apart halfway up the mountain.  Now, a rugged downhill bike frame might be durable but you'd die carrying a bike with all that weight.  The shop I buy most of my bike stuff from (see the first point above) knows I'm into adventure racing and when I ask their opinion on something they know I'm not asking it from the perspective of a downhill-bomber or a weight-freaked-out roadie.   The answers to my gear questions are a tricky balance between durability and weight and utility and ease-of-troubleshooting and, of course, cost -- so always consider the source of a gear review before you buy. Posted May 17 2006, 10:11 AM by gkillian with 7 comment(s)

• Save the date: July 21st

  HRAdventure will be hosting a summer party with swimming, beer, birthday cake (for Jill) and more (a bit of suburban orienteering?) on Friday evening July 21st . . . we'll connect friends, family, HRA sponsors, and other vagabonds into a fun and social get together.  No race bibs or mandatory gear, we promise!  Stay tuned for details and your official invitation . . . Posted May 16 2006, 11:31 AM by gkillian with 5 comment(s)

• Powhatan Trail Race Retrospective

  I'll have lots of posts thanks to this weekend, but let me start with the basics: the 10th annual PTR (Powhatan Trail Race) had two classifications, Regular (1 lap, approx. 30 miles) and Enduro (2 laps, appox 60 miles).  It was a great time and culminated in a shocking finish: a 6-way tie for first place in the Regular Classification!  Check out the following photo from the finish line: Amazing!  Congrats to Tim, Steve, Scott, Rudy, Brian, and Emily for an astonishing finish line push. In the Enduro Classification, the finish was just as close but involved only two riders: a tie between Mojo and me: Just astonishing! The course was great, roughly the same ride as I discuss here but with a slight nav twist at the top of the mountain where you pick your own route down to Sherando Lake.  Over 4,000 feet of elevation gain in one lap, or 8,000+ for the Enduro classification.  The Enduros started at sunrise and, by the end of the day, we were really hurting . . . Mike pronounced his quads "completely fried" and I tried to voice my agreement but all that came out was a dull groan.  I think we may rename the Enduro Classification into its own race called "The SufferFest."  Oddly, I have a sadistic itch to go for 3 laps next time with one lap having to take place in the dark . . . I'm pretty sure a 5 hour lap is a reasonable average time for 3 laps, so a 2 AM start would mean a finish before darkness the next day (allowing for a bit of a break between each lap).  I'd have to pick a night with a full moon and find a few totally insane people to go with me; I'll have to check on Mojo's schedule . . . No write-up of the PTR is complete without a catalog of Chief Powhatan's revenge for the day; he likes to break bikes, throw nasty weather at racers, and otherwise get back at the PTR participants for their boldness in riding his course.  As far as I know, there was 1 bent rim, 1 rim split into pieces, an egg-beater pedal snapped off it's stem, and a couple flat tires and endos attributed to The Chief. The coveted "Always Outnumbered Never Out-Gunned" award goes to Mike "Mojo" Jones who, with 25 miles to go on his second lap during the Enduro Classification, broke his pedal off his crank arm and rode the rest of the race (with most of the climbing still to go!) with only one good pedal and one little stem to push and pull on -- that's the stuff legends are made of!  Tim Sinatra stopped to survey Mojo's situation and fired us all up with a timely quote: "What happens from here on out, defines us."  Tim even offered to alternate bikes with Mojo but Mojo stuck it out. Posted May 14 2006, 09:41 PM by gkillian with 5 comment(s)

• Yureka! I found one!

  For those of you who know me (or just read this post earlier), you know I've been trying to find a 24+ hour race to do this summer and I've really struggled.  I know there are options in the Southeast, but it seems like I've been down that way a lot lately and I don't want to do the long drive on I-85 and through Asheville to another race (in northern Georgia or Tenn); part of the fun, for me, is experiencing new terrain and different race organizations.  Well, I've got a July 36-hour race to consider: the Raid the North in Quebec Province, Canada!  We looked at moving to Quebec a few years ago, so this might be our chance to explore what might have been . . . could have been QCAdventure instead of HRAdventure!?  I think we've got support crew options up in that area; the next step is coerce family and get Team HRAdventure fired up about it . . . time to brush up on my French, too . . . Posted May 11 2006, 12:51 PM by gkillian with 12 comment(s)

• HRAdventure Fall Races Update

  We've been getting questions about our two Fall races . . . let me answer the most common ones right here: Yes, the races are all on and we're just finalizing arrangements before opening registration and updating the website.  Storm the Eastern Shore 2006 registration will open on June 1st (the website should be updated in the next week or so); the race is the weekend of Sept 16th.  A  support crew will be optional for this race (but I think it's to your advantage to have a dedicated support crew to call your own!) Sea & Sand adventure race, part of VBAdventureFest, will open registration later -- June/July timeframe.  We're bundling the registration process together with the orienteering, trail running, biking, climbing, and other events so we're dependent on other parties before we can turn the switch on.  This is likely to be a support crew required race for a number of reasons that I won't get into here. That about covers it!  Thanks for the inquiries, everyone, we really appreciate the interest and are looking forward to some more great events . . . Posted May 10 2006, 09:47 PM by gkillian with no comments

• VA Mountain Bike Festival over Memorial Day

  Virginia mountian biking trails earned an "A" grade from IMBA . . . and Memorial Day (May 26-29) weekend is a great opportunity to celebrate it at the IMBA sponsored mountain biking festival of Virginia.  It's a weekend of riding, camping, and other outdoor fun and is based just south of Harrisonburg --known for it's great riding. Posted May 10 2006, 09:29 AM by gkillian with no comments

• Easiest way to pass a team in AR

  On the race course, it can sometimes be difficult to pass a team or to get some separation between you and a group of other teams; they can work hard to keep you in sight or follow your navigation.  The Transition Area, on the other hand, is a much easier place to put time in to your competition and is frequently overlooked as a strategic opportunity.  In a "short" 12-hour race like the Tidewater Traverse quick transitions can be the difference between winning the race and finishing off the podium. Take a bike-to-paddle transition:  Do you really need to change out of your bike shoes for the paddle?  Once you're paddling, slip your shoes off and go barefoot if you need to.  It's faster than sitting in TA, changing your shoes/socks, and wasting 2 minutes of race time. Does your support crew have PFDs, paddles, and food staged in the canoe for you?   Plan to eat/drink while you're paddling instead of while your hanging around the TA.  Your support crew can tape all sorts of drinks and food to the interior of a canoe . . . Are you organized with your maps so you don't need to hang around in TA sorting out where you're going next?  It can take 5 or 10 minutes just confirming you have the right maps and planning your route; when in doubt take everything (in a waterproof case!) and have your navigator sort it out on the way. The same sort of logic can apply to any transition area and, unless you're in a race of 24-hours or longer, spending more than 15 minutes in a TA is like saying, "Winning this race is not that important to me."  Now, it may be that winning the race is, in fact, not a priority for your team; maybe you're just there to finish or for the comraderie and the experience -- this mindset is particularly dangerous in a TA because you can easily burn 30 or 45 minutes without really knowing it.  If there are 3 transition areas in a 12-hour race, and you spend "just" 30 minutes in each TA, that's 90 minutes total in TA and fully 1/8 of the 12-hour race time is spent transitioning. Team HRAdventure has some funny tales of TA comedy.  We spent 60 minutes in a TA once at the 30-hour NGAR in January (after a very cold paddling leg); our support crew had a fire going and we didn't have a strong sense of urgency.  Even when we think we're going quickly through a TA, we compare our split times to some of the premiere teams around (Litespeed, EMS, etc) and they are often much faster in TA. Since extra time spent in a TA is really time spent losing a race, we've worked to improve our transitions and have had some success with the following: Practice transitions during training, and transition with race-like intensity. Have a designated time-keeper who calls out 5 minute increments of time. Before the race, insist that your support crew push you out the door at each TA -- this is not the time for racers to get comfortable! Be organized.  Whether it's keeping gear for a certain discipline all in one place, or having colour-coated containers for food, clothes, bike stuff, etc, have an organization system and make sure there are labels for the benefit of support crew.  By the end of a race, support vehicles can get pretty trashed so don't spare any organizational effort. As you approach the TA, review what each person is doing and make sure everybody knows the plan.  As I said, we're far from pros when it comes to transitions but a little bit of effort can make a big difference.  The TA is too often an afterthought for teams when, in reality, it's probably the easiest place on the course to pass a team!  Posted May 09 2006, 08:14 AM by gkillian with 1 comment(s)

• New Kicks

  I tried out my new trail runners last night from New Balance . . . I'm very happy with them, even the vibrant colour is starting to grow on me: These shoes are considerably lighter weight than my previous NB trail shoes and fits more like a slipper than a shoe -- it's very comfortable.  Haven't tried it through water yet, but the upper is mesh and should breath really well. This shoe is hot off the presses and might be tough to find, but I do know the Virginia Beach New Balance has a few still in stock (Market Place at Hilltop: 737 First Colonial Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23451) ; you can always call them before you make the trip: 757-433-0100.   Don't be tricked by some of the cheaper NB models sold at the various catch-all stores.  Do you really want to buy shoes from the same place you'd buy free weights, golf clubs, and fishing tackle at?  Turns out, some manufacturers (including NB) don't provide their top of the line models/styles to every retail outlet . . . they call it brand management or something.  I've always had the best luck going to stores focussing on a specific niche instead of the store trying to be all things to all people -- the staff are usually zeroed in on my specific interest and I can get the most from the whole buying experience.  If I ask questions at the New Balance store, I don't get blank stares; I think Dick's etc might have the market cornered on poorly trained sales staff.  Truth in advertising: New Balance is an HRAdventure sponsor and you shouldn't run out and buy these shoes just because I like them.  I do think, however, if you're in the market for a very light and comfortable trail running shoe the latest NB 872 is worth a look. Posted May 05 2006, 09:29 AM by gkillian with 3 comment(s)

• 9 Levels of Support Crew Nirvana

  It's at this time of year, when teams start really thinking about the 12-hour Tidewater Traverse, that the topic of support crew seems to come up.  There are different ways of looking at it, for some it's simply a question of "Who is around who can drive our car that day?"  For others, it's like choosing a vice presidential running mate, "We need to find somebody who is good with bikes and somebody who can assist with the maps and somebody who can run the laptop with the aerial photography." Put things in perspective: it's just a 12 hour race and, in my opinion, having somebody just drive your vehicle around is probably sufficient.  Of course, finding two people is probably more fun for your support crew, but it's not necessary as there seems to be a spirit of comraderie that develops at the transition areas and friendships are formed between crews and staff.  That being said, let me offer up this list of the levels of support crew nirvana for a 12-hour race such as the TT: Level 1: the support crew has a valid drivers license and can read simple driving directions Level 2: Level 1 + the support crew has an understanding that making it to the transistion areas before the team arrives is important Level 3: Level 2 + the support crew has a positive and supportive attitude Level 4: Level 3 + the support crew can unload the basic contents of the car in the field or parking lot (like boxes with food, clothes, etc) and, in bad weather, can rig up a tarp for protection from rain Level 5: Level 4 + the support crew can unload the entire vehicle including bikes, canoes, etc -- if unable to manage the heavier items independently, the support crew can coerce others into helping them.  Coercive power can go a long way! Level 6: Level 5 + the support crew can lay out maps and identify where the TA is on the maps Level 7: Level 6 + the support crew can do basic bike work like repair a flat, adjust brakes, etc Level 8: Level 7 + the support crew can do more technical bike repairs like derailleur adjustments and chain replacement Level 9: Level 8 + the support crew can plot UTM points Some may argue the hierarchy of these Levels, but suffice it to say that achieving Level 3  should be accessible to just about anyone and Level 5 is within reach of the majority of people without too much effort.  Teams for the TT should consider themselves very fortunate if their crew is at any level greater than 5 and you can certainly get by just with Level 2. Now, I'm leaving off "skills" demonstrated by some memorable support crews that we've seen at HRAdventure events.  There was the Team Encompass-Adventure support crew from the TT in 2005: they had inspirational music blaring, a crew of 4 or 5 people, and a real party atmosphere; I think they even had a barbecue fired up as if they were tailgating before the super bowl.  Very fun.  I've heard second-hand from the Team Richmond ASR folks that their crew at the 2005 Storm the Eastern Shore used a digital camera to photograph the race booklet and then used a laptop computer to have an immediate copy for the support crew to plot points and work from -- the racers were able to keep the originals.  Adventure racing is, ultimately, a sport of improvisation and this little technical wizardy shows a lot of preparation and forethought. Teams should appreciate their support crew and, when we race as Team HRAdventure, we always make sure our crew can get a race t-shirt, doesn't have to pay for lodging and expenses, and is treated like one of the team . . . it's more fun that way and, I bet, the support is more effective because of it.  If it's not fun, why are we doing this? I should mention that we've got a first-hand account of what being a support crew is like on the HRAdventure website. Posted May 04 2006, 09:18 AM by gkillian with 1 comment(s)