The couple I'm racing with at the
GOALS race in PA next weekend joined me and some other friends at the
Manchester Bridge in Richmond for some practice with ropes (ascending/rappelling). It's not an epic location for rope work or anything, but it's perfect for getting several reps in and, since my teammates for this race (Beth and Scott) had never used ascenders, it was good to make sure they were familiar with the process and their climbing harnesses etc. Even though the actual rope site at the GOALS race will probably only take 10 or 15 minutes, it's good to invest a little effort getting comfortable with the gear and the process. As this will be Beth's first adventure race of any kind, and Scott's first adventure race more than a few hours, anything we can do to reduce pre-race anxiety is a good thing and getting this rope work in will set the stage nicely for a clean rope skills check and a good rope section on race day. There's nothing worse than agonizing for an hour or more with a pre-race skills certification -- the GOALS staff are nice and will do on site instruction, but that's time better spent out of the sun and resting for the real race.
So, yes, this has turned into my summer for racing with people I don't normally race with. I never planned it like that, but the usual
Team HRAdventure suspects have been in Florida (Pam) or Tennessee (Mojo), and we struggled unsuccessfully to get a race on the calendar. This race with Scott and Beth, however, has been something we've been talking about for a year or more and I'm excited for them to finally take the plunge. Beth does a lot of triathlon and Scott does the marathon thing every now and then, so I'm confident they'll be in fine shape for the 12-hour race. They've helped organize the
HRAdventure events so they're no strangers to adventure racing, just not
being an adventure racer. The race will be over before they know it . . . and then they'll wish we could go back for more!