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

October 2006 - Posts

• Someday we're all going to laugh about this . . .

  . . . in fact, I already am laughing.  But I'm also crying.  There have been some last minute *suprises* come up with the permitting of the Sea & Sand Adventure Race.  Suprises of the kind [Grant has removed the rest of this per his wife's suggestion, she's the one with more common sense]. Yes, although Virginia Beach is the "3rd fittest city in America" and the roads are crowded on weekends with road bikers in packs of 10, 20, and 30, the thought of adventure racers on mountain bikes (with front and rear lights required) in a team of 2, 3, or 4 sends terror through the hearts of some decision makers. Everything about it is shocking . . . the timing, the tone, and just when it seemed like city forces were aligning together to finally build an annual adventure-themed weekend in a city where it was long overdue.  So many of the great folks in the City worked so hard to get us this far, too! So why am I laughing? I'm laughing because we will persevere (it's part of our pedal, paddle, persevere slogan!).  The adventure race course will be radically changed and, I suspect, we can do away with the need for a support crew (they'd be welcome to stick around and help out or enjoy the beach, but they could be unnecessary based on how things shake out).  I won't say more, because the course must remain a secret to the competitors, but in many respects the new course will be tougher and better.  The racers might never know anything came up last minute, in fact.  And, not to worry, the rappel is still a go.  Once we make a final determination we'll notify all the teams about any changes to the support crew requirements, etc. [Grant has removed this entire paragraph per his wife's suggestion, she's the one with more common sense] So why am I crying?  Besides the headache, inconvenience, and lots of extra work this will create for me in the next couple weeks as I modify all the race materials and maps and staff assignments, this is just sad for Virginia Beach.  The City has worked with us from the very beginning, shaping the whole concept with us and providing financial support for our marketing efforts and guiding us through the politics.  City businesses have rallied behind the cause and there was a lot of talk about "next year" and all the ways to expand for 2007. My inclination is that maybe Williamsburg or Gloucester could use an adventure-themed festival in the Fall of 2007?  As the President said, "fool me once, shame on you; fool me you can't get fooled again." Posted Oct 26 2006, 10:03 AM by gkillian with 7 comment(s)

• The next time somebody claims mountain bikers ruin trails . . .

  This news release from the IMBA on the impacts to trails from mountain biking is really worth reading.  In summary: "Certain impacts to mountain bike trails, especially width, are comparable or less than hiking or multiple-use trails, and significantly less than impacts to equestrian or off-highway vehicle trails." There is a link to the full study and I think I might have to keep a hard copy on hand to give to some of the naysayers who claim "crazy mountain bikers" are the root cause of all the erosion in their areas. Posted Oct 24 2006, 03:39 PM by gkillian with 6 comment(s)

• 2007 Planning

  It might seem strange to be so focussed on 2007 already when there are still 2+ good months of 2006 to go, but October is -- in my opinion -- the most important month for the future of any race organization.  It's the time when direction is set and groundwork is laid with sponsors, venues, media, and even participants (a race has to be promoted for several months before many people will actually register).  It takes time to put all the pieces together and October seems to be the time for getting the next year really started. So, you ask, what does HRAdventure have started for 2007? Let me begin by saying that doing an expedition adventure race on the other side of the country in the first week of October is not a good start for what should be a month of strategizing and planning.  I still have gear boxes to pick up that I shipped back from Utah, so my priority list right now is chock-full of other things besides the future of HRAdventure. That being said, we're making a valiant effort in the closing weeks of this month to really make progress.  I say "we" and I truly mean it since 2007 will bring a couple newer faces into the organizing spotlight.  Morgan Newlon, famous for being the guy I boss around and tell to put orienteering flags in challenging locations, will be doing the lions share of planning and directing for the 2007 Tidewater Traverse; get your muddy shoes out!  Pam McKay and Mike "Mojo" Jones (also known collectively as "Pike" --short for Pam-and-Mike) will be leading a sprint edition of the 2007 Sproute.  All this help on our successfully established races (this will be the 3rd year for the Sproute and the TT, if you can believe it!) will let me focus on a totally new and ambitious event in 2007 . . . it will be 24+ hours in duration, possibly 30 or even 36 hours . . . it will be non-stop (meaning no organized camping component like at the Storm) . . . it will be based around the Charlottesville area and the Boys and Girls Club of Charlottesville will be the charitable beneficiary of the event . . . looking like the weekend of June 9th . . . Blue Ridge Mountain Sports is very excited about it, needless-to-say (their global headquarters are in C'Ville).  We'll probably start early registration for this big enchilada next month at some point . . . but if the idea interests you let me know as it will help us guage the level of interest out there.  I'm anxious and curious to see the response to the event; for example, will our teams of  "the usual suspects" who frequent HRAdventure events come out for such a challenging race?  Is it too much?  Some of the HRAdventure staff/volunteers already call me Grant Overkill-ian because of my propensity to take a basic 5 mile trekking leg and find a way to complicate it into a 3 hour orienteering/swimming/bushwhacking monstrosity. The calendar is coming together with the Sproute looking at early March and the Tidewater Traverse looking at early April.  Nothing is final, at this point, so don't book vacation plans just yet. As for later in 2007, that's likely only going to come into focus in November and December so I admit that we're falling off the pace.  It kind of depends on how AdventureFest works out.  October is the ideal time to do the planning, but circumstances dictate that we prolong our planning a bit more. Posted Oct 24 2006, 12:06 PM by gkillian with 6 comment(s)

• Ramblings Over Lunch

  I expect this post will be scattered, as I'm just jotting some things down while I eat my lunch.  Some of these warrant their own post entirely, but I don't have time to really dress them up. Anyway, it's a busy time for HRAdventure.  I'm still cleaning gear and doing laundry from the trip to Utah but at the same time working to form a 2007 race calendar that builds on our 2006 success and makes room for balance in our lives.  Mix in sponsor conversations and planning for some clinics and things are very interesting here.  Oh yeah, I nearly forgot the little event we're running in November called the Virginia Beach AdventureFest.  The resort city of Virginia Beach is ecstatic over the whole concept and it's making waves in city leadership circles.  It's particularly cool since there were a couple ill-faited adventure racing efforts made in Virginia Beach in the years previous (attempted by organizations far different than HRAdventure).  I won't name names; I probably don't need to.  Anyway, there's nothing quite like the look on a city planner's face when you explain how the disciplines all fit together and top it off with a dramatic oceanfront rappel.  One guy I spoke with sat with his jaw wide open for about 15 seconds, and the other guy did a hilarious Oh Snap -- he couldn't believe people would do all this from sunrise to sunset. For those concerned with a November race being too cold, you should know that today is in the 70s in Virginia Beach and actually a bit too hot for my taste.  The Encompass ropes guys were at the rappel site this morning and called me to share how gorgeous it was up top and then complain that they didn't have enough sun block.  Rope guys . . . go figure. I should also share that the deadline for Kraken Challenge registrants to sign up in time to get a special wicking shirt is fast approaching.  By early next week, I think.  The advenure race is all but sold out; the trail run and the Metr-O orienteering event still have lots of space, however.  Don't know if I shared this, but the trail run will be the first one ever run at historic Ft. Story.  Lots of new ground breaking this November . . . but that's practically the core of the HRAdventure philosophy! Posted Oct 20 2006, 12:23 PM by gkillian with 2 comment(s)

• Moab Expedition Race Report

  The race report, written by Morgan "I'm no walrus" Newlon, is now available along with some incredible pictures: check it all out here. The report takes you from the start in the low canyonlands . . . up to the summit of the La Sal mountains . . . back to the lowlands . . . through an amazing little ropes section . . . back up to the tops of the La Sals . . . and then to the abrupt cancelletion of the race about one and half days in.  I, personally, can't wait for the sequel.  Posted Oct 17 2006, 10:06 PM by gkillian with 2 comment(s)

• 24 Hours of Adrenaline nearly kills winner

  A poster at the Trailblazers AR forum shared this link about the 24 Hours of Adrenaline solo world championship, and how the winner nearly rode himself to death.  He did beat the legend Chris Eatough, but nearly killed himself in the process.  Wow, and I thought I taxed my body during an adventure race? You've got to appreciate the tone of the article . . . "Doctors told Gordon had he continued to ride untreated, he very well could have ridden himself onto that great winding single-track in the sky." Speaking of injuries, terrible news that Mojo broke his tibia last night and is out of commission for a few months!  He gets back from Utah and a few days later, shatters his leg.  Rumour has it he was test running the Bear of the Beach Trail Run and the course got the better of him.  I think we'll have to move him from the rappel site for the adventure race, too, as crutches don't mix with climbing harnesses. Posted Oct 16 2006, 02:08 PM by gkillian with 6 comment(s)

• Back to work

  I've got lots and lots of stuff to share about our race in Moab, excitement for HRAdventure for 2007 (yes, it involves a 2007 race series!), and other adventure racing tidbits.  For the moment, I'm still doing laundry and cleaning the red Utah clay off all my stuff.  Morgan is just about done writing up a nice race report on the Moab expedition race; Pam and Mike might have a few comments to add to it but I expect we'll have one posted to the HRAdventure team website in a week or less. Until then, I'll post a photo of us at the Moab Brewery the night after the Moab race was cut short.  Yes, we were really bummed to only race for a portion of what we expected would be our longest multi-day race . . . but we made the most of our extra time: Posted Oct 14 2006, 08:18 PM by gkillian with no comments

• Back from the Xstream Expedition in Moab

  Well, it's over . . . everyone is safe and sound and dry (finally). We had a close call with mother nature between CP 24 and CP 25 that put Pam pretty close to the hypothermia monster, but she toughed it out until they closed the course down due to the rain of the century in Moab (more rain in one day than they usually get in one year). Whew! What a jip, though! All the planning and preparation and logistics for only about 36 hours of racing. Some highlights include the scrambling up and over a peak in the snow and dark and high winds of the La Sals at over 11,000 feet of elevation . . . a beautiful paddle down the Colorado river as the canyons overflowed and made 100s of waterfalls . . . a memorable via ferrata and rappel from an amazing rock formation . . . some great teamwork, fun people, and unforgettable times. I'll save more for later, until then we're all OK and wishing we were still racing. For the time being, we're in Colorado with a bit of energy to spare since the race got cut short . . . Posted Oct 08 2006, 10:18 PM by gkillian with 1 comment(s)

• It's go time

  I'm just a few hours away from heading out West; I've got a couple gear bins packed that just squeeze under the size restrictions for "regular baggage" with the airline; last I checked UPS.com, my bike box and gear were in Salt Lake "forwarded to the facility in the destination city" which, I think, is good news.  Utah this time of year is tricky because they've already had snow in the high country, but I know we'll spend a lot of time in the hot sandy canyons, too, so the gear I'm bringing covers all these extremes. Speaking of gear, we got our HRAdventure jerseys in just in time for this race, here's the mock up from Axis Gear: These are very very nice jerseys and I wish my fitness matched the fashion -- organizing the STORM so close to this Utah race has certainly cramped my training and preparations.  For example, Pam, Mike, Morgan, and I have never once trained all 4 of us together.  It's shocking really, but true.  Moab will be a really fun experience, don't get me wrong, but we're under no illusions that we're going out there to win the event.  I don't think anybody can organize a race schedule like we have this year, with the 4 race series, and still be super competitive at other races . . . it's just too much to balance with a family, job, etc. Speaking of Moab, you can track the event in "real time" via this website: http://www.checkpointtracker.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.showLeaderboard&eventID=99 The race will keep the site updated with progress and have race maps etc, very cool.  Warning, sites like these can be major productivity sinks if you get invested in following a race -- trust me, I know!  Not much work could get done the latter part of this week . . . For more about the race, check out www.GravityPlay.com.  We'll see what kind of internet coverage and time I get while out West, but this might be the last you hear from me until later in October.  Our support crew (from the Richmond ASR Team-- how cool is that!?) might be able to post some stuff here during the race, we'll see. Until then, let me close with a quote from a movie that might be mandatory viewing before one of our 2007 HRAdventure races (I'll let you guess the movie): "I grip it and I rip it.  I live it with a lot of flair. I live it on the edge, where I gotta be. I wasn't like every other kids you know who dreams about being and astronaut. I was always more interested in ah -- what bark was made out of on a tree." Posted Oct 01 2006, 10:03 PM by gkillian with 1 comment(s)