9 minute read
Adventure racing women go the distance
How to burn it off over the weekend
ADVENTURE RACING WOMEN BIKE, PADDLE AND RUN
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BY SOPHIA TSOUROS
“STAY TO THE RIGHT!” These were the last words spoken as our team bombed down a series of steep, rocky, trails on mountain bikes – jerseys covered in dust, team name barely legible.
The name was “Team Ottawa Outdoors Magazine,” and we were competing in the Trek Elite two-day, Storm the Trent Adventure Race over the Mother’s Day weekend in May. Ahead lay 75 kilometres of mountain biking, 19 kilometres of running and trekking, and 36 kilometres of paddling. Some weekend.
“We” were four women: Ann, Mary and Sophia, from the world of policy analysis and project management, and Gina, a banker. All of us were deskbound through the week, but shared a passion to do something physically demanding in the outdoors, and often.
A four-woman team is not the usual combination one would expect to find. Adventure Race teams are usually coed, but all four of us had raced before on different teams and wanted to try it together; this was our first outing. Our support crew (spouses and friends transporting our gear) was an awesome, dedicated three-man operation.
Adventure racing is all about the gear, and you need that backup. You’ve got bikes, clothing, canoes, paddles, packs, liquids, food, and the maps pencilled over with route choices and strategies.
It had all started back at the west end of Rice Lake early that morning, when 42 paddles stabbed the water as solo kayakers and canoe teams shot off from shore. Racing in two canoes, we paddled hard against the waves and building wind on a 22-kilometre paddle up the lake. The kayaks ahead of us, with paddles beating in rhythm, looked like birds taking flight.
The battle up Rice Lake ended as we paddled our way into the Trent RiverCanal system and its tangle of bays. With a few navigational detours, we found our way to our first transition area – from boats to bikes. We were wet and cold after 3½ hours, but still in good spirits.
After a change of clothes and bite to eat, we hopped on our bikes and drove straight into our first major challenge. The speed sent our navigator into a full-fledged asthma attack, turning the route’s many hills into a nightmare. It’s times like these when team dynamics are crucial; a team-mate helped tow her up the hills, and we continued to pedal forward.
After some road riding, we hit a stretch of the 400-kilometre long Ganaraska Trail, which connects Port Hope on the Lake Ontario shore, and winds through Barrie and Orillia to the Bruce Trail. Our section, site of many mountain bike events, lived up to its reputation as the place to ride a bike. We were required to find control points
that teams have to clock into on the way through, before heading out to our next transition area, with a 3 p.m. cutoff time.
If you don’t make the cutoff, you get sidetracked into a shorter route for the “losers” – teams that aren’t allowed for safety reasons to continue the full route. We thought we had plenty of time, so we felt comfortable.
But the bike trails were challenging, with tricky navigation, big hills, technical descents, and sand everywhere. We missed a crucial turn and had to double back, losing time. We had two controls to find and suddenly there was only a half hour left to get to the next checkpoint. We found the controls, put our heads down and rode like crazy. From a distance, we heard teams coming into the transition area, then rounded a corner and saw our support crew with minutes to spare. We congratulated each other, especially our navigator who had soldiered on through the asthma attack.
The next leg consisted of running/ orienteering and a short section of bushwhacking, followed by another bike section over a series of rolling hills. We crossed paths with several teams. This kept us motivated as we came into the last transition – and a run to the finish – but not before doing community work. Surprise! At this final control point we had to fill a bag with mulch and lug it to a nearby swampy area – our small part in improving the trail system. Then a final run to the finish, but it wasn’t over. The last task consisted of slinging loonies at a target to raise money for charity.
DAY 1 DONE, DAY 2 FOR TEAMWORK
After suffering a stormy night camped out, a sunny morning greeted us. Excited, we drove to the starting point for Day 2 on the Ganaraska Trails. We began an orienteering section on foot; good navigation got us to each checkpoint quickly. Soon we were on our bikes pedaling towards the boats tied up on the east side of Rice Lake. The paddling trip started out in relatively calm water, but within 20 minutes the wind picked up and so did the waves. It was fun to surf the smaller waves, but the cruise turned into a nerve-racking struggle through whitecaps.
At the next transition, we jumped on our bikes and bombed down some very gnarly trails, learning a vital lesson – part of the fun involves accomplishing seemingly impossible goals.
The final leg of the race consisted of another run through the swampy area hauling bags of mulch to the finish line.
WHAT DID WE ACHIEVE?
We had pulled together as Team Ottawa Outdoors Magazine: all women, all tired, yet exhilarated. We didn’t satisfy that secret inner ambition to
come in ahead of some of the all-male teams, but wait til next year. ≈ Ottawa writer Sophia Tsouros is a project manager for the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. And she’s strong.
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