It’s been awhile since we’ve updated but rest assured we are out adventuring, racing, and recuperating.  Our latest news is that Karl and Cynthia are staging the Path Less Traveled Adventure Race for beginner adventure racers on January 26, 2008 in Lake Chabot, California.  For more information and registration please visit Cyclepath.com

All three of us are writting on portions of the race.  I drew the proverbial middle straw and below is my account of our venture:

Finishing the bike leg our team limped into TA3.  My bike’s rear shifter failed within the first five kilometers of this (the first) bike leg.  Hani’s mechanical prowness became evident shortly.  He used zip ties to hold the shifter cable tight and keep me in the second chain ring on my rear cassette.  This allowed me to complete the remainder of the course with 3 speeds.   I used the word limp because my bike was down to 3 speeds and my main HID battery was used up.

Our transition was not what one could call lightening fast, an issue that would plague us throughout this race.  On the bright side, our timing was such that we were able to join forces with the Dirty Avocados (DA) for this first night navigation/orienteering leg.  Our rules of travel (directions) were very clear about crossing a road and climbing a gate.  Upon completing this task we found ourselves on a fire road that headed in the general direction we wanted to travel.  Mark Richardson and Will Gilmore (the two navigators) worked together throughout this section.  We turned off our headlamps to better see the land features around us.  Upon reaching the saddle, Will triangulated to confirm our location on the map.  All was right as we followed the trail north and down into a valley of sorts.  The road started to turn too much westerly and we stopped to evaluate our maps.  At this point we saw several teams returning from the direction we were heading.  We waited until they moved out of our vision prior to initiating plan A.  Plan A was to bushwhack east until finding the road (trail) that ran north/south as a back stop and then picking up the CP several meters off of said pathway.  We all stood facing north and then real sudden like, made a right hand turn and started walking down through a canyon of sorts.  Mark Richardson and Donato Polignone (DP) did the majority of trail cutting through this section.   Upon hitting the bottom of the canyon our way forward appeared to be blocked by hills, hum plan B?  We were feeling fairly bleak when DP found a path through a narrow canyon that lead south.   This trail opened and closed several times prior to spitting us out in a cactus farm.  We milled about here for too long trying to make it be the place we wanted it to be.  Upon surrendering to the fact that the CP wasn’t here, we were able to think a little more macro and found the CP shortly there after.  The second and final CP of this leg was out of the forest in relative open land.  The sun was rising and we decided to take advantage of the topography (flat) and run.  The CP was quickly identified and nabbed prior to finding the most direct route to town.  Hani’s linguistic skills came in handy as we were able to talk our way through some private land (short cut) and enter town to find the center square and our next TA.  Our transition to bike was status quo for us.  Once on the bikes we circled the town square just to make sure it was all there prior to leaving town and heading east for the second bike leg.  The sun was rising and heat and hydration were going to be issues.  The next CP was 28 kilometers away and with Will’s solid navigation we found it with little difficulty.  Upon leaving this CP we needed to do a 200 meter hike a-bike.  There is something about carrying a bike back-pack style to bring out the primal beast.  We climbed to the top of the ridge and were supposed to ride east for a couple of kilometers prior to dropping down into a canyon.  We came to a trail head and saw what looked to be too many tracks heading east (for the amount of teams that came through) and what seemed to be the right amount of tracks heading west.  At this point we did something very dangerous….we thought!  The three teams ahead of us must have gone forward and (couldn’t find the trail?) and then back tracked.  Obviously the map was wrong.  Why else would there be tracks heading the other direction?  We really were in the middle of nowhere and the chances of people being out here mountain biking were well, zero.  A funny thing happened though.  The trail disappeared and then of course all bike tracks too.  This may have been our defining moment.  We worked together to carry, push and ride our bikes cross-country until we came upon the correct trail.  The drop into the canyon had a woowho or two along the away and marked the beginning of a long hard slog.  Over the next 3 hours we climbed about 1700 meters on a sand filled road that turned out to be half way decent in terms of ride ability.  Hani and Will took turns towing me on portions of this section when speed was an issue.  We moved into the high desert with the terrain change fore-shadowing what was to come.  As fortune would have it, and some good timing from both teams.  The DA team, arrived into this transition shortly after us.  A quick caucus and we were on it again, teaming up for a second night trek.  We were able to cross the desert during daylight and come to an outskirt of a farm town.  Instead of traveling the most direct route to the next CP (complete desert walk) we took the shortest route out of the desert and did a square type thing and were able to travel on roads of a sort.  This being a second night, things became interesting on the trail.  Will attempted to sleep while walking.  I held his backpack to make sure he didn’t fall on his face or walk off trail.  A five minute cat naps of sorts and he seemed to be rejuvenated.  As we neared the end of this transition, Hani was feeling the effects of sleep degradation to a substantial degree.  Entering the TA around 10:30 PM we found our transition box was not there waiting for us.  Melissa from the DA team offered us a tent that we set up.  Some sleeping bags were provided from crews supporting other teams.  In addition the crew from the Baja team provided some tamales, which we heartedly enjoyed and made ready for sleep at 10:30.   Will and I lay down to rest our bodies around 11:30; with thousands of thoughts bouncing in my head sleep did not come easy.  Our bins showed up at 12:30 and we immediatly started to process of breaking camp.  Thomas Bastis of team Aquan was assisting in this TA and provided some excellent foot care for Will.  We were off on the road by 2:30 AM beginning the final bike leg.  This leg consisted of a 28 kilometer fire road climb that had several sandy spots and then as we neared the top the trail had more rock gardens than sand.  The DA caught us on this leg and we road about half of it together.  Near the summit we found ourselves alone again.  We over shot the trail leading into the next TA and spent about 10 minutes milling about.  Will had good command of the situation and kept us focused on the task at hand.  We were back on track in no time and entered this TA with the DA.  We were greeted by the smell of fresh food.  The volunteers were cooking for us!  What a wonderful gift indeed! A quick meal and a quick transition had us ready to go.  We stopped by the DA site to caucus on the upcoming leg.  We agreed it was safer and most likely quicker to work the next section together as a unit.    Things went relatively smoothly up to the 900 meter mark, which was the last spot for water this side of the mountain pass.  At this point the term “canyon right” was confusing us, we knew we were in the correct canyon but could no longer find any cairns to mark our trail.  Will and I took a 20 minute sleep to clear our heads (basically we had been awake for about 58 hours).  The Wild Burrows, Hype and Barrbd Wire came up the canyon and joined us in our confusion.  Upon awaking from our nap and encouragement from Hani, our team went over the directions and topographic map and decided on a course of action.  The DA team was not ready to leave yet so we ventured off on our own.  The route was clear with a trail half way up the mountain.  We scampered up a ravine with Hani cutting trail and reached the ridge in a very short time.  Alas, this is where the fun began.  The final kilometer back to the pass we wanted consisted of a nasty bush whack.  The going was tough, or choices were to go  up and over every small peak which had granite for climbing or whack through bush with off camber footing.  We chose both.  Starting up and over and then traversing around.  Neither method was particularly fast.  We reached the canyon entrance CP just around dusk and dropped 200 meters into the canyon to get some much deserved sleep.   

Upon finishing this race, I felt a great deal of satisfaction.  Our team performed well.  We finished fifth place overall and first in the all-male division.  Hani was strong and powerful through-out the journey.  Will was the consummate professional, even keeled with a quiet strength and dignity.  The race organizers treated the athletes as the center piece of the event.  Our bins were placed and carried for us.  Hot food was served on two separate occasions.  This event offered true adventure throughout the course and I find myself looking forward to next year’s journey.

The latest is that on top of becoming ACE certifed as a personal trainer last December, I am now a level 3 USAC cycling coach.  It’s essentially an entry level coaching cert that has the entrant take the exam, and pass a background investigation.  So I passed both!  Woohoo!

What am I going to do with all these certs?  Well for starters, I’ve begun coaching the intermediate bike group for the Silicon Valley Tri Club.  Great organization and if you’re in the bay area, one of the best deals around since the discounts on gear more than pay your membership fees.  So check them out at http://www.svtriclub.org

That’s all for now.  I’ll post again when I reach the level 2 cert!

Cheers!

-Brandon

Pictures of the weekend are available here:

http://parhelia0.fotopic.net/c1207770.html 

http://www.randyfranklin.com/pictures/skitahoe_feb_2007 

Pictures located here: http://www.randyfranklin.com/pictures/anderson_jan_2007/

Sydney Orienteering

Jan 15, Callan park. Starting times are between 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. It’s 35° C. Or somewhere near there. It’s HOT.

Primary goal is to pick up a southern hemisphere compass so I can brag at orienteering events at home that I raced ‘down under’. No such luck. These guys wouldn’t take my money, and wouldn’t sell a compass. I was expecting a sort of BAOC type of fair with wizened, profiteering dude hawking nylon pants. No such thing at Callan park. All navigation was done by landmarks and map reading. God help me.

Darcy and Amelia decided to take their late afternoon and play in the park watching the various fitness-minded Australians do their thing. Wow. Lot of fit people in Sydney.

I register and sign in. I mention my origin and looked for place to enter my club name (BAOC!!!) but didn’t see the place to enter it (and didn’t ask). Looking at the results it appears that there was a means to enter in the name… Ah well.

Very good course. FAST people with good aim. I came in somewhere near the middle. I was proud of my time too… Dang it.

So no compass. No physical proof that I was there except for the map. Neat place to race. The grounds are a historic part of Sydney and the 1800 architecture was cool to look at.

One thing I couldn’t find anywhere in Sydney (not that I was looking very hard) was an Outback steakhouse. Go figure. Apparently Australians just don’t know good australian food.

After about 2 hours I drank an energy drink and ate some gu (not the best combination). By my estimate I was only about a third of the way through my self imposed course. I felt compelled to pick up the pace and ran as the mood took me, which meant; the flats and downhills. I am wearing my full expedition pack with climbing harness and all other mandatory gear for the upcoming race. My pace is between 10 and 11 minute miles while running.

I climbed several fences which were obviously built to keep everyone but Karl out. My course was circular in design. Part of it crossed through a new golf course construction area where I used to run my dog. Now it is both gated and secured. I have not been in this area for several years and found many changes to the area including additional bridges, lakes and other aesthetic upgrades that were designed/created in such a way as to maximize the natural landscape around them.

I had my route marked out on our topographical map software with Cynthia just in case something odd occurred and i did intend to stay on it, but…IT appeared to me to be a perfect opportunity for some cross-country travel.  I wanted to avoid some nasty cow areas and therefore crossed a meadow prior to dropping 300 feet to the valley floor by way of a ridge/finger. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I had only been in this area once before and it was during daylight, over a year ago. So something odd happened, I went down the wrong ridge line.

It’s about 11:00 P.M. when I enter the forest. The chaparral area disappeared relatively quickly (hmm). I’m following a game trail that completely disappears after a hundred yards. By this point I lost a significant amount of elevation and it couldn’t be that much further to the road. Besides who wants to back track anyway? Especially uphill! So on I go. The land gets steeper and denser. I am trying to stay under trees but keep getting pushed out into the undergrowth.
The undergrowth gets so dense that for about 15 yards I am crawling on my belly. My trekking poles in front of me (playing GI Joe in my head) until I come out into a clearing of sorts. The terrain is too steep to keep going the same direction. I turn left and walk about 15 yards (my only light is my headlamp) everything is kind of misty. My breath is causing fog affecting my vision. Nope no good, looks like a berry patch or something (not even crawling through that). Turn around and go right and find a tiny game trail that allows me to get away from the cliff area (whew). The game trail was treacherous for a short piece and I had to commit, but it all turned out well. The brush clears away and the terrain is not as steep. I’m not where I think I should have been because I never hit the fire road I was looking for. I pulled out my compass and found out I was heading North when I wanted to be going West. I surmised I was in a canyon perpendicular to the one I wanted. Made a sudden left hand turn and walked for less than 100 yards prior to finding my fire road…My chest puffed I was the proud adventurer!
Final statistics as follows:
· 17.3 miles
· 3000 vertical feet
· 6 hours of travel time
And yes, that dense brush apparently was poison oak!  

The course was revealed with a sea to summit and a summit to bay type path with lots of meandering inbetween.  The first leg was a downhill trek.  The dipsea trail was the main route of choice for the drop to the ocean.  We did a small amount of bushwhacking and game trail traveling in order to cross between the trail and highway 1.  A short saddle with steep drop offs on either side was the highlight for me on this leg.  Upon reaching the beach we did two night rappels of a length of approximately 100 feet.  The ocean surf was pounding in the back ground, with virtually no moon light, giving the exercise a dark shadows’ feel. 

We continued the trek climbing back to our TA (Pantoll campground).  The transition was a bit slow, because we needed to unlock our bikes, switch out gear, ride about a mile prior to realizing I left my keys (would need them to drive the vehicle left at the sports basement back) and then returning back to the campground prior to starting the bike leg again.  The bike leg took us on a bunch of illegal single track on Tam prior to going up and over the summit (stopped to take in the dawn) and riding into Ross.  The drop to Ross was about 2000 feet on fire roads that had several fun rock gardens.  We stopped in Ross for coffee and bagels prior to continuing on the short ride to Sea Trek for the beginning of the kayak session.

We kayaked on the bay, around both Angel and Alcatraz islands, dodging ferries and other obstacles, prior to fighting a strong ebb tide back into Sausalito and the Sea Trek harbor.  The bay was calm and uneventful, outside of some worthy chop on the Alcatraz side of Angel Island.   We did a quick transition upon exiting the water and completed the event with a short ride over the gate prior to finishing at the Sports basement parking lot.  The course took us 17 hours and 50 minutes to complete, a very well laid out course, The details in short are as follows (and approximate): 13 miles of trekking, 35 on mountain bike and 12 on the kayak, with about 6500 feet of elevation.

A great way to start off the weekend!