07 April 2010

Back in the saddle

The team got back together for the first race of the Mountain Designs Adventure Race Australia series on 28 March. Candice, Mel and I haven't raced together since Teva Champs and it was great to be back at it.


The event was held in the Noosa hinterland and the scenery was spectacular. In one section of the trail, we rode across a creek that was shaded by a full canopy of leaves and had the remains of an old wooden bridge. It looked like some forgotten glade from a fairytale - well, that was the fleeting thought I had for the all-of-three-seconds that it took to sail through on my bike after letting go of the brakes on the wicked downhill that lead to the creek.

We competed in the Raw course, out of respect for our various injuries (past and present). I was delighted to get through it uninjured and feeling like I could have done double the distance. The navigation was easy and we had a canoe leg that put Mel's dragonboating experience to good use.

At the beginning of the month I had done Phoenix Adventure's navigation workshop, to get a better handle on that aspect of adventure racing. It made a difference because just looking at the map I could make more sense of the terrain, more quickly than I had been able to before.

The race was great fun and we caught up with all the usual suspects, as well as meeting plenty of new faces, all just as keen on adventure racing as we are.

We finished the race in good spirits and good time, and took the opportunity to get away early. It wasn't until the middle of the next week that Candice excitedly emailed Mel and I to share the amazing news that team An Adventure Beyond had won the female Raw category. What a buzz!
t


No comments:

Post a Comment