I got really lucky to participate
to the World championships of adventure racing XPD in November in Tasmania .
I didn’t know my team as my plans had changed not long before and I wasn’t
going to race with the people I planned on racing originally. I had met JD in
BC, Canada ,
during the Raid The North Extreme last July but didn’t know much about him and
I had never met Grant and Nick before landing in Australia .
I landed in Australia
the 29th of October and it felt so good to be back in Aussie. I missed it a lot
and felt a bit like at home. The race started on the 2nd of November. We got to
Launceston and rented a minivan in order to do a bit of shopping (food and
equipment) and get to the B&B that we had booked 15km out of Burnie where
the HQ was. On the 30th, my birthday, we went for a 2h ride in the hills from
the B&B to get a feel of everybody’s riding etc… That went well but I
thought I might be a bit slow for these guys on the bike. They all looked
pretty fit on the bike. Burnie was heaps bigger than expected so it was pretty
easy to find what was needed at the last second even with 79 teams in town
rushing to supermarkets etc. On the 31st we got registered and
passed the mandatory checks for equipment, navigation and first aid. On the 1st
of November the maps were given to us and we spent the whole day organising
trunks bike boxes and maps. I ended up mapping about 9 to 10 legs out of 15
cause JD was lacking time to get himself organised which I didn’t mind except
that he was our only navigator so I would have prefer him to have a chance to
look at the maps beforehand but ah well…
On the 2nd in the morning we are
all lined up on the beach for a paddle start in the ocean. It is so good to be
able to see so many people I know from all over the world on that beach. We had
two kind of boats, 1 sevylor, inflatable boat, and 1 hard plastic. I paddled
the first leg in the sevy with JD but we realised pretty quick that we might
have to either swap boats for the next paddle leg or changed partners cause the
two others are quite a bit behind.
After about 3h we reached the first transition
and here we are on foot to get to the shooting stage. Nick and Grant have
massive backpacks and running is hard. I end up towing Nick in the hills to get
there. JD is a military dude so he did the clay shooting for us and got a 5/5
which he was pretty proud of. We jog again to leave the shooting stand and soon
we are on a walking trail. We jog/walk/bush bash a little and after a few CP we
got to transition to start a 20km bike that went very well to get to the caving
section and then another 50km on the bike.
The pace on that second bike is a little fast
for me and I got towed a couple of times by Nick. I kind of know that they
won’t keep that pace for the whole race. It is still the first day and I am
wondering if they didn’t leave to fast but oh well let just keep going.
Our next transition is very slow. I am ready
in 30 min, I had filled everybody’s water and made meals but still I am there
waiting, not knowing how to make them go faster, how to help. We end up staying
a good 2.5h in transition boohhooo. Anyway we finally left and started the 60km
trek next to Wild Rose (Canadian team) and I know that the Dancing Pandas and
Spirit Canada
are right behind in transition. The start of the trek went ok, we wasted a bit
of time looking at every creek for the first CP but ended up finding it. As we
climbed up to the top of the mountain the temperature starts cooling down more
and more and I end up freezing my bum. The fact that I didn’t eat enough at
that stage didn’t help. We got to the top with the sunrise and there is ice on
the ground. I am not dreaming it is bloody cold!!! We are finally coming down
and the temperature rise with the day settling in. A little after midday I start having hallucinations. It is the
first time of my life that I hallucinate. I don’t say anything. After all how
can you explain to people you barely know that you just saw a pair of legs
crossing the path 20m ahead..when I say a pair of legs I mean it. There wasn’t
any trunk attached to it. I also saw a horse and a few other things that were
definitely not there :/. One of the guy suggest a 2h sleep stop and I am so
thankful. I think I ended up saying that it was a good idea cause I started
hallucinating but didn’t get in details. 3h after we are back walking towards
the abseiling and canyoning section. JD messed up a bit with the navigation
there and we end up doing a nice 3km detour but we managed to go back to the
right path. After hours of walking and the night settling down again we finally
reach the abseil section which is not an abseil anymore due to too much water.
We met up with Dancing Pandas at that stage and I am happy to walk along with
them cause they are funny. We end up going down in the mud (it was muddy for
kms and kms before that) and finally reached the canyoning section. I was
already very cold while going down that hill so going into freezing water was
going to be a pain. There we had to cross the river in the middle of the rapids
in waist deep water and then swim across a pool and go in the rapids again. It
is dark, I am a little scared and I am freezing my butt off. Nick helped me a
lot and even dragged me across the pool when my body froze to the point I
couldn’t kick with my legs anymore. After the first pool crossing there was an
option of going over the rocks or to swim. We followed the Dancing Pandas
around while Grant had already taken the swimming option. Once on the other
side I asked where Grant was (I didn’t know he had swam across) and JD said he
was cold so he had kept going. He was just ahead of us. I found it a bit rude
and not correct to not wait for your team and Nick doesn’t think he had gone
but JD is sure of him, Grant is ahead, so after calling him a few times and not
getting any response we kept going. After a few minutes JD picked up the pace
and left Nick and I behind without a word. Bad timing as we get to a fork of
the river, there is a pretty big island in the middle and we have no clues
where the hell JD went. Should we go on the left or right of the land in front
of us and mostly we didn’t know it was a big island and not a true fork of the
river. I can’t remember if the booklet said to keep right or left of the river
and it seems that we are alone there. No other lights around us. I am screaming
my head off calling JD but no response. We sat and tried to get warm. I pulled
my survival blanket out, I am freezing. After about 20min to half an hour we
saw some lights. I scream JD again and some familiar voices respond to me. It
is Spirit Canada .
They say they have Grant and by the time I go back to Nick to tell him the news
and grab my bag, Dave from Spirit has already crossed the river to give me a
hand. Thanks Dave, greatly appreciated. We get on the other side and find Grant
with the Spirit crew. He hadn’t kept going as JD told us but he had actually
waited after his swim on a rock and got hypothermic there. Thanks to Spirit Canada
he was alright…and us too. At least we were with people who had a map so I felt
a lot more secure. We stayed with them for a good hour but unfortunately we
actually turned around a lot trying to find the right way. After an hour we saw
a light on the other side of the river…It was JD!!! He had gone so far ahead to
“find Grant” and came back when he realised that Grant wasn’t ahead and that he
had totally lost us. Anyway we are finally all together again. I am still
freezing but we keep going and we let Spirit go away after thanking them a lot.
I am having massive hallucinations that I can kind of control but after an hour
or so I ask Grant if he sees these people with bike helmets and those lights,
is that transition? That’s when Grant said to the others we should stop and
still a couple of hours cause there is absolutely nothing where I am pointing.
Only trees!!! We sleep a couple of hours and when I wake up I feel a lot better
and the light is there too. As we pack up I realise that I am full of leech and
one is damn big, it has sucked half my blood I am sure. I kill the bloody thing
and tried with Grant’s help to get rid of the others. They are so elastic it is
incredible. After a few hours of walking in the morning we finally get to
transition and get into a sevylor boat, the four of us.
Bad luck our boat is leaking pretty bad but by
the time we notice it we are already gone a few kms. We had to stop a couple of
times to empty the boat and then we decided that one to two persons would empty
the boat as we go while the others paddled. We are not moving, two people
paddling for the weight of four people plus bags etc is just way too much and
we are not a light team either :/. After 20km we got to the transition where we
could take two red boats. So there we swapped and JD and I jumped in one and
the two others jumped in the second boat. The two others are not moving very
fast and JD and I start to get cold and sleepy. We finally got to the portage
which woke us up and after 1.5km where the guys did very well portaging, we
jumped in the boats again to get to the next transition an hour or so after.
We meet the Dancing Pandas at
that transition. Only one bike leg before mid camp. This transition like the
others is pretty slow but we finally get on our bikes. I am sleepy and I am
hanging in the back a little for a few kms until JD said to me we should try to
pick up the pace so I decide to try my caffeine tablets and after less than
15min I am wild awake, in the front leading the way up. That bike ride went
pretty well. We had to look for a track for a little bit but nothing that I
would call major. When we finally get back down to the small village the sun is
rising. We got to a café right on time for breakfast. The whole team order
scrambled eggs. A Spanish team is there sleeping in the couches. After an hour
or so we decide to go again. JD fills up his camel back which didn’t serve him
right. A few hours after JD isn’t feeling good and starts to be sick. We are at
only 20km from mid camp when we had to stop for a bit more than 3h at a
checkpoint, JD can’t go any further. I took the maps and led us to mid camp
after that but one of the last check point on our way was a bit harder to get
through and we start to have big doubts about if JD can or not make it to mid
camp but he hangs on and we got there with the night.
We stayed 10h instead of 6h there
but when we finally get going in the morning JD says he is a new man and yes we
keep going as a team of four. We are way back in the field now but I am
confident we can go back up. We meet up with some friends of mine Madness and
their girl Janet isn’t feeling good either. She is sick (she drank the same
water than JD) so I tried my best to cheer her up and off we left us behind…at
least I thought. After a few kms we are in the dunes and JD’s navigation seems
a bit off. He isn’t at 100% and we argue a little on where to go to find the
CP. I managed to find the two of them which I am pretty proud but pretty
worried since I am not a great navigator. We get out of the dunes and after a
few kilometres we realised that JD is not navigating with the right map and we
are off course by a couple of kms. From there on team decision is that I will
be navigating for the day. I am nervous but managed to get us back on track and
we meet again with Madness. The wind had picked up and we are now walking on
the beach with the sand getting in our face pretty strongly. Grant is tired and
I tow him a little bit. I actually felt very good and full of energy at that
point so I didn’t mind. We finally got to leave the beach, we swam across the
river and started going up the mountain. The night is settling down and I start
to struggle with the navigation as the tracks are not as they are supposed to
be according to the map. The weather got nasty too with rain and wind and by
the time we get close to the old mines I am soaked and cold. I can’t find the
tracks that are on my maps but I know we are not far without being able to say
exactly where we are. At the moment where we are about to give up we see a team
who just came back from the CP and they told us we are at 500m away. We just
need to take a bearing but Grant decides he doesn’t want to bushwalk in the
dark in the old mines and declare that we can either miss the CP and keep going
or sleep for the night. I am cold and wet and I don’t have any dry clothes and
the light is 5h away. I don’t want to stop but I don’t want to miss a CP either
so we “slept” there, 500m away from the CP. I wake up in tears, I feel
miserable, cold and soaked. We finally get moving; JD is feeling better and
takes the maps back. He took ud to the wrong hill first but then manages to
find the CP. The whole trek is starting to be a real pain. Grant’s feet are
hurting and he isn’t moving very fast. He doesn’t want to be towed, or only on
the roads so we do that and had a go at me when I ask if I could take his pack.
We reached Madness again who had passed us probably during the massive night
sleep we had. I walk with them a little as I can’t bear the pace of my team but
can’t do much about it so at least I get to chit chat with friends I haven’t
seen for a while.
When the trek is finally over I
am relieved but it doesn’t last long when I see all the teams leaving before us
because the guys are once again taking a lot a lot of time in transition. We
are off to the 150km bike ride which started by a ride on the sand and then a
bush bash with the bike. The first CP isn’t easy to find but JD managed to find
it ok. After that off we are on roads. We cross a river on boats and then the
climbing started. Long long hills. I had taken caffeine tablets so I am awake
and full of energy. I wait for the guys more and more as we go up because they
are getting tired but our pace is fairly good. We got to a plateau and a big
storm with thunders started. Heavy rain was falling and we got lucky to cross a
pseudo village at that stage so we found a shelter where we slept for a few
hours. When we got up with the light we jumped back on our bikes and caught up
the few teams who had passed us whilst we were sleeping. We see Madness again
but also the Hard Yuccas. After going down for a while we went up again and on
the top of the mountain Grant decided to stretch a little his legs and stood up
on his bike. He was riding right next to me and for no reason I saw him face
planting on the bitumen. He was actually pulling on his pants and used his
front break unconsciously. I am still wondering how he didn’t get hurt and how
his bike is still working. A bit further we got to a CP in a village right in
front of a café. We stopped in as almost all the teams did and ordered a
massive breakfast. I also had to buy a bit of food as I had eaten most of my
food already. It was warm there and it is hard to leave but we want to get to
the kayak section before the dark zone to be able to paddle as much as we can.
It is only 50km and we are going at a good pace so I am confident. All goes
very well for the next 40km. JD is going well with his navigation even if I am
always on his back. I am struggling to be confident with what happened before
so I am checking the map all the time. The last 10km are a nightmare. There is
mud but not only a little bit. We are walking in sometimes knee high mud up and
down. It is hard and we progress really slowly through the 7km of that muddy
trail. The last 3km are up hills and by the time we reach transition it is 8pm . The dark zone starting at 7.30pm we had to spend the night at
transition.
We know we can be in the water by
6.30am and that we have a 3km walk to
get there. It is pretty clear with the team, everybody agrees, we have to be in
the water by 6.30am . The next morning
I am ready to go and I still don’t understand how but I’m waiting for the guys
to get ready. We got in the water at 7am
which made me grumpy. We changed the configuration; I am now paddling with Nick
in the red kayak and Grant id with JD in the stable boat as he wasn’t confident
with rapids in the red one. The first CP arrives quickly but JD stops way
before where I thought we should but he assures me I am wrong. We bush bash,
get to the CP, come back meeting some teams that were behind us and oh surprise
the other teams had paddled further than us and managed to get back in their
boats just as we arrive by their boats. I am grumpy but still we are paddling
and I like it. I like the rapids and Nick is a pleasant company. The second
control is pretty easy but it is up hills and Grant is struggling. After that
we have a long stretch on the boats. We would like to get as close as possible
from the last CP before the dark zone so we can get it on foot and be on the
water by 6.30am to paddle to transition. As we paddle along we start to get
sleepy and before we know it we hit a rapid and Nick and I are swimming. Water
is cold and once back on the boat I am freezing. I pull out my survival blanket
and wrap myself with it before paddling again. A bit further we capsized again.
I am now so cold and that for the next few hours that we paddled. My abs are so
sore by being contracted to fight against the cold. By 7pm we saw Madness who had stopped on a beach. The
vegetation is pretty dense otherwise and we don’t know if we’ll be able to find
a nice spot further. I am exhausted and so cold. Nick suggest we stop but Grant
and JD want to keep going cause we can get reasonably close to the CP if we
push a bit so I agree and we keep pushing through. At 7.30pm we are out of the water with the team SA Ambulance.
We are only at 2 to 3km max from the CP by foot and we agree that we are going
to eat, sleep and go pick up the CP on foot before going back on the boats at 6.30am . My alarm goes off at 3am and I ask the guys if we are going. Grant
said no, that we will be going first thing in the morning with the boats. I
don’t like that but what can I do. By 6.30am
I am ready to jump on the boats but the guys are not. I wait fuming as I see
many teams passing in the water, including the teams who had stopped half hour
before us the previous day. I am now not grumpy but mad at my team mates. I
don’t understand how they can not get ready faster and I have enough. I am
dreading the transitions to come. I just want the race to be over. We get back
on the water, got to the CP and managed our way to transition after a few swims
in the rapids despite the help of one of the guy from SA Ambulance who was
making signs to tell his team mates and us where to go in the rapids. He was
good!!
The next transition is a
nightmare, real slow but once on our bike it actually goes well and the 70km
bike goes well and fast. Only two transitions left. We get to the transition to
the last 25km trek which goes pretty ok, thanks god, and off we are walking on
a road to start with where I have Grant on tow and then on the beach again. The
night settles in as we get closer to the second CP on the peninsula. We can see
the lights of the other teams ahead and behind. JD messed up a little on that
one and made us scramble up and down the rocks till the end of the second
island while the CP was behind us. We even saw the lights of a team who was
behind us passing us. Nick managed to find it after convincing JD to turn
around. We are now walking very slowly. Grant’s feet are very sore and there is
nothing we can do. Madness passed us and it is only when looking for the 3rd CP
that we met again with them and the Hard Yuccas. This CP took us way too long
to find and the end of the walk was just not ending.
Finally, last transition. We are
already in bike clothes, we only need to put shoes and helmet on, grab a bar or
two and off we go for the last very straight forward 35km bike. The guys tested
then a last time my patience I think. It took them 45min to get ready. I just
gave up, laid in the grass and slept whilst they were getting ready. The last
ride was straight forward but very slow. And there at last, the finish.
We finally crossed the line in
34th position. The canyoning story cost us a time penalty so we got ranked 37th
at the end.
I had a great experienced and the
course was great. I am just a little disappointed I couldn’t give everything I
had and felt held back a lot but I guess these things happen when you don’t
know the team you are going to race with and when you don’t have the same
objectives for a race. I understood late during the race that Nick and Grant
were there more for the expedition while JD and I were more in a race mode.
However I still think it is great that we finished it as a team of four,
especially with JD’s sickness episode and our lack of navigation skills. I have
been now recovering for the last two weeks and I am starting going back slowly
to training. I will try my best to find a team with who I can train with. I am
planning on training my butt off again this season and if I can improve as much
as last year I should be ready to kick ass at the next race.
XPD is Australia’s own expedition length adventure race.Teams of four competitors from around the globe trek, mountain bike, and kayak for five to ten days in this world renowned expedition. These adventurers race day and night over a 700km course pushing themselves to the ultimate limits of human endurance. The 6th Edition of XPD will host the Adventure Racing World Championships in Tasmania from 31 Oct - 11 Nov 2011.
Congratulations Team Unleash on an awesome effort!!!
XPD - Adventure Racing World Championships 2011 Team: Unleash Compression (#32)
Current Overall Position: 36
Current Course: Full Course (Full Professional Course) | Race Division: Premiere
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