Raid the Hammer 25km Race Report

As part of my work/vacation time in Ontario, I lined things up to coincide with a 25km orienteering race call Raid the Hammer. This event is put on by and is a fundraiser for the Golden Horseshoe Orienteering Club. This event is top notch as far as organization and the overall quality of the event. Competitors are given muliple maps that range from newly produced and detailed orienteering maps to older O maps and even aerial photographs (not in this event though). The event was staged in the Dundas, ON area which is where the Niagara escarpement runs through and with it, the Bruce Trail; this is a trail that stretches from Niagara Falls to Tobermory - a distance of over 800km.

Because of the location, for Ontario, the elevation for the race was quite substantial at around 1200m total elevation over ~30km. While the race is a '25km' race, this refers to running straight-line between orineteering controls which just doesn't happen. So, around 28km would probably be more accurate.

As this event is for teams of three only, I hooked up with fellow Raid the North Extreme teammate Chris Piller and former Supplier Pipeline strongman Bill Wells.

As Chris had been on the winning team of the Saloman Giant's Rib Raid held in April of this year (the other big race in the series), he was eager to try and clinch a double win which, as far as he knew, had yet to be done.


We showed up for the race running a little late and before we knew it we were on a bus to head out to the start line. We had a chance to check out the maps in advance and could see that teams would be split into two groups at the beginning of the race. The start consisted of two loop sections where you had to get three of four controls, come back to the start, do the next loop, come back again, and then head out on the Bruce trail to get to another map in the race. To avoid overcongestion, teams were told which loop they had to do first.

The race started shortly after the bus drop which saw us go from not warmed up to red-lining it in a matter of seconds. Our strategy was to get out front after the first two loops and then get in a groove and try to hold our position. While I love BC and would not move back to the big O, the fall forest here is just so nice. The forest is nice and open with fall leaves covering the ground and that fall smell that I only seem to find here. It definitely reminded me of home - my old home :)

Our plan seemed to be working as we were the first team back to the start after the first loop and headed out strong on loop number two. Just after we picked up our last control and headed to the start line, we heard give out a yelp.

"You ok", we both asked as we slowed our pace.
"ummm, not sure, I just heard my knee pop".

We kept going but knew that this was not good. Chris has raced with Bill before and from what I've heard of him, he is an absolute strongman and will push through almost anything...

Bill had noticeably slowed so we decided to assess the situation at the start line (as that's where we had to head anyway after our 2nd loop).

Bill came in and was not running very well... you could tell he was in noticeable pain.

"This is not like Bill", Chris said as his mood became glum.

"I hyper-extended my knee guys... I think I might be done".

We let Bill know right away that he should make the right decision and not race if he was injured. As Bill is a chiropractor and physiotherapist, he knew he was done. After lying down and having us test his knee with some pressure, he had to pull out.

Chris was noticeably bummed but really, there was nothing we could do other than race hard the two of us (unranked) and try and close the gap we had just lost and win the race.


Chris and I went to work and slowly picked off several teams and closed the gap on the leaders but just could not get enough of the time back. At the end of the race, we were neck and neck with another team of two (one of their members had to drop) but they got a step on us at the last control and came in just ahead of us to take 2nd.

So, we ended up in third overall but obviously did not get ranked as we lost Bill. Nonetheless, it was still absolutely worth it as I had a great time and it just felt so good to get out on a long orineteering map and pushing the body hard again.

I've been on the bike a lot lately before coming out to Ontario and now realize how much I miss running lots. I'm definitely going to make this a priority over the next couple of months and try to put in some good performances in the Island Series Road Races.

Well, that's about it. I'll be back in BC soon and can't wait! I think I'm having Thetis Lake withdrawl.

TNO

The Past Six Weeks

Yes, I have fallen off the blog train again but for good cause. I have been busy on a number of fronts including work, training, racing and travel. Here is mostly a photo log of my past weeks.

Mountain Biking Mt. Quimper with Doug

Doug Doyle and I headed out to Sooke to explore some of the Harbourview trails. It was quite the grind at times due to riding old access roads and riding (trying to ride) the hiking trail (the old main road) up to the summit of Mt. Quimper. We definitely had a gorgeous day!

The summit of Mt. Quimper

Taking a break at the summit before a bad trail decision for the descent.

Biking and Hiking up Mt. Whymper

This was a great trip organized by some local Prairie Inn Harriers running friends, Andrew and Sarah. Kim and I and Garth and Lara all hooked up and did the drive up to the Cowichan Valley to the base of the summit. There is a lot of logging in the area (it is still active) so you are able to cycle up some good elevation before you begin the hike. So, we all brought our bikes and went to it.

The Bike was pretty grueling but the views were well worth the effort.

Starting the climb up Mt. Whymper

The summit just ahead.

Sarah and Kim making their way up the climb

A good food break at the summit.

All Smiles!

On the way down.

Old spruce skeleton.

Ready for the fast descent down!

Sarah letting go of the brakes; sometimes ;)

Pumpkin Pull Ultimate Frisbee Tournament

The last couple of years I have started to play some Ultimate on and off and decided to finally commit this year and play in a Tuesday night league at the University of Victoria. It has been loads of fun and a great fast twitch workout that I normally to otherwise get much of. I also play after a speed interval workout with the Prairie Inn Harriers so by the end of the night, I'm pretty much played out.

So, along with the Tuesday night league, I joined some fellow teammates to make up a team for the Pumpkin Pull tournament. This is heaps of fun as the tournament coincides with Halloween and every team is dressed up in a theme. Some teams of note were Caddyshack (all wearing golf gear and cardigans), a DnD team consisting of a wizard and other crazy characters, and GoesInTight... Our teams theme was Cabaret and we definitely had some good costumes going on.

One of eight games over the weekend. Here we are playing Caddyshack.

Yeah!

Hovan and Christine looking all ready to take on the town.

Leon found this awesome sequined top.

Team Photo.

Halloween

On top of Pumpkin Pull, Kim and I dressed up in 70s gear and rocked out at Kim's dance Halloween Party and also as Paul's place (from Ultimate).

Keeping the 70s alive and kickn!

Rippn up the rock band (70s music only) at Paul's place.

Stratford Visit

For the last 10 days, I've been visiting family and friends in and around my hometown of Stratford, ON. I've been having a great time and have been getting in some great recovery but soaking up in my brother's hot tub on a daily basis followed by working out some knots in the legs with the foam roller. I've been working lots as well as I made the visit a working holiday but have still managed to have some good fun including some disk golf (of which my brother is currently obsessed).

After Scott picked me up from the airport, we headed over to a disk gold course for a short 9 hole game. Ah, the nice deciduous trees of the east. As you can see, the weather last week was just fantastic. 15 degrees and one day it went up to 20. I definitely came at the right time!

Scott letting a rocket go off the tee box.

Checking out the next hole.

Scott, Shanon (Scott's wife), and Jason (Shanon's brother) check out the lay of the land on Tee #3 at the Woodstock disk golf course.

Jason letting go of a strong left-handed flick.

We played best ball (best disk) in teams to make things go a little smoother and add some camraderie.

During my visit, I hooked up with Chris Piller for some mountain biking at Kelso and orineteering at Mt. Nemo to sharpen up the skills before Raid the Hammer (I'll cover this race soon; I promise!).

On top of Kelso, through a field of wildness.

Another nice day!

On top of the escarpment and top of the ski hill. Yes, there are some hills here but not much.


Today, I got out for a nice 18km run on some trails I have yet to be on. I started off on the avon river running by the now finished festival (for the season).

I kept following the avon up stream until I hit the Avon trail which then took me back on some country roads back to my brother place.

Winter has now officially arrived as temps have dipped down to freezing and I've gone from shorts and a shirt to tights, a long sleeve, vest, touque and gloves. No complaints here though. It was still a nice day.

MOMAR Cumberland Race Report

Wow! The 2008 MOMAR season has already come and gone. It's hard to believe that we're now sitting in October and the cool drizzly season of fall and winter is now upon us. Luckily for those of us at the Cumberland race, the weather gods opened up the clouds one last time to give us some perfect racing conditions. While racing conditions were ripe, I can't say that either Gary or myself was prepared to push it to the limits. I just came down with a cold the week previous and my energy levels had dropped significantly. I had been feeling amazing on the bike but now just felt mediocre and wasn't sure how I would handle the newly desinged Cumberland race course. Gary also had some knee issues and I seriously didn't know if I was going to be racing solo in a double kayak 1 hour prior to the race start. Gary was also having some major anxiety in that he really didn't want to go out and not be able to give 100%. Gary's just that kind of guy. He can push through anything but knows that if he will slow down the team, than he shouldn't race. The hard thing though is you never know until you're in the race how well you'll hold up. I guess we would find out...

For the third time, I brought out ~26 foot outrigger that we paddle with kayak blades. For an outrigger, it's not an extremely fast boat. However, it is big enough in the cockpit to allow the use of kayak blades and with a fast paddle stroke, you really can get the boat moving. We both learned a very important lesson with this boat in this race; don't start hard on the left side. At the end of the countdown, the race was on, we planted our left blades and took a hard stroke. This in turn lifted up the outrigger, which is on the left side of the boat, and started to flip us. We could have easily taken a stroke on the right side or braced but instead, both of us did nothing; like a pair of deer staring into headlights, we flipped on our first stroke.

When we came up for air, I seriously could do nothing but laugh. We flipped the boat back and were paddling within seconds. The adrenalin was now thouroughly pumping and I'm sure it must have put a dampner on Gary's pre-race anxiety. It actually put us in a good head space as it was now a catch up game and catching and passing other boats is always satisfying. We saw Brian and Sasha along with John Markez dominating the field as they rounded the first buoy before any other boat was even close. They were still pulling away from us but as soon as we hit the turnaround and put the wind and waves at our back, the boat speed picked up and we were surfing. We we surfing so well that Gary started to get frustrated because he thought we were going so slow (since each stroke became soft and light). This allowed us to limit the gap ahead and before the end of the kayak stage, we were able to even gain back some time and limit our losses. While we weren't worried about Brian and Sasha in terms of overall rank, we both believed that Markez would be our biggest competitor. He had put almost 5 minutes into us and we knew that this could be a long and hard fought battle.

Our tranistions in this race were utterly flawless. In every race, Gary and I will always talk to each other coming into transition so that we know what to expect, what to remember to do, and basically to get mentally prepared for moving in a new direction. We hit up the orienteering map and just started going. I made a couple of mistakes similar to Shane and Garth of team PIT as it took me some time to get into the scale of the map. It was early on that we spotted Markez as we both got confused about a CP location. We knew that we had already made up some time but didn't dwell on it and simply tried to get to the bikes as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I had not thought about how crowded the trails would become on the west side and paid for it after with a slower pace due to congestion. As we rant back to the tent to checkout, Markez was just in front of us and it was literally a race to the bikes. Again, both Gary and I were just dialled and came out first onto the road towards the Chinatown railway.

As soon as we started to go, I knew that the bike was going to hurt as my legs were just not feeling it. Soon, Markez caught us but then dropped as soon as we hit the first climb. Gary and I both knew that Markez was strong on the bike but it looked like he just wasn't feeling it either as we continued to gain ground on him as we climbed up Buggered Pig and then into the big logging road climb. It was so good to see Gary feeling strong on the bike and actually happy to be riding again. I was definitely suffering a little more on the uphill as I had to shift down to the granny a couple of times but once we hit the top, my legs were ready for some technical decents. Bear Buns, Teacup, and Short & Curly were just a blast and I'm sure Gary had an extra smile on his face after coming back since BC Bike Race and being able to clean everything on a bike that actually fit him.

We hit the TA with no other racer in sight, had another solid TA, and after a few seconds looking at the map, we were off in a clockwise direction to pick off the controls. This generally went well although my XA Pros were again a nightmare for me on the downhills. I am generally very confident running on technical terrain but with these shoes, I seriously felt like I was running on ice. The only reason that I even use these shoes is because of the click laces. Well, goodbye old shoes and welcome the Gary Method (TM). Gary simply used his favourite shoes (the Montrail Streak) kept them laced up but not super tight, and then just slipped them on and off. Perfect! He claims that they made him fast than even the quick laces but I think I still beat him in transition a few times :) You will not see me with XA Pros again!

The rest of the course went like clockwork... that is until we hit the mine cart control. Like so many other teams, we just could not find this CP right away. We were all around the minecart and bushes but failed to actually get inside one of them to get the punch. This was definitely a little to hid for my liking and I'm sure we had some F bombs going off here and there. I felt bad for the people hanging out in the park being peaceful and all. We tried to smile on our way out though...

We hit the last two CPs and ran to the line in just over four hours of solid racing. In the end, we both had good races and it just goes to show that you can really push through anything and still perform well.

I want to give a big shout out to Bryan Tasaka for putting on another top notch event and for making the course one that will be remembered. Thanks for whoever pushed that awesome idea on Bryan as well. You're the shit.

Congrats to Jeremy Grasby of the Riding Fool Hostel who had a solid race and narrowly edged out both Markez and Team Pit (who had a solid race as well and took 3rd overall). Sarah Seeds again took another solo female victory and team Dart/Nuun dominated the team of four co-ed category coming in 5th overall. Nice work! I was also amazed to see Patrick Goeres and Nicki Rehn get on the podium as team of two co-ed knowing that they did not ride one piece of technical singletrack! You two missed the best part!!!

Full results can be found here.

Thanks to Helly Hansen for gear that has helped me push my limits yet again in 08.
Also to Carbo Pro and Princeton Tec for helping me fuel and light my way.

With only two races in the MOMAR series next year, you'd better not delay signing up once registration opens. These two races will easily sell out so don't miss out on the action.

See you on the trails!

TNO

Too Busy Training To Blog...My Pre-MOMAR Thoughts

I just realized that I've been completely off the blog train for over three weeks.  Lots has happened in this short time as I went from complete downtime in the field, some backpacking and then back into a regular scheduled life that has allowed me to build back up to an already strong level.  Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the Sage 24 Hour Rogaine as everyone I knew that could race with me bailed out.  It was probably best for me to not go anyway as I needed some time to regenerate.  

I realize now that BC Bike Race really gave me a kick in the ass and allowed me to start riding at a higher level.  In just over four weeks, I've already come back to my race level and am just feeling amazing on my Niner.  It has also helped that I've hooked up with a weekly group ride made up of extremely talented riders that help to push my limits.  So, I'm feeling good, my running is coming along well and my paddling...  a little less so but like so many other racers, I'll be able to get through it.   This brings me to...

MOMAR Cumberland 2008!

Wow, this race is looking stacked in all categories.   Here's some of my thoughts for top racers:

Look out for vets Norm Thibault and Jason Sandquist both racing solo and looking for the overall win.   If they can nav through the O section, they should be right up there.

Team Pain is Temporary (Garth Campbell and Shane Ruljancich) will be pushing up to the front with their strong running and their strategy to use their running shoes on the bike to save time.   Shane is a very talented runner who is getting faster every year and is now officially a blogger.

John Markez will be a force to be reconed with... unless he gives up at a control of course ;)

The co-ed team of two is going to be an absolute battle with Jen Segger and Norm Hann trying to keep their previous title from MOMAR newcomers Nicki Rehn and Patrick Goeres.  Nicki is a professional triatlete out of Calgary and Partrick is the fastest sprint orienteer in Canada... no joke.   I'm just hoping these two can't ride the technical trails too fast as otherwise these two could steal the show.

What is up with the team of four coed category?  It used to be that you could just sign up as a team of four co-ed and be guarenteed a podium spot.  This year... THERE'S 14 TEAMS!!!  Wow.

Even with a newborn on their hands, I think Justin Mark and Carey Sather of Team Helly Hansen/Vancouver Island will help to rip things up (even if they are just going for fun!).

For team of four female, it looks like the Dirty Girlz have a podium finish as long as they cross the line as they have two teams (the Dirty Girlz and the Filthy Girlz)

Other racers pushing for the front will be the Master Doug Doyle and Roger MacLeod who put in a solid 3rd place in Shawnigan.

And of course, there is that fast Helly Hansen / MOMAR team... watch out for those guys.

This may be one of the most competitive MOMARs to date.  It is so great to see this event not only selling out, but expanded to fit the additional racers that wanted in.  It must be due to the newly designed course that Bryan put together.   I wish I knew who pushed him into that great idea...

See you at the race and looking forward to a GREAT after-party!!!

Sage 24 Hour Rogaine

Well, it's Labour Day weekend and I'm sure most of you have big plans all laid out to get in your last summer kick before fall sets in soon. However, you can delay the fall blues sooner and come out to an absolutely awesome event happening next weekend.

Thats right, the Sage 24 hour rogaine is being held next weekend and will be an absolute blast for everyone involved. There are not many Rogaines that take place each year, and so if you've never done one before, now is your chance. This is 24 hours of navigation in the Grasslands Provincial Park area of Kamloops, BC. The terrain here is absolutely fantastic and the temperature and weather should be well suited to keep going strong all night long.

I would highly recommended this event. There are a bunch of people going from the lower mainland and Victoria so, if you don't have a partner or way of getting there, I'm sure you could hook onto a car pool and find a teammate. Click on the link below for more info:

SAGE ROGAINING CHAMPIONSHIPS

KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA SEPTEMBER 6 & 7, 2008

*...A ROGAINE IS A MAP AND COMPASS EVENT THAT RUNS OVER A 24 HOUR PERIOD.
Teams of 2 to 5 people choose how long and how far they will venture to find as many of the Controls marked on the map as they can. The controls may be found in any order and teams may return to the central Hash House at any time to eat and/or sleep.

LOCATION: Thompson River Benchlands, west of Savona, B.C.

HOST CLUB: SAGE Orienteering & Rogaining Club of Kamloops

MAP DETAILS: Map created in OCAD by Leigh Bailey with additional field corrections by Murray Foubister

• 60 Controls of varying value are spread over approximately 130 square Kilometres


• Map Scale is 1:50,000 with a Contour interval of 100 feet with some additional form lines


• Five colours to International Rogaining standards.


• All controls and water drops have been pre-marked on the maps


• The terrain is approx. 40% Open Grasslands...50% open forest and 10% denser forest

Hope to see you there!

Backpacking in Strathcona - Phillips Ridge

For those of you who have never been to Strathcona Park before, you are missing out. While many people know about the park, few venture past the parking lot or main hiking areas. Much of the backcountry routes are ridge line hikes that, as I found out, are very labourous and much much harder than the topographic map would imply. So, if you do go, be forewarned as you may be in for more than you bargined for.


One annoying thing about the park is that there is not much information readily available to hikers who want to venture into the backcountry. The only trail maps are a set of small pages out of the Hiking Trails III guidebook which are so hard to follow that they are virtually useless (the scale is small and you have no idea what a full route looks like since you can only see a small section at a time). Because of this, I made a huge effort to put together some custom maps using the NTS topographic series vector data along with hand digitizing all of the existing trails. It was a labourous process but the outcome was some really nice maps on size A2 paper.


The other annoying thing is that all of the information on times for trails is extremely conservative. We tried talking with various people about the terrain and timelines and we either go no answers, or again, very conservative estimates. I knew this but Kim, being much more concerned with timing and her ability, really thought that we would be in for a sufferfest on our vacation time. She really didn't want to be hiking for 14 hours a day and frankly, neither did I.


After much deliberation of picking a route in the park (I had a big long hike planned that really was way too ambious for the terrain) Kim and I decided on doing two separate loops that each ended close to the car and would allow us to resupply with food and thus, not carry as much. The first loop (and in the end the only loop we would do) was a ridge hike on Phillips Ridge, around to Marble Meadows, down to Buttle Lake, up to Mt Phillips, and down to the car. This would be around 55km with lots and lots of elevation (maybe around 4000 meters up and down).


We packed food for four days max but thought we might be out in three if the weather held. Kim and I had only done one trip in the past over in Olympic Pennisula National Park (which was amazing) and from that trip, I knew that I needed to take more gear to balance things out.

For all intent and purposes, going on a packing trip is much like being on an adventure racing team; you can only go as fast as a slower member and helping them out will only make everyone happier.


Not that we were trying to go as fast as we could but if I took more weight, it would slow me down, and keep Kim fresher and more comfortable over the duration of the trip. So, I ended up packing our camping mats, extra water, all the food, and all of the cooking supplies (stove, fuel, pots, cutlery, etc). As we went pretty light, my pack was still under 60 lbs and I think Kim got away with only 25 lbs. It was funny though, throughout the trip she kept trying to take some of the food or something to share the load as she felt guilty for not carrying more. She did cook all the meals which was great for me!


So, onto the trip. I won't go into much detail as the photos do a good job of what we were going through. The trip started with gorgeous hot weather.

We climbed up from the parking lot at the end of Buttle Lake Road (by the mine) up to Arnica Lake. It was during this section that we came upon a few other hikers who told us that it would take over 12 hours of hiking to get over to Schelderip Lake (which we estimated to be less than 8 hours). These guys seems fit and told us that the route was very tough going. This put a bit of a damper on our plans but it still didn't seem right to me that they were taking so long to move in the terrain. We continued on and arrived up at the lake in less than 2 1/2 hours (which was 3 1/2 hours faster than the estimated time!). We talked to more packers and they again explained there struggles and long time frames. I guess we would see what we could do.

From Arnica Lake, the trail moves up and up to 1600 m where you get panaramic views of the surrounding mountains and our route to come.

Hiking above the tree line

We decided to call an early day and found a piece of flat ground just big enough to fit the tent (after moving some rocks).

The views from the camp were incredible

Hanging Clouds

The next day we awoke to clouds and greyness. We knew that the weather was changing and there was a big low pressure system coming in but when you're on vacation for a limited time, what are you going to do? We kept going.

After leaving camp, we soon found that the terrain got much much harder. Flat areas on the map were constantly undulating; there were no flat sections on this hike. It was either up or down and much more than the topo map suggested. Nonetheless, we made it by Schelderip Lake in much less time than the other hikers and were starting to wonder what other people do and how much gear they must bring. Even then, it didn't really make sense. The only thing I could really think was that most people don't know how to hike. They move much too quickly, take lots of breaks, and fall apart from trying to push themselves too much. We were only going at a moderate but steady pace yet we were going 60% faster?!?!? I think Kim started to feel good about this :)

Lots of snow up on the ridges

Despite the clouds, we were gifted with some great views

The weather continued to worsen and by the time we got to the camp on Greig Ridge, we found our saviour; an aluminum framed canvas tent complete with chairs, kitchen counter, propane and a heater! The place was also stocked with some very warm down clothing which we used to temporarily get us nice and warm and dry. The camp was actually part of a Vancouver Island Marmot conservation project. While we had at least 3 hours of hiking time left to go, we decided that we should just hunker down due to the deteriorating weather. It was a very good plan as we faced lots of rain, snow, and what must have been gail force winds up on the ridge.

The next day, we awoke to thick fog, rain and more wind. This photo was taken during a brief open period. As the route was trecherous enough when you could actually see, we figured it wouldn't be very smart to move especially into unexplored terrain. The weather never let up all day which meant hanging out, listening to a hand crank radio, reading some backpacking magazines, and doing some Sudoku; all courtesy of the camp.

The next day we were greeted with clear skies although you could tell that this wouldn't last for too too long. Here's our camp on the ridge.

As we were weathered for more than a day, our food supplies were getting low and we couldn't really risk getting weathered in again. Thus, we had to abandon our full route and head back the same way we came. In the beginning, I was a bit disappointed but it didn't last long as the way we came was pretty incredible and definitely worth a revisit.


The Golden Hinde finally peaking out; upper mid left

A very welcoming sun to the new day
Greig Ridge looking over to our destination, Phillips Ridge

A couple of Mt. Finlaysons to climb on the way back. And then a few more.

Our first big ridge summit and Mt. Burman in the background

Mount Burman with Schelderip Lake

Good geology riddled the hike

Rock intrusion

The clouds moving in on us once again

It was a good 11 hike out to the car including a good and long final stop at Arnica Lake to fuel up before the last descent. Instead of doing another loop, we decided to head up to Mount Washington and maybe do a trip into Mount Albert Edward instead. In the end, the weather wasn't great and we just ended up relaxing, trying to walk properly (Kim :) ), and watching a bunch of the Olympics.

While it wasn't an ideal trip, it was still pretty incredible and the loop deserves a second go in the future. Maybe next year.

TNO