Training Log Archive: nmulder

Some teams don't believe in waiting for the 6am dark zone to lift. They were off about 5 mins early. We weren't ready yet, so set off on time. Had a good paddle across the Whiteside Channel, catching all but Adidas. Started fading a bit towards the end and slipped a few positions. Swell was about 4ft again, with 1 or 2 white horses to make things interesting.

Next leg was the first, shorter trekking leg on the island of Tierra del Fuego.

First CP was 17km along the coast. Simple, just follow the jeep track. Most teams missed a turnoff however, including us. We found a track back to the ocean, but still lost about 45 mins or so. Annoying.

Course then headed inland up a river valley. Team CUVA stayed with us. We left in about joint 9th place after a making use of our resupply box at this first CP.

Lots of bush, few tracks, but on the whole we made some headway. In hindsight, I'd take quite a few different route choice options now, but that's part of the learning experience. We caught Lafuma (FRA) mid-afternoon, then left both of them towards the evening on a route choice. Not the best, as Lafuma got ahead of us overnight.

We went without sleep on this night, probably not the best in hindsight. At least had a good spell of nav during the night, catching Kailash (BRA) at dawn and Lafuma later in the morning. Hike was extended by 14km due to a moved transition. Back into 5th position.

Leg 4 (out of 6). A MTB leg, with very easy gravel roads, with the wind at our back most of the time.

Poor transition (again). Then started well on the MTB, but as it got dark, we started slipping. I had big sleepmonster problems late at night. Mostly flattish ride, apart from a mountain pass right at the end. Coming down the pass I probably fell asleep about 15 times. Somehow never ended up on the ground, but there were a lot of times I ended up in the ditch. Almost got caught by Kailash (BRA).

Distances appear short compared to organisers guide book.
Dst 116.0, Av 13.6, Mx 56.4.

Went to sleep for about 3 hours in transition, so did almost all other teams.

Toughest leg ever in AR.

3.5 days of trekking out in the wilderness taking us longer to cover the 143km than most full adventure races.

We set out just after dawn (call it day 1, although it was technically the 4th day already, Friday). Very heavy packs, enough food for 3.5 days (estimated) as well as rope work kit and all emergency gear (2 tents, 4 sleeping bags, full clothing, first aid kit, flares, smoke bombs, sat phone, emergency gps, etc.). Left transition in 6th place, with Kailash and Kauri about 1 hour ahead.

First CP cancelled, so we took a short cut over a mountain. A bit of bundu bashing, but not too bad. Somewhere around here we passed Kauri and got within sight of Kailaish soon after. Down the next valley to the abseil, which was quite underwhelming. We were also behind Gear Junkies in the abseil queue, meaning we caught 5 hours on them in just 18km.

Descended from the abseil through a kloofing section. Mac had a bad fall here into the river and lost poles, food and a bit more in the canyon. This would short-change us for food supplies at the end of the leg. Eventually got down to the next CP, a river crossing with about 15m of swimming. Spent way too much time faffing here.

Next section was a 17km leg in a semi-circle up a valley, circumnavigating a snowy peak. Pushed on and saw Kauri's tent at night. We went a bit further before pitching our own. Next morning, ran into both Kauri and Kailash. The Brazilians were definitely not looking good, so only Kauri stayed with us until be got the CP in a snow-covered pass. Got there early afternoon on Day 2, right behind Gear Junkies who had just gone mountaineering over the peak in a tiger-line. The two teams pulled away from us on the descent, but late afternoon we were just in time to see them punch the next unmanned CP. We then speeded up towards dark, closing the gap again. Passed both team tents that night before sleeping again.

Had less sleep this night and set off early (but very slow getting up). This put us into 3rd ahead of the other two teams. Checked into the next CP at the bottom of a glacier and then climbed through two passes, getting splits on the teams behind. After midday got to the next river crossing CP, still in 3rd, but unknowingly getting within 2 hours of East Wind in 2nd. After a slow crossing, Kauri and Gear Junkies caught us, but then Gear Junkies did some extra bundu bashing whilst we found a nice horse trail. With the fast trail, we squeezed in a 3rd CP for day 2.

Pushed on into the night, but knew we were at a disadvantage against the other 2 teams, both of whom had had more sleep going into this final night. We slept and they passed us, giving them a time advantage at the next CP the next morning (Gear Junkies 2h15, Kauri 50m).

Overnight though the weather changed. Shortly after pulling down our tents, it started snowing in the valleys. We then started climbing the last big pass. Steep cliffs meant proper climbing, now in quite deep snow. Getting out of the tree line put us in a proper blizzard with deep snow drifts. We checked off this final CP and then started heading off to lower altitudes, although it was still snowing down to sea level.

Had a fairly decent section, with a very fast last 10km, where we made good time to catch and pass Gear Junkies just before the finish of this section. They however had too much of an advantage from the dark zone on day 1, so kept third place. Kauri got to the CP 45 min ahead of us, overcoming a 31 min handicap form the day 1 darkzone to move ahead of us overall into 4th.

We arrived at the leg end (day 4 of the hike, day 7 overall), on the Beagle channel at about 7.30pm, not knowing if we'd start the final leg, a 47km paddle to a glacier. With strong winds from the blizzard, it was not surprising that the paddle was closed. All teams were there, even Adidas who had arrived at 6am and East Wind at 3.30pm. So we pitched tents and went to sleep.

Next day, the paddle remained closed. 6th placed team (CUVA) arrived in the evening, almost 22 hours behind.

Last chance to paddle was the 9th day overall, but winds held up, so this transition became the virtual end of the race. We boarded a ferry and got back to Punta Arenas a few days later (Friday) for our first shower, change of clothes and proper meal. The ferry trip rates as some of the worst days in my life.

Otherwise, the race was like being in a National Geographic Documentary. Wow.

Event: Patagonian Expedition Race 2012
 

Patagonia Expedition Race

Leg 1 of the Patagonia Expedition Race for Team Cyanosis (Mac, Jane, Ryno and me) started with a 65km bike leg from Punta Arenas, down the coast (mostly tar) following the Magellan Straights. We stayed in the lead peleton with Teams Gear Junkies Yogaslackers (USA), CUVA (Den), Adidas (GBR) and Kauri (NZL). Very fast riding.

Av 21.5, Mx 61.0

GPS started late (on the portage) and finished early (day 2 of hike).

Leg 2, a 32kmish sea kayak across the Magellan Straights. Paddling Amaruk Sea Kayaks, so quite stable. Early morning, so wind not too bad, but still a 4ft swell. Lots of seals, penguins and albatrosses who kept us and Team CUVA company. Moved from 5th to 6th position as Team East Wind (JPN) passed us.

Still part of Leg 2, a 10km portage of the boats over an island. We did this quite well, towing the 50kg+ boats on a rope around our waists. Probably one of the toughest AR legs ever. There were some small lakes that reduced the towing part to about 6km. Caught and passed East Wind, CUVA and Kauri, but had a bad transition at the end, letting East Wind get away into third position.

Another kayaking leg, taking us to the start of the crossing of the Whiteside Channel. However, strong winds in the afternoon caused this crossing to be shut down. With Dark zone, the race would restart at 6am next morning. Got some good sleep. Lying in 4th overall, behind Adidas, Gear Junkies, East Wind.