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July 2006 Team Santa Fe Activities
Races :
Primal Quest Utah 2006 Adventure Race
http://www.ecoprimalquest.com
Moab, UT
June 25th - July 4th, 2006
Kim Bear, Jan Bear, Dale Blankenship and Paul Piorkowski
DNF
By Jan Bear
Now that we have reached the end of July, this race is finally behind me. It's a
race I need to forget. It was held in our own backyard and yet we as a team were
unable to finish and in fact only make checkpoint 21 just a little more than
halfway through the event. As a relatively experienced adventure racer I was
very disappointed with my performance and to a degree with our team
performance as well. Enough of the crying.
The event was very well staged and professional all the way. The sites were
spectacular and the race course difficult but certainly very doable. The race really
started with the check in, gear checks and ability testing that took about 14 hours
over a day and a half. Formally however the race started on horseback; one
horse per team after an all night bus ride to somewhere northwest of Green river,
UT. Our horse "Junior" was a real gem; ornery and slow as we had to tow him for
the second half of the 21 mile horse back section. Then on to a trekking section
for another 22 miles despite the fact we had really already been trekking for the
first 21 miles. During the trek we make two navigational errors costing us at least
1½ hours. Finally off our feet and on mountain bike for 65 miles some of which
was road but here we made another navigational error costing us another 2
hours. We stopped in Green River which the bike route went through to have
some cold drinks and breakfast. Then it was off for the last 15 miles of the bike to
get to the river board section. At this check point we received a ride up the river
about 9 miles and then river boarded back down. What a blast this was; off our
feet in the river in the mid day sun. Next we were in kayaks for about 45 miles
with a 1 mile portage about 2-3 miles into the kayak leg. It was late afternoon so
the temperature was going down as we had to carry the kayaks and our gear
down the road to the put in beyond a small dam. From here we continued down
river to the end of the first paddle were we saw our food bin for the first time and
had a good meal and took a short nap till 5 AM when we got up and swam
across the Green River to begin another trek and canyoneering section that
covered about 25 miles. There was also a great rappel during the trek. This trek
took us about 20 hours to complete and at the end we had to again swim across
the Green River to begin the next kayak section of about 45 miles. We arrived at
Mineral Bottom about 3 PM. Our feet were in trouble, so we took some time to
work on them before we began the trek up the canyon. We reached the next
check point in 8-10 hours with a bad team "mojo" and feet. We ascended out of
the canyon and the team had had enough. We hiked out to the road and got a
ride back to race HQ.
The next day we went to watch the eventual winners Team Nike reach the last
check point before the big rope section and wished them good luck. They won by
a narrow margin over GoLite.
The next part of the day was spent picking up gear and packing before heading
home early the next morning with that dreadful taste in our mouths. I can't wait
for the next event!
Thank you to Team Santa Fe Sponsors: Litespeed, BTI, Bike & Sport, ThorLo,
GoLite, Gaerne, Camelbak, Montrail, Leki, Niterider, Dermatone, CW-X,
Princeton Tec, SofSole, Shain, Polar, Hydropel, Outdoor Research, Suunto,
Polar HRM, Maxxis, E-Caps, Wingnut Gear, Potable Aqua and Bolle.
A special thank you to Zimmer Orthopaedics.
Quest for Fire Adventure Race
http://www.nmarc.org/quest_for_fire.htm
Angel Fire, NM
July 15, 2006
Team Santa Fe Women, Kim Bear, Jeanette Brasher, Kerry Dalen, Angie Kline
Finish: 10:48 hours, 1st place woman's division, 7th place overall
By Kim Bear
The race began at 5:30 am on Saturday morning. We knew we would start on
the water and get wet to our waists but that was the end of the instructions. We
were told the rest of the instructions would be given at the start. The racers rode
a bus with their water gear to an unknown designation. It would turn out to be a
pond approximately 8 miles southwest of Angel Fire resort. The weather was
beautiful. Steam came off the water as we rolled onto the edge of the water.
Canoes were stacked up at the water's edge but as you walked up close to the
boats you could tell they were privately owned. At 6:30 am we got the directions
for the race. We would run ½ mile around a hill and gather up an inner tube,
then return to the water to paddle around buoys placed in the pond, run to the
first checkpoint (CP) located across the pond, up a road and at a trailhead. As
we ran up the road, we saw Jan and his team running back down. We headed
back to paddle to pond and as we finished got UTM points for the rest of race
identifying CP's handed to us by the race director.
We plotted the rest of the checkpoints and headed out to search for CP 2.
Checkpoint 2 was a struggle as we overshot it. Luckily, we were saved by a
helpful camper who flagged us down after we passed by to ask if we were
looking for that "orange thing" hanging over at the trail head at the end of the
camp ground. From there, the orienteering became less of a challenge for us.
Jeanette, our lead navigator was right on. We found the next 4 checkpoints, got
a little turned around at some points, but ended up back at the transition area
around 3PM.
Jan's team had already completed the course so we again got lucky as Jan came
to our assistance. The rules had been stated that only other racers could help
another team. All of the Team Santa Fe members helped get us through the
mystery event. We had to pass our bodies and bikes through a roped off "spider
web" without touching the rope or using the same opening more than once. We
were happy for the help. Jan then helped push bikes and carry weight up the
bike course to the ropes section. We then helped each other across the
Tyrolean traverse. We ended up heading back down the biking trails to the finish
and won the women's division. We were proud of ourselves for finishing the
whole course as last year we ended up doing the short course. A special thanks
to the other Team Santa Fe for all their help and especially Jan!
Team Santa Fe Women, Kerry, Janette, Angie and Kim
Team Santa Fe, Jan Bear, Gary Johnson, Deb Werenko, Clint Hobart
Finish: 7 hours, 14 minutes and 40 seconds. 1st Place Overall
By Jan Bear
You know the general set up of the race from reading the TSF Women report.
Our race was only slightly different in that we took the steeper more direct route
to CP4. We were in second place until the mountain bike section due to some
minor but costly navigational errors; I think we were trying to read too much into
the course as at the pre-race meeting they had said that there were some difficult
navigation sections. At the completion of the mountain bike we were ahead by
about 2 minutes and the race director gave us a bonus checkpoint so we got to
ride the chairlift to the top of the mountain and do the downhill mountain bike
again. It was a blast coming down the UCI Cross-Country Course that was used
a year ago. We were happy to be done especially in 1st Place. Our prize is a
subsidized entry into the USARA National Championships this fall in CA.
Team Santa Fe, Jan, Clint, Deb and Gary.
Thank you to Team Santa Fe Sponsors: Litespeed, BTI, Bike & Sport, ThorLo,
GoLite, Gaerne, Camelbak, Montrail, Leki, Niterider, Dermatone, CW-X,
Princeton Tec, SofSole, Shain, Polar, Hydropel, Outdoor Research, Suunto,
Polar HRM, Maxxis, E-Caps, Wingnut Gear, Potable Aqua and Bolle.
AdventureXstream 24 Hour Adventure Race
http://www.gravityplay.com/axs
Breckenridge, CO
July 22-23, 2006
Team Santa Fe Bear Pair, Jan and Kim Bear
Finish Time: 22 hours and 58 minutes, 6th overall/ 1st Coed Pairs
By Kim Bear
We entered into this event in first place for the co-ed pairs in this series. We
hadn't won one of the races yet, but had accumulated enough points from the
previous 2 races to be in first place. I really wanted to win this race in our
division. The big unknown was racing in Breckenridge. We had never been able
to do this race in the past. It would be a new place to us. I didn't realize that the
format would also be different to us.
The race began at midnight on Friday. We started at the Frisco Nordic Center
with a short run to the marina where we picked up our boats. I took the time to
put on a wetsuit half way which turned out to be a good idea to keep me warm.
Jan stayed less dressed so I would go into the water and run up on the shore to
punch the checkpoints. It was the first race that I really felt involved, jumping off
the boat and punching the passport. We made it back to the marina around 4:00
am after finding the 4 checkpoints. The first was at Heaton Bay Campground,
then Silver Dollar Island, then down in the Snake River arm and back to the
Frisco Marina. We paddled all over Dillon Reservoir. Jan did a nice job of
navigating on the water. The run back to the Nordic Center was COLD! We tried
to get into dry clothes as quickly as possible before we began the orienteering
section on an orange Rogaine course on a peninsula that actually stuck out into
the Dillon Reservoir. We had 3 hours to get 29 checkpoints. Each checkpoint
missed would bring a 10 minute penalty. Each minute after 3 hours would earn a
2 minute penalty for every minute late. We started slow in the dark, but as the
sun came up the CP's were easier to find. We finished 30 minutes early omitting
only one checkpoint. We figured we could handle a 10 minute penalty as we
were done 30 minutes early.
We took off on our trek to Breckenridge which would be about 15 miles. We
used Miners Creek Trail and took it to Wheeler then into Breckenridge winding up
at the bike transition located by Beaver Run. We had climbed 12,700 feet,
dropped down to 11,000 feet towards Copper and then climbed back up to head
down into Breckenridge. We arrived down at Beaver Creek Lodge around 1PM.
We were the only ones to take this less direct route. I had a "bad moment" with
my temper as it seemed we were never going to reach Breckenridge. I was very
irritable and not receptive to helpful tips to run faster. At the bike transition, Jan
got the rest of the UTM's to plot and I tried to get my act together. Then off we
were on the bike. I had not really recovered and biked very slowly. We did see
the other pairs coming in from the trek as we left. However, one pair would soon
catch up with us. The last part of the bike consisted of planning…again. There
were 4 checkpoints with a 9 pm deadline. Every checkpoint missed would be a
2 hour penalty. A soloist, Shawn De Veau ended up adopting us so we worked
together and ended up getting 3 of the CP's. We would take the 2 hour penalty
and headed back to the finish line. We would come in exactly 10 minutes ahead
of the other co-ed pair. We did not know if they had missed any of the CP's in
the Rogaine or the bike sections. We did not find out until later on the week. We
worried the whole week…finally, the penalties were assessed and both of our
teams received the exact same penalties. They had missed one CP in the
Rogaine and one on the bike. We would retain the first place points by ONLY 10
minutes. It was a very close race.
Thanks to AdventureXstream for putting on such a challenging race.
Thank you to Team Santa Fe Sponsors: Litespeed, BTI, Bike & Sport, ThorLo,
GoLite, Gaerne, Camelbak, Montrail, Leki, Niterider, Dermatone, CW-X,
Princeton Tec, SofSole, Shain, Polar, Hydropel, Outdoor Research, Suunto,
Polar HRM, Maxxis, E-Caps, Wingnut Gear, Potable Aqua and Bolle.
Sandia Peak Challenge Duathlon
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Sandia Peak Ski Area, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jan Bear, 5th Overall, 1:38:55, Kim Bear, 3rd, 2:14:41
It had been raining for the past 48 hours in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We were
happy for the rain, but dreading a "mud fest". The event was an 8.3 mile climb to
the top of Sandia Peak, then a 3 mile run followed by 8.3 miles back to the
bottom. We found out at check in that the trail was so muddy, that the descent
had been cancelled. We would only be able ride in the mud up the King of the
Mountain trail and do the run. The mud made it a slippery climb as I kept slipping
over the rocks and roots. My Santa Fe friend Helen Morrell, took off and won the
race for the women. It wasn't until the last 50 meters that I was able to overtake
the second place female rider. However, this woman was a gazelle when it
came to the run. I was happy to get third place at the finish line with a time of
2:14:41. Jan took fifth overall in a time of 1:38:55.
Thank you to Team Santa Fe Sponsors: Litespeed, BTI, Bike & Sport, ThorLo,
GoLite, Gaerne, Camelbak, Montrail, Leki, Niterider, Dermatone, CW-X,
Princeton Tec, SofSole, Shain, Polar, Hydropel, Outdoor Research, Suunto,
Polar HRM, Maxxis, E-Caps, Wingnut Gear, Potable Aqua and Bolle.
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