This little surprise turned out to be my first taste of a multi-discipline adventure race. I had done Muddy Buddy with Nate in 07, but the RedbirdChallenge brought canoeing into the mix and MAN was it fun!
We got a Coed team together: Nick Eriser, Meagan Witt, Will Sostand and I comprised my second race under Team Tripod! Will's fiance, Renata, and my lovely soon to be bride, Angie, were our support crew and mascot handler! Thanks to them for getting the camp site in order and transitioning our bikes to where we needed them.After the gun went off, the four of us were tied together, shoulder to shoulder, ankles tied with rope. 
We had to make our way to the canoe launch, seperate into our two canoes and then start the two mile paddle to the trail running section of the race. We do extremely well getting to the launch, but Nick and I, all in a hurry, launch with lightning speed, and tip in two feet of water. Hey, at least it's not 55degrees out...oh wait that's right, it was. Luckily the initial adrenaline hasn't worn off yet. We "right" ourselves and get to paddling. As luck would have it, we look back expecting to see Meagan and Will close in tow, but they're up to their PFD's (personal flotation device aka lifejacket) with a cap-sized canoe!!
So we circle back and are sitting there for a good ten minutes trying to "right" their canoe before the guy's in the safety boat show up. Meagan is shivering in the cold, Will's sweatpants probably weigh close to ten pounds. The guys in the boat show up and yoink them out of the water, but since Meagan's hyperthermic and Will's almost there, we're disqualified already, but Nick and I press on because what are they going to do, we already paid!
Nick and I make up some serious time with him in back steering while I'm up front, brainlessly paddling to Nick's calls. We kept a relatively straight line, which I applaud Nick for the driving because we've never been in a canoe together. After finding the landing (it was pretty much a straight two mile stretch with one or two bends to the left on the open lake), we portage the canoe a short 50 meters and set out for the trail head on foot.
This is where the race picks up for me, I LOVE trail running and singletrack. Couple of nice big puddles to stomp through and get the mud splatters on the leg to prove you were doing something cool. Knee starts to ache and Nick gets a little winded, but what are you going to do, we have at least a three mile run with six miles left on the bike. Run finishes up without much else happening and to our surprise, we see Meagan and Will waiting for us at the final transition area (TA)! We're already DQ'd, so we all meet up again and start out on the bikes.
I have to give some serious credit to CORBA (Concerned Off Road Bicyclists Association) for putting together and maintaining Comlara Park's singletrack trails. Awesome trails with some serious switchbacks and ravines to dive in. Of course there had been some rain, so I'm sure us racers did some damage around the puddles, but it is what it is. The proverbial wrench was thrown in our spokes when a) Will got a flat and b) Will's right pedal broke at a 45degree angle, leaving virtually no surface area to fit his size 14 shoe!!! It took us some time to get his back tire up and running, severely underinflated of course, and on our merry way.
I seriously recommend riding the trails in Comlara Park near Bloomington, IL if you're in the area with your bike, or taking a quick trip to get some riding in. Technical, but not so bad that a beginner couldn't have fun. It also matters how quickly you go.
The race support team and volunteers at one point thought we were lost, or dead, in the woods. But we did finish, dead last of course, but we finished. For putting together a team of people with virtually no adventure racing experience, I think we did an amazing job considering the multiple mechanical failures we had. I think next year we'll be able to do some serious damage.
I'd like to get a nice sized group of people down for the race and compete in both the 2-person and 4-person coed teams. Never hurts to get some more camping in as well!!
We had to make our way to the canoe launch, seperate into our two canoes and then start the two mile paddle to the trail running section of the race. We do extremely well getting to the launch, but Nick and I, all in a hurry, launch with lightning speed, and tip in two feet of water. Hey, at least it's not 55degrees out...oh wait that's right, it was. Luckily the initial adrenaline hasn't worn off yet. We "right" ourselves and get to paddling. As luck would have it, we look back expecting to see Meagan and Will close in tow, but they're up to their PFD's (personal flotation device aka lifejacket) with a cap-sized canoe!!
So we circle back and are sitting there for a good ten minutes trying to "right" their canoe before the guy's in the safety boat show up. Meagan is shivering in the cold, Will's sweatpants probably weigh close to ten pounds. The guys in the boat show up and yoink them out of the water, but since Meagan's hyperthermic and Will's almost there, we're disqualified already, but Nick and I press on because what are they going to do, we already paid!
Nick and I make up some serious time with him in back steering while I'm up front, brainlessly paddling to Nick's calls. We kept a relatively straight line, which I applaud Nick for the driving because we've never been in a canoe together. After finding the landing (it was pretty much a straight two mile stretch with one or two bends to the left on the open lake), we portage the canoe a short 50 meters and set out for the trail head on foot.
This is where the race picks up for me, I LOVE trail running and singletrack. Couple of nice big puddles to stomp through and get the mud splatters on the leg to prove you were doing something cool. Knee starts to ache and Nick gets a little winded, but what are you going to do, we have at least a three mile run with six miles left on the bike. Run finishes up without much else happening and to our surprise, we see Meagan and Will waiting for us at the final transition area (TA)! We're already DQ'd, so we all meet up again and start out on the bikes.
I have to give some serious credit to CORBA (Concerned Off Road Bicyclists Association) for putting together and maintaining Comlara Park's singletrack trails. Awesome trails with some serious switchbacks and ravines to dive in. Of course there had been some rain, so I'm sure us racers did some damage around the puddles, but it is what it is. The proverbial wrench was thrown in our spokes when a) Will got a flat and b) Will's right pedal broke at a 45degree angle, leaving virtually no surface area to fit his size 14 shoe!!! It took us some time to get his back tire up and running, severely underinflated of course, and on our merry way.
I seriously recommend riding the trails in Comlara Park near Bloomington, IL if you're in the area with your bike, or taking a quick trip to get some riding in. Technical, but not so bad that a beginner couldn't have fun. It also matters how quickly you go.The race support team and volunteers at one point thought we were lost, or dead, in the woods. But we did finish, dead last of course, but we finished. For putting together a team of people with virtually no adventure racing experience, I think we did an amazing job considering the multiple mechanical failures we had. I think next year we'll be able to do some serious damage.
I'd like to get a nice sized group of people down for the race and compete in both the 2-person and 4-person coed teams. Never hurts to get some more camping in as well!!
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