Fat Otter Fall Sprint 2008

The Fall Sprint took 4hrs to complete in and around Maple Lake in Palos Hills, IL. The course was designed to take racers on a journey through foot trails, dense forest, singletrack bike trails and, of course, open water. Racers gathered from around the Midwest to test their speed in this quick, decisive sprint race. Congrats to Rod McLennan on another successful (injury free) race!

Team Wingspan Racing was joined by first timer, Travis Pettijohn. Travis and I were one of the eight teams able to ride the mountain biking section first, an advantage because of the muddy conditions. Palos Hills' Bull Frog Lake singletrack section is extremely popular among locals because of its unique terrain in a traditionally FLAT Illinois. Complications in shifting and gear settings held us back a little, but we picked up ground by following the trail markers successfully. We rode out of the mud, and back to the starting area for a quick transition to the kayak section.

With limited coasteering experience, Travis and I set out on the water as an A-team. Teams lined up at the launch with a compass bearing to follow in their kayaks and set out to paddle. We found the first of two milk jugs easily, but I took an incorrect bearing, leading us to the wrong second milk jug! Taking the time penalty, we moved on to the orienteering (or Nav) section of the race, which is really my favorite thing in AR.

I pretend that I'm a kid playing GI Joe, which usually helps mask any discomfort I'm feeling. You get tired out there! Map reading is probably the most important part of any race. If you can zip around on a bike real fast, run marathons, play Euchre while racing...well that's lovely, but if you can't read a map and find a checkpoint quickly and confidently, well you're just not going to win!

Sweet Trav, as my wife and I have dubbed Travis, really took to orienteering. Using the topographic map and compass, we estimated distances and used the lay-of-the-land to gauge our whereabouts on the course. A great example of this was when Sweet Trav and I were looking for a checkpoint (CP) on the corner of a small pond about 50 meters off the trail. Looking in the direction of where that pond would be, Travis and I observed a downward slope. Knowing that water gathers at lower elevation led us to that pond and we quickly found that particular CP. Backtracking to the trail, we saw a few other teams that had been in front of us, still searching for the checkpoint.

Overall, Team Wingspan Racing (Sweet Wings) finished 9th for the Fall Sprint. Which is a great finish considering it was Travis' inaugural race. Also, to the right, a picture of my friends, April and Ellie Hernann of Team Chupacabra!

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