JANUARY
Adventures in NZ.... We Aunties escaped the summer heat of Noosa and revisited a few of our favourite spots from the Godzone Trip in 2016. We mountain biked on the Old Ghost Road staying overnight at the Stern Valley Hut, before catching up with Em from Em's Power Cookies. Then we headed to Kaiteriteri to have a ride on the fabulous MTB trails and paddle and hike in the Abel Tasman NP. Following a quick trip to Nelson to visit Sakkie Myer we headed to Wanaka for the Red Bull Defiance. Kim and Cass teamed up as 'Mountain Designs Wild Women' and loved the course despite some challenging conditions. On day 2 Cass shot the Clay Pigeon and the girls got to race in the January snow!
North Shore Adventure..... In true Tri Adventure style we picked the hottest day ever to climb the biggest sand dune in the world.....But as it turned out, we all survived and enjoyed an amazingly refreshing dip in the ocean to cool ourselves down. Our ride back to the ferry was a bit interesting as well.....why would you use a perfectly good road when you could ride on rough and tough sand tracks and spindly grass...always on the lookout for the tough training effect I guess!
FEBRUARY
Tre-X Australian Off-Road Tri Champs.... It was a very hot day down at the Tre-x event, however it was great to see so many Tri Adventure members out there having a go.
Instead of resting up after this HOT HOT race, a small group of us headed out to Kin Kin via the Noosa Trail Network to celebrate Jan's birthday! We stayed at the pub overnight and took to the trails early the next morning for the return journey!
MARCH
AR Skills Clininc..... We had a lot of fun at our first AR Skills Clinic of the year….meeting some new adventure enthusiasts…..some from as far away as Dalby and Kingaroy! Navigation skills were the main focus of the day, however learning the art of paddling in time was also on the agenda!
Paddy Pallin Adventure Race..... We have been staunch supporters of this event since its inception back in 2004 and continue to race here and encourage others to take part, especially novices. We pride ourselves in having many Tri Adventure teams competing and this year was no different with 15 teams all up over the two separate events. The course is always different....great work by the organiser Gary Farebrother.....and even after all these years we have visited some new areas on that map!
APRIL
Noosa Trail Network
Ride & Climb..... With the tail end of TC
Debbie on it's way off the coast we decided our trip onto the Noosa Trail
Network was ok to continue. Yes, there was some mud and some trees over
the trails, but mostly it was good going as we made our way out to Cooran via Trail
4, Middle Lookout and then some back roads. The climb up Mount Cooran was
easy and the views were spectacular. The day was rounded out with a navigational challenge near the base of Mt Cooroora, a short stop for refreshments at Trail 518 then a brisk ride home via the local trails.....so 8 hours of adventure Tri Adventure style!
Hiddenvale 4 and 24 hour Mtb event..... There were about 9 Tri Adventure members out racing at
Hiddenvale in this enduro style event. Dyson was tackling the 24 hour solo, whilst
Darryn and Peter did a team. Gina, Cass, Steve, Shan, Dianne and Anka
were there to test themselves on the technical trails in the 4 hour (the sensible
option...) which took place on Saturday.
Bunyaville Mini Rogaine.... Kim & I teamed up for this short and sharp Rogaine in the lovely Bunyaville Forest. It was a very popular event with close to 90 teams of 2, 3 or 4 out to test their nav skills in a 3 hour time frame. Also out there mixing it with the best were:- Sloshy & Paul Elby; Shaun Lauder & Ali; Linda & John; as well as Novak, Jo & boys.
For
those who don't know him, Novak was possibly the best navigator in the world in
his time (which was only about 12 years ago) and has raced in many of the
iconic events such as Eco Challenge, Primal Quest and countless world champs in
his illustrious career. He has since retired from AR as a job, but every
now and then turns up at a rogaine just for fun. It's so good that he
still likes to do this and bring his family along for the ride as well :)
Rogue Raid..... Tri Adventure had 12 teams competing in the 24 hour and 3 teams in the 6 hour - a very impressive line-up!! The venue this year was Lake Wivenhoe and the format was as follows: Paddle - Lake Wivenhoe up to 24km; Trek - a jaunt around the edges of Lake Winvenhoe; Mountain Bike - nice and flat along the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail; Trek - not so nice up in the Esk State Forest; Mountain Bike - basically back along the Rail Trail; Paddle - Lake Wivenhoe with some high points on offer to finish. Sloshy and Alex cleared the course and won the event outright and finished well under 24hrs - great stuff you guys!
In
summary - the Rogue events are brilliant. Mr Rogue himself, Liam St
Pierre, has a passion for the sport of adventure racing like no-one else I
know. He is a stickler for detail so the maps are excellent - and he
consistently runs these exciting events for us all to enjoy here in SE
Qld. The Rogue Raid is the best value for money 24 hour event on the
calendar.....and we did love the pizzas at 7.00pm when we came in off the
trek. Thanks Liam and thanks Tri Adventure for supporting the Qld Rogaine
Association.
MAY
Tuesday Twilight Treks.... We introduced these sessions in May and conducted these through
till the end of August. This was an opportunity to practice off-track
navigation using a map and compass to find imaginary CP’s. It was great to see Steve and Shan, Jules and Pete, Rachael, Janet as well as Felicity and her weekly new partner....it seemed, taking the opportunity to challenge themselves in the dark!
Glasshouse Mountains Adventure.....It had been about 12 years since we tackled Mt Tibrogargan and Mt Beerwah and we thought it was about time to give them another go. We had never taken our Tri Adventure groups up these 2 peaks, previously opting for the safer, lower altitude alternatives.
We had a great bunch of adventurers join in this session Ali, Rick & Abbey, Michele & Greg, Patrick and Sam. First up Mt Tibrogargan ride to the base, then stash the bikes before hiking up the walkers trail. We all arrived safely at the summit - and the views were awesome on such a
perfect day. Strangely enough the climb down was not as scary as we
had anticipated.
We then headed on bikes towards Mt
Beerwah the highest of the Glasshouse Mountains at 556m
- it was a sight to behold! The first part of the climb was a sheer
rock-face....so up we went - putting our feet and hands into little
indentations on the rock. Up, up, up we climbed. It
seemed much further than we remembered (when I was much younger at 45...). The
track was good, but still very steep and rocky! The sun was
beaming down making the climb quite hot. Finally we were at the
summit and it was well worth all the effort. We sat, ate, took photos and
chatted - such an amazing view in all directions. Time for the descent . When we got to the rock-face we spent a fair bit of time
crabbing and sliding down on our bottoms. It was slow and tedious, but we
all went in line and made it down without injury - or freaking out! Back on the bikes again we enjoyed a
very sweet downhill ride past Crookneck and arrived back at our cars
after about 8 hours of adventure. Another great session in the bag! We sat and chatted at the pie shop - just
happy that everyone got through this - as a few times some were ready to turn
back.
Hervey
Bay Adventure..... We headed to Hervey Bay for the weekend and were lucky enough to get a bed at Chez Krome. A small group of us enjoyed an ocean paddle with the Kromes, out and back around Round Island in the morning before supporting the Hervey Bay Tri Club's Off Road Duathlon at Toogum.
Next day we did some more exploring in another part of the forest. Gnarly, rocky trails - something we don't have much of now in Wooroi.....and after our ride we took our maps and planned a trek looking for some features and we were joined by Cass who unfortunately had a cracked rib - so could only walk at that time. It was a great couple of days exploring a new area - and finding everything we needed for a good weekend of adventure. Thank you Kromes, Cass & Amie for showing us your home turf - we'll definitely be back for more in the future!
Ringtail Navigation Session.... This session included a ride out to the trails, followed by some course setting in pairs, while still on the bikes. The group then set off on foot to find all the CP's placed earlier. We used Kim's map which she created for this session and it seemed that many of the trails had now disappeared or were very overgrown. What a great challenge for us all though as it meant we had plenty of opportunity to do some massive bush-bashes and it made us all work hard for those precious CPs - performing many grid searches as well. We spent the next hour riding around picking up all of the CP's and discussing the route choices and problems we had with the map! Kim....just a few map adjustments to make after this!
Glenrock Rogaine.... It was quite a long drive out the Glenrock State Forest , most people opted to arrive on Friday and camp at the lovely Casuarina Campsite nestled in the valley alongside Blackfellow Creek. John & Linda had organised the event and the Kromes + many others had helped along the way. It was coolish overnight, however the picture perfect weather continued into Saturday and we got organised with our gear before map hand-out which was at 10.00am. We were a little worried to see only 1 track marked on the map, however, most set about planning a course which would take us up the event's namesake - the precarious looking Glenrock itself as it was worth 200 points!! The course was very challenging for everyone so it was great as usual to see so many of the Tri Adventure crew were out there - Jan and Shan; Suwati; Novak, Jo and the boys; Sam & Patrick; Kim, Cass & Ali; as well as Rick and Abbey.
Thanks to the
fabulous John and Linda for giving up their time to organise this one - they
did a brilliant job working in an area that was extremely difficult in many
ways - and well done everyone who participated!
JUNE
Geoquest - Sawtell, NSW
This year would have to win the prize for the wettest Geoquest and for the most gear used in less than 48hrs....I am pretty sure we both used three waterproof jackets during the race, as well as most of the mandatory gear at some point! Despite the extreme weather event which saw most of the paddling for the event cancelled (except for the full course amended ocean paddle in Coffs Harbour), it seemed like we all had a fabulous time out on our full or half courses testing our skills, fitness, navigation and our team work. Besides us, other teams with Tri Adventure representatives included - Rogue: Alex, Ali, Liam, Paul; Wondering Wandering Wookies:
John, Linda, Mandy, Ken; Tri Adventure Cowboys: Greg,
Darryn, Mark, Peter; Noosa Collective: Sam, Patrick,
Dianne, Jason.
For our full race reports on Mountain Designs Geoquest 2017 click on the links below.
Cowgirls: Cowgirls Ride Out Geoquest-2017
Mountain Designs Wild Women: Mountain Designs Wild Women - Geoquest Report
JULY
Northern Rivers Raid....We were pretty excited to be going down to Brooms Head for this
event - site of some previous lovely camping trips over the
years. Our recent campsite didn't disappoint - it was
literally right on the ocean. The points based event took us to parts of the Yuragir National Park and by running, riding and paddling. Along the way we visited Lake
Arragan on foot, a huge hike a bike up to a Trig Point worth 100
points (which should have been worth 300), before heading to a paddle on the beautiful Sandon River. This was followed by more race-pace riding back to HQ to make the cutoff, and enjoy an old fashioned Rogaine style buffet! Tri Adventure was represented by:- Kim & Cass; John & Linda; Jan & Shan; AP & Ian; and Suwati who finished early to volunteer. It was a very different event and we
especially liked being in a brand new area - just a pity about the mud - oh
well, the bike shop just loved us after this one!!!
Kim, Cass & Steve went on to do a white-water paddle course on the Nymboida
River the next day - very exciting for them!
Rapha Rough Women's
100…. It was a chilly 7 degrees when we met at the Marina for the big
day out - 100km! Great to have a few new faces from the Brisbane Chicks
Who Ride Bikes group joining us along with the regulars on our weekend
adventures.It
was a huge day - but we did finish before dark which was a bonus! Back at
the Marina - the champagne flowed - celebrating our achievements and Shan's birthday. Thanks for your company everyone - and thanks to Steve
& Paul for looking after us! Another great adventure in the bag!
AUGUST
Hells Bells….Caloundra was the venue this year and what an awesome course it was! Trek/boogie board over to Bribie Island, a run south to a TA on Bribie where we would collect our kayaks. Paddle down the Passage and up Coochin Creek, ride to Landsborough via many trails, trek in the Dularcha National Park then ride home via some interesting trails to the finish at Leach Park, Caloundra. It was a brilliant course, great maps and the sting in the tail to make it interesting on the last leg. Well done Chris Dixon and Wild and Co....you did an awesome job with this one - so happy we gave you another chance!! Thunderbolts were the overall winners and thoroughly deserved the victory in a close battle with Peak Adventure!
Wild Women AR
Skills Clinic…. The day was a similar
format to most of our clinics where we run through choices of AR gear, do a
little bit of navigation theory practice, then learn pacing and compass
skills.....before going out on the boats - supplied by our friends Erica Tracey at http://www.kayaknoosa.com/
We had set a little paddle navigation course and the girls took to it with
gusto. They worked brilliantly in their teams and found every CP - great
work everyone. We gave the girls a few riding tips on the bike leg and it greatly improved
their style and confidence! The day was rounded off with a lovely dinner in Noosa Junction - oh and a glass
or two of bubbles as well....
Twin Waters Adventure Race…. Xcite Adventure Racing - The event was based at the Apex Camp in Mudjimba and took in parts of Twin Waters; Mudjimba and the Maroochy River. It was a really fun event - so, congrats to Darryn and Fiona from
Xcite Adventure for putting on these sprint events that attract families to
race together and encourage newcomers to the sport. We Aunties teamed up for this one and somehow cleared the course! Well done to Paul & Mel and
Di who raced with her 13 year old daughter!
Mojo Raid 6 & 12 hour….What a great turn-out
for Tri Adventure at this event over the weekend! We arrived at Camp
Somerset to a 'force 10' gale blowing across the lake. There was no
shelter from it and apparently it was going to get worse! Due to these conditions the paddle was made optional. Most teams opted out of the paddle as the wind did get stronger with white-caps
and waves on the lake - and were allowed to pick up one paddle CP on
foot. Alex and Liam did paddle - but only a minimal one....but you
wouldn't have gone out there if you were a novice, that's for sure! This was a great course with lots and lots of trekking, so great for the 'Rogainers'. Some outstanding results from our Tri Adventure crew!
QLD MTBO Champs....We have done this
event over the years but have never entered the competitive categories so this
year we decided to do it all. The championship comprised of 3 events over the 2 day period - Sprint, Middle
distance and Long. First up was the sprint in the grounds of the Qld
Catholic University at Nudgee. This was a race around buildings, ovals,
paths and some gardens. It felt really weird riding through buildings and
finding CPs in all these funny spots! Stage 2 of the MTBO Champs was at Scibbly Gums near Cleveland - we were much
more at home in the bush environment. Stage 3 - Bayview Trails. We rocked up in the morning and met up with
some of our fellow Tri Adventure orienteers. Great to see Susie back
having a ride - after winning this event many times over the years. Mandy
was lining up with the open women and John in the open men. As we always say, MTBO is such a great way of getting into navigation - most of
the time you're out there on your own, making your own decisions (!) and it
really doesn't feel competitive at all. Well done to everyone who was out
there having a go - racing 3 events in one weekend was something different for
us but good fun as well.
Chicks in the sticks…..Queens of the Coop at Chicks in the Sticks - well done Bardie, Anka & Michelle!
SEPTEMBER
Wild Women AR
Skills Clinic…. Another batch of awesome girls attended our clinic on Saturday.
With perfect weather - again - we went through all the facets of adventure
racing and took them on a 'wild adventure' where they put their navigation
theory into practice. The ever reliable Cass was on hand all day to help
out - thanks so much Cass - great to have an extra hand (and brain) to make it
easier for us and more valuable for the girls to have someone else sharing
their knowledge and experience. The day panned out in a similar fashion to most of our clinics - Gear review,
navigation theory, navigation practice, paddle and paddle nav, coffee shop,
mountain bike nav, foot nav and happy hour to finish the day.
Hiddenvale Epic Run/Mtb….Apparently another cracker of an event with Tri Adventure flying the flag high. Cass was the standout performer taking out the Female Endurance title (this means she did a 22km run on the Saturday in very good time and a 97km mountain bike the next day!) Wow - amazing Cass - and still managed to place 8th female overall in the mountain bike race (in a field with some very strong elite females) and 3rd in her age-group!! Dyson had a great ride and finished a very credible 4th in an extremely tough age-group. Gina was 1st in her age-group and 10th overall. Amie was 5th and Anka placed 2nd in their respective age-groups and Steve struggled with cramps after an OTB crash but soldiered on to finish 8th. Shan raced the 52km and placed 5th - and apparently it was 57km.... Sounds like a very tough couple of days out there. Great work all of you!!
Swains Peak Bike & Hike.... A lovely group joined us at Yandina for this adventure. We set off on bikes and entered the forest at Cooloolabin Trailhead. There was a bit of a climb up to Bottle and Glass Road - but not too steep - and this is where we stashed the bikes. We had pre-marked the map with some CPs and purposely used a Q-Topo map which was not 100% accurate. Features included a creek junction in Chambers Gully; Creek Junction in York Creek and a trip up an awesome spur via another unmarked, overgrown track - to Swains Peak. As per usual, we had spent a lot longer out there than planned as 'Tri Adventure time' kicked in - so we made our way back to the bikes. We rounded of the session with a delicious lunch at Café Invigor8.
Spring Challenge…..It seems the Noosa Cruzers - Kiwi Julies x 2 + Wendy - had an extra special time at the Spring Challenge this year. They got through a very tough course - over 15 hours - and were rewarded with the news that they had placed 1st in their category. Way to go girls!
OCTOBER
Wildside
Adventure Race as a volunteer....Here are some of Jan's golden moments....a volunteers perspective
- Getting to be on TA1 as the teams came in after their first trek of 55km. It was amazing to see our girls come through looking really strong and focussed and ready for the next leg.
- TA1 was at the Big Trout in Adaminaby...and we got to have some really nice Snowy River trout after we packed up the TA - yum!
- Spending some quality time with Ali Wright while on volunteering duties. We had some laughs and spent a bit of time visiting the Woolworths of the ACT!
- Meeting up with Thunderbolt AR during the event and breaking the news to them that they were in the lead. They didn't believe me - and were in shock as they thought they'd lost many hours but in fact were the fastest team!
- Watching the dots and seeing our girls absolutely nail the second trek after the abseil and head to CP13 right along that red line!
- Seeing our good friends - Thunderbolt AR - smash the course as a very happy and caring team and take out the Adventure 1 series in the process. So well deserved!
- Sharing some bubbles at the finish line with our amazing girls and hearing their stories...and their new theme song....this will appear somewhere at sometime soon....
- Riding on a guided tour of Mt Stromlo trails with Tom in the lead - reminiscing of my 24 hour world championship race there 7 years ago.
- Enjoying Canberra and surrounds on bikes with Tom and the boys...and hiking up Mount Ainslie with Ali which is almost at Tom & Alina's backdoor...
Check out the Team Mountain Designs Wild Women Blog for Kim's account of Wildside AR and the Adventure 1 Series 2017. Mountain Designs Wild Women take a walk on the wildside
Wild Women AR…..So many great stories from this race, we hope that everyone who participated enjoyed the course and the adventure despite the challenging conditions. Mt Tinbeerwah to Pomona on foot and bike with a paddle on Lake MacDonald in the middle, along with a few added challenges along the way like slackline and shanghai. Thanks so much to all the Tri Adventure volunteers who helped us ensure the event was a success.
Maui
Xterra World Championships.... Peter Wood won his 10th World Championship and we have personally put him into super legendary status with this one!! Just
in case you haven't seen this - Peter's write-up by the Xterra
crew. It's great to see they acknowledge and appreciate someone like him
and are not always purely focussed on the elite athletes. Great story
about the passionfruit too Peter! http://www.xterraplanet.com/2017/11/just-number-peter-wood/
Kelly-Anne Speight a fantastic result in her first attempt at Maui -
placing 4th in her age-group. Well done Kelly-Anne - bet you'll go back next year to have a crack at the
podium....
NOVEMBER
Paddle
and Mtb adventure! We had a challenging paddle from the start and a quick stop at
Mill Point before an even more challenging paddle back to Boreen Point, then headed up into the hills on the Noosa Trail Network on our bikes. It was the most beautiful day and the views were awesome as we
travelled the ridgeline before the big downhill on Simpsons Road.
Kenilworth Mary River Adventure….This was a recap of part of a rather challenging Hells Bells about 5 years ago. The Kromes were part of that event and they were brave enough to come and have another crack at it - shows how much we forget over the years....especially no less than 6 'hike-a-bike' sections!! Paddle Mary River, ride the Kenilworth Trails to Charlie Moreland, then a little trek near Sunday Creek Road. Thanks to Greg & Michele who came all the way down from Maryborough for this challenging adventure - we thoroughly enjoyed your company!!
Adventurethon Demolish…..We really wanted to support this event, and as Kim was training for Coast to Coast, it seemed like a great opportunity to do some rock running, white water kayaking and some flowing MTB trails along the way. This was a stage race so each discipline was separate - Flow MTB; The Gorge Trail Run and the Clarence River Rush. A great weekend of racing and adventure mixed with plenty of time for socialising before during and after the event. We strongly recommend these Adventurethon events for anyone looking for a multisport event without navigation.
DECEMBER
Navigation Sessions...... Even though there were no events looming, we decided you can never get enough navigation practice. So we set a course near Pomona and spent two weekend sessions out there, trying different route options on foot......some bush bashing and even a few swims across some of the swollen creeks.
Montville Adventure..... This weekend adventure included a Paddle, Trek, MTB, Trek and MTB taking in Lake Baroon, Kondalilla Falls, Flaxton, Mapleton, Obi Obi Road, Baxter Falls and back to Montville for refreshments before the ride back to the start. This proved a great training session for those in the group training for XPD; Red Bull Defiance and X-Marathon.
Tri Adventure Picnic Hike..... We rounded off the year of adventure with a very peaceful Friday Night picnic hike, yes and the bubbles flowed!. It was lovely to have so many of our Tri Adventure Group, family and friends come along and join us in our beautiful part of the world! We look forward to spending plenty of time out there in our beautiful backyard and beyond in 2018......we hope that you can join us for the adventure!
