LATEST NEWS May-June

BLACKHEART 8HR ADVENTURE RACE
We made our way down towards the little village of Uki (in the shadow of the amazing Mt Warning..) and about 14km though town along the Kyogle road we found the Inter Action Learning Centre which would be the HQ for the event…..With no time to waste we lined up and got our maps and had a very short period (as always) to plan and get organised for the next 8 hours…. Our event would begin after a bus ride out to Clarrie Hall Dam (water supply for the Tweed Valley) where we would embark on a trek in the surrounding bushland followed by a paddle. The mass start saw us all dashing up a steep track for the compulsory CP1 which had a bit of a line-up for the punch….After this one we had 4 more compulsory CP’s and 2 optional which would give us some extra points that might be handy in the whole scheme of the event. We bashed our way up the hill in search of CP 2, then went up again and traversed the incredibly thick native bush and lantana which eventually lead us to CP Z (with 45 bonus points we were happy to get this one…) We nailed Y (the other optional) and then made our way along a nice undulating track before we had to aim off (and up) to find CP 3….This was a rather steep and rocky ascent…which proved extremely difficult to one particular Aunty….but finally we were at the knoll and found the CP – and had some awesome views of the surrounding mountains and dam below….lovely! Aunty Kim with map in hand took us through some quite impenetrable scrub on the way to CP 4 and we had to back-track here and find our way down the spur (a little less steep and less vegetated…) and when we finally hit the track we were quite happy….Up again to CP 4 (on a single track…) and then down to the dam wall to CP 5…. Phew, finally we were about to paddle. Thinking we were the only team left we were surprised to see quite a few boats still waiting for their paddlers to emerge from the bush….Must have been hard going for a lot of teams out there – not just the Aunties!


Into to the boats and on our way along the lengthy dam we had to find 5 CP’s along the way before the TA at Crams Farm Reserve… Most of these were fairly obvious and we only had trouble with the one on the island (cos sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s an island and what’s the mainland…..) anyway we finally found it and found the TA. From here we were sent out on foot again to find 7 CP’s before a compulsory 45min ‘time-out’ where we were transported back to HQ for the start of the bike leg. We had about 5 minutes to change our gear and then we were off up the hill for a ride that took us to some of the most beautiful trails in the area – and it was dry!! The only problem was, we had quite a lot of trouble finding the first CP when some other teams convinced us we were on the wrong track (it wasn’t easy as lots of tracks were un-marked – so very difficult really to know what track you were on…..) After about 15 mins of trying every track on offer we found the CP on the original track – and learnt a valuable lesson to trust our own decisions and not be swayed by other teams…!! After another problem finding CP 20, we then found the right track to 21 and were on a roll for the next two CP’s before flying down the hill back to HQ. We had about ½ hour to go back out on foot for about 9 CP’s in the same area we were riding. Getting the closest one to HQ was all we could manage in this time….and came into the finish with about 1 minute to spare before the cut-off and they would start deducting points for lateness…..


We showered, poured ourselves a glass of red while we put up the tent and wandered back down to HQ for the presentations and dinner which was provided as part of the event. To our surprise we were 1st female team…after getting some hefty points for those 2 CP’s on the first trek….. Good thinking there Aunties! The 3 course dinner provided with the entry fee was superb and we all sat around and watched a movie before heading back to the tent for a well-deserved sleep…..


Being held on a Saturday made this event a bit more social with many teams taking the camping option and enjoying the area a little bit more. Breakfast the next day in the Uki Café (only one in town…) was really good and we enjoyed the fact that we had all day to drive home, unpack wash bikes, clothes etc. before Monday came around again…..


This event will be held again next year in the same area. We would definitely do it again – it was well organised by friendly people and the course was set to cater for the pointy end of the field to get nearly the full 8 hrs of racing like the rest of us…(sometimes in an 8hr event the fast ones may only get 3-4hrs of racing…) The race also had a good variety of disciplines….bus ride, trek, paddle, trek, car move, mtb, trek, dinner, movie & camping……and all in the beautiful Tweed Valley with stunning views of Mt Warning from all the highpoints….


CLOUDY DAY AT MT COOROORA

Our Saturday adventure recently was quite amazing….Just the 2 of us for the climb up Mt Cooroora – and as we had never done this on a wet day before, we were thrilled with the different views we got on our way to the top…. Rugged up in wet weather gear we set off in the rain – not too cold though – and had a beautiful hike up through the clouds… Kim took this extraordinary pic on the way up…and you can see Mt Cooroy in the background – and the spine on the ridgeline of Mt Tinbeerwah also just visible above the clouds….While on top we also explored the possibility of the track that goes down the back of the mountain….but didn’t have enough time to go too far as we had advertised that we would be at the bikes by 8.30am….Not that we thought anyone would turn up – but we found Terry & Richard scouting around for us when we got to the bottom….So it looked like we were going for a ride! They were interested in finding the track that goes around the mountain…..and after a little way on Trail 5 we turned off and showed them a way we had explored previously… Aunty Kim was giving them a little extra when she forgot a turn and we had to back-track up a very long and steep hill….but the guys didn’t complain and hopefully enjoyed the trails around Mt Cooroora from a different perspective….and the coffee and snacks afterwards is always good! We were lucky to be joined by our special friend Gail who had been out geo-caching (as recovering from a broken wrist) and was in for some bacon & eggs herself…It was really great to get out on a day when most people stay in…..a very rewarding experience


REMOTE FIRST AID COUSE

My Remote & Occupational First Aid course during May was amazing….even though by Wednesday I was in ‘brain overload’ I thoroughly enjoyed the week and now have lots more knowledge with regards to emergencies in the bush….which will benefit all of us….The girls who delivered the course were incredible (must have huge brains to store all that knowledge..!) and we had many ‘real-life’ scenarios….including a night one up at Laguna Lookout….with Aunty Kim as one of the patients! If you are interested in doing something like this, take a look at their website www.adventuremedic.com.au . They have a 2-day course in July and will have another 5-day course later in the year I expect….very worthwhile for us adventure lovers….


QUEENS BIRTHDAY WEEKEND ADVENTURE
What a great weekend of adventure we had…..Here’s a look at what happened….


SATURDAY – The Aunties spent about 4 hours out at Ringtail forest setting up the Mtb & Foot orienteering course. We designed a route that took everyone through a very nice part of the forest – up some good hills and (for the riders) over some really nice tracks….


SUNDAY - Orienteering is a great way to spend a winter’s day. We enjoyed seeing everyone getting excited about finding the CP’s and learning a bit more about navigation in the forest. Welcome back Alinda…! Thanks for coming along with your boys and joining in our activities! The only glitch to the day was the disappearance of CP1 – on the ‘high point’ off Guards Rd…..can’t understand this one as no trail-bike riders would have hiked up there….????? Anyway, those who got to the spot were still awarded the 100 points for their efforts!!

MONDAY
Part 1 - 12 of us met at the Radar Hill Rd entry to Parklands forest. What followed was a fantastic ride through a great line of single track (following Hells Bells map – thanks Craig & Louise…). For the next 2 hours we reached the limits of sensory overload as we tackled this demanding but beautiful course. Notable moments were – passing Chris Vermullen (motor cycle world champ…) on one of the technical bits – well, not really passing him – just going the other way. He was very gracious and stopped to let us ‘vintage’ riders through….. J Georgann was oh so close to asking him for his autograph! Then there was Steve who continued to impress us with his downhill and jumping skills – but only when we asked him to – and he made it look sooooo easy we almost wanted to try it ourselves….(in our dreams…) Parklands is a great way to upskill your technical riding – and I think we all did a bit of that as well…..and Hayley was using her clip-in pedals for only the 2nd or 3rd time which resulted in a few unplanned meetings with the ground but no major injuries….so all good practise for you girl!


Part 2 – After getting back to the car park we formed a convoy and headed to Yandina for coffee and refreshments….Hmm….town was a bit quiet on Queens’s birthday, it seems…. No cafes open and pub only serving lunch from noon, we rocked over to the Ginger factory – as sure to get something there….Aunty Kim made a last minute decision to pull in at the Nut Factory instead – sounded a bit more like us…..Unfortunately, they only had 2 staff working and could not cook us any ‘real food’….ie: put the sausage roll in the microwave, but the scones must have microwaved themselves…..ok…….the girl making coffees was a bit flustered with 12 dirty, hungry mtb riders demanding food – so we helped her with the waitressing bit – Steve was an expert – good catch there Hayley … George was determined to get a sandwich and hot-footed it over to the Ginger factory for one. The rest of us ate and drank what they could muster up – and Terry made nice work of the cold sausage roll….

Part 3 – Down to 8 riders now we got back on our bikes at the bottom of Bottle and Glass Rd, headed north along Browns Crk Rd looking for a track that would take us on a big uphill towards Pt Glorious…. After venturing along near the hippy commune, we decided to turn back and take the more main road as we didn’t want to upset the communers by encroaching on their land. As it turned out we were on Pt Glorious Rd and it took us a very nice way to the top – and all completely rideable…..When we got to the top, we spotted a rider coming the other way – it was Corallea – what was she doing here? We thought she’d gone home…… So, she got lost when following Alan & Michelle (who were heading back to Noosa), then somehow found our cars and took Bottle & Glass Rd to the top and was on her way down when we intercepted her…..convinced she should stay with us now, she made a u-turn and rode with us up to the Lookout….for the 2nd time…. After a quick look and some photos we got back on the bike and found our track that would take us back down. Luckily we had not found this one for the ride up as it was steep, rocky and a bit scary….however, we all made it down intact and a pichere shows the steepness…..no riding this for the girls. We then followed it back to link up with our uphill track – and got our heads around this beautiful forest a bit more. We were pleased with our efforts – got a great ride in, got some more accurate tracks on the map and all in the company of adventurous, fun and like-minded people….


Part 4 – Yes, there was a part 4…. After everyone else went home, we Aunties had a few more tracks to explore – it wasn’t dark yet, and we did have our lights anyway…..so we spent the next couple of hours out there again – found some more linking trails and another ‘creek paradise’ to show you all one day…..so that will be next time…. Home for fish & chips washed down with a bottle of bubbly….Mmmmmm, yum!


WEDNESDAY MTB – and more!

After our Queens Birthday experience, where many of you went right out of your comfort zone, this week was going to be a bit of a quiet one……but our Wednesday ride always seems to be entertaining in one way or another…. Changing the venue with one hour to start time saw George put in a few more Km’s than necessary….however; she wasn’t too worried about that. We left from The J for a coffee run to Coolum, enjoyed great coffee at The Caf (and got the discount cos we were wearing lycra – see Toby, that’s the reason we wear it…..) and headed back along the bike path. At Marcus beach I decided to offer everyone a chance at the sand track that runs along the east side of Lake Weyba. George, Hayley, Terry & Richard were starters…and the others took the safe route home along the coastal path. Sand riding is a great way to build some leg strength…..and as it was still a little damp from recent rains, was not too overwhelming….(ie: didn’t upset anyone too much!...) We got some great views of Lake Weyba and beyond on the high points….and Terry got into the native thing when finding a broken ‘spear’…..see pic….

Our Sunday paddle-run was spectacular, as it always is, when we head up towards Harry’s Hut. We managed to smack out about 35k’s of paddling with an 8k run though beautiful trails in the middle….See pics of Lake Cootharaba & Noosa River on the most picture-perfect day……The wind did whip up on the lake for our paddle home, however, it was not the worst we have seen it….and we enjoyed the challenge to end a huge day… We were very happy to finally get to Boreen Point Top Shop and they remembered our breakfast order….. even though it was about 2pm by then…..fried eggs and crispy bacon is good no matter what time of day it is!

MORE GREAT RIDES
We had a fantastic ride out on the eastern ridge to Kin Kin recently….Starting at the Dairy Farm on Trail 2, we made our way up the hill towards Cootharaba Views Lookout. Backing up a group of runners who were doing a ‘recci’ for a scenic day walk – we thought we could drop off the ridge down Murray’s Rd, and take a short-cut around Kin Kin…. We took what we thought was that such road, and the runners opted for a run down the paddocks. As it turned out we had the most amazing ride down the spur off Sheppersons Hill…..and we were on Murray’s Rd, but the spur took us north-east rather than west and we found ourselves in the valley near Sheppersons Lane….the runners had got here too and taken the trail through the cow paddocks and we met them when they reached the road…. Not knowing how we could get back off road, we mulled over the maps in Kin Kin whilst enjoying some coffee and snacks. We decided to take the road back and turn off on some back-roads, wing-it, and hope they go through. The runners took a big chance when they opted to take the Eastern Branch Rd….us riders went a little further along the road and took Moffats Rd….We climbed up the big, big hill and found the link to Williams Rd…and (on the advise of Aunty Kim’s dad) forged on along a fence-line with an indistinct track till we found the end of Black Pinch Rd. The runners were lucky too – they run the entire length of Eastern Branch Rd, then went through a couple of paddocks and we met them at a fence corner just above the Dairy Farm! They were happy they had discovered a nice way back from Kin Kin – and we were very excited to find our way though as well.


So, that’s about all our news for a while. We will be on the Gold Coast opening up the Anaconda run course next week – then taking a group over it on July 3rd. Plenty of stuff to do in winter outdoors…


See you out there!
Jan & Kim

LATEST NEWS...April-May

Apologies for the lack of news in the last month – we have just arrived home after our ‘big month’ of events…..starting with Bribie Multisport – then Anaconda NZ, Anaconda Forster and Red Centre Mtb Enduro…..phew…we’re exhausted!....and now are heading off today to sample one of the Blackheart Adventure Races which will be held in the shadow of Mt Warning – yes, we’re going back there – hope it’s dryer than last time…..Anyway, here’s a catch-up of our goings on…..


2010 EASTER ADVENTURE
With massive crowds flocking to Noosa and surrounding beaches over Easter it was great to get out in the hinterland and leave the tourists to fight over car parks and space on the beaches…..We really enjoyed our 3 days of activity and hope all who came along did as well….Here’s how it all panned out…
FRIDAY – Paddle/Run
Gathering at the canoe launch at Elanda our group of 7 adventurers saw Lake Cootharaba looking quite serene….so, not wasting too much time we headed out on our skis across it to our first landing at Kinaba station. A quick stop for a snack and a stretch, and we were on our way again, turning left and heading up Kin Kin Creek. The long paddle was very pleasant and we only saw one other finishing boat as we got to our landing point at the site of old bridge. The exit on the mud (very deep!) bank was rather amusing and with a team effort we managed to get all the boats safely up out of the water…..after many of us thought we were going to be lost forever in that stinking black mud! For those who didn’t wear paddle shoes, getting the running shoes on was rather interesting – not wanting to waste water on washing, Corallea managed to dangle her feet in the water, one by one, and got them on with minimal mud. Lucky no-one else would smell us! After arming our bodies with full-strength mozzie spray, we headed off on foot for the most beautiful jog along the Cooloola Wilderness Trail down towards Figtree Point. The going was slow, as the trail was quite littered with debris but we all enjoyed the beauty of the area and saw the most amazing owl on our way there! We turned around and ran back at a certain time….and all regrouped back at the boats for the long paddle down the creek and then over the lake to Elanda… Hayley was feeling tired before we had even hit the lake….she has only been training in adventure sport for a couple of months, so this was a very long day for her. When we arrived at Kinaba the lake was a mess of chop – not the worst we have seen, but we all knew it was going to be a very difficult hour of paddling the side chop and strong winds back to where we came from….. Hugging the shoreline was a good option as when a boat capsized, it was easy to stand up and get back in, rather than struggling in the deep water and using way more energy. George was brilliant and got a long way before she ‘lost it’ this time. But continued under the watchful eye of Gina, and made it back much happier than her last experience here! Wayne and Corallea toughed it our and came back pleased with their efforts, but poor Hayley struggled with the very tippy old Dolphin ski, and was resigned to the fact she was going to walk the lake home….so a boat swap was in order and Aunty Jan relinquished her Epic and then had a very testing, but successful, paddle back in the Dolphin with a broken foot-strap…. We were all very relieved when we finally reached the shore…and plenty of chat was had as we enjoyed the culinary (and verbal) delights of the Top Shop and Boreen Point….Home to relax then get ready for tomorrow!
SATURDAY - Mtb
With the Aunties arriving late for the 7.00am meeting time, everyone was getting restless and wondering what was going to happen…. Extracting ourselves from the Easter family gathering at the farm was more difficult than we expected! A quick rush to get organised, and we were on our way with 11 other riders to experience the trails (and hills) in the Pt Glorious area… We turned in at the trail-head off Cooloolabin Rd and started to make our way upwards towards Bottle and Glass Rd…. This little climb was just a warm-up for things to come…..and when we regrouped at the start of our ‘new’ single track everyone knew they were in for some punishment……but before the punishment was the most spectacular series of creek crossings we had discovered on one of our outings and we really wanted to show it to everyone!! Down we went on the lovely winding single track…and we found ourselves in this magical creek paradise that hardly anyone else would have been to….over a few creeks carrying the bikes, then we made sure everyone had a quick snack as the hike-a-bike to come was going to sap the energy of all of us…..and make a few of them wonder why we decided to have Easter with the Aunties – I’m sure!! Reassuring everyone that we ‘loved them’ we started to make our way up the rutted single track. A very exhausting climb followed and we were so proud of everyone for getting up there with a team effort and minimal fuss…..These are the sort of experiences that take you up another notch in fitness and mental strength…..we all discover it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you just ‘keep moving forward’…..Well done to all of you!!

Popping out on the main road to Pt Glorious we rested and refuelled before continuing our ride out to the Pt – which is the north-eastern point of the ridge that looks over the Yandina-Eumundi area….what a view when we got to the lookout….recent rains had greened up the valley below – and it was like looking at a picture-postcard…..and a bit like NZ according to Marie! Duncan had a quick nap on the steps, we posed for a couple of pics then we were off again, back down (up and down) to Blackall Rd where we took the single track by the side of the road to our turn-off point at Bottle and Glass Rd. This was a bit testing after motor bikes had chopped it up and rain had filled all the holes, and was quite a challenge, but we all made it in-tact….


Next bit was all fast downhill….and we acted (and sounded) like young kids as we made our way down the descent….didn’t anyone ever tell you mtb-ing keeps you young?…..Kim took Terry on a little exploration at one point and the rest of us keep going back to Yandina…..and they met us back there not long after…. Our usual café was closed for Easter, so we took ourselves over to the very funky little organic café behind the pub…..and I think they were a bit overwhelmed by 13 dirty, smelly, old mtb riders, who were needed some refuelling instantly…. Nevertheless, we all got fed – some not too happy with their choices (or the café’s choice…) and we had a good chat about our morning and what we had achieved. Once again….we Aunties had a very rewarding outing with all of you like-minded adventure seekers! Thank-you….. 
SUNDAY – Easter Egg Orienteering
A ‘not so traditional’ egg hunt was on offer Easter Sunday morning at our local forest….and it was great to see some whole families taking part….We Aunties set the course earlier that morning and got back in time to set up for the 9.00am start. Maps were given out and most participants set off on foot except for Richard, Hugh and Ellen who took the mtb option. Jane (mum of the Foster family) teamed up with Geogann, Mel brought along Teagan her daughter and Novak and Jo arrived with the boys to challenge themselves with a run in the bush on Easter Sunday. Mel and Teagan were first back and won the day with 440pts …. Mel always has a knack or arriving back dead on time…..George and Jane arrived a little while later, pleased with their efforts. The Thompson family scored a high result (with kids in tow) but got a harsh penalty from Aunty Kim for arriving back too late! We thought we were going to have to send out a search party for Richard, Hugh & Ellen…but they finally arrived back 45mins late thinking they had an extra ½ hour! We all enjoyed an sausage sizzle and some tea and coffee from the billy…..and everyone took home some Easter eggs to eat later….except Finn and Kai who ate most of there’s out on the trails! After packing up we were joined by Jules and four of us went out to retrieve our CP’s and what was left of the Easter egg stash.

Huge congratulations to our good friend, and Tri Adventure regular, Geogann who participated in all of our Easter activities…..Hope you had as much fun as we did – and had a relaxing day on Easter Monday!


BRIBIE MULTISPORT 2010
We had a very successful day at the Bribie Multisport with Aunty Kim taking the win for the 2nd time in its 4 year history…. It wasn’t an easy victory for her though, with 2 rival competitors breathing down her neck for the whole 100km….. Unlike 2008 when she battled through the final paddle with weed on her rudder, this year she forged into the gusty head-wind and chop and got onto the final run still in the lead – phew! Then it was only a 4km run to the finish – which is harder than it sounds after the huge day beforehand – and luckily she managed to stay ahead of them and crossed the line in the very quick time of 6hrs 21 minutes… Earlier on, our Hervey Bay friend Jason had come in 2nd male (wow, Jase, that’s awesome!) ….and our Coffs friend Tim had won the Veteran male category (that’s awesome too!..) Other fantastic results from Tri Adventure regulars were the gorgeous Bronny Platz overcoming her demons from last year when she crashed and dislocated her elbow and took 3rd place in the veteran women’s category (way to go Bronny!)… Shona Walker (another of the Coffs connection) crossing the line 50 minutes faster than her time last year (you go girl!)… also racing were the Noosa Girls team of Jules, Alison, Jules & George and they took the win in the female team of 4 category…. and Kaza Clarke (Coffs) coming in 2nd veteran female in the Bribie Half!…. The Ville Girls (Caz & Alli) had a fantastic race with a podium finish in the women’s team of 2… Katy and Erin gutsed it out to finish the full course in a team of 2 and Aunty Jan being the only ‘super veteran female’ took out 1st place just for finishing….and had a great time doing it!!


Special mention to our awesome support crew – Hayley &Steve – who took on the job not really knowing exactly what was in store for them…..They were superb all day, splitting up when they had to and getting us going through all our transitions….Thanks so much you two – we couldn’t have done it without you!


Also great to see some interstate friends rock up to Bribie this year – Steve Nichols who won the Half last year in the Tri Adventure Epic Sport was back in a team and some other of our adventure racing friends made the trip up to compete in this iconic Qld event….. We were very happy to be able to sponsor the race and it was great seeing everyone wearing our Tri Adventure hats at the presentation….


ANACONDA NZ

Our trip across the ditch was rather successful (to say the least…) Aunty Kim managed to clock up another win (yay!) but she also got the long sought after ‘fastest female run split’ (this is very good work when it is won by an individual…) which provided us with $NZ100 to shout drinks for the whole crew who supported us throughout the event…!!!! A bit further down the field Aunty Jan had a cracking race and came in 4th female overall (and the first ‘vintage’ female to ever complete an Anaconda Adventure Race…!!!) Our gorgeous friend Di – who provided her whole extended family for our support crew – proudly crossed the line as 2nd ‘vintage’ female to ever complete an AAR and 9th overall female….It was a pretty good day for all of us! The NZ scenery was incredibly spectacular on all of the 5 legs and we delighted in looking at it for 5-7 hours in our racing…..you couldn’t not, really….. We both backed up very well from the previous weekend racing at Bribie, so are relaxing and getting some good body maintenance to help with next weekend at Forster – the big 2-day finale…… It’s always a bit daunting, however we have nothing to lose – and Kim has already won the series for this season….so hoping for a nice day and not much surf! Hmmmm....


Just a couple of other things to mention – Our new paddling ‘addict’ Georgann has smashed her previous T/T by another 40seconds on last Wednesday’s paddle – George has been coming to our sessions twice a week since the beginning of the year and in her first ever T/T was over 3 minutes slower than she was last week! We are very proud of her and her determination – even though we thought we’d scarred her forever by a couple of testing paddles over Lake Cootharaba – well done George!!!


Another achievement we must mention is from Brigitte (our awesome junior…) who has just won the Gatorade Tri Series in the Open Female division – Brigitte raced in 6 out of 7 of the events and was consistent enough to take out the series last weekend when she came in ahead of Loretta Harrop!!! This is quite unheard of for a 14 year old – we are very proud of Brigitte too as she has shown not only amazing talent this season but a great attitude and understanding for the sport she is embarking on – and is still a ‘straight A student’ as well…. 


ANACONDA FORSTER
Probably should start this story with our arrival in the beautiful seaside town of Forster NSW….picture perfect and a cloudless day….slight offshore breeze and a tiny little shore-dump on Forster Main Beach….that was Thursday…..We sat on our balcony overlooking the beach thinking we were in paradise……a little too soon, it seems….


After backing up from wins in Bribie and NZ….we were a bit tired and anxious about racing at Forster – but it looked so perfect on Thursday….Friday morning dawned perfect again – so we thought we’d take our Epics out for a little paddle in the pristine water….noticing that shore-dump had gotten a little bigger overnight… We made it out with good timing of the sets and enjoyed paddling around where the swim and paddle course would go the next day…. We were noticing the swells were increasing and Aunty Kim was silently very nervous about our landing back onto the beach – she shouldn’t have been the one worrying…. Thinking our timing was perfect again, we followed in a rather large wave and pulled up on the beach quite relieved to make it in-tact…..and it that split second it takes to get out of your boat, everything changed…. Aunty Jan, getting out of her boat, somehow got the paddle leash wrapped around her leg and couldn’t get free of it. She was standing there in limbo when the next huge wave suddenly came crashing down on her…..still tangled in the leash she could do nothing but get swept off her feet by the smashing wave……and when it finally subsided a horror sight was confronting us…..Jan’s beautiful Epic was broken completely in half and the front part was smashed to pieces like a wafer biscuit….. The rudder had snapped off, but Aunty Jan was still connected to the ill-fated boat by the menacing leash. We stood on the beach – completely gob-smacked about what had just happened…..Kim had been able to get free of her boat and it popped up and she rode it sideways high up on the steep beach…..so, luckily hers was okay….. We stood on the beach not really believing what had happened and held up the parts of the boat to show some other paddlers what might happen to them…..they were very, very cautious on their beach landing – and came in ok.


So…… that was that. Aunty Jan now did not have a boat to paddle – and, had to admit, she was silently happy she wouldn’t have to do that very daunting swim and paddle the next day!! However, smashing up the boat was not really the best way to get out of it…..!!!! She decided that she would be great at being support crew for Kim the next day – and try to find a spare boat from somewhere to complete the longer, but safer, Day 2 course…..but Aunty Kim was very nervous. The fateful paddle had really spooked her and when on Saturday morning she withdrew from the race after the swim – we were both silently relieved. The swell had increased again, and many boats were struggling to get out from the beach – let alone land at the other end on a huge open surf beach (after rounding the treacherous Cape Hawke….) Once again, we felt we made a sensible decision…..or chickened out…..we didn’t really care at that point. We were safe and had one boat still in tact…..and when we watched the carnage at the paddle exit where many boats were destroyed we were so, so relieved not to be part of it……watching was terrifying enough!!! The day was cold and drizzly, and we were happy to be spectating – knowing Kim had won the series already….


Saturday night we were treated to a wonderful dinner prepared by our Coffs Harbour friends and had a couple of glasses of red (which is our normal pre-race strategy..) and woke up Sunday morning to perfect weather…. On the way down the beach to the swim-start Kim decided not to ‘race’ the day so we Aunties could race together, which was wonderful! The swim start at Seal Rocks was spectacular and Aunty Kim did her slowest 2km swim in history while she backstroked and waited for Aunty Jan (who was struggling as she always does in any swim…) We exited the water about 3rd last and got dressed for the beautiful 16km run that followed. Running along we chatted to others and enjoyed the course immensely – especially Aunty Kim who saw things she had never noticed before….. She even used a bit of towing to get Aunty Jan up the last big hill…then it was all downhill to the Mtb transition….In no real hurry we got ourselves organised for the bike and set off on the 30km ride quite relaxed…well, Aunty Jan was actually quite tired, but was still moving forward ok…. We pulled in quite a few other competitors as we went along…and it was a very nice, fun ride. Almost at the finish we came across our Coffs friend Shona who was frantically trying to change her back tyre which had punctured…. The efforts of the 3 of us eventually got that tyre off the rim…..a very sticky one…and had the new tube in and pumped up in no time after that…. We all rode the last 5 or 6kms to the paddle transition and were greeted by Shona’s fan club ….. The 17km lake paddle was extremely beautiful and we all paddled strongly towards the finish. After a few stops for de-weeding rudders we finally made it to the last TA in just over 1.5hrs…which was a really good time for our end of the field. All that remained was a 3km run to the finish over the picturesque Forster Tuncurry bridge, then onto the beach (it’s never easy…) and up the soft sand to the finish chute…..We made it and ran over the finish line holding hands….which was very special....in a time of 7hrs 12 minutes….very glad to have finished happy, albeit a little fatigued after 3 consistent weekends of multisport racing….Not long after that the gorgeous Shona crossed the line to the cheers of her family and support crew….. Phew, it was over! And what a nice way to finish the 5-race Anaconda Adventure Race series – together and knowing Aunty Kim had won the series – which is an amazing feat for a Veteran female…..and Aunty Jan had achieved her goal of being the first Vintage female to complete an Anaconda Adventure Race

So that was it – they presented Aunty Kim with the perpetual trophy (a massive cup….) and we sipped champagne and had left over pizza before sleeping very soundly that night….


RED CENTRE MTB ENDURO
We are finally back from our crazy month….and no, we’re not feeling too bad from the 5-day Mtb Enduro adventure in Alice Springs….surprisingly……The Rapid Ascent folks are like family now...we have been present at their last 3 events!  Here’s how it all panned out….


SAT 8th – Arrive in Alice Springs…..meet some like minded folk travelling with bikes in the ‘check-in’ queue. After a smooth flight on Qantas we arrive in the red centre and linked up with our airport shuttle service – the very groovy Harold and his lovely wife…who would be ferrying us to our various hotels in town….Harold’s wife was driving our bus and after informing us she hadn’t driven a manual car for about 30 years we were a bit wary as to weather we would make it in tact…but a ‘yes’ answer to Andy Fellow’s question on whether she still retained a manual license….eased our anxiety momentarily…..until we nearly rolled into the car behind on a failed hill start and then dodged a few road trains while following the fast-moving Harold in the ‘troupie’ up ahead…. phew…after a few stops we arrived safely at the Chiefly Hotel resort – our temporary home for the next 8 days….
Bikes unpacked…. We are very quick at this task now… we headed off to check out the town get some groceries. Interesting that we had to show ID (thought they we querying my age…!!....) to buy our wine at the bottle shop…..
SUN 9th – Big breakfast in the hotel – carbing up the for gruelling week ahead – then on the bikes for a ride out to the Telegraph Station – original site of Alice Springs – where the Trig Pt was placed for the overland telegraph…. about 150 years ago…. Had a check of the hill climb (Stage 2 of race) where we sprint to the top of Anzac Hill in the middle of town….and then back for Rego in the arvo….Meet up with lots of old friends from the Mtb world….and make some new ones too….
MON 10th – Stage 1 – 40km (very questionable…) including the infamous Hell Line….then back through town (just to make you think it was over…..that’s a JJ thing….) before heading out onto the single track ‘roller coaster’ (get me off this crazy thing…!) to finish at Alice Springs Velodrome – doing a lap of same…… My speedo read 51km at the finish….and then we had to ride back into town to the hotel….so about 60k the first day….and we still had the hill climb to go! Results – Kim: won in a sprint finish at the velodrome (yes, those super-quads come in very handy…) Jan – 3rd Vintage….and crash No 1……
Back to hotel – shower and lunch…then make our way out to Anzac Hill for the 300m sprint to the top…. Line up in reverse finishing order from morning stage…and before I knew it I was being held on the line and counting down….remembering to pedal this year (as last time they let me go and I forgot to…) got some good momentum from gear choice and remained seated till almost the top…. Legs like jelly I was out of the saddle for the final surge and crossed the line in a time of 1min 41seconds…. Not that great but managed to get my first Stage Win here – obviously didn’t go as hard as other vintage girls earlier that day. Aunty Kim sprinted to the top for the win in the veteran females…. 2 stages down – 5 to go… A surprise victory was had by Andy Fellows in this stage – he is more accustomed to riding 24hrs straight – but he smashed it to take out first place overall…..the Aunties were impressed Andy!

TUES 11th – Stage 3 was the ‘showcase’ single track day (didn’t we have enough of it yesterday..?..) apparently not….Starting at the Telegraph Station we rode an almost accurate 49km of ‘quality’ single track (determined by the quality of the rider I think….) and finished at Lasseters Hotel Casino….boy were we getting used to rock riding…. Results – Kim 1st again….Aunty Jan crashed and took the top off her thumb – Had to stop at the aid station for some doctoring up….Then gear changing was almost impossible – but managed to do it like a column shift on a car which required taking the hand completely off the handle bars (terrifying on some of this course…) and using the butt of the hand below the thumb….It got me to the finish line in 3rd place vintage girl….again…. We lunched at the Casino – not very swanky in our grotty bike gear covered in dust and blood…..then rested up in the afternoon for the big day tomorrow…

WED 12th – Stage 4 – the big day. We were bussed out to the remote location of Trephina Gorge – 95kms east of Alice Springs. Here we found our bikes which were shipped out by road train the previous evening, replaced our pedals that were removed for the journey and lined up for the huge ride ahead…. Besides a couple of Km’s of tar at the start – it was all on the dirt (err…sand…) …..and this was the make or break point for many riders during the week…. Luckily the weather was kind to us – clear blue sky, but cool temps and this did help in the whole scheme of things…. We Aunties actually loved this stage – being used to the strange places we are sent in our Adventure Races…we had no problem with the sand and river crossings… and were happy to get off and run when we had to….most mtb-ers not happy to get off anywhere….so this was our stage…. Very happy to finish back at hotel – Kim was surprised to see me only 20mins behind her on this one…..Results Kim 1st veteran, Jan 1st vintage!
THURS 13th – Stage 5 – the Time Trial starting and finishing at the Alice Springs Golf Club…. Plenty of single track in between though…and rocks….and sand….. We were set off at 30 second intervals according to our GC at that time (in reverse order…) So for Kim it was a bit of a wait as I started quite a bit earlier….She amused herself taking photos and videos of the scene before lining up herself. We both enjoyed this stage immensely – I had my gear cables tweaked by the local bike shop (so made it much easier to change gears now in the absence of the end of my thumb….) and came a very close 2nd in the stage (hundredths of a second actually…if only I hadn’t stopped to let those other riders go ahead….) and Kim smashed the stage to take her 5th win…….!! Recovery afternoon as we needed to back up that evening for the dreaded night stage…!!
Stage 6 – Armed with our Ay-Ups…(as were about 75% of the riders…) we headed to the Golf Course for the second time that day….This time it was a mass start and following the same course as the T/T that morning – you’d think the track would be a bit familiar – but, oh what a different world it is at night….Distracted by other lights in the distance I was constantly running off the track, and got myself into some sticky situations including another big crash….convinced my feet were too big as they were hitting all the rocks – I slowed down to a comfortable speed…and let lots of riders through – including another vintage female who was having a great time not seeing anything she was riding over….!!!! (the failing eye-sight thing worked a treat for her….) Limping in at the finish with more blood I was a little disappointed in my performance this time….just got a bit girly and slow after the crash I guess…..It was interesting to see how some folks just loved this stage – especially Andy who notched up another stage win – those guys are incredible….Kim also notched up another win – even though she said she took it a bit easy….Aunty Jan was 3rd vintage again…but still 2nd in the vintage GC after a very good Stage 4….
FRID 14th – The Finale – The briefing by race director John Jacoby had everyone a little on edge. This stage was hard, he said…..and very rocky….really!!!! And he was sorry for the last 4-5km before the end that was really, really rocky – excessively rocky……Oh dear…it sounded like we were in for some extra special John Jacoby punishment…. The stage began at our hotel and headed off to follow some single track of the T/T and night stage….just getting a little familiar with it now….then we were over some hills and quite near the Telegraph Station…..Crossing the Todd River (and walking through water!) was when Kim made the break on her fellow female riders….Me… I was happy to wade across and marvel at this unusual sight….and chat to the photographer poised on the edge….We rode some hilly fence line and then a bit of the old Stuart Hwy (not really tar any more…) and then encountered the excessive rocky section we were all warned about. Yes, it was difficult – but Kim & I strangely enjoyed this part of the course….. Some handy hike-a-bike skills got us ahead of others around us…and I found just running down some of the descents a bit easier than riding them…. JJ wasn’t kidding when he said it was hard, but, once again, doing adventure racing we had encountered ‘tracks’ way more difficult and seemed to get through it with a lot better attitude than those around us… Before we knew it, we were at the ‘2km to go’ sign (this was everyone’s favourite sign of the week!)….and it was all easy from there. Gliding into the finish chute beside the beautiful Todd River at the Telegraph Station I was happy and sad that our week of riding was over…..Happy that I’d made it home without any mechanicals or tyre problems (which seemed to plague many riders throughout the week…) but sad that this was the end of a super-fun exciting week of riding and socialising…. Happy that I’d managed to take 2 (almost 3) stage wins during the week and sad that this was the end of our amazing holiday…. But we still had the ‘gala’ (we think more like ‘galah’…no ball gowns here…) dinner ahead of us – and didn’t waste time getting into a glass of champagne over lunch….Then a little nap before the big night…
We walked (bit over the bike at that point…) to the Casino for a fantastic night out with lots of like-minded people. It was great to hear the stories of luck and bad luck some folks encountered over the week…but one of the best ones was the guys who missed the bus on the big day and were faced with a cab fare of $170 to get them out to Trephina Gorge for the start….you’d think they would have just gone back to bed – but they didn’t want to miss one bit of this iconic event – and rightly so I think…


On another note it was really great to see some local guys from Cycle Zone in Mooloolaba up there riding in honour of their departed friend Tavis Johannson….They rode together and supported each other all week and were great to meet and be around for the event…..


So….stay tuned for the next update. We will tell some more (hopefully dryer) tales from the Mt Warning area….and give you an idea of how Blackheart shape up with their events…..


See you out there!


:)  Jan & Kim

LATEST NEWS….March

There was plenty happening in March for Tri Adventure….amongst other things, our fabulous junior star Brigitte Fischer won the National Schools Triathlon Championships…for the second year running – there’s no stopping this amazing young talent!  Here’s a wrap of month of March…

FRIDAY PADDLE

We try to paddle at our paddle sessions…really….sometimes we do other things, by fluke….like fishing…well, prawning, to be precise.  On our Friday paddle recently we were paddling against the tide (but with the wind) on the inside of Goat Island, when Aunty Jan got an unexpected visitor in her boat – between her legs!!!  Something kamikazed out of the water to find refuge in the crotch of Aunt Jan and she was quite a bit disturbed…..Ah, Ah, AHHHHHH (and more girly shrieks…) had Kim and George thinking she’d seen a shark or something….What could be wrong??? SOMETHING JUST JUMPED INTO MY BOAT…At this stage all attempts at keeping on paddling were completely ‘out the window’…in fact the paddle was floating away with the tide and Aunty Jan was trying her  best to get out of the boat to escape the monster in there….without falling in….What is it??…THERE’S A BIG PRAWN IN MY BOAT…IN BETWEEN MY LEGS…was the reply as she eased herself up on a ridge between the seat and the pedals…AND I DON’T WANT TO SIT ON IT, IT HAS GREAT BIG LONG FEELERS MOVING AROUND….AHHHHHH …Between fits of laughter Aunty Kim rescued the abandoned paddle and buddied up beside Aunty Jan, (more laughter) had a look in the boat and picked up the poor little innocent prawn and saved it from a fate worse than death…(being squashed by Aunty Jan’s bottom) and set it free on it’s journey down the river….. George was beside herself in the other boat….and we dithered about talking about prawns and our ability to do things when we least expect it….what clever Aunties we are……So, you never know what can happen on an outing with the Aunties….sometimes we paddle….sometimes we do other things…..The prawn incident is just one of many…. J J

RIDE, CLIMB, CATERPILLARS & STRANGE MAGNETIC DEVIATIONS…

We went on a climb up Mt Cooroy recently…..5 of us set off on bikes at 7.00am for a little blast out on bike paths, through the forest and up to Sunrise Rd, where we followed our route to the base of the famous mountain… George and Duncan turned around here and headed back home due to afternoon commitments but Hayley was keen to experience some punishment from the Aunties and was in for the long haul…. Taking our bikes though the private property and up to the point where we change shoes and continue on foot was a bit of an experience on how to keep the cow poo from flinging up into our mouths….Keeping mouths shut is a good idea here – we do have another orifice for breathing you know….Sitting under the tree we had a snack and changed into our ‘runners’ for a leisurely walk up the beautiful local mountain that was once a volcano…(yes, we’re getting into the volcano theme lately, I know…) The climb was slippery and a bit technical because of the wet season we have been having…but it was lovely and cooler than normal…yes really Hayley…Finally reaching the top after having many sightings of the Tri Adventure caterpillar (will explain later in this bulletin)…we rested and had a snack and then moved over to the eastern side where we let Hayley write in the visitors book while we played around with our compasses…as we do… Aunty Jan was looking at the north needle on her compass which was somehow facing east….Hmmm….that’s a bit strange….so Aunty Kim got hers out and it was indicating correctly….Then Aunty Kim took Aunty Jan’s compass and it pointed in the right direction too….Ok, it was looking like Aunty Jan had some weird magnetic voodoo or something here…..So then we got up and walked around and the compass went crazy on one certain spot on the rock ledge we were sitting on….It was pointing east and then south and then only when we moved over a bit (to where Aunty Kim was sitting originally) did it point to true direction….Wow, this was amazing…..What was happening???  We have since found out that sometimes the underlying rock can cause magnetic deviations…and are glad we weren’t trying to find a CP on the top as would have been totally confused! The trip down the mountain was a bit slippery but we all made it in tact…and spied more of those caterpillars…We noted their beautiful colours (black, blue, orange and white) were the same as our Tri Adventure logo… so now we have our own brand of caterpillar….doesn’t everyone need one of these????Riding out of the farm we shut our mouths to avoid the cow-poo once again…and enjoyed the ride back to Noosa Cooroy Rd…found a secret way of avoiding most of the main road….Yes, Audrey, it does go through…and by then we had the scent of food and coffee in our noses… We had a quick blast down Turn 10 track then straight to Raw Energy for a large dose of brekky (at lunchtime) and coffee before heading home.  Then we cleaned the bikes….Another great day in the life of Tri Adventure and the Aunties….

NATIONAL BIKE COUNT

Being member of Bicycle Qld, Aunty Jan answered their call for volunteers on Super-Tuesday to take part in a national bike count…..Her designated spot for 2 hours 7-9am was the Eenie Creek Roundabout in Noosaville …Her mission was to observe and count the bike activity in these 2 hours and note down bike movements at the intersection as well…..Hmmmm….Does anyone remember the weather that Tuesday??  The forecast was ‘heavy rain’ and for once the forecasters where dead accurate….most bikes were safely stored in garages that day and bike commuters took the dry/sensible option of going in the car…..After 5 minutes standing at the intersection in the pelting rain, Aunty Jan knew there wasn’t going to be much bike activity today….Ok, so maybe wait ½ an hour at least, just in case….. Half and hour goes by…no bikes yet…what to do, maybe change positions and go to the other side of the roundabout….Ok, set up with bike leaning on a retaining wall, umbrella up….much road rage and extremely bad driving was observed…but not one bike… yet!  After 55 mins a bit of a walk around was required – and a drink (no, not from the water coming out of the sky, but it could have been done..) – and just when deciding that this was a ridiculous activity and no-one in their right mind would be cycling today….A BIKE WHIZZED BY…oh, oh, oh, a bike….where was the sheet?...what was the movement?...better note it down….wow, some serious bike commuter was braving the elements…maybe there’ll be more….Settling back down to position at the intersection…another long wait till 8.30am saw no bike activity at all….A plan to go at 8.30 was scrapped when the time actually said 8.35 on the watch when checked…Still no more bikes….Packing up at 8.45 was a good idea then….8.45 came and went – what’s another 10 minutes??  8.55am – still at the roundabout, soaking wet, cold and feeling stupid to have stayed there this long….No more bikes, ok…so packed up and left (on a bike) at 9.00am sharp…wondering if anyone else did their time counting and observing – or just went home and stayed dry like a sensible person would….Wondered if I should have noted my own bike commute…and I know Kim rode to school that day too, but unfortunately she didn’t go past my intersection….Oh well, I think the bike commute figures for Qld will be a little under expectations….which is a shame…but I am so proud of that ONE SOLO COMMUTER… Mmmm…maybe he just doesn’t have a car????? 

BRIBIE MULTISPORT TRAINING WEEKEND 2010 - THE WRAP

With our weather here in Noosa still in the precipitation phase, we were wondering how the weekend would be for our guests who were coming up for an adventure training weekend in ‘sunny’ Noosa…Then, on Saturday morning, the weather seemed the least of our worries when we found we were sharing the Noosa Spit with about a thousand outrigger paddlers – and they were holding their event right in the very spot we were meet our adventurers ….we couldn’t even get into the car-park we had nominated!  So quick thinking took Aunty Kim up to the 2^nd car-park and luckily marked out a few parking spaces with yellow cones (my – these cones come in handy for everything…) Meanwhile yours truly (Aunty Jan) stood on the corner to scan for cars with skis on top – rather than the monster outrigger trailers that were streaming through in droves…. Luckily Karen B called us to find out where we were… It wasn’t hard to spot the Coffs girls (with their NSW number plates…) phew, lucky they spotted me as well… and I directed them up to the 2^nd car-park where Kim was waiting…. Then there was Alex from Brisbane…I had no idea what he looked like and didn’t have his mobile number handy…He also spotted me…. in my Tri Adventure t-shirt (lucky)….He moved his car to the reserved spot and we had a quick ‘meet and greet’ before heading off for our first activity…a run through trails in the National Park with the Noosa Hill Circuit included.  We then donned our goggles and practiced a couple of ins and outs (one only for Aunty Jan) in the Noosa surf.  A jog back to the cars…then we headed off for a well deserved coffee and muffin at one of our favourite eateries, Café Sierra…

Joining us for the paddle session were Tri Adventure regulars Gail and Georgann.  We braved the elements and paddled up to Weyba Creek where we spotted our regular eagles and gave everyone some tips on how to tackle the long Bribie paddles….Alex did really well to paddle his ‘esky lid’ and Karen enjoyed having a test paddle of the Epic Sport with a good paddle!

After breaking for lunch we met for a ride on bike paths out towards Tewantin forest and we were joined by Wayne for a ride on some of our less technical trails….even though the weather conditions (wet!) made it very technical, we all survived the ride and raced back for a scrub-up in hot showers and high-tailed it up to Noosa Reef Hotel where we ate, drank and shared knowledge about the ins and outs of multisport.  We all hit the sack quite early as Sunday was going to be a big, big day, and we were already tired thinking about it!!

Luckily the bad weather had eased slightly and we fronted up on Sunday morning at Noosa Woods ready to put it all together – that would be swim-run-paddle-mtb-run-mtb-paddle….a huge day in the Noosa Hinterland….

Braving the surf conditions on Noosa beach, Aunty Kim took everyone (except Aunty Jan and Alex) through a swim session around the flagged area and then we all regrouped for a short beach run back to the waiting boats.  Off on the paddle, we made our way up Noosa River – very happy to have the tide and the wind in our favour, we were dreading the paddle back going against this!  Because of the favourable conditions, we made very quick time to our TA at Cooroibah and faced a down-wind paddle and very choppy lake as we headed over to the shoreline – well done Alex for staying positive! Met by George and Duncan for the Mtb ride to Pomona we headed off with renewed vigour.  The weather was surprisingly good….we were even feeling like we might get a little sunburnt!  The route took us out to Ringtail Creek Rd where we climbed up the range towards Forest Acres….a few riders took advantage of the towing system attached to Aunty Kim’s pack….might as well…as that’s what is there for!  All regrouped at the top we posed for a quick photo at the site of the old Ringtail School…and then were about to see what the forest was really like!  We rode down Trail 4, and had intended to cross the what we call the mud-hole (which is the site of the old Ringtail Creek Rd bridge) but on arrival found it was now a very deep lake…and when Aunty Kim went in to test how deep she was up to her neck and still not touching bottom….. Mmmmm…lucky there was an alternative and we continued on Trail 4 which was rather muddy, but still rideable… We then reached another obstacle….another swollen creek blocking our path.  This time the depth was thigh-waist deep so we hoicked the bikes on our shoulders and make the crossing a little tentatively…. All safely back on dry land, we continued the ride….wet, muddy, tired….but still smiling, and liking the adventure!  Finally we hit town at Pomona, and quickly made the transition for a short run around the base of Mt Cooroora…George and Duncan very generously decided to stay at the café to watch over our muddy bikes….and when we got back we had a very quick snack before heading back to Lake Cooroibah on the MTB’s....having a time limit now (it always takes longer than originally planned…) and after plenty of adventure on the ride out, we opted for a swift road ride on the way back, and were very proud of everyone toughing it out and going beyond the comfort zone to extend themselves after a very long day of activities….

We bade farewell to the lovely Alex (who had been joined by the lovely Taryn…) and four of us set off for the final paddle back to Noosa….Thanks to George and Duncan, Lee and Carolyn were able to drive our vehicle (with trailer!) to the designated pick-up area and despite having a few steering problems on the double Fenn, we made it back in record time (Shona and Kaz showing fantastic strength and ingenuity by adopting outrigger techniques to keep the boat going in the right direction!)  Duncan had read our minds and knew we were craving a salt/fat/carb fix and produced a tray of steaming hot chips which we devoured with gusto….Then we raced home for a quick shower and flew back down to Hastings Stto reward ourselves with a lovely meal, few obligatory drinks and a big chat...
We laughed as we shared memories of the weekend….We Aunties were sure our group of adventurers had gained some very valuable knowledge on tackling the Bribie Multisport in 5 weeks time…..they all got this and more…..we saw plenty of guts and determination, and know they will now be ready to take on the world!.... well, definitely if there’s an adventure involved...

Thanks to all of you who came along and made our weekend so enjoyable too!!

KATHMANDU ADVENTURE RACE…

We had a great time at the Kathmandu Adventure Race on 20^th March – with 180 teams of 2 entered it was a huge event.  Aunty Jan teamed up with Hayley in the all female category and came home with the GOLD medal!  After a slow start we made our way through the field and took the lead on the Mtb rogaine….The nav in these events is very basic – but good course planning always helps – well it seemed to help us, anyway!  We were first out of 24 female teams and 27^th overall….not bad for your first event Hayley!  Aunty Kim teamed up with Scott in the mixed category and after some major bike mechanicals, came in a very credible 4^th place and 26^th overall…they just got in ahead of us…..it was a great fun race with lots of mud and some interesting creek crossings…..See pic of us all at the finish line….

MOOLOOLABA TRI WEEKEND

We had a very exhausting weekend at the Mooloolaba Triathlon!   I swear, spectating an event is often more tiring than competing in it…..however, the great results we witnessed – especially from our Juniors – was worth all the sitting around and frying ourselves in the sun…..The twilight 5km run was on the Friday night and we saw Tom, Tim & Brigitte all put in exceptional performances….Brigitte winning her age-group and coming in 4^th overall (just behind the winner Emma Moffat and some other noted runners!)  Tom & Tim both clocked up ‘personal bests’ and were excited with their results.  Saturday morning saw the swimmers lining up to tackle the 1km ocean swim….Jules was not happy with the flat conditions….however she still managed a 4^th in the hotly contested 50-59 age-group where the amazing Gina took the GOLD medal….great results in the female 60-69 category as well with Jan & Bardie going 1-2….Brigitte, once again, was a stand-out performer with a win in her age-group and 4^th overall, again! 

In the triathlon it was golden girl Gina Lynch winning her 50-54 age-group with a sprint finish and our amazing junior team of Seb, Brigitte and Robyn won their Junior mixed category in an amazing time of 2.06!  Well done, also to Jules Drysdale, for a podium finish (2^nd!)in her age-group at the Australian Ironman which was held on Sunday in Port Macquarie….so much happening last weekend…

So that’s about it for March….We have a huge 4-6 weeks ahead with Bribie Multisport, Anaconda NZ, Anaconda Forster & Red Centre Mtb Enduro in the space of a month…..but before that we have our Easter 2010 Adventure this weekend…

Don’t wait too long for your next adventure….

See you out there!

Jan & Kim

February Update...

March is here – and the year is just MARCHING on…..!! 
Aunty Kim’s rehab is going great-guns but she’s still a bit tentative on the Mtb…see report below on the Mebbin Marathon….Our weekly squad sessions are hotting up and finally we have some keen paddlers and some really keen Mtb riders on our Wednesday ride.  As I write this, however, our weather here in Qld is atrocious….it’s like the BIG WET in one day….the rain is just coming down in buckets…bit different to the beginning of February when we were drowning in heat and humidity…here’s how it all panned out…

WEEKEND ADVENTURES – to KIN KIN the hard way….

Our Saturday group left Pomona about 7.15am and were intercepted by Audrey and Marius who had extended their ride by starting at Noosa…. Something about having to train for a 26 day event in June was their excuse…No, seriously they are putting in the miles so as to be fit enough to complete the Freedom Challenge in South Africa…look it up – you’ll be amazed!  Anyway we had a lovely ride, stopping at the lookouts along the way and gaining strength (that’s the positive here, people) from the unrelenting uphill slogs out on the eastern ridge…..when, finally, we were on the way down great whoops of joy were heard amongst us – we had well and truly earned this excitement… 
A stop a Kin Kin for refreshments was greatly appreciated but soon we were off again – and up some unbelievable hills that Aunty Kim had conveniently forgotten about…. We managed with some bike carries to get us all up there without a dummy spit…and continued on where we had the sense to take the creek road (that would be the flat way) back to Pomona….phew…we made it – and hungrily devoured some great food at the Mountain Stop Café before heading home to collapse….Hey, hope the experience was a bit like childbirth and you’ll only remember the good bits, eventually!!!!! 

AUNTY JAN IS 50…

In case you weren’t aware – Aunty Jan turned 50 and invited many of her friends and family to attend a 2-part celebration which involved an 8hr adventure paddle/mtb/eat-drink/mtb/paddle and later in the day a ‘normal’ birthday celebration with a bit of arm wrestling action just to spice it up….Here’s what Aunty Jan reported afterwards….

“We had the most fabulous adventure on Saturday and it was like being in an adventure race with all of my best friends….thanks for being part of it! 

Golden moments were….   

à                       Kenny having the crash of the day…

à                       The ‘v’-cake at Pomona (you had to be there…!)

à                       The special t-shirt from my special friends…it’s just so…rude?

à                       My great arm-wrestling ability… (Not…)

à                       Standing in the rain on Sunday morning watching ‘wunderkid’ win the Triathlon

à                       Being 50 and feeling like 12 on the Mtb ride out to Pomona…..

à                       Sliding into shore at Noosa Woods after 8hrs of adventure and being handed a glass of bubbles by my wonderful friends….

For those of you who came along….welcome to my world!!!”

JUNIORS AT STATE TRI CHAMPS…

We had a huge week with our Juniors at State Tri Champs in Redcliffe.  The squad conducted themselves extremely well at the Champs and with their wonderful efforts helped the Sunshine Coast region win the cup – again!  We are very proud to be associated with all of them! 

Once again Brigitte Fischer has been selected in the State Team to compete in SA in mid-March.  Sam Allen was also a qualifier in the Junior division.  Good luck to you both – enjoy the experience!

NIGHT NAV…

Our Night Nav session in Wooroi was really fun – we managed to ward off the mozzies with super-strength bushman’s spray, candles and Corallea even carried a burning incense stick with her as they went out on foot..!  It was great to see the smiles on their faces and the excitement as they all arrived back from their night nav adventure….
Mel blitzed the field with a score of 440 after gunning it around the course on foot and making it back on time so as not to loose hard earned points by being late….
Participants really got into the swing of it buy donning the true dorky orienteering gear… !

We took about 2 hours after the session going around retrieving the CP’s and besides dodging toads as big as small babies it was incident free and we felt like we had done an Adventure Race when we finished at 10.30pm…We will have another of these sessions here in the near future – stay tuned…

MEBBIN MTB MARATHON…

Hope the soggy, wet weather hasn’t put a damper on too much fun and adventure for you all……It certainly challenged the Aunties over the weekend of the 28^th February.... We made a ‘sensible’ choice - Hmmmm- (over a few other events happening on the weekend) to take a 5hr trip to the Gold Coast (via Brisbane for a couple of quick visits…) then drive another 1.5hr hours to the beautiful Mebbin forest in northern NSW – in the shadow of Mt Warning – where we would ride our bikes ‘inside a volcano’……
Well, that was the plan – and we did manage to achieve all of the above… However, the end result was a little different to what we had thought……and ‘sensible’ doesn’t seem the right adjective now – funny that….

Knowing full well we were heading for a ‘wet’ event’, we just took it in our strides – we have done many events in much worse weather than this – at least it wasn’t COLD and wet like Geo 2006 & 2009….and we rode the 2008 Noosa Enduro fully inside a cloud and didn’t have a huge problem…we did the 6hr ‘mud-fest’ at Slickers last year….and that was ok except for Aunty Jan destroyed her bike by washing it off in the LAKE…. So a mud-ride inside a volcano seemed kind of fun – in a strange sort of way…. Guess what – we were wrong!!!

On arrival at the event – the beautiful Cutters Campground in the beautiful Mebbin Forest we were informed that all the courses had been shortened because of the treacherous conditions….seems that volcanic mud is kinda slippery and dangerous….Race organiser, Anthony, had gone over the course the day before and had more than a handful of spills….and was already announcing that next year this event WOULD NOT BE HELD IN THE WET SEASON.. How bad can it possibly be, we thought? 

We were about to find out as we set off with the 75km riders (now reduced to 55km with a 35km loop and then a 20km loop over the same skaty mud!)  A 3km loop took us 'around some 4wd tracks' and back through the start/finish then after that we were going 'slap-bang into the mud'…well, you could have fooled me, but I am sure I came out of the 3km loop looking like I’d been dragged though a pig pen….and we weren’t in the MUD yet apparently…..

Aunty Kim was being extra cautious as one little crash was going to ruin her entire rehab from the dislocated shoulder episode 10 weeks earlier…That ‘sensible decision’ was starting to have a few cracks at this point…. We had a 1km ‘nice’ ride up a dirt road before detouring off onto the single track….Slipping and skating all over the place, we were trying to keep a sense of humour…riders were spearing off the track in every direction and Aunty Kim had just decided to walk most of the danger areas (which was just about everything unless you were riding in the scrub..) We got to a particularly steep downhill (easy-peasy in the dry…) and some crazy guys were crashing every 5 seconds…it was completely unrideable for us – and this ride down to a creek crossing was the first of 8 !!!  Half way down Aunty Jan had a big OTB and didn’t even get time to put her hands down….a nasty thud on the left hip – just to even it up with the creaky right one – kept her lying in the grass for more time than usual….Kim was scootering just ahead and came straight back up….It didn’t take us long to decide this ‘race’ wasn’t worth continuing….(we had opted to ride in a pair anyway, which meant we weren’t gunning for any podium spots…)  Aunty Kim was probably going to have to walk most of it if we continued…and Aunty Jan was trying to ‘ride’ but it just wasn’t happening!...so we pushed our bikes up the hill and told the marshall that we had abandoned….

Then we went for the most beautiful ride in the Mebbin forest – on the fire road…. This now seems to be the most ‘sensible’ decision we had made all weekend…. We managed to clock up about 40kms of riding getting some great views of the ‘scenic rim’ of the massive volcano that once encompassed Mt Warning and on our way through the start/finish we noticed we weren’t the only ones who had made this decision…..Some were there mending their war wounds, and many were cleaning their bikes and some were just hanging around to see what the riders looked like who actually did complete the course.  Well I can tell you they looked BROWN – no other colour – and those kamikazes who made it were quite happy with themselves – and we congratulated them…. We sat around and ate the fabulous meal that was supplied with the entry – that must have been the reason we came….and then made the drive back to the Gold Coast before getting clean – our bikes, however, got a wash atop the car as it was still raining – but you can’t believe that, can you…..

So, there you have it…Sorry but you won’t get to experience this yourselves, because it won’t be on again until we have a drought….and then, well, it could be awesome…..We didn’t waste our time whilst riding on the fire-road though - Aunty Kim practiced her one-legged drill and we practiced our towing technique – so we did get to achieve something…and I mapped the entire ‘fire-road’ on the Garmin…so you can do this bit….but it’s probably already on a map somewhere – being a road and all…J

WHAT’S COMING UP?

Plenty of adventure in the pipeline….Our Bribie Multisport training weekend on 13th & 14th March. Click here for details...
The Kathmandu Adventure Race on 20^th March….
Bribie Multisport….Anaconda NZ….Anaconda Forster and the Red Centre Mtb Enduro…..come along and join us for some of it….

See you out there!

J Jan & Kim