Latest News - July

Aunty Jan at CP 83

July began with the Aunties taking a win in the Cyclegaine at Mapleton....I must admit, we were on familiar ground as we had ridden this forest many times.....not that we knew where the check-points were, but it did help knowing the trails :)  We had a lovely day out in the beautiful hinterland!

Next was the Wild Women Adventure Race....  With a strict field limit of 100, 90 women had nominated for the event....90 women....this was brilliant!  We had been trying to get a race like this off the ground for over a year....and to get 90 women out into the bush was absolutely awesome!  Many women went right out of their comfort zone in this event....we even had the CEO of Triathlon Australia, Ann Gripper, competing.... Dare You Adventure did a fantastic job of staging the event and the sponsors who came on board (besides us) were fantastic.... Tri Adventure Vintage won the day (to our absolute amazement...) but everyone came away winners.....and next year we hope this event will be bigger and better....and hopefully will attract some younger and fitter female athletes from further afield to knock us old vintage girls off our perch... :)

After this we stepped up our training for the fast approaching Anaconda Noosa.... We ran a women's only skills clinic and facilitated the official course familiarisation day with Rapid Ascent general manager Sam Maffet.... Some pics of the course....

Top of the run course...we went up with our bikes!

Harriet on the single track

Not part of the Anaconda course...but a lovely ride we do up here!

With less than 2 weeks until the inaugural Noosa Anaconda, it's time to get your entries in. Be part of the very first event... Register here now....

 So...that was July... It's finally stopped raining up here, the trails are drying up, the sky is blue, the water is crystal clear.... Come and join us for some adventures in paradise!

:) Jan & Kim

Latest News - June

June began with a trip across the Tasman to a fun and exciting race in Rotorua...the 3d Multisport. Aunty Kim was invited to compete, so we both decided to tackle it, again....after all, it was the Australasian Multisport Championships.... Like last year at this event....we had a fantastic time.... Catching up with kiwi friends...Em (from Em's Power Cookies), Rich & Elina Ussher (who's boats we were paddling in the event...the fabulous Flow Kayaks) and reuniting with some Aussie friends too...Sam & John from Rapid Ascent....Deanna & Shazza, Peri & Chris, Lukey....It was a very social few days!!  The race was brilliant....and we all did really well....Except Lukey, who crashed out of contention the day before the race....and did some serious damage to himself.....and subsequently put himself out of the Geoquest picture as well....but he will recover! 

The Aussie Girls on Top....

In the dry conditions this year, we Aunties both had much faster times....and Aunty Kim would have repeated her performance from last year (5th overall female) if she hadn't gone the wrong way on the run course...oh no! But she still managed to place 3rd in her age-group....so all was good!  I successfully defended my title as Australasian Multisport Champion Woman over 50....hilarious....but this year at least I had more than one other old gal as competition..... JJ smashed out the fastest paddle leg (in one of Richards Flow Kayaks..) and won his age-group and came 6th male overall....Yes, he says he's not fit....but never believe that, we say..... The day after the race we went out and rode those trails for 5 hours....that's just what you do in Rotorua....if you've been there, you'll know...if you haven't....GO!!!

Next comes Geoquest....Sometimes we do these things back-to-back.... We make the long journey to Forster.... Aunty Kim raced the 'Full' Geo course....with her lovely team of boys, MD's (sans Lukey) but had young Leo join the team at the last minute.....and apparently, he was brilliant.  MD's placed 3rd overall.....and had a great time doing it.... The Vintage Cowgirls contested the 'Half' Geo course and were determined for a finish this year....so were overjoyed when they plucked out a win from the younger female competitors.... We were a great team of happy Cowgirls....and had a very lovely support team of Gav, Mike & Millie (sound like some Olympic mascots, I know...) Here we are on the finish line, just before we popped the champagne and filled ourselves up with yummy pizza...

Happy Cowgirls

Now back home...we have had some great training sessions for the up-coming Noosa Anaconda.  We also tackled a local MTBO, then a Cyclegaine this weekend.  Also, our dream of creating Australia's first ever all-women's adventure race will come to fruition on July 7th....We are so excited about this event....and there is still time to enter if you are keen... Click here to enter now!

We'll have news of the event in our next installment....Until then,

See you out there!

Jan & Kim

Latest News - May

Well....so much has happened in the last month.... After our return from Godzone we have had many adventures including the fantastic Rogue Adventuregaine, held at the Wyralong Dam.  We all had a great time in the rain.....all night and all day....then all night again.... And all the Tri Adventure teams had some brilliant results too!
 
 The ARA hit town on May 20th....and we had many teams competing.... It's great to have an event so close to home... Well done to Kim & MD's who took out the premier mixed category, again....and us vintage gals got a 2nd place against our fitter and younger competitors.....and Hayley & Mel who placed 2nd female team in the Raw course....awesome result girls!!

MD's atop the podium

Mel & Hayley at the finish

Paddy Justin & Howie

What's coming up??  Well, we're heading over to NZ, once again, to race the 3d Multisport in Rotorua.... This was such a good event last year, we are going back for more..... We just can't get enough of those fantastic mtb trails over there.... Then Geoquest will be upon us.... MD's in the full course, Vintage Cowgirls in the half.  Really looking forward to finishing the event this year!  After that will be the inaugural Wild Women Adventure Race....staged on the Sunshine Coast, this is the first ever all-women's AR in Australia.  We are sponsoring the event and are hoping for a big turn out.....so, girls, this is a great opportunity to be part of history!!

For details and entry go to http://www.dareyouadventure.com.au/wwar/

That's about it for now....don't wait too long for your next adventure...
See you out there!
Jan & Kim

The Queenstown Adventure

Team MD's at race rego...

Well….we’re back home after another EPIC adventure in NZ.  Queenstown was the setting for the inaugural Godzone Adventure Race…and, in retrospect, it’s a pity the organisers didn’t stage more of the actual race there…..it is extremely beautiful and has so many adventures in close proximity….so after Team MD's withdrew from the race it was great they were able to make the most of it for the remaining few days….

Spectacular view of Lake Wakitpu from the to of Skyline

But before that…..This is what happened…..

If you didn’t follow the race and hadn’t looked at the live coverage…..it was absolutely phenomenal…. The teams who endured this event were exceptional....Even the race directors completely underestimated how challenging the course would be and had to cancel a paddle and ride section, for all teams, as the days went on and some teams were still on the first trek!  Our Team MD’s were going really well…..we all thought…..until that first trek which took them 24 hours and Kim was struggling with an ankle injury that had resurfaced from XPD.  It seems that 24 hours of walking (up, down, up, down, up, down, up, up, up, down, down, down, etc, etc….) is just not what she can do any more.  The bone-on-bone thing just got worse and worse.  And the peaks they were crossing were over 1000m….The following bike leg was more pushing (with no tracks…) than riding…..and when I saw them at the end of this one it was when she said she had to pull out.  The boys couldn’t believe it as she had been very quiet during that leg…..except when she growled at Gary…..he should have realised she’s not like that…. Anyway, we all sat around at TA5 and no-one was saying much…..Teams were coming in and going out…..while MD’s were lying around on the grass in the sun….Gary was snoring away…..I wasn’t sure what to do…..I wanted the boys to go on as a team of 3…..but only 2 out of 3 of them wanted to…..and that wasn’t allowed in the race rules….In the end the ride home to QT in a cosy car was the chosen option....

They were very quiet and dosed a lot on the 2 hour drive back to our apartment….so, not a happy team now…..but they understood Kim’s reasons for pulling out….they were just wishing it didn’t happen….But when you enter an adventure race with 4 people there is no guarantee that everyone will make it to the finish…..as you see in every event. 

So…that’s the sad part of the story.  The rest of it was quite good….

View of QT from the top of Ben Lomond...and the ridgeline track I took for the trek!

 I had been loving my time in QT….Had a para-glide off Skyline hill….Went in the Tour of Wakitipu Mtb race on the Saturday…..and managed to sneak on the podium with those tough kiwi chicks……as did Julian Martin and Austin (Noosa-Kiwi’s…) and it was an extremely beautiful course.  Thanks Kiwi Julie for letting me know about this one…. Then, while the team was out on the course….I trekked to the top of Ben Lomond (big, big peak behind QT – 1748m…) and did some very pleasant riding on the QT mtb trails…..and of course, driving out to see the team at some of their TA’s.  So when I brought the team home…..they got to do all this stuff as well….. Which was great for them....Kim couldn’t do the trek of course….but she was ok riding her mtb…..just did a bit of one-leg pedalling when she had to!

As you can see – it wasn’t all bad.  The race website was keeping us up to date with all our amazing friends still out on course….and it was the best website I have ever seen for an AR!  So, we had a fantastic time, really.  Apparently the weather was very kind to us….although it did reach zero overnight in QT one night (but I was inside with the heater on…) and minus 2 for the Team on their last bike leg…..but other than that, the locals said we were really lucky…

There’s always a little twist to our adventures though….And we sure had one…..well two actually….

1.        .... I have found out the best way to avoid paying excess baggage at the airport…..Just arrive at the check-in with 10 seconds till closing time…..besides the stress levels of cutting it so fine driving to the airport and getting stuck in traffic….then throwing our gear out of the car and sprinting through the car-park with two bikes, a huge gear box, 2 large packs, a laptop and no trolley to wheel them on (No-one had seen anything like us…Kim was super-human and had her bike box under one arm and the gear box under the other with her pack on her back….she would have been carrying about 50kg of weight!....I had a huge pack, the lap-top and was dragging my bike bag too) we saved $250.....$250!....that’s the way you do it…. 

2.      ….the second twist happened because of the first twist…..The bottom line is that when we arrived back in Brisbane, we had no idea where we had parked the car……are you getting the picture?….I’m surprised we even locked it as we were is such a hurry to make the flight…. So, here we were last night, it was about 8.30pm.  We have one trolley…(as they are ridiculously expensive…$4…!) and Kim has her stuff on it…..I am dragging my bike (again) and carrying the huge back-pack…. We are wandering aimlessly in the car-park….(the new long-term car-park in Brisbane airport is stupidly confusing anyway….) In the end I can go no further…..I fish out the keys from my pack….and stand in a spare car space with all the gear while Kim goes up and down 7 (seven!) floors before she finally finds the car on level 2…..I breathe a sigh of relief when she drives up, we load the car and are driving out.  But it doesn’t end there…..we have to pay our ticket ($190!)….at this point I was thinking we should have just paid $4 for another trolley and wheeled the stuff back to Noosa…..I can’t find the spot to pay the ticket…..It is not where it was last time…..we are still driving around the car-park.  Finally I park in a disabled spot and Kim runs out and pays…..If her ankle was not completely wrecked in the race, it surely is now….. We start driving again….I still can’t find the way out…. We are getting a bit frazzled…..to say the least…. Eventually a ‘way out’ sign is in front of us…..and we take it…… We are out…..and driving home…..tired, dirty and frustrated…..  

So,   I’m not sure what the moral to this story is…..or whether it was just easier to pay the $250 excess baggage…..or relax initially and miss the first flight…..and pay more……or procure our own airport trolley so not to have to pay $4 ever again…that’s if we can find one of the confounding things..…..Food for thought....

        

        See you out there!

        Jan & Kim

A day in the Life of Tri Adventure....

The lovely Susie Blissner was the only ‘brave’ one lining up to join us for our ride on the Pt Glorious trails recently… We set off not long after 7.00am…..there was a heavy fog in the Mary Valley…..it was stunningly beautiful as we climbed Buckby Road and viewed the peaks to the west poking up out of the low-lying cloud…A mother cow with twin calves watched as we pedalled by….it would be a different picture on the way home!

We reached the trail-head – and in we went!  First trail was too muddy….later on we were ploughing through mud….but at this early stage, we decided to take a nicer trail in…. It was cool and inviting….and we travelled along a very pleasant track which took us down to the upper reaches of Belli Creek..

...at the creek junction

Lots of creeks have their source on this major ridgeline…..and on this side was the Mary River catchment… The creeks were running nicely – not too much so we couldn’t cross…It was delightful…. We climbed up out of the watercourse and were still heading up to the top of the ridge.  Some hike-a-bike…but some good riding as well…. The next track-junction signalled our turn off the main trail and we took a single track down to another creek crossing and up the other side.  The forest was quite damp…but we were happy to be out of the heat of the day.  We T-boned the main road to Pt Glorious and turned right.  This road took us down and up a bit and then we followed a great downhill which was part of Hells Bells last year (and 2 years previous…)  Another beautiful downhill had us at the bottom on Browns Creek Rd….Hmmm….the only way home was to go back up and over…. We will have hills, hills and more hills at our up-coming races - Bike Buller and Godzone….and Suse was happily along for the ride….but not doing either of these events!  However, she is doing the Simpson Desert Classic….which will be a majestic challenge in itself…. Probably some sand hills to contend with out there….

York Creek cascades

So, after a little break at the cascades (and a chocolate frog for Aunty Jan..) we started the long climb back up the ridge… It ended up being an hour of climbing….after we deviated off checking out some unknown tracks…..but all rideable…and a lovely way to get back up there…. Approaching the top we had some spectacular views of Mt Eerwah which sits right in front of Pt Glorious….but didn’t get any pics of this….so you have to imagine it! Finally up, and we have a short ride to out the Point…. When we get there and check out the views we realise how hot the day is, as the viewing platforms are in full sun….we have been in cool of the forest all morning….and it was pretty damned hot it that sun… We retreated into the shade after taking some pics….   

Suse and Aunty Kim at the lookout

After taking in the views and a well-earned snack, we set off for the final “downhill”…..technically it was…..in reality we had a bucket-load of climbing left that we hadn’t counted on…..you know how Aunty Kim forgets….well, it wasn’t all her fault….it was the fault of the map….  You see, because we only had Suse as company, we did a little bit of exploring….we knew she wasn’t the type to spit the dummy….so we took an unknown track “2kms all downhill” back to the cars...and you wouldn’t believe it,  500m from the road the track suddenly stops in a mountain of lantana and long grass.  (you would believe it…) Hmmm….this is not good.  We have just absolutely barrelled down the track….Suse was on fire, following our lines and getting super-confident on the rocky, slippery trail…. We are 500m from the road….we can hear the cars…. We hatch a plan to bush-bash along a fence-line…instead of the common-sense alternative to go back to the trail we know exists and follow it to the end…. Aunty Kim goes in to have a look….. It looks ok, but we did see another track back up the hill that might be better… We make a decision to push back up to it and check it out.  It looks ok….ie: going in the right direction….so we take it…..only to get about 400m and it’s another dead-end….Oh dear, again!….the bush here is now very steep and thick with prickly vines and other nasties….. We push back up to the track-junction.  Here we make a decision (the wrong one…) to go back down again and try to bush-bash where we were previously…. More downhill skills for Suse…. We arrive back at the dead-end…. We take to the bush… Crawling, lifting and pulling our bikes through the scrub is the reason we don’t need to go to the gym….It was our resistance training for the week…. We go in about 200m and find a huge cliff…. No going down this one with our bikes…. It is now about midday….we have been out for 5 hours!  Eventually, after scouting around the cliff top to look for a way to the bottom we make the ‘common-sense’ decision to go back to the track… We are all used to this situation in adventure racing …..sometimes you have to deal with taking the long way around….even if it is on the 3^rd attempt…. Back up the hill we go…. Suse learns the art of the ‘bike carry’…. She has wanted to learn this for ages…. There’s a positive…..  We ride out the way we came in…..down into upper Belli Creek….up, up, up the other side….and finally out onto the road.  We had a super-fast downhill on Buckby Rd…..past the view of the Mary Valley that was shrouded in fog on the way up…..and the mother cow and her calves were long gone and probably under a shady tree now…..and when we got to the tar on Eumundi-Kenilworth Road we really felt how hot the day was! 

100 metres on the tar was quite enough for us….and we had a cold drink at the Belli Store….and reflected on our ride…. 6 hours….lots of hills but some awesome views .....and we noted that some map corrections are in order!!!  It was a fantastic day and we hope Suse made it home to Brisbane ok….. 

More of these adventures in the pipeline....no doubt!

See you out there!

Jan & Kim

Latest News - Jan/Feb

January has come and gone....sun-rain-sun-rain-sun....well, something like that!  We had to cancel a few adventures....but have gone ahead with some really good ones too...
 NOOSA TRAIL TO KIN KIN...
Our ride out around Kin Kin on the Noosa Trail Network, recently, was definitely a highlight! We set off from Pomona on the beautiful Trail 5 - our favourite, I think...and had a lovely ride out to Cooran and then the big climb up the western ridge that overlooks Kin Kin.  Our route was all ride-able....and we found a couple of new trails in the process.. At Kin Kin we were lucky enough to strike the local market in progress so grabbed some refreshments there before taking off for the climb up to Cootharaba Views....

Steve & Aunty Jan with the beautiful Lake Cootharaba in the background

 it was a perfect day and we could see for miles......so we sat and enjoyed the ambiance before continuing along the ridgeline (up, up and more up).. We finally got to the downhill ride and it was over all too fast....except for one of us (that would be Aunty Jan) who opted to continue on the down and meet the others on Louis Bazzo Drive.  So....the five more hills promised by Aunty Kim turned out to be about 25.....but we finally rolled into Pomona and enjoyed a very well deserved 'breakfast' at the quirky Mountain Stop Cafe.... Just another great day in our hinterland paradise....!!
UPSIDE-DOWN ROGAINE...
The first rogaine of the season was held on 11th and 12th February and Aunty Kim and Gary from Team MD's raced alongside Robbie & Schosshy from Team SCAR to take out the event in very convincing style.  They are having a fair bit of trouble walking down stairs this week...but hey, it was worth it, I'm sure!  They almost cleared the 8 hour course (which started at 11.00pm Saturday and finished at 7.00am Sunday) but came in a whopping 280 points ahead of 2nd place!  These guys are racing together at the Godzone Adventure race in NZ in a couple of months.....so they are looking like quite a cohesive team at this point....

Team MD's/SCAR looking extremely fresh after 8hrs running hills in the dark!

 

AND FINALLY....
We have been having some real fun on our Monday night 'adventure' rides.... These rides are guaranteed to be out of the square....Here are some pics of the places we go....

Look what we found!

Aunty Kim trying to get to the rope...

Noosa Rainbow!

See you out there!
Jan & Kim