BMX Bandits review on XPD 2010
Hi All
Allow me to start off by whole-heartedly Thanking everyone for the support and interest they have shown in our race - its been an amazing experience to be surrounded by such enthusiastic people - helps make the whole event worthwhile!
I'll try to keep this as brief as possible - although with 10 days of stories that is a challenge - but we'd welcome any additional comments & questions if people are interested in specific bits!
The pre-race prep up in Cairns was pretty exciting - so many teams all running around and so many serious-looking athletes. Highlight was having my parents around to cook for us and help us organise - they definitely were an ace support crew - and even had time to adopt the Alpine Epic team from NZ!
Race start was the culmination of lots of hard work - and the snorkelling and paddling 4 boys + gear in one kayak was a tough introduction to the race - our boat became a submarine and we crawled back to Mission beach - every wave soaking us completely. Getting on the bike made things better - was a nice fast cruise up to Tully.
The white-water rafting was as fun as expected - think our guide enjoyed it most because he had 4 able paddlers and didn't have to worry about the safety of tourists - managed to do his 6 hr trip in 1.5 hrs, and we even swam on the big rapid for the fun of it...
The next hiking leg up the Misty mountains started off as a social walk up a fireroad, then rapidly got miserable as we bashed our way through stinging trees to the finish. 14 hrs of uphill hiking with wet feet definitely took a toll- and getting hit by the "pain leaves" meant blisters and stings competed for our attention. Without the Striderm to protect our feet it could have knocked us out of the race right there. Getting up again after passing out at the top when we hit the road for 10 minutes was definitely one of the hardest parts of the race - especially knowing we had barely started!
Quite enjoyed the next bike leg from Ravenshoe to Dimbulah - brunch at the pub in Irvinebank was awesome: they opened the kitchen an hour early for us and served some quality steak sandwiches (or "Tin-miner toasties" as they called them) and then the orienteering leg went pretty well. Our route selection after the orienteering was brilliant - apparently only 4 teams took our route and it was my highlight of the race. Basically a 3 hr downhill on remote farm track with amazing scenery - one of the best sunsets I've ever witnessed kept me in good spirits for the whole leg.
Mid-camp provided a welcome break - and the realisation that we'd make it this far - now we were ready for the proper challenges! Wheelbarrow to the river was actually pretty enjoyable - Adrian excels as a packhorse and we hit the river in good shape. Paddled about 5 meters before we reached our first portage, and quickly decided to change our kayak pairings to ensure we had 2 boats that could make it in a (reasonably) straight line. The river was a massive challenge - low water levels meant very frequent portages - good balance and nimble feet on super slippery rocks were highly rewarded on this leg! Paddled straight past the first checkpoint and took a couple hours to find it - eventually deciding to camp once we picked it up. Felt much better about getting lost when we heard that Blackheart (eventual winners) spent just as much time hunting for the CP!
Once we made it to transition we were pretty stoked that we'd reached make or break time - 60km through untouched Outback wilderness. Started out pretty rough - 3 water bladders burst and we were down to 8 litres for 4 people - I was v concerned and ended up emptying my dry bag and filling it with sketchy water from the first creek we reached as an emergency precaution. Turned out the terrain had lots of great water (would never have guessed based on previous outback hiking experiences) and we were OK (although 1 team went 9 hrs in searing heat w no water, got to the stage they were drinking their own pee...) First night was horrific - windy and cold and lost so tried to sleep - and just basically lay on the ground shivering trying not to get hypothermia... Without our Sherpa thermals and Blackwolf jackets it could have been very dangerous. After a tough start in the morning it was time for our navigator to prove himself. Shooting bearings and marching across high points saw us reach what we hoped was the checkpoint at lunchtime.
Utter defeat stared back at us as we realised we were in the wrong spot. After an hour spent recovering and considering options, Mark picked up the map for a bit of quiet time. He came to the conclusion we were about 800 m South of where we wanted to be - and lo and behold the checkpoint was found at the predicted spot. Jubilation ensued. The hike out I really enjoyed - they let me take charge of the map - and we picked a great route that no one else chose that gave us the chance to gear down and go for a team swim in a stunning waterhole (possibly no one else chose because of the waterfall we had to climb up to reach the next river valley (probably a good thing it had just gotten dark so we couldn't see what we were getting ourselves into).
Navigation was good until the final ridge - I pushed us too far West and we ended up calling it a night totally lost in a series of ravines. Then followed our Standard Operating Procedure - got up an hr before dawn, gave the map to Mark, climbed to a high point, found we were only 300m from where we wanted to be - not a disaster at all...Final slog into Mt Mulligan was hard - 37 degrees, no shade and ran out of water purification - fortunately found a team that had run out of food and made a mutually beneficial trade (another team got to enjoy the Mule Bars as much as we were).
Next bike leg started off well - then as it got dark the navigation got hard - and we ended up doing a horrific 2.5hr hike-a-bike up a boulder-strewn hill on severely damaged feet from the previous leg. Definitely hurt. The maps were not so good here - got lost with 7 other teams, but again found our way out pretty easily in the light of day. Amazing the emotional roller coaster that this race became - easily think that it packed a years worth of emotional highs & lows into 10 days. Had a pretty social ride to the next CP - enjoyed hanging w the Dirty Avocadoes and Yogi Bears, drafting, chatting and feasting at the Tolga bakery.
Paddle was pretty straightforward - although a previously calm lake whipped up a squall with whitecaps and a headwind just for us... Had a quick nap (well the boys did, I may have socialised and listened to State of Origin cause I was so excited that we were on our last leg!) Started at about 10:30pm, which was a great call, did a massive climb all at night which otherwise would have been oppressively hot. Saw a massive python - easily 12 ft long (because I'd led us off-track) and hit a section where the map didn't even come close to reflecting reality. Finally Dale forced us to put the map away and blindly follow the only clear track - which turned out to be an excellent decision as it took us exactly where we wanted to go (and lots of teams wasted lots of time looking for the track that was on the map that I don't think existed). Made it from the Davies creek trailhead up the top of lambs head to the CP in 1hr 40 min - record time. Then started the hardest part of the race - the bushwhack down to Lake Morris. Not sure how to describe the evil-ness and denseness of the jungle: as soon as you got down into a ravine (and it was all ravines) filled with wait-a-while and other nasty spikiness. Suffice it to say I have never been happier to see daylight than when we arrived out at the road and knew it was a straight shot back to Cairns. The final 5 hr slog was tough, but with our pacer poles to support us (because my feet were no longer capable of doing it on their own) we made it.
Coming into the finish line was incredible - seeing friends & family, champagne on the deck - the fact I was no longer walking...
All in all, amazing experience. Would highly recommend it for anyone that has ever asked - how far can I push myself? Overall, the biggest surprise to me was that the challenge was probably equal parts mental, emotional and physical. Think that I am looking forward to doing something that is only physically challenging - might need to run another ultramarathon or something to remind myself why I enjoy adventure racing so much...
Thanks - and apologies if I failed slightly on the brevity front - just so much stuff I would love to share!
Wanted to Thank so many people for their generous contributions to the Heart Foundation - and say that we will keep the donation page open for another week - so get in quick if you want to help share in the spirit - it was definitely rewarding knowing we were helping out (and motivated us knowing that there was an extra $1000 donation in the cards if we finished in the top half - and 11th certainly qualified (hard to believe only 21 of the 47 teams managed to finish ranked - very impressed with the teamwork and tenacity shown by all!))
And we finally managed to come up with a team motto after 700km of discussions:
Adventure Racers Do It...... Longer!
Dave & The BMX Bandits
Allow me to start off by whole-heartedly Thanking everyone for the support and interest they have shown in our race - its been an amazing experience to be surrounded by such enthusiastic people - helps make the whole event worthwhile!
I'll try to keep this as brief as possible - although with 10 days of stories that is a challenge - but we'd welcome any additional comments & questions if people are interested in specific bits!
The pre-race prep up in Cairns was pretty exciting - so many teams all running around and so many serious-looking athletes. Highlight was having my parents around to cook for us and help us organise - they definitely were an ace support crew - and even had time to adopt the Alpine Epic team from NZ!
Race start was the culmination of lots of hard work - and the snorkelling and paddling 4 boys + gear in one kayak was a tough introduction to the race - our boat became a submarine and we crawled back to Mission beach - every wave soaking us completely. Getting on the bike made things better - was a nice fast cruise up to Tully.
The white-water rafting was as fun as expected - think our guide enjoyed it most because he had 4 able paddlers and didn't have to worry about the safety of tourists - managed to do his 6 hr trip in 1.5 hrs, and we even swam on the big rapid for the fun of it...
The next hiking leg up the Misty mountains started off as a social walk up a fireroad, then rapidly got miserable as we bashed our way through stinging trees to the finish. 14 hrs of uphill hiking with wet feet definitely took a toll- and getting hit by the "pain leaves" meant blisters and stings competed for our attention. Without the Striderm to protect our feet it could have knocked us out of the race right there. Getting up again after passing out at the top when we hit the road for 10 minutes was definitely one of the hardest parts of the race - especially knowing we had barely started!
Quite enjoyed the next bike leg from Ravenshoe to Dimbulah - brunch at the pub in Irvinebank was awesome: they opened the kitchen an hour early for us and served some quality steak sandwiches (or "Tin-miner toasties" as they called them) and then the orienteering leg went pretty well. Our route selection after the orienteering was brilliant - apparently only 4 teams took our route and it was my highlight of the race. Basically a 3 hr downhill on remote farm track with amazing scenery - one of the best sunsets I've ever witnessed kept me in good spirits for the whole leg.
Mid-camp provided a welcome break - and the realisation that we'd make it this far - now we were ready for the proper challenges! Wheelbarrow to the river was actually pretty enjoyable - Adrian excels as a packhorse and we hit the river in good shape. Paddled about 5 meters before we reached our first portage, and quickly decided to change our kayak pairings to ensure we had 2 boats that could make it in a (reasonably) straight line. The river was a massive challenge - low water levels meant very frequent portages - good balance and nimble feet on super slippery rocks were highly rewarded on this leg! Paddled straight past the first checkpoint and took a couple hours to find it - eventually deciding to camp once we picked it up. Felt much better about getting lost when we heard that Blackheart (eventual winners) spent just as much time hunting for the CP!
Once we made it to transition we were pretty stoked that we'd reached make or break time - 60km through untouched Outback wilderness. Started out pretty rough - 3 water bladders burst and we were down to 8 litres for 4 people - I was v concerned and ended up emptying my dry bag and filling it with sketchy water from the first creek we reached as an emergency precaution. Turned out the terrain had lots of great water (would never have guessed based on previous outback hiking experiences) and we were OK (although 1 team went 9 hrs in searing heat w no water, got to the stage they were drinking their own pee...) First night was horrific - windy and cold and lost so tried to sleep - and just basically lay on the ground shivering trying not to get hypothermia... Without our Sherpa thermals and Blackwolf jackets it could have been very dangerous. After a tough start in the morning it was time for our navigator to prove himself. Shooting bearings and marching across high points saw us reach what we hoped was the checkpoint at lunchtime.
Utter defeat stared back at us as we realised we were in the wrong spot. After an hour spent recovering and considering options, Mark picked up the map for a bit of quiet time. He came to the conclusion we were about 800 m South of where we wanted to be - and lo and behold the checkpoint was found at the predicted spot. Jubilation ensued. The hike out I really enjoyed - they let me take charge of the map - and we picked a great route that no one else chose that gave us the chance to gear down and go for a team swim in a stunning waterhole (possibly no one else chose because of the waterfall we had to climb up to reach the next river valley (probably a good thing it had just gotten dark so we couldn't see what we were getting ourselves into).
Navigation was good until the final ridge - I pushed us too far West and we ended up calling it a night totally lost in a series of ravines. Then followed our Standard Operating Procedure - got up an hr before dawn, gave the map to Mark, climbed to a high point, found we were only 300m from where we wanted to be - not a disaster at all...Final slog into Mt Mulligan was hard - 37 degrees, no shade and ran out of water purification - fortunately found a team that had run out of food and made a mutually beneficial trade (another team got to enjoy the Mule Bars as much as we were).
Next bike leg started off well - then as it got dark the navigation got hard - and we ended up doing a horrific 2.5hr hike-a-bike up a boulder-strewn hill on severely damaged feet from the previous leg. Definitely hurt. The maps were not so good here - got lost with 7 other teams, but again found our way out pretty easily in the light of day. Amazing the emotional roller coaster that this race became - easily think that it packed a years worth of emotional highs & lows into 10 days. Had a pretty social ride to the next CP - enjoyed hanging w the Dirty Avocadoes and Yogi Bears, drafting, chatting and feasting at the Tolga bakery.
Paddle was pretty straightforward - although a previously calm lake whipped up a squall with whitecaps and a headwind just for us... Had a quick nap (well the boys did, I may have socialised and listened to State of Origin cause I was so excited that we were on our last leg!) Started at about 10:30pm, which was a great call, did a massive climb all at night which otherwise would have been oppressively hot. Saw a massive python - easily 12 ft long (because I'd led us off-track) and hit a section where the map didn't even come close to reflecting reality. Finally Dale forced us to put the map away and blindly follow the only clear track - which turned out to be an excellent decision as it took us exactly where we wanted to go (and lots of teams wasted lots of time looking for the track that was on the map that I don't think existed). Made it from the Davies creek trailhead up the top of lambs head to the CP in 1hr 40 min - record time. Then started the hardest part of the race - the bushwhack down to Lake Morris. Not sure how to describe the evil-ness and denseness of the jungle: as soon as you got down into a ravine (and it was all ravines) filled with wait-a-while and other nasty spikiness. Suffice it to say I have never been happier to see daylight than when we arrived out at the road and knew it was a straight shot back to Cairns. The final 5 hr slog was tough, but with our pacer poles to support us (because my feet were no longer capable of doing it on their own) we made it.
Coming into the finish line was incredible - seeing friends & family, champagne on the deck - the fact I was no longer walking...
All in all, amazing experience. Would highly recommend it for anyone that has ever asked - how far can I push myself? Overall, the biggest surprise to me was that the challenge was probably equal parts mental, emotional and physical. Think that I am looking forward to doing something that is only physically challenging - might need to run another ultramarathon or something to remind myself why I enjoy adventure racing so much...
Thanks - and apologies if I failed slightly on the brevity front - just so much stuff I would love to share!
Wanted to Thank so many people for their generous contributions to the Heart Foundation - and say that we will keep the donation page open for another week - so get in quick if you want to help share in the spirit - it was definitely rewarding knowing we were helping out (and motivated us knowing that there was an extra $1000 donation in the cards if we finished in the top half - and 11th certainly qualified (hard to believe only 21 of the 47 teams managed to finish ranked - very impressed with the teamwork and tenacity shown by all!))
And we finally managed to come up with a team motto after 700km of discussions:
Adventure Racers Do It...... Longer!
Dave & The BMX Bandits
Revolution Racing Team All Muled Up
Mine, mine, mine
Mule Bar NZ is very happy to announce a whole band of two wheeled Mules. The Mico/All About Plumbing Team are aiming high this season and hopefully with the help of some Mule Bars they will get there!
They are a friendly bunch so if you see them out and about on a ride say hi and if you can keep up to the pace good on ya you probably deserve a Mule Bar.
They are a friendly bunch so if you see them out and about on a ride say hi and if you can keep up to the pace good on ya you probably deserve a Mule Bar.
Revolution Racing
The Team unveiled at Mico Plumbing
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