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X-Adventure Raid Adventure Race qualifier in Bend, Oregon USA
-Mountaineering to Mountain Bike-
Copyright© 2004 by Robert Speik. All Rights Reserved.
An adventure story unfolds
The Bulletin
By Mark Morical
Published: June 13, 2004
Justin Wadsworth knew what to expect during the first day of the X-adventure Raid Series event in Central Oregon on Saturday.
But sometimes in adventure racing, just knowing is not enough.
The 150-mile, multi-sport race began with an ascent and descent of Mount
Bachelor on foot, and shortly before the 6 a.m. start near the Pine-Marten
chairlift, Wadsworth said the descent would be "a wicked-fast downhill."
He also predicted that the mountain bike from Edison Sno-Park to Crane Prairie
Reservoir would be where "some mistakes and wrong turns would be made."
He just didn't know how the "wicked-fast downhill" would affect his
Montrail-Revo team, and that it would be one of the teams to take a wrong turn
during the first bike leg of 22.5 miles.
"We had a lot of dramas," said Wadsworth's Australian teammate John Jacoby.
Perhaps the biggest drama befell Jacoby himself. As the team began its descent
down the backside of Bachelor, Jacoby dropped his pack and dove for it, sliding
800 feet down the icy surface. He suffered numerous ice burns on his hands and
legs from the rough terrain, but, like a true adventure racer, he didn't miss a
beat.
"There's no stopping there," said Jacoby, lying down with his legs bandaged
during a break after the first canoe leg of the day. "There's no one there to
help you."
As for the bike leg, Wadsworth said they took a trail that was overgrown with
plants and brush and obstructed by logs.
"We were carrying our bikes and pushing them through manzanita," Wadsworth said.
"We lost maybe 20 minutes."
Many other teams suffered the same setback.
But they all forged ahead, making a 4.4-mile canoe trip across Crane Prairie
Reservoir, a 10.6-mile in-line skate along Cascade Lakes Highway, followed by
another canoe segment of 12.2 miles into Wickiup Reservoir.
The stage race continued with a 19.4-mile mountain bike around Wickiup Reservoir
from North Davis Creek to North Twin Lake Road. From there, the teams made a
trek on foot to Fall River Airstrip, where they are camped for the night.
Most teams are made up of three males and one female, with three athletes
competing at a time and one competitor sitting out of each stage.
As of 7 p.m. Saturday (with a mountain bike stage and a running stage remaining)
Team Salomon Suisse of Switzerland held the lead, followed by Nike ACG/Balance
Bar of the United States, Ertips Salomon of France, Les Arcs-Quechua of France
and Spie-The North Face of France. Team Montrail-Revo was sixth, and FootZone
Bend was 22nd.
"Wadsworth is one to watch," said Michael Tobin of Team Nike ACG/Balance Bar.
"Knowing the area is a big help. Physically, our teams are pretty close. So much
could happen."
Pete Swenson of Team Go Lite/Timberland, was just happy to be competing in Bend.
Swenson, who lives in Boulder, Colo., was raised in Corvallis, but moved away
when he was 12.
"I'd come here every weekend when I was growing up, so for me, it's kind of like
coming home," Swenson said. "We're definitely lucky to be here. I've got to hand
it to the organizers. They could have picked anywhere in the U.S. and they
picked Bend. This is a world-class venue."
Angelina Salerno of Team Go Heavily was also thrilled to compete in her home
town of Bend, although she did suffer a mishap while trekking down Kwolh Butte
during the second stage of the race.
"We were going down the butte on our butts and I couldn't stop," Salerno said.
"I eventually did stop with the help of a tree. My teammates said they were
laughing at me. I was really glad when that section was over with.
"But after the first two sections I kind of got in a rhythm. You just have to
keep going, and keep thinking, 'I gotta get through this, and then I'll get to
rest.'"
With that same attitude, Team Montrail-Revo was able to forget about its shaky
start and come through with a solid performance in the in-line skating stage.
Wadsworth — connected by a line to his teammates — literally pulled his team
members to a higher spot in the standings during the stage.
"We got on a good pace right from the get-go," Wadsworth said. "I don't think a
word was said the whole 40 minutes between any of us."
In-line skating is a strong event for Wadsworth, a former Olympian in
cross-country skiing.
"Justin was a stud on the skating," Jacoby said. "He just pulled us all along. I
was doing about half the amount of work."
Team Montrail-Revo hopes to continue on a fast pace as the Raid event gets back
underway today at 5 a.m. Teams will start with a 17.5-mile mountain bike north
from Fall River Airstrip to Wanoga Car Park, where they will strap on their
in-line skates and head to Mount Bachelor.
From there, teams will head out on foot to Skyliners Sno-Park. Along this stage,
teams will stop at Tumalo Falls (around 10 or 11 a.m.) for some rope rappelling
down cliffs. From Skyliners Sno-Park, teams will mountain bike on single track
trails and down to to the finish line at Bend's Les Schwab Amphitheater. The
first teams are expected to finish around 3 p.m.
The Raid event here in Central Oregon — which features 45 teams from 14
countries — is the North American qualifier for the X-adventure Raid Series
World Championship, scheduled for November and December in Argentina.
#######
We should all subscribe!
TraditionalMountaineering folks thank
the X-Adventure Raid folks for the opportunity to assist this fine weekend of world
class aerobic sport. --Webmeister.
Read more . . .
News
of the X-Adventure Raid World qualifier in Bend, Oregon USA
Map of the Raid adventure race course for 2004
Broadband only
Race events in Bend, OR
Photos of the 2004 Pole Pedal Paddle race
transitions
Pole Pedal Paddle
2004 results by age group
Pole Pedal Paddle race changes in 2004
Pole Pedal Paddle 2003 race results
Pole Pedal Paddle 2002
Snowshoe Shuffle comes to
Bend, Oregon
Atta Boy 300 dog sled race start and finish from Mt. Bachelor
Bend Adventure
Racing Klub - The Wild Juniper Berry Race
Annual race to the
top of Pilot Butte
Pilot Butte - hike and run to the
summit
Cascade Cycling Classic 2002
Bouldering
gets a handhold at Smith Rock
ABS Contest night at InClimb Gym
Five Sisters Marathon
CORK, Central Oregon Running Klub plays in The Badlands
Traditional Mountaineering R & R in Central Oregon
Rafting class 3 on the Deschutes
River
Winterfest in Bend, Oregon
Bend's Tower Theater restored to 1940s
elegance
A snowshoe adventure with Bend
Parks and Recreation
Bend's Wednesday market near the
Deschutes River in Drake Park
Central Oregon's High Desert Museum
in Bend
Wolves seen at the Museum!
Bend Log Jam celebrates the opening of the Deschutes southern crossing bridge
Bend's southern crossing
bridge
The Beach Boys concert in Bend Oregon, Summer 2003
Cascade Music Festival in
Drake Park, Bend Oregon
Misty River Band plays a free
concert next to the Deschutes River
Riverfest boat-demo in Bend Oregon
Earth Day in
Bend, Oregon
Customer
appreciation night at a local store
Nordic
Club's fall ski swap
Sustainable
living expo in Bend
Fall festival in Bend
Joan Baez concert at the Athletic Club of Bend
Sunriver
Resort exotic car rally
Munch-n-Music
R & R in Bend
• Alpine Mountaineering: This is the central interest of TraditionalMountaineering.
This tradition-based sport includes: on and off trail hiking, scrambling, light weight wilderness
backpacking,
Leave-No-Trace camping and bivouacking, as well as technical travel and mountaineering on snow, rock and ice,
glacier travel, technical rock climbing and summitting peaks.
• Related Activities: Alpine Mountaineering is an
aerobic sport.
It includes jogging, running, hiking the hills, backpacking,
climbing, mountain biking, back country skiing, snowshoeing, telemark skiing and
similar sports all acting together to improve aerobic capacity, strength,
balance and athleticism.
