Adventure Racing tips?

[HamishS]

Ok, have entered into an Adventure Race in 2wks time up at Glenrock (Newcastle).

Wondering if anyone had any tips ... especially around transition area? Not entering to win rather than just test myself (and my mate) though looking to be fairly competitive.

Have been told that the typical course will be something like:
* Leg 1: 2km trail run
* Leg 2: 10km MTB
* Leg 3: 1km kayak
* Leg 4: 5km MTB
* Leg 5: 5km trail run
* Leg 6: 7km MTB
* Leg 7: Finishing with a 2km kayak.

Questions:
- should I remove clipless pedals and put on flats? thinking that this way I wont have to change shoes to go from bike to run.
- is it best to run a full backpack of water (or can you leave water bottles at the transition zone) esp for bike legs?

Anything else would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Hamish

 

[latheboy]

I've done a couple and they are great fun..

I think flats are the way forward, I have never used clips tho. It takes time to change your shoes and you might have to carry your runners to the next running leg. Make sure you can pedal in your running shoes, i wear Merrell's and find them heaps better than runners.

Carry minimal water, have a bottle on the bike. I carry 1L in a really small pack. And a couple of those energy bars/liquid thingys.

Remember WHERE you put your bike in the transition.... I've seen people running around looking for their bike...

Dont forget to carry a tube and some tools on the bike....

If you get a map, study it till you know it backwards.
Have fun..

 

[gtw]

I stuck a metal carabiner on the front of my shoes, then placed a larger one on the handlebars with velcro tape. I then put some rubber camping o-rings into the handlebar carabiner. Then when I changed shoes, I just clipped the shoes to the handlebar carabiner, and pulled the o-ring around the base of the shoes. Very fast to get on and off, and dont have to remove your pack to attach them.

Having said that, at the top end of competition, you will NOT have time to change shoes. So flats are the way to go if your planning to win - so far as I have seen. But then it you can win by minutes, you can afford the time for clips, which do make a real difference.

Recently I did an event which had 7 transitions. We lost 20 minutes over the race to slow transitions. As the non-clipped rider, it was frustrating to sit waiting for shoes to be swapped and tied. It was more fustrating when shoes went flying our of packs halfway down a hill....!

 

[slowK]

I've done 3 of the Teva series, so only limited experience.

Flat pedals and trail runners the way to go. You don't want to be faffing around changing shoes all the time, and I really, really doubt the small performance advantage of clipless would make up the changeover time.

A MTB Orienteering mapboard that clips on to your handlebars would be VERY useful. (I scored the navigating role, and struggled on with the map in a map case strung around my neck. It flapped around a lot, nearly strangled me a few times, was ridiculously inelegant, but it was cheap.)

Waterproof map case. Some maps are water resistant, but if your map disintegrates then you're stuffed.

A hydration pack that has waistbelt zip pockets is very useful for gels etc.

Best time-saving advice: don't get lost. Navigate carefully and stop and reassess the moment you think "where am I?" rather than ploughing on hoping for the best. One year our team of hacks beat some very buff looking triathletes on very expensive bikes - we definitely were slower and less fit.

Local race rules will dictate whether you can leave water at transition. They often have minimum gear/water carrying rules to comply with. Teva races allowed water etc to be left at transition.

I'd recommend a couple of team members carrying compasses securely attached to something. It's amazing how zip pockets, carabiners and knots can all fail during a race (well, two lost compasses in 3 years for us).

Have fun!

 

[HamishS]

Cheers all,

1st Adventure Race complete and didnt do too badly (seeing as though my team mate was throwing up the night before).

Got through with flat pedals - its been along time since I rode flats and its a whole different ball game!!! Weird.

Biggest time saver for next time:
a) fitness
b) get my mate a new mtb (he was running an old Kmart bike / V brakes with virtually no pads / semi slick tyres which made it interesting on steep decents).

All in all - love it and will be back for more.

 

[DHdreamer]

Awesome, I rediscovered my addiction to mountain biking after doing some Kathmandu Series / Maximum Adventure races with my mates.

Agreed with all said above about flat pedals and runners, and mapboards for the bike. I reckon that being fit and comfortable navigating are the key factors for maximsing the enjoyment of these races.

And it's always fun when you come across across something you've not done before (i.e. river crossings by rope; or rowing dinghies - that was a laugh!)