Gold Rush Adventure Race - Summer Challenge 6 Hour

Another success, Team Baconnaise places third overall and second in division! This race was labeled as a 6 hour race, and the solid performance by Calvin and Bean put them at the finish line at 5:43! The start was an orienteering section through back to the future land (seriously where doc and the DeLorean went back in time). The orienteering involved navigating to checkpoints marked on a map, punching your card, and then punching it to the next checkpoint! It started on a fast clip grabbing checkpoints left and right, but when we found ourselves off the map, we knew we had to make up some time. We started hopping boulders and jumping fences when Calvin shook a fence when preparing to hop it and startled a massive bull unseen through the bushes. This got Calvin moving even faster, and soon Bean and Cal were back on track. After trudging off trail and busting the fastest route we could find we made it back to the bikes in 5th place.

The crew, Josh and Elicia, had all the gear laid out with food and drink ready to go. Where some teams were held up for more than 5 minutes at the transition, J and E had us out of there within a couple minutes. Refuel and Move! We started out on the bike, immediately saw a gnarled dead rattlesnake, to foreshadow how we would feel at the end of this thing. Most riding was on relatively flat fire-trail where Cal can excel, and he did, as he took on the headwind and pulled Bean the majority of the way. A couple wrong turns didn't slow the team down too much as they passed 3 teams along the way and cruised in to the kayak transition just about tied in second.

Again, the crew had all boats, life jackets, and sustenance ready for the kayak leg. Now onto the paddle in second place! We got a good start on the third place team, but with two single kayaks and some time spent grappling for a beverage thrown at mile 3 from the bridge above, we were no match for the faster tandem kayak and 3rd place team. Although close, 4 minutes behind, we weren't able to hold them off at the end.

The race ended with a third place finish, beers with the best crew ever (Judo Josh and Electric Elicia), swimming, and a bbq.

Thanks to the crew and race organizers!
http://www.goldrushar.com/

California Multisport

Team Bacconaise made another appearance at the California Multisport Vail Lake 6/7/09. This race consisted 5-6 mi kayak, 10 mile bike, and 6 miles of trail running!

The kayak was long and after a few minutes of 50 paddlers banging against each other, where it was unclear if people were trying to beat each other off the boats with oars or mistakingly doing it, the packs soon dispersed into one to two hour long tour. After the paddle it was straight to the mountain bike where soaking wet people met a long windy singletrack with sand, ruts, rocks, and wicked downhills. Straight to the run after this, no rest allowed, and the run quickly turned into a trek when we noticed ourselves climbing through thigh deep mud to continue on our trails. Time was made up here as many people were struggling to navigate the steep 25% grade.

Overall, it finished with a cheering crowd 2 hours and 45 min later and a much deserved beer. Bacconaise Bean placed 6th in mens; and the new addition to the team, Katie Frick, finished in 8th for women!