Adventure Racing August 13, 2009
Posted by AR Guide in Adventure Racing, Adventure Recreation, ar guide, extreme sports.Tags: Adventure Racing, Gilmore Adventure Race, multisport, Outdoor Adventure
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I just read a new article on Adventure Racing and thought I would pass it along.
Adventure Racing Tidbits January 16, 2009
Posted by AR Guide in Adventure Racing, Adventure Recreation, Just Stuff, extreme sports.Tags: adventure race, Adventure Racing, Adventure Recreation, AR, fitness, Gilmore Adventure Race, multisport, orienteering, Outdoor Adventure, Primal Quest
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Here is a quick overview of the History of Adventure Racing, that I found just tag surfing this today. While it only really covers the big expedition events, it is a decent primmer.
Wikipedia has a much more extensive article about AR, and it even has a link to a race that I am the director of, the Gilmore Adventure Race. Speaking of Wiki, we all know not to trust it as a reliable source right? That is because anyone can go onto it and change info at any time…so reading from it is more like saying, “Someon told me……” Lots of good info in Wiki, just use other sources to verify it!
Also found this article called Why I love Adventure Racing, and You Should Too! This is a re-publication of an article that world class adventure racer and all around AR stud Ian Adamson wrote a while back.
Gilmore AR was a Sweet Success! September 23, 2008
Posted by AR Guide in Adventure Racing, Adventure Recreation, Mountain Biking, orienteering.Tags: adventure race, Gilmore Adventure Race, Prescott
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I just finished putting on the 7th Annual Gilmore Adventure Race this last weekend, and boy oh boy was it awesome! The weather was great and the scenery was stupendous!
We had over 185 racers compete in two different length courses.
The short course was 3 miles of trekking, followed by 10 miles of mountain biking (some teams turned this into 12 or 13), and there were 2 mystery events thrown into the mix too. Then after that they were given a map with 13 orienteering points marked on it and told to find as many as they could before their 2:00pm cut off. So total distance for short coursers was between 13 and 18 miles!
The long course was 4.5 miles of trekking, followed by 22 miles of mountain biking (1mile of which was a tough hike-a-bike down a narrow rocky canyon), and they also had the 2 mystery events. Then they were given a the nav map with 13 orienteering points marked on it and told to find as many as they could before their 3:00pm cut off. So total distance for short coursers was between 27 and 32 miles!
At the beginning of this post I said “I” just finished putting on the race……well, I was the race director, but there is NO WAY that the event could have gone off without the unbelievable efforts of our awesome volunteers! They are really the ones that put on the race, I just put it and them together. Thank you guys!
The vibe at this year’s race was really great. Many racers brought their families and friends to cheer them on, so we had lots of people and lots of fun. I didn’t expect so many people however, and we ran out of food and snacks.
Here are just a few photos that will be available to view on the GAR web site as soon as I get around to putting them up there!
The GAR is Almost Here! September 14, 2008
Posted by AR Guide in Adventure Racing, Adventure Recreation, Mountain Biking.Tags: AR, Gilmore Adventure Race, hiking, mountain bike, orienteering, Prescott, trekking
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Less than a week now to the Gilmore Adventure Race near Prescott, Arizona. Kent and Bob and I did a mountain bike ride on the short course yesterday, and everything is looking good.
Teams are coming from all over the state and southern California to be a part in the what has become the largest (in attendance) and longest running (in years) adventure race in Arizona.
They will begin to arrive on Friday about mid-day, by Saturday at sunrise, we will have almost 200 people revved up and ready to go.
This year’s event will send teams of 2 or 3 persons out into the mountains where they will mountain bike, trek, hike, complete mystery events and finish up with a freestyle navigation leg that is very similar to an orienteering meet.
The weather gurus (yeah right!) are predicting perfect weather for the day.
I can’t wait!
Walk with the Dog August 19, 2008
Posted by AR Guide in Adventure Recreation, Day Hiking.Tags: day hike, Gilmore Adventure Race, Prescott, tarantula
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Tracie and I took our dog out on a day hike yesterday afternoon. Because we were checking points for the upcoming Gilmore Adventure Race, I can’t divulge the location of our hike yet.
It was still pretty warm at 84° with a bright blue sky littered with big fluffy clouds that caused the humidity to be fairly high as well. The temp and humidity made the sweat factor pretty high.
Oddly enough, we didn’t see anyone on the trails. We did see a large tarantula though!
We didn’t go all that far, including the out-and-back that I did to one of the points while Tracie relaxed under a tree with the book she is currently reading, the total was only about 3.5 miles.
What a great way to spend an afternoon with the one you love!
Making Sure the Course Works August 14, 2008
Posted by AR Guide in Adventure Racing, Adventure Recreation, Mountain Biking.Tags: AR, Arizona, Gilmore Adventure Race, Mountain Biking, Prescott
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Yesterday evening Kent and I decided to ride part of the mountain biking leg on the long course for the upcoming Gilmore Adventure Race. Despite all the recent rains and the surplus of vegetation that has popped up because of it, for the most part the course was in very ridable shape.
In fact, I worry that maybe some of the hard core adventure racers will think that maybe it is too easy. We keep the location and course info secret until just days before the event, so am I giving away too much information with this story? Or maybe I am providing a little misdirection?…..hmmm
Now is the time in the preparation for the race that I have to start looking for volunteers, so if you are within driving distance of Prescott, and you want to lend a hand, just let me know!
This will be the biggest race yet in the 7 year history of the GAR. We are expecting approx. 75 teams to compete. It looks like it will be almost half and half when it comes to long or short course, but I can tell you this, both length courses will offer up some challenging terrain and navigation.
Granite Basin was Gorgeous Today July 23, 2008
Posted by AR Guide in Adventure Racing, Adventure Recreation, Mountain Biking.Tags: Adventure Racing, AR, Gilmore Adventure Race, Granite Basin, Mountain Biking, mtb, trails
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Ray and I were the only two to show up to ride this evening. Maybe because today was so hot, maybe because people were on vacation….who knows?
We went up the 349 today. This is a trail that I have ridden down about 98% of the time, and hardly ever gone up. It was really beautiful today, plenty of shade and because we weren’t bombing down it (yet) we had plenty of time to see things that are usually just a blur. There are some big old ponderosa pine trees in there! On the way up, Ray and I were talking about Adventure Racing, and I told him about the Gilmore Adventure Race. He thinks he wants to get a team into it this year! I told him to hurry though, as it is almost sold out for 2008.
When we reached the pavement we went down the 351 (lots of fun) to the Cayuse area. Then we chugged up the hill to the 2 gates. Luckily it was getting a little cooler by then. We absolutely bombed the “10 jumps” trail today! What a gas! From there we headed back towards the 351 and down towards the lake. Part way down there is a little social trail that cuts over to near the camp host’s spot. We headed across it and then started our climb back up the 350.
The 350 is always a pleasure because it is a “no horses” trail, which means that it is not torn up by horse hooves, and is smooth as silk. Ray was climbing like a mountain goat, and I could feel myself running low on fuel. We took the turn onto the 349 heading west (today was the first time I have ever actually made that climbing turn without dabbing). As we topped out before the big downhill, we admired the view of Granite Mountain and figured that the mountain lions that live on it have it made. What a great habitat.
Ray and I bombed the 349 all the way to where it comes up over a little saddle facing west again. That has got to be one of the funnest rides around, swoopy, and narrow with lots of ways you could easily blow a turn and end up in the pine needles 50 down an embankment.
From there, we played Michaels “coasting game” again. Ray made all the right turns this time, I guess I just forgot to tell him not to pedal until you come to a complete stop…..that is the point, to see how far you can coast. Michael’s record still stands. I had a real chance at it, as I was carrying lots of speed into the last corner, but I started to wash out and had to dab to save it, thus blowing my momentum.
From there, we just road the pavement back around to the cars. Great ride today, thanks Ray!
Stats:
- distance 10.49 miles
- total riding time 1hr 8min
- avg speed 9.2 mph
Gilmore Adventure Race is Only 2 Months Away July 17, 2008
Posted by AR Guide in Adventure Racing, Adventure Recreation.Tags: Adventure Racing, Gilmore Adventure Race, Outdoor Adventure
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I will have to be spending some of my time out on the course of the Gilmore Adventure Race in the next few weeks, so my blogs might be a little cryptic.
Because we don’t release the event location until 4 days prior to the race, I will have to make sure that my blogs don’t give anything about the GAR away. I will continue to blog about my outdoor adventures, but try to be vague enough so that racers don’t figure out where I have been……yes, they are like that! I have had racers try and trick me into divulging the location in the past, so I know that they will often go to great lengths in order to know the location in time enough to either get out and scout it, or spend many hours on the internet pouring over maps and aerial photos.
I will tell you all this much. This year, as always, it will be a lot of fun!
