Bruce Peninsula MultiSport Race
What began as an idea in March
developed to the events of this past weekend.
I was skyping with my sister in
Holland, and she was anticipating her time in Canada this summer and
dreaming of all that she wanted to accomplish during that time. Doing
an adventure type race was on the list of dreams, so we went online
(which we technically already were since we were skyping) and found
out the options.
As things came together it looked like
the family camping weekend coincided nicely with a race that was
happening in the same area.
So we signed up as “Sisters United”
tandem team to do a 25 km race which included paddling a canoe for
about 5 km, riding mountain bikes over 15 km (primarily double
track), and running the Bruce trail for about 5 km.
My sister got herself injured and I was
left with her race dream and no team mate.
Fortunately I had a friend who was
super up for the challenge of racing with me.
My uncertainties of how well we would
work as a team were put to rest on race day.It was a gorgeous
Saturday morning for the race, and I drove down from the campsite in
the early hours with my parents kevlar canoe on the roof of my car
and a rented mountain bike to race on in the trunk.
My injured sister came along to
volunteer and be a part of the action, so I had some company for the
drive to Wiarton.
It felt good to be out and have
something active to do again.
I'll admit, I haven't really done much,
if any, canoeing since the adventure race I did back in 2011.
A little sad, but just not something I
am really passionate about.
My team mate, Nicola, was a good
compliment since she, with her upper body strength, skills and
excitement for the canoe portion really helped get me through that
bit.
I was hurting by the time the paddle
section of the race was done and happy to move on to the next
section: Biking.
It was rough tranisitioning my body
from the exertion of canoeing and lugging the canoe to a spot on the
grass and then, right off having to bike up a hill on a mountain bike
that I was not used to riding. (Oh yeah, did I mention I don't really
have much mountain bike experience at all?!)
Such a “backwoods” triathlon!! (we
had to carry a bunch of first aid supplies, maps and such the entire
race... just in case!)
I was breathing really heavy and felt
like I was holding my team mate back.
She was super encouraging though which
helped.
We went through woods and over rocks
and a few fallen trees (one of which I totally did and endo on with
the bike landing on top of me... humbling).
It took a while for me to feel
sufficiently recovered to be able to actually feel like I could do
this thing.
Both Nicola and I seem to have a
similar competitive streak in us that refuses to let up despite how
we feel. I took the lead as we made our way back to the same
transition area (whipping down the hill we had to ride up earlier).
Then it was on to the run portion.
Nicola was dreading this, since she
doesn't run much, so I took it on to encourage and be strong for her
so we could finish well as a team.
\I was thankful it wasn't a race
requiring orientation. We could just follow hot pink flags marking
the way.
It wasn't a super long race, but
intense!
We were both struggling to hold it
together as we neared the finish. We crossed the line together.
Then it was all over. Cool experience.
The 100 km race would have been more than a bit more draining.
I estimated we were somewhere in the
top 3 for teams racing, turns out that we were the first tandem team!! Way to beat the boys! (There were 19 teams total)
All in all a super cool experience for all of us, and a great way to wrap up a week of camping doing something active and local to where we were!
Way to go you two!! :)
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