We did it.

Well, we did it! We arrived on Saturday morning at around 10am, and got checked in. Everything was very well organized, and we received our race kit at noon. Race meeting at 2pm. GPS unit at 3:30. Countdown, and we're off! We actually ran to our canoes, and then our team (team 31) led the pack to the water. Our first canoe was a couple hours, on the glimmering Ottawa River, on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon. Our first transition was from canoe to bike. As we pulled the canoe out of the water we were met with 'paparazzi' cameramen trying to get close-up - a little distracting, but maybe we're in the big leagues? Anyway Elfrieda and the support gang were there waiting for us, and we made the transition easily. We set off on the bike. Two or three monster hills later, we hit the first check point, where we clipped our tag. At this point we had a decision - go west along the hydro line, which we knew for sure would eventually hit a road, or go back and see if we could find a trail heading north. We went for the former, which proved to be the wrong decision. But we stuck with it, and 4 hours later, after taking our bikes through the thickest underbrush I have ever seen, we came out on the road. At this point, we were out of the running for the race – most of the other teams had finished that section 2 hours earlier. Thanks to the GPS tracker, the organizers knew exactly where we were, and at 2:30 am, they met us at the road junction just as we came out. Thankfully, they were willing to let us keep racing, as we wanted to continue to test our skill. So, after a fun ride in a Landrover (They sponsored the race, b/c there is a Landrover Experience facility near Montebello) we were dropped off to start the canoe portion. We finished the canoe section in record time, as the sun rose on a red sky. The rain started just as we pulled up to the dock. Another transition, this time to hiking gear, and we were off again. We had a zip line across a river, which was nice and fun - a little nerve-wracking in the rain, but fine. Other teams were there with us, and everyone was still go go go. We then hiked around for another 6 hours. It rained, but we hiked to the top of a beautiful lookout. We picked up 1 of the 4 checkpoints on this section. The others proved too challenging for us to find. We decided to pack it in at about 1:30 and it took another half hour or so to find our way out. We were met by our still-happy support crew, and we did one final transition, to the bike. We biked the last 16 km from the park back down to the Montebello hotel, on a spectacularly sunny Sunday afternoon. We rode through the finish gate at about 3:51, just 10 minutes shy of the full 24 hours! After a hot shower and a very nice buffet dinner put on by the incomparable Fairmont folks, we headed back to Ottawa. I was in bed by 9pm.

So - would I do it again? Yes.

I learned a lot, (mostly that I still have a lot to learn) but I would, and will, do it again. In fact I met up with some folks from the race at a local orienteering meet two days later, and we swapped stories. We had our problems, but it was clear that everybody else had problems too! Other teams had people drop out, people pass out(!), and also got very lost. Many teams missed checkpoints. So if there's one thing to learn, it's to keep going. And work on your skill level.

I spoke with two people who found a couple of the checkpoints we couldn't find, and they said they did it strictly on orienteering principles: get to a known point, set a bearing very carefully, and walk the distance, also very carefully. They popped out about 20 ft from the checkpoint. So I know it can be done.

So I will post some more photos, but you can also go to www.totalphoto.ca and plug in our team number 31. You get about 100 photos!

Special thanks to our support team for toughing it out. Blake, Elfrieda and Darryl, THANK YOU. We didn't know what we were getting you into, and you guys did an amazing job.

Thanks also to all our supporters! We know a lot of us have been touched by cancer, so this was a meaningful experience for us all. We estimate we have raised near $1600 – Thank you!

I'll keep this blog up, as a virtual record. If we do anything more in the adventure racing front, we'll post it here.

Take care, and ADVENTURE ON!

Tracy
Just Add Water

Less than two days to go - Start at 4:00 pm Saturday.

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Quest for a Cure Adventure Race - 120 km of hiking, biking, rappelling and canoeing around Montebello QC. We will start from the Fairmont Chateau Montebello at 4pm Saturday. The ACC Ottawa team "Just Add Water" - Team JAW - comprises Paul McDonough, Tracy Ross, Lucy Dorman and Glen Ashford. And there's the crazy support team - Darrel Newman, Hai Pham, Blake and Elfrieda Bock. We are racing against 10 other teams.

A few last minute notes:

**GPS Tracking : I think the tracking portal will be here (if not it will be somewhere on the Quest site).

**Photos will be posted online during the race - visit Total Photo here here.

**Thanks to everyone who has supported our cause thus far. We have raised over $1000 for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. Absolutely fantastic.

Now all we need are your good vibes. It's finally here!

Man(and Woman)Tracker

This just in - the 24 hour race will also have GPS live tracking!

Not to be confused with Mantracker, the popular TV show, now you will be able to follow the progress of Just Add Water (Team JAW) from the comfort of your own laptop! We will look like a little coloured dot on a satellite photo, and you will hopefully see our progress via a colourful animated line. You can follow the other teams too.

We may not know where we are, but you will!


More details to follow, but in the meantime, you can check out the tracking log from last year's 48 hour race here.
GPS tracking, YAY!

Time and Distance

This race is a big committment, and we've lost a couple racers along the way. Mel's work got in the way (it's audit time!) and Hai's work and (serious) play got in the way. But fortunately, we have gained two new racers, which is great. So now racing are Paul, me (Tracy), Lucy, and Glenn (see photo at left). Support will include Elfreida and Darrel, and Blake and Hai.


Today we fought the blackflies and mosquitos, and hiked from Lusk Falls, to the road at the foot of Western Hut.Total about 13km, not including the ups and downs. It took us 6.25 hrs. Rappelled down Farm rock. A little bit of bushwhacking, but mostly on trails. (Wait - did I say trails? Sorry, I meant swampy indentations in the ground. - it was wet! )

p.s. We're at 21 days to go now, three weeks. whahoo!!

Meat offer raises Money

Many thanks to everyone who made it out to the BBQ yesterday. And thanks to Paul for hosting, and doing the grilling! Together, we raised a whopping $300 to the ORCF! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Things that go Bump in the night

Our first overnight adventure, this Victoria Day weekend, was meant as a practice run, to try out gear, food, and our endurance conditioning. Our plan was to leave Saturday evening and go until Sunday at around noon, around 20 hours. The plan was to start at 4pm, hike 10 hrs until around 2 am, then bike 4 hrs until around 7, and then canoe another 4 hrs until noon.

In the end we didn't hit those targets, but we definitely experienced a good test of our abilities and endurance.

We left from Two Pines, on the Eardley-Masham road, in the western end of Gatineau park. We hiked 13km on a lesser-known but somewhat marked trail to the Fire Tower, arriving at 11pm. We did more hiking, until about 2:30am.

On the way, we caught the eastern edge of a big thunderstorm heading northeast. Lightning, thunder, and HAIL, oh yes, hail. But we were rewarded with a magnificent view (see photo) at about 8:30 pm. Not only did we see the Second Rainbow, outside the first, but we saw both ends of the rainbow, AND the exact location of the southern end. (btw I'll give away the Pot of Gold to the highest bidder at our BBQ next weekend ;-)

After the hike, we picked up the bikes and drove to P10, where we started out on the #1 trail, also known as Ridge Road. It's a wide trail with some rocks and sometimes gravel. A few hills. It was by then 6:00 am, and the sun was coming up on a beautiful morning. We had a fun ride for 1.5 hrs, and we could have easily gone longer, but we didn't want to be late for meeting Hai, who was to join us for the canoe portion.

Hai brought Paul and I coffee, for which we are very, very, very, grateful. (I will probably bring chocolate covered coffee beans for the race, in order to maintain a pleasant demeanor when my 'coffee monster' wakes up at 7am). We drove up to Meech lake, and got out the canoes. We canoed from 9-11:30, about 2.5 hrs, and about two laps of the lake.

So we all learned a lot from this. I won't speak for Paul or Lucy, but here are a few of the things I learned.

-FOOD: I never got too hungry, consuming about 2000 calories, mostly in power bars, gels, some Cheetos, cookies, and a couple meal replacement shakes. It's important to have these handy so you can grab something on the go.

-BRAINFOOD: I need to print out the all the words to familiar songs like - American Pie, Yellow Submarine, They call me Mellow Yellow, and more. Singing helps pass the time and keep the bears away, but my teammates are going to shoot me if I don't learn all the words.

-WATER: I didn't even get through all of my 2L water bladder in my pack.

-GEAR: We have to try to find a system to hit the right clothing combinations when we leave the Transition point, or it slows the team down when one or two have to stop and change on the trail. (Not to mention that stopping on the trail is a great opportunity for the bugs to feast on your flesh)

-TRANSITIONS: We need to work on speeding up our transitions. Not including the drives, i think our transitions were at least 40 min each. That's probably too much, and we will have to work hard to cut those down to 25 min each.

-ENDURANCE CONDITIONING: Again, I won't speak for Paul or Lucy, but while I was tired, I wasn't incapacitated. My muscles still worked, and I could have kept going. That being said, we didn't undertake a major test of our brains after 20 hours awake, so that is still somewhat in question.

It's a challenge for sure, and that's what we're in this for.

I woke up this morning, (after a 15hr sleep) to another email from a friend who has donated to our fund to raise money for the ORCF.

Thanks again everyone!

p.s. Don't forget our BBQ on Saturday May 24. Details in the post below. EVERYONE IS INVITED! Send us an email (oomla@yahoo.ca) if you plan to join us.

Support - and Fundraising/Thank You BBQ

No, I’m not talking about Athletic Support, although we are all learning the importance of good underwear. I’m more talking about what Adventurers simply call ‘Support,’ which is a catch-all for someone with a car who is thinking of you through the race, or is willing to meet you whereever you end up, put some food in front of you, cart your gear around, drive you someplace if necessary, and generally look out for you. Mother’s day on Sunday brought the whole idea of Support into vivid relief. The guys will cringe, but truly, Mothering is a crucially important part of the race.

During the race, Blake, Darrel and Elfreida are in place as Support. Also, Hai, who was originally going to be one of the racers, will now be taking on a Support role. Lucy, who was support, is moving into the role of Racer. We also have some special support this coming weekend, as we attempt a mock race in Gatineau Park from Saturday to Sunday. I am very pleased to report that it looks like Alfrieda will meet us after the hike (probably 2am) and shuttle us to the bikes. The bikes will be stored at the house of one of Paul’s friends - more support! And we cannot forget everyone who has contributed funds to OSRF in support of our Race. Thank you! There’s simply no way we could do this without everyone’s support, so a very sincere Thank You to you all.

This just in: Thousands of people are suffering from recent disasters in Myanmar and China. If you would like to support the relief effort by the Canadian Red Cross, visit http://www.redcross.ca/


Fundraising/Thank You BBQ – May 24, 2008

Mark your calendar!!!!!
Just Add Water, the adventure racing team, is holding a BBQ on May 24 to thank all those who have donated so far and to help us reach our fundraising goal of $2000.00. We will be serving Burgers and Hot Dogs, Veggie ones too. There will be a 50/50 draw and all other kinds of cool stuff. All the proceeds will be going to the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. There will also be a surprise benefit to donating to the team that evening……come out and see.
Later in the evening we will be playing an appropriate extreme movie on the big screen. Come on out and be social!!

The Info you need:

Where: 1142 Des Forets Ave. Orleans,
When: May 24, 2008 anytime after 5:00pm
What: - Bring your own drinks and a Lawn Chair
- Burgers and Hot Dogs will be provided, Veggie ones too
- Ice and coolers will available for your use.
- Paper plates will be used, if you want to be more environmentally friendly bring your favorite re-usable camp plate
- Youngsters are welcome!!!

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Training log:

Last Tuesday May 6 we got to spend some time learning rope stuff with Hai. Stay tuned, because we are going rappelling for sure tomorrow (Tuesday.)

Saturday May 10 – 25 kilometers canoeing, 6.4 km/hr avg. Breathtakingly calm. We were the only humans on the lake. The loons were hanging out with us though, always just ahead, giving us a good sideways look and then heading down for a dive. There were lots of other birds using the lake as a hangout too.

Sunday, May 11 – Lucy went running and I went orienteering. I did a course that was too challenging, and only completed part of the race. In the meantime, saw lots of wildflowers (red and white trilliums, plus little yellow, pink, and blue flowers), two woodpeckers, a hawk, two blue jays and a garter snake. Also saw a stunning scene, of dappled sunlight falling through the tree canopy onto a gently sloping wooded hill, shaped exactly like an amphitheatre. Down below, where the stage would be, a real burbling brook!

Olfactory Fiesta - it's Spring!

Stick your nose outside these days, near anything other than a large highway, and you're bound to experience a big party of scents. Sweet wet leaves left over from last fall, pongy bog, maybe even a waft of smoky fireplace. People probably think i'm a snob because i've always got my nose up in the air.

But it was nose to the grindstone this Saturday, as we all got together for a mountain biking day in the park. We stayed on the Gatineau parkway, and did two laps from P10, totalling about 50 kilometres. Practiced drafting a bit, which could come in handy when we're exhausted. Max speed was 56km/hr on the downhill, with average speed around 17km/hr.

We didn't look like this:


But those downhills are exhilarating, and once you make it uphill you are amazed at the accomplishment. Everyone is psyched up to do more training. I'm off to put extra padding on my shorts.





Next up, Rappelling lessons with Hai - stay tuned!

Biking in a 30km Head Wind

Went for a ride last night with Lucy. We went along the river from my place to the Rockcliff Canoe Club. It was about 15km each way. On the way out we had to fight a 30km head wind, it felt much like we were going up hill the whole distance. Our average speed out was 18.5km/hr. On the way back along the same route it was 24km/hr. A tail wind makes a huge difference.

Lucy just bought a new mountain bike and I am green with envy!!! Nice bike Lucy!!!

Biking again this Saturday. Will keep you posted.

Cheers.

The First Big One - 30km Gatineau Park Hike

This is my first time posting so here goes........

So yesterday, Saturday April 25, Hai, Lucy and I (Paul) did a 30km hike across Gatineau Park. We started the day at Two Pines on the Eardley Mashame road and hiked to P7. The hike took a total of 10hrs. I would like to shorten that down to 8 or 9hrs by the end of our training.

The first part was off trail hiking with some navigation. (Darrel, thanks for the maps!!) Once we reached the fire tower it was pretty clear which direction we should take, Ridge Road is well traveled and well marked. We didn't see many people along the way. One group of Scouts and two other couples. However we did see three deer corpses along the way.

I can't speak for the others but today I am sore, the knees especially. Today (Sunday) we decided to do our own thing. Hai went climbing, Lucy went for an 18km run (crazy) and I did the usual 30km bike ride along the river. My hope is that by the day of the race walking, biking and paddling 30km is not a big deal.

Pictures to Fallow.....

Thanks to all who have donated!!!

Cheers,

Paul

Wolf Trail

The Wolf Trail in the Gatineau - done! See other people's descriptions, here, here, and here. Tawadina Lookout is 335 meters high and Mahingan Lookout is about 380 meters high. Took us about 3 hrs, with lots of pauses to clambor across creeks. Wet socks, wet boots, ah. Good thing i invested in these hiking poles, they made things a lot more sturdy. We were on snowshoes for the most part.

I think the most fascinating bit was the drive in to parking lot P13, along Chemin Meech lake. Driving right along the shore, one is outright invited to oogle the cottages built before 1938, when the park was established.

But where did the infamous Meech lake (non)accord negotiations happen? There were two giant houses on two high cliffs overlooking the lake, one of which is the Wilson House, a conference centre for the Cabinet. Does anyone know?

Right! off to bed.

Order v. Chaos

Theories abound during our many discussions, about the order in which we'll have to perform our activities during the Quest for A Cure. It's very interesting to see how things played out last year, here. In terms of order it was Run-Bike-Canoe-Ascent/Zipline-Orienteering/Rappel-Canoe/(swim?). Interesting that it looks like the biggest hangup wasn't the bike or canoe, but the Ascent/Zip line and the Orienteering/Rappel, at about 3-5hrs (in one case nearly 12 hrs, ouch!).

Training log:
Yesterday we did a 9k snowshoe here. Or rather a little west of here, between Lac Brown and Chemin Carman. (I can't get it to centre there on this map, but you can grab the map and see what's to the west of it.
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Welcome to Just Add Water - Team JAW

What: http://www.questforacure.ca/24info.html
Who : Paul, Hai, Tracy, Mel, Lucy, Darrel and Blake = "Just Add Water - Team JAW"

Course: 120km, 24 hours starting at 16:00 (4pm) Saturday June 21st. Race elements include Mountain Biking, Hiking, Orienteering, Canoeing, Rappelling, Zip-Lines. UTM grid for all navigation. Just map and compass. No GPS allowed.

So far, that's all we know. Course details won't be released until 12 noon on race day. Check-in and race start will be located at the Fairmont Chateau Montebello, so at least we start in style, anyway.

Our goals are to have fun, and try to finish the race. None of us has ever done a full 24 hour adventure race before, but we're keen to try.

So we're training - kind of. We do something on Wednesday nights, and something on Sundays. So far we've clocked approx 5 km last Wednesday evening (2.5 hrs), and approx 8 km snowshoe/hike on Sunday (4 hrs). I know I know, we've got a lot of training ahead of us!

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