GFR - control collection

Great Forest Rogaine  - one of my favourite OBOP events.  But this year (somehow) Tom got priority to race.  :(  I met  him after the race, swapped the kids into his car, and Clare and I headed out in the dark to collect controls.

This turned into a mighty adventure on a squally night, with a number of wallabies making appearances and a general feeling of eeriness in the deserted forest.  I somehow came off my bike while going at snail's pace; and our lighting systems started to die while in the corner of the forest nearest town.  While you'd think it was reassuring that we were near town, actually we were most concerned as it seemed the most likely place someone dodgy would be hiding!

And nothing beats a hot pie at the service station after a hard night!  The attendant seemed a little surprised at my fleecy trackpants but after a few hours out in the chilly rain, they were gold. 

Whangamata Adventure Race - 12 Hour

Pretty much all of the action of this race happened in the first half an hour.  Taryn and I had two speed demon triathlete/multisporters join us - looking forward to making use of their strength to get me through!  In the pre-race discussion, Tilly's weakness was identified as being extreme sensitivity to cold, so we had a plan to protect her from anything wet. 

I'm not sure then, how half an hour later on a drizzly, cold July day, Tilly ended up being the one holding a rope tied to a kayak crossing a tidal river..... a rope which was about 20m too short and dragged Tilly into the deep water.  AND we hadn't told her that adventure racers dry bag their gear, so all her spare clothes were also wet!!  The disastrous crossing ended with me in an IRB rescue, and the team dead last heading across the mudflats.  After a couple of CPs and growing miserable with cold, we turned back to transition, agreeing that it was best to miss all those points, change, get warm and try to re-set our day. 

Please Sir - taking the kayak, rope, and life jacket is just a hindrance - can't we just swim??

No swimming allowed....... 

After the near-death experience of the start, and writing this blog nearly 12 months later - I remember very little else of the race!  I know my navigation wasn't tight - relying on my growing familiarity in the area.  I remember Taryn's bike light dying and riding alongside with my head on an angle trying to light the path for both of us.  And I remember dreading an urban rogaine to finish the 12 hours - and it turned out to be my favourite leg with lots of fast nav and some mystery activities including a flying fox and pumpkin soup! 

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