Adventure Racing

Greg and I got involved in adventure racing shortly after we met.  I have done a few and Greg has now done several races, including Untamed New England.  Adventure racing involves map and compass navigation.  Usually, races include trekking, mountain biking, and paddling.

Bitter Pill 2010

This weekend, Ian and I completed the Wildlands Adventure Challenge in Orland, Maine.  This race was organized by Strong Machine Adventure Racing and we are lucky that this race is basically held in our backyard.  We have also participated in their Maine Summer Adventure Race in Jefferson which was a blast.

 Ian's first Race - Maine Summer Adventure Race 2017

Finishing his first adventure race just after turning 4

This was our second time doing this 3 hour beginner race.  Last year, Ian was the only child participating.  He was only 5 and I did a lot of the paddling on my own and had to piggyback him several times.  We had a blast and he wanted to do it again.

Just finished Wildlands 2018 (5 years old)

Top of Great Pond Mountain looking for checkpoints
Wildlands 2018

This year's race had a few more teams than last year and we were excited that there were four other children participating.  We began with the paddle section.  Adventure racing involves some strategy and not all of the checkpoints are mandatory.  I knew that Ian was likely to get tired on the trekking (mostly uphill) and would definitely be slower on his six-year-old legs, so we went for all but one checkpoint on the paddle.  This would allow him to take as many breaks as needed while still allowing up to make progress through the course.  Ian was a rockstar!  He paddled for much of the hour and nimbly hopped in and out of the boat to punch the card.

Just before the start Wildlands 2019

Just off the water headed for the trek
Wildlands 2019

Once off the water, we headed out for the trekking section.  The first checkpoint that we went for was in a stream.  This one ate up a lot of our time as it was MUCH further than I expected it to be and the rocks in the streambed, as well as the leaves on the steep sides, were very slippery.  We thought about turning back on this one, then we finally saw it.  Ian was a trooper even with a few falls and really enjoyed exploring off-trail.  We got back to the road a little wet and with a few extra scrapes and headed out to look for checkpoint 9.  I had to piggyback Ian quite a few times last year and was expecting to piggyback him this year as well.  I was wrong.  Ian loved finding the checkpoints, was diligent about checking his watch and actually ran quite a lot of the trekking section.  After reaching checkpoints 9 and 10, we decided that our next checkpoint was out of our reach if we wanted to stay within the time and we began our trek back to the finish. Overall, we reached 8 checkpoints and finished in 3rd place overall.  First place in the family division.  The first-place team had 10 checkpoints with no teams clearing the course. 

Still climbing trees after the race

I'm so proud of my little racer who is eager to get out and do it again.  This race was well organized and so much fun!  Thanks so much to Strong Machine Adventure Racing (https://www.strongmachinear.com/) for making these races family-friendly and encouraging new racers to get out and try the sport.

Family Mountain Biking.

I have recently come to the realization that I have completely forgotten how to write.  I guess posting one-sentence Facebook posts, conversing with a three and a six-year and teaching students with developmental delays isn't really challenging my cognitive abilities.

I am taking a graduate course towards my CAS, which requires quite a bit of writing, so I figured I would start up the blog again to log our family adventures and provide some mental stimulation and writing practice. 

We have been doing quite a lot of exploring and generally just enjoying the outdoors.  I am sad that I haven't logged all of it on here for the boys to look back on.  A few weeks ago, we traveled to Carrabassett Valley for the weekend to do some mountain biking.  Ian completed a children's mountain bike race at their summer challenge and both boys have been begging to go back and explore the trails.  Now that Gabe can pedal independently and with winter fast approaching, we figured it now or never for this year.  

So, we loaded up the bikes, the kids and the dogs and made the trek.  The first morning was chilly.  Hats and gloves were required and there was still some complaining, even from my shorts and flip flop child.  As a warm-up, Ian led up around the racecourse which actually had a pretty steep downhill and some loose gravel.  I am impressed that he conquered this on his first race.  Next, Ian and I rode around a green single track trail that he had been too intimidated to try in July.  No problems this time as he took the lead.  At this point, Gabe was ready to try the "real trails" and we set out to ride a green trail that loops around a large pond at the outdoor center.  This was Gabe's first big outing with his lightweight Woom 2 and he had no trouble keeping up, only having to walk the top 1/3 or less of the bigger hills.  

We took a break for some leaf and real estate peeping - maybe someday we will have a camp up there.  After a little lunch, the boys were ready to tackle some more single track off the Narrow Gauge trail.  Ian rocked around the trails with Greg, voicing some annoyance that he had to keep stopping to wait for me and Gabe.  Gabe did pretty well with the single track, struggling and crashing a little on the roots.  The Woom 2 isn't really designed for true mountain biking but overall, I was impressed at how well he was able to handle the trails.  

I think we covered a little over 3 miles of true mountain bike trails.  We heard lots of moans and groans when it was time to leave.  I love that they love to adventure and I am so excited that we can really hit the trails as a family.