Back in early June I took Jamie on her first adventure race and we had a blast! The Unbridled Woman race is a fabulous race to bring new racers into the sport and is still challenging enough to ensure that experienced racers get plenty of map practice!
Leg 1 – Trek – 7.57 km, 4.7 mi – 1:16 mins but 20 mins of that was backtracking to get CP 5… We left the start feeling good and jogged out and down to the first CP. As with nearly all first CP’s of a race, it takes me a bit to get the scale of the map in my head, thinking we should be there by now when in reality we hadn’t gone far enough. While this is nearly always true, it would not be the case as we blithely ran right past CP 5!
Leg 2 – Paddle – 6.35 km, 3.95 mi – 1 hr 10 mins. After a backtrack to nab CP 5 we transitioned into the paddle leg which was lowish water but still mostly able to stay in the boat and not do the drag-a-boat! I swear, there are some races where we have spent more time pushing/carrying/dragging our bikes and boats than actually using them as intended! The paddle was pretty uneventful, only difficulty was that Jamie is so strong I was having a harder than normal time steering us straight. There were only 2 CPs on the water before we hit the next TA.
Leg 3 – Bike -11.59 km, 7.2 mi – 1 hr 12 mins. We moved to a zippy little bike section, mostly on the paved trails around the park. This leg brought us back to the start/finish area and I happily grabbed a cold drink from my cooler!
Leg 4 – O-Maze – What a fun activity to do in the middle of the race! Each racer has to complete the maze on their own and if you mess up, you get to do it again. Once each person is done, you earn your CP and can move on to the next stage.
Leg 5 – Bike O – 11.42 km, 7.09 mi – 1 hr 42 mins. Of all the stages, I think this one was my cleanest navigation and best route choice. There were some old forest roads that we had marked on the maps but were warned they might not be cleared for biking. We took a chance and it paid off, cutting out a lot of trail travel! This section also had 3 bonus CP’s that required taking a bearing from the main CP. For once, my bearings worked out! We nailed all the CP’s and the bonus ones as well!
We finished 2nd overall and 2nd in the 2 person division and we cleared the course!! This is only the second time I’ve managed to clear a course so that felt pretty neat!
The Rambling Hamblings 