### BEGIN RACE UPDATES ###
(most recent update on top)

TIME: 3/28/08 - 7:00PM PST
Race Clock: 4 days 6 hours 30 minutes into the race

The Dirty Avocados Team 2 just finished the race joining their compadres having traveled many miles from the sea, thru the desert, over the mountains and winding around the foothills and canyons to the ocean!

Look for race reports from these guys and gals in the next week with the real details of how it went here on dirtyavocados.com.

The teams wish their families and friends the best and thank their sponsors for helping them to get to this race.

The Dirty Avocados next big adventure is Primal Quest Montana, a ten day expedition race consisting of only 500 miles with 100,000 feet of elevation. We’ll start training tomorrow after we get some sleep.

An adventure race is still not over until all the teams are in so let’s keep the rest of the teams out on the course in our thoughts.

TIME: 3/28/08 - 4:30PM PST
Race Clock: 4 days 4 hours into the race

The Dirty Avocados Team 2 and SuburbanRush are in the water and heading in right behind our friends from Santa Cruz, California Team Lucky to the finish.  This should be a quick kayak because the crew describes Mike, Susan, and Brian as fired up for the finish.

TIME: 3/28/08 - 3:33PM PST
Race Clock: 4 days 3 hours 3 minutes into the race

American Dirty Avocados Team Two and Canadian SuburbanRush have teamed up for the last leg of the bike and the kayaks to the finish!  At this very moment, the teams are biking the dirt roads of Ensenada toward the kayak and finishline.  

According to random callers along the course some of the town’s dogs have come out to either chase them or join this GROWING ameoba team to the finish. 

So, Roll on DirtyAvocadosSuburbanRush Team!

TIME: 3/28/08 - 3:00PM PST
Race Clock: 4 days 2 hours 33 minutes into the race

GoldRush is done!  Mark Richardson, Melissa Griffiths and Adrian Crane crossed the finish line 21 minutes ago! The will be able to enjoy the glory of finishing the race during siesta time in Ensenada (I hope a restaurant is open for those hungry racers).

TIME: 3/28/08 - 12:30PM PST
Race Clock: 4 days into the race

Day four of this five day race and it looks like all teams will be over the finish line today.  Dirty Avocados Team One is still eating having showered and feeling good.  They also did not have much info related to where Dirty Avocados Team Two is located specifically, but will check in when they hear something.  Adam Doti said that he has been trading notes with other team’s navigators and all agree the navigation was tough.  The maps indicate that GoldRush MotherLoad/RWG are in the TA for the kayak and thus almost done.

TIME: 3/28/08 - 10:55AM PST
Race Clock: 3 days 22 hours 25 minutes into the race

Team GoldRush MotherLoad/RWG is approximately 10 miles to the beach in Ensenada.  Most of the ten miles will be fast on city streets (hard compacted dirt and asphalt,) so this should go fairly fast, finishing the bike in less than an hour from now.

TIME: 3/28/08 - 10:10AM PST
Race Clock: 3 days 21 hours 40 minutes into the race

Pictured above from Dirty Avocados Mission (Out-of) Control, I am on the phone with Donato and the Dirty Avocados Team 1 right now and they think they are washing off with Zanfel and Technu, specific poison oak washing soaps. 

Goldrush/RWG is well on the way having hit the first waypoint in the bike to the finish moments ago.

Also, we’re still looking for some better information on Dirty Avocados Team 2.  They are battling their way up a very bushy canyon according to Adam.

TIME: 3/28/08 - 9:30AM PST
Race Clock: 3 days 21 hours into the race

There are 2 great notes on the race blog about the Dirty Avocados Team 1’s finish: Official Race Site Blog

TIME: 3/28/08 - 8:47AM PST
Race Clock: 3 days 20 hours 17 minutes into the race

Adam Doti, Jen Rigoni, and Adam Armijo are done and celebrating at the finish!

They will take eat and take a nap and then will be back to great the other teams as they finish.

TIME: 3/28/08 - 8:20AM PST
Race Clock: 3 days 19 hours 50 minutes into the race

We are projecting (with confidence in our predictions for once) Dirty Avocados Team 1 to finish in the next 2 minutes!  They are 20 yards from finishing the kayak and then they have a hundred yard dash to the finishline

TIME: 3/28/08 - 7:51AM PST
Race Clock: 3 days 19 hours 21 minutes into the race

One of the great race directors of Baja Travesia, Karen wrote in the race blog that Dirty Avocados Team 1 is about to enter the harbor and cross the finishline.  She wrote that Donato is there holding Tecate beers for them.  So, being astute reporters here a 1,000 miles away decided to fact-check her superb reporting by calling Deep Throat himself, donato.  Donato’s near done finishing those beers he brought for the team.  Guess he wants to be a little drunkbuzzed when he tells Jen that he smashed the fender of her trunk in the desert!

 Dirty Avocados Team 2 just hit another waypoint in the canyon at 6:27am local time which as a reminder is 7:27am PST.

TIME: 3/28/08 - 2:00AM PST
Race Clock: 3 days 13 hours 30 minutes into the race

Dirty Avocados Team 1 has completed the last major trek of Baja’s wildlands. GoldRush MotherLoad/RWG could be catching some sleep or sneaking up to take another spot. They have made a good come from the back from the start of this race. Finally, about an hour ago Dirty Avocados Team 2 pinged their satellite transponder to signify they are well on their way too in this last major trek and have passed a team in front of them. Go Teams; roll on home!

TIME: 3/27/08 - 10:40PM PST
Race Clock: 3 days 10 hours 10 minutes into the race

Just checking in to say that we don’t have any updates for our three teams as the crews are in an area that cell phones cannot receive signal probably. It may be a while before we do hear how its going.

TIME: 3/27/08 - 5:00PM PST
Race Clock: 3 days 4 hours 35 minutes into the race

Karen and Jeaninne, the crew for Dirty Avocados Team 2 called to say that Mike, Susan and Brian’s spirits are high despite being back in ranking currently.  They believe that they will be able to ”power thru” the next section.  Their feet have very few blisters; 2-3 small things!  Mike has a small piece of wood embedded in a leg (splinter really) and he’s not stopping to pull it out; he’s decided to take it to the finishline!

TIME: 3/27/08 - 3:40AM PST
Race Clock: 3 days 3 hours 10 minutes into the race

Adrian Crane’s son John, who is crewing with a friend for Team Goldrush is ready waiting the team’s arrival at TA7.  We hope they are their soon so they can take advantage of the light going into the next section.

Dirty Avocados Team 1 has already been on that trek and are still pushing hard to finish strong.  Donato and Misty are fine and almost at TA8 in a location called La Jolla.

Dirty Avocados Team 2 pulled into TA6 approximately 14 minutes ago and are likely happy to be hitting the bikes which is their strength.

TIME: 3/27/08 - 11:30AM PST
Race Clock: 3 days into the race

Three days into the race and the Dirty Avocados Team 2 is gaining speed from the back.  They just went from CP14 to CP15 in 2 and a half hours.  It took the currently projected winners of the race 3 hours to do this same leg.  They can still make a decent run from the back.  Its rumoured that teams ahead are considering dropping due to “team issues” and injuries.  This is a race more than any in a while that is all about staying in the game despite the challenges and set backs.

TIME: 3/27/08 - 9:15AM PST
Race Clock: 2 days 21 hours 45 minutes into the race

According to Donato, all Dirty Avocado Teams are fine.  Their feet have a few blisters, but they are not as raw as as some teams near the back .

Last years race was really a race uphill on bikes and a big hill in the canyon section heading east.  This year is all feet up hill and bike downhill.  Which is tougher depends can depend on your strengths, but no matter how good you are on your feet you are likely feeling it.  Brian has spent a lot of time exploring how to survive these races with feet and turn around to give the rest of us some great pointers that we incorporate in prevention and treatment of hotspots to blisters. 

The crews were their Dirty Avocados Team 1 and GoldRush when they pulled into CP16/TA6.  Both teams are likely now on the way to CP17.  This next bike section includes 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) of sand.  Last years bike included a ton of sand and it is as much of a mental challenge as a physical one.  Mark Richardson and Melissa Griffiths were on the same team at last years Baja Travesia and they did well riding in the sand challenge back then.  Mike Chastaine comes from the Folsom area of California where the trails have quite a bit of sand so he should be able to motivate Brian and Susan through that short, but still challenging section.

Dirty Avocados Two are probably headed to TA6 on foot trekking across a valley plain after a long night bushwacking up a canyon.

TIME: 3/26/08 - 10:00PM PST
Race Clock: 2 days 11 hours 30 minutes into the race

Donato reports that he briefly spoke to Mike Chastaine, Susan Bower and Brian Schmitz.  They were concerned with how the other teams were doing.  By now the three are likely out of the transition at CP13/TA5 out for a trek that is 6 to 9 hours for the teams that had the advantage of daylight.  So, we can expect they will be on this trekking leg most of tonight and tomorrow evening they should be at the finish or very near it.

GoldRush/RWG with Mark Richardson, Melissa Griffiths, and Adrian Crane looks good according to Donato.  

Donato mentioned that Dirty Avocados Team 1’s Adam Doti looks incredibly awake and ready to navigate the next section.  Jen Rigoni and Adam Armijo are doing well, too.

Donato and Misty arrived early at the next transition, TA7 in a town called Ojos Negros, which is north on Highway 3 here:

Map Location of Ojos Negros

TIME: 3/26/08 - 5:30PM PST
Race Clock: 2 days 6 hours into the race

Goldrush/RWG making big gains and was in the same transition, CP13/TA5 where the Dirty Avocados Team 1 is and where Dirty Avocados Team 2 is heading to.  The trek from CP13/TA5 has a significant bushwacking section.  Bushwacking is a term for walking off trail in bushes simply put.  Its physically demanding and mentally demanding in terms of navigating.  Team GoldRush/RWG has one of the best bushwacking navigators on it, Mark Richardson.  With Melissa motivating Mark and Adrian likely helping in the navigation the three should do very well tonight in this section in the dark.

TIME: 3/26/08 - 4:45PM PST
Race Clock: 2 days 5 hours 15 minutes into the race

Donato and Misty, crew for Dirty Avocados Team 1 after a long difficult drive are just arriving into CP13/TA5.  The Dirty Avocados Team 1 with Adam Armijo, Jen Rigoni and Adam Doti had pulled into 4th place and have likely let a little of he lead go waiting for their crew.  However, this has been a great chance for them to sleep and I understand they have not had much. 

TIME: 3/26/08 - 3:17PM PST
Race Clock: 2 days 3 hours 47 minutes into the race

The crew for Dirty Avocados II is waiting at Valle de la Trinidad (CP), while Misty and Donato are racing up from the last transition.  Donato said that Ensenada traffic was heavier than expected.  As you can guess this is as much of a race for the crew as it is for the teams.  Both deal with navigation, lack of sleep, rough trails, etc.  The crews race really begins when a team comes into transition. 

After the teams check in with the race official at the checkpoint/transition they flag the team over to where the crew vehicles are parked.  Likely the crew has set out a large tarp as a floor and spread out the teams gear to make the transition run smoothly.  In transition the crew can feed the team, help them switch gear, possibly assist the team in navigation or race strategy and most important of all check the team to make sure they still sound coherent and ready for the next leg. 

When teams leave the crew packs things up.  Figures out their next leg of the race to the next transition and may check out with race officials as they leave. 

Donato mentioned that he’s passed out and helped other teams other than his own which is part of the culture of adventure racing.  He loaned a wheel to Mike Chastaine of Team Dirty Avocados II, supplied Extreme Mountain Sports with a red blinking tail light, and loaned Team Lucky a front brake.  Good man Donato!!!

TIME: 3/26/08 - 1:30PM PST
Race Clock: 2 days 2 hours into the race

As referenced by race organizers on their blog our teams are all in the area of Mike’s Sky Ranch in the middle of Baja. A motocross rider made some great video of the roads and trails nearby. This is definitely the kind of roads the crews are taking to support the teams in the field. There are several videos here:

Mike’s Sky Ranch Area

Realize the teams are traveling on roads like these while on mountain bikes, slow they maybe going a little slower and thus safer!

TIME: 3/26/08 - 11:00AM PST
Race Clock: 1 day 23 hours 30 minutes into the race

Race organizers just blogged that they spoke to Melissa of Team GoldRush/RWG by Radio. She wanted friends and family to know that they are happy and moving well! See full post at Update for Team Goldrush

TIME: 3/26/08 - 9:30AM PST
Race Clock: 1 day 22 hours into the race

As the leadboard seems to indicate Dirty Avocados are in 5th place! Dirty Avocados II are list behind them now and probably stopped to catch some sleep before sunrise. Goldrush is still moving consistantly which may be an advantage in such a challenging race.

The maps seems to show that the teams are headed to the Colonia Lazaro Cardenas area, a small town on Highway 3 where the road bends north. This town was site of a transition last year that we hit during the second night of a race course that was headed South East instead of this year’s that is heading generally northwest.

Leaving the the transition heading northwest on the trek the teams will cross sandy tracks and likely will head through several cactus farms along the way. Local farmers are very friendly throughout Baja and race organizers in their pre-race preparations talked to the locals along the way.

TIME: 3/26/08 - 1:15AM PST
Race Clock: 1 day 13 hours 45 minutes into the race

Let’s review what we have left.  Note that this first bike will likely be finished this morning and the teams will begin the trek in canyonlands in daylight.  Looking at this it seems we have a long way in just pure miles to go, but of the 154 miles to go in total, 60% (94 miles) are mostly downhill on bikes and only 32 miles are trekking with a 11 mile kayak at the finish. 

1. Bike mostly downhill single track.  This will likely be one of the many highlights of their journey 91km (57 miles)
2. Trek in canyonlands 26km (16 miles)
3. Bike another big downhill 60km (37 miles)
4. Trek in rolling foothills of Baja likely in and around farms 25km (16 miles)
5. Bike to the coast near Ensenada area 35km (22 miles)
6. Ocean Kayak to the Finish in Ensenada 17km (11 miles)

This is the time of the race that is a real “gut check”, with each team member likely going through a few emotions and questions of why they are doing this.  They think of the things they love so much at this point, that really drives them home and will press forward to a great finish. Back of the pack teams may rightfully reason that the risk of going on would be too much to burden their loved ones with if they are concerned about any issues.  Most people that have never raced at this level just don’t understand that multi-day expedition racers do think of the loved-ones at home as part of the decisions we make out there.  And its not just our own family that we have in our considerations.  As a team, a good team, we think of each others’ families and then we consider, mitigate, or completely avoid risk that may seem unnecessary in light of our priority one: come home healthy to you all with great fun to tell you about!

From our crews I have heard from tonight I can say that our teams are racing with good spirits and smiles on their faces.  They may be tired, but they are enjoying the race, the surroundings, and all the friends they are meeting along the way.  They are seeing a side of Mexico that is sort of a turn of the clock back to simpler times.  The hospitality of the local farmers of Northern Baja is kind and mellow.  I bet by now the teams have even had some of the local cooking made in the transitions.

Jeaninne and Karen are headed to meet dirty Avocados 2 for the transition to the trek in a place called Valle de la Trinidad. They have more funny crew stories than they can tell me over the phone right now.

TIME: 3/25/08 - 11:08PM PST
Race Clock: 1 day 11 hours 48 minutes into the race

The super crew, Jeaninne and Karen of Dirty Avocados II  just called to say that racers Mike Chastaine, Susan Bower and Brian are great despite some sore feet.  Mike is a solid navigator and has good back up with Susan and Brian near.  Get these three near a bike and they will ride off in a dust cloud.  They are making good time on their feet too, thus this is why they’re a little sore, but no worries the bike legs will given them more rest and the race ends with a kayak leg.

Its true that DART-nuun and the Yoga Slackers are way off course and that Dirty Avocados II may now for the time being is in 6th place.  Lead teams have paid the price of being lost for pushing so fast in the beginning. Their lack of sleep is catching up.  However, this is still a close race given the chance for error and breakdowns with still nearly half the checkpoints to go.

 Goldrush and Dirty Avocados I are doing fine and are still in the running given the errors that have been made at the front of the pack.  Melissa Griffiths, Mark Richardson and Adrian Crane of Goldrush/RWG have a good amount of experience and quality training going into this race and with the kind of positive determination that each of them seem to hold in their core they should begin taking ground from weaker teams that may have shot ahead of them.  Team Dirty Avocados I with Adam Doti, Jen Rigoni and Adam Armijo are close to the middle of the pack and with Adam Doti’s keen ability to strategize, Jen’s super motivating attitude and Adam Armijo’s ability to add to both the brains and braun to this team they have a chance to rise from the mirky middle of the pack of racers.

TIME: 3/25/08 - 2:40PM PST
Race Clock: 1 day 3 hours 10 minutes into the race

All Dirty Avocado Teams are out of the canyon ascent and are visible moving on the west side of the Sierras. We hope the rest of the field makes it out soon too. Goldrush/RWG checked in to CP 8 about an hour ago. Dirty Avocados Teams I and II are ahead of them on the downhill bike. Stories coming out regarding the canyon ascent sound epic and that we can look forward to our friends telling some great tales when they return from Baja.

TIME: 3/25/08 - 10:45AM PST
Race Clock: 23 hours 15 minutes into the race

Donato is driving in from the west to meet the teams at the base of the mountians. He is about 4 miles from the base of the hills and should be there with in a few minutes: Location of Dirty Avocados 1 Crew

Race tracking is getting better as teams are beginning to push there buttons withing view of tracking satellites. The team pages at www.bajatravesia.com show that the Dirty Avocados II are out of the mountains. The leaderboard at Sleepmonster.com is being manually updated with this information, a great effort on their part to cover the race! The leaderboard may still be inacurate fo now, but check the team pages for now for the most accurate location of teams:

Location of Dirty Avocados 2

The links to Team Dirty Avocados Team 1 and Team Gold Rush Motherload/Racing with Giants are showing two very strong climbing teams still not up in the canyon. I would bet they they are close to Dirty Avocados 2:

Location of Dirty Avocados 1

Location Team Goldrush/RWG

TIME: 3/25/08 - 8:40AM PST
Race Clock: 21 hours into the race

Teams are climbing near Baja’s tallest peak, El Picacho del Diablo or “Peak of the Devil.” No worries the big bad guy is not there right now according to satellite tracking.

There is a good pin point of the peak here Peak Map

TIME: 3/25/08 - 7:45AM PST
Race Clock: 20 hours into the race

Donato, the crew for Dirty Avocados I writes that he’s OK.  He did have an issue with the crew truck getting stuck in sand.  Luckily for him the crew for Dirty Avocados II, Jeaninne and Karen were near to provide the “towing” power.  Donato wrote a short note on our mobile blog thanking his girlfriend for teaching him how to tie a knot.  I guess it was not just any knot, but the truck is free and looks fine. 

The crews left the eastern side of Baja last night and headed to the western foothills to meet the teams heading west at the transition from canyon trek to bike.  I received notes from Donato as he headed up the Highway 5 and then he turned west on Highway 3.  At Colonia Lazaro Cardenas he turned west and was near Los Coches this morning still traveling. 

Through the night race directors have been making a valiant effort to put out the latest they knew about teams progress, however most all the teams are still in the most remote part of the race, one long canyon ascent.  They probably have had some sleep except for the current lead teams.  We should see our teams out of the canyon by about noon or as possibly as late as early evening here on the West Coast. 

TIME: 3/25/08 - 12:01AM PST
Race Clock: 12 hours 32 minutes into the race

Teams are ascending the canyon tonight and will likely be finding a place there to catch some sleep. This canyon trek to a place called “Top of the World” will take teams into the late morning and early afternoon tomorrow. This is a major portion of the race.

Our teams have the option of carrying very powerful, but extremely lite, headlamp lights from DinotteLighting.com to brighten there way up the canyon for very safe travel at night. They also, choose to carry heavier bivy sacks for this section given the air tempurature in this section is about to cool off very fast. As required gear this year I believe teams maybe carrying tents and thus in their bivies while in a tent they should be pretty toasty. The teams are not alone in this canyon. First, there is likely a sweeper walking up from the rear making sure there is nothing wrong with the back of the pack and there is possibly a ropes safety crew somewhere in there. Rumour has it that Yishai of Big Blue Adventures and the director of Central Coast Challenge has put up some of the ropes and is out on that course. So, there is help in this long demanding climb

Crews, organizers and the reporter plus driver from sleepmonsters are driving around to the next transition, which will take them hours.

The race directors have added some videos to their website, Dirty Avocados is one of the teams with videos up from the prerace; definitely fun to look at. Also, there leaderboard was pulled down, but the sleepmonsters.com reporter on scene who wrote another good piece about the trek section this time included a list of the current rankings during the desert trek at the end of her blog. A lot of the current order will change this first night as teams make decisions on whether to go foreward or sleep until sunrise. No matter the score tomorrow morning realize the teams in front likely paid a sizable price for that lead and we will see later that afternoon if it was worth it.

I will be off for a ride tomorrow morning and will likley check in after 8:30AM PST. Goodnight.

TIME: 3/24/08 - 06:03PM PST
Race Clock: 6 Hours 33 minutes into the race

The teams are likely well into the Rally Car Leg and probably glad to have rested their feet after crossing the desert today.  

We know this because we are presently here in the Dirty Avocados Situation Room somewhere down an old mine shaft from the Goldrush Era in Northern California.  Notices being sent by carrier pigeons, geese, duck and other fowl migrating north are arriving regularly with the teams’ exact coordinates. Actually, there is no “we.” Everyone on the team is in Baja except Aja and I.  Also, no we are not in a mineshaft.  However, I am sitting in a war room of sorts with all sorts of screens and phones and things that make anyone feel just plain connected to information.  Also, I am receiving live satellite tracking from one of our teams’ crews which is the most accurate and up to date description of how the race is progressing for our teams which you can assume are near each other given they are fairly similarly matched for these first legs of the race.

The race website and their official news source have been expectingly slow to put out updates.  We anticipated this given the race organizers  are very busy putting on one of the best races in North America, plus they are using very new technology to track racers.  Right now, the race officials are focused on what they do best which is putting on a great race and with that they are likely smoothing out issues along the way.  Issues popping up today could have included a myriad of things such as what to do with all the paddleboards that racers paddled to the main beach in San Felipe, at the same time they are monitoring teams from afar and coralling lost teams on course, or they were lining up the many volunteer rally cars.  The race site for Baja Travesia just started updating little markers representing teams, however some of those teams do not look like they have gone very far.  If you look at the leaderboard it shows clearly that fast teams listed behind slower ones are not having their satellite transponders working and this could be either errors with the device/service or the racers are just forgetting to press the button on it that sends out a signal to show where they are presently.

The adventure racing news service that is there to cover the race did not bring their own satellite internet connection, so their coverage is delayed, but still really worth the read for the local color.  The writer is doing a good job describing the local besides the race itself plus she doesn’t use as many run on sentences as I do to convey the details!

The Dirty Avocados figured this news delay may be the case so, some of the crew are checking in occationally with us.   So, far their notifications show that the race progressed north along the shore from San Felipe and then they headed east into the desert toward the mountains.  This is good. 

We estimate that Dirty Avocados, Dirty Avocados “too”, and the Gold Rush teams are near the canyon trek and have completed the rally car.  Seems teams are egging to get up the canyon and gain some distance on their competition.  At 5:43PM PST the sun began setting.  The desert has cooled and the teams are enjoying it for sure. There will be a near full moon waning tonight which will give them decent light as it appears somewhere to there east over the Sea of Cortez.

If for any reason other than my poor grammar that anyone would like to contact the current writer of this continuously updated blog please feel free to email me at willisnot (at) yahoo (dot) com.  If you like include your number and I will call you back.  Inspired by the team I am off for a 30 mile run.

This is a pre-race picture of Team Dirty Avocados I (from left to right: Adam Armijo, Jen Rigoni and Adam Doti)

TIME: 3/24/08 - 11:40AM PST
Race Clock: 1 hour 10 minutes into the race

By now teams are nearing the end of the paddleboarding leg.  Ahead of them is an afternoon spent crossing the Sonoran Desert.  Temperatures in the desert should be between 80 to 90 degrees today.  The forecast is 89 degrees in San Felipe with wind at 9MPH.  A combination of heat and wind will lead unprepared teams to dehydrate.  The Avocados coming from California have an advantage in the heat.  They are better prepared having been hydrating going into the race and likely took a good amount of water with electrolytes (NUUN electrolytes tablets) into desert trek. 

Movement across the desert will vary as the team winds around cactus and other bushes in sand and occasionally finding a dirt road hopefully. In other words don’t expect them to be doing any 6 minute miles. 

Last year those of us racing this part of the race enjoyed this section as night trek under a fairly lit moon.  Despite the light, I accidentally kicked a small cactus and had to run the remainer of the race with a cactus barb in my foot.  With the sun out I hope the team will not kick any cactus this year.

TIME: 3/24/08 - 08:43AM PST
Race Clock:T-Minus 1 hours 47 minutes until the race starts (10:30AM PST, 1:30PM EST) Note: local Baja time is Pacific Standard time +1 hour or Eastern Standard time -2 hours
The race details have been revealed and it looks as though they are going to have a great time and see a lot of country zig-zagging west between San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez and Ensenada on the Pacific Ocean.  Here is how the various legs of the race have been laid out:

1. Paddleboard in the Sea of Cortez: one team member will paddle a board while the other two are to run along the shore.  Occationally, they may switch who paddles the board.  Distance: 5km (3 miles)
2. Desert Trek to the rally cars 30km (19 miles)
3. Desert Rally Cars: 25km (16 miles) This use of cars is to get teams across a very dangerous section of Baja where if you are not in a vehical you will likely be run over one.  The rally cars will be driven by local drivers, but teams will have to navigate and the drivers are under strict instructions not to help them.
4. Alpine Trek to canyon start point and up a canyon to a place in Baja called “Top of the World.” They will be climbing 7,000 feet in this leg and going over 35km (22 miles)
5. Bike mostly downhill single track.  This will likely be one of the many highlights of their journey 91km (57 miles)
6. Trek in canyonlands 26km (16 miles)
7. Bike another big downhill 60km (37 miles)
8. Trek in rolling foothills of Baja likely in and around farms 25km (16 miles)
9. Bike to the coast near Ensenada area 35km (22 miles)
10. Ocean Kayak to the Finish in Ensenada 17km (11 miles)

Total distance 339km (217 miles) not including any circles teams may “strategically” choose to take  

At this moment the racers are moving slowly to the beach start in Baja.  According to Brian Schmitz of Team Dirty Avocados II, they will begin the race by paddleboarding in a relay meaning there is one paddleboard per team. 

A paddleboard is like a surfboard, but basically differs in thickness to support somone in the water and a paddle board has padding that makes it comfortable to stay one while paddling.  A paddleboard can be paddled either laying down or kneeling.  One team member will paddle the board as the other two will be running along on the beach.  Prior to this race the Dirty Avocados sought out a local expert paddler in Santa Cruz and those on the team that could took classes in this relatively new edition to adventure racing.  This may be the first time that actual paddleboards were used in a race.  So, you can understand why the team took classes from the best person they could find. 

TIME: 3/22/08 - 11:00AM PST
Race Clock: T-Minus 2 days until the race starts
Donato, Jen, Adam D., and Adam A. driven thru Palm Springs and are likely driving south along the Salton Sea heading south to the border crossing into the Baja California metropolis of Mexicali.  After navigating Mexicali, the tour will hit Mexico Highway 5 straight south to San Felipe.  They are almost all there!

TIME: 3/21/08 - 6:43PM PST
Race Clock: T-Minus 3 days until the race starts (Monday 11:30AM)
Avocados began rolling south across the border over the last day. Donato wrote, “Word has it Brian and crew are already in San Diego, Mike and Susan are leaving today and Mark and Melissa are already in Baja.” Donato, Jen, Adam A., and Adam D. are staying in LA for the night.

TIME: 3/20/08 - 4:00PM PST
Race Clock: T-Minus 4 days until the race starts!
Tonight, the teams will begin to head south to the border of the US and Mexico. Along the way they will be staying with relatives and friends. This is the only warning to those relatives and friends to lock their doors and turn-off all their lights or at least hide their food. They are coming

TIME: 3/17/08 - 11:56PM PST
Race Clock: T-Minus 6 days until start.
We’re busy packing, tuning our bikes, and buying a lot of food!

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Click here for most recent update.

Looking for information on the Dirty Avocados participating in the Baja Travesia? You’ve come to the right place!

We will be releasing race updates in a few ways:

1. We will post from the road as long as we have cell reception and service. You can read our short mobile blogs from the home page or by clicking here; On The Road Blog.
2. Will is going to be posting manual updates to our “Baja Travesia Race Update” blog. The most current update will be posted at the top of the article, THIS article your reading now. Read below for most recent update from Will.
3. In addition, you can check out the race web site to view a leader board. There Google maps pinpoint teams’ locations LIVE via GPS Satellite, you can read racer bios and more! Go to http://www.bajatravesia.com
   **Please, note that a GPS map location of the team that hasn’t moved in a while doesn’t mean anything is wrong with the team. Most likely it is poor satellite reception. We could also be sleeping!

As far as who is actually racing? It’s going to be a reunion of sorts in San Felipe. We have 2 Dirty Avocado teams if 3. Team “Dirty Avocados” consists of Adam Doti, Adam, Armijo andJen Rigoni and of course Donato as our crew! Our second team is Team “Dirty Avocados Too (II)” consisting of Mike Chastaine, Susan Bower and Brian Schmitz. Also racing is Mark Richardson and Melissa Griffiths with Adrian Crane representing the local favorite race; Team “Gold Rush”.

We would like to pay a very special thanks to our sponsors and supporters. Without them much of this wouldn’t be possible. Please, read all about them on our Sponsors Page or in the footer of this page.

Finally, leave us a note of encouragement in the Comments area at the bottom of this post.

~ Adios!

Finally a BAAR BRAWL that was completable.
This past Saturday organizers, whom shall remain anonymous to protect their identity, staged the infamous yearly “training event” outside San Francisco in Marin County, the Bay Area Adventure Racing BAAR BRAWL. The intent of this event is to be a 24-ish hour training adventure racing consisting of kayaking, mountain biking and running/trekking. In recent years teams have been pummeled by torrential downpours with sideways rain, punished by 12+ hour treks and on this team, even a broken collar bone. The BRAWL is widely considered to be unfinishiable, however this racer wants to note that in 2006 our team did actually “finish” after choosing to skip 3 pints on the return bike ride to the finish line after approx 28 hours of agony.

This years BRAWL would serve as a testing ground for a few GPS tracing devices we’ve often use; The TrackStick which historically has given us mixed and often frustrating usability results and worse customer service. The SPOT Satellite Tracker which the kind folks at SPOT flipped our way at the recent Outdoor Retailer Show in SLC. And our GPS tracker of choice, the Garmin Forerunner family of devices. In addition we tested the GoPro HERO camera and the Waterproof Pedometer by ARNavSupplies.com. I’ll have more details in my review of the above devices in a later post.

This race served as an opportunity for our team to gel and practice as we prepare for Primal Quest in later June. This year our Dirty Avocados squad consisted of Jen Rigoni, Adam Armijo, Donato Polignone and me, Adam Doti. Our fellow teammates Mike, Brian and Susan also raced to prepare for Primal Quest.

This event was a northern California “who’s who in AR” reunion. Those in attendance were (to protect identities I’ve used just first names. you know who you are) Rich, Gordon, Rick, Jon, Mark, Galen, Oliver, Mari, David, Mats and Jackie whom Mike and I raced with at Gold Rush last Fall and Team Lucky! These are all fellow racers I look up to and respect. I was more nervous racing the BRAWL than I have been in larger, more established races in the past

The start/finish and TA location was at Bucks Launching near China Camp in San Rafael. The location was absolutely perfect. Remote, safe and roomy, it allowed us to circle our vehicles and dump out all of our gear.

The event began with a rolling start because the launching area was rather small. Karen recorded our times as we left the dock. We chose to paddle the two Necky Kayaks we purchased from the Primal Quest organization a couple years ago. We nicknamed them the “albatrosses”, because of their incredibly heavy weight. Our boat choice defiantly handicapped us compared to the other racers’ faster boats. Even the rentals from Sea Trek probably weighed half as much as ours.

We started kayaking through the marsh channels towards highway 101. One advantage our team had in this years BRAWL was it was held about 1 mile from where I lived for 4 years. So I knew the marshes and trails like the back of my hand. We eventually made our way to the dock near McGinnis Park when we exited the boats and ran to the top of the hill behind the driving range. After nabbing the CP we were to complete a special test. Miniature golf! After completing the requisite 18 holes we tallied our score cards and ran back to our boats. We then paddled south along the sore to China Camp beach and spotted David Kelly. David advised us to make a b-line for the Richmond CP out by the lighthouse on the island before getting the point south of China Camp on another island due to the strong tides. So we took his advice and made for Richmond. Because of the tide we made it in no time!

This is where it gets out of hand. After completing the CP we continued clockwise around the island to make our way to the next CP back on the Marin side. When we did, DP and I found ourselves between 2 rocks/islands and the current whipping through this small channel built up such force that our kayak was pushed over towards the rocks. As the tide pulled out for a brief moment we could see about 5-8 feet down into a hole the ocean left! We started paddling like mad little dogs trying to get out of the pool! A-Bomb and Jen could only watch in horror before they realized they needed to paddle like mad as well to save themselves. DP and I inched our way out of that channel and ferried into the open water.

Slowly but surely we continued to fight the current and made it to the last kayak CP on the Marin side.We inched our albatross back to the TA just behind Rick most of the way.

Back at the TA we transitioned into our biking gear. The biking section would take us into Fairfax and Tamarancho as well as all over China Camp.

We decided to tackle Tamarancho first and make our way back to China Camp at night. We make quick business of the roads from CC to Fairfax and to the CP that was supposed to be on a sign above a bridge off of Scenic Rd. After searching with Jon and Rick we gave up, chalking it up to mis-plot. I would later find out while talking to Zen that it was in fact plotted about 80 feet too low.

We made it across Fairfax and up Alta Loma and then down to the bridge and up the new Whites Hill Trail and the backside of Tamarancho. After some debate on which way around Tamarancho would be quicker we decided to go counter clockwise.

It was around here where I had my encounter with the Terradactyl. While stopping for a brief moment to allow for my fellow teammates to regroup I heard a loud screech, or maybe more of a feeding call. As I looked up and out of the corner of my eye I saw probably the largest flying creature I have personally ever witnessed. In the twilight of the evening I could only see its silhouette. It’s wing span seemed to be as long as a VW bug and it moved in a slow motion like manner. By the time my teammates caught up it was long gone. Of course I exclaimed “did you hear and see that Terradactyl ?!” They just laughed and rolled on by down the hill into Fairfax. This Terradactyl would haunt me for the remainder of the race.

Around the back of Tamarancho and back down into Fairfax and back to San Rafael and the Dominican University Area. But not before stopping at 7-11 of course. We shoved Sun Chips, Hot Dogs and colas down our gullets to the horror of a couple kids riding their BMXs in the parking lot.

We climbed an unmarked dirt road overlooking 101 for a CP where I seem to startle a resident of the hill that was wondering what the “shiny A” was for. Then some single track on the south western side of CC eastward when we decided to take neighborhood streets to the next closest fire road to the CP. This would be faster than dinking around with the single track in the night.

We basically worked our way around China Camp counter clockwise popping in and out of China Camp to get the CPs. We came across a huge posse of racers headed in the opposite direction; our fellow DAs, Brian, Susan and Mike, We also saw Manning and his team as well as a few others. We finished up the bike leg with a ride along the shoreline trail back to the TA at Bucks Launching.

We then received our trekking maps and passport. The entire trek would be in China Camp. After dragging DP out of the bar at Buck’s we hit the pavement after a “liberal” TA.

Again we decided to tackle this counter clockwise. We headed down the road to 7-11 and an open space trail hidden behind the building that would take us up to an old mine for the first CP. We then took a bearing and scrambled up a very steep slope to the next CP on a small trail. It was a hideously steep climb up a muddy, loose, scree-like slope for what seemed like 1000 feet! Remember Shashank Redemption when Tim Robbins punched through the sewer pipe and pulled himself up out of the mud and yuck to freedom? … kinda like that.

I used “the force” and we popped out onto the trail only about 20 feet above the next CP!
We made our way up to the Howell Single Track trail on the back side of China Camp. We ran down the single track until we got to the intersection where ewe usually go stay left and make our way back up. We turned right and made our way for the next CP. After counting the pipes we headed back and came out on the fire road those winds up to the Nike missile site. We grabbed another CP on the way and it was somewhere around here at the top of China Camp that we ran into the other Avocados; Mike, Susan and Brian!

We continued on to the next few CPs together. There was a bonus CP, 5B, that we should have realized that if we continued down the ridge trail from CP8 that it would have taken us right to it. But earlier in the night we had decided to skip it because it wasn’t worth the 60 minute bonus.

The other DAs had completed all their CPs and we had one to go because they opted to acquire the CP1 right away while we opted for the CP2 behind 7-11. We parted ways and arrived back at the finish about 30 minutes behind them. We busted into the bar to find Ken sleeping in the floor in the bag next to the stove. It took some rousing but we finally awoke him so he could share our middle of the night misery

We finished about 4:45 am on Sunday after nearly 21 hours of racing. The parking lot still had alot of cars, guess China Camp had plenty of company tonight.

Seems that there has been a lot of creative interpretation of the race results ;) Depending on how you slice and dice it, we finished 6th, 2nd or 1st. Well, what do you expect for a “training event”! I’m calling it 2nd in the co-ed 3-4 person category, just minutes behind baarbd(again!) which is what is typically the elete category.

Before parting our ways north and south on 101, we regrouped at McDonalds and scarfed down some Egg McMuffins.

For more on how the SPOT, TrackStick and Garmin devices worked out, stay tuned for a follow up posting.

View Larger Map

Our SPOT data:
BAAR BRAWL 2008 (Using SPOT Data) at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks

TrackStick Data: Click Here
Garmin Data: Click Here
SPOT Data: http://everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=12979

On Saturday December 15, 2007 I entered my first Ultra marathon, the Muir Beach 50K put on by Pacific Coast Trail Runs.

Race Summary:  I managed to finish the 50K in 6:56:35, just inside my goal of between 6 1/2 and 7 hours.  The 50K course gained about 7400 feet of elevation.  I managed to keep moving pretty well throughout the event.  At 33K we crossed the start/finish and went back out for 17K.  I did the first 33K with 4280 ft of elevation gain in 4:14 which seemed pretty close to the pace I’d predicted for myself.  As I left I was still moving okay but my legs were getting sore.  I then decided that when I do another ultra I should probably train for it, something I really didn’t do for this one.  On the latter part of the course my hamstrings were hurting and felt like they were much too short..  When I’d reach the top of a climb I had trouble lengthening my stride and would get dropped at the top of the downhill by people I passed on he way up.  I am still pretty sore on Monday and if I’d been on duty Sunday I would probably have had to call in sick.  I think if I was at all prepared I would not be so sore. (more…)

After over 24 hours of racing the we were sitting in the final transition trying to get warmed up to go out on the final paddle leg. Baarbd arrived at the TA just a few minutes behind us. We had been racing neck and neck from the opening gun. This is as close as a race gets.

Going into Gold Rush 2007 I was very excited about the team we had put together. I passed up going to Nationals to race in Sonora. Adam Doti and I put together a super fast team. We were joined by Mats Jansson and Jackie Wollman.

Mats is a great navigator, and extremely strong. He is very fast and a great teammate. Although I’ve known Mats for several years I had never raced with him.

Jackie is a super stud woman. She is fast and strong and has a great attitude. She is great to race with and was also a wonderful teammate.

This was the first time I had raced with Adam. I knew he was strong and tough.

Brian Schmitz was our crew. This would be the first time this team was ever together.

Even though I knew everyone, I had never raced with anyone in this foursome.
With this line up I was very optimistic of a good finish. When we arrived at the check in on Friday night we learned just how strong the field would be. Defending champion True Grit was back. Also present was Baarbd Wire with Mari Chandler, Dancing Pandas, Radioactive Beagles, Lucky and AR Nav Supplies. Mark Henderson was with a new team and Kent Ryhorchuk was there with a teammate as a 2 person male team. There were a total of 21 teams toeing the starting line on Saturday morning and several had a chance to win.

Download Google Earth route.
Download Topo! file.

We got the maps the night before and looked at the route. We would start with a 5 mile run around Pinecrest Lake picking up 2 checkpoints. Then we would pick up the bikes and race 9 miles mostly along a flume trail. Then the race would really start with a very long 24 mile trek with a 400 foot repel in it. That would be followed by a long 40 mile bike and finish with a 15 mile kayak paddle. This was a long course – around 90 to 95 miles. We got all our stuff together by midnight and got some sleep.

Saturday morning we got to Pinecrest Lake pretty early and made some last minute adjustment. I was very anxious to get going. When the gun finally went off at 8:00 I took off at a fast and steady pace to the first CP. We were just behind Baarbd and True Grit when we over shot the first CP. It was misplaced a bit and we headed up the canyon too far. Other teams caught up and as a group we located the checkpoint and moved on. We kept pushing the pace as we and Baarbd pulled away. Running in a group of 7, we got to the TA at the same time, changed shoes and took off together.

The ride was mostly flat along a flume trial. We had to walk on the flume many times because you simply couldn’t and shouldn”t ride it.

Baarbd and us went back and forth through the CP’s. We got a bit of a jump and pulled into the TA just a couple of minutes in front of Baarbd. However, Baarbd transitioned quickly and left on the long trek right in front of us. We hit this TA at 10:25 and was out at 10:35. No one else had come into the TA before we left.

We trekked up the mountain together and ran down the power lines on an 800 foot descent through brush and loose dirt and rocks. This scramble was long and hard on the legs. When we got down to Beardly dam I had to stop to get some dirt out of my shoes. Baarbd just kept going and we lost sight of them. We gave chased. This was the hardest part of the race for me. I was struggling on the run while everyone else seemed to be moving pretty good. We kept pushing the pace along the river on a great and fairly flat single track trail. Finally we got to the end of the trail and hit a dirt road that climbed right out of the river up about 800 feet to the top of the repel.

We got to the Rappel at bit after 1:00.Getting to the repel we found that Baarbd was still on the ropes and figured we were about 10 to 15 minutes behind. The repel was cool with a great view. We basically repelled down a 400 foot slab pitched at about 75%. It was nice how the ropes were integrated into the course. While we were finishing our repel, Roger Pruit of True Grit came down the rope. We figured we were about 15 minutes ahead of them. Roger said that teams were coming in at that point. At the repel I was able to recover. It took us about 25 to 30 minutes to get through the repel as only one person could go down at a time and each team had to use a single rope. That little rest worked wonders for me and I felt strong the rest of the race.

After the repel we had to scramble down another several hundred feet to the river. We had to cross the river to get to the trail. This was an exercise in boulder hopping. Working together we got everyone across with only one foot going in the water. On the other side we quickly reloaded our camelbacks and took off down the trail along the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus River. We ran along the river till we got to Sand Flat campground where there was a CP and the road turned up to start a 2700 foot climb to

Crandle Peak. The first half was fire road up to CP 12 then through a way point. We just kept pushing up the hill. We had a fair amount of time to talk and I got to know Jackie and Adam better. After the waypoint, for the next 1000 vertical feet or so we bushwacked up the mountain. Mats was spot on with the navigation and we moved steadily up the ridges. We got to CP 13 on the peak around 4:00. At that point we had not seen any other teams for several hours. We came down the ridge as it began to get dark. We moved quickly and almost never stopped. The trail was very rocky and rough. My LaSportiva Pikes Peak shoes were great. No blisters or hot spots. My feet were sore because of hours of rocky terrain. The Flexon soul really gripped nicely.

It finally got dark and we found CP 14 with a surprise. There were a couple of cases of Pepsi. What a great pick me up. While everyone was doing well, this really picked up the spirits and we were able to keep running. I had been out of water for some time and a couple of Pepsi’s really did the trick for me. Singing our version of Queen’s “Bicycle” we came in to the TA after about 8 ½ hours on the trek. To our great pleasure we were the first in the TA. I later found out that Baarbd had made a wrong turn on one of the fireroads on the ridge and had spend some time getting to the right spot. We must have passed them during that time. The weather was still good and I was feeling great. Everyone seemed to be doing fine. We ate, reloaded our packs and took off before any team had made it in to the TA. We were feeling strong and confident.

Shortly after we took off on the bike it began to sprinkle. We rode at a strong pace and were making good time. It started raining harder. We finally had to don our rain jackets. We were still feeling good and moving very well. We got CP 16 and 16a. We located the trail for 16b and dropped the bikes to run down to the CP. We ran down there and searched all around but could not find it. We later found out that Baarbd didn’t find it either. I’m sure it was misplaced. Never the less it was discouraging to not locate it. This impacts your confidence. At the same time we were beginning to soak through and get cold. Finally we had to keep moving. As we were backtracking to hit the road that we needed to get to CP16c we rode past Baarbd. We didn’t talk and just kept moving. We knew they were right on our tail. This was a pretty long descent and the wet and cold was starting to really have an effect us. All of us were getting cold but Jackie was really cold and getting close to hypothermic I helped her get some more clothing on. We struggled a bit finding 16c but finally located it.

From there we travel across this rolling ridge for miles with lots of ups and downs. We would warm up on the climbs only to freeze again on the down hills. The trail was getting muddy and harder to ride. We had to walk numerous sections that we would have been able to ride if it had been dry. The cold was talking its toll also and we needed to stop periodically to try to try to warm up. We got a space blanket wrapped around Jackie more or less. We had to drop into a canyon then climb out a very steep road to the next CP. The steady rain was just soaking us to the bone. There is no such thing as rain proof. You just get wet. The best gear can do is keep you warm when your wet. We were cold and really trying to get off the mountain and down to the river and our TA. It was around 4 or 5 in the morning and I was ready to get off the bike. There were lots of road and intersections that were not on the maps. In addition our map had gotten wet and was tough to read.

We took a wrong turn that looked good. It took us several miles to a PGE lot. We searched around but could not find a road that was going the right direction. While searching I found a guy sleeping in a truck. I knocked on the window woke him up and asked him the fastest way to the river. He gave me some general directions. He wasn’t upset and didn’t even ask me what I was doing. He was quite nice about it. We jumped back on the bike and we took off. On the way back we ran into Baarbd who had made the same error we had made. We clearly saved them some time by showing them where not to go. I figured we burnt about 45 minutes with this miscue. Galen road up to me, said he had some kind of mechanical and asked if I had a master link. I did and gave him one. I was racing, but I believe in good karma. We took off and started the long descent to the river. Jackie’s rear brake was going out and we were all freezing heading down the mountain.

We pulled into the last transition in first but Baarbd came in a few minutes later. Jackie was extremely cold and the rest of us were in need of some dry clothing and warming up. Baarbd must have been in slightly better shape in the hypotherma department because they were able to change and leave the TA in front of us. We moved as fast as we could but we could not go on to the river as cold as we were without warming up.

Getting the boats down to the river was a huge challenge. There really was no trail. We had to carry two large tandem hard shell and expensive sea kayaks over rocks and logs down to the beach. From there it was a couple of hundred meters to where you could launch. Although a struggle we got all the boats to the beach and jumped in. We were about 18 minutes behind.

I like paddling but my arms were very tired and I was generally hurting. We paddled hard and steady and made good progress. The paddle was through a very winding channel. Every time we came around a corner I was hoping to see Baarbd up ahead. I never saw them. Apparently we made up about 6 or so minutes over the 15 mile paddle. The paddle took us about 3 hours.

The race took us 27 hours and 14 minutes. A strong second place by only 12 minutes. Radioactive Beagles came in over 2 hours later after having been slightly short coursed on the paddle. They had a strong performance. Only 9 of the teams even started the last bike and only 4 made it to the Kayak transition. Dancing Panda’s decided not to do the paddle and took 4^th.

Final results found at http://www.teamkarma.com/results/gr24hourchallenge2007results.htm

We had a great race and showed what a DA can be, a great competitor and display sportsmanship. We worked well as a team, especially considering we had never raced together before. Brian was a great crew taking care of us and being ready. I was always sorry about the mess I would leave.

Personally I was very pleased. We ran with the Big Dogs and proved that this is a team that can get on the podium in every race. The west coast has a lot of talented people. A lot of them were at Gold Rush this year. The fact that we were 1 of only 3 teams that made it across the finish line says a lot about how strong this team performed. A lot of things have to go right to win an adventure race. The AR gods were smiling on us, but they smiled on Baarbd a bit more.

Congratulations to our friends at Baarbd for a great race and a well earned victory.

In an ironic Amazing Race-like finish, our fate was decided in the last 36 seconds along Crissy Field’s Mason St. in a taxi! Yup, you heard me, a taxi. Read on I’ll explain.

For the next installment of pain, I hooked up with Donato and Aja to participate in the second annual San Francisco Oyster Urban Adventure Race. I personally really enjoy urban adventure races. I may actually be the only one on t he team that truly likes them and seeks them out. Donato will do , well, just about anything to get his adrenaline fuelled race fix, so he was a shoe in. And Aja was itchin to get some racing in before the close of the season after having put some time in organizing races for the Tahoe Big Blue folks.

So with the required “race fees” paid, which were actually donations in the amount of $300 we needed to collect as a team, we were registered in the traditional co-ed division where we expecting some stuff competition.

Race morning I got up way too early in order to be at the staging area by 6am from all the way out at my new home in the sticks. Race packet said start/finish was at Chrissy Field. So I naturally assumed Chrissy Field parking lot. After waiting there for 45 minutes and no sign of any race organizers i decided to head out and look to see what was going on. I found the real start/finish way down at the west end of Chrissy Field! Not a good start to the day.

I rendezvous with DP who arrived with Gulnur who would be our support crew for the day and Aja arrived shortly after. A-Bomb was also racing with a couple friends form his track club called the “Dirty Cheetahs” appropriately. And making an appearance the day after his successful 50 mile trail run, Brian would also crew for us!

After settling into our transition area and messin’ with our gear we had the pre-race meeting and received out first of 6 sets of passports. The passports were a laminated card that contained photos and instructions on how to complete the given leg of the race. I actually thought the passport was cool idea and can see how it would be useful in other 24 hour and remote races. Its a nice handy source to have rules of travel, emergency contact info, leg goals, destination information etc…

The race started at about 8:15am with teams running east down Mason St. towards our targets; The Palace of Fine Arts and Fort Mason. We started off pretty hard bouncing between second and third place down to the end of Crissy Field and along the Marina Green. Some teams went for The Palace first and some went to Fort Mason first. We opted for Fort mason because our target, the statue of Phillip Burton we new its location. The plaque of BF Modglin we weren’t so sure and figured wed see some teams leaving that location on our return.

We took the team photo in from of the statue and made our way to the Palace. Teams started quickly stacking up at the statue as we were leaving. This was going to be a fast race! We lucky found the plaque without wasting too much time, snapped another photo and made out way back to the finish line, but not without first filling our third requirement; finding a local with a cup of coffee from Starbucks and taking another photo!

The next leg of the race would require the three of us to split up and each take a different mode of transportation. Because Aja’s ankle was bothering her, she took the bike out to the Legion of Honor. DP scrappy and quick on his feet as he is took off on foot to the sand stairs at Baker Beach. I was the lucky SOB to get the scooter and make my way to the a Luna Inn and the City Car Share located there.

We were hooked up by local legend and inventor of the Dirt Diggler; Rob, with 3 Dirt Dawg off road scooters for this race. Thanks Rob! Check out http://www.digglerstore.com/ One small problem though. We were riding the kids versions and therefore had much smaller tires that our competitions scooters. So this equaled tiring out quickly and often. But fun ride regardless.

I was the first to return to the TA, but Aja and DP were right behind me and almost no time was wasted.

Finally time to get on our bikes as a team. We blasted down the Marina Green, AGAIN, and onto the Embarcadero sidewalk. Dodging a bazillion tourists along the way we made out way toward City kayak, but not before dropping Aja off at Gordon Biersch where her task was too “our the perfect pint”. Aja, having been a bartender in a previous life was probably done before DP and I even got into our kayaks.

Dp and I were issued a sit on top Cobra Kayak. Shivers and flashbacks of the 2000 Fog Dog race in Malibu and our 3 person sit on top in the Pacific Ocean started to come to me. Our goal was to paddle out under the Bay Bridge, around a buoy an d back again. At this point we were in 3rd place, but very close to the second place team which was an all male team.

We paddled back to City kayak and met u with Aja and flew back down the Embarcadero and back down Crissy Fields Mason St. AGAIN to the TA.

For our next leg we were to go to the China Town gate and find a ginger root. This is where we could have done a bit better. In the Oyster, in certain legs you are allowed to take public transportation. And even sometimes cabs. We opted to start running and then run down bus lines that would take us close to the gates. But a bus never came and we ended up running the entire way to China Town! hey we earned it! On the way back we hoped on a trolley and after a few blocks the trolley operation discovered us a kicked us off because apparently it was a private charter. No amount of money would persuade him! We eventually took a bus down Columbus and back to Fort Mason. Then we ran the stretch back down Mason St. to Crissy Field.. AGAIN. (notice a trend here?).

We lost a bit of time on this leg because a lot of teams opted for busses earlier than we did.

Now for the most painful leg of the race. The scooter leg. I was convinced having a kick bike for this race would give us the upper hand on the roller blades. I had assumed we’d be going into the interior of the city more than we did. However all of our legs and especially this scooter leg, was only along the shore and completely level ground. So we were no match for the inline skaters. Every 10 kicks on the scooter you had to switch legs and go another 10 kicks, etc… My legs became tired very fast! We completed the scooter leg after tieing a special knot at the Hyde St. Pier.

This is where it gets nuts. For the final leg we had to visit REI on Brannen St. as well as do some shopping for local goods at Whole Foods on 4th and Harrison. Again, public transportation was in play. Also we heard form our crew that cabs were also legit! So after a confusing moment in front of the port-a-potties and strategizing on what we’d do, I spotted a cab coming down towards us on Mason St. mere feet in front of the TA! What were the odds! DP quickly flagged it down and Aja barreled out of the john and we were on our way to our check point in our cab.

I heard later alot of teams had to run clear up to Lombard to flag a cab. We dropped Aja off at Whole Foods to do the shopping for 3 local foods and DP and I went to REI where DP had to filter water form one bin to another up to a black line. Once completing both tasks we were on our way back to the finish.. in a cab

As we relaxed and enjoyed the leisurely ride back to the finish and approached Crissy Field, our cab driver, Mohammad looks in his rear view mirror and mentions that he thinks there might be another team behind us. He says that since Lombard St. this other cab has been trying to get around him and driving kinda crazy! Mohammad decides to turn right to go under the highway and then left onto Mason St. The other team who we identify at Andy Tubbs Team goes straight then make a right and left blowing a stop sign and cutting of another car! We were in first, now in second! The final approach to the finish there was no way around the SLOW car we were stuck behind. Andy’s team was a lock. Mohammad wasn’t exactly the most “aggressive” driver either

We pulled up and crossed the line 36 seconds after Andy’s team and biter with defeat… but high fives, hugs and stores for everybody.

The race was fun and the transition was excellent. Stocked with plenty to drink, and eat and fun for spectators to watch the race unfold. However the location and the route to the checkpoint had us repeating the run down Mason St. in Crissy Field before and after every leg of the race. The route became tedious and boring. It would have been nice to have been routed into the interior of the city more. Other than the China Town leg, all of our checkpoints were along the embarcadero or shoreline.

Greta race SF Oyster gang. Looking forward to next year!

Photos: Gulnur’s photos.
Photos: Brian’s photos.
Link: Race website.
Link: Race Results.

Folsom Sprint – A race typically completed with two members was run this season by three Dirty Avocados, Aja Cook, Adam Armijo, and Mike Chastain. The race started with a half mile run from what once was the water bank of the Folsom Lake to the new water line of the Folsom Pond. The three of us took off at the count down in an attempt to sprint to the water line, to Mike and Adam’s dismay they found an initial challenge of trying to run with two inflatable kayaks in 20 mile an hour winds. I had sprinted ahead unaware that the two men were having such problems. When Mike and Adam finally arrived at the waters edge we found ourselves near to last place.

During the quick paddle across the pond, we were able to paddle ourselves into fifth position just before the run leg. The three of us took off down the sandy waters edge for a short 2 or so mile run. Trucking past teams we quickly placed ourselves in third position. From the run we got back in our boats for a short paddle north up the lake to a round about that would head us back to the start/finish line. Mike had an idea of cutting time by pulling boats onto shore and running over the finger that was standing between us and the alcove where we had started the race. This choice was extremely effective, putting us in first for a few short minutes before the teams in second and third caught on.

Quickly over the finger and back into the water we were passed again by the team who had originally held first place. Once we arrived at the start finish line we found ourselves back in third place.

We quickly transitioned from the kayak onto our bikes. With minimal gear that was needed we quickly left the transition area in second place. I believe we were in the TA for no more than a minute. We rallied the single track trails of the Folsom Lake area for no more than an hour and a total of ten miles. During the bike leg we passed no one, but were passed by one super fast coed team that ended up taking second overall, Tahoe Surgery Center

The second transition came where we dumped our bikes in the same transition and ran back down to the waters edge where we found ourselves faced with an obstacle of sorts. One team member was to use a small one gallon bucket to take water from the lake, run the bucket to the partner, who was holding a 4” PVC pipe that had 11 to 13 holes drilled into the side. The one member retrieved water from the lake, poured it into the pipe, while the other teammate attempted to plug the holes with various body parts in order to hold the water inside. There was a small ping pong ball inside the pipe and the object was to get the ping pong ball out without touching the ball, or tipping the pipe. On average it was taking the teams five minutes to complete this activity.

Once we completed the task teams were to sprint back up from the water line to the finish, which for some was a grueling task since several of the sections were 5” deep sand traps. The Dirty Avocados ended up taking forth and fifth overall, since we were supposed to be teams of two, with an elapsed time of two hours and 4 minutes.

Moab Xstream Expedition Race Report – Team Big Bear Adventure Racing
September 27-30th, 2007

Somehow I was asked to race with team Big Bear Adventure Racing, after their 4th teammate suffered a severe, well let’s just say sports related injury. Paul Romero and Karen Lundgren from Team Sole would be to blame or thank for this arrangement. Hum, no surprise there Karen and Paul seem to be responsible for most of us (every member, myself included) to getting involved in AR in the first place. My first thought was no way I can keep up with Teddy “the Tow Truck” and his now wife and team mate Heather Salzer-Divito. As for their third Team Mate David Burks I was even scared to ask who he was. Oh, and when you see the picture of us all with our shi