Untamed New England – the view from the other team

Some times you just have to take chances.  In adventure racing, you can do a lot well, but one mistake can really cost you.  That turned out to be the story of the Dirty Avocados 2.

Dirty Avocados 2 was made up of Jen Rigoni, Donato Polignone and Mike Chastaine.  This three some had not raced together before but was very excited to be heading to New Hampshire for the AR World Championship Qualifier.

            Before heading out we had agreed on a “go fast and take chances” strategy.   We were going to sleep as little as possible, and go as hard as we could for as long as we could to see what would happen.

            The race was based out of a beautiful resort in northern New Hampshire called the Balsams.  An old fashioned resort that requires the gentlemen to wear jackets at night.  This was an outstanding venue for such as race.

            We were told very little about the order of the events and the lengths of each leg.  We were told that we would be significantly limited in the amount of gear we could bring in this unsupported race – 30 lbs per personal gear bag and one 40 lb team “paddling bag.”

            It wasn’t until the morning of the race that we were given maps and instructions and would be able to actually pack.  For me this was a very stressful situation, having to plot check points, devise an optimal route between each, and get the right gear in the right bag.  Fortunately, Jen really stepped up and made sure our bags were filled with the correct gear.  Still, I was way over the weight limit and was forced to take several pounds of gear and food out of my bag in the final minutes before race start.  I was  reduced to 1 pair of bike shorts, 1 pair of trekking shoes, 2 pair of trekking pants and a couple of jerseys, along with some rain proof gear and other mandatory gear.  I had what seems like way too little food.  Never the less, the weather looked like it would be good at least the first day and we could get food in the towns we passed through.

            The race started when the UTMs to the first 2 check points were handed out.  We quickly plotted those and took off.  We rode the first bike leg hard and were among the first teams to get to the paddle.  We had the option of using our own paddling gear or using the paddles the race provided.  The disadvantage to using your own gear was that we would have to carry it.  We had chosen to use the paddles provided.  This was a mistake.  Canoes are slow enough.  With canoe paddles, it seemed like we were barely moving.  Still, we keep the boats upright the entire paddle and were only passed but a couple of teams.

            In hindsight we actually had a pretty good paddle in that we didn’t flip the boats and were pretty skillful in keeping the water out of the boat after the first set of rapids.

            We completed the paddle and got changed to head out on the bike. We were about an hour 20 min behind the lead team.  We were feeling strong and took off at a quick pace.  The first part of the bike was on road ultimately leading to a conservation project.   We were around 15th place coming into the conservation project and feeling pretty good about our position as everyone was pretty close together.

            We worked hard at clearing our area, doing our part to mark the nature walk, grabbed a hamburger supplied by the locals and took off for the 2^nd part of this bike leg.  This part was much harder, with a spot where we had to get the bikes over a barbed wire fence.  It also had a long 900 vertical foot climb in the middle.

            Around 2 am we finished the ride at a coffee shop that was being used as the TA and stayed open all night just for the racers.  Here we got more CPs to plot for the up coming trek along with a large coffee.  We got out of there as quickly as possible and by the time the sun began to rise (about 4:30) we were well into the trek.  CP 1 of this trek proved to be difficult for many teams.  We ran into Trackme 360 who had been looking for the CP for several hours.  We were traveling with Technu at that time and we were able to locate the CP as a group.  At this point we had a discussion about whether we should try to achieve the bonus check points or limit ourselves to the 4 mandatory CPs.  Given the cut off later in the day, I felt it was better for us to skip the bonus CPs.  Still we had a tough time making our way to the 2^nd CP – on the top of Randolph Mountain.   We wasted about 2 hours going down the wrong trail before back tracking to the correct one. It was a long climb to the top of the mountain.  We made it and continued through the remainder of the trek through out the day.  We arrived at that TA at the Bed and Breakfast in Jefferson in the mid-afternoon on Friday.   We had lost some places but with various penalties and bonus it was difficult to determine ranking at this point. We were about 5 hours behind first and within a couple hours of most of the teams in front of us.  From there it was a quick 9 mile bike ride to the next paddle.

            We were over 24 hours into the race, had no sleep and were faced with an important decision.   We were given the option to do the paddle – a 25 mile up-stream paddle with at least one portage, or ride our bikes to the next TA to start the bushwhack trek.  Even good paddling teams were averaging 2 mph so this was going to take a while.  I was very concerned that if we paddled we would miss other cut offs that would ultimately DQ us.  After much discussion we agreed to head out on the bike.  This proved to be a wise decision.

            It was a quick road ride to the “town” of Stark whose most notable feature was a cool covered bridge.  We still had a fair amount of daylight so we changed to trekking gear and headed off.  Skipping the paddle put us toward the front of the group.  Again we were traveling with Technu with Merrill right behind us.  A long walk down the road lead us to the area where we would be looking for a trail to CP 22.  We had a great deal of difficultly with this CP.  Technu wanted to try to contour to the CP.  We made the mistake of following and once we were deep into the bushwhack we felt too committed to abandon the plan.  We spent hours looking for this CP.  Finally, through perseverance we did locate the CP that was a few hundred yards from a well-worn trail we should have spent more time locating instead of contouring. 

            The next CP was a full-on bushwhack up the side of a mountain to the summit.  All night long we powered through the bush, over the rocks, through the high weeds and around the trees.  Finally, we got to the summit to be greeted by some folks from Eastern Mountain Sports.  We were one of the first teams to arrive at this CP.  Even though we had skipped the paddle, this meant that we were in the lead group of the short course teams and I knew that many of the long course teams would be short coursed or quit later. They allowed us to share a Pepsi, have a hot dog and some chips.  It was a nice gesture.  Then we headed down.  Down proved as hard as up with a small cliff band that was pretty dicey down climbing.  It turned out that a member of another team fell off that cliff and had to be transported to the hospital.  Fortunately we got through it safely.

            Getting down to the road seemed to take forever.  Finally, as the sun was coming up we hit the road for a long (5miles +/-) march.  At that location we had the option of the road (longer) or bushwhacking over (shorter).  We agreed the road would be faster and safer.  Lack of sleep can do funny things, even on a road.  We turned off too early and put ourselves in a position where we had to do a short (15-20 minutes) bushwhack to get back to the road.  We lost over an hour from the summit to Drummer Pond.

            At the Drummer Pond TA we would be getting on our bikes and heading to the climbing site, which was some 30 miles away in Maine.  At this point we were over 40 hours into the race with no sleep.  I needed to plot some more of the course that I didn’t have time to complete at the race start.  While I did this Jen and DP took a catnap.  I found that I was really having trouble with the plotting and was not very confident about my points.  I slept for about 5 minutes and then we packed up and took off. 

            The first part of the ride was fine.   We stopped at a snack shack and got some food and coffee then were back on the road.  We had just a couple of little hiccups that were quickly corrected.  We got to Success Lake in fine shape with plenty of time to get to the climbing site well before the 4:00 cut off.  I saw 2 routes to the site – one was a road, the other a 4 wheel drive road that looked more direct and shorter.  I asked a local kid on an ATV about it and he said the 4 wheel drive road was in good shape and the way he would go.  If I ever see that kid again, he’s in trouble.  It was a good road, for a while.  But by the time it got to the ridge, it was a muddy un-rideable mess.  As a result we wound up pushing the bikes for several hours through the mud.  This was the low point in the race for me.  I was upset at myself for going this way and was afraid we would miss the cut off.  Further, fatigue was really catching up to me and I was having trouble getting my bearings.  Luckily Jen and DP kept it together and we finally made our way to the climbing site.  Although we got there just after 4 the cut off had been extended to 6. 

            We climbed up to Table Rock (a long a steep hike) and were told that only one of us had to do the climb.  I needed to sleep so Jen volunteered.  While DP and I got about 20 minutes of shut eye Jen repelled and then jumarred up about 150 feet.    As I expected, at this point the course was really taking it’s toll on teams –only  ½ actually made it to the climbing site in time to do the climb. We were in the middle of that 20-team group.

            It’s amazing what a few minutes of sleep will do.  We hurried back to the bikes.  Now I had to re-plot the up coming check points I’d attempted at the previous TA plus 2 new ones.  Jen slept for a few minutes while DP and I figured out where we were going.

            Just as it was starting to get dark we took off up the road on our bikes.  Shortly thereafter it started to rain.  Hard.  We rode along various dirt roads, mile after mile in the dark and rain.  There was absolutely nothing on the road.  No buildings of any kind.  However, I was “seeing” houses and barns and all manner of structures.  The hallucinations were quite interesting.

            We got through the first two CPS on the bike (32 and 33) with no trouble.  By then it had stopped raining and we were actually drying out.  We rode down to the river and then tackled a 5 mile uphill ride to CP 34 (located at a boat launch.)  At this point we were feeling strong and confident.  After 34 we would have only one last CP on the bike and then we would go back to the Balsam’s to complete what we figured would be a rather short trek to the finish line.  We had about a half hour of sleep under our belt but were feeling alert and had been knocking off the CPs easily.

            Just as we got to the boat launch area it started to rain again.  This time it was REALLY dumping.  There was thunder and lighting.  We were getting soaked.  At the boat launch there were 3 old row boats upside down on the ground.  We climbed under one, wrapped ourselves in a space blanket and got a short nap, hoping to sleep through the worst of the storm.   The gear we left behind to stay under the weight limit haunted us a bit here.  We were wearing every piece of clothing we had including space blankets and we were all still very cold and did not sleep well.  In less then an hour the rain had stopped and we were off.   Normally a short nap really helps.  But for some reason the lack of sleep really was catching up to me.  I had a tough time finding the right road out of the lake area to the trail I was looking for.  Once we found the trail we thought we were in good shape, traveling in the correct direction at the correct elevation.  But we missed a turn somewhere and were way to far south.  We searched around for a couple of hours and realized that we were in the wrong area and that we were running out of time to catch the checkpoint.  We agreed to skip it and head back to the Balsams.  Even with skipping CP 35 I was certain we were solidly in the top 10 so we were ok with this.   At that point, aside from the second paddle, we had obtained every mandatory checkpoint

We were on an ATV road that I was confident would get us to the highway and then it would be about 7 miles to the finish.  We were traveling along and came to an intersection.  One direction was east (the one I knew would get us to the highway) and the other going north.  There were lots of bike tire tracks going north and it was the general direction of the resort.  This is where sleep deprivation and bad decisions go hand in hand.  For reasons I will never be able to explain, we went north.  This turned into a logging road that circumnavigated the mountain but was never going to lead us to the highway.  We ran into two other teams and together we burned time looking for ways out.  Finally, around 9:30 when it was obvious that we were not going to make the final 10:00 cutoff we pulled out the Sat phone, got our location off the Spot tracker and after some messing around with race HQ agreed to head south all the way back to Drummer Pond to be picked up.

I was sorely disappointed as were the other three teams that got picked up with us (including RaceIt/Odyssey AR/ASR and GOALS ARA) but we simply had run out of time. We never gave up and with more time we would have ridden back the way we came till we found the road.

Still, we had put in a super effort, had great team dynamics, and discovered that, at least for us, an hour of sleep over 3 days is not enough when the navigation is difficult.  Certainly for me, the end of the race was much harder due to the lack of sleep and the confusion I suffered when roads and maps didn’t match.

Although the results will never show it, the Dirty Avocados 2 had an excellent race and I’m very proud of the effort that we put in.

“Dozens of teams are taking part in a race through the New Hampshire wilderness this week.”
Video from local NH news station WMUR 9 featuring Mike and shots of Donato and Jen.

Date: July 9th- 11th
Location: Dixville Notch, New Hampshire
Length: 214.93 miles
Team: Dirty Avocados
Racers: Adam Doti, Angel Garbarino, Brian Schmitz
Photos: Click here for Flickr photos
Route: Click here to load full route map
EveryTrail: Route and Photos

About the Race

The Untamed New England Adventure race was an AR World Series qualifier for the Adventure Race World Championship. The AR World Series is a circuit of 10 premiere adventure races creating a 12 month calendar of professional events around the world. As a qualifier the race’s toughness was to be ratcheted up a bit; each discipline was made a bit harder, and longer.  As Grant the race director said himself, the course was really a 5-6 day course. Teams had 3 days to complete the course, starting from noon on Thursday and finishing 10am Sunday morning.  Teams raced non-stop through the mountains, rivers, and forests of Untamed New England and traveled unsupported as as self sufficient teams.

Preparation: Not a lot of info and not a lot of time

Brian, Adam and I arrived at the Balsams Grand Resort Wednesday afternoon.  Shortly after our arrival we began assembling our bikes and organizing our gear.  However, little was known until right before the race about what discipline would be first and when, or how many times we would see our personal gear and paddle bags.  Per the race directors instructions each team member was allowed one personal gear bag that could weigh no more than 30lbs and the team was allowed one paddle bag that could weigh no more than 40lbs.  As a 3 day, unsupported race, these weight requirements would be challenging to meet.

We woke early Thursday, but by 8am a line had already begun to form outside the race packet stations where we would receive our SPOTs (GPS tracking and emergency locator devices), get our satellite phones checked, and finally get our maps and rules of travel.  In addition to the other California teams (Dirty Avocados 2, Team Technu, and Aquan), the well known team Merrell/Zanfel Adventure was there.  They seemed to have a large presence, standing out in their loud orange Merrell apparel.  Robyn Benincasa from Merrell/Zanfel, a friend of the Dirty Avocados, came over and exchange some kind words.  Team Merrell/Zanfel was clearly the favored team, but the race had attracted around 44 teams, and some tough competition.  It would not be an easy win.

It was around 9am when we received our maps, and began plotting all the points (37 checkpoints).  Stress levels during these next couple of hours were running high as teams worked quickly to plot and pack personal bags.  The race meeting started at 11:15am, and packing was made extra difficult because we learned through the rules of travel that it would be well into the race before we would see our personal gear bags.  Moreover, we would only see them twice.  During this time it became clear that some teams had not heeded the race directors rules about the bag weight limit; team Merrell/Zanfel came in to the check station with personal bags around 45lbs.  There was no budging on the 30lbs, if you were a 1lb over, you still had a 1lb to lose. Unfortunately the items that had to go out of our bags were more and more food bags. We just planned to buy food we needed in the towns we would pass through.

The Start:  We got muddy and wet fast

The race officially started a little after noon with the handing out of the coordinates for the first 3 checkpoints.  The first section was on mountain bikes.  Prior to start of the race, the area had seen about 40 days of consecutive rain fall, and the trails were muddy.  As the 44 teams jammed down muddy wet HOV trails, teams fought past one another in what seemed more like the beginning of a mountain bike race rather than a 3 day expedition race–adrenaline was making everyone push the pace.  Only 2 hours into the race and we were covered in mud and the bikes were trashed.

From the bike we rode to a paddle section.  Pulling up to the transition we noticed a large crowd formed on a bridge down river.  Foolishly we thought, how cool- the town’s people were interested in the race and had come to watch.  We should have know better; crowds gather where carnage occurs.  We had been warned about white water right before heading out, but took off only causally strapping our bags into the canoe.  Brian led the way in the kayak, while Adam and I discussed paddling white water in the canoe.  Adam hearing the rush of the approaching rapids, gave me a crash course on navigating rapids. Foreshadowing what was to come Adam yelled, “Have you had much white water experience; do you know what a tongue is; etc.?” My reply, “Um…not really.”  Seconds later we were in the white water, holding onto our flipped canoe which had quickly became submerged by a large crashing wave.  We floated out, reorganized, and paddled and portaged for the next 5 plus hours.  Thankfully our bags had stayed attached; wet, but attached.

Night 1:  Hot dogs and Coffee

From the canoe we transitioned onto our bikes.  It was now dark and we headed onto a bike leg that took us to a conservation project.  The conservation project is a trademark of the race.  It gives an opportunity for the race to give back to the community they sometimes appear to take over.  At the conservation project we were handed 1 saw, 1 pair of clippers and pointed to a 20×40 ft section of small bushes/shrubs and trees- it was our job to clear them.  After all the teams had cleared their sections, the area would be converted into a walking path for the community.  We pulled together our gardening skills and we left the conservation project after a little over an hour.  Before leaving, we filled up on hot dogs and fries provided by the race volunteers.

Back on our bikes we hit another biking section which weaved us around the towns dam, and fire roads following the river. There was some steep hill climbs and more hike-a-bike sections during this leg.  On the way to CP11 and 12 we passed our friends Team Aquan/Trackme 360 and Dirty Avocados 2, who were heading back the way we had come. From the bike we road to a coffee house which had stayed open just for the racers.  The coffee house was packed with teams; some already sleeping and other loading up on caffeinated beverages.  The race director wasn’t kidding when he said there would be plenty of opportunities to get food on the course- a likely reason he made the personal gear bag weight requirement so low.

We left our bikes at the coffee house and headed out on the first trek.  There were optional points available during this section, but only one team (the winning team) actually got two optionals here.  All the later optional points at different sections were skipped.  As the race went on, it became clear just finishing the required sections in the required time would be a challenge for every team, so CP’s were taken out, and cut off points extended.  It was during this trek that teams really began to split up based on navigation and route choice.  Navigation was large part of this race, and the thick brush made it difficult to identify geographical features.  Additionally because of the mud, it was easy to see where other teams had traveled before.  But this made it more confusing.  There were so many new trails created by previous teams that went in circles, but you felt obligated to explore them because others had been there.  Basically, the course was covered with trails everywhere that lead nowhere.  This first trek lasted several hours into the morning and proved for some frustrating moments.We joined up with Team Towanda to bag Randolph Peak and a couple more CPs before deciding to run a slow trot back to the TA.

Friday: Packing on the weight and the start of the Death Marches

After completing the first trek we hiked back into town to a bed and breakfast were the transition and our bikes were located.  Here we took sometime to clean off the bikes from the earlier mud fest, did some preventive maintenance on the feet, and grabbed some food at the local gas station.  From here we biked to the second paddle.  We arrived shortly before the 5pm cut off time.  We knew that the next paddle was UP stream and required a large section of portaging.  It had taken the fastest teams 6 hrs, which would mean if we went, we’d be paddling in the dark.  We would have had to complete the canoe by 5pm and would have been short coursed had we opted to do the paddle.  We were diverted to the short course and decided to then nap for a couple of hours.  Note: don’t nap at transitions; they’re loud and not conducive to good sleep.  It was at this transition we had access to our personal gear bags, and took with us all our climbing equipment and remaining food/gear that we would need for the majority of the rest of the race.  We wouldn’t see the gear bags again until the last section on the last day.  Needless to say, our packs were heavy!

We biked on the road into the dark until the next transition.  At this transition we tapped and strapped as much gear as we could to our bikes (climbing equipment, extra food, etc).  Our packs were heavy and we knew the next trek would be long.  We would see our bikes before the ropes and so took the risk of loosing gear that didn’t stay attached on the bikes while they were moved.  On a side note: many times during the race teams have to change clothes and take restroom breaks.  However, in adventure racing, normal rules of public nudity and restroom behavior tend to take a back seat   Stripping without concern for any of those around is acceptable behavior for AR as well as using the restroom in places most convenient.  However, I think this behavior may have taken some of the volunteers and locals by surprise.  Some stories are only meant for the trails, but lets just say when one is tired, and lost any concern for such actions in front of people, you create situations that will keep you laughing throughout the race.  Adam and Brian- you know what I talking about ;-).

Friday Night- Saturday:  Welcome to Bush Whacking 101

We had been told by the race director that the upcoming trek would take about 8 hrs.  About 15 hrs later we had finished what I consider the toughest section of the race.  The first CP was tough as roads and other features on the maps had proven harder to find.  Many teams became stuck at the first CP.  After searching for quite a bit of time and finally coming to a plan of attack we decided to take a quick 30 min nap before diving into what would be a long bushwhacking section.  We slept 3 against a stump, quickly passing out.  We then headed into the woods, following a blazed boundary trail and a river.  We came upon several teams searching for the same CP and tried to secretly grab the CP without notice, but were quickly discovered.  We organized again and headed out into what would become a 4+ hr bushwhack from hell.  We followed lots of logging trails, which were horrible on the joints/feet.  The logging trails were essentially piles of rotting logs, making it easy to step through and twist your ankle.  We slowly covered ground.  Bushwhacking in dense, rocky, marshy and hilly ground while being eaten alive by bugs in the heat of day, all while not being entirely sure you know where you are can test the will.  Adam suffering from navigating the race to this point was too exhausted to take lead nav. Brian took over and lead us up to a saddle which then allowed us to attack the summit and the CP. We eventually made it through and reunited with many teams we had traveled with earlier, including Towanda, a team we would continually run into.

After grabbing the CP atop the “false summit” sucking down a Pepsi and pringles left for us by race volunteers from Eastern Mountain Sports, we scrambled down a mountain side, where we learned later that another racer had fallen and had to be taken to a hospital- it was some steep downhill bushwhack.  We popped out onto a road, and moved onto a death march on a long fire road, exposed in the heat.  These hikes are the worst on the feet, especially after hours of muddy, wet and rocky bushwhack.

Saturday Night- Sunday:  Here comes the rain and hallucinations

We landed at the next transition around noon on Saturday.  Here we were informed that to make the ropes section we would have to be at the next transition by 7pm. This would be extremely hard given we had a mountain bike section to cover first and in an expedition 7hrs can be a very short period of time.  We pushed off, and headed out to grab the CPs as fast as we could.  But like the other sections, the navigation was tough and you could tell the weather was going to change.  We had all been thankful the rains had not come earlier, but that didn’t make their coming any more welcoming.  The mountain bike section required the all familiar hike-a-bike, mud and fire roads.  We again ran into Towanda and some other familiar teams.  CP28 would trip us up for a while. The trails on the map seemed to match the terrain perfectly, but still didnt get us to where we needed to be no matter how we approached it. Finally we decided to focus on a HOV trail that we had previously discounted. This would lead us right to the CP. We finished this section right before the third night fall and right before the clouds opened up.  We had missed the ropes section which meant we had a back-to-back bike section.  We were warned that the next mountain bike section was tough, and would only be harder in the now downpour of rain and dark.  We weren’t positive we could finish this next section in time to complete to mandatory orienteering point back at the Balsams Resort before the race cut off.  Us and a few other teams elected to divert to an alternate course which would skip the mountain bike section and require a 30 mile road ride back to the Balsams where we would then start the orienteering course.  We set off for a very rainy, long ride.  We had only 2.5 hours of sleep at this point (about 60 hrs into the race) and the hallucinations were starting to come out.  Brian was calling me Susan and I caught him falling asleep on the bike and nearly crashing into the side of a hill.  I had gone goofy and kept swerving my bike in and out of the pace line, while trying to tell myself that the snakes and lizards I kept seeing in the road did not exist.  Adam thankfully awake and alert, did his best to keep us together and awake.

Once climbing over the windy, steep Dixville Notch notch we got word that finding the orienteering points in the rain and dark proved nearly impossible.  Teams were coming in after having searched for hours with no luck.  In hindsight we should have just gone for the Trek CPs as the one mandatory point was not hard to find at all. Regardless, we decided to wait until day break to go out and search and took this opportunity to test our Nemo Elite racing tent.  Adam, who was a bit more together than I got the tent set up and us into bed.  At one point he caught me standing bear foot in the grass looking dumbfounded.  He ordered me to bed and in the tent.  Once there I was asleep, but well aware I was freezing.  Brian, keenly aware of my loud shivering while he tried to sleep, kindly backed his butt in my direction to keep me warm.  In his words, “I kept on having to back it in or you’d start shivering again.”  Meanwhile, Adam had the delight of my feet by his head.  I felt for him, at this point I was left with 3 toenails and would have scared any pedicurist away.

Sunday Morning: Finished strong and with smiles

We woke up at the crack of dawn, and forced ourselves out of the tent and into clothes for the orienteering course.  The race director, as we discovered early in the race, had an evil streak for death marches.  So once again, we death marched/ran down the cement road to the Notch.  We scuttled our way up some trails above the resort entrance. The route up to the top of the Notch was exposed and epic.  Very windy and steep at points.  Elements like this put the adventure in adventure racing!  We only had about 3 hours until the 10am race cut off and didn’t want to risk going for another orienteering point (which were scattered).  We picked up the pace and ran/trekked to the finish hoping to beat any teams at this point on time.
We finished at 7:57am on Sunday with smiles and were greeted with beers.  It was a great race.  Tough in many ways, and for my first expedition one that I am proud of.  My teammates were supportive and together we never stopped laughing.  We were a fun crew.

Final results are still being calculated but as of this writing, the winning team was ATP/Salomon, a solid team from Canada.  Only 2 teams finished the course without being short coursed, and only 1 team (team Salomon) achieved any bonus checkpoints.  23 teams officially finished, our team (Dirty Avocados) came in 15th overall and 6th in our division.  Team Merrell/Zanfel, the favored winner ran into some issues when they lost their rules of travel.  Without these even completing the course would have been extremely challenging.  They did well given the circumstances, and 6th overall and in their division.


Thanks to our Supporters
Finally we would like to thank the following sponsors and supporters. Without your assistance and encouragement this would not have been possible.

SOLE Custom Footbeds for helping to ease the pain on our tired aching feet.

Nemo for proving the shelter over our heads during the most wicked of thunder storms.

La Sportiva for the Ultranord GTX which kept feet dry well into trekking sections.

nuun for keeping us hydrated and on the move.

Ellsworth Handcrafted Bicycles that powered us through 150+ miles of road, single track, fie road and the gnarliest of off road conditions.

CAMP for the lightest weight climbing rig around.

Rudy Project for the coolest shades and helmets available.

National Geographic Maps for enabling us to analyize our post race rote and share it with the Adventure racing community.

Total Distances:
Bike: 24.40 mi
Paddling: 17.84 mi
Bike: 13.66 mi
Bike: 17.78 mi
Trekking: 19.57 mi
Bike: 25.45 mi
Trekking: 20.08 mi
Biking: 36.80 mi
Biking: 32.43 mi
Trekking: 6.92 mi

Total Bike: 150.52
Total Trek: 46.57
Total Paddling: 17.84 mi
Total: 214.93 Miles

Elevation Gain:
Bike: 1767 ft
Paddling: -108 ft
Bike: 211 ft
Bike: 1247 ft
Trekking: 2952 ft
Bike: 600 ft
Trekking: 2266 ft
Biking: 2625 ft
Biking: 2105 ft
Trekking: 893 ft

Total: 14,666 ft (note: EveryTrail repots vert gain is 23,886ft. Strange, looking into this.)

### BEGIN RACE UPDATES ###

(most recent update on top) 

TIME: 07/13/2009 - 8:30AM PST

Dirty Avocados finished Untamed New England Expedition Race stong sunday morning.  Tales from the trails to follow here at dirtyavocados.com.  Thanks for everyone’s support!

TIME: 07/12/2009 - 12:50AM PST

Race Clock: 2 days 12 hours 50 minutes

Dirty Avocados Team 1 Adam, Angel and Brian are at the final Checkpoints at the Balsams Lodge.  Dirty Avocados Team 2 is 10 miles as a crow flys from the final checkpoints around the lodge.  They look like they are looking for a checkpoint near a lake, from that location the easist way may be the heading to the Northeast to a road that leads to the lodge.

Given updates in the fieldnotes and leaderboard have been hampered by issues consider assuming that if a team goes to where Team Estoril Portugal XPD is located then they have likely finished the race and are at the lodge.  Team Estoril Portugal XPD finished the race a while ago and likely turned in their beacon at the lodge or left it running on their packs, which are likely at the lodge.  Team Estoril is just east of the last checkpoints and that looks like where the lodge is located.

Its easy to imagine all the adventures the team have experienced in the last 2 and a half days experiencing the wild side of New England.  We are looking forward to their coming in the finish safely in the hours or ahead.

TIME: 07/11/2009 - 5:35PM PST

Race Clock: 2 days 5 hours 35 minutes (less than 24 hours to go!)

The two Dirty Avocado Teams are within 1000 yards of each other near CP 30.  Its likely that if they see each other they may travel together forming one big muddy ameoba avocado.  Its raining, but their are very expereinced team mates on those teams helping eachother through the conditions.

TIME: 07/11/2009 - 8:10AM PST

Race Clock: 1 day 20 hours 10 minutes

The information coming from the race site is at this point lagging and intermittent given bad cell coverage and their likely focus on keep a long string of racers together.  Dirty Avocados II made it out of the bushwack last night and have riden their bikes to Maine toward Grafton Park for some climbing.  Dirty Avocados I are about to finish the bushwack likely having stopped for sleep last night.  Once on the ride watch our teams as they zip glad to be off their feet.

TIME: 07/10/2009 - 12 Midnight PST

Race Clock: 1 day 15 hours

Jen, Mike, and Donato are on foot and look about 2 miles from there next transition area CP 24 at Drummer Pond, however they may be still looking for CPs and are in an area that may be a challenge to navigate at night that has been well forested with likely many unmapped trails and forest roads.  It may take awhile to go the two miles.  Adam, Angel and Brian are behind them, but only by miles now.

TIME: 07/10/2009 - 3:40PM PST

Race Clock: 1 day 3 hours 40 minutes

It has been difficult to judge team progress now, but check the course map and select the teams from the drop down list.

Dirty Avocados Team 1 satellite beacon seems to be back on. 42 minutes ago they at CP 15 in the town of Lancaster, NH.  They may be sent ahead of the paddle, given race organizers do not seem to want racers on the water at night.

Dirty Avocados Team II is  near CP 19, the town of Stark, NH.  The track point being broadcast on the map is old from 2:14 PM EST.  By now they are likely past CP 19.

Briefly today, the teams may have crossed into Vermont, but it looks like they are back in New Hampshire and may head into Maine tonight or tomorrow for a ropes section.

TIME: 07/10/2009 - 12:00 Noon PST

Race Clock: 1 day finished, 2 more days to go!

We are expecting to hear that Dirty Avocados II made it off the trek in Jefferson, NH and that Dirty Avocados I is shorlty behind them.  Today should be a relief as the teams will be back on bike and then possibly into a slower river later (keep your fingers crossed).  Last night the teams bushwacked up a ridge near Mt. Crescent. ***********

View Larger Map************

 TIME: 07/10/2009 - 7:45 AM PST

Race Clock: 20 hours 15 minutes

The Avocados are rolling in the right direction according to field reports.

Dirty Avocados I satelitte transponder is not working, so for the time being refer to the leaderboard and field notes.

Currently, both Dirty Avocados I and Dirty Avocados II  are on a trek that race organizers describe here: http://www.untamedne.com/Live/Race/CPDetail.aspx?e=2&c=43 It sounds like some serious bushwaching, however the sun is up and that will greatly help them move faster in this section than teams during last night.

The Course Map is now revealing the rest of the main check points (”CPs”), which are transition areas (”TAs”) where teams will transition from one disipline to another.  These CP’s are marked in a white and orange icon on the course map. http://www.untamedne.com/Live/Race/Course.aspx

Weather in that area in New England should be better today than yesterday in the high 70’s.  This weekend the weather may turn. Here is the weather in Jefferson where CP 14 is located: http://www.wunderground.com/US/NH/Jefferson.html

 TIME: 07/09/2009 - 5:00 PM PST

Race Clock: 8 hours

After 17+ miles of paddling and possibly portaging parts of the Androscoggin River our Dirty Avocados seem to be pulling into a transition at the South end of the Pontook Reservoir to continue racing on land.

Notice a group of teams together in the Southwest part of the map near a large body of water slightly on land.  Focus on team TrackMe360 and if you focus in on the map you can see 4 other teams below them.  These markers are old.  When so many teams meet like that there is usually a big obstacle they are running into or there is a transition at that location and in this case teams are getting onto land out of their boats and change out of wet clothes.

This is the last T.A. probably before night fall so teams may be there a while in order to gather their lights and fuel up.  Smart teams will grab gear and food to do their best to keep going, its just too early in the race to stop especially in this short of an expedition race.

TIME: 07/09/2009 - 3:00PM PST

Race Clock: 6 hours

Teams have been on the first of 3 river sections.  According to the field notes on the race site many of the teams flipped in the rapids, however the rapids may only be class one and two.  if you focus in on the front teams and turn the map to “Map View” you may notice the front teams heading to the Southwest that they are on a road.  Teams possibly have opted to portage (walk their boats) versus stay in the river.  Given weather has been really bad there is likely a lot of water and debris like whole trees in the river and so teams may be playing cautious in order to stay safely in the race. Here is a shot of Dirty Avocados Team 1:

TIME: 07/09/2009 - 1:10PM PST

Race Clock: 4 hours 10 minutes

Teams are transitioning from bike to boat to paddle the Androscoggin River.  To easily find the river they will be paddling go to the race Course Map and switch the view from “Satellite” Photo View to “Map View” buttons near the top of the map to see the name of roads, rivers and Lakes the teams are traveling on: http://www.untamedne.com/Live/Race/Leaderboard.aspx

TIME: 07/09/2009 - 12:15PM PST

Race Clock: 3 hours 15 minutes

 We are just 3 hours and 15 minutes into this 3 day race and the satellite tracking devices show the teams on the course making good progress.  Due to the fact that the devices send a message every 10 minutes giving location information and also due to the fact that the transmissions may be blocked by thick Northeastern US tree canopies you cannot tell from the map who is in what place.  So, refer to the leaderboard at http://www.untamedne.com/Live/Race/Leaderboard.aspx.  As the race progress and the team spread out from one another the course map will show teams in their true order.  Give the race 18 hours for the quick little hares to fall off the front and other to take leads away.  The two favored teams are ATP/Salomon and Merrill/Zanfel, however, the entire field is pretty strong giving this race is the only US qualifier for the Adventure Race World Series Championships.  Dirty Avocados fielded two teams with multiple navigators per team, all deeply motivated teammates who are super fun to be around and some new killer gear that should give them an edge.

TIME: 07/09/2009 - 8:50AM PST

Race Clock: T minus 10  minutes to START of race 

The countdown to the race is on with 10 minutes to go.  There is no holding back now with 3 days to the finish over possibly 200 miles.  The teams will start on the lake.  Go to http://www.untamedne.com/Live/Race/default.aspx to see pictures of teams today as they plot their maps.  Also, the course page will show the entire map of the race shortly after the start http://www.untamedne.com/Live/Race/Course.aspx

TIME: 07/08/2009 - 9:45PM PST

Race Clock: T minus 14 hours 15  minutes to START of race 

Race will begin at tomorrow 12noon EST, 9AM PST 

The prerace meeting finished tonight and after preparing the team is asleep (hopefully).  They have sent their bikes ahead and will be starting near the lake at the resort they are staying at at the Balsams.

There are few pictures that were mailed to media and on the website, but this one had some familure faces:

TIME: 07/08/2009 - 2:00PM PST

Race Clock: T minus 20 hours to START of race

The teams safely arrived after two days of traveling.  Currently, they are busy packing their backpacks and tuning their bikes.  At 6:00PM EST (3:00PM PST) the course will be revealed to our racers in the pre-race meeting.  After that you can expect that they will be up much of tonight plotting maps, discussing their race strategies and making final adjustments to their gear and their packs.  Until that meeting tonight the adventure awaiting them is still unknown and this is the essence of a great adventure race.  All we know now is that the teams are going to be racing in New England by way of foot, canoe, bike, and ropes going possibly several hundred miles over 3 or more days non-stop without any aid whatsoever in weather has been not too great.

###

Looking for information on the Dirty Avocados participating in the Untamed New England? You’ve come to the right place!

We will be releasing race updates in a few ways:

1. Before the race we will twitter to our home page http://dirtyavocados.com
2. During the race Will Gilmore, Mark Richardson, Aja Cooke and Adam Armijo are going to be posting manual updates to our “Untamed New England Race Update” blog. The most current update will be posted at the top of the article, THIS article your reading now. Read above for most recent update.
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.untamedne.com/Live/Race/default.aspx    **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 or we could also be sleeping!

As far as who is actually racing? It’s going to be a reunion of sorts in New Hampshire. We have 2 Dirty Avocado coed teams of 3 teammates each (6 people total).

Team “Dirty Avocados” consists of Adam Doti, Angel Garbarino and Brian Schmitz! Our second team is Team “Dirty Avocados II” consisting of Donato Polignone, Jen Rigoni and Mike Chastaine!

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.  If you have questions email Will at willisnot (at) yahoo.com.

~ Godspeed!

### BEGIN RACE UPDATES ###

(most recent update on top) 

TIME: 07/13/2009 - 8:30AM PST

Dirty Avocados finished Untamed New England Expedition Race stong sunday morning.  Tales from the trails to follow here at dirtyavocados.com.  Thanks for everyone’s support!

TIME: 07/12/2009 - 12:50AM PST

Race Clock: 2 days 12 hours 50 minutes

Dirty Avocados Team 1 Adam, Angel and Brian are at the final Checkpoints at the Balsams Lodge.  Dirty Avocados Team 2 is 10 miles as a crow flys from the final checkpoints around the lodge.  They look like they are looking for a checkpoint near a lake, from that location the easist way may be the heading to the Northeast to a road that leads to the lodge.

Given updates in the fieldnotes and leaderboard have been hampered by issues consider assuming that if a team goes to where Team Estoril Portugal XPD is located then they have likely finished the race and are at the lodge.  Team Estoril Portugal XPD finished the race a while ago and likely turned in their beacon at the lodge or left it running on their packs, which are likely at the lodge.  Team Estoril is just east of the last checkpoints and that looks like where the lodge is located.

Its easy to imagine all the adventures the team have experienced in the last 2 and a half days experiencing the wild side of New England.  We are looking forward to their coming in the finish safely in the hours or ahead.

TIME: 07/11/2009 - 5:35PM PST

Race Clock: 2 days 5 hours 35 minutes (less than 24 hours to go!)

The two Dirty Avocado Teams are within 1000 yards of each other near CP 30.  Its likely that if they see each other they may travel together forming one big muddy ameoba avocado.  Its raining, but their are very expereinced team mates on those teams helping eachother through the conditions.

TIME: 07/11/2009 - 8:10AM PST

Race Clock: 1 day 20 hours 10 minutes

The information coming from the race site is at this point lagging and intermittent given bad cell coverage and their likely focus on keep a long string of racers together.  Dirty Avocados II made it out of the bushwack last night and have riden their bikes to Maine toward Grafton Park for some climbing.  Dirty Avocados I are about to finish the bushwack likely having stopped for sleep last night.  Once on the ride watch our teams as they zip glad to be off their feet.

TIME: 07/10/2009 - 12 Midnight PST

Race Clock: 1 day 15 hours

Jen, Mike, and Donato are on foot and look about 2 miles from there next transition area CP 24 at Drummer Pond, however they may be still looking for CPs and are in an area that may be a challenge to navigate at night that has been well forested with likely many unmapped trails and forest roads.  It may take awhile to go the two miles.  Adam, Angel and Brian are behind them, but only by miles now.

TIME: 07/10/2009 - 3:40PM PST

Race Clock: 1 day 3 hours 40 minutes

It has been difficult to judge team progress now, but check the course map and select the teams from the drop down list.

Dirty Avocados Team 1 satellite beacon seems to be back on. 42 minutes ago they at CP 15 in the town of Lancaster, NH.  They may be sent ahead of the paddle, given race organizers do not seem to want racers on the water at night.

Dirty Avocados Team II is  near CP 19, the town of Stark, NH.  The track point being broadcast on the map is old from 2:14 PM EST.  By now they are likely past CP 19.

Briefly today, the teams may have crossed into Vermont, but it looks like they are back in New Hampshire and may head into Maine tonight or tomorrow for a ropes section.

TIME: 07/10/2009 - 12:00 Noon PST

Race Clock: 1 day finished, 2 more days to go!

We are expecting to hear that Dirty Avocados II made it off the trek in Jefferson, NH and that Dirty Avocados I is shorlty behind them.  Today should be a relief as the teams will be back on bike and then possibly into a slower river later (keep your fingers crossed).  Last night the teams bushwacked up a ridge near Mt. Crescent. ***********

View Larger Map************

 TIME: 07/10/2009 - 7:45 AM PST

Race Clock: 20 hours 15 minutes

The Avocados are rolling in the right direction according to field reports.

Dirty Avocados I satelitte transponder is not working, so for the time being refer to the leaderboard and field notes.

Currently, both Dirty Avocados I and Dirty Avocados II  are on a trek that race organizers describe here: http://www.untamedne.com/Live/Race/CPDetail.aspx?e=2&c=43 It sounds like some serious bushwaching, however the sun is up and that will greatly help them move faster in this section than teams during last night.

The Course Map is now revealing the rest of the main check points (”CPs”), which are transition areas (”TAs”) where teams will transition from one disipline to another.  These CP’s are marked in a white and orange icon on the course map. http://www.untamedne.com/Live/Race/Course.aspx

Weather in that area in New England should be better today than yesterday in the high 70’s.  This weekend the weather may turn. Here is the weather in Jefferson where CP 14 is located: http://www.wunderground.com/US/NH/Jefferson.html

 TIME: 07/09/2009 - 5:00 PM PST

Race Clock: 8 hours

After 17+ miles of paddling and possibly portaging parts of the Androscoggin River our Dirty Avocados seem to be pulling into a transition at the South end of the Pontook Reservoir to continue racing on land.

Notice a group of teams together in the Southwest part of the map near a large body of water slightly on land.  Focus on team TrackMe360 and if you focus in on the map you can see 4 other teams below them.  These markers are old.  When so many teams meet like that there is usually a big obstacle they are running into or there is a transition at that location and in this case teams are getting onto land out of their boats and change out of wet clothes.

This is the last T.A. probably before night fall so teams may be there a while in order to gather their lights and fuel up.  Smart teams will grab gear and food to do their best to keep going, its just too early in the race to stop especially in this short of an expedition race.

TIME: 07/09/2009 - 3:00PM PST

Race Clock: 6 hours

Teams have been on the first of 3 river sections.  According to the field notes on the race site many of the teams flipped in the rapids, however the rapids may only be class one and two.  if you focus in on the front teams and turn the map to “Map View” you may notice the front teams heading to the Southwest that they are on a road.  Teams possibly have opted to portage (walk their boats) versus stay in the river.  Given weather has been really bad there is likely a lot of water and debris like whole trees in the river and so teams may be playing cautious in order to stay safely in the race. Here is a shot of Dirty Avocados Team 1:

TIME: 07/09/2009 - 1:10PM PST

Race Clock: 4 hours 10 minutes

Teams are transitioning from bike to boat to paddle the Androscoggin River.  To easily find the river they will be paddling go to the race Course Map and switch the view from “Satellite” Photo View to “Map View” buttons near the top of the map to see the name of roads, rivers and Lakes the teams are traveling on: http://www.untamedne.com/Live/Race/Leaderboard.aspx

TIME: 07/09/2009 - 12:15PM PST

Race Clock: 3 hours 15 minutes

 We are just 3 hours and 15 minutes into this 3 day race and the satellite tracking devices show the teams on the course making good progress.  Due to the fact that the devices send a message every 10 minutes giving location information and also due to the fact that the transmissions may be blocked by thick Northeastern US tree canopies you cannot tell from the map who is in what place.  So, refer to the leaderboard at http://www.untamedne.com/Live/Race/Leaderboard.aspx.  As the race progress and the team spread out from one another the course map will show teams in their true order.  Give the race 18 hours for the quick little hares to fall off the front and other to take leads away.  The two favored teams are ATP/Salomon and Merrill/Zanfel, however, the entire field is pretty strong giving this race is the only US qualifier for the Adventure Race World Series Championships.  Dirty Avocados fielded two teams with multiple navigators per team, all deeply motivated teammates who are super fun to be around and some new killer gear that should give them an edge.

TIME: 07/09/2009 - 8:50AM PST

Race Clock: T minus 10  minutes to START of race 

The countdown to the race is on with 10 minutes to go.  There is no holding back now with 3 days to the finish over possibly 200 miles.  The teams will start on the lake.  Go to http://www.untamedne.com/Live/Race/default.aspx to see pictures of teams today as they plot their maps.  Also, the course page will show the entire map of the race shortly after the start http://www.untamedne.com/Live/Race/Course.aspx

TIME: 07/08/2009 - 9:45PM PST

Race Clock: T minus 14 hours 15  minutes to START of race 

Race will begin at tomorrow 12noon EST, 9AM PST 

The prerace meeting finished tonight and after preparing the team is asleep (hopefully).  They have sent their bikes ahead and will be starting near the lake at the resort they are staying at at the Balsams.

There are few pictures that were mailed to media and on the website, but this one had some familure faces:

TIME: 07/08/2009 - 2:00PM PST

Race Clock: T minus 20 hours to START of race

The teams safely arrived after two days of traveling.  Currently, they are busy packing their backpacks and tuning their bikes.  At 6:00PM EST (3:00PM PST) the course will be revealed to our racers in the pre-race meeting.  After that you can expect that they will be up much of tonight plotting maps, discussing their race strategies and making final adjustments to their gear and their packs.  Until that meeting tonight the adventure awaiting them is still unknown and this is the essence of a great adventure race.  All we know now is that the teams are going to be racing in New England by way of foot, canoe, bike, and ropes going possibly several hundred miles over 3 or more days non-stop without any aid whatsoever in weather has been not too great.

###

Looking for information on the Dirty Avocados participating in the Untamed New England? You’ve come to the right place!

We will be releasing race updates in a few ways:

1. Before the race we will twitter to our home page http://dirtyavocados.com
2. During the race Will Gilmore, Mark Richardson, Aja Cooke and Adam Armijo are going to be posting manual updates to our “Untamed New England Race Update” blog. The most current update will be posted at the top of the article, THIS article your reading now. Read above for most recent update.
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.untamedne.com/Live/Race/default.aspx    **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 or we could also be sleeping!

As far as who is actually racing? It’s going to be a reunion of sorts in New Hampshire. We have 2 Dirty Avocado coed teams of 3 teammates each (6 people total).

Team “Dirty Avocados” consists of Adam Doti, Angel Garbarino and Brian Schmitz! Our second team is Team “Dirty Avocados II” consisting of Donato Polignone, Jen Rigoni and Mike Chastaine!

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.  If you have questions email Will at willisnot (at) yahoo.com.

~ Godspeed!