Race Result Spreadsheet

Tree Huggers slogging through the snow,

heading to the bikes

Coming in to the Transition Area, with our snowshoes on our packs.

Changing over to skis

Still alive at the finish

The Tree Huggers with our Bronze medals

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

Tree Huggers Race report- Albion Hills Winter Race 05

FAR's official race report

Race report- from Richard. Scroll down for an article by Barb published in the local papers.

This year was warmer than last year, about -12 when we started.

Thee start was a sprint to a toboggan hill, then we hopped on our bikes for half an hour on snowy roads down Duffy's Lane to the Humber River Trail. We were riding pretty well, and were up in the top part of the pack. There we changed to snowshoeing mode (actually carried the snowshoes on our backs) and ran the trail up to Albion Hills through deep snow. It took about 70 minutes, with Nigel setting a torrid pace. We harnessed him up to Barb on the tow rope, and even though Barb claims not to be a fast runner, we made great time and nobody passed us. It was all I could do to keep up with Nigel towing Barb!

At Albion Hills we switched to skis. It turned out that Nigel's rental skis were in lousy shape, with no grip. Although super-strong, he's not all that experienced on skis, so he couldn't skate on them. Towing wasn't going to help much, even though I was feeling good, and skiing well. Barb did some great navigation, chosing an absolutely optimum route for the ski, but Nigel had a very hard time keeping up on his crummy skis. Pete Cameron's team Canadian Hardcore would leapfrog us a bit, and followed us down Barb's top-secret route. The whole ski leg only took 30 minutes or so, and then we were back to bikes for an hour on snowy roads. Hardcore caught up to us on the bikes and passed us. At that point there was a time cut-off for the advanced route, which we made OK. Only 3 other teams had made it, which put us in 3rd place co-ed, but they extended the cut-off 30 minutes and 2 more teams out of 25 made it. The advanced route was much longer and harder, and all teams that made it were ranked above teams that did the regular course.

We then shoved the bikes through deep snow up the huge hills of The Dingle for 45 minutes. Nigel and I did a bit of towing for Barb on the road biking, but she was riding strongly anyway and didn't need much. During the hike-a-bike section we were all working hard, with Barb leading the charge. I was suffering from some Quad cramps, due to my lack of practice on a regular bike. We tried riding in the deep snow, which resulted in some silly falls but no faster progress.

Once at Glen Haffy, we ran through the steep and deep for an hour (with snowshoes on our backs) navigating through the bush. We met Team Hammer heading back, and also ran into Supplier Pipeline on the return, surprisingly not very far ahead of us.

We transitioned back to bikes for 40 min down to Palgrave conservation area, riding past our house then hike-a-biking to the next transition.

Surprisingly, we'd passed Hardcore somewhere when they made a nav error, and they caught back up to us. We had decided to bike in our running shoes, and had a faster transition as they were changing out of cycling shoes. Next came an amusing cat-and-mouse game, as we knew they are a faster team but we know the area far better. They hoped to follow us, we hoped to force them to take their own route. As it happens, they got to the next CP before us, only a few minutes behind Supplier Pipeline.

The next leg was a run down the road back to Albion Hills. Nigel was finally running out of steam, and my knee was getting really sore, but Barb kept us moving as fast as we could- "We'll run to the next hyrdo pole" etc.

We were really happy with our finish, 4th overall and 3rd co-ed, but only 9 minutes out of first behind team Supplier Pipeline, ranked 10 in North America. We were only about 4 mintues behind Canadian Hardcore. We took about 6 hours in total. The nearly invincible all-male Team Hammer won overall. The next all-male team were 90 minutes behind us.

The local Triathlon training centre sent a team of guys in their 20s, and they were 3rd all male but did only the short course, so they were 10th overall. Although they're probably fitter and faster, our bunch of 40-somethings did better with teamwork, practice and good equipment. That's what makes this fun for us.

I carry the first aid and survival equipment, Barb does the navigation, and Nigel our Clydesdale teammate towed Barb on the running sections. We both did a bit of towing for Barb on the bike, but she's pretty strong so she didn't need all that much help.

Next up for us- The Ski Marathon, then the Genesis race in the US.

The following article by Barb appeared in the Caledon Enterprise, Feb 05

Dashing through the Snow
Major Winter Adventure Race comes to Caledon

Bikes awaiting the first racers

Racers from Quebec, New Brunswick, the northeast U.S. and across Ontario converged on Albion Hills last Saturday for the Salomon Adventure Challenge Winter Adventure Race. Twenty-five teams skied, snowshoed, tobogganed, ran and biked 55 km through the Caledon hills, taking 5-8 hours to complete the challenging, unmarked race course. The event attracted some of Canada's top adventure racing teams to the area. Local teams included the C3 Spinners, Caledon Hills Cycling Frost Bike, Supplierpipeline, Chicks Who Rip, the Tree Huggers and Red Scorpion.

Racers met early on Saturday morning at the Albion Hills Chalet, where the secret race course was revealed. They spent an hour reviewing topographic maps and detailed instructions before heading out to the starting line. The 3-member teams first ran 500 meters along park roads carrying their toboggans, then leapt aboard to slide down the long hill to the main gatehouse where their bikes awaited. Spectators particularly enjoyed this vantage point, noting that most of the racers' tobogganing skills had probably been sharper a decade or two earlier. Teams biked to the southern Duffy's Lane entrance to the Humber Valley Heritage Trail, then slogged through deep snow on the trail back to Albion Hills.

Participants were required to take snowshoes with them, but many opted to strap the snowshoes to their backpacks, travelling in lightweight running shoes instead. Racers picked up their ski equipment near Old Church Road and made their way through Albion Hills to the north end of the conservation area, where their bikes had been delivered.

Racers biked on hilly sideroads to the Innes Lake entrance of Glen Haffy Conservation Area. Teams arriving before 1:30 p.m. continued into Glen Haffy for an optional advanced navigation section, while later teams were redirected to the Palgrave Conservation Area. The advanced section began with a 3 km trail "ride" where top teams pushed or carried their bikes through deep snow to Coolihan's Sideroad, then continued on foot to reach a checkpoint at the north end of Glen Haffy. In the final section of the race, teams searched for a checkpoint in the Palgrave Conservation Area, then ran several kilometers to cross the finish line at the Albion Hills Chalet.

Team EAS/Hammer defended their title with a time of 5 hrs 16 min. According to their navigator Mike Waddington, "The Salomon Winter Adventure Challenge at Albion Hills was our favourite adventure race last year, and it's going to be hard to beat in 2005 too!" The top local racer was Belfountain's Dave Corner, whose adventure racing team Supplierpipeline is currently ranked 8th in North America. His team won the Coed category and placed second overall in the race. Caledon's Tree Huggers finished 9 minutes behind Supplierpipeline and took the bronze medal in the Coed category, placing fourth overall. The local C3 Spinners won the bronze medal in the Open Male category.

Geoff Langford, President of Frontier Adventure Racing, expressed his thanks for the tremendous local support. Caledon Hills Cycling in Inglewood stayed open until 10 p.m. on Friday for event registration and offered free bike tune-ups to racers. Toronto and Region Conservation assisted with race logistics, ensuring that parking lots were plowed and access gates opened. Many enthusiastic volunteers and sponsors provided prizing and other assistance to the event.

Laura Watson of Caledon Hills Cycling commented that Caledon has recently emerged as a favourite destination for adventure races and multi-sport events. Races announced for 2005 include C3's triathlons, three major mountain bike races, the ESAR adventure race, a 5 Peaks Trail Run, and the Giant's Rib Raid 25-km adventure run coming to Albion Hills on April 10.



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