The Muskoka Overnight in Sept 04 was the best of times and the worst of times. It was a 30 hour multisport race, with some particularly tough features.

We had a new teammate- Nigel, a big brute of a guy, 6'4", 200lbs solid muscle, a great biker and a good navigator too, as well as a sports chiropractor, so we were pretty excited about our chances. We aslo had an awesome support crew- Dave and Veronica, both good racers.

We started off with a 3km run on a road to spread teams out, and were well back in the pack, as we all have 4-decade old knees. We then got into canoes for an 18km paddle, where we gained time and moved into second place.

Next was a swim across a river, then a long bushwhacking section through rocky, hilly forested terrain. At one point the team that was leading appeared behind us and ran past, but Barb is a cunning and cautious navigator, and had us resist the urge to chase them. Turns out they ran about 5km up to a dead end. We found a short cut by swimming 500M across a lake, (with our packs on) and hiked up to the top of the rappeling section. It turned out we were in first place at that point, 10 hours into the race, thanks to some clever navigation by Barb! Sadly Nigel our big moose started to feel stomach cramps, possibly due to the swim or a recent cold. We found a trail, but Nigel couldn't run.

We changed over to bikes and headed out for a 56km ride on rough ATV trails and very muddy, rocky snowmobile trails. Poor Nigel would ride hard for a while then would to drop his bike and lie down in the mud and curl up in a fetal position, shaking like a leaf. My bike and I were certainly able to negotiate the terrain as well as any of the others. I had to walk up a little more of the loose rocky trails, but could ride the really technical downhill stuff where the others had to walk. When we encountered deep clay mudholes that were up to our axles, we all had to push our bikes. We came across a checkpoint about 35km into the ride, and sadly had to leave Nigel with the medic there. He was devastated to have held up the team in his first race with us, where we were in first place. Illness can hit any racer, no matter how strong, and he had ridden on far past when most would give up- one tough guy! We decided to continue on as a team of 3, officially unranked. There was no way we'd disappoint Dave and VJ!

The next part of the biking was messier than before, and night had fallen due to our illness issues. I was doing fine until there was a loud "Pow", and a weld broke that held my seat on the frame. I now had a reclining bucket seat, that had opened up like a tin can and wobbled side-to-side. I was able to wire it back to the frame with a spare rear gear cable, and continued rather gingerly on with Paul carrying my pack as well as his. After a season of 5 hard races, the bike had finally had it. At the end of this leg, out bike shoes looked like baked potatoes, just large blobs of clay on our feet. The bikes were just disgusting.
Even with all the problems, we were still second. Other teams had real problems negotiating the deep muddy trails, but we have become accustomed to poor conditions.

At the next transition we changed into paddling gear, but first had to Coasteer. This consists of following along the shore of lakes, either in water or on land in thick bush. It was all muddy swamp anyway, too thick to swim and too thin to walk on, mud that threatens to suck your shoes off. In the middle of the night, that was not the most appealing few hours we've spent. We next hiked to our canoe, and paddled 35km in the night. Paul was able to nap a little in the boat, but when I got to the point where I couldn't stay awake enough to steer a straight line we had a 35 minute nap on a dock. When we saw 2 other teams we got back in the boat, and paddled off. Barb had to pay very close attention to the navigation in the dark, and was sitting in a cramped and wet position in the middle of the boat, so she couldn't paddle all that well. Paul was a bit tired from the extra weight he carried on the bikes and took some breaks, but I was feeling fine and paddled all night OK, other than one other quick nap. At dawn we hit a creek which turned out to be a very narrow canyon full of sharp rocks and only a couple of inches of water, where we had to carry and haul our boat for several hours on terrible footing, under fallen trees, down waterfalls and over logs and rocks. Tough as it was, we left the other teams behind.

The next leg was another bike leg, but I had to borrow Nigel's upright bike. For a recumbent pilot to have to ride a regular mountain bike is hard enough, but I'm 5'8 and Nigel's 6'4 with long legs, so it was a bit of a nightmare. My neck and butt were in agony. Still, we rode the last 35km or so pretty fast, pumped for a good finish.

When we crossed the finish line, we were well ahead of the officially ranked second place team.

Out of 11 teams, 4 dropped out, 4 had to be short-routed home, and only 3 teams did the bulk of the course. If we had not lost several hours due to illness and mechanical problems we *may* have won, but the first place team was certainly fast and it would have been a hard effort.

Our best previous finish was 5th overall out of 65 teams, 3rd co-ed.