Author: Erren

iAdventure Gold Coast 2013

:: r a c e r e p o r t

It was a bright and steamy morning on the Gold Coast, lovely day to herald the start of the first iAdventure race of 2013. Our prep for this race had been good but not stellar, as we are increasingly aware that no matter how much you train you can never really prepare for an Adventure race. Nevertheless we rode and ran trails in an attempt to prepare our bodies for what lay ahead.

The iAdventure team always post up great pre race notes, the ones for this race advised water and lots thereof. Ironically it also advised of water and lack thereof. Slightly bemused and perplexed we waterproofed our gear appropriately and headed off to race HQ.

Compared to other venues the race was based in a very civilized setting. Real toilets and coffee at hand…. Nice!

We checked in and got our maps and started planning. E is our master navigator and with a number of races under our belts and a few bigger races to come this year, our goal was to refine our navigation, and not necessarily go with the crowd. This strategy would prove somewhat interesting and challenging as the race ensued as our navigator was sweating over a few of the decisions he made… actually the sweating was quite literal, we do live and train on a mountain after all.
Maps marked and gear on board, off we trotted into the jungle… I have to admit it doesn’t matter how much we train, the first couple of kilometers are always hard. A combination of nerves and sprinting to keep up always leaves me a little smashed… plus E is not a morning person! It was great to be running to our bikes, but as we had already dropped them to the track , we knew that the bike leg would be muddy, slippery and steep.

The bike leg was fun if not a little congested at times and a low hanging vine almost decapitated me earning me a special “tattoo” across my eyes for my troubles. E had also lost his sunglasses along the way and was a little annoyed to be riding sans glasses as it was very muddy… riding with his eyes closed through the muddy sections seemed quite productive though.

All the bike check points were right where E thought they should be and as the non navigator this was reassuring… as a tip for other potential racers make sure you are either the navigator or the keep your mouth “shutigator”. Matching competitive natures also helps to make the race more pleasant.

There were lots of ups and downs in the race, literal ups and downs that is, with mammoth drops and climbs, I think E got sick of me saying “really? another hill?” We even chose to scramble to the top of one through the bush rogaine style! (or mountain goat style anyway…) Soon enough we were riding again back to race HQ to the mystery leg.

By this stage we were a little muddy and very hot, it was a relief to be told we had to go for a dip and retrieve pool toys. It was so refreshing and we contemplated dropping the pool toys just to stay in the pool a bit longer. E managed to drop his compass in the pool which was thankfully retrieved and returned to him at the end.

A little jog through the ‘burbs ensued and we laughed at the locals reactions, one of the questions we had to answer was “is this the amazing race!” and of course we responded with yes! This leg too involved water and crawling under bridges.

Finally to the second last leg and kayaking… this was the first race we didn’t have to lug our kayak up a hill (thanks Matt) The kayak was relatively pleasant and although tempted to lasso passing jet skiers we thought better of it and kept paddling. We used the upstream leg to discuss race strategy for our next race, well I did and I think E was just confused as we had not yet finished this race! I blame the endorphins as we must have been feeling good by then.
A quick walk/jog to the last checkpoint and we were nearly home. The final checkpoint was on an overpass and then it was a quick dash back to race HQ and the finish line.

Finished!

As a woman adventure racing reminds me a bit of childbirth… lots of pain and effort but strangely rewarding and when you are going through it you think “why?” And “never again!” But off you go and enter again the moment the race entries open…

JT

Neurum Creek

MOJO Adventure spent the w/end at Neurum Creek Bush Retreat for some good times and came home smashed!

After setting up camp we hit up the creek for some kayak goodness, the paddle was great and the portage was less than comfortable… note to self; invest in better footware for that type of activity.

The dawn of day two and we were up before sunrise, slammed a coffee and hit the hills for some trekking…
we found a nice boulder gully with some waterfalls to climb. Enroute to camp we found a mobile coffee van – WIN! Time for brekky then load up the kayaks for a splash up the Stanley River – nice scenery, a little blowy but a nice workout with the paddle with bananas and mountain bars for lunch. We hit camp for a bit of a rest before prepping the bikes for a peddal up into Mt Mee state forest which was all up hill until we made the call to head back down… there were smoking brakes by the time we pulled up. Totally nuffed we got down some food and sat around the camp fire that night before pulling the plug and crashing… zzzzzzzzzzz.

I think breaking camp was the toughest part of the w/end… glad I had a dry shirt to change into.

Def didn’t get nuff nuff of this place and will be heading back for more adventure now that we have it scoped.

E

Scoping a route up the waterfall…

Lamington Trekking Adventure

:: l a m i n g t o n

This adventure started out mostly as a need to build up trek ability for XPD and fluctuated from 2-9 people over the course of the week prior. Eventually 9 of us headed out with a plan to trek from Binna Burra to O’Reilly in Lamington National Park. The trek distance along the border track is apparently 21km. We planned to camp overnight at O’Reillys and then walk back the next day, 21km isn’t actually that far hey???

Carrying all our gear in packs including tents cooking gear food etc we set off. Here is point number one: ask around about what facilities exist at the place you are trekking to. (More on that soon) The border track pretty much follows the border along a Ridgeline and is not terribly steep. It is rocky, muddy, leech infested and snake filled. There are also snapping hissing lobster crayfish things that are bright blue.. Day 1 we walked for ever. Personally I have never hiked with a big pack like that and my pack was not the best. It was very heavy and wouldn’t sit right. We had a great walk in though with regular team deleechings occurring every couple of hundred metres. I had never had a leech before. Bucket list item- check! The track is heavily rainforested but various view points along the way were incredibly spectacular. We managed to see a gorgeous python across the trail and Gary and Nikki and I walked past a feisty baby brown. Nikki also walked on a snake but didn’t realize- the guys behind only told her later. They had to fight it off as she had made him a bit unhappy. Finally after 7 hours we made it in to the campsite. When I said earlier about finding out about your destination – I mean that this place had a pub, restaurant and takeaway pizza…. We had packed and eaten awesome freeze dried meals…,yummo ;p After dinner we headed up to bar where we met a lost soul keen to tell his tale. It was rather good entertainment and we stayed up till at least 10pm (which is late by mojo standards) A moderate sleep on air beds and we managed to break camp by 7am. We were all a bit sore and even though we tried to eat all our food those packs where still heavy! On the way back we did a different circuit that involved the famous waterfalls of Lamington. Lots of down switch backs and up switchbacks… And water. We did a slight deviation at one stage that led us to a very steep washed out section that involved falling down and mud sliding. But it was a fun moment. We also picked up a lost couple “the 4 minute man and his wife” that tagged along with us for a bit. The trip home seemed longer and the packs got much heavier. The storm clouds opened and we all just kept walking. Finally a person pushing a pram up the trail alerted us to the closeness of the finish. Then it was DONE! A hot shower, a lamington in the lodge and a dinner at the Goldie. We had some other tracks we eyeballed that I would love to do without my huge pack. I certainly experienced no pack envy!!! (All those people with little day packs – ugh!) Thanks to everyone who came out and shared the experience. Such amazing attitudes and so much fun. Till next time…

JT

iAdventure Mt Crosby 2011

Race Report Team MOJO Blackhearts Southeast QLD Series October 16thย 2011

Hopefully this will be the first of many race reports for Team MOJO AR. After a fairly solid lead up to the race and then a floundering last two weeks interrupted by sickness and Uni residential school Team MOJO set off to the wilderness that was to be Mt Crosby.

After arriving at race HQ Jo nearly cried when she discovered that her beloved Fox Flux helmet had been left in the MOJO mobile back in Toowoomba. After very quickly making some new friends and then begging them for a helmet, Wendy and her team came up with the goods in the form of a pink beast that would do the job. Thankfully it wasnat E who left his helmet at home that would have been embarrassing Lesson#1 Recheck the gear during vehicle transfers.

With helmet problems sorted it was time to collect the maps (read: paper with squiggly lines on it..) and map out a route. As newbies we elected not to go for the extra points except in the Kayak at the end if we felt like it then… always the optimist haha.

The first leg was a rogaine, finding checkpoints as you go map to map. The problem with this is if you miss one you don’t actually know where to go. While we never missed any it did take a bit to sort out we should mark the next point on the map instead of trying to remember them Lesson #2ย  Mark the rogaine check points on the map.

Leg two was a bike leg that included an interesting sand riding section not sure it was meant to be included but we did it anyway Up (big) hills and down hills all the way to the next transition point. After collecting all the checkpoints and thoroughly enjoying the ride it was off to the transition area for a fresh sunscreen spray. Lesson #3 follow the map, sand is hard to ride on.

Leg three was a running section well in theory anyway we will call it running in slow motion aka walking. There were 9 checkpoints to collect we had hoped in the prerace to collect all of them but opted for 5 which was the minimum. This section added in a new skill trekking through creeks, which in theory sounds bad, was probably the thing that saved us from heatstroke as we ran through knee-deep water. Lesson #4 Creeks can be good.

Leg four back on the bike and surprise surprise – some more hills. Only 3 checkpoints here but they were a little tricky, and involved yeah you guessed it..hills.. Thankfully all hills have a down part and we had mastered the down sections nicely by practicing riding down the Toowoomba range. Lesson #5 – Hills also have a down section… whoo hoo!

Leg five final leg KAYAK. We had trained a couple of times in the kayaks and thought it may have been enough guess we hadn’t figured on having to carry and not drag the million kilogram kayak down a very steep embankment to the river. Thankfully some awesome young men swapped kayaks with us so we didn’t have to carry them quite as far. With nothing left in the tank and after a bit over four hours of racing we were feeling a little weary .travelling downstream was very cool (literally) and even had some rapids.. But you know what goes up must come down and aforementioned rapids proved a challenge to paddle against and walking through the water with the kayak ended up being the best option. Foregoing our plan to collect extra points in the kayak section we struggled back up stream with the carrying of the kayaks up the hill foremost in our very weary minds . After struggling about 20 metres we managed to swap kayaks with another team and repay the favor that had been bestowed on us previously. Lesson #6 Kayaks are heavy. Especially when you have to carry them up vertical inclines.

The end was in sight and if we could just get those PFD’s off and walk another 100 or so metres we would finish

Finally it ended! We were tired, muddy, wet and salty but managed to be back in time to see the presentation ceremony and still enjoy the BBQ. What a fantastic day of challenging our skills and determination.So happy not to have fallen off anything and to have learnt more about what I am capable of achieving.

J

 

All in all the experience was just awesome and highlighted, when pushed to the limit, the human body really is an amazing machine. We had expectations of where we would place but more importantly of what overall time we would finish the race in this regard we definitely surpassed what we were hoping for.

A couple of navigational miscalculations and the heat/humidity that we on the mountain are not used to saw us fall off the back of the pack early but through some good decisions and a better grasp of the maps we were back amongst it though there was still plenty of time to enjoy our race with a few laughs and photos along the way as if we’d take anything to seriously!

I think the main highlight of the course for us was definitely from checkpoint 8 to 9 which was a refreshing trek up the creek literally! But some of the fast sections on the bike were up there too.

The crew from iAdventure (Blackheart Events) put on a great race that suited many differing levels of competitors and the whole atmosphere created by all the teams made the day so much more enjoyable Already looking forward to competing in the iAdventure Sprint Series and other races of similar format next year.

E

Team MOJO

Team MOJO

So youa have probably been wondering who are these crazy people who masquerade as an Adventure Racing Team? Well wonder no more…

Team Profile

E

Name :: Erren

Age :: Not as old as JT

Occupation :: Building Designer and Photographer

Athletic experience :: Not much at all… oh, I did play for Australia at the 1997 World In-line Hockey Championships in Austria… does that count? plus iAdventure, ARA and Max Adventure events in SEQ

Weapon of choice :: Yeti 575

Favourite bit of kit :: I suffer from GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) so I have lots of cool stuff

Favourite Discipline :: MTB… I’m begining to love trail running though

Brings to the team :: Sense of humor and a sense of direction + lots of cool stuff

Secret Skill :: Ability to sleep standing up (this is still in a testing phase)

Team Role :: Bike mechanic, navigator and finder of fine dining establishments

Goal :: Keep increasing fitness and drag more people into this exciting world of AR

Favourite AR moment to date :: Nearly dying in an ARA race and then placing in the top 25%

 

JT

Name :: Jo

Age ::28…..all mums are 28 right?

Occupation :: Nurse Practitioner/Rookie Adventure Racer/Personal Trainer

Athletic/Race experience :: Gold Coast Half Marathon 2010, 2011, Peak 2 Park 2010/2011, Hilly Half 10k, iAdventure SE Series AR 2011,12,13..Katmandu AR Beerburrum, Rogue 24, GEO Half 2014, Mini Rogue 2014, Murphys Law 8 Hour Rogaine,(3rd women’s open) Twilight Half, Beerburrum cyclegaine, Varsity Lakes Rogaine (winner women’s veteran)

Weapon of choice :: Bumblebee….my YETI 575

Favourite bit of kit :: My Yak…

Favourite Discipline :: Used to be running but tearing down hills on the bike is becoming an all-time favourite. But then again paddling in glorified plastic in the middle of large bodies of deep water has a very strong appeal too these days…..(especially at sunset!)

Brings to the team :: Tenacity, motivation, and girlness

Secret Skill :: Being able to run up hills faster pushing my bike than E can ride nearly. Bringing people to the awesome world of adventure ๐Ÿ™‚

Team role :: First Aid officer, Marketer, Personal Trainer, Assistant Navigator/ main navigator

Goal :: GODZONE… or any race in NZ!

Favourite AR moment to date :: First time down the Jubilee Park hill on my mountain bike and the roller cat. But finishing the first race was awesome too!

 

Well I hope that cleared it up for you…

happy trails ๐Ÿ˜‰

Sea Kayak Clinic

Sea kayak training opportunity!!

Sea Candy

 

Hey MOJO Crew, Eddie from Sea Candy Kayaks has put together an awesome deal to teach anyone who is keen, how to handle their kayak in the ocean. We are planning a 6 hour course that will run on Saturday the 9th of May at Currumbin on the Gold Coast. Price is very reasonable and will decrease with the more peeps we can get involved. This is a great opportunity to learn more about paddling better and handling your kayak in the waves etc..

You know the deal.. Post up or message us your interest. Numbers will be limited.. This is also on our Facebook page so you can post up there.