Eco X Capade – Adventure race

This was not a triathlon, but it sure was fun!

The race is a team event , and since neither me or Mike (my team mate) had put any specific training to the race, we decided to call ourselves “jelly donut”. – very fitting i think. – either that or maybe we could have called ourselves – a six pack of tiger.

My 10 year old Specialized Hard Rock FS finally saw its first race. Unfortunately, the 10 year old tyres suffered a massive gash due to some sharp bamboo about an hour into the race. I didn't think it was a big deal so replaced the tube and started again. Before you know it i had gone through my spare and mike’s! so I ran a few Km with the bike and when we got to some flat sections, rode the flat to the next check point and tried to cover the gash with the remaining spent tubes.

The make shift repairs and under inflating the tyre worked well enough and got us through the rest of the day.  

Another discipline was rock climbing and abseiling. The biggest problem was actually finding the abseil location . It was pouring rain and the whole area had turned to a mud fest.  Eventually though i found my abseil location and did the 100m decent with some difficulty( 1oom of wet rope is pretty heavy).I waited for Mike and then we did the climbing section.

I had slowed down significantly by then and was basically just taking it easy. A top  placing  was long gone after the flats and all the getting lost in the woods crap. So just decide to enjoy the day. 

The climb was pretty easy and i was done in a few minutes. Thank god it was easy cos I'm no climber!

After the climb we biked to the next check point
(maybe 10km) before leaving the bikes and then running a few kms to the canoes.

We managed to keep the canoe relatively straight and get to the finish. I started to cramp in my inner thighs in the canoe, and i have no idea why since i was not using my legs to row. Strange.

 

Well team Jelly Donut finished in 6hrs 40 mins. I was no where near as tired as i am after similar times in triathlon, but was just as happy. Ill be back next year. - with better equipment and well earned experience!