Go Banana Christmas

Well the Go Banana team, that means Go Orange too, is winding down its BC Bike race pre-training stage. It was a tough couple of months of eating breakfasts and drinking full fat fancy coffees, all while pretending to plan for the race, and the team is certainly fat and lazy now ... and if not then Christmas snacks will surely finish the job.

In January, as the reality of the race starts to kick in, so will the real training phase. Brian's put his wicked spreadsheeting skills to work and no doubt we'll have a weekly schedule filled with hours on the bike trainer, time in the snow cross country skiing, the intermittent long winter run and a whole sequence of activities involving bending over and lifting stuff, usually heavy, up.

Can't wait =;-) ... but Brian keeps telling me that I'll appreciate it in June when Team Go Banana dominates the field ... or at least ranks ahead of Team Go Orange =;-)

In the mean time, it seems we aren't the only ones appreciating banana holiday cheer!

http://www.joecartoon.com/cartoons/710-christmas_banana

Thomas

Go Orange Retreat

Go Orange (a.k.a. Go Banana II) is now back from it's winter retreat and strategy session in Banff and is now ready to test the water on training for the BC Bike Race. Snowboarding in Banff allowed Go Orange to practice going down the Rocky Mountains at out of control speeds, just like we plan to do during the race.

The trip rocked and the good news is Man Down did manage to find his snow panties.

Go Banana Fields another BC Bike Race Team

Yes, you read it right! Go Banana will field not 1, but 2 teams in the 2008 BC Bike Race. Due to the name "Go Banana" already being taken by our first team to register, the second team will ride under the alias "Go Orange". If you find yourself asking "Why Go Orange?", simply slide your mouse pointer over to left side of the screen and click on the team inspiration video. Also an orange is a good descriptive fruit for this team since an orange goes downhill fast but has issues climbing up them.

See you all in BC on June 28th.

Go Banana!......oh wait, I mean Go Orange!

Off Season Cross

Now that the adventure race season is over one would think that the Banana's dig in and hibernate for the winter. But not us we like to keep up with the training by continuing to go out for breakfast and also riding Cyclocross. Our first race was the Madison at Britania Park as part of the Eastern Ontario Cyclocross Series. A Madison is a tag team event so after much discussion about who should represent Go Banana it was decided that Brian and Charles should go. This was due to the fact that I have a cross bike and that you have to get on and off the bike a lot in cross and we all know Charles is good at that (Man Down!). After a few practice laps I decided to show Charles how to get on and off his bike and that made a big difference on the enjoyment level of the race. We both found the race quite taxing, it is amazing how hard 9 minutes on a bike can be when you go as hard as you can. Also riding on grass is harder than you think, go try it. It was good to see our fans out. Fans included my family, fellow Banana Thomas and Junior Banana Jeremy. Also at various stages of the race you could hear my daughter yelling encouragement like "Go faster daddy!" and the classic "Go Banana!". She also suggested a team name "Go Keira" which would make at least 2 people in the Go Banana family happy, we decided not to go with it. We managed to get 7 laps in and had a lot of fun. I was pretty sure we would have won the race is no one else had showed up. Come on out and see us at a cross race near you.

Brian

Land O'Lakes Banana style

This past weekend was the final Adventure race of the year for the famed Team Go Banana. We entered the Salomon Adventure Challenge with the hopes of a good showing.

The race started at 3am for the team with a quick run to the dock of the lake for me as I tried to get enough cell coverage to check my messages. No Baby yet. We then ate a hearty breakfast of Eggo's and juice and were off to the South beach of Bon Echo park.

At 4am we were off with a run to a nearby monument to get a date. After some brief confusion, due to my inability to read at 4am, we were in a canoe for a short crossing. Once across the river we started the bushwhacking stage in the dark. The dim light of a headlamp made the bush seem very thick and made for slow moving. After about 15min we seemed to be in a small swamp and the first incident occurred. After proclaiming "These woods at not made for me, I'm like a wrecking crew" Jason proceeded to lose a shoe in the mud. I have never seen a person get that dirty after only 15minutes of racing. At this point things started to get better as we moved through the wilderness until we made a course correction but went 10degrees the wrong direction. It was not until about 30 minutes later that Jason noticed the error. All in all we ended up in roughly where we intended. The rest of the hike was uneventful and went pretty well for us.

Next stage was a paddle. Go Banana is not known for their paddling especially for 3 hours of it. Since I forgot the middle stool I sat in the middle of the boat. However I did have to listen to Jason telling me that the race was all my fault and that with 20km to got I would get a punch in the back of the head. We hit a few shallow areas where the boat had to be dragged though. Props to Jason and Thomas who got out of the boat and pulled me though. You see I am small and if I get wet and cold things don't really go well (I am kind of like a kid that way). We did however find an old pool noodle on the side of the river for me to sit on. At the first portage Thomas stopped for a pee and we narrowly managed to escape getting passed by 2 teams, longest pee ever! The rest of the paddle was very quiet as we tried to keep focused. Also we finally discovered which banana has he largest bladder, it would be Jason who did not pee the entire paddle, that can't be said for Thomas and I, it seems the bailer makes a good potty.

We docked our boat and took a moment to change and eat. This was a turning point for Jason who changed his wet shorts but sat on the ground first (see previous post about hit butt). We were pretty excited to be on the bikes, this is our thing. We made good time on the road section but I still had to listen to Jason blaming me for the race distance, it seems I am responsible for all his problems. We hit the checkpoint for the Advanced Course and finally achieved one of out team goals. "It is always nice to be asked". We were offered the advanced course, a first for our team! After about 5 seconds of deliberation we decided to skip this section and hit the ATV trail. The ride was fairly slow as we were all tired from the paddle and Jason's butt was sore. We hit a few intersecting trails and props to Jason for picking the route for us. Thomas and I are a bit more structured than Jason and would have been looking though maps for a direction, Jason just kinda decides which way seems right and goes.

At the end of the bike we hit the last paddle, it was really uncalled for actually. With an attempt to ignore the pain we paddled on. At a few points we ended up taking a team break as we did not seem to be making any forward progress. Thomas spirit was then crushed as we rounded a point and realized that it was not the finish, longest lake ever! Finally we docked our boat and strolled to the finish line.

All in all this was one of the Banana's best races ever and there were no major mistakes. We did however learn a few things:

• If you change wet shorts don't sit on the ground and get your butt dirty
• Jason's butt is very tender
• Brian is responsible for any pain endured during the race

And yes for all wondering, we did beat team PFO! They have now been downgraded from arch-nemesis to rival. And if you hear some stories about a freaky racer with 2 left hands that would be Jason, who packed 2 right handed gloves in the transition bag.

No baby yet!

Go Banana!

Frontier Adventure Challenge Course

Just in case you are curious and want to see the Adventure Race course that caused me to walk like a cowboy for a few days you can check out a rough outline of it here

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1016693/an/0/page/0#1016693


View Larger Map

Broke Our Own #1 AR Rule

Everything was going so well, we made it through the trekking section with out incident and had just started the paddle when we hit a series of small rapids shallow enough that we couldn't go over then but deep enough that a portage seemed stupid. So what did we end up doing...Thomas and myself jumped into the water to push the canoe over the shallow area and I ended up drenched up to my waist. There goes the rules right out the window. But not to worry too much since it wasn't a hiking or biking stage, all I had to do was sit in a boat and paddle for 3 hours and I had a dry pair of shorts at the next transition.

So 3 hours latter after sitting in wet shorts on a canoe seat we get to transition area where I can finally switch shorts. The issue here is it's a big open field and a female volunteer sitting working the station and I need to get nakkid. So to be respectful I sit on the ground behind our transition bag not to offend the young woman while I change shorts, not realizing that my very moist numb ass got a whack or gravel and dirt stuck to it during this. Now with my arse covered with gravel I jump on a bike for 4 hours of wonderful bumpy ATV trail after which we got back in a boat for another hour paddle. So with 5 hours of bumping grinding and rocking on a bike and in a boat with a seat full of gravel acting as sandpaper on my nether regions I think the attached picture best describes how I feel.

So new amendment to rule number one. If you do end up wet make sure you don't combine this with dirt or you too can feel like our baboon friend.

SAC Race : Keys to Success

So it's almost race day and Go Banana's goal for this race is to not repeat some of our old mistakes while at the same time continuing to do the things we've learned to do right. We've never had a clean race without some little f*%$ up. So before this race while enjoying one of Go Bananas training breakfasts we wrote down some of the these little lessons.

Don't Get Wet - It sucks, shivering wastes energy, and it's incredible how much slower you move after you are wet. We learned this last fall in this same 12 hour race after being told in race brief the organizers did the entire course with dry sneakers, however we on the other hand were up to our ears in the middle of a lake within an hour from the start. However, if you must do a small lake crossing it's a good idea to carry a garbage bag to throw your shoes and such in to.

Dry Clothes - Keep dry clothes in all your transition bags and if you think it might be a wet trek keep an extra shirt in a zip lock bag in your camel pack. This can help change your mood on a long wet trek in the dense forest. Also this is especially important with regards to socks, put an extra pair of socks or two in each transition bag.

Portages - When you hit a portage that is longer then a few meters flip the boat and put it over your heads, one in the front and one in the back. Sounds simple but for some reason our first race with long portages we carried the canoe right side up which is a lot slower and slowly yanks your arm out of it's socket.

Double Check Plots - Simple and will save you big. I wasn't part of this race but Thomas and Brian misplotted a checkpoint in one race.

Don't Blow Your Load - It's a long race and you aren't going to win it in the first hour but you can lose it when you bonk in the 5th hour. Try and not get caught up in the start when everybody is excited and full of energy. Run your own race at your own pace.

Trust Your Compass - Everyone tells you this and it sounds soooo simple but it's not easy to head back to hiking through thick brush when there is a path weaving in a direction sort of close to your heading. If you travel back in our blog history and look at the Esprit AR you'll see talk of a 5KM run to correct an issue caused by following a very nice ATV trail.

Know Distances and Average Speeds - Figure out your average speeds in different situations - light jog, hiking in thick brush, biking slow singletrack, biking on gravel roads, paddling across a lake no current, and so on. Next figure out the distances not only between checkpoints but also between any easily identifiable landmark such as a road, corner, or lake. Now use the combination of this information and a stop watch as a gauge of if you've gone too far or our usual problem...not far enough.

If we can do all this right hopefully we'll have a good race on Saturday.

* However it's impossible for us to lose since if we finish before PFO we will have defeated our mortal enemy, and if they finish before us they said they'll have cold beer waiting for us. So it's win win for Go Banana!

Frontier Adventure Challenge : Land O'Lakes

Only one week until Go Banana defends it's 5 place finish at the Esprit Adventure Race in the Land O'Lakes. In preparation for this event Go Banana has changed their training regiment and started to tapper down much earlier this time before the race (we actually started some where around the end of the last race). I know this may not sound like the smartest of ideas, but at least it's our idea. Our theory is that with 2 months of additional rest we'll easily come first since the rest of the competition will be so tired from all their training. However our theory could also result in our first chance to use our walkie talkie during the race.

Also a special shout out to Brian who's commitment to Go Banana is unmatched. With his wife just weeks aways for delivering their second child Brian has decided to still come run around in the woods with 2 other idiots.

A note to our fan base : If you are in the Bon Echo area on September 9th keep your eyes open for 3 tired and confused guys in really tight Go Banana jerseys, there will be an autograph session after the race.

Go Banana rules and PFO drools!!!

Go Banana vs. The BC Bike Race

Two of Go Banana's best have signed up for the 2008 BC Bike Race. Thomas and Brian's race objectives include : Finishing, Not getting caught crying on camera, and getting to wear spandex for an entire week with out all the condescending stares and whispers. Good Luck Boys!!!

Will Go Banana be able field a second team in this epic adventure???? Stay tuned.

Over and Out.

What it takes to be a Banana

A lot of people ask:

1. What does it take to be a Banana?
   How often do you guys train?
2. What is a typical training day like?
3. Are you guys really that nerdy?

All of these are good questions and I will try to answer the first three at least. Saturday was a training day for the Adventure race team of Thomas, Jason and Brian. We started a little different this week and went to Shirley's Bay, usually Gatineau is our location of choice.


Stage 1: I only paddle on the left
Our paddle took us across the Ottawa river to a beach on the Quebec side. It was quite windy and choppy and we got very wet. Once arriving on the Quebec side Jason decided we should turn back because he did not like the look of the kids on the beach, they were about 7 or 8 years old. The paddle back was even worse and at one point Jason had to ask us to only paddle on the left side to keep the boat straight. It must have looked silly to have kayak paddles and to only be using one end.
Stage 2: The run
Once back on dry land we dumped our wet gear and headed off for a run. The run took us out along the water, other than all the signs warning of poison ivy the run was uneventful and only about 30 minutes.
Stage 3: Crunch time
This was a solo stage for Jason. We like to give people the opportunity to try new events and go out on their own, Thomas and I took a little rest.
Stage 4: I fell on a dirt road
We then grabbed our bikes and did a nice 18km loop which crossed road, Trans-Canada trail and a small piece of single track. Other than Thomas falling off his bike on a nice double-track gravel road things went well.
Stage 5: Breakfast
Once all the training was complete we did what Banana's do best, ate breakfast. Breakfast is a mandatory part of any training day and we have even been known to skip all other activities in order to make time for this stage.

So if you can:

• Paddle a boat
• Run for 30 minutes
• Bike on dirt roads
• Eat a breakfast special (eggs, bacon/ham/sausage, toast (except for Thomas))

Then I think Go Banana is the team for you.

Brian

The Best Excuse Yet

Early morning seems to be the best time for us to get out and ride due to all our busy schedules. However, there is a down side to it.....it's really F*#&'n early, and cold, and usually wet, and I'm tired and cranky, and I want to go back to bed.......and the list goes on. I know that once I get on the trail I'm always happy I pushed through the pain of the early morning because riding before work makes a better day. But still from the time the alarm goes off at six until I'm dressed and biking down a trail I can't help think "how can I get out of this".

So today I was meeting up with the legendary "Man Down" at 7am @ the Huntmar entrance. It rained all night and was very cool so as usually both of us were going through excuses in our head for the usual reason. But upon arriving at the Huntmar parking lot we saw the best excuse yet....there was a giant yellow monster eating Kanata Lakes right where we were about to enter the trails. So we promptly took this as a sign and went for a yummy breakfast.

If you are looking for information on what is actually happening at the huntmar entrance it's explained here (post #5):
http://www.mtbkanata.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36528

Is Mountain Biking Dangerous?

These signes were recently posted in Kanata around an area that I have not ridden in but by rumour had some great dirt jumps. I think this area like many others in Kanata will be developed making Kanata Lakes more endangered. This is too bad.

So back to mountain biking.

I was recently asked by a relative about mountain biking. His angle was basically why in the world do you choose to do this. It is dangerous, hard, time consuming etc. etc. He seemed truely perplexed.

I started to think about the logical reason for mountain biking. (Ok it may not be pure logic that drives the sport)

So prior to answering that question I thought I would ask other people to explain why they mountain bike. So if you have some insights please post a comment. In reward I will eventually answer this question myself.

How to be a navigator

One of the things that people ask me most about Go Banana (other than where they can get themselves a rockin' race shirt) is how I came be the navigator for the team.

You have to understand our team. Most races we have gone to are three person races so the choices are Brian, Jason or myself:

Brian: On the way to our latest race, Brian was driving and managed to get confused about the logistics of going through a Tim Hortons drive-through (you can't just drive up to the window and skip the "ordering process"). Then the whole "Wendy's, Walmart, Tim Hortons" mini-plex parking lot totally threw him for a loop and it was two U-Turns before we were back on the highway going to the race. Bad idea for Brian to navigate, he is a "head-down lets-go" engine kind of guy.

Jason: Jason's got a very laid back approach to life, works well for him and astounds most others. He carries this over to the navigation aspect of racing too. When a checkpoint is "at a scenic lookout" he thinks we should just be "going up the hill until we find some picnic tables, then we'll be there" ... never mind the fact that you can't really see the hill and it is only really ATV accessible and we are going there overland. The next checkpoint was at the "base of a ski hill" so to him that translated to "we'll just walk to the lift towers, I'm sure we'll see them". Jason does bring us back to earth when Brian and I are pondering options while "misplaced" in the middle of the woods with witty comments like "Hmm, well, this isn't very scenic, must not be the checkpoint".

So that leaves me ... who in the last race managed to take us on a 6km detour to a scenic matress dump in the country. While I feel bad for my team, I feel worse for the couple of teams that decided to just follow our lead and joined us on our round-about route to the checkpoint.
I'm not really so much the navigator, as the guy holding the map most races.

They key of course is what happens in a race when you put the Engine, the Questioner and the Navigator together: We take snack breaks (no napping!), add on mileage for scenic excursions and chat up the locals (on the way to the dump) ... and still pull a respectible time.

Thomas

The Bruce Adventure Park

While heading up the Bruce Peninsula this labour day weekend I took the opportunity to check out a mountain bike park I stumbled across at a bike store in Collingwood called The Bruce. There are 3 different trails in the Bruce peninsula but only one was a slight detour on my way to Tobermory to go camping. So I made the small side track from the highway and hit the The Bruce Adventure Park.

If you are looking for a long hard ride this probably isn't the place for you, but if you love messing around and pretending you're in a North Shore video then this is a great place to spend an hour or two. The place is well maintained and the trails and stunts are clearly marked. Every intersection has a map posted and every stunt branches of the main trail and has a posted sign telling the diamond rating of the stunt (1-3) so you can decide to hit it or carry on along the trail.

I didn't manage to hurt myself thanks to my commonsense (a.k.a. my girlfriend) being with me. But I'm sure I could if I ever end up coming back with a few Go Banana'ers by my side.

So overall I'd give it a "Good Times" stamp of approval but here is the official banana rating

Endurance (Boring)

Technical (Fun)

Third's Bike Mentor Located

In the Go Banana Video Jason hit the ground pretty hard but it was not on film. Even Jason was speechless for almost seconds.

http://www.heggle.com/item/4454115/High_Speed_Faceplant

The rubber side down rule is very important when mountain biking.

.... ceagan

Elvis Sighting

As I mentioned I happened to be in Santa Cruz this weekend. I sent an email to the bike company of the same name and they offered a tour. Here is the response they sent to my query

"Hi Charles,
I'm going to hook you up with our inside Canadian rep - Dano, and he may be able to show you around if he's available and has the time.
I'll CC him on this email.
Have a good trip and thanks for choosing Santa Cruz.
Scott Turner - Santa Cruz Bicycles
Santa Cruz, California
scott@santacruzbicycles.com
www.santacruzbicycles.com"

I did connect with Dan and he agreed to show us around.

Little Miss Sunshine (Bailey) and the gang minus Ben had a great tour of the Santa Cruz Mtb bike factory.

See the photo's here http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3924&id=500152452 if you have facebook.

The frames are manufactured somewhere else but the painting/kitting all happens at this factory. The people were very friendly and the company seemed very cool and laid back. Apparently the company treats their employees very well. Overall there are 60 people in the company and the revenue they make is about the same as QNX.

I mentioned the Santa Cruz sponsored person from the Summer Solstice who had the amazing lap times and that we let him pass us in the race so he would look good. Notice the green bike frame in the photos ... This is a special bike for some world champion (Aussie) for an upcoming race.

We were given some free tee's and I also bought a jersey. I will have to see how it works on the trail. I am anxious to get back to good old KL.

.... Man Down

Elephant Head Ride on Google Earth

For all of those who are Google earth fans, you can now follow
the epic journey of five brave Go Banana team members as
they ride the Elephant Head in Tucson, Arizona

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=EarthSports&Number=976789&Searchpage=1&Main=976789&Words=&topic=&Search=true

Or directly in Google Earth:

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=976789

We'll put more of our team's journeys as we get them plotted.

Thomas

There's a House in the Middle of the Trail

Click your mouse on the pic to the left but be warned it's a little depressing. It's the planned housing development in Kanata overlayed on top of the Kanata Lakes trails. A lot of trails will be lost :( The good news is the Outback is untouched.....for now.

Going To Graceland

I have changed my ride several times over 3 years. I started with a Marin and then I was lured into the Specialized cult with a very nice cross country racing bike called the Epic Marathon. My friends can attest to the fact that I was quoting Ned and often speaking of the inertial valve and I was decked head to toe in cool specialized attire.

Next one sunny summer day while looking to upgrade my shock I ended up buying a Santa Cruz Blur LT. This baby was Orange and I am very happy with everything on the bike and I really like Orange. Since then I have found there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who own Blurs and those who want to own them.

So back to Graceland. I am on a plane heading to the Bay Area and I feel a calling to go to the homeland/birthplace of this nice new bike, I plan or trekking to Santa Cruz one afternoon, sit meditating on the beach and then check out the factory and any potential Santa Cruz bling. Stay tuned for a summary of my quest.

…. Man Down

Deep Thoughts, by Man Down

I have to start by communicating how pleased I am at being part of the Go Banana legend.

Of course I always obey the commandments

Ride on open trails only.
Respect other trail users.
Respect the environment.
Always stay on the trail.
Ride don't slide.
Pack it out.
Know your limits.

There is one commanments that is missing.

If a banana falls ride over them

The astute may notice that 2 of the 4 video stars are riding with not just the cool Go Banana Jersey but also poison spider socks. I found this troubling as we departed on the ride as one of my poison spider socks has been missing and it really has funked my ride (2 years missing plus Poison Spider comed from the Memories of Moab Mountain Bike tour that Go Banana took in 2005). This actually caused me to be a bit off and fall a few times on the video ride.

This morning just one week after the video shoot I have successfully reunited both poison spider socks. This will allow me to stop wearing black dress socks and fly with the other members of the team.

I would also like to thank Ben Eagan a fellow banana rider and the video guy for shooting the video. His work can be found at http://the20gigapology.com/. Since we have worked together filming these shots I can honestly say Ben is like a son to me now. He is like a grasshopper in training.

Over and out.

Man Down

Go Banana Video

On The Set With Go Banana

Members of the famed Go Banana MTB Team today participated in an early morning video shoot for the much anticipated Go Banana Promo Video. The promo video was expected to make the cut off for Sundace but after a few technical setbacks it is now thinking Cannes may be a better release target. To the left is a behind the scenes picture of "Man Down" testing the handlebar mount which was quickly sidelined due to shoddy craftsmanship. With the loss of the handlebar cam the director (Ben Eagan) had to quickly come up with some new shots to fill the void. Luckily the day was saved when an opportunity presented itself for "The Third" to attempt the dangerous and rarely seen "Double Back Axle Face Slide" off a jump on a downhill. What an impressive simultaneous display of bravery and sheer stupidity. Director Ben Eagan was quoted saying such compliments as "What the f*#k was that?" and "Are you sure you're OK?". Other great shots included falling off a rock bridge while trying to stare at the camera, Big Air T-man soaring off an A-frame, and the Go Banana patented move of riding in a line going down a straight flat path. This will be one video worth waiting for the director's cut!

24 Hour Summer Solstice Photos

Anyone that would like to view the photos taken throughout the race weekend can follow this link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/tommiller6/24HourSummerSolstice

New Trail...well for us anyways

Saturday morning a gaggle of Go Banana'ers headed south down the 416 to try out some new trails called Limerick Forest. The trails were fast and twisting and a lot of fun, definitely worth the drive. There wasn't much climbling but the sand made up for that cardio wise.

Podium finish at the Esprit

The Esprit race was the first race for Go Banana to show off their new colors. Brian, Jason and Thomas arrived sporting the sought after Go Banana race jersey. After checking in we located our arch rivals team PFO, they were visibly worried at the sight of us (or maybe the smell, we will never know).

The race started with a trekking section. We ran up the road feeling good, even though Thomas hates running. Once reaching the highway we took our bearing and were off. After a brief moment of tears from Brian and Jason (stinging nettles really sting) we were moving quite well. Once we reached the top of a peak there was a brief moment of confusion as we thought we missed the checkpoint. Then we remembered that the checkpoint was at a scenic lookout, and that unfortunately meant climbing higher. We reached the checkpoint in 6th place, and yes the directions were correct, the south face was quite steep!

After a short drink we took our new bearing and were off to CP2. We quickly hit an ATV trail and followed it. After a while Brian and Jason questioned the route's direction but then Thomas convinced us (gave us a beating, to which Jason replied “not in the face, it’s my livelihood”) we were going in the right direction. We then ended up at the dump which was not CP2! We then hung our heads in shame and ran the 5km to the checkpoint. Many thanks to the riders who passed by yelling encouragement: “Go Banana!”. Just then our nemesis team PFO passed!
Once finding CP2 we were excited to be on the bikes. We hammered it down and the road and after a brief bit of confusion about road names we found the correct route and made it to the boats.

Thomas quickly pumped up the boat as Jason organized the paddles and Brian went for a pee (hey I have a small bladder). After a few 180 degree turns we got the hang of things and Jason steered us towards victory. Thanks to the team who took a break so we could feel strong and pass someone.

At T2 we quickly deflated the boat and Brian had another pee (remember small bladder). Our gear bag was missing but luckily we wore our cycling shoes in the boat. We then headed down the road at 30km/h to the finish. We hit the finish line in 7th place, our best showing yet and ahead of the dreaded team PFO.

Team PFO finished a few minutes later and came first in the women’s division, congratulations girls! We all then headed to the water for a beer. After a few drinks and some temporary tattoos it was clear that team Go Banana is catching on, even PFO was considering joining up (we already have one, thanks to Robin).

All in all it was a good day, even with the navigation error (which wasn’t really Thomas fault). We even made the podium with a 5th place finish!

Go Banana!

PS> Jason sucks

Frontier Adventure Challenge - Esprit Rafting

Team Go Banana with no sense of direction still manages to podium with an impresive 5th place finish. Good thing adventure racing doesn't follow the olympic standard of only rewarding the top 3.