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)