ARWC 2006 Sweden

Well I’ve been waiting a long time for a race this good. What can I say? When most raced directors are shunning the stunning areas around them and sending us instead through the most brutal and mind numbing terrain I found our team racing where we would chose to go adventuring outside of a race. By the end people weren’t relieved that it was finally over but were trying to sort through the maze of incredible experience as to what rated as the best?

More rideable single track than I’ve seen anywhere, glaciers, stunning mountains, lakes, ocean paddling under the northern lights, whales (and whale stew) the arctic circle in a t-shirt, cabins to sleep in, close racing and a win to cap it all off – what a week.

Well after finalising a team for the race, only 2 weeks out preparations were again altered with Dan Weiland having to pull out due to a slipped disk in his back. With little over a week remaining the team pulled in Dave Weins, former MTB pro and all round good guy to fill the void. Leading up to this race it had felt a little strange with neither of the Mikes racing and the fourth member decided on very late – then changed, we were in for a unique experience what ever happened.

Leaving for the short journey from Finland to Sweden I felt good that I would be travelling little more than an hour to Stockholm as opposed to 30 – 40 hours from NZ. Things are never as easy as they seem though and with a small plane and obscure little airport it appeared our bikes had only a small chance of making it out of Finland within the week, with all the flights totally booked. It wasn’t until we were almost in the air that we got confirmation that our bikes would make it and the stress disappeared.

Another short flight the following day with the majority of the teams to Umea and then a 6-hour bus ride through to race HQ in Hemavan, near the Norwegian border.

The next day we were on of the last teams to check in at 5pm, luckily the gear check was relatively short process unlike PQ where we spent more than a day trying to finish it. One thing Mikael and his team had stressed during the briefings was everyone had to complete every activity during each section. The safety guys had been classic – if you don’t do something, pack up go home have a shower it’s over was their slogan

The days weren’t quiet as long as what we were anticipating with it getting dark about 11pm and light again just after 3am. Still short and about right for a good sleep.

On receiving our maps it was great to see the CP’s plotted and all we had to do was work out the box plan. It was confusing to say the least but gradually we worked it out and everything seemed to slot into place.

Boxes are always a worry as if you mix them up you can end up with the wrong gear at the wrong time which would effectively end your race. At the question and answer session, it was clear most teams were having some logistical issues working this out as well.

One unique thing about the race is there were many shorter sections and the longest sections were aimed to be around 12 hours long. Still many race directors claim certain times for sections and they end up being twice as long so no one was taking anything for granted

With the start at a leisurely 11am the next morning it was off to sleep secure in the knowledge we would get 8 hours sleep before the race started.

Race morning and we started in a field with a short 200m dash across a field and then into our inlines for a quick skate up the hill. The day also saw the first rain in 6 weeks in the area, nothing like an Adventure race to bring on the bad weather.

Absolute pandemonium accompanied the first skate and then it was on to the bikes for a short technical ride. The bike was where we saw our main strength in this race, and by the end of the ride we had reached the front of the field with Lundhugs and Spyder. Off for a canyoneering section and the pace was still frenetic. Only a couple of km’s from the hotel and we reached a great little canyon with loads of jumps, slides, swims and rock hopping. There were still several teams together but as the section continued, Lundhugs made a small break and we pulled away from the other teams.

The race directors had also made sure there were plenty of vantage points for the public and supporters to see the race action. At several jumps in the canyon, large crowds cheered everyone on as they leapt from cliffs into the water.

Onto the bikes a second time and the first longer section and we were treated to some great riding as we passed Lundhugs and hammered down towards the first orienteering section.

Here Ian had to collect our map for the section from the bottom of the lake (he drew the short straw) and then it was off for an orienteering section. What we didn’t notice until we were out on the course is the map we had was about a ¼ wet and one CP and a lot of the terrain around it was missing. Luckily, just after the first CP we spied Lundhugs and tagged along for the ride. Was lucky as the 3rd CP would have been very hard to find with what we had left of the map. Back to the bikes and team Finland had slipped past us into the lead. As it would turn out, we were to see a lot of both Finland and Lundhugs during the race.

The next bike started easily enough with roads and then 4x4 track. We were slightly ahead of schedule and as we hit the next CP were surprised to find we had passed team Finland without even seeing them? The next 3 hours was all single track, most rideable, although I think Mona rode the whole lot. We started to put some time on the chasing teams and when we arrived at the bike drop for the first trekking section, we had a small lead and the benefit of a little light to start the trek in.

The trek took us up onto a series of ridges that completed a big circle back to the bike drop. By halfway up to the ridge it was dark and we were enveloped in a thick fog. Travelling on a bearing for the ridge it was slow going and after a couple of hours not being able to see more than about 10 metres we were relieved to see the lights of a hut and the CP come into view just in front of us. All the travel was off trail and as we navigated from point to point, it was tough not being able to see a thing. The second CP eluded us for 30 mins of so as we got cliffed out and had to cut away from it, in the process becoming a bit disorientated. With the first grey of dawn, we were able to see slightly more and found ourselves only a couple of hundred metres away. Many teams had joined up and now in the rush for the next CP teams headed in all different directions. We arrived at the next CP in 3rd and now being able to see headed full steam back towards the bikes and a short ride back to the TA and the promise of a good sleep.

The TA was situated at the start area, and as we arrived the 2 leading teams were still there. We decided on a 3-hour sleep and then it was on the bikes for a road ride to the Red Bull challenge. No one knew what the RBC was and on arriving, we realised that due to our long sleep we were stuck in a queue for the flying fox style challenge. Fortunately, there was the chance to buy local food and sleep some more. We waited an hour and then one by one hurtled down the line slamming into the braking devise at close to 100 kph.

A short walk out and another biking section took us to the first Mountaineering section. Along the way it poured with rain and there was a short section where we had to hike our bikes but that was an advantage of being a few teams down – there was an almost rideable track through the majority of it.

Arriving at the TA, we were surprised to find all the teams still in the TA. So, with a short break to refuel we were off – back in the lead and feeling good at having slept 4 hours already in only 36 hours, Luxury!

The Mountaineering section had a big hike in with some gnarly ridges and more bad weather to contend with. Teams Lundhugs and Finland left just after us and by the first climb we were all travelling together. The navigation again became very tricky in the dark and the fog and the exposure would have been spectacular if we had been able to see it. One interesting experience on this section was Dave learning how to climb using his jumar during the section. Being called in a the last minute and with only one other AR race under his belt he was a little light on the skills but learnt amazingly quickly in the midst of the competion and we were able to stay with the front teams. By day break and we were still heading up, heading for a glacier and then it was down hill all the way to the TA.

The glacier looked spectacular on the footage we saw after the race when other teams went through but for us it was just a disorientating mix of white snow and mist. We walked for 2 hours with Finland down the glacier before getting back on rocky ground and searching for the next CP. Because we didn’t know exactly how much or how little glacier there was in comparison to the map as we couldn’t see anything it was a challenge to find the location of the CP. Eventually we all found it within 20 min of each other but in the clear you could have seen it easily.

On the descent we caught Lundhugs again and as we descended below the fog we passed a spectacular glacial river and as we jogged into the TA team Finland were just preparing to leave.

A quick change and onto a downhill bike to the main orienteering section and the promise of another sleep as cabins were waiting for us there.

3 more hours sleep and we managed to avoid a long run around or swim across the river to the orienteering course courtesy of a rowboat we found on the bank. The section had it’s ups and downs but some great work by Ian saw us catch up to Go-Lite and we finished the section together with them and shared a ride back in the row boat. Team Finland had mean while blown the section away going through an hour faster than any other team. They held a 2-hour lead now having slept an hour less before the section.

Another long ride with some spectacular scenery took us to the start of another trek, this time through the 7 sisters range. We arrived just after dark and as we left we could see the lights of team Finland already far up the first valley.

By first light we had passed the first CP and we were navigating between fractured rock formations that made any fast progress impossible. We were halfway along when we noticed that the prescribed route took us through an area that looked impassable on the map. It was a tense couple of hours as we linked onto a trail and gradually our forward progress accelerated and we popped through a small relief in the cliffs to head out into the open and down towards the inline section.

With about 40 km of skating before the ocean kayaking section we decided to take a quick 2 hours kip and then after much struggling to fit our swollen feet in the skates we were off – not a pretty sight that’s for sure. The section actually went pretty well and we skated on nice roads, over a huge bridge and generally in some very picturesque country. Everything was good until we starting hitting the cattle stops. These required stopping and walking across, which on a couple of the hills was quite a mission. Arriving at the CP, everyone’s feet were tired and sore from being jammed in the inline boots and the promise of being off the feet for at least 12 hours was a welcome thought.

As we paddled out into the Norwegian Archipelago the temperature dropped quickly as a brisk wind whipped off the sea, a sign a of a cold night ahead for us. By the first CP in the kayaks we’d already been treated to a sighting of whales and soon after as darkness set in the northern lights put on an incredible display for over an hour. Long spiralling wisps of light lit up parts of the sky, constantly twisting and changing before dissolving back into the night sky.

By now the sleep monster was hitting Dave so Mona decided we should do some intervals to keep use awake and keep the motivation up. What a situation, doing kayak intervals in the middle of the Norwegian Archipelago, chasing the Finns, looking for CP’s in the dark, watching the northern lights while whale watching and all during an 800km long race. No wonder people think we’re all crazy!

Looking for the second CP we had a maze of channels to chose from and on a 1- 100:00 map not the easiest, we went down on channel, decided it wasn’t it so took another and then decided we should sleep on it. Everyone was freezing by this stage and Ian was super keen for a long sleep. The others had scampered off to find a shed to sleep in. I was just warming up and had no intentions of leaving my sleeping bag, so slept on the shore until well after the sun came up and the others arrived back with stories of the 5 star accommodation they had found. So armed with 5 hours sleep we were just about to launch when we noticed Lundhugs heading our way and straight into the bay we had just slept. The CP we then noticed was only a couple of hundred metres from where we had slept. Ian had got us right there we just hadn’t been able to see it in the dark. We later found out we had been on the other side of it while going down the original channel and team Finland had stumbled on the CP as they saw our lights from the other side and gone to investigate.

Now we had the bit between the teeth and quickly saw out the rest of the paddle, gaining nearly an hour on Lundhugs and arriving at the TA with a 2½-hour deficit to team Finland. The TA was situated at Mo i Rana which is one of the border towns for the Arctic Circle, and if we had paused to think how warm it was then it may have seemed a little strange.

We wasted no time in loading up and heading out of the Fiord and towards the final glacier section of the race. After an hour of hard climbing, we dropped down towards a river and in the distance, Dave spotted the Finns on the far bank – now only 10 minutes ahead. We couldn’t have thought we’d gain so quickly but now we knew we were in the game and the next hour flew by as we chased them up the trail, sometimes catching sight and then they would seem to disappear again. We ended up in a small canyon that lead to the glacier lake and finally caught up with them. We travelled together for about 20 minutes before slipping away by cutting a corner and then the chaos started. We started jogging when they couldn’t see us and soon built up a lead of a few hundred metres. Once the CP came into view a couple of km’s up we decided it was time to go, as we started running so did the Finns and for the next 10 km to the glacier we ran as fast as we could only gaining a few minutes from them. The last glacier was amazing, twisted ice, crevasses and the most technical ice work I’ve seen on an AR course. It was spectacular and the only shame was we were almost running around it to keep our lead. By the end it was down to a couple of minutes again and we rushed to complete the final 8 km to the TA through a small descending bush track. Again the pace was as quick as we could go, and by the TA we had a small lead, although we couldn’t know how much time we had. 10 minutes in TA and it was a small trek to the kayaks, we know knew we had at least 10 minutes and we also had the advantage of the last of the light for the kayak.

In the grey darkness it was very hard to navigate the first part of the river, with banks and turns looming up from out of nowhere. Within a few km though and we were out on a wide flat river and heading for what we hoped wouldn’t be our nemesis, the final inline skate.

The skate was almost 30 km long and mainly up hill. Most of the time it felt like we were crawling, and the occasional downhills were terrifying in the dark, not knowing where they would finish. Ian would hurtle down as if he knew what was round the corner, Mona would follow with a generous amount of brake and Dave and I would employ any means necessary to survive. Much to our shock (and every team after us) the road turned to gravel with 8 km to go. Mikael's little treat for us all. It wasn’t too bad as we could skate most of it but it seemed to help to curse a lot!

We were somewhat surprised not to be caught by the Finns on the skate and started the caving section after a large scare when we thought we had left the control card somewhere.

The penultimate section was going smoothly until Ian noticed he was missing a jumar and we were forced to take a 30 min penalty. This put the pressure back on and the race suddenly kicked back into life. During the caving section, we had to jury rig an ascending system using each other’s jumars and then lower them back down for the others. Lacking one jumar meant we could only go one at a time and this definitely increased the urgency. Dave did a stellar job considering he had never ascended a vertical line before and as we reached the end we received news we still had around a 2½-hour lead.

We still weren’t about to take anything for granted and with 15 km to the final bike we were off again at our fastest shuffle.

At the final TA, we had to serve our penalty and then we managed to secure some credit with the local store after offering to trade a watch and an MP3 player for some pastries. The change in food certainly tasted good and then off for the final bike, mainly downhill, on road to the finish.

It was a nice finish to the race as we were able to reflect on the ups and downs and the incredible places we had just seen. The other thing that really struck us was how excited all the local people had been about the race, they had embraced it and us -helped all the teams with food at TA’s and brought their culture to the race.

Crossing the line brought a mixture of elation and relief. It was a fantastic race experience, with such a different team, course and race it was different in so many ways from our win with Balance Vector last year but a fantastic experience none the less. Racing with Ian who may not be as fast as he once was, but was like a little AR Yoda with his array of skills and unflappable belief in our tactics was a great learning experience, Mona’s passion and Dave’s remarkable effort in only his second AR race combined to make it an awesome experience.