What's the Hurry?

      

     Adventure racing has come to (and gone from) from our area. Earlier this summer Rootstock Racing hosted the Endless Mountains Race that began in Ticonderoga, then continued thru northern Washington County before moving on to Vermont and eventually Massachusetts. It involved five days of travel on foot, by bikes, in water and even over cliffs! It was a little like a triathlon on steroids with navigation skills required and team work essential.

     I'm all for adventure as long as it's preceded by the words 'little' and 'slow'. These races are anything but. The course covered somewhere between 300 and 350 miles. That's if you managed to stay on course (no small feat). Comes to between 60 to 70 miles per day. Sleeping and eating seem to be afterthoughts. But what struck me is how much simple, fun adventure there is in and around Washington County. Even for us non-racers. There's a good reason Rootstock chose this area for their event.

     You can see the route traced on a youtube video but it unfolds rapidly (and unbelievably), a little hard to follow if you are not familiar with the terrain. The race started at the summit of Mount Defiance and wound down thru the streets of Ticonderoga. A short paddling section brought them to Fort Ticonderoga where there was a running loop. Then came the long canoe and kayak paddle up thru the Narrows of Lake Champlain to the far end of South Bay.

     The racers then beached their boats and did a trekking route in Whitehall's rugged Saddles State Forest, trying to find a number of checkpoints in the dark, rainy night. Back on the water they quickly made their way to a transition area at the Rt. 22 boat launch. From here it was mountain biking into Vermont along the rough road that parallels the Poultney River in West Haven. After hitting a checkpoint in Fair Haven they spent some time on the Slate Valley Trails near Poultney before turning south with a trek on Dorset Mountain and a scary cliff jump/swim stop at the Dorset Quarry.

  

     That was just the first couple of days. Beyond Dorset/Manchester came endless trekking, mountain biking and packrafting in the vast Green Mountain National Forest before a finish in North Adams, MA. Following the route left me with a deja vu feeling as I have been to most of the places the racers traversed. The difference is that I visited them as leisurely day trips over the course of a life time. I was reminded of the one semi-adventure race I'ld done years ago: the Adirondack 90 miler canoe classic from Old Forge to Saranac Lake. At the end I remember saying to Gwenne "That would have been fun if we took three weeks instead of three days to do it".  There are those who savor life in the fast lane and then there are those of us who favor the off ramp leading to more relaxed adventure. How lucky to live in an area that can accommodate both. 

 

     * All the images are from Rootstock/Endless Mountain websites. They may be from previous year's races. I included them to give you an idea of what adventure racing is all about. There are YouTube videos on the web that do show local scenes from this years race. They are fun to watch.