Team SOLE Wins Nevada
Ay-Up 12 Hour Night Race by Kayak Lake Mead
It was a hot, steamy afternoon...one of those days where everyone stands around talking to each other, dripping in sweat. It's not a day you associate with endurance, maximum aerobic output and 'racing'. It's more like the climate you duck into every bit of shade, drink everybit of water you can grab, and keep the exertion down to a very minimum. Maybe a day for sitting on a porch swing and sipping a glass of lemonade.
But with adventure racing we seem to toss out some of the common sense that has kept our species surviving for thousands of years. Instead, we put on lycra, fill our water bottles, lube the chain, put on helmets, double check the headlight, plan the route and charge from the start line like our hair is on fire.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area was host of the Ay-Up 12 Hr. Night Race put on by the folks at Kayak Lake Mead. These guys organized the 24 hour race we participated in May. It was brutally hard, in terrain and navigation....this event would not be much different.
Our team is Karen Lundgren, Marcel Hagener (of NZ), and this writer- Paul Romero. We'd have a 5 p.m. start on the shore of Lake Mead. Then, for the next 12.5 hours we would have a raging, wild and challenging event. Disciplines included- Lake Kayaking, Night/Swim-Orienteering amongst an island chain, Ride and Tie (one bike and three team mates), Slot Canyoneering, and hands down, the most knarly, demanding and incredible mountain biking we've ever seen...anywhere. We spent the first hour battling with a couple of fast teams, Team Red Energy and Diablos de la Noche. They had clever strategy on the first paddle/swim sections, but when it came to the open water kayaking, our Seda kayaks and lead powerman Marcel, we'd open up a 25 minute lead over the next 20 km kayak section.
The very wee hours, and sunrise, we'd spend hammering ourselves and our Intense 29ers through a radical labyrinth of ultra technical, expert/pro level, rocky, cliffed-out mountain bike trails on the world famous Bootleg Mountain Bike Park. The bikes were the real hero's for 4 hours as we tested every single bike skill and component every single inch of the way. (If you are not at least 'considering' a 29er, you are destined to be left behind in your races. Just our humble opinion)
Team SOLE would handily win this event but not with out a serious effort put forth by the whole team.
We thank every sponsor and supporter that makes it possible to get to these events, and push our minds and bodies to new levels, in the name of adventure. Team SOLE now prepares for the Wulong Mountain Challenge, in China...a new and major international staged event with big media and prizes. Stay tuned to www.teamsole.com for more info.
