More #ARWC2011 photos- thanks to Craig Shadbolt

Craig’s full photo album is here.

The photos of Team Blackheart are at the end of the 2nd last MTB ride and the final coasteering section. There’s also a few good pics of City Bike Depot hunting us down on the final trek.

There are some great photos of the river crossing at Reynolds Falls. I particularly like this photo of Aaron Prince of Team SILVA. The look on Aaron’s face is pricelist. It brings back the memories of “oh shit, do we really have so swim across there?” I don’t think I really appreciated the beauty of the waterfall until I looked at these photos.

Australia's newest adventure race, the X-Marathon

Need a new adventure fix? Then sign up for Australia's newest adventure race, the X-Marathon. Set on the banks of Lake Nilahcootie in the remote Strathbogie Ranges and Mount Samaria State Park, the X-marathon Adventure Race incorporates paddling, trekking, and mountain biking to provide a remarkable racing experience for all levels of athletes.

X-Marathon is brought to your by Adventure Junkie, the same crew who brought you the Winter Challenge last August. This event was a great success, with electronic timing, updated and quality printed maps, and great adventure challenges. We are hoping the  X-Marathon event will be even better.

This time, the race course will be more serious for the Pros; it will have about 2000m total ascent and this will not be a trivial effort! Kayaking will take place on lake Nillahcootie, located between the two ridges of Strathbogie and Samaria, with spectacular views on both sides. And the bush trekking in Mount Samaria State Park will be nice, classic trekking – remote access to the park allows the bush to retain its virgin beauty and, on the last scout, koalas were heard and hundreds of deer were seen on the lower mountain slopes.

There are three courses on offer: Pro, Adventure and Lite, with expected winning times of 12, 6 and 2 hours, and time limits of 24, 12 and 4 hours, respectively.

The race starts early on December 17, and registration is already open on the race website at adventurejunkie.com.au. This race caters for all levels – Lite is suitable for beginners, while the Adventure and Pro courses are more demanding, but the stunning views along the course will make any pain along the way worth it!

Best of all, there's $1000 total prize money up for grabs for the Pro course – and it is going to be a hot field.  Australia's top Australian adventure racing team, Blackheart will battle it out against recent Adventure Racing World Champions, Team Thule from France. Do not miss this opportunity to race side-by-side with the strongest racers in the world!

Kathryn and Josh won the Mixed Category of the Adventure Junkie Winter Challenge- Kathryn's report is here.

Kathryn and Josh in the Winter Challenge

Anaconda Adventure race Lorne- Boat's for hire

Team Blackheart have a range of boats available for hire for the Anaconda Adventure Race in Lorne on 4th December. The boats vary in speed and stability, but hopefully there is something to suit your needs.
Boat hire is $100 for the race, hire of a paddle an extra $20. Boats can be picked up from various locations around Melbourne, or delivered to the race. Early pick up (in the next two weeks) is also available depending on boat option.

Boats available
Finn Endorfinn x 4. Very stable suitable for beginners.
Finn Molokai x 1. Very fast and tippy- suitable for experienced paddlers only.
Custom Kayaks Icon Surf ski (Kevlar/Glass and trailing rudder) - quite tippy and fast. Fixed leg leg suitable for 170-180cm height
Red 7 Surf 80 double surf ski- only suitable for racers in pairs category.

Contact
Rob Preston- mobile 0403296516, email rob_preston@hotmail.com

ARWC 2011 photos by Ben Wolstencroft

		ARWC 2011 photos by Ben Wolstencroft VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Adventure Racing World Championships Course Overview #ARWC2011

The race starts at 9am tomorrow, but I feel I've been racing all day to get ready. The course looks awesome, with shorter legs for the first half til Midcamp at Strahan, then some Epic legs for the remainder.

Remember to get on to www.arwc2011.com, click on teams then scroll down to #3 TeamBlackheart.com and check out the photos and post some trail mail. Also follow the team via Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamblackheart

Here is my race summary.
Leg 1- 20 km ocean kayak from Burnie to Penguin
Leg 2- 20km trek to a shooting range where you must shoot a clay target. No shortcuts thru the back of the shooting range.
Leg 3- 4 CP's to collect in the Dial Ranges
Leg4- Quick Mtb ride down to Gunns Plain Cave
Leg 5- Caving. Part one is a tourist cave. Part 2 more hardcore caving and will involve getting wet and muddy.
Leg 6-MTB. Starting to get rougher
Leg7- the first Epic trek over Black Bluff Range with views to Cradle Mountain. Remote hiking track to Reynolds Falls. Abseil of a waterfall then canyoning down the Vail river to Lake Macintosh.
Leg 8- First paddle with 4 people in one kayak. Then pick up a 2nd boat and paddle 20km including 2km portage. This finishes at town of Tulla.
Leg 9- MTB from Tulla up the Sterling valley route through old mining settlements and some great MTB trails and rail trail thru Zeehan to Strahan. Midcamp at Stahan.
Leg 10- Long beach trek 65km north including some tricky nav in Henty Sanddunes. A few river crossings and then some climbs and good views. Leg finishes with some tough route finding to finish in Granville Harbour.
Leg 11- long 150km MTB. Could start with a ride on the beach. Cross over the Pieman river with rafts. Enter the Tarkine Region an amazing wilderness area. Stop for a coffee at some town then into amazing forests.
Leg 12- Epic 75km of river kayaking including grade 2 rapids and 12km of trekking up side valleys. This river has a dark zone from 7.30pm to 6.30pm with no portaging allowed. It will be very difficult to finish this leg in one full day. Remember to pack marshmallows for campfire.
Note- do not misplace boats this year!
Leg 13. MTB down to the coast
Leg 14- Coasteering around Rocky Cape to Boat Harbour
Leg 15- "Straight forward" ride to the finish. Note- ignore anything Craig says is straight forward.
Finish- suck down the champers, pizza and icecream on the finishers lounge with the satisfaction of finishing the 2011 Adventure Racing World Championships.

The full course information is at http://www.trackmelive.com.au/xpd2011/Course.aspx

ARWC2011 minus 5 days

Well the final organisation tasks are falling into place, and Team Blackheart board the ferry to Tasmania on Saturday night. Lets pray for a calm night…

Media appearances

Rob was interviewed yesterday by Coach Jeff, a prominent triathlon and Multisport coach from Queensland. Also interviewed was Robbie Andrews from Team SCAR. You can listen the the full podcast here..

Also Team Blackheart featured in an article in The Advocate, Northern Tasmania’s largest newspaper. Here is the online article.

XPD 2010 Review

While preparing for XPD 2011 I’ve had lots of thoughts about our previous 4 XPD races. There were plenty of tough moments during the 2010 Cairns expedition, and if you haven’t already watched the below videos they are a must. At least there is no FNQ Stinging Tree in Tasmania….

XPD 2010 Video 1

XPD 2010 Video 2

Ultimate Adventure Racing gear- SILVA OMC 66 Wrist Compass

The SILVA OMC 66 Wrist Compass arrives just in time for AR World Championships. This is my favourite piece of race kit and I've been waiting two years to get some more Southern Hemisphere compasses. So if you want a compass that is comfortable and doesn't get in the way while riding, running or kayaking then check it out here and get in your order in quickly.

And don't miss out on the great prices for Shotz Sports Nutrition either. A box of 25 Shotz Gels is just $65 and Electrolyte Tablets $18 for tube of 20.  Orders need to be in by 10pm Tuesday 25th October to get free deliver to ARWC in Burnie.

Contact Rob on rob_preston@hotmail.com

Get a SILVA compass in your hand for the World AR Champs

Rob Preston is a member of the Australian Orienteering team and has been using SILVA compasses for 25years. Rob is an agent for SILVA and is offering a great special for competitors of the 2011 Adventure Racing World Championships in Tasmania. You wouldn't skimp on a new part for your bike, so why buy an inferior compass? SILVA compasses are guaranteed to improve your Adventure racing performance*.

All compasses are greatly discounted- you won't find cheaper prices anywhere in Australia.

Payment is available via PAYPAL, and purchases can be collected at registration for ARWC2011.

Contact Rob on rob_preston@hotmail.com or 0403296516 for more information.

*Compass cannot be blamed for human error ;-)

Compass Model	Description	ARWC Special Price	RRP
SILVA Jet 6 Spectra	·      Available in both right and left handed ·      Silva 6 Jet Spectra is the optimal thumb compass for orienteers ·      it is the favourite among most National Orienteering Teams. ·      The transparent baseplate with distinct markings ensures easy map reading. ·      Elastic thumb strap and rubber pad for safe grip.	$135	$198
SILVA 6 NOR Spectra	·      The classical Silva 6 Nor compass features a straight and wide needle for easy and fast reading. ·      Strong magnet gives quick dampening. ·      The transparent baseplate with distinct markings ensures easy map reading. ·      Elastic thumb strap and rubber pad for safe grip. ·      Left hand version only	$75	$106
SILVA Jet 5 Baseplate	·      Specially constructed capsule with the focus on quick dampening in combination with stability while running ·      Clear baseplate. Wide, straight, fluorescent needle for easy and fast reading ·      Special magnet in combination with dampening plate on the needle give optimal orienteering features ·      Two points in the capsule bottom	$140	$200
Eclipse Compass GPS 96	·      Baseplate compass with special scales for defining co-ordinates ·      Perfect for use with a GP ·      Five different Romer scales	$100	$145
SILVA Ranger 3 Baseplate	·      A classic baseplate compass that is used all over the world. ·      Easy-grip compass housing in Dryflex ·      Built in magnifier ·      Map scales in millimetres ·      Recommended for Secondary schools, Scouts, Hikers	$40	$54
SILVA Clip-on compass	·      Compass in "clip‐on" model for easy fastening on the map ·      Perfect for MTBO and AR Useful for all types of map reading ·      Fixed liquid filled compass housing	$30	$35
	Miry Mapboards (25mm diameter mount only)	$100	$149
	Shotz Energy Gels Available in 8 flavours $65 for box (25gels) Mixing of flavours available
	Shotz Electrolyte Drink Lemon or Orange/Vanilla flavours $18 (20 tabs)= 10L drink

Four weeks until the big one!

In four weeks time today we will have started the 2011 edition of XPD, which this year doubles as the AR World Championships in Burnie, Tasmania. Since our last race together in June we've all been busy preparing for this race, which is our focus for the year. Recently, Rob and Josh have spent several hours chasing each other around the Upper Murray Challenge multisport race course in north east Victoria finishing 4th and 5th. Damon's been spending his time telling Rob and Josh that they were lucky he wasn't there or they would have been down a place in the results.

To compete in an event like this we all put in many hours of training per week. The more you do pre-race, the less the event is going to hurt. That's how it works for me anyway! I've just spent two weeks exploring the endless hills behind Fairhaven and Airey's Inlet on the Great Ocean Road, plus plenty of hills west of Brisbane. Here's a couple of photos of those areas.

Airey's Inlet, Great Ocean Rd

Northbrook Gorge, Brisbane

Looking after the body is particularly important in maintaining high volume training. We need to thank one of our sponsors for helping keeping us all injury free (MTB crashes don't count - they're 'unfortunate accidents', not injuries!) for 2011 after some specific overuse issues that saw me miss a couple of races last year. With disciplined use of our Trigger Point Therapy tools I've kept the muscles nice and supple which has kept my troublesome achilles at bay. It's like getting daily massages without the cost. Have a look at their website and check out their products. Kristian would be more than happy to help with any queries.

So, with less than three weeks before we leave, our preparations are all going well. We're looking forward to having the opportunity to race a World Championship in our home country without the usual issues of jet-lag and excess luggage expenses!