Rafting & the Misty Mountains

The 100km MTB leg didn't do much to separate the field due to the Dark Zone before the White Water Rafting. Blackheart arrived at the end of the MTB at 7:50pm yesterday evening in equal 2nd place at the same time as 2 other teams - being Mounty's as well as McCain from South Africa - appears as though there was a Bull of Africa 2008 reunion.

Teams then had to trek 10km to the start of the rafting section where it seems they were able to get about 4 hours sleep before the 6am Refting briefing. I would expect the Grade 4 Tully River rapids to have been a highlight of the race. Once the fun was finished the real race began at about 8am with the start of the 47km Misty Mountains Trek. Damon, Kim and Josh have an advantage of having done about half this trek in the 2004 Quoll Adventure Race. During that race the ground actually looked like it was moving due to the millions of leeches - so I expect there will be big incentive not to stop on this leg. And just because it is a 'marked trail' won't make it much easier as this just means there's an arrow nailed to a tree every 20-50m.

There's an update on the website and we can see by the trackers that 4-5 teams (including #1 Blackheart) have now finished the trek and will be starting the 130km MTB to mid-camp. Along the way teams have to complete a short orienteering section where they collect 5 out of 6 CP's before continuing on their bikes. Given teams at the front got a sleep last night they should all race through as long as it takes to finish the MTB leg because at mid-camp they have a compulsory 6hr stop.

A friend of Team Blackheart - Ben Wolstencroft is covering the race as a photographer so I will be able to post some great photos soon.

There's also an updated report on Sleepmonsters.

XPD Cairns - Day 1

Team Blackheart.com.au is off and racing in the 5th edition of XPD - Australia's Expedition Adventure Race. Day 1 seemed to start rather eventfully with the arranged boat transport to the start at Dunk Island breaking down and alternative arrangements had to be made. The race started at 11:36am with a 25 km Trek / Paddle / Snorkel leg around the Island.

There appears to be about 6 strong teams at this years race and after the first 4 hours of racing only 10 minutes separated these teams with Blackheart in 4th place. From Dunk Island teams had to paddle back to the mainland at Mission Beach to start a 100km MTB leg to the Tully River. Once there teams will be able to have a good first nights sleep during the Dark Zone and await an early morning restart for the 10km whitewater rafting leg. From the GPS Trackers it appears that the teams arrived well before midnight. The website is not updated but I assume the explanation for this is the quoted lack of phone reception in the Tully River and no race updates are expected until late tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon after the raft and 47km Trek through the Misty Mountains to Ravenshoe. The race coverage is excellent on the website.

Team Blackheart ready for XPD Cairns

Team Blackheart has returned with the same line-up as 2008 with the aim of defending our XPD Australia title. It is often said that getting to the start line is half the battle, and this is particularly true for expedition Adventure Racing. After a few hectic days in Cairns, we are ready for the 6.30am bus and boat ride to the start at Dunk Island to the south of Cairns. Kim and Josh are tucked into bed, while Rob and Damon catch up on a little Survivor and Two and a Half Men.

The course is looking very tough, with many legs expected to take over 12 hours. We envisage the crux legs to be the 70km paddle followed by a 60km trek (dubbed the Speargrass Trek), both through very remote outback regions. The race will likely just be getting interesting as the top teams leave the mid race camp, with a wheelbarrow to help transport the inflatable kayaks 20km to the river. Luckily Josh has had plenty of practice pushing a barrow up his steep driveway, so the rest of the team is hoping for a little rest on this leg.

There is a strong overseas contingent for the race, with 2008 World Champions Team Orion returning, but with Brent Edwards to only surviving team member. Team Merrell/Akali and McCains from South Africa are the other strong teams looking to win a qualifying spot to the 2010 ARWC in Spain. We expect the strongest Australian competition to come from our good friends in Team City Bike Depot.

Hopefully the race coverage will live up to expectations, with live GPS tracking you should be able to keep up our progress. Updates from the course will be posted on our XPD Team page.