Balance Bar 24-Hour Adventure
Team Kool Tie Navigates 75-Mile Course in 13 Hours
Los Angeles, CA.- November 20, 2001
The race provided the competition the top adventure racers vying for the National Championship had anticipated. Team Kool Tie, acknowledged for its mountain biking strength, was an outstanding force, dominating most of the race. The elite teams were packed together in the kayak section, only to have Team Kool Tie generate distance from the pack on the mountain biking sections.
The leads Team Kool Tie was able to take on the bike sections were just too large for the other teams to make up on other sections of the race. The finish time was expected to be approximately 15 hours, Team Kool Tie finished in 13:07:24, a considerable domination of the race course.
The backdrop behind the competitors anxiously awaiting the start of the race was a picture-perfect sunrise. The rising sun began to warm the crisp air and also began burning off some of the nerves coming from the racers for the anticipation of the start. The bang of the cannon at 6:30 a.m. Friday morning was the send off for the competitors of the Balance Bar 24-Hour Adventure into the unknown terrain of the Santa Monica Mountains.
Elite and local participants battled the Pacific Ocean by kayak, climbed the rugged mountains and fought off fatigue while navigating their way to the finish approximately 75 miles away on the share of Leo Carrillo State Beach in the non-stop, 24-hour ultimate adventure challenge.
Competitors raced down the sand to locate their kayaks and paddles, tools required for the first leg of the race. Some competitors charged the waves successfully, launching into the Pacific Ocean with little trouble. Others had to evaluate the remaining waves and attempt to predict when the ocean would allow their presence. Finally all competitors overcame the waves and were off in search of the 1st checkpoint of the race called the Passport Control (PC).
Competitors paddled back to the 2nd PC located at the start line and started preparing for the next leg of the race, the mountain bike. The transition area was full of competitors fueling up with water and food and gearing up. The first bike leg led competitors up PCH onto a steep fire road on which many competitors opted to dismount and carry their bikes.
Racers dropped their bikes at a checkpoint and were then sent out into the Boney Mountain Wilderness. This leg of the race consisted of 15 miles of trekking and the 235-foot rappel. Many competitors were intimidated at first yet the overwhelming sense of accomplishment voided any initial doubts or fears. After the rappel, competitors were sent trekking back to the PC that held their bikes. Competitors returned to their bikes and, though this time down hill, back to the main transition area where they could fuel up and prepare for the next leg of the race, the biking/coasteering section.
Many competitors didn't carry enough water on the first leg so most teams could be seen strapped with as much water as they could handle. The second bike leg led competitors into Big Sycamore Canyon, inside of Point Mugu State Park, with the terrain even more difficult to navigate in the dark. The last leg of the race was coasteering along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Teams battled the ocean waves and were climbing around boulders above the pounding surf and clinging to the rocks for support. Along with the waves many teams were fighting fatigue.
Elated competitors continued coming through the Finish Line throughout dusk and into the next morning. The last competitors,, Team Dirty Girls, finished Saturday evening with a time of 36 Hours, 46 Minutes, and nine seconds after the race start.
—Courtesy, mesp.com
