My partner and I recently competed in our first adventure race - a grueling 24-hour competition that had us fighting a 10,000-foot elevation gain. Although we are experienced kayakers and mountain bikers, the race proved to be a humbling experience.

Navigating on Mountain bikes Courtesy of Tahoe Big Blue

For starters, my partner, the navigator, spent the night before the race learning how to plot map points. So it came as no surprise we found ourselves lost at least five times, forcing us to bushwhack through skin-tearing brush. Plus, our packs looked more suited for a multi-day hike, while everyone else toted small hydration packs.

Clearly, some instruction was in order. Several weeks after our crash-course, I signed up for the Big Blue Adventure Race Camp to better prepare for our next race, the Tahoe Big Blue in mid-September. This two-day camp, led by world-renowned adventure racer and ultra runner Terri Schneider and her company, Schneider & Vandegrift Inc., took place in the High Sierras on Lake Tahoe's scenic North Shore, with North Star ski resort serving as base camp.

The twenty campers came from all corners of the US with varying degrees of experiences and goals. There was Mike and Jill from Great Barrington, MA with 17 years of triathlons and four years adventure racing under their belts. They were looking to learn racing tactics for longer adventure races. Then there was Patrick from Sacramento, CA, who owned a trucking company. He's never done any kind of racing, but watched the first Eco-challenge on TV in 1996, and was taking the first steps towards his goal of completing an Eco-Challenge race.

The camp was a combination of classroom and field instruction with a focus on navigation/orienteering, rope skills, paddling, mountain biking, and trail running. Topics included racing strategies, nutrition, safety, team dynamics, and training. Our instructors were the elite of the sport: Nick Moore, a nationally ranked duathlete who serves as the lead navigator for his Eco-Challenge teams, and Michael Tobin, a three-time Nissan Xterra World Champion and a team member of Nike ACG / Balance Bar, who won the 2002 Primal Quest and this year's X-Adventure race in Sun Valley, ID. Most impressive is Terri, who has competed in 22 Ironman triathlons with three top five finishes at the Hawaiian Ironman. She has also competed in six Eco-Challenge races as well as the brutal Raid Gauloises.

	"We paddled four miles along the scenic lakeshore, ringed by the Sierras, while Terri and Nick gave tips on proper stroke techniques..."

Time was not wasted at this camp. After setting up our tents on Friday night, we were served an enormous barbeque dinner while Nick started our first and most important lesson of the weekend, navigation. It was to be like this for the rest of the camp - when not eating, we were studying, and when not studying, we were out riding, paddling, or hiking. Throughout our training, Terri, Nick, and Michael enlivened their instruction with examples and scenarios from their own racing experience.

Saturday morning we were up at 5:30am. The first lesson of the day called for a run down to the rope course at North Star Village, where we learned how to ascend and abseil from a towering tree. After several hours of practicing the fine art of hauling our bodies up and down the ropes, it was on the paddling segment, where we were paired up and assigned to plastic, sit-on-top kayaks; the type used in most adventure races. We paddled four miles along the scenic lakeshore, ringed by the Sierras, while Terri and Nick gave tips on proper stroke techniques.

Eating lunch on the go, we headed back to base camp where we changed into our hiking gear for a field instruction on orienteering. With maps and compasses in hand, we hiked up the ski slope and practiced navigating among the bluffs near the top. Next came mountain biking. Michael, a former mountain bike racer, led us on a thrilling, downhill single-track ride followed by a thigh-burning climb back to base camp.

By now, it was dinnertime and we were treated to a much-needed barbeque. Team Montrail, this year's winners of the Raid Gauloises and in town preparing for the upcoming Primal Quest, surprised us with a visit and an hour-long question and answer session. Our last exercise for the day was a nighttime orienteering race, where we were split into teams of six with the goal of finding five small orange and white flags based on map points given. Most of us didn't return until midnight. Thankfully, it was a beautiful night to be out.

On our second and last day, we were given our final exam: a four-mile kayak, seven-mile mountain bike, and five-mile trek / orienteering race. To make it official, our five teams of four were given racing bibs. The gun went off at 7am at the lakeshore and we had until noon to complete the breathtaking course.

As everyone gathered around the lunch table after the race, there was a babble of excitement. For some campers, the morning's race was their first ever. For others, the weekend's instruction gave them valuable tools for future races - nuances and tricks not found in any adventure racing book. For me, I'm better prepared for my next race.

—Mountainzone Staff

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