Patagonia Expedition Race 2016

Neady83

A bit late with this but there's still 6 days left in the race so still plenty of dot watching tracking to be done.

The Teams: [URL] http://www.patagonianexpeditionrace.com/teams-2016/ [/URL]. Yogaslackers, East Wind and GODZone are expected to battle it out for the podium.

Stage 1: 34km trek

Stage 2: 272km of mountain biking. ’ In perfect conditions this could be a flat out fast leg however they are heading west. And will meet the wind, which is currently speeding at 25-35 knots, in a head on collision. Ten years ago the organisers tried to include a section of this same route but had to cut it out because it was impossible to even cycle downhill. This year, they say, teams have to finish this ride, even in brutal weather and even if it takes many days. If necessary the race structure can be re-arranged after that.

Stage 3: 76km trek into forest and then ‘turba’ – a peat bog, which could slow things down significantly.

Stage 4: 110km bike route – on legs that have been busy for 382km already - before finally getting to climb into their new drysuits and sit down on the kayaks. Timing is critical here as there is a dark zone enforced from 10pm to 6am.

Stage 5: This is just a short 6km hop across the Sound so they can reach the other side and forge their way up the mountains on foot.

Stage 6: Once across the Sound the third trek (56km) takes teams higher and into mountain areas where very few have ever been before.

Stage 7: 17km kayak which passes along a shore close to glacier outfalls. Teams were advised, “Don’t spend long there in case of big ice blocks coming off the glacier!”

Stage 8: 41km up and over ‘Byron Pass’ which is glacier covered.

This is taken from SleepMonsters excellent coverage of the race. This is probably the best place to keep up to date with the goings on.

shotgunmcos

272km of a bike, on a MOUNTAIN BIKE into a HEADWIND!!

Warren Bates is quoted to have said it may take longer than his Primal Quest record in the saddle. That was 27 hours :eek: Not a tree in sight. No shelter from that wind. How many teams will lose the will to live?

Just 23km paddling in the whole race?! This is a serious leg muncher of a course.

race maps if anyone insterested

career move

272k ... ouch! There'll be plenty of sore bottoms after that :eek:

I've just read the reports on sleep monsters and Yogaslackers definitely putting it up to the others. Nick Gracie (Godzone) has been on the last 5 winning teams and they seem to be going at a more sensible pace back in 3rd

peter kern

shotgunmcos wrote: »

272km of a bike, on a MOUNTAIN BIKE into a HEADWIND!!

Warren Bates is quoted to have said it may take longer than his Primal Quest record in the saddle. That was 27 hours :eek: Not a tree in sight. No shelter from that wind. How many teams will lose the will to live?

Just 23km paddling in the whole race?! This is a serious leg muncher of a course.

race maps if anyone insterested

wow what an amazing location

Neady83

Three members of GODZone have been struck by the vomiting bug and they're still soldiering on. I know what 'd be doing, curling up into a ball and telling the others to bugger off.

Team PRS Fit withdrew on the Stage 2 MTB section due to a member with severe dehydration and TBC withdrew after their captain fell from her bike and suffered an elbow injury.

Yogaslackers and East Wind are in the lead on the trek but nobody knows their positions.

Enduro

peter kern wrote: »

wow what an amazing location

It's a definite advantage of proper adventure races. You get to go to amazing rarely visited parts of the world, and gain experiences that will be lifetime memories!

Enduro

Neady83 wrote: »

Three members of GODZone have been struck by the vomiting bug and they're still soldiering on. I know what 'd be doing, curling up into a ball and telling the others to bugger off.

Team PRS Fit withdrew on the Stage 2 MTB section due to a member with severe dehydration and TBC withdrew after their captain fell from her bike and suffered an elbow injury.

Yogaslackers and East Wind are in the lead on the trek but nobody knows their positions.

The last time I raced head to head against East Wind they were very strong on foot, but relatively weak on bikes.

Hope Godzone manage to stay in race mode. A sound bunch.

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

wow what an amazing location

Enduro wrote: »

It's a definite advantage of proper adventure races. You get to go to amazing rarely visited parts of the world, and gain experiences that will be lifetime memories!

I'm reminded of this saying about golf;

"It's a good walk spoiled."

sconhome

zico10 wrote: »

I'm reminded of this saying about golf;

"It's a good walk spoiled."

In my limited experience this adage definitely does not apply to adventure racing.

It is a good walk / bike / kayak/ climb / trek enhanced by an emotional experience.

shotgunmcos

zico10 wrote: »

I'm reminded of this saying about golf;

"It's a good walk spoiled."

You snapped my very decision to opt for AR over Tri and Kona.

Tri - beautiful locations 'enjoyed' behind a dark visor, in a trancelike straight stare, tucked position and 40kmh. Most of the 6-18hrs is spent looking at the feet/arse in front of you or the numbers on your wrist. I enjoyed it while I did it!

AR brings you out to the very heart of those beautiful locations and immerses you in them.

Enduro

zico10 wrote: »

I'm reminded of this saying about golf;

"It's a good walk spoiled."

You should give it a go before to knock it Zico. (Golf was once my main sport, so when I use the expression, I can at least back it up with experience).

career move

From sleepmonsters: "According to the race director the 272 km bike stage has served as a filter, weeding out the weaker teams before the race carries on into more difficult terrain."

Bit harsh for teams who's race is over after the second section! Every team invests a lot of time and money training and racing so I don't agree with race stages that are so difficult that only a handful of teams can complete them.

I like this from the same article

"Patagonia 4 Barth had been without a hot meal for the last two days and Claire Grossoeuvre said that bag 0 had not been waiting for them. The bike section had been difficult for Claire as well, due to knee problems. Laying on the massage table, tears spontaneously trickled down her face as she described thinking of her two boys when the pain became too intense. Frederic twisted her limbs around like a pretzel in an attempt to release some of the blockage. Claire said that at one point during the section she was near pulling out of the race but the fact that the team is running for a young boy with Barth Syndrome kept her going.

Describing the section her husband Wilfried said, “Usually when you’re doing long stretches like that you’re in a car. It was like the kind of road you would avoid in Mongolia or some other wild place. At least there were no sandstorms here.” He went on to say that the morale and cohesion in the team was excellent. When asked what their strategy was, he replied, “Our strategy is to listen to Claire.”

Enduro

career move wrote: »

From sleepmonsters: "According to the race director the 272 km bike stage has served as a filter, weeding out the weaker teams before the race carries on into more difficult terrain."

Bit harsh for teams who's race is over after the second section! Every team invests a lot of time and money training and racing so I don't agree with race stages that are so difficult that only a handful of teams can complete them.

Whilst I agree with your general point 100%, this race's reputation precedes it. Any team entering should know what's coming. In my case it's enough to put me off doing it (It exceeds tht suffering/reward ratio that I'm willing to invest that much holiday time, money and race effort into).

Mark Latanzi (Racing with Odyssey) was telling me a story from a previous race where his team got to within 1km of the finish, but then got stuck (cliffed out) for 24 hours+, and then had to call for rescue and DNF :eek:

Neady83

My heart goes out to The Green Sentinels, it sounds like they put in a lot of training, prep. work and got great advice but couldn't finish the MTB section. That said, they seem to be content with giving it a good shot and are going to enjoy the rest of the trip.

What are your thoughts on YogaClackers maybe going out too fast? In one of the reports, Jason Magness said that he felt that they made some poor decisions and pushed too hard early in the race. Will it come back to bite them? They did a hell of a job on the bike section.

Thoughts on GODZone catching up if the fourth member of their team doesn't fall ill?

Enduro

Neady83 wrote: »

What are your thoughts on YogaClackers maybe going out too fast? In one of the reports, Jason Magness said that he felt that they made some poor decisions and pushed too hard early in the race. Will it come back to bite them? They did a hell of a job on the bike section.

Thoughts on GODZone catching up if the fourth member of their team doesn't fall ill?

It's a long way to go in the race so anything can happen. Trekking is generally the discipline that sorts out the team orders, so I'd say the current stage will be key. Godzone are the smartest team in the world, IMHO. I'd still have them as favourites, despite their issues.

If Jason thinks Yogaslakers went too fast too soon then they might have problems later alright. But then everyone will be feeling crap later in the race. The most surprising thing I read about Jason is that he needs a hip replacement. Yogaslackers are big into their Yoga, and Jason had eye-watering levels of flexibility.

Neady83

Yogaslackers came into CP7 8 hours after East Wind and Jason needs that hip replacement now by the sound of it. They're still pushing on with their 7 good hips though :eek: Respect

Enduro

Enduro wrote: »

It's a long way to go in the race so anything can happen. Trekking is generally the discipline that sorts out the team orders, so I'd say the current stage will be key. Godzone are the smartest team in the world, IMHO. I'd still have them as favourites, despite their issues.

Looking good now!

Neady83

Snap, I was just thinking how right you were and how smart Godzone have raced. I'd be delighted to see them on the podium.

This is the most difficult race to follow, I feel like it's been going on forever.

sconhome

Neady83 wrote: »

Yogaslackers came into CP7 8 hours after East Wind and Jason needs that hip replacement now by the sound of it. They're still pushing on with their 7 good hips though :eek: Respect

...reminds me of someone not too far from me....

Neady83

There's only 4 teams left heading into the final 41km trek :eek:

Enduro

That's some rate of attrition alright, to say the least. Unreal stuff from East Wind. Hardcore!

Neady83

Enduro wrote: »

That's some rate of attrition alright, to say the least. Unreal stuff from East Wind. Hardcore!

I winced when I read about the guy in the neck brace kayaking, mother of god.

Neady83

And GODZone take the win with East Wind coming second, what a race and what a performance from GODZone. Can't wait to read some race reports.

peter kern

shotgunmcos wrote: »

You snapped my very decision to opt for AR over Tri and Kona.

Tri - beautiful locations 'enjoyed' behind a dark visor, in a trancelike straight stare, tucked position and 40kmh. Most of the 6-18hrs is spent looking at the feet/arse in front of you or the numbers on your wrist. I enjoyed it while I did it!

AR brings you out to the very heart of those beautiful locations and immerses you in them.

even better not to race and take it really in ...

Enduro

peter kern wrote: »

even better not to race and take it really in ...

Quite often the race directors will be able to get permission to access areas which might not otherwise be possible, so you get to do one-off things that wouldn't otherwise be possible.

For example: this tyrolean traverse was a one off for Primal Quest Utah. You simply wouldn't get permission from the national parks to set this up for yourself outside the context of a major race :



I've done plenty of alipine climbing before I adventure raced, so would generally find most ropes sections a bit "meah", but that particular set-up was mind-blowingly awesome.

Similarly you often get access to moutainbike or kayak in areas it would otherwise be restricted in.

It would generally cost considerbly more money to set up an adventure holiday to do the same thing outside of a race context, if it was even possible.

Neady83

Wow, that is incredible, what an opportunity

woody1

programme about patagonia 2011 i think on BIKE channel on sky , recorded it and only watched the first 15 mins so far but it looks good, im sure itl be repeated that channel repeats a lot..programme called the last wild race

peter kern

good post
not disagreeing , as we are all different (thanksfully)
from my point of view id rather watch that space off your pic for longer from a less expensive place than race when i would focued on being as fast as i can be and not on taking in beauty
if you enter a race to watch landscape ( ie you are not racing ) than i totally agree with your points made.
but racing and admiring landscape dosnt really work (as the focus is very different for each aspect) its like people chatting during a marathon which of course many do... and its great if people participate

anyway just my 2 cents and iam sure there is many correct answers to this. and at differetn times different ways of seeing something is also great.

Enduro wrote: »

Quite often the race directors will be able to get permission to access areas which might not otherwise be possible, so you get to do one-off things that wouldn't otherwise be possible.

For example: this tyrolean traverse was a one off for Primal Quest Utah. You simply wouldn't get permission from the national parks to set this up for yourself outside the context of a major race :



I've done plenty of alipine climbing before I adventure raced, so would generally find most ropes sections a bit "meah", but that particular set-up was mind-blowingly awesome.

Similarly you often get access to moutainbike or kayak in areas it would otherwise be restricted in.

It would generally cost considerbly more money to set up an adventure holiday to do the same thing outside of a race context, if it was even possible.

Enduro

peter kern wrote: »

good post
not disagreeing , as we are all different (thanksfully)
from my point of view id rather watch that space off your pic for longer from a less expensive place than race when i would focued on being as fast as i can be and not on taking in beauty
if you enter a race to watch landscape ( ie you are not racing ) than i totally agree with your points made.
but racing and admiring landscape dosnt really work (as the focus is very different for each aspect) its like people chatting during a marathon which of course many do... and its great if people participate

anyway just my 2 cents and iam sure there is many correct answers to this. and at differetn times different ways of seeing something is also great.

I totally understand where you're coming from (and would agree that there is a huge truth in what you're saying for shorter races). But it doesn't really apply to races of this length. It's not like triathlon where you're sprinting around with your head down in aero position. Quite the opposite, especially for the navigator(s) on the team who will very much be looking around at the landscape! It's nearly impossible not to!

dapope

peter kern wrote: »

good post
not disagreeing , as we are all different (thanksfully)
from my point of view id rather watch that space off your pic for longer from a less expensive place than race when i would focued on being as fast as i can be and not on taking in beauty
if you enter a race to watch landscape ( ie you are not racing ) than i totally agree with your points made.
but racing and admiring landscape dosnt really work (as the focus is very different for each aspect) its like people chatting during a marathon which of course many do... and its great if people participate

anyway just my 2 cents and iam sure there is many correct answers to this. and at differetn times different ways of seeing something is also great.

If you can race as appose to "not racing" for 5-6 days maintaining the type "focus" you outline then good luck to you and your team.

My experience of Adventure Racing has taught me different. Embracing your surroundings and maintaining banter amongst teammates is vital to any winning team. Over the course of 5-6 days this becomes more and more important. Sharing a joke, a sunset, a bar of chocolate are no different to the tricks people play to distract themselves from the pain in shorter events. The tricks we play in AR do tend to be a little less conventional.

peter kern

dapope wrote: »

If you can race as appose to "not racing" for 5-6 days maintaining the type "focus" you outline then good luck to you and your team.

My experience of Adventure Racing has taught me different. Embracing your surroundings and maintaining banter amongst teammates is vital to any winning team. Over the course of 5-6 days this becomes more and more important. Sharing a joke, a sunset, a bar of chocolate are no different to the tricks people play to distract themselves from the pain in shorter events. The tricks we play in AR do tend to be a little less conventional.

80 % of the people dont even race a sprint race lol