E-dog & the JJ's vs. Expedition Africa

mmmm eating tomato paste from the tube and being woken up by Keith in your bivvy bag after 3 hours sleep...
smells like something is brewing...

stay tuned.

The Wrap Up 🌯

Thank you for all the support and following along!! (Thanks also to Brad for the live updates throughout the race) Overall a solid performance from the team, finishing 5th in premier mixed and 12th overall out of 44 teams.

We had hoped for a backyard adventure and boy did we get it. Utilising our favourite reflective exercise, here is the highlights reel from the race.

Rock 🪨, Stick 🌳, leaf 🍁.
Order: Charlie, Rozie, Lucy, EDog

What rocked for you?
- matching fishing shirts
- black mountain sunset rogaine (a classic)
- vegemite sandwiches and very tidy navigation
- an epic moon rising at 2am

What will stick with you?
- new people keeps old places exciting
- heat management is key and learning efficient transitions
- reflecting on how to contribute to the team more
- maximising your minimum speed & heat management strategies 🤝

What are you leaving behind?
- aggressive Canberra drivers and jumpy bike path roos
- kayak portages
- yogurt based baby food on a 34 degree day...
- a liquid diet

love from EDog and the JJs ❣️

Backtracking slightly here - sorry still playing catch-up

Firstly I’d like to highlight leg 4 (commute part 1) through the arboretum. Some real eyes up stuff here from the team, notice they deviated from the expected path which is all single track and opted for the route that may look slightly longer but is firetrail all the way. There’s also a bit of local knowledge here as the black line marks the boundary of the arboretum, but the pine forest to the SW is still public land. Too often racers get sucked into single track on the bike because it may look more direct but in reality - it’s always slower. Best to keep the sending and the racing separate.

Secondly, Leg 5, the sole kayak of the race. Like the mount Ainslie rogaine, teams only need to collect 5 of 7 controls but each additional control they get comes with a 1 hour time bonus. E dog opted for just the one extra control and drop control Q. Smart move given it’s so far out of the way and would likely take an hour there and back anyway. That or Charlie was really over the kayak by that point.

As expected the Nav to this point has been flawless as they’ve flown through the course and are currently coming to the end of Leg 7! Leg 8 is a loop rogaine around the Mt Ainslie starting at Philip gate. For those less familiar, Ainslie can be a bit of maze of trails, but is also one of the best places for trail running within the Canberra metro area. They must collect 4 of 6 CPs but they can opt to get the extra two for a 2 hour time bonus. Given the whole loop is likely only going to take them two hours, collecting the last two CPs would gain them a lot of time - plus keep them out there just a little longer. Leg 9 should also be pretty straight forward as it’s the standard commute home from Russell to Westin creek. I’m predicting a finish time around 1-1:30am.

And they’re off!!

With so much familiarity on this course and some very fast legs to start with, they’ve already cleared the first short trek and part way through the second leg through mountain bike trails in the north of the park. Having just climbing the awful fire rain up to the top western wedge tail, they’ll be rolling down to the first TA near the stromlo observatory. From there they’ll be on foot in some classic rogaining country in the western part of the park. With some very open country, long spots will be the order of the day.

With the Nav being pretty straight forward, the biggest hurdle will be the weather with temperatures hitting 32 degrees today. Teams will have to make sure they keep the fluids up throughout the hottest part of the day as there isn’t much tree coverage from stromlo all the way to black mountain.

We’ll keep the updates coming as we keep watching the dots!

PS post your questions and thoughts on the course, otherwise this is just a sad monologue

Annnd we're back, bby!

Thirteen months on from the World Champs in South Africa, EDog and the JJs have come out of retirement to battle it out in Canberra's Top Dog 24. Returning to God's Country and our humble beginnings of IB training on Canberra's mountains, this race promises to be both glorious and extremely wholesome (and also fkn hot 🥵).

To balance out the retirees and keep our youth branding alive, we have enlisted two new J's to join the JJs alumni network. Lucy and Rozie made their AR debuts at Terra Nova 24 and are keen to learn the 'good vibes only' racing methodology, proven successful by the EDog team.

To follow along, you can track the race here:

https://live.trackmelive.com.au/topdog24

Team 16: EDog and the JJs

The race starts at 11:30am tomorrow (23/11).

LFG!

Terra Nova is on tommorow! - We're not racing but rumour has it the next generation of canberra youth teams/Inward Bound graduates will be out in force.

Check out these young gun teams- #9 Can-Bruh Adven-Chur, #19 Fun in the Long Run, #51 The Lobos, and #44 Southern Sky Racing.

Yewwwwww!

TERRA NOVA 24 LIVE TRACKING SITE IS LIVE!

Check out the line up and follow your favourite team here!

https://live.trackmelive.com.au/terranova24/

THE END.

Part 1/4
Leg 8
Trek 60kms- DNF.
The alarm woke me and almost immediately I knew something was up. I quickly shuffled around to wake the boys and then beelined it to the bathroom where the entire contents of my tummy was emptied in about 10 seconds. I sat down next to the toilet, a bit dumb founded and tried not to panic. By the time I emerged from the bathroom the boys were silently moving about the organised chaos of transitioning. I told them what happened, however I was in the post vomit glow and feeling a lot better. So, I too joined in the chaos of getting myself sorted and made a concerted effort to drink a substantial amount of water and eat some more solids before leaving the transition area. About 30 minutes later as we did our final checks before setting off, all the attempts I had made to replenish my body were emptied into the toilet bowl again. This was not good.

It was dawn and what we learnt from yesterday was we would need to rest through the worst heat of the day. So, it was important to get moving. We made a group decision to leave the TA, and drop the pace, taking as many necessary breaks as required. We’d beaten the short course cut off time by some margin, so even if we were slow - things were still looking positive. But then we started moving.

I was relying on Ferg’s walking poles to keep me propped up and moving forwards. In this race, I had experienced physical pain and muscle soreness like I have never experienced in my life. But this felt different. I was weak. My muscles were barely responding to each reminder I sent to them to keep moving forward. As the slope started to incline my body really started failing me. Walking along the flat had been exhausting enough, but this felt impossible. I started to cry as I finally let the thoughts in about what this might mean for me and our team.

PART 1/3
Leg 7 
225km cycle, 2400m vert  

I think we can all agree that this transition was our worst over the whole race. For casual racers, I think our transitions are actually quite competitive. We seamlessly divide the jobs, move confidently and quietly between the two disciplines. However, after a day of baking in 40 degree heat down the river we bumbled our way through the necessary transition tasks lacking in intentionality and purpose. 

As other AR racers would know, by some trick of magic, 2 hours disappeared in this transition and we were no closer to getting onto our bikes. The biggest task to complete was marking the 13 maps with the required checkpoints (13 maps!!) Finally, just before sunset we climbed back onto the saddle. For 3 of us (excl. Tony of course), we were embarking on the longest bike ride of our lives. And the previous record was set two days earlier on Leg 2, 180kms.

The cycle began with a steep climb out of the transition and into the mountains. We were still dazed by the heat, giggling at each others’ delirium. It was day 5 and our brains had turned into mush - incapable of much more than reading maps, finding checkpoints and eating food. And simply doing these things was increasingly difficult. This was unchartered territory for all of us. 

Beautiful golden light was setting through the valley as we powered up the escapement. By nightfall we had reached the plateau which marked a dramatic drop in temperature and along with it an increasing need to sleep. We searched the maps and found a suitable location several kilometres ahead. From a scorching 40 degree day, the temperature had dropped dramatically and sleeping under the stars was not an option. At last a small sheep shed appeared, already home to 4 other racers. We bunkered down, deeply grateful again for our sleeping pads. Total race time so far: 105 hours, total sleep time: 14 hours (give or take a couple)

Part 1/3
Leg 4/5/6 - 10km trek, 65km kayak, 3km trek.

You wouldn’t believe it, but I am still here committed to telling this story! This week I will post the final 3 parts to the South African adventure. A quick recap of last episode in case you forgot: We arrived to the transition slightly broken after 80kms of trekking over two days. Two days in one adventure race!!

Even with an amazing 4 hour sleep in the designated sleeping chapel at the transition, you can imagine waking up for a 4.30am alarm for yet another 10kms of trekking was slightly demoralising. Yet, as dawn broke on another beautiful day in Africa, we set off and found some positive vibes comparing the freaky dreams we had each had the night before.

As we arrived to the kayaks, the boys set about like clock work dry bagging their gear, strapping down packs and loose items. Edog was more focused on finishing her 3rd and final burger of the morning, and arranging the rest of her snacks in the zippy pocket of her life jacket. In pairs, Ferg & Edog and Tony & Charlie carried the kayaks over to the weir which marked the start of a long journey down an irrigation river that serviced farmland surrounds.

PART 1/4
Hello! Sorry for the radio silence, travelling in Mexico has distracted me but I haven't given up on writing this story and I hope you haven't given up on reading it !

Leg 3, Trek, 80km, vert 3200m
This leg was long. Really long. We had estimated 24-30 hours in our planning. 42 hours later we arrived at T3. This was its own AR in itself and I think it all aged us. I’m not sure we emerged from this still a youth team?!

The transition was at a football oval, and we slept in the grandstands for a solid 4 hours. Edog woke up with a bee sting (or similar?) on her lip, making it look like she had traded sleep for a quick trip to a dodgy salon. Exactly on cue, the rain set in as dawn broke and the team set off. Leg 3, day 3.

The trek began with a 750m climb up through dense rain forest-type vegetation. The switch back path was already a small stream, with the footholds slipping away on each step. At the top of the climb, the landscape opened up to exposed farmland. The wind howled and our layers were soaking through quickly. With plenty of teams around us, we pushed on to minimise any possible delays at the top of the abseil.

Leg 2, 180km cycle, 2400m vert

Part 1 (of 4)
We left TA 1 at dawn on day 2. Excited, nervous, hopeful. The early morning hours cruised by as we navigated through the farmland surrounding Addo Elephant Park. This was our first experience of rural South Africa; the friendly farmers, the communities and the hardships that we would see throughout the race. The heavily corrugated roads made progress slow (Heidis words ringing true again). We stopped occasionally to rest the wrists, however the terrifying sounds of baboons on hilltops usually got us moving again pretty quickly!

Part 2
By mid morning we had reached the foothills of the Addo mountain pass on R335, an old regional road which connected Gqeberha to Jo’burg. On the climb toward the historic mountain village of Zuurberg we were joined by many teams. We were thankful for the company (and the tow). Even more thankful for the news that after the pass there was a hotel that would be serving hot breakfast. At the hotel, we pushed the boundaries of socially acceptable servings of “seconds”. Bellies full, feet rested, and smiles on we continued the climb along the ridge line. The climbs were tough - the roads rocky, rutted and rubble. We climbed in granny gear into a strange thick mist on the final accent. The wind was howling which was cold when exposed but immediately warm and humid when protected.