Highlights from the AROC 24 hour – 25/26 March 2006

Heather Logie, Control Freaks

OK, so everyone has their own story to tell about the AROC 24 hour urban challenge 2006. There are undoubtedly a few common themes – “has anyone got a spare tube?”, “watch out for the natives”, “can I borrow your pump?” and “has anyone got a spare bike?”. This race certainly had its fair share of challenges and as a first-time 24-hour racer, I thought it could be fun to try to document a few so I don’t forget it all too soon (although I doubt I will ever forget or visit Queanbeyan again!).
Team Control Freaks had again managed to stick to our motto of never racing with the same team twice – Sam had cunningly roped in Julie, freshly back from XPD in Tasmania and rearing to prove that a women’s team could mix it with the men. We were in for a thrashing!
Saturday 6:10am: Sam and I pulled into Julie’s driveway in the dark and after some kafuffle loading Julie’s bike onto the car and squeezing a third box in, we were off. We were feeling particularly proud of ourselves and well organised on hearing that David’s team still had gear spread all over the living room floor and Grace was still in bed. I got the distinct impression that Julie was rather glad not to be racing with David this time – girls are way easier to keep in line.
The drizzle which started (and turned into solid rain) on the drive out didn’t bode well. None of us had mentally prepared to race in the rain!
There weren’t too many cars yet at Sparrows when we arrived and we quickly unloaded the bikes and traipsed them up the hill. A small panic about a missing light cable got hearts racing but was resolved as the light grew and my brain finally woke up!

7:40am: Team #112 was first to get maps and go through the mandatory gear check – what a surprise! If we could keep this up all day, we’d cruise it in.

8:00am: In a bid to get out of the rain, we headed back to O’Connor to do all of our map mark-up. Julien was very good natured on greeting us at the door still in his pyjamas and making coffee’s while we madly stitched, cut apart and contacted our maps. By 9:40 we were out the door again with boxes and bags packed, maps ready and grins fixed firmly in place.
10:00am: Back at Race HQ the sun had come out and the atmosphere was electric. After some final preparations and a race briefing from Tom, we were onto the buses and on our way.

LEG 1: Run, ride (Sparrows/Kowen/Queanbeyan)
First leg for the day brought with it the first lesson for the day: I can’t navigate in pine forest! Every attempt to run to a bearing resulted in the most appalling zig-zagging between bands of trees and straight into a wall of dense undergrowth. I think Julie was very restrained in her comments as we almost circled Sparrow’s Hill in search of the right gully and CP3. I did take some comfort as we passed a team on a track near CP2 who asked “Is this CP5?” At least we wouldn’t be last on this leg. We popped out at TA1 in a not unrespectable time, scrambled into bike shoes and headed off into the glorious single track of Sparrows.

Now I’m a runner. Julie and Sam are two of the strongest women MTB-riders I’ve come across. I was just a little nervous about this – particularly as we charged off into the pine trees and Julie hollered out “fast team coming through, passing on the right” to the guys riding around us as we left CP7. The pressure was on. I did the only thing I know how to do in such situations – go like buggery and hope to high heaven that speed gets you through, over, around and across anything hairy. My saving grace was that this section was done in daylight – could have been a very different story in the dark. As we careened off through the trees, I was just trying to keep Sam’s tail in sight. The gods must have been in good humour because I came through the other side intact and grinning from ear to ear. I think our timing here must have been pretty lucky as well because once we’d passed a couple of teams between CP7 and 8 we didn’t see another team until we were en route to CP14 and Kowen Forest – made for a very clear run.

The stretch through Kowen was mostly on fire trails picking off the right access roads en route to Sutton Rd. Highlights included tapping into Julie’s local knowledge of a few unmarked shortcuts and losing a men’s team between CP 17 and 18 who chose the more “direct” route and presumably had a ball riding up and down and up and down and up and down all the way to Kowen Rd. The $7 homemade map board was also struggling a little at this stage in the race rattling away along the dirt trails. I had to carefully position my knee under the handle bars and my arms on either side of the board to minimise the shaking and stop the map case from disappearing off under my wheels. At 4 hours into 24, this wasn’t looking good!

From CP18, we were heading into Queanbeyan and TA2 by the River. A small deviation to collect CP19 (due to my rather pathetic street counting resulting in missing the turn off into Proud St) and we were preparing to get into the boats.

LEG 2: Paddle, Ropes, Run (Queanbeyan “discovery”)
Special mention should be made here to Julie’s awesome steering efforts down the river as we ducked in and out of fallen trees in anticipation of the grueling portage section. As three petit girls, the joy of lugging one of those unwieldy yellow boats 800m downstream cannot easily be expressed. Julie was quick to put Sam and I in our place with a reminder that XPD involved a 3km portage of fully loaded 60kg boats! I didn’t help matters much by missing the little path back down along the water. We were past it (about 50m) before I realised that we really didn’t want to be climbing back to street level and we managed to find a hair-raising goats track back down onto the lower path.

From here it was an easy paddle to the kayak drop and we were back on our feet heading for the abseil. The paths here along the creek were really messy and we decided to cross over in hope of clearer travel and an easy crossing back to the west bank just below the cliffs. I think we ended up almost passing CP21 en route to 20 by skirting around the top of a very scrubby gully but the creek was crossable and we made it to the top of the cliffs without too many dramas.

The abseil was definitely a highlight and Sam and I almost managed to lose Julie here by abandoning her at the top of the cliff. Armando was just a little surprised when we hollered up “there were 3 of us”. The run back up the river was pretty trouble-free but scrubby and rough getting from CP21 to 22. We managed to slip by the grumpy local at CP23, cross the river again at CP24 and make our way back upstream to TA3 (Note: CP25 was resting quietly on the bridge when we passed it on the way upstream).

LEG 3: Ride (Queanbeyan – Canberra)
Strategic decision taken here – gave Julie (with the solid MIRY map board) the maps! After refilling water bladders we mounted up and headed back down the river only to discover that within the 3 mins that had elapsed since running up the river, CP25 had gone walkabout (apparently a conscientious local had tidied it away into the nearest rubbish bin). Not to worry, we blazed on to CP26 and 27 shortly thereafter coming across a group of guys sitting beside the road looking rather forlorn. They were kind enough to suggest that we have a look at our tyres which were peppered with the most evil-looking little seedpods I’ve ever come across. Possibly not the best decision here but we decided to ride hell-for-leather and see if we could get through the rest of them before having to stop and assess the damage. This probably filled our tyres with even more of the little nasties but we made it to the graveyard at CP28.

The “graveyard” is I think an appropriate name for the sight that greeted us – about 5 teams spread out on the gravel road with bikes in various stages of dismantling. The atmosphere was surprisingly upbeat given the task that each team now faced – damage control! I think there was some solace in realising that we were all in the same boat.

And so began the joyous task of removing 3-corner jacks from 6 tyres and desperately hoping that our 6 spare tubes were hole-free. I could really have done with a pair of pliers or even tweezers (remember for next time). These little buggers were impossible to get out and we just knew that if we even left 1 small thorn still sticking through the tyre, we’d have to stop again 5 mins down the track to do another puncture repair job. We were thorough! I think we sat on that gravel bank for almost 1 ½ hours de-thorning tyres, tentatively inserting new tubes and pumping them up. It was particularly demoralising to watch team after team come past us carrying their bikes having been warned in time. There was some minor satisfaction in realising that a few passing teams had been so distracted by the carnage that they’d completely forgotten to punch CP28. We did have a nervous episode when we thought it might just be over for us – Sam’s second tyre wasn’t going up. Julie got out the puncture repair kit and we were finally on our way. Having arrived at CP28 at about 6pm, we set off from the same spot at 7:27pm, now in 3rd place in the women’s field. Just before leaving we managed to score an extra couple of tubes from a dial-in delivery which we tucked away just in case.

Unfortunately, I think this delay really broke our momentum a bit because Julie started heading for CP30 (hadn’t gotten 29 yet which we had to double back for). It did give us a forced rest though so it’s hard to know what overall impact it had on our potential performance had we floated over the beasties unscathed. We passed Fugahwe 5 mins along the track pushing their bikes and offered our spare tubes. They took one but it sounds as though they had some ongoing struggles throughout the race which ultimately ended for them at TA5.

So, we were now in dark and heading into southern Canberra along the railway. I swear that I must have taken some unbelievably odd routes along tracks and across banks to avoid any patch of grass at this stage – I wasn’t going to be bitten again!
We caught a couple of teams along the railway and as we came through the underpass at CP31 into Canberra. Julie’s navigation through the streets was great and we were back in front in the women’s field again by the time we got to the party. Thanks heaps to our hosts for the chocolate cake, cordial and Easter eggs (which I completely forgot to eat and went through the washing machine on Sunday – foil-removal just seemed too hard).

The rest of the ride through Isaacs, Farrer, O’Malley and into the back of Red Hill was fairly uneventful and we were over the bridge and pulling into Debacle at about 10:45pm. Despite my protests about how much I would struggle to eat pizza in the middle of a race, it went down very easily and much faster than it probably should have assisted by a coke. We were back out the front again, geared up and ready to go 2 mins early and Celia made us wait! Julie was champing at the bit and we were racing off into the night to TA4 at 15:01mins.

LEG 4: Paddle, Run, Paddle (fighting sleepmonsters)
It was at this point in the race that I think fatigue started to set in. First sign was forgetting the glow sticks. We hadn’t quite made it all the way to the boats but we were pretty close! Sam was starting to feel pretty ill at this stage as well so we really shifted down a gear. Sam’s stunning daughter Nikita had ever so kindly managed to share her tummy bug with Mum on Friday and Sam was too good to pull out on us at the last minute. That she made it through this race is truly amazing but I think it was really starting to take its toll as we headed off to the boats.

In the boats the big challenge was to stay awake as we paddled the length of Lake BG. We started by singing songs but quickly realised that we didn’t know the words to any, or the ones we did know the words too were way too fast to match our stroke rate. We settled on “Row, row, row your kayak, gently across the lake” and telling stories. I’m afraid that my six foot track story was pretty uninspired but the kayak drop finally appeared out of the dark and we were off to mix it with the cows.

I was back on navigation in the dark but as we were forced to walk by this stage anyway, it wasn’t hard to stick to compass bearings through the cowpats. We may have done a little unnecessary fence climbing along the way but didn’t have too much trouble picking up all of the controls and wandering back to the kayaks. Cows eyes were particularly fetching by torchlight but it didn’t feel so flash to have your foot slide through a fresh one. My shoes soaked in Napisan for 2 days afterwards.

The kayak back was another battle with sleepmonsters but we tried to keep talking with a game of eye spy. The degree to which fatigue had set in was pretty evident in our selection of spied things – F for flag, T for tower, B for bridge, another B for boat going the other way, D for duck and S for streetlight. We moved on to 20 questions. Our questions were unsurprisingly predictable “Are you male?”, “Are you Australian?”, “Are you an entertainer?” and I’m sure some of the silent gaps between questions were up to 2 minutes long. We had some interesting company on the way up the lake including Bert Newton, Neil Finn, Jon Stanhope, Ned Kelly, Helen Clarke, Ian Thorpe and even an old team-mate, Emma Murray.

The glow sticks along the bank finally reappeared and we were on our way back to TA5 and the Kickbikes. I was particularly happy to hear on leaving the TA that we didn’t have to go to Mooseheads – no-one was putting their hand up to go inside and I was wondering from how far away you could read the Crusty Demons sign. Kickbikes were “interesting”. My quads and gluts protested a little and the balls of my feet didn’t feel too great afterwards but it was a short section and fun change of activity. We played a great game of tag on this leg with a men’s team. They came roaring past us over Commonwealth bridge and we passed them again in front of Reconciliation Pl trying to work out where CP54 was. We then spotted them “under” the bridge at CP55 and we ducked around the back of the Gallery and onto Kings Ave bridge. They came flying past us again on the bike path near the boathouse and took off in front of the restaurant where we took the bike path above. We didn’t see them again on the kickbike leg!

The last 2 controls through Campbell were clicked easily and team Control Freaks wondered into TA6 at 5:30am Sunday, 18 hours after starting and 2 mins after arocshop.com.au had come in from the final Bonus leg – somewhat demoralising!

Bonus LEG
In the wee hours of the morning, we all gathered around the new maps while munching down whatever food was sitting on top of our boxes (a mixture of squashed hot cross buns with twiggy sticks stuffed in the side, a bit of peanut butter and jam in there somewhere, some salty crackers, 3 dried apricots and the remains of an anzac biscuit)… yummo!

Being realistic about how slow we are in the boats and now only able to walk the ‘run’ legs, we made a plan to maximise points on foot and set off on the bikes to Weston Park. This was possibly the first point at which it really dawned on me that we were doing a 24 hour race as we meandered through Yarralumla with the sun coming up. Controls were easy to pick off and it was just a matter of plodding along reminiscing about cross country running races and digging in bags for sunscreen as the morning brightened. There were a few teams out on this section of the course trying to bolster each other along and keep the momentum going through the witching hour.
Back on the bikes and we were off to Black Mountain.

Coming into the bike drop, we had just under 3 hours to go. Halloumi were just pulling out and looked bright and chirpy as ever. They were doing the reverse to us I think, heading off to Yarralumla bay. Having so far managed to avoid feeling very sleepy at all, this is the point at which I started drooping and my eyes were feeling really heavy. Julie steeped up to navigate this leg through Black Mountain and spiked every control – very impressive! She also remembered to transfer CP81 onto the orienteering map so we could collect this one on our way through. I was ever so happy to have a hardened multi-day racer in our midst who was still thinking clearly 21 hours in. I still had the legs so was relegated to CP puncher up and down the rocky gullies of BM. Was impressed when we finished this leg in 1:26.

With just over an hour to spare we figured it couldn’t be too hard to pick up a few of the bike controls throughout north Canberra. Sam found her second wind here and pushed us on to get an extra on top of Gossan Hill before we headed back through O’Connor and into Glebe Park just after 11am.

So, we made it – 7th overall and 1st female team. For Sam and I, it was our first 24 hour and we managed to hold onto Julie (kinda). For Sam, I’m afraid the event may be memorable for other reasons as well (like losing 3kg in < 12 hours). I doubt there are many other chicks out there who could have been dragged around by Julie and I for 24 hours feeling the way that she did so she deserves extra special praise – you are a legend!

I also need to thank Julie for saying “yes” to an invitation to race with someone that she hardly knew, who had never raced anything more than a 12 hour rogaine before, who had to borrow lights and batteries because she only rides in daylight and whose sum total of orienteering/navigating/adventure racing experience can probably be crammed into her little toenail. She didn’t lose her patience and only had to remind me to use my compass once!

So, definitely a “memorable” weekend – I’m never going to Queanbeyan ever, ever again but they do say that it is through adversity that we uncover the substance of others (and ourselves)! I have learnt the value of always carrying enough spare tubes, that I should never leave home without my leatherman and that chocolate Easter eggs are still edible after going through the washing machine.

To Tom and Al, well done bringing everyone home safely. I’m sure everyone will forgive you soon enough for the 3-corner jacks – adventure racers seem to have pretty short memories… otherwise why would they keep coming back for more? Another strategy might be to make us run through a mine-field on Ettalong beach – it’s all relative after all and how can we complain about a few thorns in the 24hour when someone lost a leg in the champs.
To everyone else, see you all out there on the AROC champs course for a last hoorah!

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