Salomon Adventure Challenge

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Esprit Rafting SAC Race Results

Pete Dobos / 20.07.2006

Saturday July 15th dawned hot and humid at the Esprit Rafting main lodge on
the Ottawa River. The weather guessing people were claiming that it would be
30 degrees with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. So of course we
got a brief but torrential downpour exactly at 0830, which moved the race
briefing indoors. It wasn\'t quite enough rain to cool the temperatures, but
would guarantee near 100% humidity for the race start and initial mountain
bike leg.

At 10:00am Geoff Langford counted down the start and then had to scamper for
his life as the pack took off like a bunch sprint in the Tour de France.
Andrew Cameron of Adidas Canada seemed determined to draft the pace vehicle
the entire way, only letting up a bit when he realised that he had gapped the
entire field by 100 metres. Maybe he was just looking for some face-time from
the borderline insane videographer hanging from a rope out the back of the
van.

The race settled down on the road ride leading to the ATV trail, with all the
usual suspects hammering in front: Simon River Sports, Adidas Canada,
Hunger/Dead Reckoning, Beowulf XXY, and the Adidas Divas. Added to this mix
were some newer teams that were also showing big engines such as Xplore-
Mountain Hardware, Muskoka Madmen, Archipela, and Sports Performance Centres.
These were the first teams into CP1 which was located at a spectacular scenic
lookout after lots and lots of steep \"wait until we get our hands on the !@#%*
course designer\" climbing.

SRS had a narrow lead at this point, but several teams were right on their
heels so the pace at the front was pretty much pedal-to-the-metal. It is
doubtful that any of the lead teams even noticed the fantastic vistas which
were the highlight of CP1. Further back in the pack, however, several teams
stopped to soak in the view and even snap some pictures.
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