Subaru Primal Quest
Testing Skill and Nerve
Matt / 19.09.2004
Rosario Resort, Orcas Island, Washington
It’s our 3rd morning at what is the Subaru Primal Quest (SPQ) 2004 Headquarters. The beautiful Rosario Resort, located on the banks of Puget Sound has been the headquarters for some of adventure racing’s biggest names and most accomplished teams over the last couple of days. We landed here on Thursday morning after taking an hour-long early morning ferry ride from the mainland.
Thus far we have spent most of our time in preparation for today’s prologue which will decide in what order the teams begin the race at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow (Sunday) morning.
There will be only an 18-minute difference between when the first and last teams will begin the race, depending on how they place in the prologue. Team Gerber seems to have taken this into account in their pre-prologue planning and on more than one occasion it has been clearly communicated between team members that the goal here is;
1. Not “dump� on the paddle section which begins the prologue
2. Not take a “header� on the mountain biking leg of the course.
The terminology expressed by racers may be new to some, including myself, but basically “to dump� would mean to flip over in the sea kayak, and to take a “header� would mean to have an extreme wreck on the biking leg. To dump in this water is treacherous. It is estimated that at the current temperature warm-blooded folks like us would have just 40 minutes or so to live.
It has been decided, upon consensus (that is the way that decisions are made around here) that Ben and Avril will take on the initial 6.5 mile paddle to start the prologue. Upon completion, they will meet up with Scott and Joe on the beach and together they will race the uphill run for about 3.9 miles that will certainly begin to stagger the pack if the paddle hasn’t already. The third leg will consist of Joe and Scott jumping on their bikes for a 10.5-mile ride on what I personally can attest is composed of mostly fast and sloppy single track.
SleepMonsters
