Sea 2 Summit 1 and 2 day race: Mont-Ste. Marie, Quebec
F.B. live on the ground - end of Day 1
F.B. / 27.08.2005
F.B. just finished going through the race briefing. Some good competition is there like Bob Miller and some veteran Raid the North racers.
F.B. and his \"plug\" of a boat are getting lots of laughs. F.B. thinks the Saturday paddling will go better because there\'s \"lots of portaging.\" Sunday will suck as it is a longer paddle
6:30 am Saturday:
Race starts at 7:00. Race seems to be setup well. Dean (race director is calm which is a good indication).
Pack was missing with maps and everything. Racoons! After 15 minutes F.B. finally found his pack. Racoons hadn\'t got into the pack but the food pouches were all chewed.
Not from F.B.\'s support crew (his son) \"Dad, you\'re not seriously doing the race with that fat $ss kayak are you?!\"
Saturday August 27th - 6:30
F.B. is through Day 1 and phoned in with his comments.
\"I\'m tired and half cut from the beer! There are still teams on course, but most folks have made it in. It was a long day, I had estimated 6 or 7 hours, but it took just over 9 hours. I estimated I was losing 3 minutes per km in the paddle. I was knackered by the time it came to ride. I even pushed my bike across the finish line and it was a paved road. I think I\'m in about 7th of the solo males right now. Fourth is only about 15 minutes ahead, so it is a tight race.
I made about 15 or 20 minutes of mistakes. One being I missed a portage flag. There were about 8-12 portages in total. I did notice noboby else actually seems to carry a map and compass. The route is well marked. I think this is the 6th or 7th year they\'ve had it in this location.
One of the benefits of returning to the area is the volunteers are the best I\'ve seen. They are very knowledgeable - obviously having helped out before. They know exactly what they\'re doing!
I\'ve tried to keep a low profile, but they do recognize me - \"You\'re not that guy with the f#$#%\'n red boat are you?\"
Bob Miller is currently leading the solo men\'s category having come in at 14:40. Jodie Bigolow is 14 minutes back. Carolyne Vandenbulk (sp?) is leading the solo womens. Milton Basement Racers are the first coed team of 2 in. An all male team - team GTA - is right behind Jodie in time. Bringing it all together, was Team Data Gap, developing a reputation as a very fun bunch of guys, who were the last ones in at 20:05.
Everyone is doing well. No reports of serious injury or lost teams. I\'m kinda hoping somebody pulls out so I can bum a better kayak! Either that or we get hammered with some strong winds from all directions. Today was hot but it\'s starting to cloud over now. I may get my wish.\"
SleepMonsters
