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From Wet Water to Wet Land

Susan McKenzie / 19.09.2003

The remnants of Hurricane Isabel finally reached Canada’s Near North shortly after noon on Friday. After teasing racers all morning with downpours followed by “almost-could be -maybe it might clear skies,� the rain came down in cold, hard torrents. The wind was cold and very brisk.

The first team to finish the paddling section was Quebec’s Simon River Sports, who finished the section more than ninety minutes ahead of the estimates. They arrived cold and hungry and absolutely soaking wet, and were gratified to find their support crew had hot soup and a dry shelter waiting for them.

“That last section of paddling against the wind was really tough,� said Alain Beaudry between mouthfuls of soup. “We were working very hard.�
Still, the bad weather has made the quartet’s goal for Saturday all the more appealing.

“We want to sleep in a bed tomorrow night,� says Benoit Gauthier of Ste Adele, Quebec. “Yup, we have the room reservation, so we want to be finished by then,� agrees Beaudry. “We don’t plan on sleeping at all during this race, so we will sleep well Saturday night when it is over.�

Moments after Simon River Sports, Taiga and Gearsracing.com paddle up the beach into the transition area, together.

“We’ve been paddling side by side most of the way,� says Taiga’s Wendy Powell. “It’s fun, because we know them, so we can chat along the way, even though we’re racing against them.�

Racing against the elements, too. “The wind really picked up just after the dam portage,� says Taiga’s Anton Stranc as Jodi Bigelow huddles under a blanket and Wendy Powell attempts to slip on a sports bra without removing her warm outer layers. “It was really cold, too.�

None of the top teams stayed long at the first Transition Area. It was a fast transition, time only for a bit of hot food, a change of dry clothing (though it won’t stay dry for long) and some new maps for the first mountain bike leg, a ninety kilometre bike under power lines and along logging roads and ATV trails.

By five-thirty in the afternoon, all the teams were off the water and only a few remained in the TA. “We’re doing okay,� says HUGS Gary Cambridge. “We thought we’d get here at six. Instead, we got here at four. So we’re doing okay, but we won’t sleep now until the race is over probably.�

The top teams could arrive at the finish as early as nine or ten pm Saturday evening. The back teams have until noon Sunday to complete the course.

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