Expedition Idaho
Thule Adventure Team Keep Up the Pace
Rob Howard / 16.08.2011
From the start team Thule Adventure Team have pushed ahead at a rapid pace, chased by Team Seagate. Thule Adventure pulled out a 50 minute hour lead by the first TA where a big rappel was moved due to some loose rock. The teams were held, then Thule were released with their 50 minute lead intact, but it looks the later teams were not held, so the two leading teams may be further ahead than appears on the race tracking maps – and they are already a long way ahead!
By the time they reached TA2they were about 3 hours up on projected times, but without having slept when they set off on section 3 of the course, named ‘Big’ as it covers 126 miles of tough mountain biking to reach the first paddling stage. Seagate were maintaining their chase despite a couple of navigational errors which have cost them. Thule were planning on 20 hours in the saddle (maximum), but 38 hours into the race sleep strategy is going to come into play now. Team Bones are chasing in 3rd with Light in Motion and Gear Junkie/Yogaslackers changing places.
Race Director Dave Allard commented on his blog; “The racers are doing a wonderful job of navigating using the crystal clear “Mytopo� maps, who are one of the race sponsors. As a racer, it is hard to express what a blessing it is to have maps you can read, as detail is pretty darned important on a race like this.
Other than a few scattered cat naps, the Yogaslackers are the only team to have banked any significant sleep, getting in a solid two hours last night part way into the trek. Thule is still setting a blazing pace, despite showing signs of fatigue. Captain Jacky Boisset, one of the world’s top racers is also having some digestive issues, though you’d never know it to watch him. The teams are going to have to get at least a couple of hours pretty soon, as Segment 3 – “Big� – is a 126 mile super challenging bike through Montana and Idaho, with nearly 30,000 vertical feet of gain.
After that, they will be in the boats for the first time, as they set sail on beautiful Lake Pend Oreille, just east of Sandpoint for a 25 mile canoe, with a climb, “O� course and rappel in the middle.
There is live coverage including SPOT tracking on <a href="#" onClick="javascript:newsitewindow('http://www.expeditionidahorace.com/')" class="main">http://www.expeditionidahorace.com/</a>, though the leaderboard has been dropped, presumably because timing data is not coming back off the course. There is also a video channel at <a href="#" onClick="javascript:newsitewindow('http://www.youtube.com/user/expeditionidaho')" class="main">http://www.youtube.com/user/expeditionidaho</a> and this has postings from early in the race.
SleepMonsters
