Monday, July 26, 2010

BAR10 Location Announced!!

If you were smart enough to google Tom Dooley and learn where he was from, you probably guessed that we've been looking at the W. Kerr Scott Reservoir and associated trail systems to be part of the BAR10 event. If not, then I just told you where it was. :)

More specifically, the Start/Finish location for BAR10 will be at the Dark Mountain Trailhead parking field at the W. Kerr Scott Dam, just west of Wilkesboro, NC. Click this link to see a Google map centered on this location.

We're finalizing plans to start the 24 hour race between 11am and noon on Saturday Sep18th. That should give many racers the chance to drive in that morning. For those coming from further away, there are campgrounds nearby, as well as hotels in Wilkesboro. There will not be any camping provided on Friday night. The Start/Finish location is not a campground, but there is potable water there and we'll bring in some portajohns. Racers will only spend a little bit of time there. We have lots of course planned for you, and that's where you'll spend most of your time!

We'll get more details posted soon for the gear list, rules, and schedule, but expect the normal things for a Bushwhack Adventures race - nothing unusual should end up on these.

No bike drops or boat drops will be required. No support team is needed. You will need to bring your own boats (canoe or kayak). Come to the Start/Finish with your teammates, gear, perseverance, stamina, and your readiness for another Bushwhack Adventure!

Registration is now open!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

ISO Flag Mgmt Team

Bushwhack Adventures is looking for a team of adventure racers to assist with hanging and retrieving CP flags for the BAR10. This "team" should consist of at least two people, but can have more. In return, the team members will each earn 24 hours of race credit towards future Bushwhack Adventures races.

Like any racing team, there should be at least one capable navigator on the team. Any locations for flags to be hung will be pre-marked for precision. The team can expect to be out on the course during the race, even during the night. As officially-racing teams exit from a section of the course, this flag mgmt team can retrieve the flags from that section. Not all sections will be available to be retrieved before the 24 hour race is over, but every little bit helps. The remaining flags will need to be retrieved after the race ends. The "team" may also get to man a TA for a while in order to be in position to clean up a section as soon as it's free of racers.

A different set of "rules" will apply for this team. Use of vehicles, GPS, and splitting up will be permitted. The team members will also receive BAR10 pint glasses and race hats. Others may also join in after the race to help retrieve flags. There will be no penalties or a cutoff time, but we're hoping to have all flags retrieved by the end of the day on Sunday, Sep 19th.

If you're interested, please contact Don via
 Info at GoBushwhack dot com

Monday, July 19, 2010

Clues in a BAR Song

Lyrics adapted for the BAR10 -

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you’re bound to die

I met BAR on the mountain,
where I took my bike
Met BAR on the mountain,
nearly took my life

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you’re bound to die

This time tomorrow,
reckon where I’ll be
Hadn’t-a been for a u-turn,
I’d-a been in Tennessee

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you’re bound to die

This time tomorrow,
reckon where I’ll be
Down in some lonesome valley
hangin’ from a white oak tree

Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you’re bound to die


We'll reveal the race Start/Finish location on Monday 7/26 at 10pm. Have you figured it out yet? We'll also open registration at that time.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

A Climb for You

With the Tour De France coverage catching our attention lately, the concept of categorizing climbs came up in race director conversation. Patrick ran some numbers and thinks we have a Category 1 climb on the BAR10 course, just for you! We'll put on a race someday in a locale with only one contour line, but not this time. I'll leave it up to you as to whether you want to look up the definition of a Category 1 climb, or whether you'll just deal with it when it's looking down it's nose at you.

:)

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Field notes

Greetings adventure racers!

Just wanted to tease you with a few thoughts after spending some time on the course last weekend. Those 30 miles of singletrack include some of the sweetest trail I've ever ridden! Sure, "sweet" is a very subjective adjective, but I have no doubt that you'll agree they are FUN! I'm torn between wanting you to ride it all vs letting you put your bushwhack nav skills to the test. You will also be torn between these options once you see it. Just to be fair, not all 30 miles are completely sweet, but it's not an exaggeration to say that at least 2/3's of it is! We're even looking at whether to have this section fall during the day or night, just to increase your ability to enjoy it more.

Last year's BAR suffered from a lack of water for part of the paddling. That was in contrast to last year's IPAR, which had a little more water than expected (understatement?). We think we've got a solution this time that will find the balance at Goldilocks' "just right" level.

Ok, so those hints account for about 50 miles of the 24 hour course. If our target is about 110 miles for the full course, where do the other 60+ miles come in? Trekking will certainly be in there. I'm not sure if I should count the miles that you'll be pushing your bikes as "trekking" or "biking". That could change the numbers a bit. I will tell you that the crippling muscle cramps I experienced last weekend ended up with me dropping the bike just to get off of it. Hopefully you'll come prepared with lots more training under your belt and we'll have much cooler temp's than upper 90's!!

More details to come soon!!

Don