Musing and Errata on the world of Adventure Racing from the Yak
presented by MPGear.com

We've just rolled out a new Syndication page to make it easier than ever for you to grab our content. We've got links to all the major homepage/newsreader solutions as well as the raw Feedburner powered RSS/XML for the AR Newswire, Yak Blog, and Rabbit Cage. There's also a link to our FeedRoll page where you can customize the AR Newswire and add it to your site in under five minutes. Really, it takes less than five minutes. I had Mrs. Yak time me.

If you've been sitting on the fence time is running out. You've got until the end of the day tomorrow to register for what is sure to be one of the best races of the year. Building on past success Infiterra Sports has pulled out all the stops make this year's running of the Michigan Coast to Coast bigger and better than ever. Among the changes in 2006 are online coverage via Checkpoint Tracker, more prize money and a higher level of competition.

Minnesota Wolf Adventure Racing has announced a new parternship with Midwest Mountaineering. The outfitter will be providing boats and paddles for MN Wolf's upcoming Spring Boot Camp. This is exactly the kind of relationship we like to see. It's not just a logo on a bib. The promoter, the racers, and the sponsor benefit. It's win-win-win.

No not the book. I mean the dirty, savage adventure racers that visit checkpointzero.com every day. Ever wonder where they live? I do. Well thanks to the magic of the Google Maps API and some other guy that took the time build GVisit.com you can now see for yourself.

The map shows a sample of 100 visitors from the prior day. The data is updated each night at midnight. I'm working on adding a persistant link to the site...I just need to find the space. I smell a re-design in the near future.

Thanks to the generous support of MPGear.com and GoLite, team Checkpoint Zero racers, support staff and reporters are now sporting the new Xirtam jacket. The fact that the colors are DEAD match with our team colors is purely a coincidence...though I suspect divine intervention or at least good Karma may have been a factor.



This bad boy is waterproof, windproof and breatheable. Those aren't just adjectives. That combination is the coup de grace in that it eliminates the need to carry both a storm shell and lightweight soft shell.

We haven't raced in them yet, but early shower tests are encouraging. Look for an in depth review in the near future. The team and reporter Mike Bitton will be wearing them in Missouri next month at the Mighty MO Expedition Race and I'll be putting mine through the gauntlet at Primal Quest in June.

At the North Georgia Adventure Race this past March, Checkpoint Zero team captain Jon Barker introduced the latest addition to his family. Monty is a charming little puppy who was instantly dubbed mascot. At this past weekend's Blue Ridge Adventure Race Monty made his second appearence in said role, but this time he was sporting his own official team threads:

Many of you have noticed that our events calendar...sucks. I am aware. It's been on the list of things to fix/upgrade/rebuild for...a long time. I got a good start on it today. I expect to have the submission form fixed (and improved), the missing promoters added to the database, and a slew of erroneous data scrubbed by tomorrow.

All I can say is mea maxima culpa :-)

So I just announced my first race. By that I mean the first race to be produced by Checkpoint Zero, LLC. It will take place March 23rd-25th in Helen Georgia. Event management and promotion is a natural next step in the life of this little hobby turned business. I am exceedingly fortunate to have recruited the support and wisdom of Tony Berwald. He is The Man behind the North Georgia Adventure Race and owner of Raceday, Inc. Bottom line is that without his consultations from this day forth I would not be doing this. I'm excited. I'm nervous. For more see The Race page.