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

Always wanted to run the "toughest 2 day race" in America, but had neither the time or money? Well, here's your chance to experience a bit of that infamous race at Odyssey's newest event, The Wild Wonderful 12 Hour Adventure Race.

The WW12 will encompass many highlights from past EFix courses. You will paddle the Lower New River (including the notorious surprise rapid), ride great single track through Babcock State Park (home of the Gristmill Grinder and Babcock Challenge races), trek around historic coal towns like Thurmond (where the longest non-stop poker game was played until 1932) and through the New River Gorge, cradle of the oldest river in the North America. Yes, the race is still un-supported!

Best of all, you can save yourself an additional 10% by entering race code "EFIX Diet" when you register before June 10th! Remember, even though this race is un-supported, you can bring your friends and family members to volunteer and transfer their volunteer credits towards your future racing!

Register at www.oarevents.com.

The Checkpoint Zero 2006 Mobile Tour hits the road at 8am tomorrow morning for the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Yak, wife and baby Jack will be staying in a rented beach house in Corolla on the extreme north end of the Banks past the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.

Actually, the house is 4 miles north of the end of the road. It's accessible by 4WD vehicles only. You literally hit the end of the road and then drive down the beach (big PDF - we're in S21620) at waters edge to get there.

If I can manage to peel myself out of my adirondack chair I might even post something to the family blog. Don't hold your breath. See you in a week :-)

Axis Gear is making a one time order of super light WHITE BIBS in the same fit and material we did for the 2004 PQ bibs. Orders need to be confirmed by MAY 23rd and will be shipped no later than June 14th. Cost is $12 US per bib and there is no tax or duty! Shipping will be added based on your team location and transit time required.

Email norm@axisgear.ca to place your order!

Thanks and good luck at the race :-)

The organisation of The Raid World Cup has made some changes to their rules in order to avoid any interpretation errors. In order to clarify the rule governing compulsory equipment, the organisation has opted for a change of wording in section 8.1.3 of the regulations.

The previous version stating that

"each team member should carry his/her own compulsory equipment in his/her backpack"

has been altered to read

"each team member must carry his/her own compulsory equipment in his/her backpack"

The organisation has also taken steps to reduce the time penalties incurred for what could amount to unfortunate lapses of concentration.

"An invisible Bib Number or an invisible MTB Plate, having more than 100 metres between team members on the race or having more than 5 seconds between team members at the end of a section would all lead to the offending team picking up a time penalty of 15 minutes. This time penalty has now been reduced to 5 minutes for all the aforementioned offences. But lets not be complacent; races have been won and lost for less..."

An updated version of the rules is now online.

If you've stopped by the site more than once or twice in the last few weeks you've probably noticed a few additions.

We're now hosting blogs for two very accomplished teams that we think have great stories to tell. Silly Rabbits and Mighty Dog will be sharing their view of our sport from the inside out as they train, race, and subject one another to incessant tom foolery (ok that's just the Rabbits)...all while striving to excel as adventure racers. Both teams are gearing up for Primal Quest and we're taking you along for the ride.

We also just added a blog for our own little team. Navigator and team pontificator, Paul Cox, will be doing the lion's share of the work to keep this blog active and interesting, but he'll have to share the credit and accolades with his 5 teammates. What can I say. Life's a bitch. Thanks Paul. Your service above and beyond is duly noted.

In the coming weeks we'll be rolling out even more blogs offering an even broader view into the world of adventure racing.

From their most recent press release:

Adventure Racing Television will provide free downloadable video clips from three adventure races between the dates of May 26th through June 4th. These clips will be made available at www.AdventureRacingTV.com in the weeks following the races.

ARTV is currently booking Adventure Race Team Video Profiles. These videos can be anywhere from three to fifteen minutes in length. Teams or Team Sponsors interested in having a DVD of their team in action for promotional use can contact Adventure Racing TV for pricing. These profiles will also be made available for download on the ARTV website.

For more information regarding Adventure Racing TV, go to www.AdventureRacingTV.com. For information regarding projects with ARTV contact Corey Rosen at coreyrosen@adventureracingtv.com. For advertising and sponsorship information contact Remy Gunther-Brown at rgb@adventureracingtv.com.

Looks like they've decided the clips will be free. An earlier release that was subsequently recanted mentioned a $2 fee.

Team Mighty Dog has been a powerhouse in the southeast AR scene for some time. Not only are these guys prolific racers (they show up EVERYWHERE), but they're good too. If they're not on top of the podium they're usually ranked not far down the list of close finishers. In fact two memebers of Team Checkpoint Zero (Paul Cox and Jon Barker) raced with Mighty Dog Ardie Olson in last years Flordia Coast to Coast. They won :-)

2006 marks the teams push beyond the shorter regional races they've dominated into the world of expedition racing. Not inclined towards half measures the team's first major foray will be into the desert to tackle the reigning big dog of adventure racing (pun intended), the upcoming Primal Quest Expedition Race.

I'm thrilled to announce that from today forward team Mighty Dog will be taking up residence here at Checkpointzero.com by way of a new blog called the Dog Pound. They'll be reporting on their preparations for Primal Quest and then during the race their long time support crew turned sponsor, Sherry Olson, will be bringing us a detailed account of their exploits. She'll be providing us with an in-depth, fly-on-the-wall perspective of the whole operation from packing to travelling to racing to their return trip back home and everything in between.

With the addition of this new blog Checkpointzero.com is now home to a Yak, 4 Rabbits and 6 Dogs :-)

Primal Quest has unveiled an updated version of their website. As far as I can see it looks like most of the changes are cosmetic. It looks like we'll be treated to the same online tools for following the race that we've seen in years past; Leaderboard, Photos, Videos, Interactive Map, GPS Tracking, etc. There are still opportunities to volunteer if you think you might like to be a part of the race from the inside.