Adventure racing is a gear intensive sport. Perhaps that's part of the reason I enjoy it so much? I really love everything about gear...collecting it, organizing it, checking it,
double checking it, talking about it. You get the idea. The
Frigid Infliction Winter Adventure Race is now less than 72 hours away and I am well within the "gear check" window. As far as everyone else in the family is concerned, the living room is
not the ideal location for me to lay out my gear for this weekend. I am therefore relegated to the basement and my workbench. Two weeks ago you'd have been hard pressed to guess that's what was in fact buried underneath the mountainous collection of cardboard boxes, beer making equipment, and all other matter of the "miscellaneous" parts of my life that haphazardly collect there. Since the snowshoe racing season wrapped
up and the adventure racing season was quickly approaching I found the motivation necessary to get things squared away on the old workbench/brewery. Above is a picture of
some of the gear I'll bring with me this weekend. Not pictured is a
duffel bag full of the clothes I'll use on race day. Over the past ten years of adventure racing we may not have gotten much faster, but we have figured out how to determine what we'll need to pack and what might be better left behind. My philosophy is to bring more than I'll need
to the race, and then pack my bag the night before with those things that I absolutely can't live without. Generally, we'll pack the mandatory gear first and then
systematically go through our individual "luxury" items and begin to take things out. The name of the game is to travel as lightly as possible without sacrificing fluids and nutrition. Tomorrow night will be the final run through gear check with Jay. [Dwight & I pictured at the 2008 Frigid Infliction]
Adventure racing is a gear intensive sport. Perhaps that's part of the reason I enjoy it so much? I really love everything about gear...collecting it, organizing it, checking it, double checking it, talking about it. You get the idea. The Frigid Infliction Winter Adventure Race is now less than 72 hours away and I am well within the "gear check" window. As far as everyone else in the family is concerned, the living room is not the ideal location for me to lay out my gear for this weekend. I am therefore relegated to the basement and my workbench. Two weeks ago you'd have been hard pressed to guess that's what was in fact buried underneath the mountainous collection of cardboard boxes, beer making equipment, and all other matter of the "miscellaneous" parts of my life that haphazardly collect there. Since the snowshoe racing season wrapped 
up and the adventure racing season was quickly approaching I found the motivation necessary to get things squared away on the old workbench/brewery. Above is a picture of some of the gear I'll bring with me this weekend. Not pictured is a duffel bag full of the clothes I'll use on race day. Over the past ten years of adventure racing we may not have gotten much faster, but we have figured out how to determine what we'll need to pack and what might be better left behind. My philosophy is to bring more than I'll need to the race, and then pack my bag the night before with those things that I absolutely can't live without. Generally, we'll pack the mandatory gear first and then systematically go through our individual "luxury" items and begin to take things out. The name of the game is to travel as lightly as possible without sacrificing fluids and nutrition. Tomorrow night will be the final run through gear check with Jay. [Dwight & I pictured at the 2008 Frigid Infliction]
I noticed the 12-pack of Copper Hook Ale with your gear. What kind of 'adventure' race is this????
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Chris,
ReplyDeleteGood luck this weekend. You are one tough SOB
Hey Fellas;
ReplyDeleteActually...it's a case of Copper Hook. It's a little known fact that beer is a "performance enhancing" beverage. Problem is, the 'where' it enhances performance does you little good once the race starts. Thanks for the well wishes. We've got three teams representing this weekend and someone is surely coming home with a podium finish!