Here we go again it was race 2 for me and race 4 for my team mate but we had learnt a lot from our previous race and done a lot of training to improve our strength and endurance in those areas we found we were weak in.

This time around though we had dragged two more teams along with us one of which had never done an adventure race before but were well and truly hyped up on our stories of past glory.

It was also the first trial of Predator Cam ! so named because it looked a lot like the weapon on the shoulder of the Predator in the movie of the same name. In laymans terms Predator Cam is a couple of ContourHD cams in water proof cases mounted on the shoulder strap of our CamelBaks using a little customised mount we have been working on - there were some stability issues that I have a solution to and will publish an article on once completed but the footage is below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKohM2RdSc8

Having not done a Kathmandu race before we were not sure what to expect from the organizers but we were certainly not disappointed by the venue or the way the event was run !

So 5 am we were up and heading to Glenworth Valley 3 cars 6 bikes and 6 adventure race rookies, the day before had been cold and wet but today was looking good weather wise – still cold but at least not wet not that this would make any difference after the first river crossing !

Registration complete we pulled out our maps and started reading the notes on the course and checkpoints and the first thing that crossed out minds was hmmmm this is a little more serious than those other races we have done ! but undeterred we mapped out our notes and headed off to the start line for the pre race briefing that was pretty entertaining.

Before we knew it the race had started and we were off into the mini Rogaine making sure we picked up the compulsory checkpoint and two other optional then raced back to the bikes in hindsight the marshy ground in the mini Rogaine should have prepared us for the rest of the day but it didn’t what did was the mud pit that everyone had to cross it was wide it was messy and it was sticky and not many people made it all the way through… AWESOME now this is fun !

Checkpoint 2 required all members of the team to be together in order to be successful and damn it was a steep long hill I’m just glad we decided to take the bikes all the way to the top rather than leaving them at the bottom as many people did because the ride back down was sweet even if my teammate did run into the back of me at the bottom due to brake fade.

More riding across marshy fields a few fences to throw bikes over and we hit the first river crossing of the day and if we weren’t already awake the jump into water crossing one started to wake us up the climb out made us dirty but the swim across the actual river was enough to literally take your breath away it was an effort just to concentrate on breathing and pulling myself across on the supplied rope.

Now we were at the kayak transition area where the first 50 got to use the kayaks and were surprised and pumped that we were only a few people off actually making that first 50 ! but we didn’t so we transitioned into the first run leg across more boggy fields and this is where we realized we should have spent more time actually using the compass rather than following the field as the first checkpoint we found was 12 and we were looking for 6 !

So out with the compass to get our bearing straight and start climbing the big steep hill and it was steep ! mountain goat steep ! yep this is how an adventure race should be !

All checkpoints complete we set off back to the kayak transition area after crossing paths with our other two teams and trading a few cheerful insults. We came across Two Monkeys the mixed team of our trio who had gotten themselves a little off track and needed to do another creek crossing to get back on track… Suckers !

A quick change into the kayaks with a paddle up to the island and we were met with a log jam of kayaks looking for the elusive checkpoint 14 it was absolutely nowhere to be found so after a few minutes of deliberation we made the executive decision to head back and found that sure enough 14 was MIA glad we didn’t hang around looking to hard.

Another freezing river crossing and this time it felt even colder if that was possible so the climb out of the mud on the other side was even harder but in true AR spirit there were a lot of teams helping each other over the challenges this is what I love about this sport – sure it’s a race but at all times everyone is just having fun and always willing to help out a competitive team.

Back on the bikes and the cold was taking its toll meaning we got sloppy and rode straight past checkpoint 20 and didn’t realize it until we hit 21 over the other side of the hill fortunately 20 was a dual checkpoint so we were able to pick it up on the way back unlike 24 that we also missed on the run leg, this one we had to go back for because I refuse to miss a checkpoint.

This run leg was showing the results of the race run the day before in the rain and was muddy and slippery making for a slow pace but we were still smiling.

We were still running on pace and heading down some awesome single track towards checkpoint 30 when tragedy struck ! Shane’s ever faithful 18 year old GT mountain bike decided enough was enough and his rear derailleur exploded causing his chain to jam in the rear cassette jamming his rear wheel solid ! the bike was going nowhere.

Team Alien probed was at a standstill while we tried everything to get the chain out but again every competitor that went passed ensured they slowed or stopped to see if we needed anything – I love this sport !

After 10 minutes we gave up on the chain reassembled the back wheel and Shane showed his dedication by picking up his bike slinging it over his shoulder and jogging with his bike through checkpoint 30 and 31 and then over the finish line – I was impressed.

Even after dropping about 40 minutes off our time with the bike failure we still finished around mid field and are burning to get out there and do it all again this was a well run, challenging and fun event and we will be back.

As for our other two teams - Two Monkeys finished before us dropping some time due to some missed checkpoints and having an awesome time all the same but the success story of the day was team M&M their first ever race with very little preparation due to illness and they not only finished the race but didn’t finish last despite the wheel and handle bar falling off one of their bikes ! they are already talking about the next one and how to train for it.