Posts Tagged ‘AdventureCORPS’

Many of the events and people we talk about do the things they do, not only to have an enormous amount of fun and sense of achievement, but also to help others by raising money for various charities.

AdventureCORPS is no different and on the 13th February they are hoping to make a noticeable difference…

Their aim is to raise money for the tragic people of Haiti, but rather than me waxing lyrical, let me copy AdventureCORPS’ proposition directly, and if any of our readers are living in the area or can donate – please do. It is a worthy cause…

L’Union Fait la Force / Strength Through Unity = National Motto of Haiti

LA JOLLA, CA -  AdventureCORPS, Inc., an athlete-run firm producing some of the world’s toughest sports events – including the Badwater Ultramarathon and Furnace Creek 508 races in Death Valley – will host “80 FOR HAITI,” a cycling benefit ride for Haiti relief supporting Mercy Corps on Saturday, February 13, 2010. The event will feature an 80-mile ride along Old Hwy 80 in southeastern San Diego County. There will be an $80 entry fee and 100% of the entry fees will go directly to Mercy Corps, one of the most respected relief organizations worldwide. AdventureCORPS will absorb all costs, but food, drink, and support sponsors are being sought.
The “80 FOR HAITI” cycling event start / finish line is just 44 miles east of San Diego, in Pine Valley, CA. The route is spectacular, on absolutely quiet roads through rolling terrain.
As international relief efforts continue in Haiti, a Mercy Corps earthquake response team is in Port-au-Prince responding to urgent needs.
Registering for this ride – or donating to the cause, if you can’t do the actual ride – will help families in Haiti recover from the most powerful quake to hit the country in more than 200 years. Mercy Corps relief workers with experience in disaster responses ranging from Hurricane Katrina to the Myanmar cyclone are converging on Haiti from Africa, Asia, and North America. They’re focusing first on the immediate needs — for water, food, temporary shelter supplies and much more — and expanding their work to three areas: clean water, post-trauma support for children, and job creation.
The needs in Haiti are immense. Its capital lies in ruins, as many as 200,000 may be dead, and survivors are increasingly desperate for food, clean water and shelter. Please ride “80 For Haiti” and/or give what you can to help families recover.
Cycling participants in 80 FOR HAITI must pre-register for the event, so that we can plan accordingly. PLEASE register prior to February 6 for the ride. Donations will be accepted through February 13, and beyond.
Click here for all the 80 FOR HAITI information and the Link to Registration / Donation: http://www.adventurecorps.com/80/index.html
Don’t Want to, or Can’t, Ride 80 FOR HAITI, but you still want to donate? Or perhaps you and your friends want to ride your own “80 FOR HAITI” near where you live? Go for it! Please use this link and DONATE NOW directly to Mercy Corps: http://www.mercycorps.org/fundraising/adventurecorps
80 FOR HAITI HIGHLIGHTS: • February 13, 2010 • Held along Eastern San Diego County’s Old Hwy 80: Minimal traffic, no traffic lights, and just a few stop signs. • Three well-stocked checkpoints, plus roving SAG support vehicles on the course. • The entry fee is a minimum $80 donation: 100% of ALL entry fees will go to Mercy Corps.
ABOUT THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake with the epicenter near Léogane, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, striking at 16:53:10 local time (21:53:10 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 13 kilometres (8.1 mi). The United States Geological Survey recorded a series of at least 33 aftershocks, fourteen of them between magnitudes 5.0 and 5.9. The International Red Cross estimated that about three million people were affected by the quake, and the Haitian Interior Minister believes that up to 200,000 have died as a result of the disaster, exceeding earlier Red Cross estimates of 45,000–50,000. Several prominent public figures are among the dead. The Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive recently announced that over 70,000 bodies have been buried in mass graves. Source (and more details): Wikipedia.com
OFFICIAL CHARITY The Official Charity of 80 FOR HAITI is Mercy Corps. Mercy Corps is a team of 3700 professionals helping turn crisis into opportunity for millions around the world. By trade, they are engineers, financial analysts, drivers, community organizers, project managers, public health experts, administrators, social entrepreneurs and logisticians. In spirit, they are activists, optimists, innovators and proud partners of the people they serve. According to their website:
“Mercy Corps has long been recognized as an excellent steward of the resources entrusted to it. Over the past five years, more than 89 percent of our resources have been allocated to programs that help people in need. Ensuring that resources are wisely spent is the cornerstone of our values, vision, and strategy for growth in the future. We are proud of the awards, endorsements, memberships, and honors that substantiate our track record of accountability.”

More info about Mercy Corps’ Efforts in Haiti: http://www.mercycorps.org/haiti

Thank you.

This inaugural event, not really a race, is to be a multi-surface cycling festival and will involve 3 days of cycling on the best trails and roads in the Marin Headlands. It will be held on the 23rd – 25th July, 2010. Organised and run by AdventureCORPS Inc. an athlete-run firm producing and promoting ultra-endurance and extreme sports events, it promises to be a weekend of adventure and fun.

This event sees a longterm dream coming true. Ever since his  article on ‘Mountain Bikes: Who needs them?’ in the February, 1993 issue of Bicycle Guide, Chris Kostman of AdventureCORPS has dreamed of hosting a rally to celebrate the “Any Bike, Anywhere” ethos and lifestyle.

In his opinion, Rough Riding is a state of mind, a riding style with limitless freedom and an all-pervasive sense of adventure. The Rough Riders slogan is “Any Bike, Anywhere” and the general idea is to use as little technology as possible while traversing a variety of riding surfaces and terrains.

The region chosen for the event, the Marin Headlands, offers truly spectacular cycling with views of the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz, Mt. Tamalpais (“Mt. Tam”), Tiburon, Mill Valley, the Bay Bridge, a bit of the Golden Gate Bridge, and dramatic, rugged Northern California coastline.

Some consider the route chosen to be “mountain bike territory,” but this route is 99% rideable by an accomplished Rough Rider on a road bike with 32mm cyclocross tyres (or on a cyclocross bike), and perhaps 90-95% rideable on a road bike with 28mm road tyres.

It promises to be a great weekend in an absolutely spectacular cycling paradise.

Friday will be check-in, get to know the other Rough Riders and collect your goodie bag. There will be a very hilly to mountainous ride all on paved roads with option for a trails bypass from Ross to the Fairfax-Bolinas Rd and a pizza party in the evening.

Saturday will be the epic, ultimate rough riding adventure with roughly 55 miles and approximately 6000′ of elevation gain and features single track, double track, fire road, gravel road, abandoned paved road, and newly paved road.

Sunday sees an 8 a.m. start with a ride up Railroad Grade to the summit (East Peak) of Mt. Tam, time to enjoy the view, pose for more photos, and a regretful return.

Admission to the Rough Riders Rally is $169. There is a 100 rider limit and it will SELL OUT! Sign up NOW! Please note, once the event is sold out, it is SOLD OUT. Photo ID is required to check-in for the event. Entry includes: Friday evening Pizza Party, Saturday evening Awards Dinner, route maps, the opportunity to enter the bike ridden that weekend in the Bike Show, the opportunity to enter photos in the Photography Competition, Rough Riders Rally Magazine, Rough Riders water bottle, Rough Riders patch, Rough Riders decal, Rough Riders pin, Rough Riders cycling cap, AdventureCORPS tote bag, Hammer Nutrition samples, plus discounted services from Tam Bikes…

Bike races everywhere and it’s our intention to draw your attention to some of the best ones – in our humble opinion anyway!

Yesterday we told you about the Cape Epic due to be run in March/April 2010. Another epic race also scheduled for April – 17th April to be exact – is the Mount Laguna Bicycle Classic. The organisers are AdventureCORPS of Furnace Creek 508 (A week of extreme cycle races… now it’s FURNACE CREEK 508)and Badwater Ultramarathon ( The Death Valley Badwater Ultra-Marathon) fame.

Mount Laguna is one of California’s best kept secrets of the outdoor world. The 6,000 ft peak is just 50 miles east of San Diego. It’s a magnificent and beautiful place.

The 2010 Mount Laguna Bicycle Classic is the newest AdventureCORPS cycling event. The race is 103 miles long with 3 different ascents of  Mount Laguna, San Diego’s highest point, totalling 9,890 ft total elevation gain.

The first ascent will be via Sunrise Highway from the north, the next via the fabled and car-free Kitchen Creek from the south-east, and the final ascent is by the little-known and truly epic Pine Creek drainage from the west. There are just three stop signs and NO traffic lights on this incredible route which starts and finishes in Pine Valley, CA! All 3 loops begin and end in or near Pine Valley, CA.

• Loop One is a clockwise route from Pine Valley to Guatay, north on 79, around Lake Cuyamaca, and south on Sunrise Hwy over Mt. Laguna. (It does not quite return to Pine Valley.) Distance: 43.4 miles; Elevation Gain: 3770 feet.

• Loop Two is a counter-clockwise route from Sunrise Hwy east on Old Hwy 80, north on Kitchen Creek (which is closed to cars for 3.7 miles in the middle), north on Sunrise Hwy to the Mt. Laguna summit, then south on Sunrise Hwy and back to Pine Valley. Distance: 33.6 miles; Elevation Gain: 3300 feet.
• Loop Three is a clockwise route from Pine Valley, west on Old Hwy 80, then up the one-of-a-kind Pine Creek Road (as featured in the event logo) all the way to Sunrise Hwy, then south over Mt. Laguna and back to Pine Valley. Distance: 25.7 miles; Elevation Gain: 2820 feet (2000 feet of which is gained in the 10.2 miles on Pine Creek Road).

The time limit for the race is 12 hours.

The following video, with thanks to AdventureCORPS, as well as showing you a fabulous slideshow of photographs from the region, also gives you detailed route maps for you to study.

Keep your eyes open for these somnolent beasts on the highway:

Please note that the Mount Laguna Classic has a 300 rider limit – once it is sold out is SOLD OUT. If you want to participate in this $79 race – sign up NOW with www.adventurecorps.com

AdventureCORPS’ events tend to sell out quickly so don’t think about this for too long if you’re interested in participating…

So popular is this extreme sport becoming that it’s getting tough for endurance athletes to find a race.  The Marathon des Sables, for example, is fully booked until 2011.

Enter Across the Divide. They organise 4 ultra-marathons a year, kicking off  with The Namib on 19-21 February, 2010 – this race is rapidly making its name as the ultimate endurance race for long distance runners.

It is a race that will test each athletes physical and mental strength to the limit.

“Across the Divide have captured the spirit of adventure racing in this event for me!“ Andy McMenemy, Namibia ultra marathon participant 2008.

This race, along with the Iceland Laugavegur Ultra Marathon, the Spanish 24hour Ultra Marathon and the Grand Canyon Ultra are all events organised and run by the founding directors of  ‘Across the Divide’ , Mark and Karen Hannaford and their team.

Mark has been involved with charity challenges and expeditions for over 22 years and has led expeditions all over the world as well as taking part in extreme endurance events. Karen, a keen runner, has been involved for over 17 years in expeditions, event management and charity work.

The extreme series for Across the Divide has actually been developed by Steve Clark who, having completed both the London and Edinburgh marathons, was looking for a new challenge. In April 2005 he completed the Marathon des Sables in Morocco and was  well and truly smitten by the ultra distance race bug.

Tony Ford completes the team with a broad range of event organisational skills. He himself has completed some of the worlds strangest races, from Tough Guy to Lions Head, and The Beast to Bibbulmun Trail. After 15 years of marathons and trail races, Tony still has the bug…

Which brings me back to the Namibia 24 Hour Ultra Marathon (charityatd).

This race was first run in 2008 and in the words of competitor Peter Holdgate, “It was hot!  It was hard! It was awesome! – A true adventure.     This race is a must for individuals who wish to test their limits of physical and mental endurance.”

The route has increased in length slightly for 2010 – it will be 126kms in total which is the same as 3 full marathons. Each of the 6 stages of the route will be 21kms in length.

the route is mainly flat or undulating, firm under foot, but stony with occasional patches of sand and short grass cover. The most difficult part of the route will be traversed at night and it will be important to take care as  rough tracks and loose stones will be difficult to navigate in the dark – even with a full moon.

When dawn breaks and you begin to think that the worst must be behind you, the race finishes with a punishing up-hill section before turning off down to the beach, the infamous Skeleton Coast, and the finish line. Jayne Freer, also an original competitor, says of this final section: “The last leg is truly horrific – punishing on the mind, body and soul. Eighteen kilometres down a road that never ends, followed by a further two down to the sea at the Mile 72 campsite. Each and every step is punishing, painstaking and pure hell.”

Runners have to be self-sufficient throughout, carrying all their food, water, energy bars and change of clothing in backpacks – everything they will need for temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius (46 C was clocked one day) and plummeting to two degrees at night.

Steve Tidball, a competent runner regularly doing 30-40 miles with no problem, was defeated by heatstroke within the first 2 hours of the 2009 race – it is worth noting that he came to this race fully prepared having even done heat training in preparation for the desert temperatures. However, he was allowed to complete the race, and had this to say about it: “Of course once I’d started to recover the magnitude of what we’d been through began to kick in. We met people out there who’ll undoubtedly be friends for life. I learnt that the desert is not to be underestimated; it is an awesomely intimidating place capable of destroying you. I loved every minute of the camp, and the opportunity of being surrounded by people who are just like you and like a bit of pain with their running. And finally I feel unbelievably grateful to the doctors at Across the Divide, first for saving me from doing anything reckless with my health, then secondly for letting me rejoin the race. It allowed me to take away invaluable experiences that will last with me forever.”

As with all the ultra-marathon endurance races we talk about on this site, whether it be AdventureCORPS’ Death Valley Badwater Marathon, or RacingThePlanet’s 4 Deserts (the Sahara Race is underway as we speak), or Across the Divide’s, what strikes me most about the event is the amazing depth of camaraderie and alliance amongst the competitors and organisers – one and the same in some cases. And the friendships that are born out of adversity… There seems to be a unique bond which is tangible but hard to explain.

Well worth witnessing first hand I think.

A normal length marathon is run in the Namib at the same time and will finish after stage 2.

There are still 98 places available for the extreme  Namibia 24 Hour Ultra Marathon and if you wish to enter please click here

We wrote about the Simpson Desert Bike Challenge yesterday which is underway in Australia, but on the opposite side of the world, in America, the FURNACE CREEK 508 preliminaries begin today.

This is the 26th Anniversary of the Furnace Creek 508 Bicycle Race. The race itself begins tomorrow, October 3-5, 2009. Held since 1983 and known as “The Toughest 48 hours in Sport,” it is the world’s premier ultramarathon bicycle race. This non-stop 508-mile bicycle race is revered the world over for its epic mountain climbs, stark desert scenery, desolate roads, and its reputation as one of the toughest but most gratifying endurance challenges available, bar none.

The man who created this race is the godfather of ultra-cycling. Besides Furnace Creek 508, he also created the Great American Bike Race and Race Across America. His name is John Merino and at the age of 60 he is still cycling and rides the same weight as he did 30 years ago.

It is the company AdventureCORPS, run by Chris Kostman, which hosts Furnace Creek 508.

Chris Kostman himself has an impressive cycling history.  He set world ultra cycling records in high school in 1984 and 1985 and completed the 3127-mile, eleven-day Race Across America bicycle race at age 20 in 1987.

The Furnace Creek 508 race course is actually (to be pedantic) 509.58 miles long and has a total elevation gain of over 35,000′ (10,668 m). It crosses ten mountain passes, and stretches from Santa Clarita (just north of Los Angeles), across the Mojave Desert, through Death Valley, to Twenty Nine Palms.

Designed as an endurance challenge, no drafting or pack riding is allowed in any division at Furnace Creek 508. There is a 48 hour time limit for the solo division and a 46 hour time limit for the relay team division.

The start line is the Hilton Garden Inn of Santa Clarita. The halfway mark is at Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park. Racers then pass through the Mojave National Preserve en route to the finish line at the Best Western Gardens Inn in Twenty Nine Palms, CA.

Approximately 220 bicycle racers will be there from across the USA, Canada, Asia, and Europe.

It is known as the hardest and most popular weekend ultra-race. You can expect extreme heat, extreme cold, head winds, tail winds, flash floods, sandstorms and anything else that Mother Nature can think of will more than likely be thrown at you during the 48 hrs. of this race – here’s a brief excerpt from kjfitz2.

One competitor, on crossing the finish line, said: “This moment was forty five hours and twenty one minutes of heaven and hell.”

Why would anyone push themselves to the very edge of their limits, you might ask? The above competitor, Thrasher, summed it up brilliantly: “My obsession was to finish the Furnace Creek 508. But it became much more to me than just finishing. It has become a life lesson that has changed me forever. Many things are crystal clear to me now because of the 508; Things that had been shades of gray have become a stunning black and white.”

The Furnace Creek 508 becomes more than just a race. It almost becomes a spiritual event between yourself, the elements and endurance.

In response to the above comments, another competitor says: “I couldn’t agree with your comments more. That ride was a lifetime unto itself.”

Ultra-cycling is a world within a world. As Cat, Bumble Bee, Berge, says, on completing last years’ race: “For me ultra cycling has meant belonging to a family of unique friends, where love, concern, support and high regard for one another characterize our relationships.”

Good luck to all this year’s entrants…

This young lass is just 20 years old and yet she has accomplished more than most people will do in their lifetimes…

Deanna was introduced to mountain biking at high school. The area she lived in was perfect for this sport and she quickly began to race competitively. It was not long before she was looking for greater challenges.

In August 2007 she entered her first road race cycle event – the 200 mile ‘Desperado Dual’. This race is located in the center of Utah’s Color Country and follows a spectacular route through the heart of the old west.

It was after this event that her passion for ultra endurance events began and her sights were soon set on the upcoming Furnace Creek 508.

Furnace Creek 508 is a road bike race which has a 48-hour time limit. Known as, “The Toughest 48 hours in Sport,” the 508 follows roads North from Santa Clarita, CA through the heart of the Mojave Desert and Death Valley, with 35,000ft total elevation, to a very distant finish in the small town of Twentynine Palms, CA.

However, all these races come at more than the physical cost. They do of course cost money. To help save money Deanna moved back into her parents home in Arizona and got a job at Walmarts and started saving for a bike, gear, entry fees, and the costs associated with participating in races: van rental, food, lodging for herself and crew, etc.

Then followed a spate of races. October 2007 was Furnace Creek 508 for which she got a DNF (did not finish). However, Deanna was pleased with her achievement of 426 miles – the furthest she’d ever cycled in one go, and that done whilst coping with hallucinations and extreme dizziness. It is worth remembering that the 508 is a grueling two-day affair in Death Valley which pits riders against other racers, themselves, and mother nature as they find themselves riding through hundreds of miles of heat, exhaustion, and darkness – it is necessary to ride much of the race at night.

8 months later she did the first ever Race Across the West which is 1,032 miles of the Race Across America. She did 821 miles in 88 hours to Durango, CO where she crashed and got a concussion.  Then the next month Deanna did the Race Across Oregon, but was stung by a bee  which caused so much pain to her Achilles tendon that she had to pull out at 275 miles in 23 hours.

DNF’s would deter many people, but not Deanna. A month later she was back down in Death Valley for the Furnace Creek 508 2008. She crossed the finish line in 43 hours and 17 minutes with a sword in hand, and currently holds the record for youngest female soloist finish. The youngest female starter too for that matter…

She then became interested in getting a fixed gear bike. A “fixie”, as it is fondly known, only has one gear that is fixed, meaning you can never coast because the pedals are always moving. You can’t shift up or down if you have a big mountain to climb or are descending fast. Having found an old 1980’s 10-speed Shogun on eBay and transformed it into a fixie in the winter of 2008/2009, she cast around for the next challenge…

And what greater challenge than the Great Continental Divide Race between Banff, Canada and Antelope Wells, New Mexico? At a mere 2,745 miles, the Tour Divide, or The Great Divide MTB route, is a solo, self-supported mountain bike race with an average time-to-completion of three weeks in the saddle. The rider is responsible for finding their own food, water, and place to sleep each day. It is 2,745 miles of rain, snow, mud, huge head winds, intense heat, animal encounters, drunk driver run ins, etc. It is viewed as the hardest self-supported mountain bike race possible.

It has (had) never been successfully completed on a “fixie” before. In fact, most fixies haven’t made it out of the state of Montana in this race, and the furthest anyone had got on one was the middle of Colorado. Deanna decided that this would be a fitting debut for her ‘new’ bike…

The start day for this race was 12th June, at 10.00 a.m in Banff. Deanna crossed the finish line in Antelope Wells, New Mexico at 5.30p.m. on 13th July.

All this and Deanna Adams is just 20 years old, a fierce vegan and an epileptic. She wants to send the message that having epilepsy shouldn’t hold you back from fulfilling your goals and dreams. The wrist band she wears sums up her outlook on life that “Doubt Kills Dreams”. These “Doubt Kills Dreams” wrist bands were made as an on-going attempt to raise money so that she can have the means to participate in races.

We await, with interest, her next challenge…