• Home
  • About
    • Who We are
    • Affiliates
    • Disclosures & Guidelines
    • FAQs
    • Privacy Notice
  • Funding Your Travels
    • Banking on the Road
    • Credit Cards in Our Wallet
    • Spending
  • Contact
    • Media
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Partnership Opportunities

i should log off

log off and live!

  • Travel & Planning
    • Travel Reflections
      • Good, Bad & Ugly
      • Re-Entry
    • Travel Resources
      • Travel Tips
      • Travel Bloggers
    • Reviews
      • Gear
      • Operators
      • Travel Clothing
    • Travel Gear
      • Cameras
      • Danny’s Clothes
      • Electronics
      • Health & Hygiene
      • Jillian’s Clothes
      • General Gear
  • Destinations
    • Travel Guides
    • Africa
      • Egypt
      • Ethiopia
      • Lesotho
      • Kenya
      • Malawi
      • Morocco
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Sudan
      • Swaziland
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Zimbabwe
    • Asia & Oceania
      • Armenia
      • Cambodia
      • China
      • Georgia
      • India
      • Kazakhstan
      • Laos
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uzbekistan
      • Vietnam
    • Caribbean
      • Antigua
      • Cuba
      • Jamaica
    • Central America
      • Belize
      • Costa Rica
      • Guatemala
      • Honduras
      • Nicaragua
      • Panama
    • Europe
      • Armenia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Czech Republic
      • France
      • Georgia
      • Germany
      • Hungary
      • Italy
      • Spain
      • Turkey
    • North America
      • Canada
      • Mexico
      • USA
    • Middle East
      • Egypt
      • Israel
      • Jordan
      • Oman
      • Turkey
    • South America
      • Argentina
      • Brazil
      • Bolivia
      • Chile
      • Colombia
      • Ecuador
      • Peru
      • Uruguay
  • Weekend Adventures
    • Cycle
      • Pastimes
        • Beer & Wine
        • Books
        • Cooking
        • History & Culture
    • Dive & Snorkel
    • Hike
    • Trek
    • Whitewater
  • Photos
    • Photo of the Day
  • Family Travel
You are here: Home / Archives for sports

Back to Adventure Racing

September 22, 2011 By Jillian

“Gator!” I yelled as the reptile came into view. Unwilling to believe me, Danny replied with a sarcastic and drawn out, “right”. Insisting more vehemently, I pointed to a thick branch sticking out of the placid water. Indeed it was a gator. A baby gator of no more than 20 inches, but nevertheless a gator.
Seeing a baby gator from the safety of a canoe isn’t a big deal. Realizing that 20 minutes before you were slogging barefoot through waist deep water in the same waterway, dragging your canoe behind you… well, that is a big deal, especially to a girl from Philadelphia where the only dangerous reptiles live in the zoo. From the moment the baby gator was spotted I swore come hell or high water, I was not getting out of the boat again until dry land.

IMGP3782a

And so went our first adventure race since coming back to the United States. Twenty-one months overseas and three season away from the sport we had forgot all of its joys… the bug bites, the small creatures, the thorns, scratches and random bruises you wake up with the next morning… all for the glory of a few points and the satisfaction of completing another adventure race.

As it turned out we didn’t do too badly for our first race back. In fact, we placed in the top 50% of finishers and second (out of three) in our division. Given that most of the competitors were on 3 person teams and we were only a co-ed 2 team, we were pretty pleased with our finish.

IMG_2918

We are constantly surprised by the small differences we come across here in Florida. Had we taken a second to think about it, we probably would have acknowledged that not only the terrain, but also the fauna would be different at this race. That realization came when we read our first clue that included a hint about “saw palms”.

Educate yourself, this is a saw palm

To a Yankee, as Danny keeps calling me, all palms are essentially the same. They don’t exist in my world; therefore anything resembling a palm tree is simply referred to as a palm tree. Similarly Floridians don’t understand that there are different types of snow. If only Bubba had rattled off the different types of palms instead of shrimp, I would have found that checkpoint a lot sooner. Then there was the clearing we crossed, half way through realizing the thorny bushes weren’t just thorny bushes, but actual cacti hidden in the brush. I think I froze for a good 30 seconds before moving carefully forward.

Adventure racing is never without its challenges. That’s what we love about the sport.

Filed Under: Adventure Racing, Headline, Weekend Warrior Tagged With: adventure racing, sports

Adventure Racing 101

September 6, 2011 By Jillian

Imagine biking through the woods to find a checkpoint marked on your topographic map.  Your partner is using the compass to find West while you’re busy scouting the terrain for the creek marked on the map.  100 yards ahead you spot it, a small white and orange kite propped against a tree.

rope net

Adventure racing can best be described as a competitive scavenger hunt for adults. Split into multiple disciplines, the race involves locating checkpoints marked out on the course.  You may be required to obtain some of the check points on bike, others on foot, still other by boat or better yet rappelling.  There may be certain challenges you have to complete along the way, possibly logic games, an obstacle course or even a rock wall or fireman’s carry.   Your equipment generally includes a compass, food and water.  Beyond that it’s your own wit and skill to guide you to the checkpoints.   And it’s fun.  Ridiculous, I haven’t had so much fun since I was 12 riding my bike to the lake fun.

IMG_3598_jpg

Adventure racing as a sport is growing at an incredible rate.  More cyclists, triathletes and runners enter the sport each year, looking for a new challenge. Adventure racing takes skill and endurance.  The short sprint distance races may range anywhere from 4-6 hours while longer races may last many days and cover expansive territory.  Adventure racing camps will teach you the basic skills if you’re looking to do a longer race, but for those of us who are more of the “weekend warrior” type, here’s what you need to know.  We’ll cover choosing gear in an upcoming post.

IMG_0318

The Teams

Teams are usually 2-4 people depending on the company that is putting on the adventure race.  They’ll likely have several divisions, mens, coed and possibly womens.  Choose your partner(s) wisely, you’ll want people that not only have skills to supplement your weaknesses, but also people you can work with and trust.  Nothing takes the fun out of something faster than having the wrong teammates.

The Events

You can almost guarantee that every adventure race is going to at least have an orienteering and mountain bike component.  Orienteering is the on-foot section of the course (here’s where you get to run around the woods with a map and compass).  Generally you should be prepared to cross terrain without a path, with only your compass and topographic map to guide you.  The mountain bike section will likely be limited to trails, but we’ve been at some races where we’ve had to hike our bikes up and over the hill, so read your map carefully.  Frequently there is also a paddling section, usually canoeing or kayaking.  This section usually isn’t that technical, but it will save you a lot of aggravation on the water if you paddle a few times with your teammates before the actual event.

IMG_2880

The Skills

  1. Orienteering. You should be comfortable using a compass before the event and comfortable reading a topographic map.  Neither is difficult to use, but you’d be surprised how many people have difficulty with a compass once they’re lost.    Make sure everyone on your team understands how to use a topographic map and understands the legend.
  2. Mountain Biking. You should be comfortable riding a mountain bike and have the endurance to complete the biking portion.  Sprint races will often give you an estimate on the distance for the mountain bike section- make sure you can complete it.
  3. Endurance. This is probably the most important skill you need to have. And yes, endurance is a skill – you have to understand how to pace yourself and how to maintain your energy levels.  Even a four hour race requires pacing and endurance, so if you’ve never completed endurance event before, think about what you’ve used in the past to get you through a long run or ride.

We’ll get more into the endurance and gear aspects of Adventure Racing in the next few weeks. Check out the US Adventure Racing Association for more information on the sport and check out events in your area!

Filed Under: Headline, Hike, Running, Trek Tagged With: athletics, endurance, sports

Ultimate Frisbee Basics

August 23, 2011 By Danny

One of the things I miss most from our pre-trip life is that I used to play Ultimate Frisbee just about every day.

I was part of a group who met on the National Mall each day at lunch to play a quick game for an hour. No doubt thousands of tourists (and quite a few local journalists) took our picture (the game has continued for about 20 years) but it’s also a fun and fast paced game that kept us all extremely happy and fit at the same time. We played Ultimate a lot in our past life, in fact our USPS (ultimate society of professional slackers) team won the championship a few times. (Look closely, there are some other travel bloggers in that photo!)

Slackers!

Many people laugh and say “that’s not a real sport” (before returning to watch golf or NASCAR on the television) despite acknowledging the fact that this sport take just as much effort and energy as the more popular soccer or basketball. Today marks the first day of the Ultimate Frisbee Beach World Championships in Italy and although I highly doubt I’ll be able to catch any of that event, I do want to share this game with all of you.

The most wonderful thing about this game is that it involves very little actual skill to get started. If you can dodge a… no wrong sport.

We carried a frisbee around the globe with us.  We were always ready for a game if and whenever we could find enough people (4 people to a team is a good minimum). As you progress and get better you’ll begin to pickup some of the finer parts of strategy and technique but for now we’ll just assume you can throw and catch a frisbee.

Ultimate Frisbee Basics

Pick a plot of land and mark it off as you would a football field or a rugby pitch. Once you have two teams each choose a side and ‘throw off’ just as you would kick off in either of those other sports. When a team has the disc/frisbee that team will attempt to throw it to eachother as they move down the field toward their goal. The one catch is that while holding the disk, you cannot run/walk…you must stay stationary with a pivot foot just like a basketball player who has stopped dribbling would do.

 Now to make things a touch more complex…
When you have the disc and you want to throw it to your teammates it is up to the other team to stop you from doing so. If they interrupt your pass the disc is theirs and it’s time for them to try and score on you. When you’re defending you’ll need to not only cover the receivers but also cut off the throwing lanes.  Skilled players will begin to watch angles on the field and will demand that their teammates keep moving in order to keep the angles, and opportunities, changing. Then it comes time for different types of throws, most people know how to throw a frisbee but how many know how to throw it forehand or over the head? Throwing the disc different ways affects how it cuts through, its spin and ultimately its trajectory.  Basic physics here, but I think you’re getting a sense that it’s not just a game.

What I love most about this game is its utter simplicity. No pads or nets or hoops or uprights. The only game I know that is as simple to learn and play is soccer….and as any good soccer player will tell you, once you know the game it’s anything but simple. The same thing is true of Ultimate.

I do miss playing my daily game on the National Mall but I have luckily come across a new local game starting up not too far from our new home. I intend to make it just as often as I can….even if that means an extra 10 miles on my bicycle!

Filed Under: Headline, Weekend Warrior Tagged With: athletics, sports

Photo of the Day: Cricket in South Africa

April 14, 2011 By Jillian

We were fortunate enough to catch the fifth day of a cricket match while in South Africa and even luckier to attend with the brother of our couchsurfing host.  He graciously answered all our questions about the sport, it’s rules and the players.  We stayed until the last wicket, much to his surprise.  During the afternoon tea break a grounds crew assembled on the field to touch up the lines and clear out the space.  Spectators were also allowed out on the field so we took the opportunity to get up and see what it was all about.  We captured this shot just as they were touching up the lines.

Check out more of our favorite photos on our travel photo page. Tell us your favorites and we’ll include them as Photos of the Day.

Filed Under: photos Tagged With: cricket, sports

Connect With Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Featured Posts

Our Bucket List
How We Travel For Free
$ Travel Tips

Recent Comments

  • Barbara on Kayaking Kauai’s Na Pali Coast
  • Lori Hubbard on Review: Eneloop Batteries and Charger
  • TK on The Trouble with Philadelphia

Banking on the Road

It can be very hard to keep track of your finances while you're on the road long-term. Be sure to check out how we took care of our finances while traveling and feel free to email us any questions you have.

Adventure Guides

Torres Del Paine
China Adventure
Uzbekistan Overland
Egyptian Odyssey
Malaria
Argentina Adventure
DIY African Safari
South Africa Guide
Bolivia by Bus
How-To African Visas

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright 2008-2015 · All Rights Reserved · Contact I Should Log Off · RSS · Partner With Us · Privacy