Untamed New England Race Report

By Dima Kaganovich, team Calleva.

I feel really bad that we DNF this race. We had no chance to make even the first cutoff and stay at the full course, but that was not the reason to quit. We were strong team, but New Hampshire forest ate our navigator (that would be me):


We started the race in good spirit and paddled across the first Connecticut Lake all 4 of us in a canoe. Empty kayak we towed behind and this approach worked very well, as we landed in top 10 teams for the first portage.

Looking back I can say that we had long portage interrupted by some paddling, conservation projects, and orienteering relay. Grant, the race director, doesn't like long introductions and the first portage had a 3 k section through a forest so thick that our canoe couldn't fit between the trees. The check point was half way through the forest and we had to punch both canoe and kayak in addition to the main passport. The rest of the portage was on roads and I am not sure what words local drivers have been using to describe these muddy people rolling canoes and kayaks towards Canada border.
Orienteering relay we started in dark as was predicted in the last race bulletin. I went first for the long and difficult course and finished it in about 1 hour. It helped me to explain to Val, Vlad and Sara what the best approach to this area and in 3 hours we got back to the river. The water was fast and we almost missed one CP at the river bend. Sudden stop at the rock cost us one canoe full of water and short swim near the shore. In the middle of the first night we reached the first transition, our paddling bag and our bikes.

Transition area was at the local fire and rescue station where we got hot pasta and clean rest room (!!!) According to the map that was the last spot of civilization and the last time we see our transition gear for at least next 24 hours. We started our way north along the Canada border and turned into forest at sunrise. Trail ended as it was expected and our navigator (it's me again) decided to go straight down (idiot!). We ended up bushwhacking with our bikes for 2 hours in wrong creek and at the end had to cross wide swamp and river to get to the road. We got the check point on the gate, but I don't want to remember the nightmare we went through in order to get there.

The biking section was brutal, but the next hiking section (leg 3 of the race) was way worth. Significant off road travel and navigation in forest between swamps and bushes killed me. If you want to finish this race, look for the perfect navigator. Not a decent one like me, but absolutely perfect. In addition to that, if you want to finish the full course be ready to run every moment your legs are touching the ground. No hiking is allowed! At sunset we quit the race, because the navigator (guess who was that) was unable to find a trail to the top of the mountain and we already missed the first cutoff.

We'll go to Untamed New England race next year. I am looking for the perfect navigator. Are there any available?

More photos from the race are here.

Going north...

Tomorrow morning team Calleva is going north to New Hampshire (and probably Maine) for 3 days and 3 nights Untamed New England adventure race. We will have tracking beacons and you will be able to see our real time location on map. Leaderboard will be also available, as well as race updates and race photos. Don't forget to send us trail mails, may be it will help us to find right way to the next CP. We will have our camera with us on the course. Our team is Calleva, our number is 32.

Right now we are trying to set all our gear for the race, and time is short. Last week and this weekend was the busiest time of the year for us. We did the Third Annual Calleva Adventure Race! It was a blast! Here is after race email from the captain of the winning team Jim Weber (we like getting such email):

As usual, you and your team of Calleva volunteers put on a FANTASTIC race again this year! I’ve been training and racing in this area for 10+ years, but in each of the three years you have run this race, you have managed to take me to new terrain, parks and trails that I have never visited before. Riverboarding thru the rapids was the highlight of the day, and we really had a blast on that section. I’ve kayaked that part of the river a few times before, but I never imagined myself going down it on a boogie board. I am glad you arranged for a little cooler weather this year, and I came across the finish line looking and feeling a LOT better than I did last year (as evidenced by the picture you selected for the race T-shirts!).

I know that this event would not be possible without the support of Calleva and the army of volunteers who helped out…so on behalf of all the racers, I wanted to send out HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who was involved with organizing and running the race. Congratulations also to all of the adventure racers who were out there on the course…we hope to see you all again next year!

The members of Team A-List / Too Many Kids are already looking forward to next year’s Calleva Adventure Race.

Thanks again!

Jim Weber
Team A-List / Too Many Kids

PS – Good luck at Untamed NE!


Calleva Race volunteers before the start of the race. Photo Oleg Litvinenko.

Odyssey One Day race report.

By Sarah Reschovsky, team Calleva/UHB


My second 24 hour Odyssey adventure race was definitely a humbling experience. Phil and I raced as a team of two, but Dima (as a solo racer) luckily stuck with us the entire way. Not only did it take place on one of the hottest days of the summer, but the course proved to be virtually impossible; not a single team completed the course within the time limit. The biking section began with a killer uphill on a switchback mountain road. From the beginning, it was clear to Phil and I that we would spend most of the race staring at Dima’s backside and struggling to keep up with him.

We followed a logging road for a bit, which contoured around the mountain. We soon realized, however, that we needed to bushwack (with our bikes) up to the top of the ridge in order to get checkpoint 2. After several hours of bushwacking and pushing our bikes on unridable trails, we found checkpoint 2, then descended back down the mountain. Arriving at checkpoint 3 proved to be no less difficult; we spent many more hours gaining elevation and pushing our bikes across unridable trails. We reached checkpoint 4 at about 12:30 am, and were relieved to be able to refill our water supply and finally get rid of our bikes after spending over 12 hours on the biking section.

The trekking section provided us with a much-needed boost in moral. Phil and I enjoyed hearing Dima’s crazy stories, and we quickly got checkpoint 5. We then began bushwacking across a ridge in search of checkpoint 6. Navigating to this next checkpoint at night proved extremely difficult; not only were there no trails, but there were several cliffs interfering with our ability to move or see in the right direction. At this point in the race, Phil and I bonked, and struggled to keep up with Dima (who never seems to tire...) Once the sun began to rise, it dawned on us (tee-hee) that we would not be able to make the time cut-off. We began descending down from the mountain in hopes of finding a road to lead us back to civilization. The hike down the mountain took several hours, but eventually we were able to find a road, and we were able to hitch a ride back to headquarters.

This race proved to be much tougher than we expected, but it was a great experience nonetheless. Team UHB missed Swish’s presence on this race, but the team will definitely be coming back for more!



All race photo are here.

Virginia Commonwealth Games Mountain Bike Omnium

Report by Michelle Lindsay, Roanoke, VA - 7/17/10 - 7/18/10



Saturday’s race was the uphill time trial climbing the 3 or 4 miles up Mill Mountain. I was near the last to take off since all the men went first, and I found myself racing a storm to the top! The singletrack wasn’t technical but it sure got my heart rate up by the finish. No other women came out for the TT, so I posted the fastest women’s time! I beat the storm to the finish but got soaked on the way back down to the car.

On Sunday, we raced a 20 mile cross country race at Carvin’s Cove. The expert course was the same as the sport course with the addition of one huge climb up and back down. I had fun - Carvin’s Cove has great trails! Apparently I just missed hitting a rattlesnake at the bottom of the Clownhead descent... another racer who caught up to me had seen it on the trail! It was really hot and humid, so the last climb back up Hi-de-Ho was brutal! As I began the last descent, another scary storm was rolling in and all I could think of was “get me off of this mountain!” I had a single crash - falling off the edge of the ramp over a log then getting stuck with my bottom foot still clipped in... within 2 minutes of the finish line :) All the other women raced the sport race, so I took the gold medal for the combined omnium!