Salomon Adventure Challenge
Minden Hills

July 12, 2003

Minden's 'Century' Club!

A sellout crowd of 100 teams of three joined together in Minden, ON for the 7th Salomon Adventure Challenge of the 2003 season this past July 12th. Consistent with the rest of the schedule to date (including our 2 winter races!), racers were treated to variable showers and increasingly muddy conditions - one of these days we're bound to have sunny weather!

Each of the seven buses to the start line at the south end of Kushog Lake drew numbers for their choice of canoe and it was a bit of organized chaos getting all 300 competitors into the water. This continued somewhat at the sound of 'GO!' when all 100 canoes blasted off toward CP1/TA1 at the Leslie M. Frost Natural Resources Centre, a 12 km paddle away. After a bit of fun 'jostling for position', all boats were on their way - except for Team Prairie Wildfire of Winnipeg, Manitoba who flipped their boat in another teams' wake. Amid smiles and laughter, this light-hearted team righted their canoe and were off once again.

It was quite a seen from the Hwy 35 overpass, roughly the halfway point, as a sea of canoes rushed by. Team XC Easy of Owen Sound, Flash 5 of Midland, and Kinetic Konnection of Windsor were the first canoes out of the water and through the Salomon Arch at CP1/TA1 in just under 1 hour and forty minutes (7.2 km/h!). 43 other teams reached this start of the trekking portion of the race in under 2 hours - nice work on the water teams!

From CP1/TA1, teams were marshaled across Hwy 35 and into an area riddled with trails to the west of Pine Springs. There were many choices as to how to use these en route to CP2 at the south arm of Margaret Lake before heading due south and off-trail to CP3/TA2. Continuing their torrid pace, Team Flash 5 ran the 3 km in only 21 minutes but were closely followed by White Collar Pros of Toronto (who had one teammate throw out their shoulder three times on the water), Bronte Boys of Oakville, and Comachu of Cambridge.

The jump into the bush after CP2 changed the order of teams remarkably. Some teams found refuge from the swampy, slow terrain of the low ground by traveling only on the high points while others barreled through and came out at the transition to bikes quite muddy and wet. Team Meshcha Diaya Ayganickanawin of Dutton outpaced all teams in the bush and teams Wired of Mississauga and Lather.Rinse.Repeat of Toronto also drew on their vast Salomon AC experience to forge quick bushwhacking times.

The misty conditions at this point of the day slowly turned into grayer skies and rain (downright 'cats and dogs' later on!) but the trails beginning at CP3/TA2 held their integrity for the first 100 bikes or so… Team Flash 5 raced through in first place just ahead of XC Easy but a missing piece of safety gear set this chase team back 15 minutes. Unphased and undaunted, they gathered themselves and took off toward CP4, with hopes of distancing themselves from the rest of the lead pack.

The mountain biking route to the finish line was a combination of 4x4 trails, single track, dirt roads, and paved roads. This section made this particular racecourse slightly longer then most Salomon AC's and the wet weather certainly made for some additional terrain challenge. However, the comments at the finish line were consistent - muddy but awesome!

The trails from CP3/TA2 to CP5 provided some muddy fun for the teams. In fact, the CP5 staff heard a myriad of stories of their teammates' dives into mud puddles. The formerly white race jerseys proved it, this part of the course was mucky to say the least. After CP5, it was a 12 km hammerfest on roads toward the finish line - a welcomed reprieve after some hard work in the bush. Teams Muskoka Outfitters of Bracebridge, Machine of Parry Sound, and Intrepid of Oshawa were very strong in the challenging conditions while teams WAC of Waterloo and White Squall of Parry Sound showed their speed from CP5 to the finish. Special mentions to Team Tree Huggers who saw one teammate brave this part of the course in a recumbent bicycle!

Blazing to the finish line in just under 5 hours was Team Flash 5 who continue their strong season in both Salomon AC and Raid the North events. They will be back again at the Salomon AC Frontenac on September 7th to take on all up-and-comers. By day's end, 90 teams reached the finish line at the Minden Fair Grounds - all needing a hot shower and a bike wash to rid themselves of the muck!

See you in Buckhorn for our 10-14 hour Long Course event!

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Visit Odyssey Production's website for more images from Salomon AC Minden...and if you find one you like, just order it right from their site!

TOP TEN RESULTS

For Full & Detailed Results and an entire Team Listing CLICK HERE! Make sure to click through each page in the spreadsheet to see all sorts of statistical information.

Rank  Team Name  Location Finish Time
1st (Open)    Flash 5 Midland, ON 4 hrs, 57 min
2nd (Open)    Muskoka Outfitters Bracebridge, ON 5 hrs, 29 min
3rd (Open)    Kinetic Konnection Windsor, ON 5 hrs, 30 min
4th (Open)    White Collar Pros Toronto, ON 5 hrs, 32 min
1st (Coed)    X-Carbs Milton, ON 5 hrs, 40 min
5th (Open)    Lather.Rinse.Repeat Toronto, ON 5 hrs, 43 min
2nd (Coed)    Machine Parry Sound, ON 5 hrs, 44 min
6th (Open)    White Squall Parry Sound, ON 5 hrs, 45 min
3rd (Coed)    XC-Easy Owen Sound, ON 5 hrs, 48 min
7th (Open)    WAC Waterloo, ON 5 hrs, 48 min


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