Nineteen open and coed 3-person teams were treated to a sunny and warm May 4th at Bark Lake, Ontario for the second of nine Salomon Adventure Challenges in the 2002 season. The Bark Lake Leadership Centre is located in the heart of the Kawartha Lakes Region and was a perfect host site for Frontier Adventure Racing's events.

With Cambridge's Team Priority One at a combined age of 132 contrasting Barrie's Team Geostudies group of 16 year olds, it shows how the Salomon Adventure Challenge Series appeals to a wide range of age groups and experience levels.

The 40+ km racecourse began on mountain bikes and teams were forced to make quick decisions within the trail system enroute to CP1. Unfortunately for some, they were treated to a bit more of the Bark Lake trails then they would otherwise have planned for as a quick right turn was missed by a few teams. Team Lather.Rinse.Repeat "enjoyed the Lakota trail so much that they just kept going!" Undaunted and muddied, the pack reached CP1 spread apart by 40 minutes.

In the lead, Team Priority One hammered to CP2/TA1, the canoe put-in at White Lake Dam, with Team Dreadnought, Quixotic, and Geostudies close behind. Team Living Fit 2, however, had a bit of trouble finding the southbound road to CP2/TA1 and fell behind the pack. On finding out their 19th place ranking, Tina Ceroni laughed and commented, "that's hilarious - we're here just to finish."

Paddling the 7 kms across Salerno Lake from CP2/TA1 to CP3 with three in each canoe was new for many teams and Team Whitby Tigers 1 nabbed the e load Fully Loaded Award for being the fastest in this section.

A mixture of trail, road, bushwhacking, river crossing (using guide ropes and a fallen tree as a bridge!), and beaver dam negotiating on foot was next for teams between CP3 and CP7/TA3. Team Priority One's 13 minute lead out of CP3/TA2 was quickly erased into CP5 by Team Geostudies and now Team Raging Chaos had emerged from the backfield, moving from 13th at CP1 to 6th, drawing on their adventure racing savvy and double bladed paddles in the canoes.

Moving through the bush from CP6 to CP7/TA3 provided the taste of authentic wilderness multi-sport racing that all participants came to experience. No trails and only a compass and map as tools, this short section tested the teams' skill and patience. Continuing their rise, Team Raging Chaos emerged from the bush in 2nd place at CP7/TA3 by taking only 42 minutes (a large part of their Fast Fuel Trailburner Award for the Fastest Trekking Team) - but it was too little too late. Team Priority One flew into the finish line on mountain bikes to a spirited crowd of family and friends to take 1st place over all.

In the end, 18 of 19 teams crossed the finish line within the 8-hour time limit. The 19th team, Team Living Fit 2, persevered and reached the end with huge smiles in tow shortly thereafter. Fittingly, they took home the Suunto Survival Award for the most needing Suunto compasses.

See you June 1st at Tremblant, Quebec for the next Salomon Adventure Challenge.