Unleash the Beast Triathon 2011

For the second year in a row we eagerly packed up bikes & boats and headed down beautiful, Pacific Northwest back roads, across a few islands and onto a small ferry

 to take us to the Olympic Penninsula, for the 2nd annual Unleash the Beast Adventure Sports Festival in the historically lovely lumber town of Port Gamble on the Kitsap Peninsula.

This year we excitedly cross-trained for months for a new addition to this two day, adventure sports demo & racing bonanza line up, an adventure sports triathlon. 

The first leg, the Paddle the Dragon 6 mile kayak race. 

Then those brave enough could opt to go on solo or switch out with teammates

for two more muddier than muddy legs in the nearby Port Gamble trails- jumping out of their wet kayak gear and onto their bikes to get dirty on a 14 mile sport class,

single track slip & slide mountain bike leg followed by a 5km run... 

With the grand finale finish line bringing the hardcore multi sport racers back to the waterfront to finish amongst rain sodden & windswept crowds with vendor booths

proudly displaying colorful array of kayaks & SUPs.

Ambitiously we both pre-registered in the iron man/woman solo triathlon divisions-

 with Jim using this as a warm up for his super endurance solo efforts in next month's '100 miles in 1 day' Mountains to Sound race and I as the next major fitness challenge goal I'd hoped to check off while still cautiously on my own personal spinal injury rehab journey...

 Unfortunately two weeks before race day I frustratingly got struck hard by case of acute bronchitis.  Even though I'd brought all my gear along  just in case I miraculously began feeling better overnight, at registration I had to stubbornly admit defeat and follow doctors orders to scratch my race and save my health...On the bright side, it then left my day open to be Jim's personal cheerleader and support person at every transition :)

While Jim had also been fighting a spring cold all week, luckily it didn't take him down nearly as hard, and with what he attributes to super hydrating the week before, Jim had the race of all races, months of training paying off as he led the way to an incredible
 *ironman* 1st PLACE OVERALL finish!  

  Proving that he and the skies could both be beasts that unleashed, Jim held a sweeping lead from the kayak leg all the way through each of the following sport legs in the triathlon race- beating the 2nd place finishing team by nearly 12 minutes!  AND in and through some pretty unforgiving weather conditions at times-

Sea kayaking across the Hood Canal  against 10 knot and increasing gusts o' headwinds while fighting ebbing currents on the return.  Then onto mountain biking and running along super-soaked trails...

Doug in a super beautiful, kevlar Necky Looksha 2

finished the Paddle the Dragon kayak race in first place overall,

 Followed by a Mens Double Sea Kayak with Jim close behind in third place overall, in his older & not-as-beautiful but definitely his most favorite boat, a kevlar Necky Looksha 3. 

 Jim then took over first place in the triathlon as he ran outa the cold Puget Sound salt water up the rocky beach, down a few hundred yards along rain-wetted grass to the kayak-bike transition zone to quickly change into biking clothes, while simultaneously refueling with Gu and downing gulps of Gatorade.   

Oblivious to the passing spring rain squall that was not helping his shivering as it turned briefly into even more unforgiving sideways hail,  Jim grinningly took off in a screaming first place solid lead on his next most favorite piece of gear, a tested, tried true & trusted, old school GT Zaskar LE mountain bike. 

By his time estimations, I made sure to be at the next  bike-runner transition zone, in a grassy field just outside of town about an hour and a half later.  Again it was awesome for a small crowd of us to see Jim come flying out of the forest this time, covered in mud from head to toe to the point of being nearly unrecognisable...except for that grin! 

 

With one final, quick shoe change again, a few sips of water & a few Power Gel gummies he was off again, to next be seen until he came cruising down the trail just under the flagpole back in Port Gamble, 20-something minutes later, still looking as happy & strong as when he started, as he came down onto the waterfront and around a final loop in the race course that hid him briefly out of sight behind a building before a final 200 yard straightaway sprint to finish at 3 hours 16 minutes...

 As the endorphin high still fuels that grin, he's already looking forward to next weekend's endurance cross-training plans, a 60 mile open water, kayak camping island adventure.~

Neah Bay Nature video

Neah Bay Winter Getaway 2011 from Island Paddlers on Vimeo.

Enjoy this touching compilation of inspiring Nature photography and short video clips from our annual, cold weathered escape to hike and paddle out and around the farthest reaches of where the roads end and adventure begins along the very ruggedly remote, Northwest corner of beautiful Washington State...

Neah Bay Winter Getaway

For the 4th year in a row we enjoyed

escaping to where the roads end in the very farthest

Northwest corners of our beautiful
Washington state

for our annual
Neah Bay *winter* Getaway...

Every year we so look forward to these four days when

we get to hike our favorite coastal trails

along beautiful boardwalks

visit the special site of an old Makah village,

explore miles of untouched Pacific Coast beaches,

share sunny picnics on cold winter days...

and paddle in open ocean waters!! 
This year we were super stoked to

launch our tandem Nootka Plus from
the Neah Bay marina

and head about 5 miles down the Strait

around Cape Flattery

to Tatoosh island where we found

some nice 4 to 6 foot Pacific Ocean swells 

to ride back in half the time on!

With abundant wildlife constantly
surrounding us- at least 100 bald eagles,

families of sea otters, deer and
more keeping us company everyday

on our blissfully remote land & sea adventuring....

Exploring. Photographing. Learning. Laughing we go....! 

1st annual NW Adventure Sports Expo ~ Unleash the Beast!

Having grown up on the Kitsap Penninsula, I couldn't help but be intrigued when I saw the press release for a new multi-sports event, 'Unleash the Beast!', being thrown out there for a weekend in the most beautiful little logging town around, historic Port Gamble. 

 So we marked the calendar and Jim began strategically training...as he eagerly took the opportunity to register for not one, but two different sporting races being offered at the NW Adventure Sports Festival.

New this year on the Puget Sound paddle racing schedule was the Paddle the Dragon 5 mile kayak race- in the venue of all venues, absolutely beautiful Port Gamble.

As well as three Dirty Dozen mountain bike races. Jim signed up for the 25 mile 'expert' class, single track race as well as the paddle race.  *To this multisport ultra-athlete, this was a great warm-up, racing double-header as part of his Mountains-to-Sound,  ironman trainining.

We arrived a few hours before the kayak race on Saturday morning to allow plenty of time to check in,

as well as check out the different race courses.

Along with the numerous colorful and assorted vendor displays of mountain bikes, rec plastic kayaks, sea kayaks, stand up boards, canoes, pedal sail boats... all available to demo on trails & seas!   We were in true Northwest adventure sport lover's heaven!

Boats and bikes, bikes and boats = so many toys, so little time....

Start of the Paddle the Dragon ~ 5 mile kayak race

Race Report by JZ~ 2nd overall,1st place kayaker- "Before the race conditions were as calm as can be, then a slight breeze came in across the bay...

The field was small with a lot of non-rudder rec boats, a few triples

and a double.

Also a couple of fast outrigger canoes. By the time the race started we had a stiff 10 to 15 knot headwind with up to 1 foot chop. It was a grind to the turn around buoy at the Dragon but knowing we were going to have a downwind run to the finish made it worth it.

At the turn around the fast double missed the turn around buoy so it was 2 outriggers and me. The wind waves were small but perfect to connect one after another. The wind was blowing us right to the finish. Awesome! Overall it was a great course- Great for beginners and also in just the right conditions for the experienced racer."

Start of the Dirty Dozen -Expert class- 25 mile- single track- mountain bike race

Race Report by JZ

  "The sign up was a bit unorganized, but for the first year is understandable. The expert field had some awesome riders...some were so fast they never even got dirty? (*reference to the 20 guys who never passed him, yet somehow finished ahead of him)  Could have had a check point half way so riders could check in  (* Reference to reference above)...The course was excellent, roots, tight trees, steep down hill and really fast rolling terrain made it an awesome warm-up for the season."

Rainbow display of plastic kayaks ~ recreational boats

The British have arrived in Port Gamble...and taken over our waterways?!

(*I may be 1/2 Pom myself, but the other Kiwi half of the gene pool in my family taught me that if you wanna paddle far and/ or fast around the PNW waters, you need a RUDDER!!)  

 

Kayaks, SUPs, canoes, pedal sail boats-

you could demo just about anything that floated!

Jim finishing in 2nd place to a smokin' hot OC-1 & 1st kayaker overall

Jim was the only bi-athlete racer of the day to participate in both the kayak AND the 25 mile mountain bike races

Olympic mountain peaks and floating Hood Canal bridge backdrop

Olympic Outdoor Center's new Port Gamble retail store location
OOC and it's extremely friendly helpful crew deserves a big kudos for all the hard work they did in helping making this great Multi Sport Adventure Expo event happen! 

Cheers to all of the race organizers, volunteers & vendors who helped put on the
 1st annual NW Adventure Sports Expo!

 EVENT PHOTOS @: http://picasaweb.google.com/expeditionpaddlers/NWAdventureExpo2010#/