Friday, November 25, 2005
Summation of the following month...
One word: COOL!
I learnt to a large degree to cook - i.e: be the chef of the household while my mates were still ploughing through their exams. Glad for it, and i hope to increase my repetoire of culinary skills and recipes.
Red Yeti was an intro to the trials and tribulations of multi-day adventure racing. Got to test out some nifty equipment - found out what worked, and what did not. Overall positive learning experience, although we posted an entirely mediocre finishing time, skipping an entire leg along the way, and grabbing a solid 4 hours' sleep on at night.
Next up, the Grade 2 MS (that's multisport) kayaking course. A wee ripper of a way to kick off the trip to NZ. I've actually learnt a whole lot about reading rivers, basic racing tactics, rolling fine-tuning, training principles, and generally good ol' outdoors wisdom from JD - the instructor at Rapid Sensations in Taupo. A top job by him, with a very good instructor to student ratio (1:3). I'm actually pretty stoked that i can handle a Woodstock Express multisport boat down every part of the entire river run that was used as our assessment (about 20+kms of the Mohaka River) without tipping over now.
Next up, the highlight of my holidays - a pilgrimmage to the hallowed turf that is the South Island, being witness to arguably the most sacred event in adventure sports - the Adventure Racing World Championship. Getting up close and literally in the face of the world's elite adventure athletes, rubbing shoulders with the glitterati, journos, and officials on the course - all in, a surreal experience. I was sure to make observations of the tactics and practices adopted by the teams during competition. And also, to witness the largest winning margin in history for a world-class adventure race. First-placed Balance Vector clocked an amazing 13 hours over the second-place team, an abyssal lead even by adventure racing standards, and given the level of competition. A demanding, navigation race that was to be decided in terms of which team made the fewest mistakes. Balance Vector, in their swansong effort before disbanding, came out tops in this department.
Then, quickly enough, i am back in Melbourne, repacking, trying to stuff all the gear into what bags i have, then luggiing the lot to the airport for the flight back home to Singapore.
And now, here i am, typing from Singapore, in the middle of a balmy night, with my dad looking over my shoulder... hmmm... perhaps i should get off to sleep now. Got a long bike ride tomorrow, doing the rounds of bike shops, getting some off-road in, hitting Sentosa and hanging out with my uni' mates over there, getting some more off-road in over there, then perhaps capping off with a night ride.
Catch ya later!
