Zip lines can take even an adventure racer's breath away
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- Created on Saturday, 23 April 2011 06:00
- Written by Joe Paisley
By JOE PAISLEY, THE GAZETTE
After 20-plus years competing in triathlons, Colorado Springs’ Jeff Lang probably thought he’d done it all.
But then a quick ride down a zip line descending 500 feet from Pulpit Rock would change most anyone’s mind.
“That thing had me hootin’ and hollering,” Lang said. “I can’t imagine doing that in any other race.”
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The zip line was one of the unique features of Saturday’s Rock 2 Rock adventure race, a sport that’s known for variety.
For Lang and teammate Tim Sandell, also of Colorado Springs, 20-plus years competing in triathlons and Ironmans had gotten a bit stale.
Enter adventure racing, where variety in activities and the course itself are key to hooking rookies or keeping experienced racers coming back.
Men’s solo winner Ryan Oginibene of Boulder, who completed the 35-mile distance from Monument to Colorado Springs in four hours, 40 minutes has plenty of experience in these kinds of races, which usually includes kayaking.
This particular race did not have kayaking. It started with teams shooting hockey pucks at the Colorado Sports Center near Monument. Teams and solo racers also used either a zip line or rappelled down Pulpit Rock, used a compass for orienteering around Bear Creek park, completed low rope challenges, with road cycling and running sections in between. The race ended with a rock wall climb at CityRock in downtown Colorado Springs.
The 48 entrants (team and solo) often found themselves thrown together by circumstance as they try to navigate the course, which had several required checkpoints, but unlike most road races, had no spray-painted lines to follow.
“Everyone seems to help each other,” said women’s solo winner Laurien Moes of Colorado Springs (5:43.00). “I ended up racing with two other guys and we helped each other out.”
Part of the challenge for the racers, 80 percent of whom were first-timers,was figuring out the most efficient way to complete the race. The competitors were given the course map two hours before the start.
“You might check your map 20 times,” Moes said. “Towards the end, your brain gets a little tired.”
“A big part of it is mental; figuring out the most efficient way to go from checkpoint to checkpoint,” Oginibene said.
Saturday’s half-day race was more relaxed than the three-day events some compete in.
“You make a mistake like I did and you lose 10 minutes, not two hours,” said men’s solo runner-up Bryan Caylor of Littleton (five hours, 16 minutes). “You can just laugh it off.”
Maybe so, though one team that thought it had won may not have been chuckling when it realized it had missed one of the checkpoints and had to bike back to Bear Creek. Missed turns or checkpoints made up much of the post-race conversations.
But for most, the zip line is what made Saturday’s event memorable.
“It’s all physically challenging but the zip line is what takes your breath away,” said Tom McKeen of Florence.
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