Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic Adventure Racing Team

Tecnu Extreme/staphAseptic pre race interview at the GRML 2011

2011-10-24T00:45:00.001-07:00

Pre race interview with eventual winners Tecnu Extreme/staphAseptic

Dart/Nuun leads the paceline freight train at the GRML 2011 last month

Tecnu Extreme/staphaseptic video from Gold Rush Mother Lode win 2011

2011-10-24T00:37:00.001-07:00

Tecnu Extreme/staphaseptic talking about the Gold Rush Mother Lode course

Tecnu Extremes/staphAseptics unique choice for Lower Twin Lakes at GRML 2011

Tecnu Extreme/staphAseptic preparing to do battle at the USARA National Championships 2011in Cumberland Falls, KY

2011-10-07T03:39:00.001-07:00

Eventual winners Tecnu Extreme/staphAseptic anxiously awaiting the start of GRML 2011.

2011-10-07T03:31:00.001-07:00

Mapping out the course pre race, USARA national Championships 2011:

kick butt teamies

Tecnu Extreme/staphAseptic in transition

2011-10-07T03:26:00.001-07:00

Liza Pye of Tecnu Extreme talks about the race

FRS was a great sponsor of the GRML 2012. Thanks guys for your killer drinks.

Tecnu 3xtreme/staphAseptic pre race at the Gold Rush Mother Lode 2011.

2011-09-16T21:48:00.001-07:00

the freight train at the start of the 2011 Gold Rush Mother Lode

The paceline heading to Lower Twin Lakes at Gold Rush 2011

Just over 24 hours till the gun goes off in the beautiful town of Bridgeport,Ca for the openning of the Gold Rush Mother Lode 4 day expedition race. Teams from all over have come to try to qualify for this event. Tonight there is a prologue at 5pm, with the race start tommorrow morning. Winner goes to AR Worlds in Australia in November. Watch the race live at: www.goldrushar.com under race coverage. Race ends Sunday afternoon in Columbia,Ca. Good luck to all the teams. Its going to be a very competitive race.

2011-09-07T06:33:00.001-07:00

part of the Gold Rush Mother Lode

2011-09-07T06:25:00.001-07:00

Site of tonights prologue for the GRML2011. great prizes from title sponsors for top three teams.

staging area for tonights prologue for the opening of the Gold Rush Mother Lode. great prizes from Hi-tec, Princetone tec,and Tecnu Extreme, plus special seeding for GRML.

Earring Doug and BK one of our volunteers flying over the GRML 2011 Race course wednesday night.

2011-09-07T06:20:00.001-07:00

starting swagbags for the GRML. going to be awesome!

Team Firestarters Giving talk at the school in Bridgeport pre GRML.

part of the 2011 GOLD Rush Mother Lode race course 2011

Tecnu Extreme in the hunt for the win at the LBL adventure race minutes ago. Off the long trek, out on a long bike section. Go team!

2011-04-02T15:17:00.001-07:00

Leslie of Tecnu Extrdme adventure racing heading to the airport to fly to Kentucky for the LBL 24 hour adventure race.

2011-04-01T07:51:00.001-07:00

Tecnu Extreme blazes the last trek in the fastest time of 7:58 finishing the NGAR in 21:25. everyones safe and feeling good, got some breakfast, now getting some sleep. final placement TBD after all rogaine points are. gathered. Many teams missed controls.

2011-03-13T07:39:00.001-07:00

Tecnu Extreme?staphaseptic blazes the final trek in the fastest split of 7:58 and finished the 30 hour course in 21:25. Everyones safe, had some breakfast and catching some Zzzzzz's.

kyle getting ready to go out onto his solo O course in 3rd place.

2011-03-12T21:56:00.001-08:00

Go Kyle... He rocked it in the fastest time of the day, 48 Minutes. you rock!

2011-03-12T18:40:00.001-08:00

Tecnu Extreme heads back out on the bike course,should be back in five hours or so..

2011-03-12T13:43:00.001-08:00

Leslie chilling at the cabin while we are on the 2nd O course with Brian

2011-03-12T12:09:00.001-08:00

Brian getting ready to head out for his solo O course

Tecnu Extreme in the lead by thirty minutes over Green Paw from Florida

2011-03-12T10:36:00.001-08:00

Leslie posted the fastest o course time and we are in the lead by about fifteen minutes. awesome team work guys,and gal.

2011-03-12T09:18:00.003-08:00

Lelie heading out for her orienteering section solo before the team bikes

2011-03-12T08:50:00.003-08:00

Teams heading out for the NGAR this morning in beautiful weather

2011-03-12T08:43:00.001-08:00

Brian flexing his pipes and getting ready to rock at todays NGAR race

Tecnu Extreme comes off the paddle on Carter Lake with an 8 Minute lead over EMS. A pack of five teams close behind. Go team!

Leslie excited to. start todays race in Georgia

2011-03-12T07:38:00.003-08:00

Tecnu Extreme/staphaseptic adventure racing in the lead entering the lake after the prologue. go team!

2011-03-12T07:25:00.001-08:00

Tecnu Extreme in the lead at the NGAR followed closely by Appalachian AR

Kyle Peter of Tecnu Extreme anxious to start the NGAR AND START THE SEASON

Tecnu Extreme finishes the run to the canoe prologue in the lead

2011-03-12T07:18:00.003-08:00

The gun off off starting our season at the NGAR NINETEEN MINUTES AGO AFTER A SHORT PROLOGUE TO THE CANOES

2011-03-12T07:11:00.001-08:00

Tecnu Extreme/staphAseptic ready to kick of the 2011 season at the NGAR in Georgia this morning. forecast= beautiful. Go team!

2011-03-12T07:02:00.001-08:00

pre race meeting at the NGAR

2011-03-12T06:41:00.001-08:00

pasta dinner, salad, bread and brownies pre race in georgia.

2011-03-11T21:14:00.003-08:00

Tecnu Extreme/ staphAseptic dialing in their maps, getting ready for tommorrows race start, in Georgia at 9 am

2011-03-11T20:44:00.003-08:00

Leslie sporting her new Tecnu Extreme racing kit..

Brians bike dialed Tecnu Extreme style

2011-03-11T19:38:00.001-08:00

Our housing at the Mulberry Gap.. Good Times...

2011-03-11T12:20:00.003-08:00

Tecnu Extreme/staphAseptic adventure racing

2011-03-11T12:15:00.001-08:00

getting ready for the NGAR 30 Hour adventure race...

Kyle Peter dialing in his bike looking for a hammerfest at tommorrows NGAR.

whazz up....

Tecnu Extremes assistance vehicle for the NGAR. EARRING Dougs styling ride. :)

2011-03-11T11:47:00.003-08:00

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic battles hard to 8th place finish at the Untamed Adventure

2010-08-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic battled hard in N.E this past weekend against the toughest competition in North America in 2010. It was the only World Championships qualifier in North America, and all the top teams had assembelled to do battle racing non stop for three days over 250 miles. The weather was perfect. The time was right. After coming out of the long 40 mile paddle in 3rd, the team maintained their placing through much of the race, but in the end, the race course proved tougher, and the challenging terrain, and the heat of the competition prevailed. The team finished 8th, albeit short of our goal of qualifying to go to Worlds, but we learned so much and are proud of finishing when so many teams faltered. This race was different in many ways from the races we typically do, and with some careful planning, next year we will be atop the podium. Thanks to the organizers for a kick butt race, and thank you to the 42 teams for providing a very competitive format that tested our resolve. We take away alot from this race, and are excited to see where the rest of 2010 takes us. We are learning. We are growing. When we put it all together, look out. See you at the next race. The Desertwinds expedition race in Nevada sept 26-29th awaits.

On the eve of Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptics biggest race of 2010.. The untamed Adventure in N.H pits us against the best competition in North America.

2010-08-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic adventure racing has prevailed and endured much in 2010. This team is coming off a handful of wins as of late, and we are heading into our biggest race of the season with confidence, health, and the keen can get er done attitude. We like our chances at this race. It is a format that suits our strengths, and is long enough for us to put a hurting on the other teams if we control the vaiables. Tommorrow at noon in N.H at the 3 day Untamed Adventure race that will go through Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, 42 teams including some from Canada and Europe will all vie to win and receive a free full paid entry to the World Championships in Spain in October. We want the spot. We have peaked at the right time, and we will push the pace hard in the hopes of representing the United states at the Worlds as one of the top dogs in the U.S. The gun goes off tommorrow at noon with a paddle prologue that will be sure to start the race off with a fury as teams scramble for position early. Be sure to tune back in to hear all the awesome deets from this race which include conservation projects, a team waterfall climb,orienteering relay, a nice tyrolean and rapell, a bike and tie, and much, much more. We will do you proud. Thanks to Tecnu Extreme and staphAseptic for their continued killer support, and love of what we do. You guys rock! Thanks to our families for loving us enough to support what we do, and to all of our other partners/sponsors, you guys rock! Thanks for the continued support. Talk to you on sunday where hopefully, the top spot of the podium awaits. The air is good up there. : )

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic presses hard and gets a big win in Va at the Equinox Traverse...

2010-06-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

We finally we got ourselves a win under our race packs.......!!!

Charlie Kharsa, Matt Hayes, Mari Chandler, and Kyle Peter - Team Tecnu were off to Covington Virginia for the 2010 Equinox Traverse 2 day adventure race. Looking at the course layout and number of CP's (19 mandatory, 21 optional) the night before the race, Kyle predicted us to finish in 36 hours. We talked to the course director Chris Caul and he predicted the winning time to complete the entire course would be about 40 hours, we wanted to prove him wrong. This race was unsupported and with the exception of paddle gear, we had to carry everything we would need for the entire race from start to finish. We were a little concerned about the 83+ degree temperature and humidity, but it would be the first race this year that we would not be freezing cold and wet at any point.

The race started with a 30k bike ride. Unfortunately after fixing a flat tire we over shot the 2nd CP and spent about 1.5 hours looking for it and re-attacking the point. The CP was 'optional', but knowing we needed every point to win it was not optional for us to skip. Kyle and Matt worked well together and were able to finally get us to the control and we were back on our bikes, slightly frustrated, and in last place. We did catch one team at the final CP before getting to our canoes for a 65k paddle. The first half of the paddle section was in Lake Moomaw followed by a 5k portage down a paved road to the Jackson River for the remaining 28k. While we were at the boat takeout we were told we were 1 hour and 53 min behind the lead teams, ouch. We entered the river at 9:30 pm and the warm air mixing with the cold river water created a thick layer of fog over the water. We had been told earlier that there were class I rapids down the length of the river. What would normally be tiny little 'ripples' in the water during the day time sounded like raging white water to us in the dark and our headlamps were almost useless in the fog. But after we 'survived' the first few rapids we got comfortable running the river 'blind' and learned to navigate the small rocks. Earlier while on the bikes we had crossed a bridge over the same river and Matt had noticed that there were 2 gnarly strainers on opposite sides of the river hanging out over the water where the water was moving fast. He reminded us of this which was very helpful and we were able to maneuver around the strainers in the darkness without any trouble. Unfortunately 2 teams did not do so well. We saw a team standing on shore and we asked them if they were ok, they said they could not find their boat. A few seconds later we saw their boat upside down with another team's boat also upside down and pinned against it into a large rock. We immediately pulled over to the shore to help them. 20 minutes later we had both boats on shore, made sure they had all of their gear and we were back into our boats and continued on our way. Shortly after 1 a.m. we left the river and were off for a 25k trek. We knew we had our work cut out for us as we were still 2 hours behind. We set a strong pace and by day light we had passed several teams and at the next TA we were told we were only 25 minutes behind EMS and ImOnPoint, the 2 lead teams. After fixing another flat tire, we were back on the bikes and with our spirits high we hammered out the next 25k bike section. We caught sight of EMS on an out and back section and knew we had closed the gap a bit more. At the next TA we were able to unload some weight out of our packs as the this section was a 10 point optional orienteering section and would be returning to the same area to pick up our bikes and gear again. With the heat of the day coming on strong we took off on the O course about 10 minutes behind EMS and ImOnPoint had not checked in yet. Kyle's spot on nav and good route choice brought us back to our bikes with all 10 points and into the lead. We were in the home stretch but it wasn't over yet and we transitioned quickly and were off on our bikes. We had 28k with 3 CP's and a monster 3000' foot climb ahead of us to the last CP at a look-out tower high up on the ridge and then a short rappel right as the sun was setting. Once we finished the rappel we had a short hike back up to our bikes and were off for the final 25 k to the finish. We finished the race at 10:13 pm, with a race time of just over 36 hours (as predicted by Kyle.....) and our first win of the season. Yeah team. 2nd place went to EMS who finished over 2 hours behind us. We had a great time and take pride in our ability to work well together as a team and despite having a terrible start we were able to push on for the win. Thanks to Doug and Chris Caul for putting on a great race.

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic travelling to VA to take on the 2.5 day Equinox Traverse Adventure Race...

2010-06-02T23:21:00.001-07:00

Kyle, Matt, Mari and Charlie of Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic adventure racing have been traveling all day today converging on the showdown in VA at the Equinox Traverse 135 mile adventure race. This race is put on by Chris Caul the ex race director of the PrimalQuest one of the biggest expedition races in the world, and should be fiercely contested by several teams including us. We are due for a win after having danced around it all season. I don't think any team has ever shown more consistency than we have this season, but the top rung of the podium still eludes us. Will this weekend finally end the Tecnu curse? I believe it will, but lets chant it softly as the team is preparing to win this puppy against such teams as EMS, Berlin Bike, Sog and NYARA1. It looks to be a great battle in Covington, VA. The weather looks to be hot and humid, just what us Californians love.

This adventure race is Rogaine style which means you clear the course checkpoints in whatever order you like, so strategy is key. Good thing we have our stud navigators on board with Kyle just having raced at the North American Championships in Oregon this past weekend and getting 4th place, just missing 2nd by the slimmest of margins. Matt Hayes is joining us from Nuun for a couple of races this year, and is the North America Rogaine Champion from a couple years ago, and knows and loves this format, so we should be super strong on the nav end of it. Now it just comes down to Mari dragging the boys around the course. I hope they can keep up.

Go big or go home I say. Be sure to tune into and watch the race unfold at the Equinox Traverse. Winner gets both USARA and CP Tracker bragging rights with 200 points going to the victor. Will that be us this time? Shhhhh.... Lets not jinx us shall we, but just between you and me, I wouldn't count us out as we hope to paddle 35, mt.bike 85 and run 45 miles around the course faster than anyone. tune back in for all the mondo deets. Till then, live large....

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic back racing again this time in VA at the 3 day Equinox Traverse...

2010-06-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic adventure racing gets 2nd at the USARA National Sprint Championships in TX...

2010-05-17T20:13:00.001-07:00

Racing hard in Texas at the USARA Sprint National Championships, Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic falls to one of our own, getting 2nd place in a time of 1'36, only 40 seconds behind team-mate and mt.bike speed demon Leslie Reuter, racing on her other team, iMOAt. Congrats to her and Nathan for their win. It was a fun, hard fought race with iMOAT coming out on top of the 60 team field. Looking forward to next year, and a rematch. Good job teamie! Congrats! We are proving to be a VERY versatile team and contenders at any distance we show up at. We are starting to really gel as a team! Next up, trying to win the Equinox Traverse in VA June 5th. Good luck to Kyle, Mari, Charlie and Matt as they go there to push the pace, and shoot for the podium.

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic vies to become the USARA National Sprint Champions this weekend in TX...

2010-05-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

Heading to Texas this weekend, Mari Chandler and Kyle Peter of Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic adventure racing hope that after three hours of intense racing to be crowned the USARA National Sprint champions. This race is put on by Terra Firma and will be held about an hour outside of Austin. To add a little drama, one of our team-mates Leslie Reuter will be toeing the line AGAINST us racing with one of her team-mates from IMOAT. May the best man, er woman, win. When the dust settles, we hope that's us.

Go Team! National Champiionships await!

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic comes in 4th at the LBL Adventure race in KY

2010-04-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

Race #4 0f 2010- Land Between the Lakes, With Kyle Peter, Leslie Reuter, Mari Chandler, and Piers Stockwell

We had a pretty good race and moved well as a team. Unfortunately, the results don't really show it. The race started at 7 a.m. with a 10k off trail trek. In our excitement to be racing again, we were moving a little too fast and were a bit 'sloppy' with finding the CP's in a terrain with features at a much smaller scale than what we are used to. We came off the trek in about 6th place but quickly over took 2 teams while riding bikes on some of Kentucky's finest single-track. Despite having to fix a broken chain, our bike leg was fast and we were able to pick up the cp's relatively easy. To save time and distance we rode down a few sections of power lines and unfortunately ended up with several thorns in our tires. My "tubeless" teammates Kyle and Leslie had no problems, but unfortunately Piers and I were not riding tubeless and had to deal with 3 flat tires. (Yet another lesson learned.) After the bikes we were off for another trek. We had found out we were 45 minutes back from the leaders and set off hoping to close the gap a bit more. We were moving fast and Kyle, now really in tune with the terrain and his maps, led us to each one, spot on. We finished the trek confident that we had closed in on the lead teams, but were frustrated to find out we were still 45 minutes back. Next we were off for a 3 1/2 hour paddle in race provided canoes. We had 32 of the 45 CP's at this point, it was only 4:00 p.m., quite warm out, and we had plenty of daylight left, all was good. Plus, we finally got to use our kayak paddles that we had been carrying the entire race. The lake was relatively calm and quiet with only a few bass fisherman tucked in the coves. We grabbed 7 more cp's scattered along the shorelines and were off for the final trek just as the sun was setting. We were running out of "race" and there was still a big gap between the top 3 teams and us. We remained positive and kept the pace strong as we grabbed the final 2 trek cp's and were back at our bikes for the final bike leg. Well.....first we had to fix 2 more flat tires that had slowly leaked while we were gone. There were only 2 bike cp's between us and the finish and we got to enjoy some more of Kentucky smooth single-track. Unfortunately with 1 cp to go, a mistake with the flipping of the map caused us to take a slightly more "challenging" and interesting route choice. Bike Wacking !!! We ended up off trail for about an hour. We just weren't ready to finish the course and wanted to spend more quality time together pushing and carrying our bikes over lots of downed trees, through thick brush, and oh yeah, we had our kayak paddles with us. ;) Once we were back on the road and trails, we grabbed the last CP and were back at the finish line by 11:28 pm. Despite our slight bike detour, we managed to hold onto 4th place. Congrats to WEDALI, Alpine Shop, and Bushwackers for having a solid race and really making us work hard in the chase. Bonk Hard Racing put on a great race and it was fun racing in Kentucky, a state none of us had raced in. The best part was we were warm and dry the entire time, a first for the season. We are still waiting to have that 'perfect' race , but I'm sure there's one around the corner.

Tecnu Exteme/StaphAseptic hoping for a strong showing at the LBL Challenge in Kentucky...

2010-04-09T23:33:00.000-07:00

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic is excited to race in Kentucky, enjoying the warm weather, and looking forward to a fun and fast race starting at 7am on saturday april 10th. Going up against strong competition like Wedali and Alpine Shop, this team seems poised to make a run for hopefully the top rung of the ladder after a strong showing at the Endorphin Fix two weeks ago, but she is ever so elusive, and in a sport where controlling the variables is key, we just have not quite put it all together yet this season to get our first win. The team feels we are due, and we have put in the time, and are excited to see what unfolds. We would like for the stars to be aligned this race, and for that winning team to finally be us. Stay tuned. It's going to be a fun one. We look forward to strong competition, and wish the other teams a safe and semi-sane race.

Cheers!

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic sdventure racing

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic racing hard in the lead at the Endorphin Fix

2010-04-01T11:15:00.001-07:00

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic went to the Endorphin Fix in VA last weekend with one thing in mind. To win the race, and get the 200 points and the lead in the CP Tracker series. From the gun, we led the race, suffering the most in the harsh elements, cold weather, and horrific mud. Unfortunately the team had to withdraw with a 5 hour lead over EMS the 2007 National Champions due a medical emergency. Leslie Reuter, one of the Queens of our machine was suffering from an asthma attack, and had battled with wheezing and had trouble breathing from the start. She hung in there like the trooper she is, and without an inhaler, the team decided it was safer to withdraw than to risk a team-mate. The E-Fix was one of the most competitive races so far this year, and Nuun, Bones, CP Zero, Sog, EMS, and others were struggling to keep up with our team. We are thrilled and excited to see where this team, and their potential will carry us. National Champions? Worlds qualifiers at the Untamed in August? CP Tracker series Champs? Who knows, but we know this. The skies the limit for this team, and we are just having fun racing hard. Stay tuned! Watch us race April 10-11in Kentucky at the 24 Hour LBL Challenge as we take on Team Wedali! It's going to be a great battle in the bluegrass.320

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic vies for the win at the E-Fix 50 hour adventure race this weekend in VA

2010-03-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

Well into our 2010 racing season, the team heads east to VA to race against the best competition in the US to date this year at the 50 hour Endorphin Fix adventure race north of Roanoke, VA. Going up against great teams like Nuun, Bones, Sog, Berlin Bikes, ATP and more, this will be a true test of the teams fitness, and show us excatly where we stand as far as the year is going. With 3-3rd place finishes this year, the team is happy at our growth, but ready to move up the podium, and this race would be a thrill to do just that. Kyle, Mari, Leslie and the newest addition from Dirty Avocados, Brian Schmitz, we are ready to unveil the motor, and let er rip. Hang on race fans, its going to be fun. You can follow the haps on www.checkpointtracker.com , and be sure to send good kharma Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic's way as they test the boundary of human endurance pressing the pace.

cheers all! Stay safe and sane!

Earring Doug Judson-Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic adventure racing Team Captain

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic battles hard finishes 3rd at the Swamp Stomp in Florida

2010-02-15T23:02:00.000-08:00

Swamp Stomp 2010

Team Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic

Kyle Peter, Mari Chandler, Keith Bushaw, Leslie Reuter

The 2nd race of 2010 took team Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic to about one hour north of Tampa, FL to race in the Swamp Stomp. Plotting the course Friday night near the banks of the Homosassa River proved that the race would live up to its name. 30 miles of river-paddling in a maze of waterways cutting though the swamp and miles of swamp travel ton foot and even bike (yes…I said bike) though thick wet swamp ooze!

Saturday morning we started with a 14 mile paddle on the Homosassa River Trail that we finished in around 4th place, but we transitioned quickly at the ‘Chaz’ Campground and headed out onto Bike #1 in first place. Biking mostly on paved roads we grabbed a few CP’s and cruised into the transition to Trek 1 holding our lead.

Trek 1 was a relatively straightforward rogaine in Withlacoochee State Forest. After 5 hours of running we cleared the section. Most points were 100-300 meters from a trail or road, but with no features in flat Florida, the team relied heavily on pace counts to get the CPs.

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic took off on Bike # 2 still leading the pack, but with a local team hot on our heels. We grabbed 3 CP’s or so on our way into the deep nasty swamp at the same the time the sun began to set. The first point we went to in the swamp requited us to leave our bikes at the end of a trail and stomp through the swamp for 100 meters to find the flag. It was cold, it was our first time moving in the swamp, and Leslie found a keeper spot that sucked her in deep. Needless to say, we slowed a bit. We started to bike back out the same trail we used to come in to the CP and saw the local FL team. I estimated we had about 15 minutes on them. We also saw Checkpoint Zero and some other teams on the out-and-back section. Next up on our plan was a group of 4 CP’s that didn’t have a clear connecting route to get them all. We tried to get them in a loop that appeared to be the most efficient according to the map. But it turned out that trails in the swamp can easily be covered in 3 feet of water and near impossible to find. We decided to bike an extra 15 kilometers on relatively fast trails to avoid a 750 meter swamp bushwack with our bikes over our shoulders. Seemed like the safest smartest thing to do, but turns out the race directors designed the course so everybody had to carry there bikes through the swamp. The marked trails on the map were really hunters’ bushwacking routes through the swamp than ride-able trails. Long and short of it we were passed out there by the local team as well as Checkpoint Zero with all three of us getting all points on Bike 2. We came into the start the Trek 2 30 minutes behind CP0 and 2 hours behind the local team. Game over! The intensity immediately dropped and my focus on the maps faded. We pushed on adjusted our plan for the trek, got what points we could with Leslie navigating us through a 1 kilometer, pitch black, below freezing, thick swamp.

We returned to the TA to pick up our bikes to find out Checkpoint Zero still in the TA but with 1 more CP than us (a point worth 2 points when most were worth only 1 point). We also discovered that our bikes cassettes had frozen solid. Hours of swamp biking, sandy road ridng, and 28 degree temperatures are not the best conditions for bikes. We put on our frozen solid bike shoes, and all of the clothes we had (none of it dry at this point) and set off on the final bike ride (Bike 3). I have probably been heard saying a half dozen times or so, “This is the coldest I have ever been.” I don’t think I said it this time because I was too cold to talk, but I truly believe this was the coldest I have been in my live. All four of us had completely numb feet and hands. At every CP, Keith would put his bare hands down his pants to warm his fingers, and Leslie would ride without her hands on the bars in order to put them up here shirt to keep them warm.

We pulled into the final TA and transitioned into our frozen solid paddling gear. When I took my bike shoes off there was a layer of ice between my wet sock and my shoe. I don’t think that has ever happened to me before. Not to mention in FL?

We started Paddle 2 early Sunday morning and preceded to get the mandatory CP’s They were all located up channels that were feed by springs. We usually had to wade the last few meters in 72 degree water from our boats up to the spring to reach the CP. What a welcome change from the frozen socks and PFD we wearing! Our final CP required one teammate to swim into a deep hole being fed by a spring. As the youngest on the team I won the chance to dive the 10 feet into the clear spring and get the CP!! I was cold, but the finish line was only 200 meters away, and as a special treat we were greated by a family of manetees swimming under our canoes as we left the spring.

The Swamp Stomp proved to be a very challenging race both physically and mentally. Florida doesn’t have hills, but it sure has swamps! All things considered we are happy with our third place finish, and impressed with Checkpoint Zero’s second place finish and the local teams win. I won’t speak for the rest of the team, but I will be back. I want another shot at those swamp ‘trails’ or lack-there-of.

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic battles hard at the NGAR and finishes 3rd against top competition

2010-01-17T23:14:00.000-08:00

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic adventure racing headed to Georgia this weekend to race at the NGAR(North Georgia Adventure race) in Fort Mt. State park. Battling 40-50 mile an hour winds, pouring rain the entire race, and cold temperatures, most teams are notorious for quitting this 87 mile race. This year was no different with 16 teams dropping out of the field of 35. Only four teams finished the entire course with local team Enduaventure winning over powerhouse NUUN by 50 minutes, and we blazed the last orienteering section bettering NUUNS time by 50 minutes and finished 3rd, 40 minutes back. A great showing against top teams from the east especially considering this was our first race together. Miserable, sloppy conditions, but that's why we signed up. A good start to our 2010 season. We have high hopes for this team. Stay tuned for more!

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic prepares to try to win the NGAR!

2010-01-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

Mari, Kyle, Keith and I flew into Atlanta last night with the hopes of getting atop the podium at the NGAR. (North Georgia Adventure race) It is the first race of the 2010 racing season for the team, and a chance to see where our fitness lies. We have some killer goals set for the 2010 season, and tommorrow morning at 9 am on Carters Lake when the gun goes off with a 1.2 mile running prologue, we will find out. Mari's going up against NUUN, the team she has raced much of her adventure racing career. Should be some fun comraderie as the two of us vie for the top spot. He, er she, er they who suffers the most wins. Weather has been brisk with snow and ice on the ground, but this week has been slowly warming up. Weather is forecast for 30 as the low, 50 as the high with rain coming in the early afternoon. race starts with a short run prologue and transitiosn to a long canoe with some portage options. We will then bike up and down all over Fort Mountain State followed by a long hike, another bike, then the race finishes off with a trek to the finish. Total race distance is 95 miles, rogaine style. He who finishes the course with the most checkpoints in the fastest time wins. Here's hoping that sunday at three, it will be us. Pictures to follow. Tune back in for updates as we prepare to take the first checkpoint tracker points of 2010. Travel safe and well to the 35 teams racing hard tommorrow. Go big or go home! If this race lives up to its cult following reputation, many of the teams will be going home.

More pics from the team kicking butt in Malaysia at the 2009 Perak Eco Adventure..

2009-12-08T11:33:00.000-08:00

Race re-cap final stage 4 en route to the podium in Malaysia

2009-12-07T16:35:00.000-08:00

Day 4 - Final Stage

Kyle and I knew what had to be done for the final day of racing. We were currently in 4th place and less than 3 minutes behind a spot on the podium which was held by Team Salomon TLDM from Malaysia. The day began with a long 48 mile bike leg which the majority would all be on paved roads and flat. The first 12 miles were pretty easy as everyone rode in a peloton as expected. The next 4 miles were insane as we had to loop around some rice paddy fields. We were forced into a single file line through wet tall grass with mud underneath. It was a struggle to remain with the lead group through the slippery conditions, but we hung on. At the edge of the paddy field was a bridge that led us back to the road, but we had to heave our bikes up onto it as it was 4 ft or so off the ground. Kyle and I were back on our bikes and on the road only to find ourselves a good 200 meters behind the peloton. We knew we had gotten off the bridge before the Malaysians and needed to get back with the lead riders. Kyle took off and I got on his wheel and we road as hard as we could and eventually caught the group. We settled back into the peloton and enjoyed the pull and recovered from our sprint. The pace had slowed again and the French team(Chiru Racing Bikes) and the Japanese team each tried to break away, but each time we caught back up with them. With all the goofing around with the pace, our Malaysian friends were able to rejoin the group as well. No one would take the lead and push the pace except us and the 2 teams from South Africa (Team McCain Adventure). I took the lead and Kyle got behind me and we picked up the pace. The next thing we knew, we were all alone and the peloton had dropped behind us. We expected them to catch us, but that was the last we would see of them for the next 24 miles. Kyle and I alternated leading, giving 1 min hard pulls while the other recovered all the while thinking at any moment the freight train of riders would run us over soon, but they never came. We held 24-28 mph on our mt. bikes as we were led by a police escort and camera crews all the way to the TA. It was pretty exciting to have gotten a break-a-way from such a strong group of riders and be in the lead.

We had a quick transition into our kayak gear and were off for a short paddle in the Indian Ocean to Pangkor Island. At this point we still had no idea exactly how far ahead we were and just wanted to keep our lead as long as possible. We expected to be caught on the kayak leg, as we are not the stongest paddlers, but no one came. We reached the sandy beach and now had to run up a hill to a 60 m repel down a steep rock face right back down to the beach. Because we had done the entire bike section while wearing our climbing harnesses, there was no need for the transition and gained more valuable time on the Malaysian team who we knew was not wearing theirs.

Now we were off for a 6k run along the edge of the island through the town of Pangkor. We were still feeling pretty good and settled into a comfortable pace but tried to keep pushing. Kyle had fallen back a bit so he we connected the tow line so that we could keep together. It seemed as though the entire town of Pangkor had come out and lined both sides of the street to cheer us on. They seemed confused to find Kyle and I by ourselves , most likely looking extremely tired , and why were we tied together?? We pushed on and reached the aid station at the base of "Killing Hill". In the race briefing the night before, the Race Director had told us that this hill was harder than the one we had done on Day 2 and had almost destroyed a few teams. We decided to take the time to load up on water before continuing up the trail. As we headed up the steep trail we still saw no one behind us. It wasn't too much time later when we heard the Swedish team coming up behind us and moving fast. Within a few moments they had caught us, passed us, and dropped us. We kept on trekking and a few moments later, Pacific Adventure made up of 2 Americans caught us, passed us, and dropped us. We decided that was enough, and in order for us to grab 3rd overall, we had to hold onto 3rd for the stage win. We never saw another team. We reached the base of "Killing Hill", which ended up being way easier than expected and had a short run back out to the main island road. Here we would get to choose from a group of "local" bikes and would be allowed to use one bike for the 2 of us to go the remaining 5k to the finish. Kyle immediately grabbed a bike that had the essentials...2 inflated tires, 2 pedals, at least 1 brake, and hopefully the ability to shift a gear or 2. I took off running and Kyle passed me on the bike. It was hilarious as the bikes were all for people a bit shorter than us and he looked like he was pedaling a kid's bike. For the next 5 k, we leap frogged each other with one of us riding a short distance ahead and dropping the bike on the side of the road and then the other of us running to it, picking up the bike and continuing. There was a lot of traffic on the road and I was sure at some point our bike would either get run over or fall apart. With the bike being so small it was very difficult to ride up the few hills we had along the way to the finish and I was having flashbacks of riding my little niece and nephew's little cruiser bikes and thinking that maybe that form of training was paying off at last. ha ha. I was just starting to feel pretty crappy and had told Kyle as he rode by me not to make me run to far when we could start to hear the sounds of the finish line. Kyle dropped the bike immediately after he passed me and was off and running hard to the finish. I barely caught him when we rounded the final turn and crossed the finish line together to finish the 4th and final stage in 3rd place. Immediately we started our watches and waited to see who would cross the finish line next. After 3 minutes we knew we had the last spot on the podium secured. As time ticked by and only the Japanese team finished, we thought we had a shot at 2nd place as Chiru Racing bikes had 6+ minute lead heading into this stage. At 4 1/2 minutes, Team Chiru crossed the finish line. It was official...

1st place: Team World of Multi-Sport from Sweden, 4 day race total of 15:30:07 (co-ed team)
2nd place: Team Chiru Racing Bikes from Australia & France, 15:50:36 (all male team)
3rd place: Kyle and I, Team Tecnu Extreme/Asolo, 15:51:55

Thanks to all of our sponsors Tecnu Extreme, and Asolo, and Leki and Rollerblade for getting us gear last minute, friends, and family for following our blog and supporting us through this fantastic adventure. We will definitely put this race on the calender for next year.

Thanks for hosting us Malaysia, it's been great but, we're heading home !

-Mari & Kyle

3rd place on the last day puts us on the podium in 3rd place at the innagural 2009 Malaysian Eco Adventure! Congratulations Tecnu Extreme/Asolo!

2009-12-06T03:32:00.000-08:00

Stage 3 race recap from Mari....Last stage tommorrow..

2009-12-05T12:20:00.001-08:00

Today, we had a lot of fun and are quite happy with how we did. Another great day of working well together.

Race started with a 12 k road ride in which we basically just had a good time hanging out in the peloton. There was a small break away and Kyle and I went with the group. Then the ride got pretty tough, it was a mix of smooth 2 track rideable road and rocky creek crossings and bike pushes up hill. Kyle and I were not sure what position we were in as it got a bit strung out. I was very happy I had decided to change my slick tires to semi slicks as it helped me climb in the rocks and mud. Unfortunately , Grant from the Kiwi team took a pretty good crash on his bike on one of the turns. The rumor is he might have a fracture in his back but is doing ok.

We came off the bike to the white water raft section. We started out with Kyle in the back and me in the front with our "guide" in the very front showing us the path to take. We weren't doing the best so we tried switching spots and continued to have similar trouble controlling the 6 person raft w/ only 2 people, but we made it down the river with a few hang ups on some rocks. It's pretty much where we lost most our time, but hey, we stayed in the boat and had a lot of fun. We did get passed by the Malaysia team about 1/2 way down the river, but we had a very quick 30 sec TA and were off on the run ahead of them. This is where the heat caught up with me and I felt terrible. Kyle and I kept a very good pace for the next 9 k and eventually I had to take a tow from him. I would like to point out that this was the first time I have ever been towed running but wow was it HELPFUL and we were able to keep our pace and dropped the Malaysian team even more. I was quite happy when we reached the river and had a short run downstream to where we entered the Cave. This was probably the most fun as it was pitch black and we used only our headlights, or torches as they are called here, to navigate our way downstream through the cave. I got all of my energy back with the cooler temp and the army crawling we had to do in the water to get through certain sections. 12 minutes later we popped out into daylight and threw down a very fast 400 meter sprint to the finish. We ended up 7th, but only 7 minutes back from first place. Fortunately only 2 of the teams who beat us where in front of us in the overall placement so we moved up to 4th place overall and now only 3 minutes behind the Malaysian team in 3rd place.

Tonight we were welcomed at our next hotel with an entire festival going on with dancing, music, gifts, and games. The Malaysian culture is amazing and Kyle and I are enjoying every minute of it. We are feeling good right now and are very excited for tomorrow's final stage. It will be the longest stage with a very long bike , short kayak, a repel, a big hill climb on the run and a team biathalon (whatever that is....) . That's all for now, Kyle and I are heading back to the festival to do some christmas shopping. ;)

Hello from Malaysia to everyone back home !

-Mari

Enjoying our drink of choice on our day of rest - Kyle's new addiction "100 plus" an iso topic drink with carbonation and of course a coke for me.

2009-12-04T11:44:00.001-08:00

Kyles stage 2 recap from racing yesterday in Malaysia.. Todays a rest day, back on tommorrow. Go team!

2009-12-03T18:31:00.000-08:00

Stage 2 started outside the Taiping Zoo with 32 racers on inline skates and a large crowd lining the streets. The Swedish team took off like a bullet, and Mari and I found ourselves in 4th position. We started working together and hunted down 2 teams to finish the 2 lap / 8k skate in second place. Big thanks to Rollerblade for the SpeedMaster 90's and to Leki for the poles that helped conserve our legs for what was to come. After a quick transition, we headed out on what was to be a 6k run to the rappel. We spend the next 2+ hours rock hopping, sliding down rivers, clawing up impossible jungle steeps, sliding down slippery slopes, and trying not to grab the cartoon-like thorns that covered most of the flora all while keeping our eyes peeled on flagging that lead us to the rappel. We were caught by a few teams on the jungle trek as I was having a real low point on the steep climbs, but Mari did the brunt of the work pulling me through the jungle and route finding. After being out of out of water for around a hour, working together with the New Zealand and Malaysia teams, and edging a few other teams out by staying on course while they got off course by not paying careful attention to the flagging, we arrived at the waterfall rappel in 5th place minutes out of 3rd place. After a very slippery, wet, fun rappel down the waterfall we took a 15 foot jump into a pool of water below the falls and swam out to run an easy trail to the bike pick up. After slamming some water, Mari and I worked together to recover from the run. We managed to catch up to the New Zealand team. They managed to hang onto our draft, but weren't able to help do any of the pulling, and it was doing us any good sticking with them as we needed to make up 11 minutes on them. I dropped to the back of the pace line as Mari was pulling and noticed both Kiwi's were working extremly hard to hang onto Mari's wheel. Mari pulled off to let one of them take a pull and no one went to the front. That is when we made a big push and dropped them for good. We finished the bike ride 8 minutes ahead of them and put into the paddle section with the intent of holding them off and closing the remaining gap on the 3 teams in front. We were able to close the gap on the Yogaslackers who finished in third palce 1 min and 20 secs in front of us, but we weren't able to pass them on the short paddle. We finished the paddle strong, hopped out of the boats and sprinted 1000 meters on a wooden boardwalk to the finish line in 4th place and moving up 3 spots in the overall classification to 5th place and 15 minutes behind the leaders. We then got a fun ambulance ride to the local clinic to get our thorns pulled out from the jungle trek, our cuts and scrapes cleaned and dressed, and a tetnious shot for good measure. Didn't have to wait, fill out any paper work, or pay!! And Yes the needles were sterile. Rest day today. Stage 3 is tomorrow with a bike, raft, run, cave.

Newspaper clipping from the Malaysia race. Tecnu Extreme/Asolo was 4th today, moving into 5th overall..Go team!

2009-12-03T05:17:00.000-08:00

Map of todays stage...Fits the teams strengths...Look for us to move up....

2009-12-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

Final Standings after day 1 racing in Malaysia.

2009-12-01T23:02:00.000-08:00

Final Standings after day 1 racing in Malasia.
Tommorrows a different day! go Team!

E-Mail from Mari after day one in Malaysia...

2009-12-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

Well not the best start for us, but we're feeling good about it. We are in 8th and about 10 minutes back from leaders. We had a bit of a rough start as I absolutely SUCK at swimming and probably lost us about 5 minutes. The teams up front are very good paddlers so we lost a couple of minutes there but hung onto the middle of the pack. The jungle 1k "run", was more of a slippery sloppy trek as it had rained all last night and made the trail a bit of a disaster, couldn't make up any ground there. It was fun though and apparently is Malaysia's oldest rain forest. We got in a much better rhythm once we got on land. The bike was short and quick and we did fine on the muddy dirt road section. We caught and passed 2 teams on the hill climb. Then it was a 5 k run to the finish. We were hoping to be more like 6 minutes out of the lead, but are confident that are racing will only get better. Between the swim, long kayak, and having such a short bike, we knew today was going to be the toughest for us. But we are psyched to go hard tomorrow on our skates and close the gap and leave nothing out there as we have a rest day afterwards.

That's all from Malaysia. Yes, we are drinking lots of water and recovering well. We both feel fine and ready to rock. :)

-Mari

Here's the team list for the Malaysian Race 2009

2009-12-01T13:24:00.000-08:00

1 Asia Pacific Adventure- Ryan Blair and Damian Gonzalez
2 C1 Mongolia-Tamir Andrej and Zoright Batchuluun
3 Chiru Racing Bikes- Pierre Arnaud Le Magnan and Mark Thirlwall
4 Fit For Fun- Stephen Farrell and Grant Schofield
5 Pink Panthers- Nina Saunders and Chiara Garzoni
6 Salomon TLDM- Mohd Puzi Bin Dolah and Heidilee Bin Mohammad
7 Sart EcoRac-e Hadi Masron and Kong Eu Yen
8 Satoga-ism- Takahiro Ogasawara and Hidehito Sato
9)Team Erdene- Dawson Brisco Jon Lyons
10 Team McCain- Adventure Addicts Graham Bird and Andre Gie
11 Team McCain- Adventure Fanatics
12 Tecnu Extreme/Asolo Adventure racing
13 Team Tenaga- Harold Zundel Adam Goodvibes
14 Team Worldofmultisport.com- Martin Flinta and Eva Nystrom SWEDEN
15 Malaysia local team DROPPED
16 The Seven Summits
17 YogaSlackers

Teams in Malaysia getting friendly with the natives..

2009-12-01T13:13:00.001-08:00

Here's a 6 inch scorpion the team saw yesterday while getting ready for the 5 days stage race in Malaysia. Steer clear guys, steer clear! : )

Tecnu Extreme/Asolo at the pre race testing out the course

2009-12-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

Here's the team in Malaysia yesterday doing the pre-testing. Word is that they saw a 6 inch scorpion running around that got them excited to play in the jungle. The race starts tonight at 6pm West coast time which translates into Wednesday at 10 am over there. Tecnu Extreme/Asolo, and a swedish and finnish team should be the favorites to win the race, so the teams go their work cut out but we are ready to race. The team ran the course today and got their strategy going for todays stage. Most of the teams were struggling badly practicing for the inline skate section so the race director decided to throw it out for todays stage due to a safety factor ad seeing most teams struggle practicing on a downhill section to a bridge. We of course are bummed because we are pretty good on skates and was looking forward to kicking teams butts on that leg. Thankfully the race director lengthenned the 2nd stages inline skating section from 4km to 8km's so the team can still pull away and make up some time on a leg where they feel pretty comfortable in our new Rollerblade 90's and killer new Leki inline skating poles. Last night was a banquet to honor the teams complete with dignitaries and traditional dancing. Word on the street was that the King of Pelak was in attendance, so Malaysia is treating the team literally, like Kings. Mari says " Lets get on with it! Lets race already!" More later. Rock on! Go team!

Pre-Race pics of the team in Malaysia

2009-11-30T10:10:00.000-08:00

The Teams in Malaysia, here are some pre-race pics of them playing, getting ready to rock. Todays another day spent chilling poolside, then tommorrow is a pre-race brief/meeting, followed by interviews with ESPN STARS netowork where one billion asian households will fall in love with our two team-mates, Kyle and Mari. they are getting anxious to start the race, and going through last minute gear checks as well as fine tuning the new skates and inline skating poles we just got from our killer sponsors Rollerblade and Leki. Thanks guys for helping us go fast. More later. Cheers!

2009-11-29T17:40:00.000-08:00

Tecnu Extreme/Asolo adventure racing arrived in Malaysia yesterday for the innagural 5 day stage race which starts Dec 2nd. Kyle e-mailed me and told me they arrived safe,the flight attendants on Cathay Pacific airlines were hotties,the flight was long, Malaysia was beautiful,and they were meeting some of the teams that had already flown in. Most teams competing are 2 person male teams,and we sent our A-team of Kyle Peter and Mari Chandler,and look out boys. Mari is a better athlete than most men on this planet having been sponsored by Nike for many years,and having run 4:30 mile in college so our co-ed team will give you a run. The team plans to hang in for the first 2 days,then make a move against the teams when they are feeling the strain days 3-5. For now its time to eat,sleep,recover from jet lag,and hydrate like a mother. Tune in for updates on how the race is going. Go Team! The scenery never changes unless your the lead dog.

Tecnu Extreme/Asolo heading to Malasia to race...

2009-11-16T17:56:00.000-08:00

Tecnu Extreme/Asolo is going international to race. Kyle Peter and Mari Chandler will be heading to Malaysia to race at the Perak Amanjaya International Eco Adventure 2009 that will be happenning December 2-December 6th. They will be racing representing Tecnu Extreme/Asolo during this 4 day stage race against some of the better teams in the World. They are fast and we expect them to kick butt over there for us, and we are proud that their accomplishments have gotten them into this first year prestigious race put on by ESPNSTAR, the Asian ESPN partner. They will be racing across Malaysia in a super fast stage race with little navaigation, short disciplines, blazing fast transitions, and beautiful terrain. We wish them the best. Take lots of toilet paper, and whatever you do, DON'T drink the water! Have safe travels Teamies! Kick butt!

Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic at the Gold Rush Nov 4-8, 2009

2009-11-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

Well...this weekend was a strange one, and the Adventure Racing Gods were cruel.. We were on pace to win the notoriously tough Gold Rush Adventure Race put on by Mark Richardson and Adrian Crane, and then someone threw a wrench in the plans, and it was all gone before our eyes. The team was stacked. We had borrowed Glenn Rogers from the famed Nuun/Feed the Machine who is an animal, and a cool duder to boot. We have our new teamie and comrade-in-arms Kyle Peter who is a human lung. Leslie Reuter who is a super tough all-around Queen of the Machine, and then Charlie"Sherpa" Kharsa who is pound for pound one of the toughest guys out there, and you had the makings of a SUPER squad. This team had pushed the pace and now had a comfortable 4 1/2 hour lead over 2nd place team NORCAL AR who only had 3 team members to our four, when Glenn took a tumble while race walking/map reading on a technical trail. The fall resulted in a broken finger which he almost cut off, and had exposed the tendons. The team races safely first so it was time to hit the SPOT gps 911 button, and get him out of the back-country and to the hospital to save the digit, and so we were off and running to do just that. So after a period at the hospital, and a well deserved burrito dinner, sadly the team was still in the lead, but out of the race due to receiving outside assistance. We raced hard, we pushed the pace, we learned alot about this team working together, and we came away proud in the knowledge that we worked well together, and until the mishap, were rocking the course and were on pace for a very fast race, and a well deserved win. But adventure racing sometimes throws you a curve to humble you, and so we live to race another day. When is that day? Jan 15-17th in Georgia where we will try to take the first Checkpoint Tracker points away from Granite AR and Nuun. We have our work cut out for us, but we feel we are ready to rock. 2010 here we come, whether your ready for us or not. See you there!

cheers!

Earring Doug Judson-Team Captain of Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic adventure racing