Sequence S/S Duo Tee™

One of our most surprising new pieces of gear is the Outdoor Research Sequence S/S Duo Tee™. We usually race in nylon due to it being light weight and quick drying so I was skeptic about racing in wool (technically a Merino wool blend).

When I put on the tee, the first thing I thought about was taking a nap in it, not hitting the summit trail. In fact, the first day Michelle and I wore them we spent the evening at a VT Mozart concert at Shelburne Farms. They are classy enough for an outdoor wine & cheese event... at least when they are new. We are going to wear them for the Bitter Pill with the rest of our OR gear so check back to see how well everything survives.
- Drew

MVP Health Care Bitter Pill

Four days and counting until the Green Mountain Adventure Racing Assoc. puts on their annual 12 hour Bitter Pill adventure race. Many thanks go out to MVP Health Care for their help in supporting the event. I've been racing GMARA races before they had a name and I can vouch that the courses are well designed and the support crew is top notch.

This year they are going a bit further north than they have in the past so I'm excited to see what that area has to offer. Last year I did a training race in that area and it had a high moose rating (more moose 'evidence' per mile means better back country). The field is 50 teams strong (their cap) with a good set of new teams to compete against (and best of all, more post race stories!). We are definitely excited for this weekend.
- Drew

New Gear!

The moment we've been waiting for.. the arrival of our new Outdoor Research gear. We have the privilege of racing the 2009 GMARA Bitter Pill adventure race as Team Outdoor Research.

If you've ever done an adventure race, or really any endurance sport, you'll understand how important good gear is. In many ways it can make or break a race and with all the training you've done, the last thing you want to do is drop out because your gear made an early exit.

So, thanks to the people at Outdoor Research we'll be hitting the trail, bike, and canoe with our new gear. We'll be reviewing this gear top to bottom so stay tuned, you're apt to learn something even if you own some yourself!

Untamed NE Results

Its official. After 57 hours of racing, one dip in class 2 rapids, less than an hour sleep, and enough blisters to retread my feet we're done. Except for the last few hours, the weather couldn't have been better.

The course featured some great bike legs which were made much more interesting due to the three weeks of rain prior to the race. That same rain caused the canoe legs to become more of an exercise in tip-avoidance than paddling endurance. I learned a few good lessons (which I'll share later when I have time).

We finished up at 18th out of 46 teams where only 23 teams finished the course. The course this year was obviously much tougher than last year when only 4 teams were left un-ranked. The wet conditions were rough on the feet and that first night of rough water was enough to force a few teams into submission.
- Drew

New shoes

I've been able to put a good 100 hours in my new Vasque Velocity VST trail runners (can I still call them new?) so I figure its a good time to provide some feedback. I've been racing the Vasque Velocity shoe for a few years now but this is my first VST. I like the Velocity due to its rugged format, light weight, and forgiving footbed. The one thing I didn't like about the Velocity is how long it took to dry out. During some longer stretches with wet feet I would often wish I had a shoe with a more breathable upper. The great thing about the VST is that its both lighter (14.4oz vs 1lb 12oz) and has much more mesh in the upper for faster drying.

The footbed of the two shoes are very similar. The only obvious difference is the plate and the VST seems to have a bit larger tread. Both do a great job of saving your feet from hours of rocky trails. The weight difference is obvious in the hand and I'm sure after a good dip in a creek the reduction of material in the upper would make this difference even more significant. One less obvious feature of these shoes is the toe box. Besides being comfortable on the steep downhills the rubber does a very good job of saving those toes!
- Drew