Gator Bait Adventure Race in Huntsville

[Faulker479]

Is anyone else doing this on Saturday? This is my first race of any kind.

[dalallmon]

It will be my first race as well as my partner's. I'm anxious to see how it turns out. I rode up there two weekends ago and it was extremely sandy. Hopefully this rain we're getting will pack it in a bit.

[Faulker479]

My teammate, friend and his wife have been training up there as well. We also went to a first time meeting this past Saturday. The instructors had the blow-up kayaks that we will be using and let us get a feel for them. It is a lot different than a normal kayak or canoe. We were doing 360’s at first, but eventually figured it out. They also let us know that it may not be a strait 3 mile run, but have mystery events sprinkled in between.


I will be on a ’11 Spark 30. If you see me, say hi. My riding buddy and I normally ride Terry on Tuesdays and Saturdays. If you ever want to meet up, let me know.

[dalallmon]

Yeah I was bummed I couldn't make that last Saturday but my wife and I were out of town for our anniversary. That's good to know that the run might not be straight through. Running is definitely not my strong point. I'm actually going up Friday and camping at the park. Hopefully I can get a pre-race ride in that afternoon. That's good to know about the kayaks as well. I'm pretty good in a normal one but have never been in an inflatable. It'll be an experience all the way around I guess. Did they offer any other hints or tips last weekend?

[Faulker479]

For the kayak: both should be in sync while paddling. The seat that will be available didn’t work for them (they didn’t have on to try out). I ended up being on my knees b/c I was in the front and I felt like my head would be in my team mate’s lap if I was straight legged or sitting indian style. The back person is in control of the steering.
Also, when getting in the Kayak, you’re going to get wet. Where they got in last year was kind of marshy or what looked like pine trees in the water. They recommended water shoes or old sneakers that you might not mind running in wet but discouraged you from going bare foot in the water.

As far as setup for a staging area, they said to get there about 30 min to an hour before the pre-race meeting to choose a space. And space everything out in groups as much as possible. They noted that changing shoes or this and that will eat away at time really quick.

Biking and running you have to be within 20 seconds of each other. For me I am the weaker runner, but my mate is the weaker rider, so that will be interesting. They also said to follow normal riding etiquette i.e. letting others pass when they call on your left and doing the same for others

They did not know the layout of events or what mystery events there were. That will not be revealed until the pre-race meeting

Sorry for the essay