Mountain Designs Wild Women Geoquest 2022
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| Mountain Designs Wild Women - Geoquest 2022 |
Yes,
adventure racing like many other sports is a male dominated sport and that’s
fine, but what sometimes happens is that women automatically think that
adventure racing must be too hard for them, because they are not always as big
and strong and seemingly fit as their male counterparts. In the sport the
‘premier category’ is a mixed team, so this means that most teams toe the line
with three males and one female. This is certainly a great way to race and for
women who want to race at the ‘elite’ level in fact it is the only way to
really achieve the highest level of success in the sport.
For
many years I did exactly that, racing in mixed teams and racing for Team
Mountain Designs. In every team, we achieved great success, winning many of the
big-name adventure races in Australia against some of the best adventure racing
teams in the country……Geoquest 2007, XPD 2013, Hells Bells, ARA Darkside …….but
then I wanted more from the sport, I wanted to be able to lead a team, navigate
the entire way in some of the big events…..so at the start of the 2017 season, I
put my case forward to our major sponsor Mountain Designs to support an
all-women’s team and so the Mountain Designs Wild Women were born. Here is a
link to our welcome blog…..
http://mountaindesignswildwomen.blogspot.com/2017/03/welcome-to-first-edition-of-mountain.html
So,
since then the Mountain Designs Wild Women have had some success indeed,
winning the women’s category of some of the major AR events on the calendar…..
Rogue Raid 2017, 2018, 2019, Geoquest 2017, 2018, and 2019; Hells Bells 2017,
2018, 2019 and 2021 Wildside Expedition Race Canberra 2017, XPD Tasmania 2018,
Raid 100 2019 and XPD Rivers of Gold Cairns 2021 and we are proud to have had
the ongoing support from Mountain Designs along the way.
Fast
forward to Geoquest 2022…..and the Mountain Designs Wild Women are still on
fire…..despite icy conditions at Shoal Bay NSW and the reality that we are not
getting any younger!!!! In fact Wild Women originals Kim Beckinsale and Gina
Dunsdon are both over 50; joining the team for the first time was Nicola Jelinek,
who is just shy of 50 and Amie Munson is our baby, aged just 42. So, as you
will see age is no barrier for the team as we believe that women are tough and
strong and can achieve anything as long as we, stay positive, stay focussed,
and keep doing what we love best. So really that is what adventure racing is
all about and why we love coming back to Geoquest!!!
Part
of the thrill of AR is not knowing where you are going until maps are released
and then it is all systems go, map planning, gear planning and lucky for us - support
crew planning. Geoquest originally was a supported event and so we opted to
stick with tradition as the crew become part of the ‘team’ and thus live the
adventure as well! Dot watching and tracking from home is okay….but there is
nothing quite like being right there in the thick of it and being allowed to
offer support. Retired Cowgirl and Geoquest tragic Jan Leverton was joined by
Cowboy Mark Denham and super cyclist Nick Baker ……. wow what a crew!
This
event because of the polar freeze and winds predicted was going to be one of
the coldest events we have experienced for some time, so we spent a lot of time
making sure we had packed gear that we could rely on:- Mountain Designs
thermals, Mountain Designs socks, Mountain Designs waterproof and
windproof jackets for paddling and yes
more Mountain Designs socks…..and we were prepared to carry it 😊
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| Geoquest 2022 - Full Course Overview |
So, to cut to the chase here is how it all panned out……
The
start / finish line for Geoquest 2022 was on the beautiful beach at Shoal Bay.
Race morning the sun was shining and the wind was howling and yes, we were
going to be paddling right smack bang into it. The first section of the event
was a paddle, trek paddle and we planned for this to take us about 8hrs but we
made sure we had lights and extra gear in case we did not see our crew till
dark.
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| Geoquest 2022 - Mountain Designs Wild Women ready to race! |
There were new Surge kayaks for the event and they have no steering, so this was going to sort a few teams out, as you had to be able to paddle using your kayak blade as a rudder and in these conditions, this would prove to be challenging. The team all have plenty of paddling experience using all types of craft, as this is definitely one thing that women do need - skills over strength and speed. So, we always make sure we prepare for the event as best we can, prioritising the skills required for each discipline. Winner winner chicken dinner! - well that was our carrot to get to the finish - the dream of a hot chicken and guess what, we had an awesome start, finding ourselves in 2nd place as we arrived at TA1 and on our way on foot to CP1…… and by the end of Leg 2 somehow we nailed CP3 and were somehow leading the whole race. I promised Amie that I would not try to win Geoquest outright, but I must say it’s pretty fun to be right up at the pointy end as a team of girls - turning heads!!!
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| Mountain Designs Wild Women - Leg 2 on our way to CP3 (in the lead) |
Navigation is key in any event and this race would be no different, the paddle up the Myall River for almost 30k was tough and made tougher by having to navigate up a tiny creek and trek 1k out and back to CP 4 (some teams dragged their kayaks up the beach instead of paddling, this was never an option for us) and then face gale force wind and waves whilst crossing Bombah Broadwater – 5k on a bearing of 300 degrees to CP 7. By this stage there were at least 4 teams in front of us one all male team and three premier mixed teams, we were still right up there and the light was fading fast and we were starting to freeze. TA 2 was less than 4k away, so instead of stopping and adding layers, we just paddled our guts out to Nerong where we were greeted by our crew, with a fire and hot soup!!!!
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| Kim set a bearing of 300 degrees to cross the broadwater.....note the 12degree offset! |
The next three legs would be in the dark, so not only do you need to carry warm gear, but also have good lights for trekking, mountain biking and paddling. So, on go the Ay Ups over our buffs and jacket hoods as we ran out of the TA to try to get warm, as we could not stay by the fire all night! We had nice dry shoes and socks for all of 5 minutes before we crossed a swamp, bummer……but lucky CP 8 was a high point. After CP 9 we had a bit of trouble finding Jacks Creek Trail, sorry dot watchers…. In fear we missed it and were heading for OOB we backtracked almost right back to the CP before finding this vague foot track - well spotted Amie! It is always great to have someone in the team who looks around and notices things that the navigator might not! We nailed CP 10 and 11 and were soon at TA3 near Devils Hills enjoying some hearty sausages prepared for us by the crew. It was pretty freezing, so best to just keep moving, so that’s what we did on the bike. Nicola was on fire and set a blistering pace out of the TA, then some hills would slow us down a bit! Lucky were all had pretty good descending skills on the bike as there were some doozy down hills. Just before we reached the TA we were approached by a random car - I got a bit scared thinking someone was trying to chat up the girls, but it was only Sloshy (Dave Schloss AR legend) who was working at the event on search and rescue -- phew! We started the final paddle down the Karuah River at a TA4 near Booral, it was so freezing there so we put on almost everything we owned and started paddling….. there was one rapid too….so lucky we did not fall in! We were still in about the same position in the race as we were at the end of the last paddle, but we knew there was another all male team hot on our heals and that we would be on the water in the dark for more than 5hrs. It was so cold when we got out at CP18 and somehow a boys team got in front of us there. We paddled toward CP 19 as the day dawned and picked off the features along the way to the next TA…..inlet on left, oyster leases, big left bend, oyster leases bridge and then TA5 was in our sights….yay!
Did
someone say cheese toasties???? Yes,
these were on our menu too!!!! We inhaled these as we tried to find shelter
from the howling wind. At the little
town of Karuah we had a split trek, so it pays to have more than one navigator
in the team. Amie and I teamed up to get
CP A and B, while Gina and Nicola sprinted around to get B & D. Part of my
goal as a team captain has always been to encourage team mates to navigate, so
in this race Gina had the second set of maps on the trek legs, Amie on the
paddle and Nicola on the bike - working to our strengths. This proved a to be a
great strategy for Geoquest 2022, as we left that TA ahead of the two male
teams that had been in front of us! We
were in 4th overall!!!!
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| Split Trek - A B C D |
According to the crew and our course overview it was only short MTB ride to the next TA, it was mostly all on just one map and it looked relatively straight forward. As it was daylight it made the navigation much easier but the riding wasn’t! Why???? Well we were actually riding through mud, mud and more mud, or should I say mostly carrying our bikes around mud holes that looked like we could almost swim in.
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| Gina Dunsdon |
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| Amie Munson |
The TA for Leg 9 Rogaine was just some spot on the side of the motorway near Twelve Mile Creek. We had made pretty good time but our crew were enthusiastically trying to ensure we had a very quick transition and get out on the 10k rogaine without any time wasting! Why???? Well the lead teams Thunderbolt, Alpine Quest and Three Points of Contact had not yet returned, so this meant that the navigation was probably tricky. So, while the rest of the team were getting sorted, I was carefully marking up the maps, yes sometimes in the more challenging legs in an event, you have to draw on your own circles on your map. There were 8 CPs all up and we had to find 5! I could not see a clear route at first glance, so before we headed out, I got Gina to check that I had marked up all of the CPs correctly and we as a team all had a look! The route we discussed would have us collecting J I K H and E - in that order - but I was not entirely convinced as there was no real backup in case we could not find one.
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| The team chats - just before we set off on the rogaine. |
We ran walked our way to CP J and nailed the watercourse bend CP. CP I was a high point so other than a few tracks looking a bit weird, we got it fairly quickly. All this time I was not happy with our planned course, so I showed the girls an alternate route, which was a bit longer, but maybe safer! So, we headed for L and F and were using all of our orienteering skills to make 100% sure we were going the right way! Pacing using steps and time, checking off track junctions and other features…. although the contours and creeks were barely visible on the map….we tried. To find CP L we aimed off a bit early so we knew we just had to walk left (NE) once we hit the creek…..I noticed a second creek in there, so we spread out and bush bashed! Nicola soon spotted the CP – Bingo! The track to F was there and the high point was obvious, so now just a long hike to H which was ‘head of watercourse’ on the side of a hill. I probably did not pace this one too well and we went in a bit too early, but once again we spread out and walked NE and eventually located a very obvious watercourse and our final CP! We hurried back to the TA where were we greeted by the crew and event officials who were very impressed with our speed and with the line our tracker drew….a dog!
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| Can you see the dog we started to draw!???? |
There was no time to mess around in this TA for Light was going to fade fast , we knew we had just two legs to go, but they were quite significant and we would be spending another night out in the cold. With fruitcake, snacks and water loaded in our packs we set off on the bikes for a 54km ride to Anna Bay! Amie and Gina were checking distance and Nicola and I had the maps. CP23 on Gold Mine Road came up pretty quickly, but we know that we would be hitting CP24 in the MTB park in the dark as light was fading fast and it was almost 10k away. We were on an awesome trail and suddenly this turned into a swamp! Yes, is was pitch black by now and we were trudging through waist deep water…we were getting pretty cold, but we could see that others had been there….so on on! Finally we came out onto something that looked more rideable, but I could not see that anyone else had been there…no tyre tracks…no foot prints. So, as I was not 100% confident that we were ‘going the right way’ I convinced the girls to go back and take the alternate route that we had discussed when marking up the maps! I was just upset, that I did not think of this earlier! We came across some crazy young people bogged in a car and their rescuers as we headed back up Taylors Road and they confirmed the other route might be better. We were not sure who was the most crazy at that point…..them or us! The alternate route was a superhighway and we finally arrived at the Medowie MTB park to look for CP 24. Just as we arrived, we were swamped with teams and there was a frantic search happening….no one could find anything. We just had to take a deep breath, start again and ride the course slowly and not be distracted by others, so with Nicola following along on the map right behind me we picked off every bend until bang….CP 24 glowing right in front of us! Phew!! Out of the bush now and all roads to Anna Bay! We came across other teams looking for CP25 it seemed so easy, but the CP was not where it was shown on the map, so everyone was running around the streets looking at every sign saying Pacific Dunes….I got locked inside the golf course at one point too! After we finally got the CP and waded through another waist deep swamp, we rode our little socks off all the way to Anna Bay trying to keep ahead of the guys!
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| This is what happened for those who may have been watching the tracker! |
I have no idea what time it was, but it was PARTY TIME at Anna Bay for the Mountain Designs Wild Women! We were still in 4th place overall and we were ‘just ahead of the guys’ we were all feeling pretty good and we just had one final trek! The crew were amazing feeding us pizza and playing tunes ‘Wild Women Do’ as we left the TA running!!!!! We got out of sight and found the location for CP 28 but we just could not find it…..so a quick reset and we were back in exactly the same spot….a few teams were all around together looking….as well! This was a low point for me as I just could not work it out….we had not had any sleep it was the bewitching hour and everything was just getting funky! But lucky for us another team spotted the flag, hiding low in the bushes….we had been in the right spot…..but had just not spotted the CP. Canberra AR passed us at this point, they were motoring! We were still ahead of the guys though, Amie told me they said they wanted to beat us….but we thought that they had not found all of the CPs. So just 2 CPs to go and the race was on…..MD Wild Women Vs the boys from the Gold Coast – Kooks on Debut! They took off when we hit the road near Boat Harbour and were soon out of our sights…. we kept our cool…. however we were actually freezing….so very chilled indeed! CP 29 and 30 had us walking along sand dunes and stretches of beach…..the waves were thumping and the tide was incoming and at one point we almost got swept off our feet into the water…..so had to hobble along the dunes to get to higher ground. The full moon was setting, so this meant that the sun was almost going to rise, we better get to the finish then! So, with a spring in our step knowing that we were going to finish Geoquest 2022 in our best position ever well under top 10 we powered down Government Road to the finish line just before 5am!
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| Mountain Designs Wild Women at the finish....wild as ever! |
Our support crew were there and so was the Race Director! Congratulations Wild Women…… 5th overall!!!! What about the boys we said???? “NO you smashed them, they did not find all of the CP’s on the rogaine’ the crew said! So there you have it a TOP 5 finish for the Mountain Designs Wild Women, just behind Canberra AR who finished 4th . Our closest ever finish behind the podium premier mixed teams Three Points of Contact 3rd, Alpine Quest 2nd and Thought Sports 1st .
Thanks
to Wild & Co for bringing us Geoquest 2022, it continues to be ‘Australia’s
original and premier adventure race. Thanks to our fabulous support crew for
feeding us and keeping us going through the night, sacrificing sleep as well!
Finally, thanks to our major sponsor Mountain Designs for continuing to support
the sport and this group of ‘Wild Women’.
