Mountain Designs Wild Women Kim
and Nicola teamed up for the 2024 Rogue Raid based at Donnybrook. Given the weather in the days and weeks
preceding the event, we knew that there was going to be plenty of mud out on
the trails and having raced in the area before we knew also that when the tide
goes out the entire area turns to mudflats, so mud was going to be unavoidable.
The weather forecast was not awesome
either with no sun and plenty of rain on the radar predicted….so we were in for
a real adventure for sure!
With the Rogue Raid being a points-based
event, all checkpoints were optional, including 8 stages, 86 check points; with
an opportunity to complete 28-64km of kayaking, up to 45km of trekking and
36-128km of mountain biking. The course
was also cloverleaf style, meaning that we would come back through HQ multiple
times. There was plenty of time before the start to try to plan a strategy,
which we made the most of as we had also to consider tide times, current conditions,
and course cutoffs as we poured over the 7 maps. We could have decided to spend
more time on the bike as that is our strength, but it did not turn out that
way. Our basic plan was to spend enough
time on Stage 1 Paddle (outgoing mid tide) and Stage 2 Trek, so that we would
not have to paddle back at low tide. Then we noticed that there were good
points available on Stage 7 Paddle and Stage 8 Trek that were worth being back,
for so we set ourselves a time to be back at HQ for 5.30am. So, the time we
would spend on the bike, was determined by how long it would take on the bike to
get from HQ (after the first 3 stages) to TA2; we would then work out the
maximum time we could spend on the trek and leave enough time to get back to HQ
from TA2 on the bike again. So, we
highlighted some CPs on the map that we definitely wanted to get, planned a
rough course and left ourselves plenty of options to add or drop checkpoints. We had an option to bring a kayak trolley for
the paddle, and I am so glad that I brought it to the event and then decided to
take them with us on the first paddle.
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| Maps and course planning - need glasses to see the map! |
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| Kim and Nicola - ready to race! |
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| Off we go.... run to the paddle |
Three hours of planning time was over
in a flash and soon we were on the start line ready for the 10.00am start. Nicola and I were in the lead for about 200m….
we certainly did not think we should be leading…… it was not long before we
were overtaken. Stages 1,2, and 3 took us
well over 8 hours and into the darkness. We were going so well on the kayak we
decided to go for the big points – CP4 (90 points) – it ended up being a mud
drag and potentially not worth the time and effort, but we persisted, and it was
definitely an advantage to be lightweight. So, we were mixing it up with most
of the usual AR teams at the pointy end dragging our kayaks up a muddy creek
and surprisingly in front of some until Nicola realised my paddle was missing…..
yep up s#!*t creek without a paddle! So we both ran back to find it. Nicola
found it stuck in the mud where we had left the main channel where earlier we
had been dragging the kayak through mud and mangroves. After rejoining our kayak we had to try to
cross a road without getting hit by a car…phew we survived only to find we had
chosen the wrong side of the canal to re enter and had to somehow get the kayak
down a 2 metre embankment onto oyster clad rocks. We survived that too! Upon arrival at TA1 we
had so far cleared the course 😊 Stage 2 was a beach trek at the southern end
of Bribie Island. I remembered some of the area from the 2023 Wildfire Raid. We
had not planned to clear the stage, but once we were out there and it was flat
and fast travel we decided on doing a few extra bush-bashes, avoid a swim near
CP17 and make the most of our fresh legs. We arrived back at the TA just in
time for a sunset paddle back to HQ. We
were delighted to see dolphins and just as it got dark we had fish jumping everywhere around us….and into the kayak! It was getting cool, so we enjoyed a fast
paddle back to HQ sticking to our planned course, dropping 4 CPs (110 points).
We were so glad we had a trolley as the portage was quick and easy.
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| Trek on Bribie Island |
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| Refilling bladder before paddle back |
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| Securing trolley wheels onto the back of the kayak! |
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| Off we go on Stage 3 - The sun set paddle on high tide! |
We left HQ at around 8.00pm to
embark on Stage 4,5 and 6 with a loose plan to be back by 5.30am. Oh, I forgot
to mention the sun did not shine all day and it had been drizzly most of the
time and as we started riding….the rain got heavier…just as we ventured off the
tar and into the trails. Oh yeah, it was wet, muddy and super slippery out
there, but we spun our way through the maze of trails and managed to clear all
of the CPs on the stage. It took us
about 2hrs 30, so we then thought well we will need that amount of time to get
back. TA 2 was at Beerburrum and it was time for a trek in the glasshouse
mountains. Thanks to all of the volunteers who provided the all night café, we
passed on the sausages before we headed out on the trek, but knew they would be
just what we would want on return. We
planned an ambitious route up Mt Beerburrum then the Yul-Yan-Man Trail to CP41 because it was 80
points and then across of the top, to come back to the south via CP37 and CP 42.
We left at 11am and attacked Mt Beerburrum first it was steep and slippery on
the concrete track, but so much easier on the way down, we thought of a bush
bash shortcut, but opted out when we saw how steep it was. Nicola was so quick and nimble on her feet, I asked her
to go in front and look for the trail, so I could concentrate on the map and
where we were…..the Yul-Yan-Man trail was rocky and slippery and extremely
slow, it took us less that 30 minutes to go up Mt Beerburrum, but 1 hour to get
from the start of the trail to CP40 so 1km/hr. I had a bit of a dodgy knee and had already
had a few close calls, but when I fell quite hard and really hurt it, I said to
Nicola we may need to bail out after CP43 and run back around on the lower
trail. We came across the Alpine Avengers as we travelled from CP 44 to CP 43
and then Cass and Nathan as they were making their way back up to the track. So
we said our hi’s and bye’s then tried to get out of there. The creek line was
so very slippery it was more like ice skating on rocks. We made it down to the
lower trail and somehow I could run…..so I just spent the rest of the night
chasing down Nicola…who was on fire! So we ended up running about another 10km
collecting CP42 (which we had to attack a few times after missing the creek
junction) CP 47 (big bush bash out as the trails to the south of the creek were
overgrown) and CP48 (had to back track because trails were overgrown on our
route out) before heading back to the TA for our well earned sausages. So far
it had not rained heavily, so we were not too cold. We checked in with Fiona
Crossley who was manning TA2, scoffed down 2 sausages and set off at around
3.15am (just 15 mins later than planned. We had planned a definite 7 CPs on the
way home, but because the travel was so fast compared to the previous mountain
bike stage, we opted after collecting CPs 58, 59 and 68 to get CP 67 as well.
We came a bit unstuck after this as not only had it started pouring rain and we
had had to put jackets on…. we were also a bit confused as to where we were. We
came across Gary Palmer and his team ‘Yeah the Chatter’ and they said they were
also confused but thought they were almost at CP 70. Oh, really we said…. well
that means we must have gone through the OOB. So we went to 70 and thus were
100% aware where we were and also that we had gone OOB, so I said to Nicola, we
have to go back to where we think we went wrong and come back again to 70
before proceeding on the course to avoid penalty, because it was not our
intention to gain an advantage, but what we had done was a shortcut. So, we
backtracked out and back to 70 before hammering back to HQ (Nicola was on the
front setting the pace and I was just hanging on) collecting CPs 69, 72 and 73
along the way, arriving just 10 minutes after out 5.30am plan.
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| Stage 5 Trek - Not too bad with the navigation I suppose! |
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| Realised we had gone OOB, so back to the corner where we thought we went wrong! Not far enough! |
HQ was surprisingly quiet at dawn,
there were most of the kayaks sitting there ready for stage 7 paddle, a few
officials manning the check in desk and Chis & Sarah Dixon (Wild & Co)
sitting on the stairs, procrastinating! We
transitioned quickly and portaged our kayak to the water having a chat to Chris
and Sarah along the way. We were not
sure if we had enough time to clear the stage but knew that we would have to be
back by 8.45 to give us a chance to clear the final stage trek. (This was ideal
as there were some good points available). Anyway, off we set heading north
first as there seemed to be more points up for grabs, but we did not really
think about the current. The main bonus was it was now light (so no need for
lights) and it was high tide. We travelled clockwise collecting CPs 77, 80, 81,
82 then had to paddle against the tide to CPs 78 and 76. I was timing our
travel along the way and calculated that we had time to get CP 75 and 77 (clear
the stage), so that’s what we did and guess what….. the sun came out and there
was a bit of blue sky, making it that little bit more enjoyable. I think Nicola could not wait to get out of
the kayak by this stage, as we had done so much paddling, but it was worth it. We set up the portage wheels quickly and manage
to get back to HQ for the final stage around 8.40am. There was no time for chatting and we set off
on foot to the north to get CP85 and 84 first as they were the higher scoring
CPs. We bush bashed from CP 85 to CP84 and think it was a bit quicker than the
run around on the trails. We came across Thought Sports and Alpine Avengers as
were on our way to collect the final 2 CPs on the course…... there was a battle
going on there! It was only 3.5 k to go but it was hard after being out all
night, but Nicola was just once again out in front setting a good pace. We
finished with 15 minutes to spare and were totally satisfied with our efforts.
Finishing right up there in points against some of the best adventure racers
and rogainers in the country.
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| Mountain Designs Wild Women - Rogue Raid 2024 - Our GPX Course |
Thanks to Liam St Pierre and his
team of officials and volunteers for providing us with another great strategic
adventure, it was fantastic to see so many teams out there despite the weather
conditions, supporting the event; especially all our Tri Adventure group whether
racing or volunteering, you just put a big smile on my face every time 😊
Finally, thanks to Nicola for
teaming up with me and representing the Mountain Designs Wild Women once again,
you were so strong and so amazing for the entire 24 hours. I look forward so
much to teaming up with you, Del Lloyd and our newest Wild Women Katy Booth for
Mountain Designs Geoquest, where we have entered two Mountain Designs Wild
Women Teams for the first time.
Just a little shout out to our
sponsors and supporters:
Mountain Designs, Tri Adventure,
Ay Up lighting Systems, Venture Cycles and Foot Motion Noosa as not only do
they support us, but also the sport of Adventure Racing.
Photo Credit - Rogue Adventures - Margarete Oti
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