Lezbert
03-19-2005, 09:04 PM
OK, so I'm kind of the athletic type. I'm a big kid, and I love going out to play. So what was my Valentine's Day gift? My SO signed us up for what was advertised as a unique way to tour Inner Loop Houston -- Hike, Bike and Kayak. So it turns out, this is actually an adventure race with kind of an Amazing Race twist to it. Cool! We want to apply for the Amazing Race, so we jokingly referred to this as "practice." The event was this morning.
Event #1: Run. There were three checkpoints we had to find, each of which contained a letter or number clue that we had to record on our official "passport." We had to run between 1-2 miles. I am not a runner. I can hop on a bicycle and ride 50+ miles, but a 50 yard run leaves me gasping for air. No problem. We got through at 7th place. Among the teams smoking us? A man and his two kids who seemed to be 10 and 12.
Event #2: Kayak. I'd like to point out here that I've never been in a kayak in my life. My SO has, so took steering duty. Initially, I sat in the boat with my legs in front of me. I kept falling backward. So I tried being cross-legged, but that had the same result. My SO told me to get on my knees. I was afraid of dumping the boat, and a swim in Buffalo Bayou was NOT what I wanted this morning! Finally, I mustered all the coordination I had and pulled it off. We zig-zagged upstream to find the clue. Yes, zig-zagged. Operative words above: Never been in a kayak! :redtounge :mrgreen: I must say, I don't think I want to be in a kayak again. My thighs, shoulders and hands were killing me by the time we reached shore and the next clue. And what was up with our having to lug the kayak up a hill to the truck?? Oy! Still in 7th place.
Event #3: Bike. Sweet! I can totally hammer this one out. Of course, my SO doesn't ride and hasn't been on a bike in over 10 years. We had to stay within 20 ft of each other. I keep forgetting that just because I'm not the swiftest rider under the sun, I'm faster than people who don't ride. No worries. I kept looking behind and making sure we were together. Two clues later, and we were back at the transition area. I believe we're still in 7th place.
Event #4: Navigation. We were given a second map, which included downtown. We had to walk downtown and find three more clues. No problem here at ALL. I decided to cut through the park we started in rather than follow the hike and bike trail. When we climbed on the other side, we'd caught up to the father and his sons. :rockon: Hey, I take my little victories where I can! So we were on their tails when we let our familiarity with the area take over. We passed them and caught up to another team. We found one clue and whipped to find the next one. It took us a while to find it. Then disaster. A combination of a crappy map and my confusing park names took us in the wrong direction! We ran into three more teams who also seemed lost. Luckily, my SO and I work very well together. She worked it out perfectly, and we were on our way. We finally finished 6th, 2 hours and 27 minutes after we started.
We picked up food, showered and then napped for three hours. I'm already a little sore. While I don't know if I'll ever do another adventure race, I really enjoyed today. I was able to explore the city I've known for 40 years in a whole new way, and it was fun. Of course...I may be singing a different tune in the morning when I can't move. :wiggleit:
Event #1: Run. There were three checkpoints we had to find, each of which contained a letter or number clue that we had to record on our official "passport." We had to run between 1-2 miles. I am not a runner. I can hop on a bicycle and ride 50+ miles, but a 50 yard run leaves me gasping for air. No problem. We got through at 7th place. Among the teams smoking us? A man and his two kids who seemed to be 10 and 12.
Event #2: Kayak. I'd like to point out here that I've never been in a kayak in my life. My SO has, so took steering duty. Initially, I sat in the boat with my legs in front of me. I kept falling backward. So I tried being cross-legged, but that had the same result. My SO told me to get on my knees. I was afraid of dumping the boat, and a swim in Buffalo Bayou was NOT what I wanted this morning! Finally, I mustered all the coordination I had and pulled it off. We zig-zagged upstream to find the clue. Yes, zig-zagged. Operative words above: Never been in a kayak! :redtounge :mrgreen: I must say, I don't think I want to be in a kayak again. My thighs, shoulders and hands were killing me by the time we reached shore and the next clue. And what was up with our having to lug the kayak up a hill to the truck?? Oy! Still in 7th place.
Event #3: Bike. Sweet! I can totally hammer this one out. Of course, my SO doesn't ride and hasn't been on a bike in over 10 years. We had to stay within 20 ft of each other. I keep forgetting that just because I'm not the swiftest rider under the sun, I'm faster than people who don't ride. No worries. I kept looking behind and making sure we were together. Two clues later, and we were back at the transition area. I believe we're still in 7th place.
Event #4: Navigation. We were given a second map, which included downtown. We had to walk downtown and find three more clues. No problem here at ALL. I decided to cut through the park we started in rather than follow the hike and bike trail. When we climbed on the other side, we'd caught up to the father and his sons. :rockon: Hey, I take my little victories where I can! So we were on their tails when we let our familiarity with the area take over. We passed them and caught up to another team. We found one clue and whipped to find the next one. It took us a while to find it. Then disaster. A combination of a crappy map and my confusing park names took us in the wrong direction! We ran into three more teams who also seemed lost. Luckily, my SO and I work very well together. She worked it out perfectly, and we were on our way. We finally finished 6th, 2 hours and 27 minutes after we started.
We picked up food, showered and then napped for three hours. I'm already a little sore. While I don't know if I'll ever do another adventure race, I really enjoyed today. I was able to explore the city I've known for 40 years in a whole new way, and it was fun. Of course...I may be singing a different tune in the morning when I can't move. :wiggleit: