Terra Firma 12 Hour Race Owned by HFAR

By Ken Navarro, HFAR Newsletter Editor

Another successful season for HFAR racing is in the books as the final practice was closed out with the traditional Hare and Hound run.

This has been a great Autumn for our club: We fielded close to twenty teams for our target race, the Huntsville Hammer. Earlier in the season, at the USARA Nationals, we were the only adventure racing group to field a total of three separate teams. And, as you will read about below, one of our novices brought home the gold in her first adventure race.

Even though the season has slipped away, dont forget that our club discount at Bike Barn continues through the end of the calendar year. Being a member of Houston Fit AR entitles you to 10% off at all retail locations.

Way to Go Team!

By Fayza A. Elmostehi Houston Fit Adventure Racing Social Director

And you thought all you could do on a mountain bike was ride trails. Pffft. Come here, young Padawan.

How'd you like it if I told you that you could climb, hop, run, hike, huff, haul, drop, puff, and, of course, ride with your beloved bike, all while ripping through a 1.5(ish)-mile loop in the park?

Welcome to cyclocross - the most sadistic thing you've ever called exercise.

Originally thought to be a way for road racers to stay fit during those cold winter months in the cycling off-season, cyclocross these days is for anyone bold enough to endure a little two-wheeled torture.

Cyclocross racers have special bikes, but adventure racers don't need that- your mountain bike works just as well. Your objective is to zoom as fast as you can around the marked 1.5(ish)-mile loop (most commonly in a pasture or park), while trying to log as many laps as you can in the allotted time period - which ranges from 30 minutes to 60 minutes, depending on the category.

Oh, and by the way, you'll have to go up and down hills (many, many times), weave your way through tight turns, dismount your bike to jump two-foot-high barriers (or to scale an unrideable incline), and trudge through, over, or under whatever they put on the course.

I mean, how grueling can less than an hour of riding around in a field be, right?

Adventure Race #1: Huntsville Hammer Sprint
By Leanna Gatlin

So, my teammate Paul and I have now completed our first adventure race, the Huntsville Hammer, and they asked me to write a race report of our experience. So here goes.

Paul's not an adventure racer. And neither am I, really, but I do have a leg up in that I've been training and have done other sorts of races. Paul on the other hand has never raced, although he does get out for the occasional run or even a spin around the Memorial park mountain bike trails. I convinced him that a rough tumble in the woods against these people called adventure racers was just what he needed and he agreed.

The real adventure began the day before, when Gabe succeeded in mounting a large metal canoe for the first time on the top of my little soccer mom SUV (AKA - no off-roading, no roof rack, no big wheels, just car-seat friendly and comfortable - not that I have any kids.)

Urban Dare Houston - November 19, 2011

Urban races are a great way to prepare for adventure races that have an urban nav component (e.g. Mighty San Gabriel). This was our second race together - we placed 2nd at Great Urban Race Houston in March, so we felt good going into this one. It was a surprise seeing Scott Shoaf and Karly Simmons at Porch Swing Pub since we didn't realize any other HFAR teams were competing. The friendly trash‐talking started immediately, and we gave them a few pointers on their first urban race:

1. Bring water. Urban races feel like sprint ARs, and you get dehydrated quickly on a warm, humid day.
2. Don't misplace your passport.. before the race even starts.

It's the time of year again for Holiday shopping. And what better gifts to give your family and friends than some cools stuff from REI.

Now you can even make those gifts better by using our REI affiliate program. This program rewards our club for purchases that members and friends make through REI.com. All you have to do is click on the REI logo at the bottom of our website or the REI logo in this newsletter and start shopping!

The affiliate program will not cost you a dime extra as HFAR will earn a small commission on every order placed through the link on our website. All monies earned will be put back into the club in order to build our gear library and provide us with cooler giveaways for our club races and other occasions. So, please remember next time you place an REI order, do it through our website.

2011 USARA NATIONALS
Melissa W., Vanessa R., Kevin B. - 9th Coed 30 cps
Helena F., Gabe H., Tom L. - 4th Coed Masters 33 cps
Raymund C., Tammy K., Paul T. - 8th Coed Masters 24 cps

24 HOURS OF ROCKY HILL
Helena F., Vanessa R., Melissa W., Tammy K. - 1st Female- Extreme
Wilmer G., et al. - Second Coed - Extreme
Patricia B., et al. - Third Coed - Extreme

HUNTSVILLE HAMMER
Leanna G., Paul S. - 1st Sprint 2-Person Coed
Fayza E. - 1st Female Solo
Jessica G., Robert D. - 4th 6-Hour, 2-Person Coed
Shane F., Eric S. - 2nd 6-Hour, 2-Person Male
Michael M., John E. - 4th 6-Hour, 2-Person Male
Glenn P., Shane S. - 8th 6-Hour, 2-Person Male
Kelly K., Mark S. - 19th 6-Hour, 2-Person Male
Cynthia B., Will W. - 2nd 6-Hour, 2-Person Masters
Jim W., Michele W. - 3rd 6-Hour, 2-Person Masters
3rd 6-Hour, 2-Person Masters. - 1st 6-Hour, 3-Person Coed
Jarryd D., Jennifer S., Daryl K. - 2nd 6-Hour, 3-Person Coed
Vanessa R., Melissa W., Raymund C., Wilmer G. - 1st 6-Hour, 4-Person Coed
Roman M. - 1st 6-Hour, Solo Male
Pam R., Scott S. - 1st 12-Hour, 2-Person Coed
Mark B., Stephanie B. - 2nd 12-Hour, 2-Person Coed
Gabe H., Kathy H., Jeff S. - 1st 12-Hour, 3-Person Coed
Helena F., Garret L., Tammy K. - 2nd 12-Hour, 3-Person Coed
Neil D. - 3rd 12-Hour, Male Solo

URBAN DARE HOUSTON
Bing K., Judy J. - 1st Place

Race reports, gear reviews, pictures, favorite core exercises, gear maintenance, how-to-buy tips - we want to hear from you! Email Newsletter Editor Ken with your newsletter contributions or story ideas, and we'll include them in the next issue.