Day 2A late night last night and with a wake up call of 5.30am I suprised at how much energy I had this early in the morning - which was lucky as I had a 'warm up ride' from Elwood to the Docklands as the trains don't run that early on a Sunday!
With our our map covered in post it flags & instructions highlighted, we started the day at 7.30am with a run around Harbour Town which helped split the 200 person pack. A navigation challenge was next which involved looking at photos and finding where they were in Harbour Town - this helped you solve a puzzle which in turn allowed you to pick up your bike and head off for the rest of the day. Although we came in towards the back of the pack in the run, we blitzed this challenge and made up quite a few places.
Racing out of town towards the MCG our first novelty checkpoint was pushing Sal around in a rubber tube. Down to the bike tracks along the Yarra, Sal found herself in a long, dark, muddy drain pipe with no torch to get the next one. A quick climb along the Burnley Rock Climbing wall saw us riding towards St Kevin's boat sheds. As Fe and Sal went for a quick paddle up the river, I studied the map and spoke to the locals. This proved to be very handy as I discovered a short cut to take me to the next checkpoint I had to collect on foot.Collecting random checkpoints along the Monash Trail, we came out at the Velodrome in Hawthorn and on to the Hockey field where we had to get a goal to continue (it's harder than you think). The previous day's rain meant that we didn't have to complete the planned swim across the river, instead, we stayed dry for a little longer and made our way to Caulfield Racecourse.
Bikes were parked and after a quick abseil down the side of the grandstand, the next hour was spent collecting checkpoints on foot around the Racecourse. Back on the bike and we headed to Princes Park in Brighton, before the rain started pouring again just as we entered Brighton Cemetery. I had some luck at this checkpoint and found it immediately which allowed us to overtake a few teams.
Collecting checkpoints on our way towards Elsternwick, we were soon at Elwood Fish & Chip shop for a compolsory potato cake and chips. The ride down Acland Street in St Kilda must have been entertaining for the public as we had to find the 'Rat' having coffee somewhere along the road. Up Canterbury Road and we were soon at MSAC. Arriving we were told to go to the Basketball courts and we were releaved that this meant no getting wet in the pool. A quick shot at goal and we went to our next clue .......... which told us to make our way to the diving pool! Off we went and Sal raced up to jump off the 7 meter platform. Fe and I were soon asked what we were doing just watching and instructed that we each had to jump off. Now i am not afraid of heights, but standing up there was really quite scary!
Back on the bikes and again it didn't matter that we were wet from the pool as it was pouring rain. Up Beaconsfield Parade we made our way to Westgate Park and the long stretch down Lorimer Street heading back to the finish line. Racing as hard as we could as we knew we had a good chance of winning, we came into Harbour Esplanade just as the sun started shining.The hour wait for presentations was quickly filled with drying out our shoes and socks, drinking a well earned beer and trying not to get too excited at the fact that we may have come first. Soon enough though, we heard TEAM SAFIKI announced in first place and we were extatic. A new pair of Merrell shoes and a magazine subscription to Outer Edge - what an amazing way to complete our first ever Rat Race.
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Tips for Climbing into this Adventure:
- if you have the time, use Google maps to become familiar with the areas where checkpoints are located
- clearly mark out checkpoints on your map for easy reading on whilst on the bike
- give one person the responsibility of navigating. One person the responsibility of collecting checkpoints. The other person can be an assistant to both, keeping and eye out overall
- be prepared to do things that you wouldn't normally do
- try not to get too caught up in 'race mode'. Make sure you enjoy the scenery and the time with your mates
