If you haven't received the 2nd racer's update, but you believe you are registered for the race, please contact me at kevin@chorus.net
Hello everyone!
Most of you reading this page have probably already registered for the 2005 Devil's Challenge. What you will read now is the latest information that I have. Be aware that I reserve the right to change the gameplan at any point. However, usually I don't.
The race is going to be a score event. Teams will find as many markers as they can in a specified time limit. This is likely to be 6.5 hours plus the time it takes to complete the canoe section. The orienteering section and the biking section must be completed in the time limit. You will also be required to leave the orienteering section in 3.5 hours. Anyone missing the time limits is liable to be pulled from the race.
The orienteering section will be the most challenging course I have set for an adventure race. It will be tough for most teams to find all of the markers in the 3.5 hour time limit. But I'm sure some of you will surprise me, as I know many of you have improved greatly in the past few years. I have set the course so that some of the markers are relatively easy to find. I think it will be a fun course for everyone. Usually, I set a minimum time limit for the orienteering section. But this year there will not be one. You may leave the orienteering section at any time you choose and devote more time to the biking section. But you cannot stay out more than 3.5 hours on the orienteering section.
Obviously, there will be some choices to be made here. In order to give you an opportunity plan out your strategy I will be handing out all the maps about 1 hour prior to the start of the race. It is likely that I will do this during the shuttling of cars. All team members but the driver will be dropped at the start, while the driver will take the vehicle to a transition area. Then the drivers will be shuttled back to the start. During this time the other team member/s will have time for route planning. If you have support, they may do the car shuttling. But as usual, no support is necessary.
Each location along the course will have the same point value except one. This will be noted on your clue sheet. The clue sheet will instruct you on what you need to do at each location or tell you where the marker is hung(i.e what is the number you find here, or east side of rock)
Any teams finding all of the orienteering markers and biking markers in under the time limit may be given addition opportunities to score points prior to starting the canoe section. Those who skip markers along the way and finish early will have to wait for the time limit to end before continuing on.
The canoe section has a change from tradition. You will NOT be required this year to take your $2000 bikes in the canoes with you on your journey. Only people with $3000+ bikes will be required to take them with. Any bikes of lesser value may be left at the canoe transition area. The canoe section will commence at dusk and finish in the dark. Due to the tricky nature of night canoing, there will be no markers placed along the way. Bonus points will be awared to the top 3 finishers and time penalties will be assessed to those who finish too far behind. I'll tell you more about this in future updates.
I do hope to include the name game in this year's race. You will be required to memorize the names of other racers and recite them back at some point during the race. You should have time for this during the shuttle or checkin.
I hope that many of you are planning on camping on the sandbar with us! I will give more details about how to get camping gear there in a racer's update. I will send out an email prior to the race asking who is camping. If you have friends that want to join us, they are welcome. We'll have a fire burning when you arrive.
Well, that's all for now. I'll just finish by saying that I'm excited about this race! I think it's going to be fantastic.
The orienteering section will feature a 5 color orienteering map and some challenging markers. The course will offer a few easier markers for beginners/intermediates, but will also have some challenging markers for those up to the task. There will be a 3 hour time limit on this section. Racers will have to find as many markers as they can in 3 hours or less. However, unlike other years, there will be no time penalties for missed markers and you may stop looking for markers at any time you choose. The race will be decided on who finds the most markers over the course of the day, so no time penalties are necessary. I anticipate this year's navigation section will be one of the most challenging ones to date.
The biking section will feature some challenging hills, but will be easier overall than previous Devil's Challenge races. The distance is longer. As on the orienteering section, you will need to locate points along the way. You will have to be finished with the biking section within 6 hours of the start of the race. You will be given maps with control locations and will find as many as possible in the time you have remaining after the orienteering section.
No one will be able to start the canoe section until a specified time. That means it will be a mass restart if all teams are where they are supposed to be. Plan on bringing your bikes along with you. Allow time for putting them in the canoe/s. The race will finish on a sandbar somewhere on the Wisconsin River. We will have food and camping available there free of charge. Everyone is encouraged to camp out with us Saturday night on the sandbar.
Those renting canoes will have canoes waiting for them when they are needed. They will come with paddles and pfd's. They will be aluminum. The cost for a rental is $20/canoe. If you choose to bring your own canoe, you will need to drop it off prior to the start of the race at the canoe put-in site. I will give more information about this at registration and the prerace meeting.
There will be some positioning of gear prior to this race. All of these details will be made available either at registration or at the prerace meeting.
The Wisconsin River
We are proud to announce that MasterLock Co. will be sponsoring this event. You can look forward to receiving a gift from them. MasterLock Co. is a leader in producing locks of all kinds, from U-bars to combination locks where you can change the combination. Please buy a MasterLock the next time you are in need of securing your propery.
Are you ready for this year's Devil's Challenge? Race planning is nearly complete. Following I will give you the latest race information. This is a 2 and 4 person team race that does not require support. The winning time will be around 7 hours. I reserve the right to change any aspect of the race at any time, though generally I have not done so. I anticipate the slowest teams to finish in about 8 hours.
This is the 5th running of the Devil's Challenge. Previous winners are Ryan and Karin Jenning(WI), David Frei/Charlie Shahbazian(MO/WI) in 2003, Eric Buckley/Yvonne Deyo(MO in 2002 and Rob Harsh/Danny Sullivan(IL/WI) in 2001.
Check in and the pre race meeting will be held at Devil's Lake. The exact location will be sent to registered teams. After checking in, cars will be shuttled to the finish area where they will be waiting when you finish the race. More details of what gear will be needed and where it will be needed will be sent out to racers the week prior to the race. You will not be required to carry tons of equipment. There will be one transition area where you will be able to leave gear, and one where you will be able to pick up gear. The start time will be 6 hours before sunset.
The canoeing will take place on the scenic Wisconsin river. You will be required to take your bikes with you. The equipment required for canoeing includes a PFD that must be worn at all times you are in the canoe. If you haven't canoed the Wisconsin river before, you are in for a treat! You'll get to see the beautiful scenery it has to offer. If you wish to rent a canoe, cost is $20. Canoes will be waiting for you when you will arrive and you won't need to do any transporting of them. Paddles and PFD's are included. A headlamp or flashlight is recommended for the canoe section.
The orienteering will be on a 5 color orienteering map with a 1-10,000 scale and 5 meter contours. The course gets a little more challenging each year. It will be approximately 6K. There are usually a few controls that are relatively easy to find, for those with weaker orienteering skills. : )
The orienteering course will have a 3 hour limit. Find as many markers as you care tp in 3 hours or less.
On the biking portion of the race there will NO SINGLE TRACK. All or almost all of it will be on country roads that have some big hills. But the biking section will be fastest on a road bike. Hybrids, mt. bikes, etc. will be slower. A helmet will be required for the biking section. There will be a short section of gravel road.
This year's race will include the following disciplines, orienteering, canoeing and biking. Each discipline will take roughly 2-3 hours(orienteering), 3-4 hours(biking) and 1-2 hours(canoeing). Overall time will be 7-8 for everyone.
The entire course requires orienteering. As you canoe, bike and navigate, you will locate points which you will punch in at. At the completion of the race, you will turn in your completed punchcard/passport.
Volunteers Needed.....If you are interested in helping make this event a big success you can do so by volunteering. We need a few extra helping hands to get the job done right. By doing so, you will get a chance to see the race up close and personal. You can camp free on Friday night and get a free meal on Saturday. You will also get the coveted Devil's Challenge 2005 T-shirt.
Orienteering.....I wanted to emphasize that the orienteering portion of the race is what I call REAL orienteering. A few years ago I never heard adventure race directors talk about anything but LAND NAV. Now every race claims to have orienteering. My definition of land navigation is using a USGS topo map to find points that you mark on your map using coordinates that you are given (usually)before the race. The maps are often 30 years old. Most of the adventure races I've heard of use USGS maps, not orienteering maps.
"Real" orienteering is a sport that was developed in Sweden about 100 years ago. Today if you mention orienteering in scandinavian countries they would expect to see a 5 color map with a scale of 1-10,000 or 1-15,000 and drawn to international standards. This is the type of map that will be used for the Devil's Challenge event. The detail on these maps is incredible including rocks, benches, every trail out there, fencelines, rockwalls, etc. The colors on the map indicate how thick the vegetation is. This allows racers to decide whether to bushwack through miserable vegetation or cleverly avoid the bad stuff for a faster route. Orienteers call this cunning running. The detail also allow a devilish guy like me to design a very difficult course that will really test your skills.
Last year a lot of people were worried about the orienteering portion of the race. I designed the course to get progressively more difficult. That allowed participants to get used to the map, and not worry so much. And the orienteering section seemed to be the most popular leg of the race. There's just something fun about finding those hidden markers. I know you will really enjoy the orienteering again this year. I hope you will appreciate how nice it is to have such a fine map for the orienteering section.
Sponsors...........Moosejaw has supported our races. Go buy some stuff from them!
...Masterlock Co. has supplied us with some locks for the racers!
Start/Finish time.....The start will be between 2 and 3PM. The finish will be around 10 and 11PM.
Support..........This is an unsupported race. If you bring support, they will not be allowed to assist you in any way other than cheering you on. There will be a couple of good places to spectate from.
Water............At a few places along the course you will be able to resupply yourselves with water. The longest stretch without water will probably be 3 hours. Bring water with you to cover those times.
Splits...........We will keep track of splits for a few sections of the race. These splits will be posted with the results hopefully the day after the event.
Accomodations....... Sandbar camping.
Canoe Rentals......For anyone needing a canoe or not wanting to bring one along, you can rent one for $20, shuttle included. If you rent, your canoe will be waiting for you when you need it, and you can leave it when finished with it. If you haven't registered yet, send the camping and canoe rental money with your entry, and I will take care of reserving the canoe and camping space for you. We try to make this as easy for you as possible.
Required equipment.....Canoe, paddles, personal flotation device, bike, bike helmet, compass(not required, just highly recommended), bike light. If you rent a canoe, paddles and personal flotation devices will be provided.
Food......Saturday night we will have a grill going with brats, hotdogs, vegetarian food, chips and beverages(all free of charge). You can help yourself after completing the race.
The course......Designing the course is the part I love the most about organizing a race. I start with an idea and watch the course evolve as I check and recheck the route. Figuring out starting and finishing points that work well, and having a balanced race, where all three disciplines play an important role, means that there is a lot of tweeking as the race approaches. Don't be surprised if things change again. All changes are made with the hope of making the race better.
Mystery Events.....there might be some : ) You will be required once again to memorize the names of 10 other participants and recite them at some point during the race.
Is this race for beginners or advanced? The course is designed to be suitable for beginners. It is a short race for an adventure race. However, the race is quite physically challenging. The roads are hilly and the orienteering is challenging. The advanced teams I heard from were very happy with the tough physical and technical challenge the course provided. All parts of the race are held in beautiful areas. Canoeing the Wisconsin River is nice, biking the driftless area of Wisconsin is beautiful, but tough, and the orienteering seemed to be the section people liked the most last year.
This is a Wisconsin Adventure Racing Society(WARS) race. We aim to provide races that are inexpensive, challenging(physically and technically) and in areas of outstanding natural beauty. We offer discounts on next year's races to teams that enter our races this year.
There will be t-shirts, food and beverages.
When? Saturday, July 2, 2005
Where? Baraboo Hills area, Wisconsin River, Devil's Lake
Cost? $170/2 person team, $340 4 person team.
50 Team limit
Check in will be at Devil's Lake. I'll send directions once your entry is received.
Required equipment: Life preservers, flashlight or headlamp, mountain bike, helmet(to be worn at all times while biking.)
No support will be needed.
This will be a 2 or 4-person team event. A few solo racers may be allowed to run unranked.
I will try to keep all the latest race information on this homepage, and will update it as the information comes in.
If you have any questions, email me at kevin@chorus.net I will post answers to questions on this page.
If you are interested in participating, send a check for $170, payable to kevin teschendorf to:
kevin teschendorf, 210 van deusen st. #2, madison, wi 53715
Include the names of the team members, a mailing address, t-shirt size, phone number and an email address. I will send any race updates via email to registered teams.
LATE FEE: There will be a late fee of $25 postmarked after May 31, and no guarantee of receiving a T-shirt.
If you have any questions or special requirements feel free to ask. I made the rules and I reserve the right to change them. My hope is that all of you will have a great time, and meet some fun people!
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