urban assault ride: race day

as mentioned previously, today we took part in the urban assault ride. it is a mixture of a bike race and a scavenger hunt. marta and i competed in the co-ed division.

the week prior to the race we were told 6 locations around madison, in addition to the start/finish location at olin park, which would serve as checkpoints for the ride. we then had to design our route, using only bicycle safe roads and paths, while going to each checkpoint, in any order. at each checkpoint, we had to successfully complete some type of physical challenge in order to move on. to make the route planning a little more difficult, we also had to go to 3 mystery checkpoints, which were only disclosed to us in the form of a clue. we were given the first clue a couple days before the race, and then we received the clue for the second mystery checkpoint when we got to the first mystery checkpoint, and so on. basically, we had to start at olin park, go to 9 checkpoints in any order, perform 6 challenges, and return to olin park within 3 hours.

here we are prior to the race in our un-official sponsor t-shirts (thanks aaron)

here is our route and a description of the challenges (click on it for a better view, we traveled counterclockwise around the route).

rubber duck swim: one person gets on a giant inflatable rubber duck and the other has to push it out to a buoy in lake mendota and back. everyone gets soaked.

mini-bike slalom: both team members must navigate a slalom course while riding a miniature bicycle (see photo below for bike scale).

newspaper delivery: one person rides a banana seat bike through a course, and has to throw newspapers to the other teammate, who must catch them in a box.

bicycle limbo: each team member must limbo under three, successively more difficult heights, while on their bicycle.

cap pick-up: the team must fill a bowl with flat wooden tokens, that are scattered around an astroturf lawn, while people bombard them with water guns. oh, and you have to wear oven mitts.

human wheel barrow: one person holds onto a wheel on an axle, and the other person holds their legs and pushes them through a course.

we successfully completed all the tasks, and made it through our route in very good time. after the race we were treated to burritos, capital brewery beer, and the opportunity to take part in more hi jinx and shenanigans. here i am losing at the 2.5 feet height of a mini-bike limbo competition.

it was a mighty fine way to spend a morning, but after 25 miles of biking, plus physical challenges, we're pooped. there will be more pictures when the uar folks get them up on their website.