Checkpoint Zero / Inov-8 takes 4th at the MIX

Team Checkpoint Zero turned in a strong performance at the 3.5 day 2009 MIX adventure race held on May 13-16 in Traverse City Michigan. This race was the second 3 day race the team has completed in just over a month.

The 2009 edition of the MIX featured over 95 miles of paddling, 160 miles of biking and 80 miles on foot making it the longest race of the season for the squad. Coming off a second place finish at the E-Fix, the team was fired up and ready to go.

The race started with a treacherous paddle across Elk Lake, Lake Skegemog, and Torch Lake. With stiff winds whipping up 2-3 foot waves, our 16 foot canoes were easily tossed around by the elements. The start was not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. Not all the wind worked against us though, as once we turned downwind we were able to unfurl our home made sails and harness that same energy to move us forward through the course.

Following the paddle was a series of bike, trekking, and more paddling legs. We road sandy roads, beautiful singletrack, trekked through budding forests, and canoed and rafted down fast moving rivers. The race directors did an excellent job of keeping the legs long enough to get some distance in, but short enough that you didn't get bored of endlessly slogging through one area or another. It's rare in a race this long to walk away saying that we actually had fun most of the time.

While it is hard to pick just one thing, the highlights, or shall we say, most exciting moment of the race, was running into a mushroom hunter. Check out this blog post for more details. It certainly gave us a bit of a scare and put the spring back in our step, if only for a little while.

Coming up next for the team is a trip back to West Virginia to compete in Odyssey Adventure Racing's Wild Wonderful.