Pain in the ASSiniboine What To Expect

The Pain in the ASSiniboine Urban Adventure will take between 4 hours and 6 hours depending on your rate of travel. The average team may take about 5 hours. You will travel as a team of two or solo throughout the race course. Your team will carry a passport that you will have stamped at each Transition. When you have reached all of the checkpoints in order and crossed the finish line you are done!

Race day registration:

When you arrive at The Pain In The ASSiniboine Adventure host site The Forks, you will need to check into the registration area located at the atrium behind the elevator. Please complete your waiver, image release and medical forms and pick up your maps, passports, jerseys or bib number etc. Race start time is at 8:30am. The registration and gear prep process takes about 30 minutes. Your paddling gear and TA bags must be transported by your support crew and be at the drop site at Beaudry Park no later than 9:15 am. Make sure you give yourself enough time to review your maps. Arrive at the start line no later than 8:15 am.

The Map:

You will receive all maps at registration. Please take a moment to review all material in case you have any questions. You may also receive maps containing a satellite photo of one or more sections of the race. You will also receive a set of written instructions to aid you in getting from one Transition Area to the next. Please refer to them often!

Bike:

You must wear your helmet at all times. Biking terrain can include roads, secondary roads, limestone paths, double track trails and single track trails. The biking will not be very technical. Some racers will wear bike shoes and use clipless pedals. If you will be riding with bike shoes you will have to send your running shoes in your transition bag to be ready for the paddle.

It is an open course to the public and all participants must obey all traffic signals, rules of the road and give pedestrians the right of way. Please be respectful when passing.

It is highly recommended that you have your bike serviced by a qualified bike mechanic and take it for a test ride prior to race day to ensure it is in proper working order. While you can often get through it, nothing is more frustrating than bike mechanicals. We've seen racers drop from a sure win due solely to bike problems. Check out our sponsor Bikes & Beyond for tune-ups and all other cycling gear.

Paddling:

The paddling will be on flat water with the current on the Assiniboine River. You must wear your PFD at all times. There will on-water safety but due to the distance of the course it is every racer/ teams responsibility to look after each other and assist and or relay information of difficulties.

Transition & Information for PITA Urban Adventure 2012 Team and Solo Racers:

Transition Area (TA) Beaudry Park:

Please label all equipment and bags CLEARLY with either your team name (if team) or personal name (if solo). ** NOTE: the locations listed for TA may change due to last minute weather and or course changes.**

Racers (solo or team) must have minimum 1 support crew member to transport and pick up equipment from the transition zone at Beaudry Park.

You will proceed on course unaided for the entire race. Transition areas are sections of the race where you change from one discipline to the next. TA's will not have water if you need to refill so pack extra with your transition gear. When you are biking the next section of the race is paddling, you will stop in a transition area, where your gear for the next section will be waiting for you.
As part of your mandatory gear, you need to have 1 large bag or box for your transition area. This bag will need to be packed and ready BEFORE the start of the race and transported with your support crew to Beaudry Park arriving no later than 9:30 am.

Ideas for packing your transitions bags:
• Pack snacks and food you will want for the next section of the race
• Pack any extra water or special drinks (Gatorade, e-load) that you would like to have for the next section
• Pack an extra shirt/pants or jacket and shoes (if the weather is bad) in the bag
• Have each teammate pack their gear in different style bags so it's easy to grab your gear when you arrive
• Pack gear in water proof bags in case of rain or yucky weather.
Transition bags need to be labled with your team name.

Remaining gear and bikes will then be transported from Beaudry Park by your designated support crew.

Start line:

The Pain In The ASSiniboine Urban Adventure will be a mass start from The Forks.

Jerseys:

It is mandatory to wear your jersey as the outermost layer of your clothing - AT ALL TIMES. These jerseys will be made available at registration.

Worn At All Times:

On the biking portion you MUST wear your helmet at all times. On the paddling portion you MUST wear your PFD at all times. Failure to respect these rules will result in disqualification.

What to wear:

Please be prepared for any type of weather. Adventure Races can be warm and sunny or cold and rainy. It is recommended that you bring  at least 1 extra layer so that you can add or take off layers during the race.. (For more suggestions on gear, visit The Wilderness Supply Co. on Ferry Rd. The staff at The Wilderness Supply Co. are very knowledgeable in this area).

Shoes:

Any type of running shoe or biking shoe will work. Gore Tex shoes are great for wet races. Bring extra socks.

What to eat:

Here are the four basic food groups of adventure racing:

• Sugar
• Fat
• Protein
• Salt

We cannot stress enough how important it is to have salty snacks available on the race course and extra water in your transition bag/box.

Here is a list of foods that Team SwampDonkeyAR.com likes to race with:

Pringles
Hot rods
e-load (potassium/salt/carbohydrate drink) Found at Bike Stores.
Sweet and salty bars
Nuts or trail mix
Oreo cookies
Hammer^TM Gel
Clif^TM Shots
Clif^TM Bars
Clif^TM Shot-Blocks
One bite brownies
Snickers

We usually package small amounts of each food we like into the "snack size" Ziploc baggies. Then you can grab a quick snack while you are hiking. At the minimum you need to eat 200 calories/hour. That's about equal to one chocolate bar an hour.

How much to drink:

At the very minimum you will need ½ a litre of water every 30 minutes. That is equivalent to a 500 ml bottle or biking water bottle. A smaller person might only need 1 litre every two hours. Consider an insulated water bottle holder for your water bottle. Most racers use a hydration system known as a Camelbak but unless you have a tube insulator, your tube line may freeze. This is a plastic bladder with the tube attached that you put in your pack. You can drink from the tube system as you are biking / skiing along. Even if you never race again you will use this product when you are out walking the dog, picnicking or camping.

Rules to know:

LEAVE NO TRACE: This is our most important rule. Please respect the environment you are in and be sure to pick up any trash or garbage that my fall from your pack or while on course. Each TA will have a garbage bag and TA staff can pack out any found garbage.

50 METER RULE: You must be within 50 meters of your teammates. If you are separated by any more than that and the race staff sees this, you will be assessed an immediate 2 min penalty (to be served on the spot). If your team is caught a second time you could be disqualified.

ON COURSE GEAR CHECKS: At different checkpoints you will be asked to produce a piece of the mandatory gear in order to move on. If you do not have this piece of gear you will have to serve a 10 minute time penalty at that checkpoint - for each piece of missing gear! Safety gear such as bike helmet and PFD MUSt be worn at all times for those portions.

Post-Race Participation & Prizes

This will take place at the Forks as teams and solos arrive. Recommended but not mandatory: at least one complete extra set of clothing for after the event.