Raid des Chaussees Espoir race report by Pierre Francois, Team No Detour 119.

The story
Being back to the place where you spent most of your life, where all your childhood friends still live, is
always a fabulous feeling This September, we are back in France for the second time in four years, and
to turn the trip into an even better one, I decided to register on a local adventure race le raid des
chausses with my childhood friends: Aurelien, PJ, Oliv and Julien as a support crew. I am excited,
having set this as the highlight of my holiday (selfish). I have started adventure racing while I was in
Australia, and have no idea of the terrain in my parents backyard. So this race is the perfect occasion to
taste a bit of the French bush (sic), with race HQ / bivouac being within 10km from my hometown,
Beaurepaire.
On top of everything, the format of the race is new for me. It will be two days stages, with a mandatory
night into a tent on the bivouac. I have done a fair number of 24hrs nonstop races, but I am not so sure
how my body will refuel with 15 hours rest between the two days Well not exactly 15hours, because
we will have a night orienteering leg for 1 hour 15min.

Pre-race

While Aurel is doing the logistic with the French ute,:


Oliv and I spend the arvo preparing the bivouac Great atmosphere over there and I feel I am putting a
tent like if I am going to attend a music festival. Old days


It is Friday night, after a good one hour queue to get the race pack (what the hell?) I can discover what
will hurt us for the next 48hours The overall distance will be ~115km, 60%/40% and a lot of running vs
MTBing, which is annoying me. The race is fully supported, but one of the big differences with AR in
Australia is that the maps are kept secret until each leg. At least, no race prep for me tonight, we have
time for a good fueling.

Team 119 : Pierro, Oliv, Julien, PJ and Aurel

Race Leg 1
Saturday morning, 8AM. We are all geared up for the race. The start is at Landebaudiere castle, a short
stroll from Beaurepaire, my home town.

We are competing in the Espoir category, while Elite and Super-Elite will do the same race as us
plus some extra legs to cover a 165km race. First impressions are that the atmosphere is awesome, and
that race is a BIG machine (Ive told close 700 volunteers ... yes more than the number of competitors!).


In order to split the teams, we are given a mass start in a relay format. It means the first team member
(me) will run a short 1.5km loop around the castle and gives the relay to the second (Oliv) then third
team member (Aurel). I never ever run in front of such a big crowd and as expected the speed is high,
15km/h. We end up the relay mid pack in our category.

Race Leg 2
Again, in order to split the pack, teams are either send to an 18km MTB loop, or a 9km run. Our team
will do the weird run. Weird indeed because the map we received shows a route to follow but doesnt
have any checkpoints on it, just the overall number to collect for the leg and it will be our job to follow a
taped route (yes, it is taped with pink ribbon) to collect the CP. It is the exact opposite of what we do in
Australia (where we get the map with checkpoints and it is our choice to find the best route). Ok, lets
do it! Because teams are still visible to each other, it doesnt require too much attention to follow the
right path. Well we still manage to make two mistakes in a row, probably a loss of 10 minutes. Roughly
half-way, a surprise leg is on offer. It will be a short orienteering leg with three CP to find. Again the map
doesnt show any CP but lots of tracks, and it is our responsibility to find the best route to find the
orange and white flags quick. We did well in what I called the gambling orienteering leg.


The last kms of the leg are beautifully
surrounded by green typical landscape du
bocage vendeen. Also I have troubles to follow
my teammates, trail runners specialists. We
finish this leg in 1h03 in 15
th
position, about
10minutes behind the leaders.


One of the numerous creeks we had to cross


Race Leg 3
Back in the castle, I have to say I am happy to put my (fat) ass on the bike, for 18km. It is not anymore a
surprise to discover that again, the map doesnt show any checkpoints but a path to follow. Our start is
fast I think and while Im wondering why the team which was behind us minutes ago is not anymore, I
realize that we have missed a junction near La Guicherie. To my defense, it is hard to distinct if the
route path to follow is a track/road or across a paddock, which means inexistent track except for the day
of the race. That time it was across a paddock and we probably lost 15 minutes due to that mistake.
Fuck me. The ride is mostly made of single tracks, and it is almost impossible to overtake other riders.

It is fairly flat too, but on the first big climb (at
the east end of the map), Aurel starts to cramp.
I gave him a salt tablet (thanks to my Australian
adviser on pills). We have to slow down a little
bit because we still have 8km to go, and heaps
more then. Well actually we are slowing down a
lot because we are struggling with 5-6 other
teams to find the right path to go to the village
Crume. I think we are off map and could have
save few hundred meters of climb for Aurel if I
had paid more attention on the map. Bugger,
another good 10-15minutes which will cost a lot
in the end.
The end of the leg is ok, but not great. The reason is that we are too many teams together (probably
more than 20, which means 60 riders in a row) and it is just impossible to create gaps between teams.
We are just sheep! We finish with the flow, and discover that we have missed one checkpoint bugger!
Anyway post-race analysis shows that we were the 35
th
/49 teams on this leg


Race Leg 4
Next leg is called bike and run. This is again a special one, very popular in France. It involves 2 bikes for
three people, hence one is running and we have to find the best way to be efficient, by swapping the
bikes between the three of us. We decided before the race that our joker PJ will enter the race at that
moment, and it is good time because of Aurels cramps. At this time we have no idea of our position, but
honestly I think we should be around mid-pack. I wont explain it again, but the map has a route and no
checkpoints. The 12km is mostly done by PJ who has fresh legs. I personally hated this leg we arrive in
the town of St Aubin des Ormeaux a little bit exhausted by the heat.

One or two creek crossings made the journey more enjoyable


Out time for this leg is 56 with all checkpoints, 10
th
time, again happy with that.



Race Leg 5
At this point, PJ is feeling great, Oliv and I a little less since we have been on course from the start. It is
time for a refuel because we are not going to see our crews for 3 hours.
A word on our crew Julien, our Doctor Ferrari I should say! He did a great job during the race, and no
doubt he got the idea that the food I like the most during transition is BANANA! Each time we reached a
TA, my banana skin was removed, ready to be eaten Thats gold!

Julien and Cedric, our fantastic crews

Next leg will be either a 1h15 orienteering or a 1h15 canoe. Our team is sent to the orienteering first.
The leg will see us covering a small area with three different maps, where we will have to grab a
maximum of 30 checkpoints within 1h15 max (penalty time if we are late). The area covered is quite
small, with 30 CP placed everywhere between the river la sevre Nantaise and the top Les coteaux on
a scale 1:3000 (not 100% sure of that, but it was a scale I have never raced on). It is a great terrain for
orienteering with a LOT of up and down, on track and off track. I love it and my fellow team mates seem
to like it too, even if I am the one doing the nav.
We managed to grab 26 checkpoints out of 30 in the allocated time, well almost because we were 115
late (20 time penalty). For this leg we are 9
th
which is good.


Race Leg 6
Next is canoe, 5km with 3 mandatory (to grab in order) and 3 optional worth 10, 15 and then 20, but
with 10 time penalty per minute late. This leg was epic. Indeed it was the first time paddling for PJ, and
starting in a race format is obviously not ideal. We struggle a lot to make the canoe straight and for god
reasons we decide to go and grab two optional checkpoints We are almost two minutes late, and dead
last on this leg. Most of the team just grabbed the three mandatory checkpoints and I dont know why I
did push to grab optional checkpoints. Its probably because Ive learnt to enjoy paddling. PJ/Oliv, did
you like that paddle?? ehe
Anyway I think I will laugh again again with them about that paddle



Race Leg 7
The 18% climb to reach back the TA took its toll. Even if it seems we are one of the latest teams to leave
(which made Aurel and our crews seriously worried about us) we are on track for our last leg for today, a
9km run to the bivouac. Aurel is back on course instead of PJ. I personally feel like I have no legs
anymore and struggle a lot to follow Aurel and Oliv pace. I am moaning against the race rules because
rope to tow fellow partners is forbidden.

But anyway, we had a good run and finally cross the finish line cheered by friends and family. Something
new for me, I like it.


While I am writing this race report, I am VERY surprised to see that we are 4
th
on this leg, only three
minutes behind the leaders. We might have been in good position at the end of the first day without
that stupid decision on the kayak, as well as the nav errors on the bikes. Instead we are ranked 14
th

before the night orienteering, which I expect to be one of best opportunity for us to climb up in the
ladder.

Post-race refuel
The orienteering leg is supposed to kick off at 9pm, so we have few hours to rest and refuel. Showers
are also provided in town but we decide it is not worth the travel. Shame we didnt find the time to get a
feet massage, also provided for free (but only two podiatrists for 300 racers made the queue
unaffordable). Oh, but I forgot to mention that we have the opportunity to win 2 time credits. Aurel has
three arrows to get a maximum of 15minutes bonus time. Pressure was such on him that he scored only
one arrow
+7 minutes. But what can we say about Oliv who managed only 3minutes bonus in a shooting exercise.
I thought he was a fantastic hunter!
3kg of pasta, which means 500g each, was plenty to refuel. Thanks Pierro for the quantity which forces
us to throw away about 2 kilos (too many races with Eric Charp)
After a chat with our friends who came to support us (or more likely to share the drink at the end), it is
time to tackle the night orienteering. It is 9pm; we are ready for the 1h15min run. I hope the area will be
challenging, so eventually we can nail the checkpoints. The teams start every 30sec with maps handed
out on the fly. The first map we have is an easy line course, and dont offer that many challenges to find
the checkpoints. It is just open grass seeds, paddocks, roads Dead easy until we reach the end of the
map1. Indeed, the final checkpoint is on the other side of a dark green area, about 50meters thick, and
the busy road on the left hand side is marked out of bounds. Ok, while the 4-5 teams with us are
heading towards the out of bounds area (?), I decide to bring the team on the other side and bush bash
to reach the inside track which was supposed to bring us down to the final checkpoint. Once we reach
the track, I am quite happy thinking that we nailed this small difficulty. But the track ends to the out of
bounds road, and a 20 meters distance to cover to reach the TA. Hmm, are you cheating? Are we
allowed to run those 20 meters? Not sure, I take the decision to run it and we reach the race marshal
without any remarks
The second map is on the other side of the road, and the sneaky race director forces us to go under a
bridge to reach the area Wet feet again! But thats adventure racing, I like that.
No difficulty again on this map, and we finally leave (only) three white and orange flags behind us. Not
super great but not bad either. We have the 5
th
time with bonus and penalty time taken in account.


It is 11pm, after a cute firework, the bivouac is slowly going quiet as all the teams have switched to
recovery mode.


Race Leg 8
7am, we slowly wake up. Night was good, legs are sore. But while we are invited to check in, we can
hear our team number being called, like many others. Surely, something is going on and we are quite
nervous. The race director explains to all of us that we have been caught cheating last night, being
counted 1, 2 or even 3 times on an out of bounds area. God damn it, it is my fault. 20meters on that
road and we are excluded from the race along with 12 others teams in our category, 16 in total (4 super-
elite teams). Well, at least the race directors have been nice with us because we can still continue, but
we will be unranked. It is obviously with frustration that we are going to the start of the first leg today,
but I can tell my friends that we should be happy that we are allowed to continue and finish that race as
a team, which is our ultimate goal.
To restart the engine, an urban orienteering in town La Verrie is our menu. It is easy, but welcome
warm-up. Then it is more like a bush orienteering, with the first 3 checkpoints to be visited in order in a
bushy area We have spent a lot of time, too much time, to find the first one My bearing didnt
work and I forgot to use the electric line going above us to cross check where we were. This should have
led us to the checkpoint, easily. Anyway, I apologize to my teammates and ditch 5 checkpoints Bugger.
Therefore our ranking for that leg is 30
th
.
Race Leg 9
We are now on the bike for a 15km +5km ride alongside the beautiful river La Sevre nantaise. This
time, the checkpoints are marked on the map, but again the route is drawn too. Whats the point here
please? With such a format, same story as yesterday, we are in a group of 20 teams and just follow the
flow. Too bad because the ride is lovely, and we even have a long hike-a-bike in the middle!


Even though the leg description says that there are 3 fake checkpoints, we manage well during that
leg and grabbed all of them. We have the 30
th
time, mid pack again.


Race Leg 10
In between the two rides, we have the opportunity to get a credit time through a rock climbing leg. I was
supposed to climb (and I brought my climbing shoe all the way from Australia) but I offered the spot to
PJ, fresher than me and keen to wash up the canoe experience from his mind. He has the choice
between 8 routes, some being easy grade, some medium or hard. But the goal here is to climb the wall
in a certain amount of time, which depends on the grade. PJ decides to go with an easy grade, and he
will have 50seconds to reach the top. He did well and gets to do it in 40 seconds. Well done, it is a 20
minutes bonus time.

The last 5kn going to Le Longeron start with a big climb on a rocky trail. Our legs are definitely on fire.


Race Leg 11
Following our strategy, PJ stops here the race and Oliv will enter the game for what is our last swap. We
are going to Tiffauges where the finish line is. Again the run is taped, 9km. I am suffering with my legs,
and slowing down the team. We didnt do any mistakes and finished the last run in just under one hour,
21th time.


Our first supporter and friend Gaboche was at the end of this bridge waiting for us. Gold!
Race Leg 12
Once in Tiffauges, we still have two legs: it is either a 4km canoe, or an orienteering. We are sent first on
the canoe and this time no doubt that we only tackle the mandatory checkpoints. But I can tell that
Aurels paddling technique was far better than PJ Our score on this canoe is 27
th
(still crap, but
better than yesterday).
Some of our friends are here, cheering at us. I dont know how I am going to run the last orienteering.
But when I said that to my teammates, they laughed and said that because there will be a map, I am
going to run like a rabbit! Which I did! I dont know, for me running with the map after checkpoints gives
me more power rather than running for running Anyway I first think that we wouldnt have enough
time to clear the map so we CP5 is the one I decide to ditch It was a mistake because we nailed all the
others checkpoints and had to come back to clear it. We finished the leg in less than the allocated
45min, 16
th
time.

All along the race Aurel did a fantastic job as our ferret
Finish
Thats it! The team can now be reunited to run the last km to the castle of Tiffauges. It is a fantastic
feeling to run, with hundreds of people cheering at the adventure racers finishing this epic race. It looks
like a parade and we took this opportunity to do some selfies




It still requires an ultimate effort to climb the ramparts of the castle, where three ladders are waiting for
us. Everyone who has registered is here to climb the 3 meters wall! And we did it.




We cross the finish line around 5pm, having raced 120km on two days. Our bodies are obviously tired
but personally it is a fantastic feeling to have crossed this line with my childhood friends. Ok we are
unranked, but we have raced for 18h17min (first team finished in 13h33) and we could always be
pleased to say that without the disqualification, our final ranking would have been 14
th
out of 59 teams.
I am happy with that, knowing all the mistakes weve done
Results can be found here:
http://www.raid-des-chaussees.fr/raid-des-chaussees/121-resultats/208-2014-resultats

To finish, here is my like/dislike list:
I dislike:
- MTB versus Run was unbalanced. I would have preferred more MTB and less running. How
about a MTBO leg with allocated time for next year?
- Apart from the orienteering, we never had any route choice to make. Pity.
- Not a huge fan of Bike&Run.
- Towing not allowed, even on the run
I like:
- 700 volunteers is HUUUUGE and makes the event a really smooth machine
- Rock climbing, archery, shooting, optional checkpoints on kayak All of these bring up the
adventure spirit
- No cramp at all, thanks to my SiCaps pills
- The atmosphere around the bivouac was fantastic
- Racing with great friends is just the best! Thanks guys