Once again, there were so many great moments from the 2011 season of the Atmosphere Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing Series.  We started the year off in a brand new venue, Burnaby, and ended in Cumberland for the 12 year in a row.  I had hundreds of photos to review and came up with 20 images and two videos.  Enjoy!!!

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1. WE WERE THE FIRST  – Photo by Mark Teasdale  —- A partial group shot just before the start of the inaugural race in Burnaby, BC.   The weather was ideal — cool in the morning and bright sunny skies in the afternoon.  The race started and finished at Barnett Marine Park, a bit of a hidden gem in the Lower Mainland.

2. WHAT A PADDLE LEG  – Photo by Mark Teasdale  —- Todd Nowack leads this group of paddlers on a 10km paddle in Burrard Inlet /Indian Arm and up to Jug Island and back.    Todd won this race and Cumberland (another series sweep!)  and adds two more to his overall win tally.

3. SWEET SINGLE TRACK ON BURNABY MOUNTAIN  – Photo by Matthew Beckett  —- Frontrunners’ Stefan Jakobson cruises down the trails during the MOMAR Burnaby.  Frontrunners is our longest running sponsor having been with us for the past 12 years. Love you guys!

4. COMPASSIONATE VOLUNTEER  – Photo by Andrea Beckett  —- The MOMAR has the BEST team of volunteers.  They are always so hardworking, enthusiastic, and ready to help a racer out when needed.  Here, longtime volunteer, Thomas Howard (and his chicken) takes the time to click a shot of a wiped out racer before helping him up (and asking if he’s ok).  What a guy!

5. CELEBRITY APPEARANCE   – Photo by John Crosby  —- Not only did we have one of the best female adventure racers (Jen Segger) on the start line of the MOMAR Burnaby but we also had Raid the North’s race director, Geoff Langford, too!

6. CHAMPAGNE WISHES – Photo by Mark Teasdale  —- Team Beer O’Clock (Nicole Gibbons, Beth Henschel, Alison Perras, and Jaimie Isaac) from Vancouver celebrates their first place finish (4F) with champagne and big smiles. They found all 36 checkpoints in 7h and 13m.  Great job!

7. HEART AND SOLE  – Photo by John Crosby  —- The Momamas were the winners of the Sole Spirit Award. Tons of spirit all day long.

8. VIDEO:  WATCH THE FOOTAGE   – Video by Erik Nachtrieb of 1iOpen Productions  —- Big thanks to Erik for coming out and shooting video and putting together this stellar video that captures the essence of our inaugural race in Burnaby. Click  here to watch.

9. WELCOME TO THE FOG – Photo by Erik Peterson —- Paddlers set out on Comox Lake for the start of the Cumberland MOMAR.  This was the foggiest morning that we ever had and it made for a really eerie but calm paddle stage.

10. NEW CHECKPOINT – Photo by Erik Peterson —- There has been 12 races in Cumberland and finding new terrain is always a treat.  Here, a new trail was cut allowing us access to a set of fantastic bluffs with a great view of the glaciers to the west.  Team Frontrunners Westshore (Nick Walker and Eric Findlay) look pro as they approach CP 3.  I predict a big year at the MOMAR for this duo in 2012.

11. A FAMILY AFFAIR – Photo by John Crosby  — It was great having Vernon’s Sheila Sovereign take on the 30km sport course with her niece Karly.  The Vernon Morning Star reported: “We did really well with the route finding, but we really had to take our time and think it through,” said Sheila. “I did the Squamish MOMAR and the trail finding was way easier. This was actually pretty tricky so we really had to pay attention.”

12. LOST AND CONFUSED – Photo by Erik Peterson —- We’ve all been there… you know… in the Orienteering Stage of the MOMAR… your navigator isn’t quite sure where to go as your teammate waits (im)patiently for a quick decision. Right?  Sarah Newman and Geoff Huenemann from Bike Over Teakettle figure things out in the final stage of the MOMAR Cumberland course.

13. SPIRIT OF TWO BODIES IN ONE – Photo by John Crosby —- In the most touching story in the history of the MOMAR, Steven Crerar from Campbell River races the MOMAR Cumberland in memory of his brother  Bryan Crerar, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2009.  Steven and Bryan had raced together for four previous MOMARs and this was now Steven’s first solo.  More on Steven’s story, click here.

14. FOUND IT! – Photo by Erik Peterson —- Aside from crossing the finish line, is there any better feeling than finding a Checkpoint?  Sometimes they can be found easily and sometimes they are hidden; either way, seeing the orange and white flag is a great feeling.  In this photo, ELM Fearless Leaders (Kathy Campbell and Lynn Swift) punch the CP at the top of DCDH.

15. OH THOSE CUMBY TRAILS – Photo by Erik Peterson —- A forest is sometimes just a forest but when you get a community of dedicated trail builders you can end up with a forest with it’s own very unique identity.  The trail network behind the Village of Cumberland is simply the best on the Vancouver Island.  In the first years of the MOMAR Cumberland, we took racers on the Crafty Butcher trail, but subsequent logging kept it out of future course routes. Last year, the trail was refurbished and a wicked double teeter todder was added making this the must ride trail of the race. Super fun, super fast, super buff.

16. OH THOSE CUMBY TRAILS – Photo by Erik Peterson —- Just south of the start/finish line for the MOMAR Cumberland sits a steep boulder filled forest and rugged cliffs.  The terrain here is super cool and is the home to a rock climbers, wasp nests, bears and our final orienteering stage. It’s one of my favorite places in Cumberland.

17. YOU’RE ONLY AS FAST AS YOUR SLOWEST TEAMMATE – Photo by John Crosby —- Last Year’s Losers (Irene and Neil Borecky) cross the line with almost all of their limbs attached…. Runner up for the Sole Spirit Award. What a riot.

18. ATMOSPHERE  – Photo by John Crosby —- A big BIG thanks goes out to our title sponsor Atmosphere who have been with us for the past three years.  Without their support and the support of all of our other sponsors, the MOMAR would not be possible (or at least you wouldn’t get a cool shirt, shiny medal, tasty dinner, rockin’ party, accurate maps, heaps of prizes, a crazy MC, etc… ).  And it was great to have a staff team from the Victoria store compete too! In this photo: Steven Craig, Hannah Mashon, William Rankine, and Nick Brame.

19. ROCK STAR – Photo by Erik Peterson —- What a great moment it was when MOMAR’s own event coordinator, Tamara Rhodes, took the stage and sang a few songs with Megalicious at the MOMAR Cumberland after-party.  This capped off another killer after-party!

20. THREE AMIGOS – Photo by ‘some dude with my camera’ —- Dave Norona, Normon Thibault, and me (Bryan Tasaka).  These guys were at the first MOMAR back in 2000 and they are still here today — 35 races later.  Wow. What a run.

21. THE REAL HEROS OF THE MOMAR – Photo by Erik Peterson —- The MOMAR is produced by a core group of hard working, organized, and dedicated event team.  Thank you Tamara Hung, Janine Tasaka, Sheron Chrysler, Elaine McHugh, Lisa Au, Liz Tribe and Gary Robbins!!!  (Note: Dave Norona represents Lisa, Liz, and Gary for the purposes of this team picture)

22. THE NASTYASS ADVENTURE RACER – Video by Kootenay Kaos —- Words cannot properly explain what the Kootenay Kaos are all about… it’s best if you just watch the video.

That’s it!  Nothing but great memories! Let us know what you think by posting a comment below.

Normon Thibault from Frontrunners takes on the rappel (photo by Nick Sopczak)

If you are following the MOMAR on Twitter, you would already know that the photo gallery from the rappelling stage on the Stawamus Chief is now online.  Big thanks to photographer Nick Sopczak for harnessing up and taking all the great shots! Check it out here.

I have also posted up new galleries from Larissa Buijs, Mark Teasdale, and Amber Thom.

The super fit couple, Wendy Simms and Normon Thibault, were down in Portland last weekend taking part in USGP Cyclocross race.  It sounded like a pretty fun and muddy time with Wendy placing 5th and Normon a 3rd and a 1st place finish!  Nice work kids!  Check out the full story on Wendy’s blog.

Here’s a photo of Norm after his win.  The guy is 40 but I gotta say he doesn’t look a day over 13!  ;0)

The countdown is on until the MOMAR Shawnigan Lake!  I’m here with my sister, Janine, in Nanaimo where we just spent the night at Normon Thibault’s place.

Last night, Norm entertained us with a spectacular fireshow. Armed with a blowtorch taped to the end of a stick and a big can of bug spray, he bravely set off to rid his property of a massive wasp’s nest.  Here are a few photos…

It just goes to show you that it’s not all about working out for this recent winner of the BC Bike Race (coed with Wendy Simms), but they too are just like us! I feel like the editor of US Weekly by saying that.  ;0)

We’ll be heading south to Duncan soon where we will be loading up the Budget van, going to Merridale Estate Cidery, and then for a Safety Meeting with the boys from SARBC, Timonda, and the HAMS.

Oh, and the new MOMAR T-Shirts are SUPER cool!!!

I just got off the phone with Gary Robbins from Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR who just wrapped up Day 1 at the BC Bike Race. Today’s 89km stage went from Shawnigan Lake and finished in Lake Cowichan. The race started with two laps around the Shawnigan Lake School campus in an effort to spread teams out before the single track. As could be expected, teams hammered off the start line to get a good position in the narrow trail. However, in this early loop teams had to cross a farmer’s field which had just been plowed the day before. This made things a bit muddy and one of the Trek teams blew BOTH of their derailers in the first few km into the race. They ended up getting the bike fixed but left 20min+ behind the last team–still they ended up finishing 4th overall for the day!

Gary and Todd were hanging with some top teams for the first few hours of singletrack, but 3/4 of the way up an 8km climb, Gary started suffering from severe leg cramps. These cramps would plague him any time they came to an incline and he had engage his inner quads. Todd was a workhouse for they day and by the sounds of it, very patient with his suffering teammate. Fortunately the final 20km were on the Cowichan Valley Trail (old rail bed) and they were able hammer it out at a ~24km/hr pace.

MOMAR Squamish winners Team Helly Hansen / Vancouver Island (Justin Mark & Jeff Reimer) had a troubled day one as well. Justin was suffering from the heat which reached highs of 32 celsius. Todd went through 10 bottles on the day and Gary chugged 2L of water at one aid station (almost made him puke).

Unofficial results had Gary and Todd finish in 25th place with a time of 5h15min and Justin and Jeff in 5h28min. Other notables include Team Kona (Normon Thibault and Wendy Simms) who finished 10th overall with a time of 4h45min. Today’s winning team finished in 4h14min (I think it was one of the Cannondale teams). The Trek team finished second. The results will be up on the BCBR website soon: www.bcbikerace.com.

Tomorrow’s stage is 125km long with 123km on mainline forest service roads. It’s going to be a day where teams will ride in packs just like a day on the Tour de France. It’s going to be fast and furious!