Stewart Cowey

 

Adventure racing suits me down to the ground. I’ve always enjoyed a range of sports. Competing in rowing and hockey at an elite level at university, while skiing and snowboarding whenever the snow was deep enough. When I moved back to Geelong, I spent a lot of time rock climbing both in the gym and out on the rock. While never reaching a high standard on the rock I was good enough to get into (and out of) some pretty hairy situations. Rock climbing reignited a passion for getting out into wild places. Having children has postponed the rock climbing but the love of the outdoors has never wavered.

When I was introduced to mountain biking, it was an epiphany. What better way is there to combine all the things you love in life. Initially competing in the club XC and enduro scene was a way to maintain fitness for going on those backcountry epics, particularly out the back of Mansfield in the Victorian Alps.

At the insistence of another Geelong Mountain Bike Club Member we entered as a two man team in an Adventure Race. It was a sprint event at Lysterfield. Paddling blow up canoes, mountain biking and trail running. After 4 hours of racing I was totally stuffed and completely hooked. Several multisport events followed which then led to even longer adventure races. This was even better than just mountain biking. You get to race in beautiful settings with some of the best people I have ever met, and training gives you a constant excuse to get out into the bush every weekend.

Racing a 10 day expedition length adventure race such as XPD is the culmination of a life time goal. Thanks to Gen and Dean at Torq, I’m looking forward to the team reaching our full potential and being competitive against some of the world’s top Adventure racing teams. If all goes to plan we may even find ourselves on the way to South America for the 2008 AR World Champs.