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Welcome to the AR glossary. If you're logged in you can add terms and definitions. To get started click the 'Edit' tab in the upper left, add items, and click the 'Save' button.
Please keep things tidy: alphabetized, see other entries for how to format yours (or you can go "here":http://plone.org/documentation/how-to/structured-text-cheatsheet for more detailed instructions). Entries must be on-topic and related to Adventure Racing!
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50,000 to 100,000 -- the estimated numbers of adventure racers just in the US. The lower number is according to the USARA and the second number was mentioned by Salomon, the shoes and clothes manufacture.
29er -- A type of mountain bike that takes 29-inch instead of 26" wheels (the 29 refers to the diameter of the wheel in inches with an inflated tire on it, although it's usually closer to 28.5").
29ers are increasingly configured as singlespeeds, although it's not required. (For a more detailed article on 29ers, see the wikipedia entry "here":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/29%22er).
AR -- Adventure Racing
Altimeter -- A toy, um I mean a device, that measures altitude (height from sea level). Most GPS has this incorporated, but GPS is illegal in AR, so you can get altimeters that are AR-legal.
baarbd -- bay area adventure racing babes and dudes, pronounced "barbed" (as in barbed wire).
BAOC -- Bay Area Orienteering Club which puts on many events a year to practice navigation. Note that orienteering maps are different, are a larger scale and provide a lot more detail, than most maps used for AR, but it's still good practice learning to read topo and elevation.
BAT 360 -- The Bay Area ridge Trail. You'll learn quickly that 'they' post this on signs, but the full trail does not really exist. baarbd is coming up with a modified AR version for 2008! (Stay tuned.)
Bikewhacking -- Going off trail with your bike. See bushwhacking.
Bladder -- The thing you carry liquids in (in this case it's unused liquids, and the bladder is outside your body).
Bushwhacking -- Going off trail during a race. Normally referred to when moving slowly through thick vegetation.
Boat -- Usually refers to a kayak in adventure racing, but may also be a canoe.
Bonk -- A common AR and cycling term which describes a feeling you get when you seriously, all of a sudden, become drained of energy like you have been sucked by a vampire, beaten by Mike Tyson, or after a fight with your girlfriend/boyfriend. More than likely you have not been doing one of the following: maintaining hydration and food intake, or you pushed your body above your fitness level.
Buff -- A versatile piece of light tubular cloth that can be used like a hat, balaclava, or for other various first aid and adventurous needs. Some race directors brand them and distribute as swag.
Control -- A type of CP, usually orange and white flagging, as used in Orienteering events, with a hole puncher to mark your passport.
CP -- Check point, a control on a passport that you go to during a race.
CP 30 -- The 30th check point in an adventure race! (Not to be confused with C3PO from Star Wars)
Duckie -- The inflatable (evil) yellow kayak. (For some reason designed to spin, not travel forward in a straight line.) These also go by the code-name Sevlor, don't be fooled by imitations.
Duct Tape -- An adventure racers best friend. It can be used for many things as well as fixing things on the fly. It can serve as everything from a band-aid to critical structural components needed to do things like hold your precious bike together.
Electrolytes -- The minerals and other salty good stuff in your body that keeps you hydrated and racing strong. Check out various vendors, including the ones in our resources, to find out the selection and test them to find the ones that work for you. These are important for racing to keep hydrated and avoid cramping, especially in hot and dry weather. Race smart!
Gaiters -- Typically nylon shells that cover your ankles (winter ones go up to your knees) to keep out the grit, scree, snow and other abrasive paraphernalia. Helps keep the blisters down too!
Gear List -- List of stuff that can be mandatory or suggested by the race organization that you bring to a race. Another way of looking at it, is all the stuff that you minimally need to bring in case weight matters!
Gear Check -- This can refer to a check conducted by the race organizers to make sure sure that all teams possess all of the gear items required for the race. Full gear checks are done during check-in before a race begins, but surprise gear checks (usually checking for just one or two required items) can happen anywhere on the course or at the finish, to make sure that each team is carrying their required gear. Teams not carrying the required gear are subject to a time penalty.
HID -- High Intensity Discharge light. Very bright, battery-powered lights often used for cycling at night. They require heavy and/or expensive battery packs to power but are currently the considered the best solution available, although the new generation of 5 watt LEDs may supplant them once they become generally available.
Hike-a-bike (Hikeabike) -- Pushing your bike instead of riding it, often because the terrain is too steep or technical to ride (although in the later stages of a race fatigue plays a large part).
It's not an actual AR discipline but most races have at least some, and many feature miles of hike-a-bike. Also see bike-whacking.
Headlamp -- A battery powered light that is usually mounted on an elastic band (think 70's) that goes around your head so you can see in the dark. The point is that the light goes whereever you look! Common types for adventure racing include HID, LED, and Halogen, although there are many more.
Kilometer (and meter) -- A measure of distance used on some maps and by some navigators in adventure racing. The conversion from mile to km is 1mi:1.6km. Most US maps (including all those issued by the USGS use miles).
Latitude -- Imaginary lines that cross the surface of the Earth parallel to the Equator, measuring how far north or south of the Equator a place is located.
Latitude is an angular measurement in degrees (marked with °) ranging from 0° at the Equator (low latitude) to 90° at the poles (90° N for the North Pole or 90° S for the South Pole; high latitude).
LED -- I'll let some gear-geek fill this one in, but what I do know is that these are great lights with a very long burn time. Unless you have 5 or more they're usually not bright enough to bike at night with, but they're light weight and good for treking... that is until you need to locate the CP, then that flood light will come in handy. "Light Emitting Diode". LED lights are evolving quickly and are increasingly available in higher wattages (brightness); single bulbs are often 1W, 3W, 5W and higher and some are bright enough to bike with at night. LED are great for low power consumption and bulb life.
Longitude -- Imaginary lines that cross the surface of the Earth, running from north to south, measuring how far east or west of the prime meridian a place is located.
Longitude is given as an angular measurement ranging from 0° at the Prime Meridian to +180° eastward and −180° westward. Unlike latitude, which has the equator as a natural starting position, there is no natural starting position for longitude. Therefore, a reference meridian had to be chosen. The Greenwich meridian is currently accepted as the universal prime meridian or zero point of longitude.
Mandatory Gear -- Synonomous with gear list. The list of gear required by the Race Director to ensure your safety during the race. Items vary, though for 12-24+ hour races you can count on having basic medical supplies, navigation tools, lighting, and the basic equipment needed to complete the race safely.
Manned CP -- A CP that has a person at it. (This means stay together as a team and be wary of a gear check!)
Map Scale -- Maps are just a representation of the real big world outside they depict. A map scale is given as a ratio relating distance on a map to the real area the map describes. The scale can be read as one unit of distance on this map equals many more units in the real world. Here is an example of a common scale used in adventure races in the Bay Area 1:24,000 (1/24,000). This scale means that for every inch on a map in the area its depicting would actual translate to 24,000 inches. Now 24,000 inches is not a number that we sit there thinking about. We think most often in miles so usually you may find a scale represented as a graphic showing a straight line and the miles or distance along that line.
Marked Course -- A race course that involves no navigation; the course is marked like a triathlon. Unlike a triathlon however, the order of disciplines isn't set, nor are the distances. Marked-course races can be a good place to start before you learn navigation or have a navigator on your team.
Mirror (Safety Mirror) -- A piece of safety gear that can be used to call for help by reflecting sunlight towards potential rescuers. Very effective during the day, not so helpful at night.
Newbie -- An athlete who is new to the sport of adventure racing. In no way is this a derogatory term, it is the standard lingo in the AR community. Not to be confused with the term 'rookie' which seems to carry some stigma along with the title. Other sports have initiation practices - in AR, doing your first few races accomplishes this. :)
Nirile Gloves -- Rarely required as part of first aid mandatory gear, however they are easy to find at a medical supply store under the heading of non-latex gloves. Latex can cause allergic reactions in some people.
Passport -- A card or piece of paper that you punch (see Control) or mark down notations to prove that you were at a CP.
PFD -- Personal Floatation Device (also called a lifejacket in other contexts). Required for paddling and other water-travel sections. If you rent a kayak for a race they are usually included as part of the rental.
Place Plot and Swap (2PS) -- A 2-discipline navigation training event invented by baarbd to test teams at placing and finding check points. Teams form, then pair off (try to match athletic ability). Each team gets CP markers and then heads out on different disciplines to PLACE the CPs. When a CP is set, the team PLOTS the point on their map. After all points are set teams return to the Start/TA/Finish. At TA teams SWAP points and then have to go retrieve the CPs that the opposing team set on the other discipline.
Plot (verb) -- This refers to races where the maps do not have the CPs already on them. You (or your team navigator) has to either transfer points from a master map or plot the UTM coordinates provided by the race director (RD).
PQ -- An acronym for the Primal Quest expedition length adventure race
Poison Oak -- Mike Murphy is immune to this. A nasty green plant that reminds you a week later that you were bushwhacking too hastily. Results in an itchy red rash that usually lasts a few days. Poison Oak emits an oil that gets on your skin and in your pores. If exposed it is a good idea to get the oil off asap. Good ways to remove oil is Dawn, dish washing soap (it cuts the grease and the oil!!!). Technu is a product made specifically to remove the oil, but Dawn is cheaper, much cheaper. If your body does react to the oil then you have a few options. There is a benedryl anti-itch cream that is helpful when you have a PO rash at work and you don't want your co-workers/boss see you itch. Zanfel is the expensive option made specifically for this and it is a rub compound that seems to work. There are cheaper knockoffs of Zanfel out there including one made by Technu. If you have a bad case see a doctor and they can prescribe steroids, now you know how some of us got so big - just kidding the doses are not that strong and only for about 2-3 weeks typically.
Portage -- A stretch of land or un-navigable water where the boat has to be carried. (Pronounced with the accent on the P or the T... sing "you say po--tay--toe, I say po--ta--toe")
Pre-Running a Course -- what a good race director does before their race in order to estimate the winning and finishing times that they publish. They may have one person run the course prior to the race. Sometimes they make the mistake of dividing legs between several people, those people each being experts in the given discipline of the leg. Case in point the BAAR Brawl 2005. Mountain bike crusher Ralph Pilley was asked to pre-run the bike leg -- no wonder everyone was surprised that the actual course time was way way longer then what the race organizer guessed. Smile
RD -- race director (usually in charge of everything from registration to race organization)
Ride and Tie -- This event has evolved just like the cavemen. Traditionally a team of 2 has 1 bike between them to complete a section of a course. It is called a ride and tie when it was two people sharing one horse (RIDE the horse ahead, then TIE it up for the person running behind). In AR, some people have 1 person ride and the other on tow to make the runner faster. All the engineering geeks (a good thing!) and mathematicians who race quickly came to realize that it is faster to 'leap frog' riding and running, than it is to tow. The fast teams usually take that tactic.
Route Choice -- The navigator can make or break a race. Route choice is crucial... whether to bushwhack a shorter distance or take a trail a longer distance.
Rules of Travel -- This is a fun one. Some passports contain vital information about what roads and
areas are off limits. If you and your team are caught violating such rules (intentionally or unintentionally - if the latter is the case get a new navigator) the outcome could be as severe as a DNF or time penalty. On the flip side, consider yourselves "AR lawyers"... everything is open to interpretation. If it's not explicit, well then, go for it! (What's that saying about it being easier to be forgiven?)
SCARABS -- baarbd's counterpart in Southern California (Southern California Adventure Racing BuddieS)
Sea-Band -- 2 cloth wrist bands with plastic pressure points to ease sea-sickness. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. :P
Sevlor -- A yellow inflatable boat. See Duckie.
Short Course -- This usually refers to any alternate or shortened course that a team is directed to run after missing a time cutoff. For example, if teams are required to reach CP10 by 12PM, then teams arriving after this may be directed to skip certain CPs or head directly to the finish. This allows slower teams to keep racing as opposed to just disqualifying them. Teams who are short coursed will be ranked behind teams who finish the full course, even if they cross the finish line ahead of the full course team.
Single Speed -- A bike, in our case mountain, that only has one gear. There are no deraileurs which drastically reduces the chances of mechanicals. The trade-offs are going up hill faster but going slower on flats and pavement because you spin out. Note that good riders have very large quads. the first team to race AR SS claims the "Stud/-ette" title! (Ha! I beat all you SS-ers to this post :P)
Space Blanket -- Often required gear, a space blanket is a sheet of mylar (thin plastic with an even thinner layer of aluminum bonded to it to reflect heat) that you can wrap yourself in. If you need to take a quick nap in a long race (24 hours or more) and it's cold consider using a space blanket so that you get the most out of a quick nap. Mylar breaks down after several years so they need to be replaced.
Support Crew -- In a supported race, your support crew will consist of one or more people whose responsibility is to basically be your pit crew for the race. They will drive to meet the team at various supported TA's that are designated throughout the race. Support crews are usually only allowed to assist the team within a TA (providing food, filling bladders, assisting with plotting, etc). Support crews are often required to shuttle team gear (bikes, boats, gear bins, etc) from one TA to another.
Supported Race -- An adventure race is either supported or unsupported. This means that it is either legal or illegal to have outside help in TA's. Sometimes support is required, most often where there are point-to-point TA's so your support crew has to transport your gear among locations. It is common to recruit friends and family, then pay for their way the duration of the race. Begging helps!
TA -- Transition Area, a CP in a race where you change disciplines and/or refuel. If supported, this is where you will usually find your support crew.
Tecnu -- A product that claims to alleviate the symptoms of poison oak/ivy. Results are idiosyncratic, but it's worth a shot (especially at 4:00 A.M. when you're going insane from the itching).
Towing -- Refers to one or more team mates pulling one or more teammates on any section of the course to increase the overall speed of the team. Teams often employ towing on run/trek legs, but towing can also be utilized while biking or paddling. Tow rigs are usually home-made and vary widely in construction, but most incorporate a piece of bungie-cord, shock-cord, or surgical tubing to act as a shock absorber.
Trek, Trekking -- One of the core disciplines of AR, trekking is basically trail-running with navigation/route--finding.
Triangulation -- Method of navigation to determine specific location from two or more known points on a map.
United States Adventure Racing Association a.k.a. USARA -- A sanctioning body that provides race organizations with marketing, adventure racers with liability insurance at USARA sanctioned events, and adventure racing teams with a national ranking system and national championship race held annually.
USARA National Ranking System -- a ranking system that tries to identify the best teams during year as the season is going along. The system scores points for registered teams at USARA.com. Points are based on the place the team is in a race. Teams that are located near uncompetitive races are favored, so do not take them too seriously.
UTM -- Universal Transverse Mercator. Refers to a standard coordinate system that is frequently used to plot check points in adventure racing (as opposed to using latitude and longitude). For each CP, racers will be given a set of UTM coordinates (a "northing" and an "easting") and will use these to plot the location of a checkpoint on a map (usually a USGS quad map).
USGS Quad -- Refers to a United States Geological Survey Quadrangle map. These maps are often used as the primary race maps in adventure racing.
Waypoint -- not a control point, but a point that racers may need to go thru on an adventure racing course often for safety reasons or to help their team in a difficult navigation area. Think of this as the "on the way point, way to your next CP."
Wing paddle -- A type of kayak paddle, often made of carbon fiber and very lightweight. Characterized by a paddle blade that has a wing-shaped cross-section and, when used correctly, is more efficient than a standard flat-bladed paddle.
Zip ties -- Plastic bands that lock into themselves. These are great to have and only 2nd to duct tape.
Zombie -- After you have been adventure racing for 24+ hours you see a fresh triathlete and bite them on the neck... then then become a true adventure racer yearning for a multi-day race. BITE.
