Note: I originally wrote this in the remaining hours before the start of the 2017 Cameco Cowboy Tough and Adventure Racing World Champs. I never quite got around to publishing it… until now! We had a really good time doing some last minute training and getting used to the environment pre-race so it was pretty fun having a look back on one of the all time best trips I have been on.

With a couple of days under our belts in Colorado and some good training at altitude, it was time to move on to Casper ahead of the race. We had a bit of time to muck around to get in some more biking before our packrafts turned up. The moment of truth came when the arrived and we took them for a bit of a spin in the North Platte river – right through the middle of town! The best part of this river was the whitewater park with some man made rapids to practice in before we hit the real thing in the race. A really cool feature in Casper.

Besides the usual mucking around getting food ready there was the registration, and the packing, and the eating, and packing and then some more packing, but once it was all set to go it was just a nervous nights sleep to go. Our last proper sleep in a comfortable bed for the next few nights! Here are some highlights from the last few days.

T-Rex – Casper is famous for Dinosaurs…. and the Bentonite Clay that stuck to our bikes on the final ride in the race – no wonder the Dinosaurs all got stuck in it!

Getting packed. The cleaners left us all a note… “too many personal items on the bed to make them.”

The Chaotic staging area. Everyone was packing and repacking, we wandered up weighted in and walked off like pros – no problem!

Isla demonstrates her rapell technique

Bike boxes all packed and set!

The last supper, a Chilli-dog from “The Fort”