Adventurers try urban assault

By Stephen Hlawaty
Outdoors Columnist

The competitive spirit is alive and well in the western mindset. We hardly notice when cordiality turns toward competition.

From comparisons of the best-carved jack-o-lanterns, to the tastiest Thanksgiving meals, to the brightest display of lights during Christmas celebrations, we are a people committed to outdoing the Joneses. Even in the outdoors, our attitudes often turn toward competitive recreation.

Competitive recreation: This seemingly innocuous oxymoron could reveal itself to be the demon spawn of an otherwise noble and innocent outdoor pursuit when placed within the context of this year's Urban Assault Race in Fort Collins. As such, would riding a bicycle turn from an activity born from the purity of childhood into a dirty and wet pursuit for personal recognition?

It started off innocently enough. As a birthday gift to his sister, my brother-in-law Jeff entered my wife, Amanda, and me in the race. This was the second year in which Fort Collins hosted this national event. Other 2007 venues for the race included cities in Texas, Wisconsin and California.

It had snowed the morning of race day--Oct. 14--at our home in Livermore. But since this was a gift from her brother, we felt compelled to see it through. Luckily, only biting wind and freezing rain greeted us in Fort Collins that morning.

As we neared our starting time, more and more racers began to show up, dressed in their tight, Lycra cycling pants, capilene skullcaps and Gore-Tex rain jackets. The race was on--oh, yes--it was on, and we were not about to be outdone by these fellow competitors.

According to its web site, the race is a "combination of an Adventure Race, Scavenger Hunt and Bike Race." Covering roughly 20 miles, cyclists race throughout Fort Collins to various checkpoints in the city where racers must then participate in various fun challenges that test a team's mental and physical abilities before moving on to the next checkpoint. It all seemed harmless enough until Amanda and I arrived at our first checkpoint.

From the alley behind the Rio Grande, we raced our bikes north on Mason --narrowly averting crashing into two bikes that had slid out before us while crossing the street's railroad tracks--to Lee Martinez Park. Through driving wind and rain, we arrived at our first checkpoint where we had to capture two flags from a race volunteer doing his best not to be caught.

While waiting for our turn, I asked a race coordinator whether tackling the volunteer was permitted. Far be it from me not to consider the rules of engagement for this sort of thing. He said "no," so we began our pursuit of the flags with a good-natured spirit. Such good nature would turn sour after realizing that the flag bearer began to mock our pursuit. At one point, the volunteer slipped and fell. And as I leaped to keep him grounded while Amanda made for the flags, the volunteer started elbowing me in the shoulders to escape, which he did. Now the game was really on, so I decided to bend the rules of engagement as much as he had. After tackling him, I made certain that he stayed down long enough for Amanda to capture the flags. We returned to our bikes triumphantly, with a competitive spirit that would take us through the rest of the race.

Other checkpoints included competing with tricycles, stilts, wheelbarrows, scooter boards and beanbag. Needless to say, after our run-in with the flag guy, we took all of these subsequent challenges quite seriously, which made tackling the free Rio Grande tortilla wraps and New Belgium beer at the race's finish all the more rewarding. To the victors go the spoils.

But the spoils of this urban assault extended beyond the food and drink that awaited the racers. Entrance fees of each Urban Assault Race benefit local charities. For 2007, these charities include Boys and Girls Clubs, Bike Denver, Boulder Humane Society and the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

Competitions aside, events like this one do more than produce comparisons among winners and losers. Regardless of the activity, these kinds of races and festivals bring like-minded individuals together to share in their mutual love of a sport. But maybe more importantly, I would come to realize, they bring people together to produce results measured in increments larger than any clock-or ego-can hold. For more information, visit www.urbanassaultrace.com.