This year we're adding a new challenge to the race course: all racers, in both Sport and Export category will paddle canoes with their bikes. That's not our invention, there are many races around that require putting mountain bikes into canoe. So how to fit two people, two backpacks and two bikes into one canoe? For an advice we went to our friends from Odyssey Adventure Racing, where Mark Lattanzi, of Team ImONPoint.org - Odyssey Adventure Racing, was kind enough to share some ideas. Please note, Mark's instructions below are for real white water paddling. This year Calleva Race is all flat, slow moving water, but you still will have an opportunity to capsize your canoe, just try it harder :-)
"I've been asking to reflect upon my experiences with putting mountain bikes into canoes in an adventure race. There are three major things to keep in mind when do this:
1) Make sure all the pieces parts are tied in with runners, ropes, or whatever. Don't leave anything loose! With Odyssey race courses, you will most likely regret it.
2) Keep the center of mass of the bikes as low as possible. Canoes are tippy. When going through rapids, it is common to kneel in the bottom of the bottom to reduce the tippiness of the canoe. The same applies to the bikes. You want them as low as possible. This means getting the frames under the cross bars. You're going to have to remove both tires to achieve this and sometimes even that is not enough.
3) Make sure you leave enough space for you and your teammates to comfortably paddle. Try to leave spaces for the back person to slide their feet into so they can make a full paddle stroke. For the front person, make sure that none of the bikes are poking into their butt/back (or can slide forward and do so).
Specifically, I ride a 29er. So I pair my larger frame up with the smallest frame on the team. I put the large frame in first (under the crossbars). Next I try to get the second frame underneath as well. I use a three or four 2-3ft runners (it's good to have a variety of lengths) and cheap biners (8-10 of them!) to secure the frames.
For larger bikes, I sometimes have to lower the seats or even take the seat posts completely off. If I do that, I make sure to have a spare bag (dry bag) to put the seats into so they won't get lost in the event of a capsize. Next, I stick the wheels in the various spaces around and on top of the frames trying to keep them as low as possible. I use a couple more runners to hold the wheels in. Make sure that the skewers on the wheels aren't so loose that they will come off. Losing them in the water is a catastrophe. If I'm really worried, I'll take them out of the wheels and put them into a dry bag as well.
It's well worth figuring out how the bikes will fit into your boat before the actual race. It's very frustrating to have to put them in and out several times during the race to get them situated adequately.
That's about it. See everyone at the race!
Mark"
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