A day or two before the race a team list went up on the site and the teams mainly consisted of people who are at the front of the CCAR races or organise the CCAR races which alarmed us slightly. "Surely this could not be that much harder?"
True to form we did not do a huge amount of training and practically no running in the run up to the event. It is also becoming increasingly clear that my bike is fast approaching the end of its life as it is really starting to fall appart. Since Chris' bike has been in the shop waiting brake pads for 2 weeks it was borrowed bikes for the day which we got the day before! On the friday I had everything we needed sitting ready except for my map case, but I knew exactly where this was. Didnt I? Well no I didn't so I ended up leaving about an hour late with no map case and arriving at the start at 9:30 for a 10 start and I needed to put a tire on one of the bikes. This all amounted to us being less ready for a race than we have ever been before and also about to start the hardest race we have entered yet.
We where just about ready for the start when the time came and I think this was a few minutes early so from arrival to start was about 20/25 minutes or so for me - talk about flustered. I must say though that there is something to be said for this madness with no trace of method. I did not have time to worry or over prepare etc.
Instructions issued, we marked our checkpoints for the first run (a few of them twice - along the corridors then up the stairs Chris!) and set off at a brisk pace. Checkpoint one was at one end of the forrest behind the barn and checkpoint 2 was at the other end. This period of the race stands out for a number of reasons:
- It was the last time my feet where dry for the next 8 hours or so.
- It was the last point where we where not last - and I suspect only because the teams passing us at this point had spent the time marking all their checkpoints.
- It was the last point where this race seemed like a good idea.
From here it was North West towards ish the summit of Trostan and checkpoint three which marked the point where we took a hard right directly towards the summit. Since we did not have a map case, and our map was not well protected (just in the plastic cover it came in) we had not paid enough attention to the next checkpoint except that it was on a summit so we headed to the summit of Trostan and promptly did not see a checkpoint. Looking at our map it quickly became apparent that the next checkpoint was actually on the summit of Tievebulliagh.
The walk up Trostan was boggy and muddy and fairly tough going but across between Trostan and Tievebulliagh was much worse. It was very wet and we where regularly walking knee deep which was very energy sapping. Once the worst of the bog was over it then became very tussocky which was also hard to negotiate at any speed. The worst terrain behind us, we headed to the summit by the most direct route, passing a slightly bewildered group of Duke of Edinburgh folks with huge packs and 5 layers each, giving two guys in Sesame Street cycling tops and one also in cycling shorts funny looks, as we ran past them!
Despite the weather forcast being for a really bad day this was the only part where the weather was not glorious all day. We had 10 minutes of rain, 5 minutes of hail while we where on the summit and 10 minutes of rain down the other side. At the summit we knew that due to the (as it turned out, temporary) heavy cloud and unfamiliar terrain, we needed to be 100% sure of our direction to the next checkpoint. Im not sure if it was the hail/tiredness/soreness/being a bit flustered/scared of getting it wrong, or all of the above, but I discovered that im not 100% sure of how to use a compass properly when I need to (im fine in my living room or if im with a group of other folks to agree with me etc) which I was a bit anoyed at as I should know. Anyway, once we had our barings it was down the rediculously steep summit to the valley and what I think is the Glenann river. A quick refuel and it was straight up to the Glenann road where we made our first big mistake. We where not too far off but where heading to the wrong place on the far side of the hill and so crossed the road and kept going. We realised our mistake after not to long when we noticed we where heading to the end of the forest not the middle so headed back to the nearest part of the road and followed it to checkpoint 6 having been told that point 5 had been canceled.
We where now 40 minutes behind the team in front of us so opted out of the optional stage and instantly made our second big mistake of the day. The transition was at a funny sort of crossroads but we had marked the transition on the wrong road so when we took the correct turn relative to this we actually turned up the Altarichard road instead of the Glendun road. this seemed wrong to me but a quick check of the map confirmed that it was "correct". This is all up hill and the road we should have been on is all down hill so it was a costly mistake. After about 20 minutes we realised and reversed our route slightly anoyed with ourselves. This first bike stage basically involved rolling the whole way down the Glendun road to the car park in Cushendun picking up 3 checkpoints on the way.
This also confirmed that I should have just used my own bike. I borrowed a Specialised and am well documented in my hatred of them (MTB only - I have a Specialised road bike which I love). The stem is too short, the bars are too wide, the frame is too short, the seat tube is too angled resulting in the BB being too far forward and the seat being angled back. The result is you end up using as much energy holding yourself on as making the bike move and have to use small gears where I prefer a big gear (rant over).
We reached the carpark in good time and left on foot just as the first team was finishing the Kayak, putting us about 2 hours behind them. We followed the trail up the river Dunn which was very enjoyable despite the pain I was now experiencing in my feet. At the top pf the kayak I stood in the water for a minute while we ate some food to numb them and this worked well. The river did not really have enough water for the heavy 2 person kayaks which actually sit fairly low in the water and so the descent of the bottom 5K of the river involved quite a lot of getting out and walking in 6 inches of water with the kayak and paddling where the river was deeper. Keeping to the outside of the corners where the water will always be deeper in any river worked well and kept the getting out to a minimum.
The kayak also marked the last point where we bothered with checkpoints. At the bottom of the river we where supposed to turn right and get a checkpoint in the caves then round the bay to get another on the pier before heading to the middle of the bay. We simply turned to the middle of the bay as we where very far behind and did not want the marshals having to wait for just us and (very secondary reason) we where shattered. We missed out much of the open water kayak but the run down the river was a fair bit of the distance and also a very tiring part of the route so we did not feel we had left too much out.
From here we started to follow the route again on bikes but missed a turn with Chris a bit in front of me just out of earshot. When the marshals came passed us and stopped to let us know we decided to just keep following the main road to Cushendall and then take the B14 back to the finish. This missed the last few checkpoints but not much distance as we where roughly following the route. I had the disadvantage of knowing the B14 and what a climb it would be but I have only cycled down it before and did not realise that there is never a part where the climb takes a break. The combination of bike and tiredness made this one of the most difficult cycles of my life but I took it slow and steady and made it. Chris' knee was also playing up at this point but we covered the last K or so at a good pace and arrived to a big cheer from the marshals and remaining competitors. A special mention to Ivan and Steve from CCAR who must have finished hours earlier but where still there to cheer us home sometime at about 6:15 ish.
Once we could make it to the kitchen we where treated to soup and sandwiches but dont ask what flavour they where as nothing was given the chance to be tasted. I must have eaten a whole loaf worth of bread without chewing any of it!
This race was a good bit harder than even the notorious CCAR Castlewellan race a couple of months back but was still hugely enjoyable and I throgughly enjoyed having the oportunity to push my limits. We also both probably learned more from this race than all the others we have taken part in combined and so any newbies thinking of having a go at a race, pay particular attention to our lessons from this race (but dont let them put you off giving them a go).
- Sort out all your kit and have it ready to go at least 2 days in advance so all you need to do the day before is one last check then load it into the car. Leaving anything to the last morning automatically means it will be lost or broken.
- Aim to be out of the house an hour before you actually need to.
- Print directions at least the day before and be sure of them even if you think you know where you are going.
- If you borrow a bike, get it early and have at least one proper mountain biking training session on it.
- Make 100% sure you can use a compass even if you are good with a map. Practice using the compas even if you know where you are going so you verify that you would have used the compas correctly if you had needed to.
- Be 100% sure of how to mark checkpoints on a map (along the coridors then up the stairs).
- Stick to your own pace even if this means you are much slower than others.
- Skip parts/take shortcuts if you need to. You are better finishing a course having had to skip a piece or two than having to get a lift to the finish. I dont think I would have made it back under my own power if we had done the full course and would have been disapointed at myself for that. As it stands I know that skipping the parts we did was a good call.
One of the things that slowed us down a bit was stopping to take photos (thats one of our excuses anyway) and a link to a flickr set of these is here and also added to the links of the blog.
A huge thanks to Greg and the other marshals/folk involved for a great race and also thanks for waiting extra just for us.
Mark
