Four Teas and a Coffee

Or, 'So, what is Adventure Racing?' as someone asked me recently.

Well since the last post I have completed the Lakeland 100 (solo) and ridden from Berwick to Buxton along NCN Route 68 with three friends. And with two other friends (yes I have some!) I've just enjoyed a great trip to Lochaber; aka the Fort William area. Each of these three trips were steeped in adventure but I'm still identifying which bits were 'race orientated'.

Many thanks for all the congratulatory comments regarding my Lakes 100 result. A finishing time of 30hrs 30mins was OK considering the various factors such as lack of running miles in training, and a dodgy back. But, 'hey-ho' it was a case of carefully applying a little reserve and judgement and drawing upon a few other 'ultras' (they were called LDWA 100s when I started out in 1981)

Pace judgement is my key recommendation; 'jog a third, run a third and race a third...' said and old and wise marathon runner to me years ago, 'and I'll let you work out the order' .

The Lakes 100 did get hot, and many peoples' heads were visibly down, especially along the Mardale trail in the afternoon sun. I started to pass quite a few here, which is always a lift but leaves you feeling sorry for those who have 'blown up' by going off too fast.

Apparently, some 'expert' (last year's winner(sic!)) recomends goings as hard and as fast as you can, 'cos your're going to be knackered later, anyway'
Ho-hum, so all those before him (Banister, Coe, Ovett, Cudahy, Stone, Hartell, Ramsey, Bragg, Redgrave ... ) know nothing, then? But at least he can fit into his race T-shirt, assuming he has one! Oops... just a little dig there, but when you order an XL and then don't get one it annoys me, sorry!

Over-hyped is not something that is applicable to The National Cycle Network Route 68. In fact it's a beast, the perfect reposte to the C2C, and a great route through Northumberland, The Pennines, Dales, West Yorkshire and a bit of an adventure. I confess; three of us wimped out and saved an hour by using a train in order to get to The Queens Beer Festival at Tirril at an reasonable hour, which we three conclude was still a sensible decision. The three day weekend was a great adventure in that we four had never ridden together before, and had slightly differing bikes, and perhaps expectations. However, it was brillant, tough ... but fun. Realistic (shared) objectives might be the key learning...

And lastly, three days fun in Lochaber with Animal Atkinson and The Legendary Wilko. (btw - the three NCN Route 68 adventurer's are all shy modest MAMILs who wish to remain annonymous)
Four years on from ARWC we completed the Aonach Eagach Ridge in Glencoe, which was a bit scarier then I remembered. We followed this up with a brillant ride; 'Tour de Nevis' which I won't detail as it's up to you to seek it out, but it certainly takes you into some wild wilderness terrain so you'll want your mates with you to savour The Epic. Actually, it's great riding, very little pushing or carrying ... just get out there and do it. (Drop me a line if you really need help locating the route)

So, three adventures .... three contrasting trips. The only time we imploded was when I selfishly went into 'race mode' and that was in search of 'Beautiful British Beer ...' and I thought it was a team objective. Lesson learned - sorry Martin.

Joe