Nopesport

Well am I knackered or am I knackered�I�m not sure, an all over body ache, bruises all over the legs, sore back and shoulders�oh and blisters all over the hands. This must rank among the most tiring events out there! Even Jamie said he might have a rest day tomorrow�

So the heats (saturday) were really good for our team, getting the second highest score out of all the heats. This was partly due to our good cycle endurance (and navigation) and the simulator stage, and also due to some of the top teams getting punctures and overturning their canoe! We all coped well with the various tasks, until out technical stage, with Helen and Jamie�s relatively limited climbing experience showed out, in comparison to the other teams.

All in all a good day and we weren�t sure if we were happy to be coming back the next day? Anyway off to the pub, carvery all you can eat�not sure if Jamie outdid me on the spuds, but I�ve found someone who can keep up with me on the food intake apart from supersaint! A quick pint�the eyes starting to close�.in bed by 9.

So onto the final (Sunday) which was 25% longer being 4 hours instead of 3. We started the day by visiting the Jordans Country Crisp stand, and blagging a couple of boxes of cereal�.stuffed it all down! A short briefing about some minor changes, and a few minutes to prepare for our first stage�.the cycle endurance. The cycle loop had changed direction, and after the downpour of the previous night had got waterlogged and v. muddy. We kept up with the leading team, clawing back seconds on the navigational exercise in the middle, while they pulled away on the bikes. After that it was over to the canoe endurance on the lake, again the direction of the loop had changed from the previous day. The wind was considerably stronger too, and with our relatively novice canoe orienteering team, we dropped to last out of four teams. The controls were sited in other canoes anchored around the lake, unfortunately the wind, and the broadside smashing of certain teams (us) caused the canoes to drift about. The extra 10 minutes today seemed an eternity, but points wise we were not that far behind. After the two outdoor stages we were lying in 4th overall.

Next we returned to the arena, dried up a bit, put on climbing shoes, bit of food/drink etc. We were put on the simulator stage next racing head to head with another team. I went first on the rotating climbing wall, Jamie on the bike and Helen on the canoe machine. 18mins on each of the three was considerably painful. Jamie achieved the best cycle distance of the day, much to the surprise of some the more �mature��is that the right word?...adventure racers. After a v.quick change/eat, we were onto the technical stage, which had been our weakness the day before. Again we found the climbing section difficult, and got penalised for not getting to a certain point. Not only that but teams getting to the end also got bonus points, so we got double penalised! The Jacobs Ladder was next, and we had got it worked out�.here the team has to work together using each other as rungs to move up a ladder with increasing large spacing between the rungs. Helen was noted to say �Phaw Jamie�.right in my face� ��in comment to his lycra clad knee of course. Next onto a rope climb and zip line, which proved no problem.

We ended up in 6th and I think we did pretty well considering the lack of canoe/climbing experience in the team, and also the lack of running and navigation needed for the course�.send them out on a 10k orienteering course and see how the other teams fair! I enjoyed not having to navigate at all (cheers guys), and a special thanks to our sponsors, x-socks and BOF�oh and Jordans Country Crisp�.I can recommend the strawberry flavour.

Apologies if the grammar/spelling is crap, but as I said I�m knackered. Now a soak in the bath�.a beer�then bed�.

Reports/Results @:
http://www.aceraces.co.uk/
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/racereport.php?race_id=1155&story_order=asc

Neil Northrop