Polaris Challenge
Riding the Wild West
Rob Howard / 11.10.2005
It was barely light when the first riders set off from the Seven Acres Caravan Park at 08.00 to begin the Autumn Polaris Challenge in the Western Lake District. Heavy rain in the night had kept the campers on a rough field awake and there were large puddles around the registration building, which late arrivals hurried to and from, hunched up in their waterproofs. The forecast was mostly wet, and maybe stormy and as competitors set off the distant hills were just visible as a blurred outline in the grey skies. It looked like it would be a wet weekend for everyone, but by the time the later starters set off the rain had stopped. It may have been a grim start, but the forecast was wrong and by the day’s end the sun was shining on the overnight camp and competitors were comparing notes on a spent day exploring the fells and forests, coasts and country lanes set between Scafell Pike and Seascale.
They set off with a copy of the pre-marked A3 event map, specially produced by Stirling Surveys and marked with instructions on some CP closing times and useful advice like ‘Path not on the ground’. Permitted and closed tracks were marked too and the 1:50,000 double-sided map had a good overlap. All the riders needed before setting out was the sheet of control values/descriptions and to know which were dummy controls … plus a while to think about where to go.
Planner Peter Strong had set them a course with many checkpoints and lots of choice. “I deliberately had no big point controls to draw teams,� he said. “I wanted every 10 point CP to count and there to be no obvious route. Strong lives in Eskdale so he knew the terrain well and could pick out the best bits of the area. “Crossing Black Sail Pass was a must have. It’s typical Lakes riding – carry up and then a gnarly descent! The Eskdale Fell - Burnmoor Lodge track between Eskdale and Wasdale was another I had to include as it’s technical and energy sapping. Around Devoke Water is just wet and boggy!�
At the Seaside
Those routes were up in the mountains and high valleys, but much of the course was set in the rolling countryside leading down to the coast, and also on the shoreline itself, between Ravenglass and Sellafield. “I wanted a checkpoint on the shore� said Strong, “and Gary Tompsett suggested putting another one further up the coast and using the beach.�See All Event Posts
