Polaris Challenge
A First Polaris
Menno & Mira / 03.04.2006
I was probably engrossed in something on the telly when I said yes to Mira to doing a Spring (feels more like winter) Polaris. My mountain biking before the event always consisted of navigating in between pubs and I’ve always managed to steadfastly say no to any request to join Mira in her crazy adventure/Polaris/KIMM races. I’m writing this in the hope that I will remember to read it … before saying yes next time!It takes quite some time preparing your kit for the event. But I find this was all part of the fun of it. How light do you pack, without ending up freezing/running out of food/etc? Just getting the stuff into a tiny pack is a challenge.
It also finally forced me to take apart my leaky Marchocchi Superfly's. Bought in '99 when I finally decided suspension wasn't just for wimps, but never serviced since purchase. I couldn't be doing with having to pump them up with air mid-race. Of course a small part broke when putting the forks back together (why is it always easier to take stuff apart?) but luckily I got the part with 5 days to go to the race. Hats of to the Marzocchi distributor for having all the '99 parts in stock, even the tiny retainer cup I needed.
So with the preparation done, we headed off to the race location at 5am on Saturday, arrived at Sixpenny and took the bikes out. First thing to notice was a flat on one of the bikes. Was this the sign of things to come?
Starting Out
Some last minute paranoia about my forks, meant I pumped them up about 3 times just before the race, so we got to the start just before 10am. After quite a bit of faffing at the give out marking the map & figuring out which route to take, we set of to our first 10 points.See All Event Posts
