The Helly Hansen Adventure Challenge Series
These Things Are Sent to Try Us ...
Gary Vallance (Team Usual Suspects) / 22.10.2006
We’d done well at the last Helly Hansen event, securing our first win, but with Tom honouring rowing commitments we’d been left a rather large hole to fill. Objectives were re-evaluated, expectations lowered, and with decreasing options we found a replacement in Steve Luke. With notable performances at Dynamic and Quest events, a couple of emails later we looked forward to welcoming him onboard.By Sunday our nerves were in tatters as thoughts of a strong result were driven from our minds by mounting odds: racing with an unknown, against a record field, including Olympians and internationals. The usual preparations took care of the jitters, and we assembled at the start alongside over four hundred and seventy other racers. A quick joke with Elliot and Dunc from the strong V0two contingent and before we knew it the horn sounded and an orange army surged into the woods.
Tough Trails and Bike Breakers …
Settling quickly into an even stride amongst the first dozen teams, we watched the V0 boys start to turn the screw at the front, and left the quick runners to their disappearing acts. The short opener wound its way over punishing ground in a fitting prelude to the rest of the day: heavy going over forest floor, long grass, ditches and tussocks.
A smooth transition onto the bikes led us gleefully straight back onto the run route. James and I lapped up the immediately steep and twitchy sections and Steve became a joy to watch, his ragged style carrying him inconceivably between one “moment� and the next. Over the next half an hour though, the challenging trails began to take their toll on man and machine. Steve was relying heavily on his solid fitness to overcome the technical route, but as the cracks began to show James’s bike broke out in sympathy with transmission problems.See All Event Posts
