X-adventure Raid Series
The Up and Downs of AR
Rob / 11.05.2003
Day two began at 5.30am when the leaders left the campsite to paddle down the river Spey under clear skies. The weather looked set fair for a good day and there were clear views of the Cairngorm ridges and corries. They are covered in fresh snow and looked impressive and a bit intimidating in the early morning light. That is where the teams will be heading later in the day for a mountainous finish to the race, but Sunday morning was low level and almost flat. First came the paddle, then a 10km in-line skate along a quiet valley road.Saab Salomon kept their lead comfortably on the paddle, benefiting from the tactical awareness of Pete James who guided them into the fastest flows on the twists and turns of the river. They needed to keep all their lead as the in-line skate was next and this is a discipline the team has lost a lot of time on in past races.
First they had to deal with a moving transition though. With 50 team vehicles and all the race organisers and media’s cars, trucks, vans etc, the sudden arrival of the X-adventure can be a bit of a shock. Especially if it is early Sunday morning and when they are unexpectedly on your car park! The transition was mostly set up with teams setting out gear and deflating and packing canoes when the Scottish constabulary arrived and asked them to move! Luckily the road nearby could easily accommodate a long line of vehicles.
It’s not often they see competitive in-line skating here either but soon teams were racing down the road. It was clear from the start that many of the European teams had mastered the classic languid skaters style and they moved fast, working as a team to keep in line. However, Saab Salomon are mastering this art too and have had a winter to practice. They were even confident enough for Ben Bardsley to tow Helen Jackson and they lost only 2 minutes to their nearest rivals on the skate, which they were delighted with. (Last year they would have lost 10 minutes.)
The other UK teams were more nervous, and fearful of hitting the tarmac at speed! Like many others Tom Gibbs was using skates in a race for the first time. He hadn’t expected to be skating at all, but last weekend’s injury to Jim Davies meant the teams were reorganised and he had to get his skates on! Even so he finished strongly, ahead of Steve Birkinshaw and Nicky Davies and said he’d enjoyed it. “There was only one tumble but I rolled and got straight up with no harm done,� he said. Warren Bates of Thomas Cook just said, “We’ve got a lot of practice to do to master this, but it wasn’t too bad. We’ve arrived safely.� Looking up at the mountain he added, “It could be interesting up there, looks like there is a lot of snow.�See All Event Posts
