Polaris Challenge Autumn Race
Light and Night
Neil Atkinson (Boys in the Buff) / 10.10.2007
Where should I start? It was a new format with 6 hours mountain bike orienteering on the Saturday, followed by a 2 hour leg at night, followed by a 4 hour section on Sunday, all from a base camp.The usual things happened on the Friday night when you arrive at a Polaris, you meet up with friends that you have not seen since the last one! Then after the normal pleasantries you get down to detail, oozing information out of each other about how fast that track is, or is this bridleway ride-able etc. etc. and that information gathering sets the scene for the next day …
After endless time faffing with the bike and mixing weird drinks up that will give you enough energy for the ride and getting the last minute tips off your rivals you set off to the start line. You already have enough things buzzing around in your head, but then you are thrust a list of numbers with values on!
Well, sometimes this is where it goes wrong! With all the information about tracks, which way to ride them and which are best not ridden, you mark your map with the values and such good information goes to waste as the high scoring values just draw you in!
The planner this time was John Hoolihan, multi time winner of these events in the past, and it was clear that there was not going to be a glaring route that smacked you in the face! After making the decision of which to collect and which to leave you set off on your first leg of 6 hours.
It’s amazing how well people time there rides to end up getting back with only seconds spare, before loosing penalty points. After a cold start the weather picked up and it was a cloudless day, sunshine wall to wall, glorious! It truly was, just a stunning day! The riding was fantastic, fast single track, monster climbs, picturesque landscape and not a grumpy land owner in sight! What more do you need?See All Event Posts
