Polaris Challenge Spring Race
A Classic Amongst Classics!
Haardaarss (Mick Smith) / 03.04.2008
As the Aussie lager ad says “well you wouldn’t want a warm one would you?�Llanwrtyd Wells in mid Wales was the lucky landlord for this year’s Spring ‘Classic’ Polaris Challenge where the stunning scenery surrounding the beautiful Llyn Brianne Reservoir would be testing the mettle of around 300 hard-core (and some soft-centred!) mountain bike orienteers.
Some of us already had fond memories of the self-styled ‘Britain’s Smallest Town’. Its quirky events such as the ‘Real Ale Wobble’, the ‘Man v Horse’ race and of course the ‘World Bog Snorkelling Championships’ are the stuff of legend. So, where better to stay on the Friday night than at the famous Neuadd Arms, situated right in the town centre? It proved a canny choice indeed when we discovered that the camping field was awash and required a last minute switch to a site nearer the town centre.
The weather forecasters had promised an “interesting� weekend and they did not disappoint. We chose an early Saturday start to get as many of our allotted seven hours riding time under our helmets before the heavens opened and the winds blew. Which of course they did, bang on cue at mid morning!
There is of course no such thing as bad weather – only inappropriate clothing – as the old story goes, but this was extreme weather in challenging countryside, and soon the biting wind and driving rain would be taking its toll. A few headed back to base, the rest of us gritted our teeth, realised the over-optimism of those early morning route choices, and maybe went looking for the relative shelter of the pine forests.
Two words summed up the overnight “wilderness camp� location. Beautifully bleak. Situated at a valley head between the river and a bog, with steep mountains crowding in on three sides, its beauty hidden by angry weather. The event officials made do with over-nighting in the nearby electricity-free Youth Hostel, whilst we hard types were free to enjoy all that Nature could throw at us. See All Event Posts
