Dirty Weekend Cumbria
More Dirt and Adventure
14.10.2008
After a significant start event with the Dirty Weekend concept in the Scottish Borders in July 2008, the Grizedale Forest Centre in Cumbria provided the venue for the second instalment of this adventurous collective of Mountain Bike event (Polaris Challenge) adventure race (ACE Race) and 12K Trail Run (Dirty Dozen).In the run-up to this autumnal event, the course designs were continually affected by the thoughts of the various weathers that have been assaulting the Lakes this summer. Very wet weather had threatened and caused the cancellation of numerous large events in the Lakes this summer. The irony has been that it’s not the outdoors and activity that’s threatened – it’s the car parking and infrastructure. Detail Events had said in an early communiqué that this event would not be cancelled and that solutions would always be found to keep it on the rails. This was very prophetic ...
The actual event weekend was to become one of the most challenging ever. After a few weeks of wet, then dry - false hopes, then more wet, all event fields were one by one taken out of action for car parking and event venue. The final solution however, just about held up, and Grizedale did prove to be an excellent centre for launching the action. The dirty dozen trail run was cancelled in the week before as the constrained car parking arrangements did not fit the impending weather: For a tough running event with the majority as beginners, the weather might also have proved disastrous for the runners.
Friday was the last day of course rigging, and course planners Peter Strong (Polaris) and Paul Noble (ACE) happily concluded their control placements on a gloriously sunny day. Meanwhile, event organiser Gary Tompsett had the weather forecast in his hand – ‘widespread heavy rain and upland gales’ was the crux of it, but with good weather forecast for the Sunday there was some hope if day 1 could be endured. With everything installed in the event area, everyone just had to study their fully pre-marked maps and batten the hatches ready for the next day.
Everyone was Surfing
0800 Saturday: Nearly 400 Polaris Challengers, set forth into and beyond Grizedale Forest, collecting their control value ‘giveouts’ on the way. Already the rain had started. They were starting 6hrs of MTB navigation on some very rough territory.
Although there are many forest roads close to the venue, these are criss-crossed by numerous steep and rocky bridleways, then further afield lay beautiful and famous trails at Tarn Hows and Claife Heights.
0930 Saturday: 85 hardy ACE racers, in various team configurations, mass started Le Mans style and ran to their bikes. Their destination was the first kayak transition on the shore of Coniston Water. The kayak course was reduced to a minimum as the winds and waters of Coniston were escalating to offshore proportions, and the ACEers ploughed through waves with only a few having mishaps to reach their exit point, then to run on a circuit back to collect bikes and continue their day. See All Event Posts
