Questars - Q2 The Quest Challenge - Thetford Forest
Q2 in Thetford
George Neville-Jones (Team Tri-Adventure) / 11.10.2011
The Questars Q2 race returned to Thetford Forest recently after the inaugural race in 2010. The flat topography and dry trails make for fast racing, particularly on the bikes. In turn though, this lack of contours adds to the navigational challenge offered by thick tree cover and variable forestry rides, compounding the risk of error at speed. Quest chose Little Lodge Farm on the south bank of the Ouse as event base and the hub for each stage and transition. The four stages criss-crossed this central point, or radiated out from it, allowing a huge area to be covered without complex logistics. The farm sits in a valley between the northern and southern areas of the Forest and away from any road. It’s an idyllic place to base a race, but also means you are guaranteed a climb, or descent, in and out of transition. A rare thing in Norfolk!
Tom Davies, James Brown and I entered as a trio under the Tri-Adventure banner, racing together for the first time in preparation for next season. It looked like we’d have stiff competition too, with familiar names in both the Masters and Novice categories. Quest run a second class in their events for competitors with less racing experience. It’s a great way to maintain competition throughout the entry, and in fact my first AR was at the Purbeck Q2 as a novice trio with a couple of ex-downhill bikers!
Saturday dawned on a chaotic spread of tents, bikes and gear. Dan’s registration was brief and we were off on foot before we knew it. 320 minutes on foot and in kayak. Two running loops hinging on the event base, with the paddle in between. It was as fast a course as expected and, with clustered check points based around a rugby team and a bonus for clearing each ‘pack’, strategy was key.
We had a surprise when we launched the kayak too. Just upstream the river shallowed and we kept having to hop out and haul, sapping strength and time. We thought we’d save time coming back downriver, but over-cooked it, catching a penalty for a late return! It was a strong stage though with Russ Ladkin just behind us and Kevin Stephens ahead when the results were pinned up.
The mountain-bike stage a couple of hours later took us all over the map with less emphasis on route choice and more on accuracy at speed. We made two unforced nav errors early on and with hindsight I can see that that was really the fault of James and me, pushing Tom (navigating) too fast. We were just happy to be in the saddle! It was a fun stage though. Good riding and 99% off road. See All Event Posts
