Aveyron Adventure Race

Trekking to the Tarn

Rob Howard & Anne-Marie Dunhill / 25.07.2013

Day one has been brutally tough, with temperatures close to 40C at their peak, and still at 30C at 8pm.  As the sun set all of the teams were on the first long trekking stage of the race, and they knew they would not meet their support crews again until this stage, and the following kayak along the Tarn gorge were completed. That is going to make it a difficult night for all the teams.

Many were already suffering on the previous mountain bike ride which took teams into the Parc Naturel Regional des Grands Causses and through more spectacular limestone scenery. For checkpoints 15 and 16 the teams dropped down between the pillars, columns and cliffs above the village of St. Paul des Fonts, only to climb back up again to find a CP in a very difficult to access cave. This was an old storage cave for Roquefort cheese, which is made nearby, and it was tucked into the base of the cliffs and overgrown with trees .

From here the teams crossed a high plateau to Transition 2 where their support crews were waiting, but they did so in the heat of the day and it took its toll. The race favourites, the 3 teams who had completed all of the orienteering, were all in difficulties with Bejamin Monier of the leaders, Raidlight, Franc Gorry of Quechua and Baptiste Turrel of Lafuma Rose all suffering from the heat. Raidlight were to pull out by the end of the day with Monier taken to hospital and put an IV for dehydration.  Team 13 (Issy Aventure) and Team 1 (absolu Raid Rodez) also pulled out due dehydration.

Transition 2 was a busy place for the medics and support crews as they tended to the racers. Those teams who had missed all or most of the earlier orienteering stage were the first to arrive there, and their times for the bike ride were similar to those of the race favourites. (Arverne Outdoor were the first team to get to Transition 2 at 14.15, and Raidlight did not arrive until 17.00.)  The strategy of taking the penalties for the orienteering so the team could move on around the course with less exertion was beginning to look like a good one.

The route for the following trek was remote, so there were few villages to stop for water, and at 43km with 2200m of ascent it was always going to test the teams. Particularly as they were exhausted from the heat, were finishing it in the dark and would not have their support crews at the next transition.

This was at the kayak put in on the river Tarn, and although the teams will not see it in the dark, it is in a very spectacular location, directly beneath the famous Millau viaduct.  They will, I am sure, just be glad to have made it to the end of trek, and will look forward to sitting in their kayaks, though the flow in the Tarn is gentle at this time of year, and they will have to be careful not to run aground in the dark.

The first to set off on the water were Averne Outdoor leaving at 22.50, and the teams are expected to reach the end of the paddle through tomorrow morning at St. Rome de Tarn, where their support crews are camped for the night waiting for them. (Up to date rankings including the penalties for orienteering will not be known until tomorrow.)

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