Now, where are we going? (Saturday 28th)

Rob / 28.09.2002

There have been few hints and even fewer hard facts about the course. Teams know the core disciplines and are fairly sure they will be heading north for the main part of the route. They’ve been wondering what Brian Elliot means when he says he’ll include elements of the qualifying events and they know his track record as organiser of Adrenalin Rush – he’s got a history with many of the racers here, though he insists this race will be a new concept. Course planner Derek King was privately enthusing about the area. “It’s spectacular,� he said, “the mountain biking is wonderful, and some of it’s very technical.

Tonight the teams were given the first part of the course – only the first day though, the rest will come later. And even then there a few surprises they still don’t know about. The start will be at 8.00am in the morning by kayak from the beach, and after a short sea crossing on Tremadog Bay they will head up the Glaslyn River, stopping at the Italianate village and garden of Portmierion, before moving upstream and trekking cross country to Trawsfyndd Lake.

There are surprises at both locations, first orienteering in ‘the village’, and then at the lake they’ll be given a rowing boat and one set of oars and set off to find 4 checkpoints! Then it’s south by mountain bike into Coed-y-Brenin Forest and the first ropes section at the waterfalls of Pistyll Cain, before tackling the 36km long Karrimor Trail, some of which is highly technical. After that the ride continues south through the town of Dolgellau, and up onto the southern slopes of mount Cadair Idris to the first night’s camp. They can see their support crews twice during the day, at the rowing stage and Coed-y-Brenin visitor centre.

To the surprise of many teams more used to Adrenalin Rush there are is no log book for marshals to mark (and no use of the tulip navigation system). All the checkpoints use Sportident electronic timing and between the major PC’s (those marked on our leader board) there are many unmanned intermediate checkpoints to ensure teams follow the route.

There is a lot of mountain biking on the first day, which didn’t disappoint Dave Hooper of SWART. “We drove past Coed-y-Brenin on the way up and my bike was twitching on the back of the car! It’s the mtb mecca of the U.K. and now we’re going to get to ride it! Helen Jackson of Team Wales agreed, “It looks like there is some amazing riding tomorrow.� After the maps were marked up there was an hour long Q&A session to iron out the details in a complex set of instructions. Pen Hadow, captain of the Polar Travel Team spoke up here to reveal his inexperience by asking if the support crew could scout the route ahead for the team! Brian Elliot’s answer (said with a smile) was, “That would be outright cheating!� To the sound of laughter Pen sat down again – he had his answer! Then it was off to bed or sleeping bag – or for some to finish sorting out their equipment now they know how the race will start.

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