XPD 3rd Edition
Dealing with the demands
Lysanne de Graaf / 26.08.2007
Amongst all the banter, it is clear that the Leg 6 orienteering at Sonoma was the point where the real race started. Injury, equipment failure, sleep deprivation, dehydration, illness and realisation of the realities of XPD really surfaced to physically and mentally influence teams at this point. For quite a number of teams, either after a few difficult hours navigating out on Leg 6, daunted by the task or limited by team injury, decisions were made to drop checkpoints and continue riding to midcamp. Maybe these teams were naive and wishful in thinking time penalties would be light or maybe the lure of midcamp was just too strong to hold them back. Either way, Leg 6 certainly had a major impact in sorting out the field. Ahead of nearly all teams, the very long and challenging trek Leg 12 between Cathu and Hill Rise is expected have another major impact on teams.
Race Director, Craig Bycroft, pointed out that the teams were getting through the course as expected and that while many teams have been finding the course very tough, that’s what XPD is all about! While all teams hope to finish XPD and finish as a team, the reality is that some teams will need to complete the course one member down as an unranked team or pull out of the race (DNF) if more than one person withdraws from a team or they don’t complete the course.
SleepMonsters
