Ace Race One Day Series - South Downs
Ups and Downs
Eddie Winthorpe (Team SleepMonsters/Inov-8 / 02.09.2008
With clear blue skies and a forecast high of 27 degrees, the race started with a mass run to the map give-out by the trig point on Butser Hill. At 270m it’s the highest point on the South Downs, with commanding views and dominated by a huge radio tower. Teams then retraced their steps for the mile back downhill to transition. Here the first strategic choice of the day had to be made: while the checkpoints had to be visited in strict order, the 4 Challenges of the day could be completed at any time. At T1 the two challenges were an obstacle course, (over tyres, across balance beams and over and under picnic benches) and a new challenge involving carrying a stick without touching it.
Unusually for a one-day race, there was also a second, remote transition, so teams who’d opted for clip-in pedals would have to carry their shoes on the two bike stages.
Checkpoints 1 to 4 guided teams on an obvious route over their second hill, appropriately named: “Head Down�. Then teams descended into the remote T2, to face two challenges and 4 foot checkpoints. One was to carry a barrel over a marked distance without touching it, the other involved searching for Sigg bottles hanging in an area of woodland. Each bottle had a word written on it. Put together in order, they described where the clipper could be found.
At CP7 the lead teams bunched and searched in vain for the control. (The stolen clipper was replaced shortly afterwards). Most chose to continue on the safe choice of the wide forest track, but Dynamo Duo took a more direct (and flatter) route on a minor path. After completing the second challenge at T2, teams left on bikes taking an obvious route between the controls. Conditions were dry underfoot, with just a single deep, muddy puddle to catch out unsuspecting riders near CP10. Paddy Meldrum had his head down (oh, the irony) and powered straight past CP11 …only realizing his mistake a mile later when he arrived back at CP4.
To the East of the 3rd hill – War Down – lay CPs 2 and 12 separated by only 150m and both on confusing junctions. Some teams set off on their own single track, rather than the one at CP12 marked by a marshal. Here teams had to ride (push) to the top of a steep hill, before enjoying some twisty single track to reach the clipper.
At the race briefing competitors were warned that CP13 would be “unlucky for some�, but still many teams - including Dynamo Duo - found themselves on a track on the wrong side of a very thick hedge and unable to reach the clipper on the adjacent bridleway.
After collecting the final bike checkpoint, teams returned to T1, completed their remaining challenge and left on foot for the final 3 checkpoints and 7km run. The route was straight forward, with some small short-cuts for those brave enough to leave the main tracks. In the heat and sun, teams climbed over “War Down� a final time and past countless members of the public enjoying family BBQs, before reaching the finish line.
28 teams completed the full course (approximately 16km on foot and 16km on bike). Nick Gracie set the winning time of 3:02, some 5 minutes ahead of nearest rival Ed Wheelhouse. Team SleepMonsters/Inov-8 were the first-placed team at 3:11 and Dynamo Duo still managed to come in as first pair in 3:44, holding their place ahead of Hairy & Titch just one minute later.
SleepMonsters
