Wulong Mountain Quest
Richard Ussher Reports from the Top of the Podium:
Richard Ussher / 08.09.2008
Their team, Adventure Sport NZ, is one of the top AR teams in the world today, and Richard is one of AR’s most successful competitors in recent years - yet they are at risk of not being able to race together again due to not having a major sponsor. Let’s hope that a sponsor steps up to the plate for these exceptional racers, who not only are top athletes but who also are supreme ambassadors of our sport. Find out more about them at: www.adventuresportnz.com
With barely a week to recover from the first round of the Anaconda series in Australia Elina and I were back on a plane, this time heading for the Wulong county in China for the Wulong Mountain Quest, a 4 person mixed teams race, set over 4 days of racing. The flights and layovers were tedious as usual but we managed to waste away our time in Hong Kong at a shop which sold massaging chairs, foot massages, head massages etc, a very relaxing way to spend 6 hours. If I could have got one of the chairs back on the plane I’d probably have done so!
The final part of our journey via bus proved to be just as hair-raising as last year with the drivers seeming to take great joy in scaring the #$%@ out of all on board. We arrived in the town of Wulong late in the evening and were treated to an array of largely inedible looking local cuisine before the final 30 km of uphill to the hotel. By the time we arrived the temperature was far from the tropical heat we had been expecting but at least this year we had western style toilets – it’s the small things that count!
The following day was spent catching up with Gordon and Aaron, our team mates for the race and also catching up with many of the other teams. The gear check and skills testing were completed without any hassles and with only the short prologue the next day there was very little to do but relax and recover from the travelling.
PROLOGUE
The first chance to see how all the teams are going was little more than a mad dash around central Wulong. The course included a run, then a bike section to the start of a rafting section, which brought us down the river to finish where we started in the town square. The one big difference with the race this year was that all the teams had to include at least one woman. We had a big opening ceremony before the start and then it was ready to go.
SleepMonsters
