Dynamic Adventure Endurance - Marlborough Downs
DAR Endurance ... Marlbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrh!!!!!! Hills
Alli Northcott – Team Innov8 / 14.12.2008
Famous for the chalk white horse, these hills and lands were to be our play area, another mix of bridleways, footpaths and old rights of ways travelled on for hundreds of years ... play we did ...
Fog enveloped the race base, visibility poor in the rolling countryside beyond. The temperature hovered in the low numbers I discovered after my ears were nearly ripped off by the cold after 100m of bike test ... this was going to be interesting…
Choosing to bike first (mainly cos I love it!) I set a route out to the south. Within the first kilometre I punctured thanks to a track full of thorns… As kindly folk passed me with offers of help I cursed the small capacity of my lightweight pump as I sped to complete the repair quickly.
Air restored I was soon back on track and headed into the woods, pausing slightly as I passed a group of beaters and then a man with a gun (thought I heard Simon mention something about a shoot!)
I very quickly encountered the first of many mud filled bridleways ... and my first of many (and I mean many) “offs�!
With many bridleways and tracks to choose on the ground, navigation wasn’t as straight forward as I’d presumed it would be. I found myself making far too many small errors, losing precious time. Somehow I also managed not to locate a few of the check points clips, its all part of the event, some you win some you don’t, but that time and effort wasted is lost.....frustrating.
Finishing the bike stage eventually with a bike that would hardly roll over the ground, covered head to toe in mud, I transitioned, clearing a slice of pizza and ½ a sausage roll from Flossie’s ... all good stuff!
The run was going well…..right up to where it went dark…..somebody not only turned the lights out pretty quickly, but also turned the thermostat down a few degrees and the thick fog rolled in with a real purpose ...
SleepMonsters
