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Challenge Yourself, Then Challenge Yourself Some More ...

Ian Wright / 10.10.2003

PyACha’s inaugural race got underway in typically unpredictable mountain weather. After worrying about excess baggage costs on budget airlines and squeezing bikes and kit into the back of a small hatchback with 4 people Team SIGG I-2-I arrived unscathed if a little tired in Andorra in the early hours of Friday morning. The trip was made a whole lot smoother by being on a quiet flight to Barcelona with no worries on the baggage front and then being upgraded by luck to a people carrier once in Barcelona.

With plenty of outdoor stores in Andorra catering for most of the needs of the adventure racer (of particular note are race sponsors Viladomat) final preparations for the race were fairly straightforward. Checking in at the campsite in the Ordino Valley however gave us our first proper glimpse of the actual mountains we expected to be climbing. Certainly a far cry from our normal training grounds of rural Kent and even the Peak District!

Race Organisers, husband and wife team Ian and Katherine making up Montgomery One ensured all teams arriving at the campsite were welcomed, fully briefed and had a kit check in good time. With transport laid on to the race briefing, held at the aforementioned Viladomat store in Andorra La Vella, pre-race worries were minimal (apart from the size of the mountains). The briefing was a multi-lingual affair, as indeed was the whole race, since there were teams from France, Spain, Andorra and us, the sole UK entry. A fully explained race book was discussed and digested and all seemed to be going well.

Back in camp we put our heads down ready for a full on day of racing, only to hear the weather break after several weeks of sunshine in the Pyrenees and lashings of rain started hitting the tent fabric. The early morning start was still dark due to the mountainous location and unfortunately due to the weather the first section – in-line skating up the valley – was deemed too dangerous on the slippery tarmac (quite a relief for us as our in-line skating preparations took the form of buying some heavily discounted skates and spending a hilarious afternoon falling over a lot in the UK). Instead Support Teams transported racers up the valley for 5km to the start of the first mountain section.

And so began the total of some 7,500m of ascent we were to expect during the whole race. We were given the maps just before the start, fortunately with all the CP’s marked on for us. Less fortunate for us from the UK was the lack of paths or other usually essential markings on the maps. Having been spoilt by the good old Ordnance Survey we were a little shocked and confused by the lack of paths, tracks or general detail on the maps.

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