The adidas Terrex Adventure Race
From the Lakes to the Hills
Rob Howard / 28.08.2010
They were positioned at both ends of the lake and on either shore, and the next transition was pretty much in the centre of the lake at the town of Bowness. So they could chose the shortest route via 2 CP’s, or strike out to either end of the lake.
The leaders of course went to all the checkpoints and by the end of the paddle adidas Terrex had established a significant lead, but a simple mistake nearly cost them those hard won minutes. The stage finished at Bowness with a checkpoint in the boat house of Windermere Canoe and Kayak, which was set among the pontoons and moorings.
Having checked in here teams had to then walk a few hundred yards to catch the Bowness to Hawkshead ferry, to get to the bike compound on the far shore. It was only when the leaders were on the ferry that Tom Gibbs realised he’d left the team tracker behind and he had to race off to get it, knowing a missed ferry would cost them 20 minutes! He was lucky, the ferry kindly agreed to wait!
This transition was a food stop to most, with a cafe by the pull-out point and another mobile food van by the ferry. One team buying here referred to this as a ‘burger van’ and were promptly told it was a ‘mobile farm shop’! There was also shelter and hot drinks in the boat house, which was a welcome place to warm up after the paddle.
Once across the lake the bike ride was relatively short and took the teams into the Langdale valley and a transition at Sticklebarn. This was the start point for the longest trek of the race but this, and the following riding stage, have been cut to shorten the course.
The transition was in a field at the road side by a busy pub and the path up into the hills was clearly visible. The climb to stickle tarn is a popular ramblers and tourist walk, but is a steep climb up, and this is the way the teams were going. As torrential showers continued to sweep in and swell the streams and waterfalls the teams slowly climbed the rocky path, heading for the tarn (lake) and then skirting it to reach the crag beyond called Pavey Ark.
Here the plan was to ascend via a route called Jakes Rake, which is a grade one scramble, but the safety staff called this off in the slippery and blustery conditions. It is an unprotected scramble and was too risky, so instead teams took ‘easy gully’ - a much broader and safer route, which is not as exposed.
The last team to arrive at the transition for the trek were Team PersonalFD.com at 18.15, but they looked a little disappointed. One of team asked where the barn was. Having seen the name Sticklebarn it was a fair enough question and they clearly needed somewhere to sleep before the trek, but there was no barn, nor was there anywhere out of the rain to settle down. When they left all the teams were on the trekking stage, and all but the leaders will be out on it all night, returning to Langdale in the morning.
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