Hagloff Open 5 Adventure Race Series; North Pennines 05 February
An Open5 ... Alpine-style
Dave Johnson (Open Adventure) / 09.02.2012
The pre-event information for this event was something of a logistical test both for the organisers and racers alike. It was to take place from a very unique location, based from Warcop in the North Pennines in a normally restricted area. The most unusual part of this pre-event information stated that registration was to be on the south side of the very busy A66 and the event area was to be on the north side.
It was part of Open Adventures agreement with the landowner that no competitor could cycle across the A66, so they had to come up with a cunning plan to get 200+ racers from one side of the road to the other. Anyone who has taken part in the longer Open Adventures races which include special stages will know that they include some pretty wacky challenges, but this one had them scratching their heads. Not until they discovered the tenacious approach of event planner Jeff Powell Davies. He managed to locate a stream culvert, large enough to fit a person, a bike and kit through under the A66 and suddenly a massive logistical problem was solved. Well done Jeff!
It was just hoped that there would not be a return of the weather conditions seen in Kirkby Stephen on the same weekend last year! Competitors needn't have worried though as there was a plan B meaning that they wouldn't have to use the stream culvert if the water level was too high. In the end there was little rain leading up to the event so no need for Plan B after all.
The extra challenge which faced competitors on the event weekend was the forecast of heavy snow. The planning team had arrived at Warcop around midday on Saturday to make final preparations just as the first flakes of snow were falling. Enquiries were coming in thick and fast from competitors further south as they were bearing the brunt of the deteriorating conditions. Open Adventure have a policy of not cancelling events unless absolutely necessary (only one event has been cancelled in the past and that was due to exceptionally heavy snow conditions at Sutton Bank in the previous series). Kirkby Stephen Independent Youth Hostel had become a welcome nest for racers venturing north on Saturday and fortunately for them avoiding the worst of the winter conditions.
So come event day all that was needed was get all racers vehicles checked into Warcop Training Camp (this was another logistical challenge as car details needed to be provided before access to the camp was permitted), get them registered and transferred to the start location which was approximately 5km away with just enough time for a bacon butty from the camp cafe. The start of the ride was reasonably gentle, but as it neared the transition location in the foothills of the Pennines it increased in gradient too. This caught out one or two folks who hadn't banked on such a 'tough' ride to the start.
Remote transitions are a common feature of Open5's. Large rooms for registration/download/prize giving and hard standing parking are preferred to marquees and field parking especially in winter! But sometimes these places are not ideally situated for the best of the event area. Hence, the need for competitors to travel from registration to the start. The transfer to transition is not classed as part of the event so is usually taken at a leisurely pace in order to conserve energy. That is unless competitors don't leave enough time to get to the start in time for the 10.30am last start time!
On arrival at the start locations competitors were greeted to a truly Apline view as the North Pennines spread out before their eyes dusted in white. This was going to be one to remember. The event area was a real split in terms of track and path quality and altitude too. The transition was situated at around 200m and the highest bridleway pass over Tinsdale Rigg was at 600m. The lower areas nearer to transition were a network of good quality tracks (some on tarmac) which made the biking very fast, although care had to be taken when riding on the snow-covered tracks.
The foot controls could be either be accessed from the same tracks although many competitors we taking the direct off-piste routes. Higher up the event area towards Warcop Fell was a different story altogether. The snow was much deeper and the track and path quality varied from rough to non-existent. Some markers had been put in place marking out the more indistinct bridleways. But thick snow was making progress on bikes very difficult. Photos taken by event photographer, James Kirby, showed that some competitors had difficulty staying on two wheels!
The additional challenge was that there was a large area of "Out of Bounds" right in the middle of the event area. This resulted in some cunningly placed controls and some difficult choices regarding which routes to take to maximise points. Some decided not to go north of this and stay low. Some pushing for series places had no choice but to go north of the OOB area and collect the harder to gain points in the difficult conditions.
As the day wore on the sun rose higher and temperatures were rising resulting in a slight thaw at low altitude resulting in some of the tracks turning to slippy mud. Competitors coming and going from transition were commenting how beautiful the scenery was. As teams filtered into the finish it was all smiles and a couple of competitors who are taking part in the entire series, Heather Jackson and Tom Needham, both commented on how much they enjoyed the event. Heather even said that it was "the best one I have done".
The Haglofs Open5 series continues with a trip down south to Dorking in the North Downs on 4th March - http://www.openadventure.com/open5/2011-12/78_north_downs.php
Results
Female Pairs Team Points
Sue Booth/Louise Hanley Ilkley CC / Dirtwheels 455
Sarah Keast/Dawn Westrum 450
Lisa Whetter/Sue Woods 440
Female Solos Team Points
Lucy Harris Team Accelerate 470
Rosemary Byde 430
Fiona Poulter The Starchie Crew 420
Male Pairs Team Points
Simon Enderby/Alistair Morris For Goodness Shakes! 525
Nick Harper/David Spence 505
Anthony Cooper/Jake Morgan planetFear.com 476
Male Solos Team Points
Kim Collison Mountain Hardwear 565
Daniel Halliday Team Accelerate 558
Alex Pilkington Escape Bikes 540
Mixed Pairs Team Points
Heather Burrows/Chris Heppenstall Lakeland Orienteering 500
Phil Scarf/Jackie Scarf calder valley 497
Anthony Emmet/Sally Ozanne Mountain Hardwear 490
Thanks -
Warcop Training Camp, Landmarc Support Services Ltd, Helbeck Estate. Thanks must go to all the hardworking marshalls who give up their time so competitors can have a good time. A special thanks to Jeff Powell Davies for planning another excellent Haglofs Open5 event. Lastly thanks to all our sponsors, in particular Haglofs, in helping us run the Open5 events and providing some great prizes..
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