adidas TERREX Swift
Stage 1; A Very British Start
Rob Howard / 02.06.2012
After finishing off handing in their bags and bike boxes, which were only accepted after being weighed, the teams too k the race coach to the start in Kirkby Lonsdale, 15 miles along the A65. It took a little longer than expected due to a party of horse drawn Romany caravans on the road, and the skies were crowded too, with hot air balloons. And when teams walked into the town from the drop off point there was no mistaking it was a special weekend as every lamp post, building and doorway was hung with union jacks for the start of the celebrations of the Queens Diamond Jubilee weekend.
Teams will be racing through towns and villages with their flags out, street parties and concerts all weekend, and they were given a good send off by the people of the town too. Most AR race starts are quiet affairs, but this morning all the townsfolk were gathering in the square to have a Jubilee photo taken! (It seems the square was double booked, but in the spirit of the weekend the townsfolk waited and cheered the race off after which the brass band played God Save the Queen and they went ahead with their photo.)
The first stage of the race was a 5km run around the town, taking teams down Jingling Lane and past Devils Bridge to begin. (It’s an old pack horse bridge so presumably that’s where Lane got its name.) The path then ran alongside the river Lune and up some very steep steps to the old castle moat, back through town and then teams had to make their way under the main road bridge (it was too dangerous to cross). The FJS team got there first and swam around the rocky bridge buttress, but all the other teams picked a way along the bank and managed not to get wet.
Originally the plan had been to have the put-in here, but the river level was too low (despite the wettest April ever), so the run was extended by 7km to take them down the towpath to another put in. All their canoes had been transported here and placed in a cattle pen overnight and the marshals lined them up in the field with the teams wet bags, paddles and portage trolleys nearby in the transition area.
The Mountain Hardwear Team were first through at 09.50, followed by adidas TERRREX, but all the lead teams were quite close together as they set off down the river. The first, fast and furious, stage of the first adidas TERREX Swift race was over and teams could now settle in to the long paddle down to the coast, with the shallows and portages on the river as an added challenge.
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