Preparing for The Beast

Rob Howard / 02.08.2013

Teams are preparing for The Beast of Ballyhoura at Blackwater Castle in the village of Castletownroche today. The castle is a picture perfect setting for the race, which always finishes here and this year will be the start as well.  The banners are already set up on the lawn between the Castle and Blackwater river, newly build bike stands are set out on the lawn, and there is a trailer full of new sit-on-top kayaks in CCAR colours parked nearby. Everything is ready and the teams will be arriving through the afternoon, ready for registration this evening and the early morning start.

The Castle has all the facilities the race needs, with accommodation and dormitory rooms in a nearby courtyard for the marshals and some of the teams, meeting rooms and ample space, and has always been the home for the Beast.  There is an outdoor school here too and the race has used their zip lines across the deeply cut river valley in the past.

Teams will be allowed to collect their race boxes from 2pm this afternoon, 12 hours before the start, and these will include their maps, bike numbers, route book etc. It is their responsibility to mark the route and checkpoints onto the maps, and to waterproof them – which may or may not be needed. Very heavy showers occasionally flood the tarmac on the courtyard, and it rained all Thursday, but the forecast for the weekend is dry. The rain will certainly have made the trails more slippery and raised the water levels in the rivers, which is a good thing as they were quite low.

At the same time as collecting their race boxes the teams will be able to collect their bike boxes, which are supplied by the race.  Some of the organising team have spent much of the morning assembling these cardboard boxes and piling them up in a nearby room after being driven inside by the rain.  (They may need a lot of tape on them for waterproofing too.)

For Swiss racer Francky David from the Powerbar team the words ‘bike box’ are a source of frustration as his failed to arrive at the airport when his team collected him last night – it is stuck in Paris apparently.  Fortunately, being Swiss, he had a list of all the items in it on his phone, and his team have found replacements for everything, including a bike, should his own gear not arrive in time. There is only one catch, his team mate Julie Mcorry racers with all female team ‘The Belles’ and he may have to borrow some of their kit ... so hopefully the pink bike helmet will suit him!

Other teams have their own problems of finding late replacements and getting everyone to the start. Moxie AR have been struggling to find a female racer and Greg Byrne of Team Get No Sleep was injured coming off his bike yesterday.  The team have found a replacement in Mark Walker, who has never done such a long race before so they will be able to race, though it is a pity as they were using this race as preparation for the World Championships in Costa Rica later in the year.  Greg is their navigator, so at least the others will get some map practice during the race!

The live website for the race, with route information and google flyovers of each section will be put live later this afternoon.  See http://www.beastofballyhoura.com/

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