Merrell King Winter
A Wet Winter Race
Rob Howard / 11.01.2014
The forecast for the start of the Merrell Kong Vinter race was wrong in one respect, it rained more than expected, so it was a damp start to the day for the teams. It was also a smoky one as the race set off smoke bomb for the start from Gribskovhallen. The start did not quite go to plan either, with the riders expected to head off up the road, but many found a back way out instead. As the Masters teams lined up facing the road, the Estonian team were at the back facing the other way!
Route choice and navigation are key to this race and the first riding section had free route choice to reach 5 CP’s spread in the drained lake of Soburg. It was a tough start as riding on the boggy and tussock covered trails was hard work. It was impossible to settle into any rhythm and there were frequent deep pools amongst the dense sedge grass and sodden fields. The riders were soon complaining. “It may be flat in Denmark but it’ not easy!” was one comment, and “I’d rather have an 1800m climb” was another. The bikes were suffering too, clogged up with mud and long grass and there was a wide variation in route choice.
It could have been worse though. Lars Bukkehave from the race organisation said, “We had the choice to put this stage first or last and it would be too hard at the end and in the dark. At least now teams get to see the lake bed and the area they are racing in.”
Once away from the lake the next stop was a short forest orienteering run, a 15 to 20 minute sprint stage through the fallen leaves. This was again free choice, though not all teams understood this, and they were given the first of many 1:5,000 orienteering maps for the stage.
Next came a ride through the countryside and forest to the first transition, where the kayaks were set out on the shores of Lake Esrum. These are all plastic single sea kayaks borrowed from the Copenhagen University club so the first to arrive will get the choice of the best boats, but teams can bring their own as well. However, they must also be sea kayaks, no surf-skis and K1’s allowed.
Rules are quite strict on winter kayaking in Denmark so the teams will stay close to the shore and must all wear wet suits. They have also had to confirm a qualification with their entry, but there was no testing by the race itself. The teams will be glad of the wetsuits as the weather is chilly and in the wet they will feel the cold. At least they are on the Western, more sheltered shore.
The first team to arrive at T1 was Skandia followed 5 minutes later by the first pair, Team Kiropraktor3400.dk. They both took advantage of a sheltered hut at the outdoor centre where the transition is set up as this was out of the wind and had a big log fire burning – there were even candle lanterns, so it was very cosy. The next two teams were Knosen SKII and the Estonian AR team, but they just changed out in the open before grabbing their kayaks and carrying them down to the jetty.
The Estonian team had already had a puncture on their borrowed bikes and are short of spare tubes so they were asking if any more were available for later in the race. (They brought 29” tubes and borrowed 26” bikes, but said this kind of thing was one more unknown challenge in adventure racing.) Once all the kayaks are taken the remaining teams arriving will instead to the next mountain biking in the forest to the West of the lake before returning to do the kayaking. Those who kayak first will do the mountain biking as their next stage.
All 4 of these teams were among the expected race favourites. The Knosen trio include 2 race organisers and Torjorn Gasberg, who is a former Elite and MTBO world champion and national orienteering coach to the Danish team.
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