A Day of Cycling in the Hills

Rob Howard / 30.04.2014

After the fun and games of the tubing at the start, day one of the Lycian Challenge has been a day of cycling in the hills as teams head to TA1.

Different route choices in the early part of the day seemed to make no significant difference to team’s positions and by mid-afternoon teams were spread out across the hills.  Teams Lozere Sport Nature and adidas Terrex were in the lead together, but close behind was large group of teams including Skandia Adventure, Estonian ACE Adventure Team and Buff Adventure Addicts.  With a leading group of teams from UK, France, Estonia and Spain it is a very international mix for the leading places.

We saw the teams at CP5, which was located in an old well beside a farmstead high in the hills on an overcast but still warm afternoon.  (It was 27C yesterday, so the cloud cover was welcome.) The teams were disappointed to find the well filled in and looking to keep refilling their water bottles wherever they could as the course took them high into the hills, down again, then back up.

The scenery they were passing through was a mix of forest and scrubland, studded with wild spring flowers and with many farmsteads surrounded by olive trees and grazed by goats. The hills are very rocky so it is a hard place to make a living. 

For much of the time teams were on rough dirt roads and these were coated in sharp limestone rocks which could be tyre shredders on the descents.  There are many thorn bushes too, so it won’t be surprising if teams report punctures and mechanical issues when they get to TA1.

For the leaders that is likely to be close to nightfall, around 20.30. After that they will face the challenge of night navigation in this difficult terrain.  Those further back in the race will have to decide whether to miss any of the CP’s or race sections depending on how fast they are moving around the course.

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