ITERA - Presented by Open Adventure
A Visit to Hay-on- Wye
Rob Howard / 14.08.2014
When teams left transition at Glasbury they were starting the last paddling stage of the race – a fairly gentle descent down the River Wye to Bredwardine.
The one advantage of last night’s heavy rains was that the river level came up a bit. It had been at a historic low, but has risen steadily today, which means that the teams will not have to get out and push quite so much, if at all.
The briefing when they set off highlighted a couple of small rapids and some overhanging low branches, but with a better flow today, and a tail wind, the paddle will give teams something of a break from the rigours of the race.
They also got a break when they stopped at Hay on Wye for a street orienteering section – but one with a twist. The teams were given a copy of a map of the town with 3 checkpoints on, but it was a map drawn in 1860!
Luckily Hay on Wye is a very historic town and many of the features and street names are still the same so it didn’t prove too hard. One of the checkpoints was on the steps of the derelict castle in the town centre, overlooking the town centre which was full of market stalls, and of course full of quaint old book shops for which Hay is famous as ‘The Book Capital of the World’.
The shops and especially the cafes and pubs were a major and welcome distraction for the teams, who indulged in cream buns, late breakfasts and other delights while running around the busy town and dodging the shoppers and tourists. Team Need for Speed returned from their orienteering stage saying, “We found checkpoints, food and socks, so we are a happy team!”
Teams who may not be so happy are those still trying to get to the paddling stage before the 16.00 stage closure. (Czech AR, Moxie Racers and Vauclause Aventures Lafuma.) They are dealing with some very wet, possibly flood conditions on the hills s they race for the cut-off time. SWECO said they’d been in flood water up to their waists last night commenting; “We’d have been better off with kayaks than bikes last night!”
Other news is that Danish Team Hopla are now ranked as uncompetitive after Trine Stoltenborg became ill and had to withdraw from the race.
Tom Gibbs has also been talking to the teams which were full course but had to cut the ride short last night.
They are naturally disappointed as they had ambitions to complete the full course, but he’s been encouraging them to remain competitive and complete as much as they can as a top 10 finish is still possible for them.
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