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Navigation top ten tips

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Love your map

Your map is your main navigational tool and you have to be able to read it as if you were reading a book.  By being able to interpret every colour, line and symbol you will be able to fully understand how the land will open up in front of you….hills, streams, valleys…

 

Compass

The second navigational tool.  Being able to take accurate bearings and check your direction of travel accurately will allow you to be confident in your position and always correctly orientated.

 

Always have a plan

It is critical to invest time at the beginning of the race to build your overall race strategy but each individual leg should also have a plan.  This will help prevent mistakes but will also allow you to flow from control to control.

 

Only move at the speed at which you can navigate.

It is easy to race too fast and lose contact with the map, causing costly mistakes.  By only moving as fast as you can navigate you can minimise that risk.

 

Keep your map orientated

This simply means that the features on the map are facing the same way as the features on the ground.  It is a simple and intuitive thing to do but neglect to do it and mistakes will be made or time wasted as you try to fit the ground to the map.

 

Learn map to ground and ground to map techniques

It is all about making pictures.  You should aim to be able to look at a section of map and picture in your mind what that will look like on the ground.  Likewise you should be able to look at the ground and form an idea of what that will look like on the map.

 

Always have three points of contact

A climbing analogy: always try to have three points of contact on the map to prevent expensive mistakes.  For example:  You are running on a track (contact one), you are running steeply downhill (contact 2), you check direction with the compass (contact 3).

 

Understand those brown wiggly lines (contours!)

This can save you needless climb as well as helping as a navigational feature.  The standard contour interval on an OS 1:25,000 map is 10m, roughly the height of two double-decker buses.

 

Mistakes

Accept that mistakes will be made but have a strategy to get back on track.  For example: once you’ve relocated avoid the desire to ‘catch up’ and potentially compound your error.  Instead, take greater care and concentration on the next leg or until things are going smoothly again.

 

Practice makes perfect

Navigation is like any skill.  You have to practice it to improve.  Get some coaching, try orienteering, study legends, take a map out with you when you go running training, read books or magazines about navigation, put a pile of maps by the loo…

Dave Rollins – Team Manager to the GB orienteering team and member of team Tri-Adventure

 

Next events – Trail & Sprint 17 February 2013, Collingwood College, Camberley

 

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Review of 2012

Wow, what an amazing year 2012 has been for Tri-Adventure! We’ve had fantastic fun hosting  14 events over 8 racing weekends, attracting over 700 competitors making 2012 a record breaking year! You guys, along with our fantastic partners; Thrive-active and Rainbow Trust have built up a Tri-Adventure community we’re really proud of, the friendliness and helpfulness of our community is always commented on by newcomers to our events.

So let’s take a look back at the year, it all started on a bitterly cold February morning in Mickleham, Dorking – the start of our Spring Trail and Sprint series. The series ran three events over February, March and April – April being a record breaking event with over 130 entries! Thrive-active came along with the fantastic Hydration station making sure you all stayed hydrated throughout the event and our infamous free tea, coffee and very scrummy cakes rounded off our new and improved EXPO nicely.

In March Tri-Adventure took adventure racing to the masses with a special race hosted for the BBC showcased on ‘Countryfile’, with viewing figures of 7 million and 4000+ hits on our website within 48 hours of the broadcast there is no doubt we helped raise profile of AR, something we thrive to do through our marketing channels. Also in March we took adventure racing to the Triathlon Show, hosted each year at Sandown Park. We spent two days talking to triathletes about the fun and exhilaration of adventure racing, the interest was huge and word on the street was triathlon has had its heyday, it’s time for a new multi-sport and it’s off-road! We’ve been thrilled to see many of the triathletes we spoke to at the show popping up at our summer and autumn events; we’ll continue to drive awareness of AR into other outdoor sports.

The season moved into summer, not that you’d have noticed from the weather! Our 3.5hr Experience and 5hr Challenge took us farther afield to the beautiful Swinley Forest and New Forest, once again a fantastic turnout and great results forJennifer Thomson, Ben Turner, Sabrina Verjee and Jeremy Wormington. Our Tri-Points loyalty cards were launched, we believe in thanking you for coming along to our events! – every entry gains you a point and after 6 points you get a free ‘Sprint’ or 50% off an Experience entry, remember to bring you cards along to your next event!

Summer holidays a distant memory we brought the Tri-Adventure team back to Surrey, this time the largest Village in the county – Cranleigh! Challenging courses kept our regulars on their toes with some daunting climbs and far flung checkpoints, throw in some seasonal rain and mud and we all had a great time! Our November event took a festive feel with you good sports dressing up for the race, we had some amazing costumes, fantastic helmet tinsel and decorated bikes. Check out Octavia Chambers who won one of our spot prizes. Festive mulled wine and mince pies accompanied the final prize giving where our autumn series winners Julie Jefferies and Campbell Walsh were announced, well done!

Well done to all our winners over 2012, Tom Davies, Carys Holloway, Adam Spong, Claire Smart, Rachel Ford, James Backhouse, Caroline Wharton, Huges Lacroix, Sabrina Verjee, Nick Gracie, Bronwen Fisher and Martin Fitchie and also our Sprint Series winners Julie Jefferies, Michael  Krajewski and Campbell Walsh.

So we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and New Year, and don’t worry about overdoing the turkey and the odd tipple, we’re back in January next year – Sunday the 20th to be precise! Get the date in your diary, enter online and be safe in the knowledge those turkey leftover blues will be blown away on a rip-roaring race through Swinley Forest!

2013 is going to be an epic year for Tri-Adventure, we’ve got our new Tri-Adventure training academy kicking off on Saturday 19th January with further dates in May and September, we’re moving to 9 race weekends throughout the year – running 9 Sprints, 9 Trails, 3 academy’s and 3 NEW 4hr Experience events, we’ll be announcing seasonal ‘special events’ in the new year, including kids treasure hunts, optional fancy dress,  night-time navigation and maybe the odd boggy run!

Make sure you’ve ‘liked’ our FB page to stay up to date with new events, training plans, special offers and the latest news – we’ll see you in 2013!

 

2013 events calendar 

Register and Enter

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Orienteering is the new running

Posted by Nicky Donbavand

Always keen to have a go at different events, when an opportunity came to have a go at an orienteering event, we clapped our hands with glee and headed off to get the credit card.

It was brought to our attention via our next door neighbour and fellow club mate John Baker.  He’d participated in one around Box Hill near Dorking a few months ago and raved about it.  So much so, he constructed two ‘home made’ courses for the running club to have a go at.  And do you know what, they loved it.  One runner said it lit her passion for running again.  That’s pretty big isn’t it?

So with credit card retrieved and Penny already signed up we clicked to confirm and we were in.

The event in Cranleigh is run as a series by Tri Adventure.  The format is simple, checkpoints are placed around the local area and identified as numbers on a map.

You decide which order to visit the checkpoints and how many you think you’re going to get.  Each checkpoint is worth 10 points, the runner with the most points wins.  But there is a catch, for every 30 seconds you return after the cut off you are fined a point.  Getting back late can be very costly indeed.

The event today was a combined run/mountain bike.  All competitors start on foot and then may transition only once from foot to bike.  There were 20 checkpoints, 10 run and 10 MTB and with Winterfold Hill looming on the horizon we knew had the potential to be very lumpy.

Pen and I got there early to enjoy a pre-race cup of tea (available for a small charity donation, a great touch) and go through the route.  Pen was trying out her new varifocal contact lenses.  We were also in an area where we knew the roads reasonably well but off road barely at all.

High above us on Winterfold hill bore the traditional turn around point of the Greensand marathon.  A point I knew well as I marshalled there each year.  Tanners Marathon a couple of years ago also took us along the notoriously difficult to follow Greensand Way.  I’d packed an emergency tenner in case we got lost.

We planned with enthusiasm and optimism and then reigned the plan in to have a more realistic target.  We figured we’d get five (out of ten) on the run, be back in the hour to transition to bike and get another seven (out of ten) before heading back for the two hour cut off.

We totally under estimated the course.

The start was bizarre, with runners heading in all different directions as the horn sounded.  It took seven minutes to get to the first checkpoint which we found with ease.  Following paths and roads we took another eleven minutes to reach checkpoint two and after a slight detour where we missed a bridleway sign a whopping 23 minutes to reach the third.  At this point we made the decision to sacrifice some of the bike checkpoints which we knew would be on hilly and muddy terrain and secured a fourth run checkpoint (we had previously discounted) only 5 minutes from the third.  As we met fellow competitors we received (and gave) cheery waves and hellos.  The relaxed and friendly atmosphere of the event was apparent.

It was confidence boosting to see other runners heading our direction as well as those coming the other way.  One pair popped out of a hedge after taking a ‘short cut’ across the golf course and getting completely lost.  We pointed them in the right direction and headed on our way.

We navigated really well and apart from one point where instinct was telling me left and the compass (and Penny) was telling us right, we didn’t get lost at all (we went right, phew!)

Six checkpoints down, a quick transition including a total re-hash of the cycle targets and out we went with about 38 minutes left on the clock.  We planned to follow a loop passing two checkpoints then head back to the finish for an early cup of tea.

Goodness, our legs were trashed and cycling the first few minutes was really hard.  I took a couple of shot bloks and gradually felt much better.  Reaching the second checkpoint much sooner than we thought we then convinced ourselves we could squeeze in a third.  We ignored the fact the contours hinted at a lot of uphill.

It was uphill of course, but conveniently having a granny ring we found it and kept going, enthused by all the others telling us it wasn’t far.  And really it wasn’t.  After dibbing the dibber (a technical term) we re-mounted and wheeeeeeeee’d our way back to the main road.  We had 12 minutes to get back to the finish.

We didn’t quite make it, but the 1 minute 38 we were over resulted in only 4 penalty points which means the decision to do the extra checkpoint was a good one.

Once done, we dumped the bikes and sat with a cup of tea and flapjack to watch the stragglers coming in.  Everyone looked really happy and relaxed, chatting with friends and comparing results.  We were delighted to hear friend, Rob Hardwick took second place, a superb performance.  We finished 53rd/54th out of 64 and had a fab time.

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Tri-Adventure 6-week training plan for Autumn series!

The first Sprint and Trail of the Tri-Adventure Autumn series is happening on the 16th September in Cranleigh, Surrey!  To help you prepare we’ve got a 6-week training plan to get you in great shape for the race – if you’ve not yet entered visit www.triadventure.co.uk/nextrace and sign up today!

 

Week 1: Fitness and Navigation Skills

–          Trail run.  10 minute warm up. 3 sets of 7 minutes with heart rate at 160 beats per minute.  2 minute recovery between each set.  10 minute warm down.

–          Mountain/ road/ spinning bike or turbo. 10 minute warm up and 4 sets of 5 minutes at heart rate of 145 to 150. 2 minute interval recovery between each set.  10 minute warm down.

–          Orienteering trail or urban run.  Grab a map, mark up a series of checkpoints, navigate to as many of the checkpoints as you can in an hour.  This can be done on the trails or in a city, in the day or at night with a head torch.  Focus on going as fast as you can without getting lost.

–          Mountain bike orienteering.  As above but on a bike!

Week 2: Fitness and Navigation Skills

–          Trail run.  10 minute warm up. 3 sets of 9 minutes with heart rate at 160 beats per minute.  2 minute recovery between each set.  10 minute warm down.

–          Mountain/ road/ spinning bike or turbo. 10 minute warm up and 4 sets of 7 minutes at heart rate of 145 to 150. 2 minute interval recovery between each set.  10 minute warm down.

–          Orienteering trail or urban run.  Grab a map, mark up a series of checkpoints, navigate to as many of the checkpoints as you can in an hour.  This can be done on the trails or in a city, in the day or at night with a head torch.  Focus on going as fast as you can without getting lost.

–          Mountain bike orienteering.  As above but this should last for 80 minutes.

Week 3:  Speed and Race Preparation.

–          Trail run.  10 minute warm up. 7 sets of 2 minutes at max heart rate (170+).  30 second recovery between each set.  10 minute warm down.

–          Mountain/ road/ spinning bike or turbo. 10 minute warm up and 5 sets of 3 minutes at heart rate of 160 to 170. 1 minute interval recovery between each set.  10 minute warm down.

–          Orienteering trail or urban run & Mountain Bike Orienteering.  Grab a map, mark up a series of checkpoints, navigate to as many of the checkpoints as you can in 90 minutes on foot and bike.  This can be done on the trails or in a city, in the day or at night with a head torch.  Focus on going as fast as you can without getting lost.

–          Recovery run or mountain bike.  Gently run and/ or bike for 40 minutes, with plenty of stretching, warming up and down.

Week 4:  Speed and Race Preparation

–          Trail run.  10 minute warm up. 8 sets of 2 minutes at max heart rate (170+).  30 second recovery between each set.  10 minute warm down.

–          Mountain/ road/ spinning bike or turbo. 10 minute warm up and 6 sets of 3 minutes at heart rate of 160 to 170. 1 minute interval recovery between each set.  10 minute warm down.

–          Orienteering trail or urban run & Mountain Bike Orienteering.  Grab a map, mark up a series of checkpoints, navigate to as many of the checkpoints as you can in 100 minutes on foot and bike.  This can be done on the trails or in a city, in the day or at night with a head torch.  Focus on going as fast as you can without getting lost.

–          Recovery run or mountain bike.  Gently run and/ or bike for 40 minutes, with plenty of stretching, warming up and down.

Week 5: Speed and Race Preparation

–          Trail run.  10 minute warm up. 9 sets of 2 minutes at max heart rate (170+).  30 second recovery between each set.  10 minute warm down.

–          Mountain/ road/ spinning bike or turbo. 10 minute warm up and 7 sets of 3 minutes at heart rate of 160 to 170. 1 minute interval recovery between each set.  10 minute warm down.

–          Orienteering trail or urban run & Mountain Bike Orienteering.  Grab a map, mark up a series of checkpoints, navigate to as many of the checkpoints as you can in 110 minutes on foot and bike.  This can be done on the trails or in a city, in the day or at night with a head torch.  Focus on going as fast as you can without getting lost.

–          Recovery run or mountain bike.  Gently run and/ or bike for 40 minutes, with plenty of stretching, warming up and down.

Week 6: Speed and Race Preparation

–          Trail run.  10 minute warm up. 10 sets of 2 minutes at max heart rate (170+).  30 second recovery between each set.  10 minute warm down.

–          Mountain/ road/ spinning bike or turbo. 10 minute warm up and 8 sets of 3 minutes at heart rate of 160 to 170. 1 minute interval recovery between each set.  10 minute warm down.

–          Orienteering trail or urban run & Mountain Bike Orienteering.  Grab a map, mark up a series of checkpoints, navigate to as many of the checkpoints as you can in 2 hours on foot and bike.  This can be done on the trails or in a city, in the day or at night with a head torch.  Focus on going as fast as you can without getting lost.

–          Recovery run or mountain bike.  Gently run and/ or bike for 40 minutes, with plenty of stretching, warming up and down.

Good luck on race day!  The Trail and Spring run on Sunday 16th September, 21st October and 18th November in Cranleigh, for more information and to enter visit www.triadventure.co.uk/nextrace.

Join our Tri-Adventure!

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WIN, WIN, WIN WITH TRI-ADVENTURE

For a chance to win FREE entry into the Sprint autumn series, read on….

Tri-Adventure is holding a summer competition, this is your chance to win FREE entry into the Sprint autumn series (value of £75.00).

The series consists of 3 events in September, October and November.

The event is a sprint/mini adventure race over 2hrs incorporating trail running, mountain biking and navigation.

It’s simple, answer the three questions below (answers can be found on our website) and send them along with your full name to sam@triadventure.co.uk.

  • What three disciplines make up a Tri-Adventure Sprint?
  • From which village is the autumn series being run from?
  • How many points is each check point/control worth?

(Entries close 22nd August 2012 @ 10am, the winner will be chosen at random and will be announced)

Good luck!  Sam and Jonathan

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Terrex Swift race report – Team Tri-Adventure

It was a long drive up from the south of the country for the Tri-Adventure team, as we appeared to encounter most of the country’s roadworks, traffic jams and idiots towing caravans along the way, but eventually we arrived in Settle on a sunny Friday evening, spotted the Terrex banners outside the old theatre, and popped in for registration and a chat. The race wasn’t starting until 9.30am on Sat, but ahead of that there was a mountain of kit to sort out, bikes to box up, and maps to mark up.

The team was made up of regular Tri-Adventure teammates Tom Davies, James Brown and George Neville-Jones, along with Rob Smart who had kindly agreed to step in at short notice to replace Nicki Adams, who sadly had to step aside due to an ongoing back injury problem. Not wanting to miss out however, Nicki came along anyway and volunteered to marshal, and ended up running two of the transition areas, so we saw her at regular intervals throughout the race.

At 9pm the theatre filled with racers to hear James Thurlow and Dave Johnson run through the course, explaining the rules and safety measures in place and answering any questions about the route. Teams were listening intently, with many choosing to take the opportunity to eat dinner at the same time – the local chippy did a roaring trade in cod ‘n chips that night! Some teams came better prepared than others, with one in particular deserving bonus points for bringing glasses of red wine to accompany their dinner!

James and Dave were followed by the canoe safety officer, whose information was a little more direct – along the lines of “follow the direction of the safety staff on the river – or you’ll get swept over the weir and you’ll die.” OK, point made! Briefing over, we retired to the football pitch which was to be our home for the night to finalise our kit packing, waterproof our maps with sticky-back plastic and eventually to get a few hours sleep ahead of the 6am wake-up call.

Down the Lune and Back Again

Predictably, 6am rolled round all too soon, but it was a beautiful sunny morning and the field was soon full of racers rushing about carrying bags, boxes and searching cars for elusive bits of kit that “must be in here somewhere”. Transition bags were weighed and handed in (a 20kg weight limit meaning that several had to hurriedly lose some weight from the bag – although usually the cake stayed in there!), bikes were packed in boxes and loaded onto a lorry for transport to a later transition, and finally the racers boarded a coach after the usual team photos were taken.

The coach took everyone from Settle to Kirkby Lonsdale, where the race start was held in the village square. There was a large crowd present, which we all assumed was there to watch the start of the race, until we found out that they were in fact assembled to have a Jubilee photo taken, and that we had gate-crashed their celebration due to a double-booking of the village square! With this in mind, the start was moved forward a bit and after a few words from Race Director James Thurlow, the race was started at 9am and we were off at a run on the first of 6 stages of the race, with the slightly bemused locals cheering us on.

The race format was linear, with the stages set out as follows: Stage 1 – 12km run, Stage 2 – 30km canoe (including a 2km portage), Stage 3 – 78km MTB (plus an optional 16km MTB-O section in Gisburn Forest), Stage 4 – 16km trail run, Stage 5 – 110km MTB, Stage 6 – 65km trek. Several short-course options were available, but we set out with the intent to try to finish the entire course.

A sunny run around Kirby Lonsdale saw us sitting comfortably mid-pack, jogging along chatting to our friends in the other Tri-Adventure team, as well as exchanging a bit of banter with the CamRacers crew. The run was predominantly flat, but had a number of narrow sections that spread out the field, including a swim/wade under a bridge, at which one racer was heard to exclaim “bloody hell, I should have known I’d be getting wet within 5 minutes of the start – it’s an Open Adventure race!”. By the time we arrived at the first transition atNewton, the field was already well spread out with Teams adidas Terrex and Mountain Hardware battling it out at the front – a situation that was to continue for the rest of the race.

A short portage across the field got us to the water, and we were off paddling down the River Lune towardsLancaster. Special permissions had been negotiated to gain the use of the river, and it proved to be an entertaining paddle, especially when Rob and James decided to capsize their boat in front of a bridge full of spectators – which should possibly have given them a clue that the rapids there were rather tricky!

Although the river levels were so low that the bottom of the boats were scraping on the river bed at times, the paddle passed fairly quickly and after a couple of hours we arrived at the portage section, hauled boats up the bank and assembled the portage trolleys for the 2km diversion around a dangerous weir. The portage went fairly well, we overtook a number of teams who were struggling with their trolleys and were soon back on the water passing through Lancaster and towards Glasson Dock for the next transition.

Finally arriving at Glasson after a rather tedious end to the paddling (heading into the wind for what seemed like ages), we carried the boats up the slipway, although they mysteriously seemed to have got a LOT heavier by this point, and got on with assembling the bikes. After a quick update on our position from Nicki (about 8th), we set out on Stage 3. We biked back throughLancaster, moving quickly in peloton style along the Lune cycleway and then turned east and climbed up and over theForestofBowland. The climb was pretty tough, but eventually we ended up on theHornby Road, an ancient track across Salter Fell.

Deserted and slightly spooky in the mist, it was here we had our first race disaster when James’ seatpost sheared a bolt and his saddle fell off. Not wanting him to have to stand up for the next 165km of riding, and ignoring several ribald suggestions about just using the seatpost, we improvised an inspired engineering solution (ok, a bodge!) involving bits of light brackets and bolts from map boards. During this MacGyver episode we were passed by several teams, and we were getting pretty cold, so as soon as the fix was done we pushed on pretty hard to get down off the fells and intoGisburnForestfor the MTB-O, wanting to complete this in the daylight.

Gisburn was reached after a short road section which passing through villages decorated for the Jubilee celebrations, although one appeared to be a bit confused and had set out nicely decorated Christmas trees – too much of the local cider? We picked up the MTB-O map, and set off armed with my new twisty-turny DIY map-board (cost £2, made from a soup pot, several cable ties, a bit of estate agents sign and a nut and bolt. Who said engineering degrees are a waste of time?!). The MTB-O was a line course, but with lots of route choice to pick up 6 controls in order. After about an hour of fun riding, some good singletrack and a couple of surprisingly steep hills, we successfully found all of the controls, left the forest, and continued in pursuit of the other Tri-Adventure team, whom we knew to be about 10 minutes ahead.

Fright Night & Hike-a-Bike

We arrived at transition in Malham just as it got dark, just after the other Tri-Adventure team, and on the way into transition we exchanged greetings with Team adidas Terrex, who were just leaving having already completed the trail run! After a quick change into trail shoes, a bite to eat and a protein shake, we set off into the dark, intent on collecting all six of the controls on this section, which was Stage 4. I had spent last winter competing in a night orienteering league, so the navigation posed no problems as we swiftly progressed through the dark, collecting controls at a variety of scenic locations. Well, we’re assured they are scenic – it was pitch black as we were climbing Goredale Scar alongside the waterfall!

From Goredale there was a long open moorland section to Malham Tarn before heading back south via Malham Cove to collect the final control in Malham, then climbing back up to the farm hosting the transition. It looked as though we had gained on the other teams during this section, so we hurried through transition, scoffing some food and a protein shake before setting out on the bikes once more, passing a tired looking team who were just finishing the run.

Feeling surprisingly alert for 3am, we set off on Stage 5 for what we knew would be a long, hard stage – there were a lot more contours on this map than there were on the previous bike leg, and the distance looked to be about 110km! Happy after what we knew was a good run stage, we’d also had a chance to have something to eat, so we were making reasonable time as we sped down the massive hill from transition, through Kirby Malham and up and over Kilnsey Moor, where the inevitable happened, and it started raining.

Heading towards the first bike control (which also happened to be the abseil location) in the drizzle, we were soon accosted by a soggy looking marshal who directed us to drop the bikes, put on our climbing kit and follow a route up the side of a steep hill that was marked by the occasional bit of stripy tape. After a small panic when we lost the tape trail we eventually located the top of the abseil, after tripping over what we thought was a corpse, but which actually turned out to be an off-duty climbing marshal having a kip in a bivvy bag – err, sorry for disturbing your sleep!

Clipping onto the ropes, which disappeared off the edge of a dark precipice, we inched backwards until we were dangling in mid-air, when testosterone took over and it was time to see how fast you dared descend Kilnsey Crag, a 100ft overhanging pitch.

Still pitch black and the middle of the night, this little bout of adrenaline sustained us through the next road section until the light lifted and we saw what was next – the only mandatory control on the bike route, located at the top of a miserable hike-a-bike ascent of what had to be one of the steepest hills in Wharfedale. The less said about this section the better – it was horrid. To add to the misery, most of the descent was unridable as well. The only good thing was that we caught up with the other Tri-Adventure team at the top, where they had made a small nav error (involving a bridleway sign and a gate being hidden by a herd of cows!), so we enjoyed a bit of a chat for a few minutes before slowly pulling away from them on the road climb that followed.

The light was improving by now, but the rain got heavier, and the dawn of a drizzly, gray morning saw us climbing up and over Stake Moss on bleak, exposed moorland. It was pretty miserable and cold up there, with high winds, horizontal rain and mist, and after a long drag along slow soggy grass tracks a shout of “Puncture” had us all hiding behind a (not-so)dry stone wall taking James’ wheel off.

Tri-Adventure 2 again caught us at this point, and miserable though we felt, it looked like they were suffering more, with both Piers and Ed shivering so much they could barely speak. They headed off quickly to get down off the moor, followed by us a few minutes later, chilled to the bone by the enforced stop. A long descent into Aysgarth did nothing but make us colder, and having seen evidence of several teams taking shelter (about £10k worth of bikes abandoned on the roadside outside a shed!) we decided to stop and warm up in a convenient barn. An hour in the bothy bag and some food was enough to thaw us out a little, so we set out once again in search of a hot drink, which we found after a few miles on the road, at a pub/hotel that had just started serving breakfast.

Castles and Coffee

Although they understandably treated us a bit like aliens and asked us to remain outside (god knows how awful we looked at that point, but it must have been pretty bad!), at least the staff were kind enough to sell us some coffees. Powered once more by caffeine and sugar (6 sugars in a cup of coffee is not healthy and tastes awful, but it did the trick), we passed the amazing castle in Castle Bolton (it could have been a sleepmonster, but the name of the village suggests it probably wasn’t!), and climbed to CP18 on top of Greets Hill, then descended steeply to Reeth.

In Reeth we had probably the most uplifting experience of the whole race – the discovery of a cafe that was not only open, but that welcomed muddy racers, sold bacon sandwiches, had a drying room, and was attached to a bike shop. All thoughts of the race were temporarily abandoned as we piled in for a happy hour of warmth, food, caffeine and some banter with team PlanetFear, who had found the same haven from the rain. In the cafe, we made the difficult decision to skip CP19. The conversation went something like “It’s bloody miles away, in the opposite direction to the transition, up a bloody big hill. Anyone want to do it? No? OK then!”, and we headed off towards CP20. The rain had stopped, we were fed and watered, and suddenly things were looking up a bit.

CP20 as it turned out was also bloody miles away, and up a bloody big hill, but at least we were heading in the general direction of Hawes and the next transition, hoping that our decision to drop CP19 would give us time to do the entire trek. This was a tricky one, because we had no real idea of how long the trek would take, but our estimates were in the order of 16 hours, including the caving, meaning we’d need to be out of transition at Hawes by 5pm. The remaining controls on the bike were knocked off one by one, with a vicious 1 in 4 road climb towards the end of the stage testing the team’s climbing legs. (We failed, and walked.) Up a short hike a bike section to the final bike control, it was then downhill to Hawes, transition at the old Railway Museum and some well-deserved hot food.

On checking in to transition, we received the bad news that the other Tri-Adventure team had pulled out of the race that morning, suffering from cold and fatigue, which wasn’t what we wanted to hear. Hoping that our friends were OK, we prepared some hot food for the first time in the race. We’d been pretty swift in transitions up to this point, but the 32 hours we’d spent racing so far were starting to take their toll. After half an hour in transition when 5pm ticked round, George was sat on the field surrounded by what looked like every single item out of his transition bag. Rob was packing a bag, James was still eating (no surprise there), and I was ready and waiting for them.

Well, I thought I was ready anyway, until it was pointed out by the rest of the team (who were in hysterics) that I may have forgotten to pack something, pointing at what looked suspiciously like my bike wheels, which were sitting on the grass next to my taped-up bike box. Bugger! I thought the bike had gone into the box surprisingly easily…

Two of the 3 Peaks

5 minutes later, after a little swearing, much mockery and several more meters of packing tape, we were actually ready to go. Only 65km and 3 of Yorkshires biggest peaks separated us from the finish, although as we found out as we climbed the first hill out of Hawes, there are other hills on the route as well as the 3 famous peaks! After 3 hours of trekking, we popped out onto a road heading towards Whernside, our first of the peaks, where we were surprised to see Nicki waiting for us in a car. She’d been watching our progress on the tracker, was on a break from marshalling duties and had decided to come and have a chat.

She’d also brought Piers along from our other team, who had finally thawed out and was now looking much better after some hot food and a rest. Spirits lifted by this encounter, the climb up Whernside passed quickly and after finding both the control and Team Endurancelife at the same time on the summit, we headed south with them down a long and boggy track to the Stepping Stones over the River Doe. From here a path led more or less straight up Ingleborough. I went through a period of sleepiness here, starting to see some odd hallucinations (all of which turned out to be rocks!), and Rob was really struggling with tiredness too. A couple of pro-plus sorted me out by the time we reached the top, but Rob was still having a hard time and looked dead on his feet.

Summiting Ingleborough at 3am we found ourselves in thick fog and howling wind – the cloud was low, visibility was awful, and things started to go wrong very rapidly indeed. It took us a while to find the trig point where the control was located (we literally bumped into it after 5 minutes looking in the fog), but then we couldn’t find the path leading down the mountain to the north-east, despite taking a bearing from the trig point several times. We were getting very cold by this point, as well as frustrated and snappy with each other. Going back wasn’t really an option as it would have incurred a massive detour, so we ended up sheltering for half an hour until the dawn broke and we were finally able to locate a route down the NE side of the mountain.

It was no wonder we’d not been able to find the path in the fog – the top section was a massive rock garden with no indication it was a footpath. The wait on top had chilled Rob to a dangerous point, so after bundling him up in a down jacket we lost height as quickly as we could. Realising that he had little chance of completing the route in his state, and with James’ feet now in painful tatters after 44 hours in wet socks (he assures us he won’t be making that mistake again!),it was a quiet and introspective group of racers who slowly made our way to Horton station, the nearest place of habitation.

We made the dreaded phone call at Horton, after checking with the boys once more that they absolutely definitely wanted to pull out, although seeing as Rob looked like a zombie and James could barely put any weight on his feet at all, this was probably an unnecessary question! Presently the smiley face of Nicki turned up in a car to collect the boys, and after a quick chat with her she left, with Rob having fallen asleep as soon as he sat down in the car!

George and I were determined to cross the finish line under our own steam, so we picked up our bags and trudged towards the finish in Settle, following the riverside path on what was rapidly turning out to be a beautiful morning. Encountering the cheerful faces of the Trail Running Magazine team along the way (does Claire ever stop smiling?), a couple of hours of alternately jogging and walking brought us to the outskirts of Settle. With a mile left to go, nothing was said but we both broke into a run, passing through the town, up to the town square, and we crossed the finish line just before 10am after 49 hours of constant racing.

It was an amazing experience, and a great course. Everyone in the team gave absolutely everything that they had, and my only regret was that we didn’t all get to finish together. We’ve learned a lot of lessons from the weekend, and learned a lot about ourselves in the process, all of which will come in very useful for the Sting in Sterling in a few months time.

We’d like to thank: Tri-Adventure for their continued sponsorship, Rob Smart for stepping in at only 4 days notice, James Thurlow and all at Open Adventure for organising a great race, all the marshals for generously giving up their time, and especially Nicki Adams for all the encouragement, support and for driving 2 very sleepy racers home!

See you all at the Sting in Stirling.

Tom Davies

 

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Tri-adventure Experience race report, Swinley June 2012

By Julie Jefferies – Tri-Adventure regular.

Sunday morning dawned with a good dose of sunshine, perfect conditions for the 3.5 hour Experience at Swinley Forest. On arrival, we were greeted by a good crowd of familiar and less familiar faces, busy getting bikes and kit ready, marking maps and drinking tea.

I was really looking forward to the event, though with a certain degree of trepidation as the area is renowned for its tricky navigation. Last time I’d raced here had been fine though, and I hadn’t had any navigation issues recently, so what could go wrong?

 

 

Looking at the map before the race, it seemed sensible to run more than usual, as some of the bike checkpoints down to the south east looked hard to find. At the start people seemed evenly split between those heading off east and west – I joined a crowd running east to collect checkpoint 14, but after that diverted to checkpoint 1 so was soon relatively on my own. The pill box at the top of the hill was easy to find, as was checkpoint 2, back down the track. So far so good.  Even checkpoint 3, off track, proved unchallenging thanks to a handy fence corner.

However things went less to plan finding my way out from 3 to 5 – a good reminder that there is no room for complacency at Swinley.

Lost (adj) – unable to find one’s way or ascertain one’s whereabouts. Confused, bewildered.

In fact there are various degrees of lostness, ranging from slightly misplaced to completely flummoxed – most of which I experienced in the 3 hours to follow…

My current position was only a slight misplacement, but attempting to head in the right direction involved a muddy slide and wade across a stream – this was turning into a proper adventure race now. Luckily I soon reorientated myself and found checkpoint 5 at the very scenic location of Rapley Lake.

 For reasons unclear with hindsight, I decided to go for checkpoint 4 rather than 15, but on arriving at a heavily wooded area full of singletrack it didn’t seem worth spending ages looking for a checkpoint in the middle of trees somewhere…only later that evening did I spot the extremely narrow white firebreak line on the map which might just have helped…!

Feeling quite energetic, I pressed on towards Gravel Hill, and was surprised to see a group of people on Segways zooming around the forest. This may have distracted me from running somewhat, as I proceeded to trip over and fall flat on my face, which no doubt the Segwayers found hilarious! Luckily this only resulted in a bruised knee and some minor bloodletting on the hands, despite my chin somehow hitting the ground.

After this minor episode, things looked up hugely as I ticked off checkpoints 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12 without any issues at all, other than getting a bit tired of running. That’s a whole 45 minutes with a 0% lostness rating!

By now it was 1hr.40 in and I just wanted to get back to transition and on my bike, but intended to pick up checkpoint 13 on the way in. Unfortunately Olddean Common had other ideas. Maybe I missed the right bridleway, but it just seemed to be a load of indistinct paths through woodland, so I abandoned all plans of finding 13, hoping only to find a way off the common. That wasn’t too hard, but arriving in a residential area I wasn’t actually sure which bit of Camberley I’d ended up in and street names weren’t a lot of help with an OS map. Luckily, spotting a tourist ‘you are here’ sign at the edge of the common saved the day! This was certainly turning into an adventure…

Finally getting back to transition after 2 hours 10 minutes, I decided not to bother changing into bike shoes as there was only 1hr 20 left for cycling. Exiting the college, it was good to be on the saddle, though I embarrassingly took a wrong turn almost immediately despite having just run in the same way! Hammering through Camberley’s roads was a good opportunity to stuff down some cereal bars though.

Along with a couple of others trying to head to checkpoint 29, the first obstacle was a military fence blocking the way, so we turned back and tried an alternative route. This still involved being redirected by soldiers to turn right onto another very indistinct and wiggly path through the woods! After following this for a while, we were rather surprised to actually turn up at the checkpoint.  The way to 28 looked more straightforward but still involved a minor episode of lostness before finding the right cattle grid and some familiar faces.

Quick decisions were needed on what could be achieved in the remaining time, so I biked to lower star post for a clear reference point, even enjoying the deep muddy puddles! From there 25, 23 and 22 were collected without incident.

With only 20 minutes to go, heading straight back via checkpoint 30 seemed perfectly achievable. Heading south to the reservoir junction went to plan and once I saw the tall radio mast I was confident that everything was under control, as it’s a great navigational reference point. However within a minute of spotting the mast, it decided to unhelpfully hide behind a large clump of trees (or possibly was removed by aliens) as I never saw it again. In the rush to get back on time, I suddenly found myself completely lost for the second time. Following some electric lines eastwards, I figured out once I got to the bend in the wires on the map I’d know where I was. However on reaching the bend, I unexpectedly spotted checkpoint 20; yes I have to admit that I found a checkpoint I wasn’t actually looking for! It was on a different set of electric lines to the ones I’d thought I’d ended up at.

Getting back in 6 minutes wasn’t going to happen now but at least if I was going to be a little late I had 10 extra points to lose. Location sorted, I rushed back and got in just over 5 minutes late, losing 11 points.  Clearly I wasn’t the only one with timing issues though…

Cue a very pleasant hour sat in the sun chatting with others over coffee and cake, comparing stories.  J

After my catalogue of errors, I was surprised and pleased to come in as 4th female. In terms of a race, things hadn’t gone particularly well, but it was most definitely an adventure and definitely an Experience! One I hope to repeat with a lower average lostness rating next time. Thanks to all the team for another great day out.

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A six week training plan for the Tri-Adventure Challenge – 8 July 2012

Just over six weeks to the Tri-Adventure Challenge… How will you spend them?

Whether you’re new to running or just back from the UTMB, fresh from buying your first bike or you’ve just finished the TRC, never picked up a compass or a GB Orienteer, the Tri-Adventure Challenge will need a little bit of training and a little bit of thought. Here are some ideas for the six weeks before the event:

T – 6 weeks

Think about gear before anything else. Have you got the right shoes, the right bike? If not, get online and do some research, pick a shoe and get along to the shop to try it on. Break them in gently, short runs at first. The same goes for the bike, and if you’re hiring from the event on the day then there’s no reason not to rent one out to give it a test around the race area in advance.

Next look at your current fitness: you need to be able to run and bike for the full race if you’re to be competitive, and if you’re to enjoy it. Aim to train little and often at first: short outings on foot and bike followed by lots of stretching. Give any muscle that feels tight or twinges a good rub, a hot bath and a bit of soap helps. Fit training around your life, not the other way round. You’re racing for fun however competitive you are.

T – 5 weeks

You’ve got the basic gear and you’re working on the basic fitness. Do you know the race area? If you can get down there with a 1:25k map and have a look, perfect. If not then there are 1:50k maps free online at websites like Bing. Buy a compass, learn how to use it. Set yourself a route you don’t know and run it, navigating on the move. The trick is to be familiar with the action: running and map-reading should be near-contemporaneous. Fit a map-board to your bike and practise using that too. There’s a shop-bought example by Zefal reviewed at GNJoutside, but many people bodge them or they can be bought from Tri-Adventure at any event. Why not try a local orienteering event? There’s a fixture list on British Orienteering and in my experience they are always friendly and well run.

T – 4 weeks

OK so your runs are easily an hour now, and you’re out a couple of times a week. You’ve been cycling fairly often and you’re holding off from whatever vices you need to avoid to feel fit. It’s time to add some longer training sessions into your schedule. A good four hours out on the bike, or two hours on foot will be beneficial if you ensure you stay fed, hydrated and don’t push anything too hard. At this stage it’s still a question of building up to the distance, so take it easy and build time on foot or wheels. Don’t worry so much about speed.

T – 3 weeks

This is your last week to get over any niggles without reducing your training too much. Listen to your body as you run or ride, take breaks to stretch or massage any sore points and if in doubt talk to a professional sports masseur or physiotherapist. You should be repeating the same level of exercise as the week before. Take similar care over your bike: oil, lubricant, maybe a quick service. There’s no point being fit as a fiddle if your bike won’t go the distance. Make sure you have the tools and know-how to fix a puncture and a broken chain; it could be a long walk on race day if not.

T – 2 weeks

By now you know the distance and duration of the race. You’ve been out on a few long rides and a few long runs and haven’t stopped the shorter training outings you started a month ago. You’re fit and you’ve got your gear together. Have you finalised your nutrition and hydration? This is the week to test out some of the products on offer. Thrive active has a great selection and there are articles all over the net on when and how to eat or drink in a race. It’s important to try products in context: an oat bar might taste great at room temperature at home, but be rock solid in the chill of race morning. Ditto hydration: what’s nice and sweet at home can be sticky and sickly when you’ve been running for a couple of hours.

T – 1 week

Any niggles? This is your last rest before the event, when you taper your training. No long sessions, keep it all under an hour and the runs either gentle, or even shorter than that. Make sure you’re still stretching and massaging to keep everything supple. Pack early. Be prepared. Write a kit list on Monday, start pulling it together on Tuesday. Come Thursday evening you’ll have remembered that piece of gear you’ve forgotten and be down the shops for it on Friday, rather than first thing before the race in a panic.

Race day

You’re ready for it. The distance, duration, nutrition and fitness are all wrapped up. You’re organised enough to have plenty of time to plan your route, and then some more to chat to the other competitors before the start. You’ll need to stay flexible, nothing ever works 100% to plan, but with six weeks of preparation you’ve done a lot to mitigate those risks. Good luck, go fast and enjoy it!

George Neville-Jones – Team Tri-Adventure

To enter the Tri-Challenge click here or visit www.triadventure.co.uk/challenge

@GNJoutside

www.GNJoutside.wordpress.com

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Challenge yourself this summer with Tri-Adventure, a totally new Experience!

Fancy a new experience, something challenging, exhilarating and fun? 

Well, Tri-Adventure has just the answer! 

Our action packed 2012 calendar moves into summer

 with the hugely popular Tri-Experience and Tri-Challenge!

Tri-Experience – £35.00 online

Test your stamina with this off road adventure. Navigate trails and hills on foot and bike collecting as many check points as you can in 3.5 hours. A perfect step up from the Sprint event.

17 June 2012

Swinley forest (Collingwood College, Camberley, GU15 4AE)

Registration opens at 08:30am, event starts at 10am

Tri-Challenge – £40.00 online

A true test of endurance, an adventure race over 5hours incorporating off road running, mountain biking and navigation. Perfect of those who want to step up from the 3.5hour Experience event, ideal training opportunity for experienced adventure racers doing expedition events and great for those who want a real challenge.

8 July 2012

Thorney Hill Community Centre, (Burley Road, Bransgore, Hampshire, BH23 8DR)

Registration opens at 08:30am, event starts at 10am

Special offer, enter both events for a £10.00 saving

Enter online today – www.triadventure.co.uk 

Top prizes up for grabs, a great community EXPO with fantastic offers from our sponsor Thrive and plenty of team spirit!

For bike hire, please see our “New to AR” page for links to hire companies.

 Join our Tri-Adventure!

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Signing off on Spring with Tri-Adventure!

The Surrey Hills were alive with sunshine and adventure racers on the morning of the 15th April – the last Tri-Adventure Sprint event of the Spring series.  Record numbers turned out for the exciting and fast paced adventure though the beautiful Mickleham countryside.

Registration was a buzzing with excitement, a fantastic mix of the experienced and complete newcomers to adventure racing coming together to plan their race strategies, free tea, coffee and biscuits helping in the process!  Our Tri-Adventure experts were on hand to offer expert tips and advice to anyone who needed it.

At the sound of the klaxon the competitors took off on the run, some choosing to head into the Surrey Hills while other chose to head towards the picturesque village of Mickleham – strategies differing from racer to racer.

The transition onto the bike stage was fast paced and furious, most grabbing a free hydration drink supplied by Thrive-active before jumping onto their bikes.  Our winners were well deserved, each winning Thrive-active vouchers and lots of Tri-Adventure goodies:

Sprint

Male: 1st: Nick Gracie, 2nd: Adam Marcinowicz, 3rd: Ben Turner

Female: 1st: Sabrina Verjee, 2nd: Victoria Starr, 3rd: Karen Jones

Trail

Male: 1st: Martin Fitchie, 2nd: Roger Powell, 3rd: Hugh Lacroix

Female: 1st: Bronwen Fisher, 2nd: Carolyn Wharton, 3rd: Catherine Gadd

Spring Series winners: Michael Krajewski and Julie Jefferies

After the event our Tri-Adventure EXPO was in full flow, with free tea/coffee and cakes for a much needed sugar rush before the important prizegiving! Thrive were on hand with fantastic offers on sports nutrition products and there was the opportunity to give some spare change to our chosen charity – Rainbow Trust.

Our next event is the famous Tri-Experience, a 3.5hr adventure race in the beautiful Swinley Forest in Surrey , the perfect step up from the sprint on the 17th June, we can’t wait and would love to see you there too!

Join our Tri-Adventure!

 

(W) www.triadventure.co.uk

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(Twitter) Tri_adventure

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