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Hebridean Challenge 2005 The Hebridean Challenge is billed as the most complicated stage race in Europe and it lived up to that. Jeff and I pulled together a mixed bunch of folk recruited from the website to form team DozeMonsters and come 4th - not bad at all for a first attempt! We teamed up with John Cameron a keen kayaker but used mostly on road bike and MTB stages. Ruth Pybus did all our sea kayaking as well as taking to a bike and she co-opted her friend Dave to bike and bravely swim as none of the rest of us would! Jeff and I mostly stuck to running with a bit of biking. Basically the race is a relay going from one end of the Hebrides to the other in an unbroken line with the race stopping each evening at a community hall to be fed by the local community and catch some sleep. On top of this, each team aims to achieve a certain number of points during the race. Failure to reach this total adds time penalties to the team's time. Points are accrued by putting several people on each part of the race. The team is also their own support and are responsible for getting themselves and their equipment in the right places at the right time. Vehicles are limited to certain main roads, so people often have to move multiple bicycles around. We hired a van from Salford van hire and bought our own roof bars to stick on top to take the kayak. Travelling up was .. an experience. I think legally everyone should have seats but sleeping in the back was quite possible despite the clutter of bikes, gear and far too much food. We stayed at Oli's flat just outside Oban ready for the morning ferry where we met other teams and started sizing them up. Just about everyone had a different vehicle, boats, bikes etc. The ferry took us to Lochboisddale before driving across to Eriskay to camp, register, sort kit, be briefed and for the kayak tests. The next day was pretty windy but died off for a fine start using the whole team around Eriskay before heading over the causeway for Jeff and me to run over the first couple of hills. We regrouped in Lochboisdale before parallel cycling legs (John, Dave) and running (Jeff and me) aiming to meet at around the same time to start the cyclists off on the long ride North. This worked pretty well having identified as my running leg being the critical link. At least Dave and John got a rest before they set off. We then had to drop Ruth and kayak further North for later in the day before joining Dave for a cycle around the beach and Dave to finish on Berneray. Day 2 was in Harris with some inticate hill running, the usual kayaks, swim and biking to end in Scalpay for the fish pie. We were still lying 4th .. we think. The results are as tricky as the logistics! Day 3 was the mountain bike time trial starting very early and also a fantastic boat journey up the coast to do the mountain time trial with a rendezvous either side of a loch - the radios came in handy here. I lost my map part way but still managed to get through the kit check as I guess they assumed I wouldn't have made it without a map and I discreetly managed to radio Jeff to bring another one! He got to run up the highest peak An Clisham before we all headed to Grabhair. Thursday was a really intricate logistics day and it all went a bit wrong for us. There were a series of tags near the start while the kayakers were paddling we then had to rush up to help the kayakers portage. This worked well as we got the timing right whereas some teams were left to carry the boats themselves. There was then another kayaker leg and Ruth had to do a mountain bike leg as the main kayaker. This got us into Stornoway and caught us on the hop. In our rush to get away I forgot my bib and had to abandon the points run, we also failed to communicate where to collect a biker in the town and wasted valuable time. This meant we weren't set up for the road time trial properly and Dave missed the bit he was really looking forward to. We kind of recovered although Jeff and I later descended to the top of crags, had to climb back up to find a safe route down and I left him to finish the final hill. We weren't in the top few for the day but hung on to our 4th overall. Everything to play for on the last day with a cunning couple of loops in the hills and the rain and cloud down. Made a bad choice sending Dave and John over a trail on bikes which it was quicker to run but made up after that. Our final swim was a bit slow but then we always knew that would be. It was a long day and we were very glad to finish, all carrying the kayak across the line. A lot of organisation just to get people and gear to the start but a superb location and very intense race with organising the next day late into the nights. Thank you Jeff, Ruth, Dave and John for a fantastic experience!
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FURTHER PAGES Cambridge Adventure Race Group (CamRacers) Running
Tow Advice 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001
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