18 May 2009

Scottish Islands Peaks Race

15-17 MAY 2009

Amidst the stories of chaos and carnage round the Mull of Kintyre, ours was a pleasant wee stroll in comparison. Gordon Pryde and I managed a creditable 4h 59m for the Ben More hill leg from Salen. The wind helped us along the drudgery of the 4 mile road leg early on, and a good low line below the A’Cioch scree got us to the surprisingly calm summit feeling not too bad. Once out the mist we lost a few frustrating minutes overshooting the next checkpoint, before having a good contouring run across to the next checkpoint on the col. Another few minutes were lost being interviewed by the BBC Adventure Show girl, but heh, that’s the price of fame I suppose!! The wind helped hold us up on the steep descent down to the glen, and along the sheep trods back to the track, for the horrible last hour of runnable track and road, finishing about 8.30pm.

Back on the boat it was immediately down below for some rest, food and kip. The forecast was pretty dire for the Saturday sail down Jura and the Mull of Kintyre, and in the early hours of the morning our experienced crew made the very sensible decision to retire from the race and head for the safety of Craobh Haven. After a few hours kip for the crew (Gordon and I had plenty of kip already) we headed off to Crinan along the eponymous canal. This was an unexpected pleasure compared to the probable horror of the Paps of Jura, and all Gordon and I had to do all day long was open and close lock gates and enjoy some Loch Fyne ales and lunch at the lovely Cairnbaan Hotel.

Coming out of the Crinan Canal at Ardrishaig we then hit stormy seas for the sail down to Tarbert. This gave us a taste of how things would have been out in the far more exposed and dangerous waters round the Mull of Kintyre, with a Force 8 gale and “wind over tide” predicted. Things in Tarbert harbour were very pleasant as was the Guinness and quiet calm night’s sleep. On Sunday we simply motored down to Troon harbour, where the huge number of retrials after Jura proved our own earlier retrial to have been spot-on. So while it was a disappointment, it was still a great weekend’s adventuring and a great big thanks to our skipper Graham and Brian and Peter for having me aboard.






Photos
SIPR website
Some finishers' reports here and here

12 May 2009

Fred Whitton Cycle Challenge

SUNDAY 10 MAY 2009
110 miles 10, 000 feet



What a fantastic event!!! 110 miles of cycling, over 10,000 feet of climbing and all the major Lakeland passes. This was my first attempt at this modern classic cycling challenge, and now on Monday morning I’m still buzzing with the thrill of it all - having finished it within my target time and not having written both myself and my bike off on either the mentally steep/slow or scarily fast 30-40 mph descents. An early start of 7.45 at Coniston meant I had to pass on a cooked breakfast at the lovely White Hart Inn in nearby Bouth, where I had a great meal and real ales the night before. The weather was spot on in that it was cool and overcast, though it brightened up nicely later on before heaving it down for about 15 mins later in the afternoon, with some snow even on the top of Wrynose Pass.

I headed up the first minor hill towards Hawkshead, being paced for 100 yards by a friendly local squirrel and then a speedy descent down to Clappersgate and round by Ambleside. The route avoids the more famous, and far steeper, climb to Kirkstone Pass called “The Struggle” which I had cycled up a few times back in April, and instead heads down Windermere for a few miles before a couple of steep climbs up Briery Close over to Troutbeck. The approach to the Kirkstone Inn this way is a lot easier and I was up at the top (454 metres) no problem. There was then a brilliantly fast winding descent between the stone walled narrow roads down to Patterdale, before I tagged on to the back of a speedy gang who dragged me along at a nice speed along the valley floor to Glenridding.

I knew this wouldn’t last when we hit the climb up to Troutbeck North on the A66, but as we were approaching Glenridding I heard a nasty clunk/grind from my bike and slowed to have a worried look down. Nothing seemed amiss so I continued on but realised a few miles later that it had actually been my pump that had fallen off, oops, so I had better not have any punctures for the next 90 miles. The climb up out of Ullswater to Dockray and Matterdale End was steady, as was the procession of wiry club cyclists effortlessly zooming past me. The road down to Keswick is the worst part of the whole route, being on a major A road, though it was lovely and fast and effortless.

After a quick pit stop in the bushes, due to my frequent rehydration, I tagged on to another group for the beautiful cycle down through Borrowdale, dodging the potholes and traffic while trying to sneek glances at the majestic hills, lakes and forests around me. Easing up going through Rosthwaite was necessary before hitting the foot of the mighty Honister Pass, where the tarmac rears up seemingly vertically before you. Lots were just walking up here, but with the aid of my trusty granny ring on my triple front gear, and big licks of effort, I stayed on the bike all the way to the slate mine at the top (356 metres). The descent down into the Buttermere valley was tricky, with the road being bumpy, so it was full on the brakes for the first part before I could feel safe enough to zoom along at full pelt. The next few miles to the first checkpoint at Buttermere Youth Hostel (50 miles) were pleasant along the shoreline, avoiding the walkers and cars.

The feed stop was well organised, with water and lots of goodies for refuelling, and after a brief few minutes here it was off to the right to climb steadily up to Newlands Pass summit (333 metres), fortunately nowhere near as steep as Honister. The 6 mile descent then down to Braithwaite was superb and fast, with good road surfaces. Whinlatter Pass was next then and I was feeling pretty good still as I climbed steadily up through the lovely forests to the 318 m summit. Another excellent fast smooth descent followed down to the lovely hamlet of Lorton. The views on the way down the B5289 to Loweswater were superb, seeing the western edge of the Lakes hills from an unusual angle, with rolling farmland adding to the scene.

Although there wasn’t a “proper” mountain pass till Hardknott in about 30 miles, this section through Ennerdale, Croasdale, Lamplugh and the 2nd feed stop at Calder Bridge (87 miles) contains plenty of small steep testing hills. They were compensated for by the stunning views out to sea on top of Cold Fell and the cracking fast open descents. At Calder Bridge the sun was out and after refuelling and getting the long tights off, “all” that remained (!) was the infamous Hardknott Pass and lesser Wrynose Pass. The ride along to the foot of Hardknott through Santon Bridge and Eskdale Green was sunny and scenic, but still with a few little tough climbs to test you. Unfortunately the dark clouds that had been keeping away from us opened up along the valley approach and one by one I stopped to don a gilet, then a waterproof and then a balaclava as the temperature dropped and it got pretty miserable.

With Hardknott rapidly approaching this wasn’t good. At the foot of this vicious 1000 feet climb I donned my long tights and prepared for a good bit of hauling the bike up on foot, as the gradient was so steep, especially as the road was greasy with all the fresh rain. I managed to clip back in the pedals on a less steep part and crawl along in the granny rings most of the way to the 393 metre summit. What a relief to get that one over with at the 100 mile stage! Still had to get down it though and the descent is a devil, very steep and twisty, needing total concentration, good brakes and plenty of old fashioned muscle power in the arms to maintain the brakes, as the slightest lessening of pressure led to the bike whizzing away at a dangerous speed. I made it to the bottom of the hairpins and turned left at Cockley Beck (102 miles) to start the approach to the final climb up Wrynose Pass (393 metres).

It was a bit of a drag along the valley floor with tired legs steeling themselves for the last hard push. I almost stayed on the bike the whole way, only one steep section forcing my legs to surrender for a few yards before being able to clip back in and hit that wonderful LAST summit, though hold on is that snow at the side of the road, ooh!! Yet again the descent was a tricky one, the road being uneven and slippery and, of course, scarily steep as you try not to think you are about to fall over the handlebars. Despite being ultra cautious I still had a few hair raising moments when the rear wheel skidded slightly on some bumps, leading to a snail’s pace from me for the final part of the descent to Fell Foot.

From here on through Little Langdale my dander was up and the adrenaline pumping, as I knew I had cracked the Fred. My ambitious sub 8hr time was not now happening, but I was still determined to crank the pace up and give it all I had left and the last 5 miles were hard but great fun, as I urged my wee legs on and on, racing the dozens of other fellow cyclists back down to Coniston. I dibbed in at the finish in 8hrs 17mins, absolutely chuffed to bits.Heart rate was an average of 129 bpm and about 4000 cal were burnt off. I was probably half way along the field of approx 800 cyclists. A lovely certificate and print at the end are mementoes of an epic event, that challenged me greatly, but ultimately as is usually the case, rewarded me many times over. Many many thanks to all who helped out at this fantastic event, I won’t forget it in a hurry.


Fred Whitton website






05 May 2009

Stuc a Chroin Hill Race



Saturday 2 May 2009
22km 1600metres


There was a massive turnout of over 300 runners for this British Champs race over the Trossachs Corbett of Ben Each and Munro Stuc a Chroin. However there was only a smattering of fellow Westies men and a smidgeon of Westies women. David Riach led the way home in 68th followed by Don, John B, Steffen, Murdo, myself, Brian B and Brenda. Newcomer Pamela started but dropped out somewhere. My own wee race was against my tired legs from last week's Fling, so I had a nice steady race to begin with, trying to put a bit more effort in over the latter part of the race. The course was incredibly muddy, with hundreds of pairs of shoes having churned it up in front of me. The bottom of Glen Ample was pretty dire and made the achingly steep all-fours ascent of Ben Each almost something to look forward to. I passed a few in the heathery climb here and then enjoyed the roller-coaster ridge along to the foot of Stuc, being passed incredibly early by the front runners coming the other way. The slog up to Stuc was as tortuous and never-ending as usual, and I was greeted at the top by a lovely hail shower, before actually enjoying the tricky descent back down. The climb out of Glen Ample wasn't too bad and I made a few places here, while a small pack chased me back to the forest road. At this point I tripped in the wooded trod, horribly grazing my forearm, that gave me the excuse to trot back down the last 2 miles to end up pretty pleased to run 3hrs 10 mins 173rd/318 finishers - only 5 mins down on last year's time, but as usual a stack of time down on my best from way way back in 1997 of 2h 36m, but heh ho, that's life. A grand day out and superbly organised as usual.

Results
SHR report =
There was a dramatic finish to a magnificent British and SHR Championship race at Stuc a'Chroin. After over 2 hours of running and having dominated the race from the start, gold-medal winning orienteer Jon Duncan was almost caught by the fast finishing Tom Owens. Neither knew that the other was so close and it was only about 800m from the finish that Tom caught sight of Jon on the forest road ahead of him, but his last gasp attempt to catch up was in vain. Tom had the consolation of overhauling both Morgan Donnelly and then reigning British champion Rob Hope in an impressive return journey from Stuc summit. Jim Davies was 1st V40 and Steve Oldfield 1st V50.
It wasn't quite so close amongst the women, but it was still an absorbing race with a strong field. Predictably it was Angela Mudge who emerged the victor, followed by Pippa Jackson, Helen Fines and 1st Scot Clare Whitehead. Fiona Maxwell was 1st V40 in 6th.