Rab Mountain Marathon, Wales, 24-25 Sept 2011

A Mountain Marathon isn't really a marathon, unless you want it to be one.  Or two, or three...   Actually it's two days of mountain orienteering, while carrying enough gear to camp in the mountains and cook your own meals.  Mountain Marathons seem to be quite a tradition in the UK, as events fills up and amazing amounts of people are willing to carry their own gear and potentially suffer bad weather while camping with minimal equipment.  While you can do it solo, my friend Sarah convinced me to enter the Rab MM with her a pair, meaning that we could share the weight of tent and stove, toothbrush, etc.

We arrived in northern Wales on Friday night, and wondered if the bad weather was going to make the weekend a nightmare.  Weather forecasts predicted rain, wind, and fog on the mountaintops, oh joy.  While camping near the car that evening, I kept expecting the wind gusts to tear the tent apart, and didn't get a wink of sleep.    Mist arrived the next morning, and the dampness followed us all the way to the start.   After making a chaotic mess on the floor of the school while Sarah and I sorted our gear and hopelessly tried to make our packs lighter, we fit everything in (including way too much food), and set off. 

Yes, the winds were strong.   

So much for the waterproof socks...

Yes, it rained a bit. 
Yes, there was a bit of fog. 
Yes, my pack was heavier than I have ever imagined carrying (while running, at least). 
Yes, the footing was boggy, bumpy, rough, trackless, and unfirm.
Yes, the hills were really steep and torturous. 

But you know what? After a couple of hours I was really enjoying myself, even as I worried that we would get soaking wet in our minimalist tent and freeze to death that night.  :) 

I even (somewhat successfully) used a compass bearing to navigate between a couple of points we went to.  Although I must admit that our navigation was mostly by lemming (i.e. other fools ahead of us marking the points by digging in their packs right next to the dibbers!)
  

Photo courtesy of Gill Watson

Amazingly enough, the sun came out and the wind dropped in the afternoon, and the views over the sea to Anglesey were clear and beautiful as the tide receded.  Sarah and I had entered the Elite class, meaning that our time limit was an hour longer than most of the entries (truly, we just did it to minimize the time we might have to hunker down in the tent during a long soggy night).  So after 7 hours of racing, as we dropped down into camp, most people had already finished and set up their tents. 

We were quickly hailed by an assorted motley crew of other adventure racers, (including Tom, Gill, Karen, Mick, Dave, Emma, et al), and set up our tent near them.  Water came from a clear, fast flowing stream, and we could finally relax, change into a dry shirt (what luxury!), and get warm in the sunshine.  With several hours left to kill before dark, we all spent the time cooking multiple courses of cous cous, ramen, and hot chocolate, listening to the banter of the camp, and enjoying the nice weather. 

Sarah's tent was indeed minimalist, but we managed to fit in pretty comfortably, and the tight space probably helped keep some heat in against the chilly night.  I only had an old summer sleeping bag so I was grateful I didn't have to take extreme measures to keep warm.   

Gill brings a (plastic) bottle of wine all the way to camp!

The next morning was still calm, sunny, and almost warm.  While it had taken me a few hours to get into the MM mood the day before, this morning I was ready to hit the hills and capture as many points as we could get to in our 6 hour time limit.  Unfortunately, many of the points with high values were repeats of the day before, but we did manage to see new terrain while linking them all together into a fast route. 

The wind picked up significantly during the morning to gusts of over 50 mph, but our route meant it wasn't a headwind too often.  I did make sure to keep a really good grip on my map as it was the only thing not attached to my backpack!

We made really good time by finding a few hidden small trails, and added more points to our route with revised fast pace.  With 40 minutes to the deadline, we were still 4 kilometers from the finish and climbing a big hill.  Our legs were trashed, I was panting like a maniac when we dibbed in at the summit, and then it was a long run down a slope to the final checkpoint and the finish.   Just as I was saying something to the effect of, "If we push we can still make it", I tripped and fell into a bog.  Then had to beg Sarah to give me a hand up, I was laughing too hard and felt like a upside-down turtle!  We carried on, through another bog that almost covered my knees for a few steps, unfortuntely Sarah had to come through the same spot as well! 


At the finish!

10 minutes left and 1k to go, we were running as hard as we could (which meant a geriatric walker could have easily passed us), and saw the finish flags with less than a minute left.  In fact, after getting our results, we realized that we had finished with just 20 seconds before the penalties would have kicked in!

We had been behind our competition after the first day of racing, so didn't expect to pull ahead of them.  So when the Rab reps started pulling out the prizes for the awards ceremony, we wondered if we should stay for it or not.   Well, that was a definite YES after we checked the results sheet and found ourselves in 1st PLACE! 

We were grinning like loons when our names were called and we walked up to receive our prizes, which were Rab down sleeping bags.  Perfect timing for me as I had been eyeing them after sleeping chilly in my old bag anyway!  Hmmm, perhaps now I'll have to do another MM, just to use the new sleeping bag!  :)

Results are HERE
 

Sarah and I after the first day, with the field of tents already set up in the valley (to the left of the photo)





1st in Elite Women's category, and our booty, a Rab down sleeping bag!

  

(Photos courtesy of Sarah Keast, and thanks for carrying the camera so I didn't have to!)



I want one of these! (Klymit Inertia X sleeping mat)


Additional Photos of Saturday and Sunday here, we made it into a few of them! (below)



Definitely want one of these sleeping mats!



At the finish!

 

Adidas TERREX Coast To Coast 2011, Day 4

Continued from Coast to Coast, Day 3

Stage 14: Cycle through Vale of York

The final day started with a cold, early morning bike over to Osmotherley and down to Swainby.  The extra early start mean leaving shortly after 5 a.m. for some, but I had moved up a few places on the board (yay!) and headed out at 5:36.  It was still dark enough to need lights, but there was no traffic and again we had a tailwind.  My legs were feeling pretty tortured after 3 days of racing so I took it easy to get warmed up for the following run stage.  It sure felt like it was all uphill, though, and my pace was much slower than I had anticipated.  My goal for the day was to finish in under 30 hours total racing, which mean I would need under about 6 hours 30 minutes on the day. 

Stage 15: Run over Carlton Bank
The run stage finally arrived and there was a chilly wind blowing us up the North Yorkshire Moors.  The bogs of the Dales were long gone, replaced with level paving stones and an obvious path along the Cleveland Way over Carlton Bank.  I had come this way as part of the Osmotherley Phoenix in 2010, so I recognized a good bit of the route and could worry a bit less about my direction finding.  I still managed to go off trail while scrambling up some rocks, but quite minimal and I wanted to see some heather up close, really!  Back on the flagstones, they led all the way down to the road where a steep descent brought us to the next transition area. 


Yup, I always run with my eyes closed...can see the beautiful blooming heather better that way...


Stage 16: MTB across North Yorkshire Moors
With the last run done, it was just our cycle legs which would carry us the rest of the way to Robin Hood's Bay.  Going back up the steep road to the Cleveland Way meant a hike-a-bike for me, but as I was walking up faster than the guy riding in front of me I figured I was the smart one.  Back on the trail, it really was more hike-a-bike with some choosing to carry the bikes up the steep steps.   It wasn't as tough as I had feared, though, and I pulled away from the teams behind me once reaching the path along the moors.  It was level fast riding along the trail and the disused railway, and I made good progress towards my time goals here. 

A few muddy shortcuts and some tarmac sections bridged me over to the long descent to Glaisdale.  By this time I was tired and sore, but also wishing somehow that there was another day of racing as I was having so much fun!  The path was rocky and muddy but also fast, and with my 29er wheels I kept ahead of the teams behind me, managing to get through both MTB stages without falling off!  Progress! 

Stage 17: Cycle along Esk Valley


The camera crew records my finish!

 With clean road tyres I soon found myself pushing my bike up the last steep hill on the final stage.  I tried to do some math in my head (hard to do when exercising, really) and concluded that there was plenty of time to reach the finish for under 30 hours, but pride kept me racing hard.  Unfortunately my tired legs didn't have much left in them, and I strugged to keep up with teams around me riding with MTB tyres.  Finally we were on the graveled old railway which leads up and over the moor, and the ocean came into sight!   My shoes were waiting for me in the transition area, and I tore out of there down the hill toward the finish.   My muscles were all but giving up on me by that point but I knew in two minutes I could finally finish.  I guess my brain was shutting down as well because I forgot to dib in at the finish line and had to go back and get it!  At any rate it was a relief to wear the finisher's medal and clap for the teams starting to stream in.



Trying to breath after 4 days of hard racing...

 I was happy to have held off the leaders for the day as within 5 minutes it seemed most of the front-runners were sprinting in.  The finish area started heaving with people and I found a spot on the grass to watch all the action.  After everyone finished, we had the awards ceremony, and amazingly enough I held in there to finish third in the women's category.  Although there was no photo finish needed, as I was over 4 hours behind Sally in 2nd and 6 hours ahead of Ruth in 4th. 



From left to right:  Sally Ozanne (2nd), Fiona McBryde (1st), Dawn Westrum (3rd)

Stage 4 results are here      Overall results are here  

After I got home, I did some race analysis, and figured out that of 4-5 hours I lost to the women ahead of me, one full hour of it was in transition!  Ouch!!  I thought I had been getting through tranisition pretty fast, and Rob was starting to get the hang of it by the last couple of days.  But I'll have to get faster at those for sure.

My Excel Spreadsheet of all the results + transition times is here

Also lost quite a bit of time on the kayak as I was using a plastic sea kayak and the fast competitors all had surf skis.  Probably lost another hour or two there.  Also lost quite a bit of time on the run sections but no excuses, I guess they are just faster than me as I came into the race as fit as I had every been.   Was psyched that I kept up with them on the biking sections for the most part. 

Most happy that I never got lost, didn't have a flat, didn't get injured, and Rob never got lost either!   Never ever expected to win, was really just hoping to finish, so the 3rd place was just extra credit.  This was a my longest race ever, but I finished feeling pretty strong and confident, so definitely already looking ahead to to the 2 day non-stop Swift and 4-5 day Sting in Sterling next year! 

But most of all, really just enjoyed every minute of my journey across England!
 

Rob and I both happy to reach the finish line!



The Team winners




From Sea to Sea on the Coast to Coast....

 

Adidas TERREX Coast To Coast 2011, Day 3

Continued from Coast to Coast, Day 2

Stage 11: Run over Nine Standards
Well, to start the day off we had a run out of Kirkby Stephen up to the Nine Standards Rigg. 

Home territory!

  I had been up to the peak before on the Yomp Mountain Challenge in 2010, but it had been so foggy that day I hadn't even realized that there was anything but a random checkpoint on top of a hill!  So it was nice to see the 9 rock cairns silhouetted against the sun as we climbed up to them.  It was a gentle gradient but after 2 days of racing for over 8 hours each day, I took it nice and steady to save some running legs for the downhill half. 

It was a bit muddy getting up to the top but nothing too serious...at least until we dibbed in at the cairns and started down the east side.  In a bit of confusion, the race briefing the evening before directed us to take the summer route, but the directions given turned out to be the winter route on the signage.  Anyway, everyone ahead of me was following the winter route so I went that way too.  Immediately there were lines of black scars crossing the route, each one a bog which may or may not eat your shoes for breakfast.  I saw the guy ahead of me sink in past his knees, offered to pull him out (!), and then made sure I stayed well away from that spot.  Also tightened my shoe laces to make sure they stayed on me feet.  It was a long, muddy run down to the creek and then along the trail following the water.   I fell into bogs a few times and was caked in mud from the knees down...even took a bit of a spill, luckily in clean water!

The last few miles of the run seemed to drag on forever, as this was the longest run section of the C2C and also the boggiest.  I was happy to finally see my bike even if it would mean more mud! 

Stage 12: MTB along Swaledale
I had been dreading the MTB stages a bit as I haven't had more than a few months of mountain biking experience and still don't feel too confident off-road on the really technical stuff.  However I was pleasantly surprised at the route and was able to ride most of it and enjoy it.  The first half of the stage was along a river valley with wonderfull views of the steeps cliffs and dales around us.  I had never visited that part of the Yorkshire Dales so it was an introduction to the terrain in my own backyard! 

There were plenty of mud puddles involved in the route but the skies were clear and blue, it wasn't too windy, and for the most part the winds were behind us.  Climbing out of the valley was a really steep push up a grassy bank (dropping the bike would have meant chasing it back down the hill a hundred yards!).  Once out on the moor, the path was mostly rideable again, and the purple heather was beautiful.  I started hearing the helicoptor nearby, and sure enough, looking behind me showed 2 yellow jerseys of the leading team catching up. 



Transition at Castle Bolton

 Earning the top of the hill was wonderful, as it meant a long, gradual descent down to the next transition at Castle Bolton.  I swept along at top speed and managed not to rattle anything loose (like my water bottle), catching a few last boggy sections right before getting waved in by Rob to get my wheels swapped over for the road section. 

Stage 13: Cycle through the Vale of York
It was a shorter day with only 3 stages (appropriate for the 3rd day), and I was feeling strong as I rode away from the Castle.  It was open route choice over to Northallerton; but with a pinch point at where we could cross the Motorway, there was a pretty obvious route.  By this time the wind was blowing pretty strong, but with a westerly route direction it was mostly a tailwind and quite flat as well.  I punched the accelerator and covered the 32 miles in 1 hour 47 minutes.  I don't think my MTB will ever average that speed again...  I came into town after putting some time back into Alex (Solo #15), as we had a friendly competition going on mid-pack, only to lose a few minutes waiting for a train.  I was in good company though with a few race leaders stopped there as well.  I was still able to finish with a time under 7 hours total, which had been my goal for the day.  At the finish, there was no Rob waiting for me, and it turned out he would arrive 25 minutes after me, totally surprised that I had beat him there!

I sat in the sunshine at the finish and watched the rest of the racers come in, reflecting that I had enjoyed every stage of the race so far.  None of the stages had been so long that I got tired of them, and after a couple of hours it was always time to switch to another discipline and head out again.  The thought of this race had terrified me back when I signed up for it, but now it was turning into a pleasant weekend of racing and a wonderful way of seeing the terrain of my new country. 

Day 3 results are here

Coming up next... Coast to Coast, Day 4


Waiting for Rob at the finish....



 

Road wheels on and ready for the tarmac




Adidas TERREX Coast To Coast 2011, Day 2

Continued from Coast to Coast, Day 1

Stage 6:  Road Cycle to Thirlmere
Day 2 started with a short road cycle, mainly to get us down to the reservoir for a truly amazing paddle across Thirlmere.  Start times were staggered every 4 minutes, with the slowest competitors starting at 6 a.m.  I never enjoy waking up early, and the rain pelting down on the car roof had woken me up a few times during the night.  My relatively slow time the day before (relative to the other teams) put me in the back of the pack (but not last!) with a start time of 6:21.  It was chilly but calm, the rain had stopped, and the steep ride up the first hill warmed me up.  I was quickly into transition, and grateful that the support crews had been allowed to carry the kayaks down the steep stairs to the beach...Rob had paired up with another solo crew to get both boats down before we arrived. 

Stage 7: Kayak along Thirlmere
There are magical moments when it is easy to understand why I put myself through such amounts of exercise, organization and hard work to get to these races.  The paddle across Thirlmere was one such moment.  On the calm water as day was breaking, the reflections in the water were beautiful and I was just happy to be alive and in such an amazing place.  Plus, I had finally zeroed in on my paddling technique, and was catching up to a solo in front of me rather than getting left in the dust. 

Rob was waiting on the rocky beach to warn me that it was a long slog on the path to the transition and once again he couldn't help me until I got there.  Without my two-wheeled dolly, I resorted to dragging the boat over the grass and hefting it on my shoulder (painful even for short distances) on the crushed stone path.  A definite highlight of portage was watching Rob accidentally sink knee-deep into his first English bog, while wearing the only pair of shoes he had brought along.  He really hates mud, so understandably it was hard to get him to focus on getting me out of transition and onto the run.  I was laughing so hard that I couldn't really focus either :)

Stage 8: Run over Helvellyn
The climb up to the top of Helvellyn was the longest and highest run section of the race, but after the steep trail up to Robinson the day before, this felt almost easy.  I settled into a sustainable pace, chatted with a few solos around me, passed a film guy carrying the huge video camera up to the top (I'd rather be racing, thanks), and found myself in the fog. Enveloped in clouds, we reached the summit and dibbed in for our shot at being King of the Mountain.  I didn't realize it during the race, but I was only 8-10 minutes behind the leading women on each of the uphills, and if I had pushed the pace a bit on one of them, might have had a shot at winning a spot prize for a "Queen" of the Mountain.  Maybe next time.

Descending Swirral Edge in the fog, the cameramen were a dead giveaway that we were still on the right trail, and soon we popped out the bottom to get a clear view of Red Tarn and see our descent line on the ridge down to Patterdale. I had an enjoyable solo run on the rocky singletrack all the way down to the bridge at the bottom, and then followed the trail around to the field where the boats were waiting.  This part of the trail was familiar to me, as I had just covered it during the Open 24 a month before, and we were using the same general area for transition.  Finally I knew where I was going! 

Stage 9: Kayak along Ullswater
 

Cruising the lazy river

Ullwater was still out of sight when we put in to a small stream running down into the reservoir.  And here I had another of those magical race moments, as I paddled the lazy river around lots of bends, avoiding branches sagging into the water and bumping on a few rocks in the shallow parts.  I heard later that the elite paddlers didn't enjoy the section as they had to carefully navigate to avoid scratching their expensive boats, but I had a blast. 

Once on the lake, it was a long paddle all the way to the river at the other end of the lake.  And this is a very loooong lake.  I had paddled along a good bit of it twice on the Open 24, so I was familiar with how far there was left to go.  The wind had finally picked up a little, but it was a tailwind so it probably helped a bit even if the water got a little choppy.   


Finish of Ullswater paddle at Pooley Bridge



Have to say that the waves from the passenger ferry were much bigger than anything the wind threw up.  I gradually got passed by a tandem but otherwise didn't really see anyone for the whole length of the lake.  The tandem pulled a bit ahead of me near the final end, but then suddenly turned 90 degrees and started heading in the wrong direction!  I hailed them to come back to the correct heading, thinking that they were tired and perhaps not concentrating.  They turned imediately 180 and headed again perpendicular to my route, explaining as they passed (behind me by this time) that their rudder was acting up.  They didn't seem too knowledgable and I shouted to just pull up the rudder and steer with paddle strokes, which is what I had been doing the whole time, lacking a rudder in the first place.   At any race I was ahead of them coming down the river, under the bridge, and into transition. Photographers were out in for along the bridge, including Rob, which gave him a long run back to meet me in transition.

Stage 10: Cycle over Shap Hills
 

Done with Day 2!

The  final stage of the day was a long bike ride with open route choice through the  countryside to Kirkby Stephen.  Limited use of A and B roads dictated a mandatory off-road section over Askham Fell, but some internet research suggested that it was an easy off-road section and road wheels would work fine.  I had studied the map for this section quite a bit, but still couldn't make up my mind which route would be the quickest.  At the evening briefing the day before, another solo showed me his planned route and it looked pretty quick, but I was still undecided.  Until the fateful intersection where I had to choose which way to go, who came by but that same solo rider (!), so I went his way.  He was on a cross-bike and soon out of sight, but it was a nice road and quick going.  With a fine tailwind, it was a fast ride.  The hills were minimal and the finish line was a grateful sight. 

Oddly enough, in a bit of trivia, my finish time of 8 hours 13 minutes, was within 1 second of my finish time on Day 1.

Day 2 results are here.

Next - Coast to Coast, Day 3

Got a bit of a distraction from muscle pain and tiredness with visitors that evening!  Since the kayak stages were only included on Days 1 and 2, my friend Sarah came to pick up her kayak so I wouldn't have to deal with it.  She stayed for pasta pub dinner and camping, but declined to get up at 6 a.m. to see me off!   Don't blame you Sarah, I don't like to be up at that time in the morning either!

Reflections on Thirlmere

 

Always at the top of the list on the tracker screens!

Adidas TERREX Coast To Coast Adventure Race, 26-29 Aug 2011

The Adidas TERREX Coast To Coast Adventure Race is a 4 day stage race from Whitehaven to Robin Hood's Bay.  Following in the footsteps of Alfred Wainwright and his idea for a walking path, this race adds a bit of a twist in the form of kayaking, bicycling and swimming sections, as well as some hilly running stages.  With 17 stages over 4 days, teams of three (with only two competing at a time) and solos will attempt to cover the ground as quickly as possible.  Luckily each night there is a chance to sleep, eat, and recover a little bit!


James Cracknell joins the 2011 Adidas TERREX team

Rob and I were both a bit nervous as we got up early to drive up to the start.  This would be my longest race to date, and Rob had never actively supported me before in a race.  We were both hoping that the logistics would go smoothly and nothing/no one would get lost.  I was doing the race as a solo (here's my profile), so there was a lot riding on my ability to navigate, stay motivated, and pace myself over the long 4 days.

The big excitement of the race was that James Cracknell was participating as part of Team Adidas TERREX.  As an Olympic Rowing champion, I figured he would definitely be in the kayak stages, but as it turned out, he wasn't.  Rob chatted with him in a transition later, and he said he preferred to stay away from the water (sick of paddling, I guess) and do the Bike/Run stages instead.

Somehow I ended up with race Bib #1, so I proudly shouldered the leader's number, although I knew my "lead" would only last until the gun went off.  I just hoped I would beat someone to the final finish line, so that the headlines wouldn't have to read:                           "Competitor #1 comes in last place!" 

Stage 1: Kayak around St. Bees
Luckily the weather was cooperating to start with and under blue skies and calm winds we were able to start the race with a kayak section from Whitehave around the cliffs to the beach at St. Bees.  The alternative was to run there if the winds were too strong, and with a lot of biking and running awaiting us later in the race, we were all (I think) happy to save our legs.  The water was gently rolling as we came out of the harbor, and soon the tandems and speedy surf skis were pulling away from me like I was going backward.  I had left my map behind to keep it dry for the next stage, and so just paddled quietly along the cliffs at the headlands, marveling that the seas were so gentle and the sun was shining. 

Stage 2: Cycling over North Western Lakes
That said, it was nice to finally see the beach, and not get rolled over in the surf while trying to get ashore!  Rob was there waiting for me, and together we carried my borrowed blue sea kayak up to where the car and my gear was waiting.  A quick change of shoes and gear and I was off on the bike, down country roads, along a cycle way, up a few hills (this is the Lake District after all), and then quickly down past Loweswater Reservoir to the transition at the top of Crummock Water.

Stage 3: Kayak Buttermere & Crummock
Magically the car was at this transition too (Rob would do a wonderful job all week of getting my gear everywhere I needed it.), and the kayak was awaiting me down at the waterfront.  The winds were still calm but raindrops were falling as I changed shoes and gear in transition, so on went a waterproof jacket.  Once in the water it was again a magical paddle, as the the foreboding hills reflected gloomily over the water and raindrops splashed everywhere.

The two reservoirs on this stage were both quite small, but between them was a portage that I had been dreading since deciding to sign up for the race months before.  About a kilometer in length, the portage was as bad as I had feared (and perhaps worse).  I regretted not being able to recce this section, as I saw teams heading off to the east side of the lake, where there was a longer portage but perhaps with smoother paths.   I took my chances and followed the bulk of the racers to the shorter west side.  After dragging my kayak out of the water and strapping it on the two-wheeled dolly (ok, it fell off a few times in the process!), I started pulling it up and over the rocky path, bogs, puddles and hills to the other lake.  It was awful.  It took forever.  I lost a lot of time to the folks with lighter kayaks they could carry rather than drag, and to the teams who could each pick up an end and lift them over tough sections.  Another solo racer was right behind me, and with no one else in sight, we cursed and shoved our way over the slowest kilometer of the whole race.  Finally the water came into view, but first there was a locked gate in the way, meaning that we had to lift our kayaks over it!  Alex and I, who would end up crossing paths many times, helped each other with the lift over to spare our boats a lot of scratches.

The rain had stopped, the winds were calm, and once back in the water it was a magical trip across Buttermere knowing the hardest section was behind us.  The water was glass calm and the hills were perfectly reflected, and in just a few minutes we were bumping into the other shore.  Rob was there to meet me and show me the path to transition, but he couldn't help me with the kayak, and unfortunately it was a long slog across a pasture. The wheels went back on to save my arms from having to drag it but more time was lost in the process.

Stage 4: Run over Cat Bells
Finally I was off on a run section, although walking was the most I could do on the steep, steep hillside up to Robinson.  No danger of me winning the King of the Mountains prize for the fastest competitor to summit the first peak of the run stage...   But the weather was holding out and the views were clear as I ran across Littledale Edge and Cats Bells.  I must admit that I got distracted by a member of the film crew on top of Dale Head (how did he lug that huge camera up the mountain?), and while contemplating that idea ran off the trail a ways.  But it was a minimal detour and I managed to catch a few teams before arriving at the water's edge of Derwent. 

Stage 5: Swim across Derwent Water
I am a wimp when it comes to cold water (and this water couldn't have been much above 10 C), so on went the wetsuit, although it couldn't have be more than 1/3 of a mile across the lake.  I was freezing by that time even with the suit, but I tried to think of it as a much needed ice-bath for my sore muscles.  With a measly 10 feet to go to the shore, my calf cramped up and I splashed about a bit with a grimace on my face. 

Luckily there were shoes waiting for me, and as I found out later Rob had run all over the lakeshore with my shoes (for hours) searching for the hard-to-find transition, and barely arrived in time to drop them off and get back to the finish area.  After slipping them on, I ran in my dripping wetsuit the mile into the center of Keswick for an emotional finish.  I must have looked somewhat idiotic with shoes on, my wetsuit half off, goggles and swimcap still on my head, and a silly grin on my face! 

The Day 1 results are here. 

Next... Coast to Coast, Day 2



Paragliding, Wether Fell, Yorkshire Dales

Almost after I'd given up hope of getting any good flying time in the UK, the wind dropped for a couple of days, and a local paragliding friend called up with hopes of a good day.  We drove up to Wether Fell near Hawes, popular because it is possible to drive up to launch (and therefore save yourself a large hike up only to find that the wind isn't cooperating).  Wether Fell is a good X-C (cross-country) launch zone, as well as having a long west-facing ridge great for soaring in steady winds. 

So we had an absolutely wonderful afternoon of paragliding.  Brilliant.  The wind was that perfect speed where it is easy to pull up the wing and fly, enough to not sink out, but not so much that there is any danger of being dragged.  The ridge has a nice gradual grassy slope, huge and long, ok the grass was about waist high but at least there were no rocks.  I practiced my top landings, probably had at least 40 landings, the hill was so wide I could take off, fly a couple hundred feet, land again, kite for a while, take off again, (repeat many times).  The wind was so smooth that I literally stood for 5 minutes in one spot with my wing over my head without moving my feet, just kiting and watching the wings fly by.  Had about 20 people out there, mostly just boating around, enjoying the sunshine.

Finally got a few thermals late in the day and got 700 feet above launch, but spent most of 2.5 hours just kiting and top landing.  Felt like I earned my new P4 stripes as I was doing sliders on the grass (avoiding bogs as well!) and showing off to all the locals.  In fact it was one of the best flying days I've ever had.  A very magical day.  Sort of reaffirms my faith in British flying ( although it might take another year to get a day like that again).   I didn't quit until I was so sore from kiting in my harness that I couldn't do it anymore!