The Rab Autumn Polaris, 2003
The Autumn Polaris took place around Alston in the Northern Pennines,
between Hexham and Penrith. The format of the event was the same as the
spring event - 7 hours of MTB orienteering on the saturday carrying
camping kit and food, a wilderness camp overnight and then 5 hours MTB
orienteering on the Sunday. The object of the event is to gather as many
points by navigating to checkpoints without being late back!
The 0900 start on Saturday was welcome (the latest start time available)
as it gave room for almost 7 hours sleep after what was a fairly long
drive (8 hours) up to Cumbria. The surrounding terrain was perfect for the
events - massive networks of green lanes and bridleways over moorland with
nice big hills! Chris and I had planned a route over the eastern side of
the course which we managed to complete in 6hours and 40 minutes, just too
little time left to get that one last checkpoint! We were, however, both
pretty exhausted by that point anyway and to add to it I hadn't got a
functional granny ring! 205 points placed us 29th by the time everyone had
arrived at the wilderness camp just north of Allenheads.
A relaxed evening following with a few beers and our evening meal of
noodles and rehydrated beef hotpot. Perfect! By the time 0900 came around
we were both nodding and we slept soundly.
The 0900 start on Sunday soon came around and we were off again. This time
a slighltly more ambitious route to grab the highest scoring checkpoint
followed. After the first 10 or so miles, we were on familiar ground -
the CUCC trip to Co. Durham last term had already been in this area! A
large part of the day seemed to be spent riding up boggy hills into a
biting headwind, but the expansive views and fast downhills more than made
up for that! We manaaged to arrive in with 15 minutes to spare - perfect!
A gain of 155 points put us up 4 positions and we came in 25th in the end.
Quite satisfying!
The next Polaris is the Spring Polaris in teh Yorkshire Dales on the 20th
and 21st of March 2004. If anyone fanices taking part, please get in
touch. Some of us have kit to lend out if you fancy having a go and
haven't got a lightweight tent!
Bart
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