Trailquest

I went on my first Trailquest yesterday. I am a (foot) orienteer and mountain marathoner and so
trailquest and MTBO have always been things I would like to try but being a non-driver it is next to
impossible to get to events. Any, yesterday Chainsnappers held an event in my village in the
pennines, a five minute bike ride away! Too good an opportunity to miss. So, I tuned up my crap
mountain bike---80 quid sale item from EBC---and set off down the hill to the event. Seeing a red
squirrel cross my path was a good omen I thought, though I nearly fell off with shock.

Once I'd arrived and registered I noticed just how much money some people spend on bikes. I almost
felt embarrassed by my heap of crap but what the heck, it's only for fun.

Bang on 9am I set off looking for a couple of mainly on road circuits I could do. The first two
controls meant a nice route past my house and a quick hello to my other half. Then the Rookhope
incline which wasn't so nice but I did bump into 30 cyclists doing the C2C. I then blithely sailed
passed a 5 point control by forgetting to look for it, it was on route to another so I wrote it off.
Then I nearly wrote myself off by a stunning lack of MTB skills, a few grazes but otherwise okay.

The rest of the 5 hours went well and I took a few high point controls though the cycling to them
was often rough. I had planned for a 10 minute cruise downhill on the road back to the finish,
unfortunately I'd forgotten about the few minor inclines on that road and the prevailing wind. Add
to that dancing about with cramp for a couple of minutes and my chain dropping off on the final
ascent and I ended up 6 and a half minutes late. Not bad for a five hour session.

181 points after a 9 point deduction. I should really have had 195 if I'd not missed that control
and not made a couple of errors. Okay, I'm not going to win any prizes but it was good fun and today
my legs *and* arms ache like buggery.

The big lesson is the bike. My other bikes are all reasonable bikes that cost a bit, the mtb is junk
as a mtb. What's left of it is testament to that! If I was to ever think of doing an event again I'd
be tempted to use it as an excuse to get something decent, better (and bigger range) gears and disc
brakes would have been so much better.

Still, it was good fun and I got to see the red squirrel.

Colin

 

On Mon, 12 May 2003 10:43:18 +0100, Colin Blackburn did issue forth:

> I went on my first Trailquest yesterday. I am a (foot) orienteer and mountain marathoner and so
> trailquest and MTBO have always been things I would like to try but being a non-driver it is next
> to impossible to get to events. Any, yesterday Chainsnappers held an event in my village in the
> pennines, a five minute bike ride away! Too good an opportunity to miss. So, I tuned up my crap
> mountain bike---80 quid sale item from EBC---and set off down the hill to the event. Seeing a red
> squirrel cross my path was a good omen I thought, though I nearly fell off with shock.

So, are you going to find yourself a partner and join in the fun in the summer Polaris in
North Yorks?

--
Huw Pritchard

 

In article <[email protected]>, usenet001 @pritch.co.uk says...

> So, are you going to find yourself a partner and join in the fun in the summer Polaris in
> North Yorks?

Probably not, but only through lack of time. I have two MMs and the Scottish 6-day (orienteering) as
well as a cycling holiday this summer. I might take a bike (a new one by the looks of things!) along
to the White Rose orienteering event in August since they will be having a bike event in the
programme.

Colin