Having done my first of these in Dovedale earlier in the year, I was fortunate enough to be able to team up with our Joel for this event around the Manifold valley. The rain, as forecast, had moved away by the time we arrived, some time after six, to a well organised registration and a friendly relaxed atmosphere.
We took the opportunity to unload any kit we didn't need and had a little study of the map on the board (without the check points) just to give us an idea of what to expect. Initial thinking was that we would be making our way down the Manifold track to start with but once we had taken our starters orders and checkpoint map it looked like the Wolfscote Dale side might be a bit more rewarding a decision which in hindsight was a good one.
After a bit of a road start and ticking off the first marker we headed off to number sixteen, a decision which in hindsight was not a great one. At first it was boggy, then extremely boggy and then steep with the dibber station on top. And then we came back down pretty much the same way as we went up. Looking back later we could see we could have picked this one up later without so much climb involved.
Great views though...
Once off the hill we worked our way around to Wolfscote Dale itself, picking up another check point before running down this very pretty valley towards points thirteen and twelve. The close proximity of these two suggested interesting times and sure enough they had been placed about as high above either side of the valley as they could have been with a river crossing to make between them.
After that had all been completed we ignored another check point and made our way over to the other side of the map already eating into our second hour.
Having aimed first for number four up the climb next to Wetton Hill we then took time to assess what we could achieve in with the rest of the time, pausing as well to appreciate the terrific 360 degree views we had.
We reckoned on three more dibs on the way back could be done and we set off down the tussocky slopes, appreciating the fact that we weren't trying to climb up this way.
Picked up the first two of the three we arrived at a t-junction. Eight minutes of the two hours remaining, the finish to the right and a 10 point checkpoint to the left Joel persuades me that, for the banter, the extra points is the way to go. As we only arrive back late back at the finish by under 4 minutes this gives a net gain of six points for the effort..
A great selection of cakes greets us at the end, rhubarb, lemon drizzle, raspberry meringue, flapjack and a fabulous gooseberry sponge. The results are also in and we can see that we are in the top ten by three points. Great call Joel!
Thoroughly recommend these events, really enjoy the additional challenge of the navigation and the extra freedom of route choice and being able to stop every now and then without the feeling of losing places that you would have in a straight race. Looking forward to the next one.
Endomondo route is here
Results make a great read post event as you can see all the different routes people took and how they got on.
No comments:
Post a Comment