It was advised to arrive on Friday evening, just to pitch the tent in his home, receive the book and the race's first mountain bike trail maps. This lets you "see" the weekend and prepare his race tactics.
Our team name: The Disoriented, No. 62 (This does omen nothing special ....)
outset, I see a lot (if not many, for me) bike, my big weakness. But I assume and "
will do my best, I promise ! We chose the "Expert" just to participate in a maximum of Tests.
On Saturday promises to be more physical, technical and long, with course of night. 10hrs max time + 75 min at night. Sunday, it will be more technical and strategic. The road section is smaller bike. 06h max.
The goal is to accumulate maximum points in each tag LBP during the allotted time, ie 1000 pts max for the weekend, with penalties of 5 points per minute late.
I have not forgotten the 01 thrush
st May for my partner Isabelle, this is my first points scored this weekend.
Saturday, May 1 the program: start at 9am. Small CO 2km (8 tags-30min max), followed by 30 km of mountain bike (11-ball max 210 min), it connects with the kayak (9 tag-max 90 min - 8.5 km), small romping on the course "trail" (? tags - 11 km-400m + D - max 80 min) and back by a mountain bike in 2 parts, followed by 11km route (? tags - max 90 min) and then hunt tags 20-km (4 tags - max 160 min). All in max 10h, harvested later than 19h.
Already, if you add up all the time Max is coming to ... 11 hours journey. Will not have to ease off, man! Not to mention that we are waiting for a 9:30 p.m. CO 6 km, 250m D +, 18 tags in 75 minutes max. It's gonna be hot!
the weather, sunrise is a little chilly, but the day looks dry.
Course Liaison Group, an ATV, to the actual departure. Briefing. Mass start at 9am accurate watches adjusted. It's the rush to put the cards land for hunting tags around village-museum of the slate of Martelange in an area not very broad. At the outset, the organizers announced the elimination of ... 4 tags.
It runs in all directions, everything in the correct time. Back to ATVs, equip (shoes, helmet, ..) and go to the first turns of the pedals. Isa sailed behind the pack, I'm checking the map, and we are embarked towards the first marker that we had decided to "zap", because located in a hilly area and with only 10 pts. Too bad, "doing there," the trip is not great. It runs well, we chose not to "just follow" another, but rather select our route. We find 2, 3. The 4 is on the opposite side of our path. We ask the bike to meet the estimated azimuth tag, down to the creek, very steep climb in front to fall ... pile on the tag, bingo! Turn around, get the bike and into the next whirlwind. Phew, it loosens a little leg. Here, the chosen path is cluttered with fallen trees with the last storm, we must overcome obstacles on the bikes, a lot of lost time. This operation is then repeated at other locations tags ... following does not pose major problems, the path between each being long enough. We are approaching the dam lake of Esch-sur-Sure (GDLux). We cross the metal footbridge to get to the start of the race following: kayaking.
A lot of ATVs are already present, but we are still in reasonable times. A small ravito quickly, it puts the life jacket is mandatory and begins to water.
If Isa had thought of taking the card (very useful ...), I had thought of the compass (which we used to anything ...). Now I concentrated on my technique of Kayaker driven (hm, hm ..!). Isa gives direction, our movements are relatively well coordinated, we are doing well. The weather is mild, a slight wind.
tags are easily detected and plotted, one of them is more easily achieved by docking, cross the small hill, and back to point (except that the other side of the hill was a small cliff with thorns!). We chat paddling (
repeat 10 times faster and without violating :-) ; we hold on the 117 at the tip of the tongue of land, forced to dock again to-last! - identify this tag ... overboard! Go over that and return to base. We used the maximum time.
Small ravito fast and we plunge on the trail. "The best current
1:20 have" one hears.
Steep climb at the start, we took the opportunity to eat a piece and we put "in his legs." I know little about the course, these are roads that we have already borrowed in training for the CCC. Very nice, the hilly, narrow paths, stairs. It points to one tag.
The last km along the road is the least interesting, but it must reach the start. We finish in 1:30, but the second wolf tag. However, we were very careful ...
Here, we find our beloved bike ... And here we go again! Directed line (paths shown on the map along which are likely to touver certain tags) up to the border, and then free run until the finish.
We magnifying glass on a branch, but grind very quickly, and the journey up the Border poses no particular problems except that I start to accumulate faitigue Biking-isk "in the legs (this serious lack of enterntainment!) and fails to take the relay to help my partner that assures head. Short break "strategy" for the course on Belgian soil "
attempting the 127, where one enters directly? . A quick study of the profile, and I decided to try "it's still
30 pts. I think afterwards that it was my mistake. While fatigue was already present, but since we had made the trip until then I had to find that damn tag, and 3 exploration of ways "not really flat" were needed to collect the points. This was fatal to me and return, still pointing to the 2 other markers along the way, seemed endless, my legs do not give any more energy, even on the flat.
Result: reached 19h14'24 ", 15 minutes of penalties, either .... 75 pts! All this energy for that! Well, there it is.
Now, I need me to retype the CO and night. Two hot dogs and a good many greedy nap to get back upright. (
No, Jerome, no .... Orval )
every 30 seconds from 21:30 We have 75 minutes to find 18 positions in this mound Martelange.
We confident enough start, good front in support. A bit of hesitation on the first path to take, beautiful climb. Another hesitation at the top of the hill, we do not concentrate the building before which we stand. Well too bad, it just follows the other, and the first tag found positions us perfectly. This time we go, we go on scores, but have lost a bit too long, and the terrain is very hilly or very steep in places to go and point positions. The time limit approach, and it is quickly a final descent through the underbrush and thorns, the road and join a small sprint to get home.
We took about half the positions. Could have done better with a more accurate departure.
Result first day: we ordered ... last of 31 teams, with 11h21'24 "(max 11.15), and 396 of the 570 possible pts.
A good shower and sleep! OUF! First busy day ...
DIAMNCHE May 2 the program: start 08h. CO Little Park (8 tags - 1.5 km - max 20 min), followed by mountain bike trails to choose from (approx 40km in 3 - 10 tags - max 210min) to go to different positions in Run & Bike road-book (? tags - 10.5 km - max 75 min), CO Oro-hydro (11 tags - 5.5 km - max 90 min) and CO air photo (10 tags - 2.5 km - max 60 min). Max 06h, 14h returned binding (penalties). And
a guest might have hoped not to see rain!
Starts at 08am. Briefing in the rain waiting for the exact time of departure. "It
wet! "! A fast CO
jostled in the narrow space of the park, it runs in all directions. 8 tags, a good quarter of an hour, as warm, not bad.
And for a change ... a little bike! Well, the first km used formatting legs, the sensations are good, the terrain is flat, I manage. 1, 2, 3 beacons and steering the course Oro-hydro (map with only the contour lines and rivers, no other indications). We specifically chose this route to test us because we lack drive, and anyway we do not have much hope in ranking.
The first two tags are found quickly, which gives us confidence. Big mistake on the next, rather than following a clear indication on the map (gap), we try a bearing that makes us lose ... the north. And it's a pain to reposition ourselves, we lose a lot of time. We are more vigilant in the future. We galérons again on the 121, but we cling to any finding, in the pouring rain.
We're soaked. I'm freezing and shivering, we're back with all the posts. Refueling and already a lot (too much) time ...
We make the decision to zap the other workshops Run & Bike (hard enough, according to the other competitors), aerial photography (we have no idea) and CO Memo (we hesitate ...) and take the path wisely back to avoid further penalties. The rain stops and I have a few regrets to go so early (5:05 for max 06h), morally, physically, because I have full legs (and a painful knee). And then just returned, rain marks his return with a higher intensity. "
Well, finally, we are both here! .
Cleaning bikes, a good shower to warm up. And then relax with, this time a good Orval beer!
Debriefing of our journey, view maps. In retrospect, we would have liked to try the CO aerial photo, which appeared relatively simple (on paper ...), but in less than an hour, it was perhaps a little short. So no regrets.
Result: for this Sunday, only 107 pts harvested from the 390 possible, and 05h05'48 "racing.
End result: with the various galleys of other competitors (breaks, punctures , drop ...)
finally we finish 27 th of 31 scratch, 11 e of 14 in our category "mixed", with 543 pts in 1000 and 4:26 p.m., Racing .
Our journey was not not yours, I know, and we were expecting more. But I sorely missed training on mountain bikes, my biggest weakness and that was the biggest part of the raid.
Nevertheless, I have good memories of this weekend, tough, varied physical and mental. Teams nice, a very good athlete. We were spared by mechanical problems (my biggest worry) and physical (except for a knee more painful late Sunday ... and the days that followed), it is already a very good thing.
At the next ...! (Or ....??)
group pop praise Glorious [whose latest album Praise Generation (Joy to the world / Rejoyce) was sold over 10 000 ex. in 1 year] just recorded his first DVD! For the first time, fans of the group can get a glimpse of what it saw every Thursday in the Parish of the Holy Cross 
If Isa had thought of taking the card (very useful ...), I had thought of the compass (which we used to anything ...). Now I concentrated on my technique of Kayaker driven (hm, hm ..!). Isa gives direction, our movements are relatively well coordinated, we are doing well. The weather is mild, a slight wind. 
tags are easily detected and plotted, one of them is more easily achieved by docking, cross the small hill, and back to point (except that the other side of the hill was a small cliff with thorns!). We chat paddling ( repeat 10 times faster and without violating :-) ; we hold on the 117 at the tip of the tongue of land, forced to dock again to-last! - identify this tag ... overboard! Go over that and return to base. We used the maximum time. 
Steep climb at the start, we took the opportunity to eat a piece and we put "in his legs." I know little about the course, these are roads that we have already borrowed in training for the CCC. Very nice, the hilly, narrow paths, stairs. It points to one tag. 
The last km along the road is the least interesting, but it must reach the start. We finish in 1:30, but the second wolf tag. However, we were very careful ... 
We magnifying glass on a branch, but grind very quickly, and the journey up the Border poses no particular problems except that I start to accumulate faitigue Biking-isk "in the legs (this serious lack of enterntainment!) and fails to take the relay to help my partner that assures head. Short break "strategy" for the course on Belgian soil " attempting the 127, where one enters directly? . A quick study of the profile, and I decided to try "it's still 30 pts. I think afterwards that it was my mistake. While fatigue was already present, but since we had made the trip until then I had to find that damn tag, and 3 exploration of ways "not really flat" were needed to collect the points. This was fatal to me and return, still pointing to the 2 other markers along the way, seemed endless, my legs do not give any more energy, even on the flat. 
We confident enough start, good front in support. A bit of hesitation on the first path to take, beautiful climb. Another hesitation at the top of the hill, we do not concentrate the building before which we stand. Well too bad, it just follows the other, and the first tag found positions us perfectly. This time we go, we go on scores, but have lost a bit too long, and the terrain is very hilly or very steep in places to go and point positions. The time limit approach, and it is quickly a final descent through the underbrush and thorns, the road and join a small sprint to get home. 
And for a change ... a little bike! Well, the first km used formatting legs, the sensations are good, the terrain is flat, I manage. 1, 2, 3 beacons and steering the course Oro-hydro (map with only the contour lines and rivers, no other indications). We specifically chose this route to test us because we lack drive, and anyway we do not have much hope in ranking. 
The first two tags are found quickly, which gives us confidence. Big mistake on the next, rather than following a clear indication on the map (gap), we try a bearing that makes us lose ... the north. And it's a pain to reposition ourselves, we lose a lot of time. We are more vigilant in the future. We galérons again on the 121, but we cling to any finding, in the pouring rain. 
