Sunday outing

Was feeling okay about this route, much better than when I did it on the Polaris, which took me about 3 to 4 hours to complete, this time it took me 2 hours. I took some video and joined them together.

Click here to view the video.

Return Visit

First time back on the bike since the Polaris is planned for next Sunday. The route we took on the Sunday (day 2 of the Polaris) was fantastic and I thought I would go back and do it again but this time with out the 20lb rucsac on and try and get the bloody helmet cam to work (for once).

Hopefully I'll not be a knackered as the last time.

The Finish

I wasn't the first one back at the finish, I could have stayed out longer and got more points but I was feeling a bit tired by then and was looking forward to getting some dry cloths on and something to eat from Wilf's Kitchen (the regular outdoor caterer for the Polaris).

With bike on the car and me changed it was just a case of sitting back and waiting for Paul and Paul to finish.

All in all I had a good couple of days and enjoyed the downhills but a few lessons that I will try and remember:

1. Try not to do the Polaris if you're feeling unwell e.g. with cold
2. Don't try and keep up with people that are fitter than you
3. If you go into the event as a solo try and do that, you can make your own decisions based on your own ability and stop/start when you like

The 2 Pauls made it back in time and with a good score.

Looking forward to the event in March, just hope it's not too far away. Over all I think I did about 43 mile over the 2 days, below is the track that I took and the elevation profile for the 2 days.

Moon scape!

Having reached the top of Melbecks Moor I was feeling a bit better, it was flat over the top and I knew that it was down hill all the way from here. I told Paul that he should go on and not keep waiting for me, I watched the two of them disappear over the top.

The top of the moor was very strange, looked a bit like the moon, no grass or anything like that just loads of what I think must have been spoil from the mines, great to ride on. You can just see Paul and Paul in the distance on this picture.

As I said the top was flat so I rode along until I got to the edge and the rest was down hill. I had decided that it was time for me to head back to the finish at this point, only one more check point to get on the way down.

After a short break and a quick check of the GPS, which was the first time I think I'd actually looked at the thing, I headed down.

The ride down was great, making all that pushing and carrying worth while.

After that it was back on the road to the finish.

Day 2

After a brief discussion on which route to take we set off along the road running next to the river for our first check point of the day, a 10 pointer. Following that it was up hill and along the valley for a couple of mile.

At the end of the valley we had to turn right and kind of come back on ourselve but on the other side of the valley, this is where we came across quite a big disused lead mine. It must have been hard work in that mine, just getting to work would have done me in.

Anyway, back along the valley on the other side with a push up to about half way then a downhill bit to the next check point. By this time I was flagging yet again and had worse to come.

Sunday (morning)

Had a good night’s sleep, as you can see from this picture I'm looking as fresh as a daisy. Looking at some of the early starters heading UP HILL I was not looking forward to day 2! Fortunately there was a second option, which involved riding along the river then heading up hill and along the valley.

Ging Gang Goolly...

Once everything was sorted out, it was time for a beer. The camp site was next to a pub and the organisers had arranged for the pub to supply draught beer and larger in the field (the pub was out of bounds).

As is customary a fire was lit and we have a couple of pints before hitting the hay for the night.

Over night camp

At last the camp site. Found a nice spot, sheltered from the wind, which was picking up a bit? Once the tent was up I noticed that I had put the door right next to some sheep shit! Unpegged it and moved it (the tent that is not the shite). Once the tent was up, got the sleeping bag out and made myself comfy. Next thing was to get something to eat.

Paul and Paul got back about and hour and a half after me, got their tent up and made something to eat.

In this picture, my tent in the orange North Face one.

Over the top

I think the power bar did me some good because the climb wasn't too bad, it may have been the fact that I was heading for the camp site that sperd me on.

I was tempted to dip back down to get a 40 point check point but decided to leave it and push on over the top.

On the way up I took a photo of one of many old lead mines that were scatered all over the place, this one was just off the road. On Sunday I would come across a mine that looked like something out of Lord of the Rings!

Saturday afternoon

By midday I was totally knackered, finding it very hard to keep up with Paul and felt that I was holding him back so I said that I would make my own way round and see them back at the over night camp site.

I was not looking forward to the climb back over the hill to camp site but now that I was on my own at least I could take my time and go at my own pace. I stopped at a bridge before the climb and had a power bar, hopefully I would give me a bit of energy.

About 8:30ish

With Paul and his mate ready to go we lined up and went through the start, got the maps and decided on the route to take. The first check point was up hill about 3 miles away. I wasn't feeling confident of keeping up with the two Pauls and by the time we got to the first check point I was already lagging behind.

From the first check point it was still more climbing to the second, by this time I was getting a bit demotivated at seeing Paul way off in the distance. After the second check point there was a bit of a down hill followed by yet another climb, this time on the road so it wasn't that bad, to check point number 3.

Polaris (Saturday morning)

Right, here we are then, at the start. Got there quite early, about 8 AM, no sign of Paul Scott. Got my kit together and went over to register.

1 day to go!

Well it’s Friday morning and I’m still loaded with cold! Hopefully I should be okay but don’t expect to score many points if Wednesday was anything to go by, I’ll certainly not be able to keep up with Paul Scott and his buddy (I know Paul from his days in BT).

Anyway, the only thing left to do now is to pack the bag and head down to Grinton tomorrow morning. Thinking of leaving about 6.30 to get there for about 7.30 with a start of 8.00 (hopefully).

Weather doesn’t look too good at the moment, over cast and wet but the forecast for tomorrow and the weekend is not too bad, sunny intervals with max temp of 16 and a low of 6

Harkerside Moor

Hi, just back from my trip out to Grinton, where the start of this Autumn Polaris Challenge will be starting from on Saturday. Went out just to check the area around the start and it's not too bad. If there are some check points up Harkerside Moor then it's a bit of a climb to begin with or alternatively you could head up the River Swale to Assrig Common.

Today's ride was totally different to last week, it was nice and clear and the views from the top of Harkerside Moor were fantastic.

When I got up this morning I was in too minds whether to go, I've had a bit of a cold for the last 2 weeks and need to shift if before Saturday but I though what the hell. Anyway, I suffered on the way up, which is think was mainly due to the cold/man flu, so I didn't complete the full circuit that I had hoped.

I stopped at the top for something to eat then took a fast ride back down to Grinton. I took some video with the helmetcam but made the mistake of pointing the camera too high and all you can see is the sky, never mind.

Anyway, next time on the bike will be Saturday, hopefully I'm feeling a bit fitter than today, otherwise I'll be lucky to get any points at all.

Dingbatbell.com

Decided to purchase my own domain name the other day, dingbatbell.com. I intend to use the site to record information, reviews etc on mountain bike routes that I've done (pictures, reviews that kind of thing).

Geordie Git is hosting it for me, so thanks to Graham for that.

I expect to start publishing to dingbatbell.com after the Polaris, so what that space.

Your Lite Weight!

After putting the new Mavic 717 xc rims and the Easton Monkey Lite SL bars on the bike it feels much lighter and it should be, the rims are about 500g liter than my old ones and the bar is half as lite as the aluminum one that I took off.

Got the scales out and weighed the bike, it came in at a tad over 25lbs, which is very good for a full suspension bike.

Back to the Dales

Had a great day on Sunday, thinking of taking a day off next week (Wednesday) to do one last visit before the Polaris on Saturday.

The start is in Grinton and I've been planning to get out down there for a while to do a route review for a friend of mine that has been publishing a trail guide. The route is just south of Grinton and might take in at least one of the easy check points for the Polaris.

Anyway, just thinking about it at the moment.

Gore-Tex!

Learnt what could be a valuable lesson yesterday, put phone and camera in water proof bag. Even though both of those things were in my jacket pocket, which is Gore-Tex therefore waterproof they still get wet from the sweat off my body. Gore-Tex might be breathable but not if you sweating like a fat lass in a chip shop.

Dodd Fell

Had an opportunity to get out on the bike today so decided to take a trip down to Hawes and remind myself of a route I last did about 9 years ago, Dodd Fell. The reason for this is that Polaris mentioned it in their last update so I thought I might as well see what the terrain looked like.

Woke up at about 7 this morning and it was pissing down, great! Rain had stopped by the time I got to Hawes but that didn't last, after about 30 minutes it was pouring down again, misty and just generally Yorkshire weather at it's best.

During the climb to the top of Dodd Fell came across a few fellow Polaris people, doing the same as me, quick chat and on I went, in the down pour to the top of the fell.

By this time the rain had gone and the sun looked like it was going to get out, which it did but by this time I was wet through. I'd done about half the route by this time so I stopped for a quick snack. After that it was pretty much all down hill. Had to push over one section, which was totally un-ridable and I remembered this bit from years ago.

After that it was a fast downhill back into Hawes, which was verybusy with bikers (motor type), Americans and just general people.

I raised a few eye brows as I was covered from head to foot in mud. Still great day and once the sun got out some great views across the valley. Looking forward to the actual Polaris.

Start Announced

Hi, Polaris has confirmed that the start will be in Grinton, just east of Richmond. Someone on the Polaris Challenge forum said that it would be Grinton about 2 weeks ago, so he must have someone on the inside.

Because you don't get the map when you register anymore I think that I will just go down on the Saturday morning and try and get a start for about 8:30ish. An old college of mine is taking part so I'm going to try and see if I can find him on Saturday and maybe tag along with him and his buddy for a while.

Haven't done any training this week because things are just a bit too busy at work but should be back in the swing next week. Intend to train up until the Wednesday before but then again that might change.

Behind Bars

Got the new carbon handle bars on the bike today, these ones must be shorter than any of the other handlebars that I've had because I didn't have to cut them down, which nice. Cutting carbon is a bit of an art, if you're not careful you could end up like someone at the barbars where the barbar hasn't quite taken enought of one side so takes a bit more off only to find he's taken too much off and has to take some off the other side. Again Easton have provide the owner with a method of cutting the bars down.

http://www.eastonbike.com/downloadable_files/r&d_files/R&D-05-Carbon.pdf

Anyway, very happy, now just need to get out and get them a bit of a test, which I think will be on Sunday morning before my daughter gets back for her Nana's. (out on the beer on Saturday night).

Event News

Polaris have updated their web site with some information about the Autumn event. Looks like the maps will be given out at the actual start and not when you register, which I guess makes sense and makes it an even playing field for everyone. Something else that has changed this time round is that you actual get 2 maps, the first on Saturday with just the Saturday check points and the second at the start on Sunday with, you guessed it, the Sunday check points.

Both maps will be fully marked up with the point value for each check point, again this is good because it means that you now don't have to write anything on the map at all (bang goes my £2 investment in Chinagraph pencils!).

Buy the way, ordered the Easton Monkey Lite SL's on line, £96 + P&P from www.pedalon.co.uk. They this morning but I was out so will have to collect them tomorrow from post office.

Happy Entrails

Solo rider on the Polaris, decides to take the danger route to the overnight camp site...

http://www.specializedmovies.com

Lead in your pencil

One of the problems that I had to over come on the last Polaris I did was to get a pen that would work on the laminated maps that were given out by the Polaris organisers. The new maps are laminated and are quite stiff and have a gloss finish so you can’t use a normal pen, the old maps were laminated but the map was actually printed on a kind of waterproof paper that made it easier to fold and write on, in fact you could write on them with a normal pencil.

The maps are pre-marked so you don’t have to find the grid references anymore but you do have to write or plot your route and it always helps to write the points for each check point on the map as well as identifying which check points are open (not all check points on the map will be open during any of the 2 days) so you can’t pre-determine what route you are going to take until you’re actually told which check points are open. When the maps are wet it’s difficult to write anything on them, so I went out to see if I could find something that would write on smooth plastic and also write then the map was wet, enter the old China Graph Pencil. Writes underwater never mind in the rain. I’ve tested it and it works a treat.

Autumn Venue

I've been looking forward to the Autumn Polaris because it's back up in the Yorkshire Dales and although they don't really tell you where it is precisely until about a week before hand, the rumor on the forum is that its going to start from a place just down the road from Richmond in a village called Grinton. Now this is very handy because I've done quite a bit of riding in that area.

The last time I was down that neck of the woods I was reviewing a route for a friend that was writing some guide books, during the ride I came across an electric fence, which I almost had a piss on (just saw the sign in the nick of time) but more frightening was this! You do not want to be wondering onto the farmers land that owns this.

Bars

No, not Bar's but bars. I'm in the market for a new set of handle bars and I've got my eye on the Easton Monkey Lite SL, which are about £100. Quite expensive for a handle bar but very light weight, carbon and strong as well, or so they say. Have a look at the Easton web site and see how they test the strength of their carbon bars, it's quite entertaining. http://www.eastonbike.com/FLASH-SWF/bar%20test.swf

Anyway, I think I'll get some before the Polaris. I used to have an Easton EC70 bar, which was straight not a riser. I changed it for an Easton riser bar (aluminum one), the bike felt totally different, much more comfortable to ride.

Map Boards

When Graham and I did the Lakes Polaris a couple of years ago we didn't bother with a map board, to b honest I'd always thought they looked a bit daft and me being more style conscious then practical opted not to bother. However, when we got to the registration I noticed that almost every rider or a least team had one. So not to be out done we made a swift purchase from the Polaris Apparel stand and Bob's you Uncle. I paid about £15 and it was crap, far too small. The only good thing about it was the re-usable cable ties that came with it, which I still use to this day...

Time has moved on and I've gone through 3 map boards, still using those cable ties mind. Here is my latest creation, bit of a highbred solution this one, map on top (old school style) but don't look now, GPS underneath, nice.

Hamsterley

The weather turned out to be very good, nice and sunny but not too hot. Lots of people around when we got there, felt a bit like being at Center Parks (or what I would expect Center Parks to be like because I've never actually been myself).

Bit of a climb to start with then some nice down hill bits, through some forest operations, which looked a bit strange, almost like a bomb had gone off and blown all the trees away. I went on ahead of Jamie to the top of a hill where the 4 mile downhill section started... waited and waited but no Jamie! He'd only gone and taken the left hand turn too early and was back at the car half an hour before me.

Plan to go back soon.

T.E.S.T.I.T

Typical, yesterday was perfect for biking, today it's overcast and looks like it's going to rain. Hamsterley Forest is about 40 minutes away and me and Jamie are off on a quick 12 miler round the forest. Should take about 2 to 3 hours and I'm going to be riding with the same pack that I will be carrying on the Polaris (Test Everything Several Times In Training).

Packed the rucksack yesterday and got everything in no problem. The thing is about 20lbs and that's with 2.5 litres of water in the camelback. I've invested in a lightweight pillow for this event because the last couple of times that has been the one thing that I've really thought I should have. I'm going to have to strap it under the back of the saddle (in a plastic bag) and see how it goes.

Anyway, picking Jamie up at 11:00, see you later.

training

I ride my bike to work quite a lot, which helps because it's pretty much up hill all the way home but it only takes me about 15 minutes to get home; so gym it is. The gym/Hilton is just over the road/river from work so I go there most lunch times and have been doing quite alot of running to build up my endurance, normally about 5k run followed by 10 to 15k on the bike and some weights to finish off. Hit the pool to cool off and then back to work.

In the beginning

Way back before time began, well 1991 I was asked if I wanted to take part in a 2 day mountain biking event called the Polaris Challenge. I had just kind of gotten into mountain biking, so I said yep, why not.

The challenge was basically a 2 day orienteering event where the riders, in teams of 2, had to ride around and get as many check points as possible before their time ran out. They also had to carry all equipment for an overnight camp, including food, tent, sleeping bag etc. The process was repeated on Sunday and the winner was the team with the most points, how hard can it be?

Anyway, did the first one way back in 1991 (Yorkshire Dales), the next one I did was about 2004, so a bit of a gap. Did the Autumn 2004 (in the Lakes), Spring 2005 (Brecon Beacons), Autumn 2005 (North Lakes), missed the Spring 2006 because is was way down South and I've just entered myself for the Autumn 2006, which is in the Yorkshire Dales - the circle of life...

One thing, you can now enter as a solo rider, which is what I did for the autumn 2005 and will be solo again this time. Come on Graham, get you arse in gear and get some training done.