22 Aug 2008

Thursday

Thursday morning

Another wet night, another wet morning, this time the showers are sporadic but still very heavy. Weary faces filled the marquee as all riders took in details if todays stage. All riders were to take a leisurely ride to the trailhead of the Climachx trail. The start (for solo riders) and finish line was in a rocky void area just up from the car park. Once riders had been set off, the weather eased up and blue clouds could be seen in the sky!

No results from this special stage are available as yet but all RAF, Army and Navy riders made the run and most enjoyed it, although one or two had punctures on the slippery sharp Welsh slate that is known to most as The shute. Although it was close to lunchtime, the riders had to carry on to another spot to get their midday feed.

The support team moved on to the new camp site at Ponterwyd. Here started fun and games - the main route up to the camp site was apparently blocked, so a detour was made, only to find that access to the farmers field was a no go for van sized vehicles and bigger (on this road) as the turn was too sharp. The only way in was the original way in and to add to that, all non 4X4 vehicles had to be towed in and out by a tractor, the muddy entrance was that bad. Fortuntely enough, we found an alternative and started to setup the popup shelter, just as Dan Lewis arrived.
All the military riders arrived in safe and well and the bikes all saw a quick wash and lube. The bikes were pretty clean after todays harsh conditions all due to a river crossing close to the camp site. The river was around 4 feet deep and verfy fast flowing, quite a feat to actually cross without going under - quite a memorable part of the day. The weather has eased somewhat and their is some brightness shining down on us.

The evenings esentation of todays special stage revealed that the Army pair of Coops / Rick came second in their category - congrats to them.

Results from todays special stage are as follows:

10th Dan Lewis
24th Irish (ACU)
42nd Gav Brown
45th Sam Bennett
62nd Rob Calverley

Overall positions for solo riders:

7th Dan Lewis 31 53 42
20th Irish 32 02 51
37th Gav Brown 32 14 00
39th Sam Bennett 32 14 34
59th Rob Calverly 32 26 30