Finally the day’s report for the TORQ Enduro Challenge (in association with Bryton) is actually being published on the day of the respective stage. I’ve caught up! Funnily enough we’re right outside Singletrack Magazine’s HQ and we’ve just had a visit in the RV from Madison’s Andy Mee and we’re expecting Chipps to knock on the door a little later on after he’s cleared up the cross race he’s organised this evening.
Lydia had a hard day on the bike today, but there were a number of highlights too. The Great British spring is really making life interesting at the moment and we thought that early May would be an ideal time to run this challenge. How wrong could we be – it’s 1 degrees here in Todmorden right now – it’s mid May? Here’s what Lydia had to say:
“Today was a lesson in online navigation for me and a clear indication that we can’t publish this route for ‘general consumption’ until we’ve removed pointless un-navigable sections of bridleway and serious technical sections that would be fine if you were out for a day ride (but not if you’re on day 3 of an endurance slog). There were sections that I had to walk today and also there was one point where I ended up waist-deep in bog! I must have circled the same farmhouse 3 times at one point too, but only because I’d ventured off my pre-plotted path (my fault). The Bryton performed brilliantly, but I had to deviate from my plotted route on several occasions or I’d never have made progress.
The weather this morning was terrible and if you’re reading this in ‘real time’ you’ll understand what I’m talking about. Torrential rain. I had to set off though, because I’m determined to get this challenge completed in 5 days. The weather eased into the afternoon, but it was still very cold and the hail showers were not funny at all. There were times today where I was incredibly cold and running out of energy products was a huge mistake that Matt says I will pay the price for tomorrow.
Fortunately, Matt’s here next to Todmorden with an RV full of energy food, so I’ll be well stocked up for tomorrow. He’s just cooked me a Chicken Balti too and now I’m going to plan the next day’s riding.
On the positive side, there were some real highlights today including sections of the Pennine Bridleway that although technically challenging, they were great fun. Also, there were some wonderful views from the high points.”
Once again, if you’re wondering what this challenge is all about, take a look at the following link; it explains why Lydia’s completing this unusual challenge:
www.torqfitness.co.uk/news/torq-enduro-challenge
If you fancy following Lydia’s progress, she’ll have her Spot navigation system on tomorrow as she treks through the Yorkshire Dales towards Grassington:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0AfQ0u6NkqnJ9Ndv2qJYiLuHRaB7rPHBW
Many thanks to Bryton GPS for sponsoring the TORQ Enduro Challenge:
