Thursday, May 24, 2007
More updates from Scotland!
May 22, 2136rs GMT – Fort William (Lochy Holiday Park)
Stuart, Ryan, Stone and Esther had a bit of a photo-shoot today in their bike kit. After that, they set out for an evening bike ride to the top of the outflow pipes above the town. I made do with an hour’s run to town and back. The team had a good little session out there and they even saw a stag long the way. Alas, most of the eateries in town were closed by the time they returned. Solution? To the fish and chip shop! Authentic British cuisine was the order of the night: while the team scoffed down their battered seafood, I made do with a second sampling of haggis (this time in the form of a deep-fried, salami-like stick).
May 23, 1308hrs GMT – Fort William (Lochy Holiday Park)
The days before the race proper starts are a constant whirlwind of frenzied activity. Today was no different. The team has made several trips to the shops over the past couple of days, and there are STILL things to be bought: favourite foods, correctly sized socks, extra clothes, and critical spares and equipment for repair and storage. As soon as everyone was up this morning, they got into the organization of their climbing kit. The morning’s team meeting got into the nitty-gritty of planning for nutrition for the race, with the all-important visit to the local supermarket scheduled for after lunch.
May 23, 2320hrs GMT – Fort William (Lochy Holiday Park)
Spent three hours at the supermarket today buying all the race food, plus some extra food to tide the team over for the remaining two days. Came back to the cabin and spent a further two hours “repackaging and organizing the food for optimal race and transition consumption”. Calorie requirements were adhered to and good mixes of sweet and savoury food were sorted – overall it meant more junk flying all over the cabin, where space, as well as tidiness, was quickly becoming more and more of a premium.
After a pasta dinner (while watching the UEFA Champions League soccer final), Stuart ran his team mates through a familiarization and practice session with the climbing rope systems for the race. In the fading daylight by the riverside, a short length of static rope was strung over the branch of a tree, and the practice began in earnest.
After that, it was more run-throughs of medical kit, bike repair kit, and a quick test of the bike lights. Tomorrow, the team wakes up to load up the van with gear before heading to race HQ for the registration proper. I will be going along to capture their progress on video, in images, and in words. Oh yes, and I’ll schmooze to the best of my ability along the way too.
May 24, 0903hrs GMT – Fort William (Lochy Holiday Park)
Woke up the earliest (as usual) and went for a 25 minute run to work out the stiffness. The team has woken up and we’re having breakfast now. My batteries are charged and we’re going to load up the vehicles shortly. Expect to spend a long day today in town doing all the race admin.
Stuart, Ryan, Stone and Esther had a bit of a photo-shoot today in their bike kit. After that, they set out for an evening bike ride to the top of the outflow pipes above the town. I made do with an hour’s run to town and back. The team had a good little session out there and they even saw a stag long the way. Alas, most of the eateries in town were closed by the time they returned. Solution? To the fish and chip shop! Authentic British cuisine was the order of the night: while the team scoffed down their battered seafood, I made do with a second sampling of haggis (this time in the form of a deep-fried, salami-like stick).
May 23, 1308hrs GMT – Fort William (Lochy Holiday Park)
The days before the race proper starts are a constant whirlwind of frenzied activity. Today was no different. The team has made several trips to the shops over the past couple of days, and there are STILL things to be bought: favourite foods, correctly sized socks, extra clothes, and critical spares and equipment for repair and storage. As soon as everyone was up this morning, they got into the organization of their climbing kit. The morning’s team meeting got into the nitty-gritty of planning for nutrition for the race, with the all-important visit to the local supermarket scheduled for after lunch.
May 23, 2320hrs GMT – Fort William (Lochy Holiday Park)
Spent three hours at the supermarket today buying all the race food, plus some extra food to tide the team over for the remaining two days. Came back to the cabin and spent a further two hours “repackaging and organizing the food for optimal race and transition consumption”. Calorie requirements were adhered to and good mixes of sweet and savoury food were sorted – overall it meant more junk flying all over the cabin, where space, as well as tidiness, was quickly becoming more and more of a premium.
After a pasta dinner (while watching the UEFA Champions League soccer final), Stuart ran his team mates through a familiarization and practice session with the climbing rope systems for the race. In the fading daylight by the riverside, a short length of static rope was strung over the branch of a tree, and the practice began in earnest.
After that, it was more run-throughs of medical kit, bike repair kit, and a quick test of the bike lights. Tomorrow, the team wakes up to load up the van with gear before heading to race HQ for the registration proper. I will be going along to capture their progress on video, in images, and in words. Oh yes, and I’ll schmooze to the best of my ability along the way too.
May 24, 0903hrs GMT – Fort William (Lochy Holiday Park)
Woke up the earliest (as usual) and went for a 25 minute run to work out the stiffness. The team has woken up and we’re having breakfast now. My batteries are charged and we’re going to load up the vehicles shortly. Expect to spend a long day today in town doing all the race admin.
