This year is my year of British microadventures. A year of seeking out challenges, new places and new experiences in my own country. In order to try to encourage a wider span of people to sample a microadventure for themselves, I am going to cover a range of different types of microadventure. I’mm kicking off with adventures that are ready-organised for they are the simplest to commit to, get a flavour of, and perhaps be tempted to try a bigger and bolder adventure next time.
The first category of microadventure for this year is to enter a race. Races are excellent because they cater for every capability. Everyone on Earth can push themselves to their very limits in a race, whether it be a 5km run in the local park, the London marathon, or a 24 hour mountain bike race. Don’t think you have to enter a race in order to win: I’mve never won a race in my life! Enter for fun and for a challenge.
The Strathpuffer (a 24 hour winter mountain bike race in northern Scotland) is a race that illustrates this well. I entered the Quads division, which is the least taxing as you share the burden with three team mates, alternating laps throughout. If that is too easy you enter as a Pair. And if you are well hard you enter as a Single, looping round and round without stopping for 24 hours. But even that is too easy for some people. A mad minority rode the Strathpuffer on singlespeed bikes (bikes without gears) and are the daftest of the daft!
Here’s a brief account of my time riding the “Puffer”:
“50% icy terror, 50% fun,” was how I described my first lap of the Strathpuffer.
My final lap felt more like 10% fun (for zooming downhill on a bike is always fun) and 90% exhaustion. After a day and a night the novelty of the 7 mile loop had worn off somewhat.
As the hours and laps and riders passed a good deal of the ice had been scuffed from the trail. So mud replaced ice. Night replaced day. After 15 hours of night riding, day once again replaced night. And as the clock ticked over to 24 hours and the race ended, the waves of weariness were replaced by a warm feeling of satisfaction, an enormous appetite, and a yearning for my bed.
The Strathpuffer had everything that I look for in an endurance race: it is tough, it’s a bit daft, it’s in a beautiful landscape, and the organisers and competitors are all friendly.
In between laps I drank tea, ate voraciously, and compared horror stories of icy crashes and muddy punctures with other riders. Music from the PA system kept spirits high throughout: the race began to Springsteen’s “No Retreat, No Surrender” (followed by the equally apt “A little less conversation, a little more action, please”). In the evening a live band (The Mystic Shoes) kept muddy legs tapping and stopped heavy eyelids from slipping closed.
The route began with a long climb up a track slick with ice. After 20 minutes of constant climbing, slipping and crashing I hated the course. A skeleton wearing a bike helmet and perched on a rusty bike looked on as I cursed the leaden skies. But the rest of the course compensated for the harsh winter conditions. There were stretches of technical rock slab to negotiate, a steep muddy singletrack slalom through gorse bushes, and a long exhilarating swoop down through a forest which provoked whoops of delight from me even at three in the morning. Or perhaps I should say “especially” at three in the morning.
For I was acutely conscious, in those long, dark night-time hours, of the absurdity of what we were all doing. Hundreds of mud-caked idiots riding as hard as they could round and round in circles while the rest of the world were enjoying their Saturday night and then their Sunday morning lie-ins. I was wet, cold, hungry, muddy, sleepy, bruised and a bit scared as I rode hard downhill, focussed on the pool of light from my headlamp picking out the patch of track ahead of me. And yet there was nowhere I would rather have been.
I encourage you to enter a small event as you will find it friendly and non-intimidating, even as a complete novice.
Rather than entering a normal marathon or half-marathon have a go at something a bit different for once. A vital part of the microadventure ethos is trying something different.
Enter a cross-country race, or a mountain bike race, or an adventure race. They are held all over the country (here are 10 Great Races to start you off). Low-key, gently eccentric events that will push you as hard as you wish to be pushed, taking place in beautiful parts of the country that you may never have visited before, and for a pretty reasonable price. The Strathpuffer cost £45. Divide this by 24 and you get your fun for under £2 per hour! So go on: sign up for a race today.
Don’t be intimidated – have a go. You may surprise yourself.
This is precisely one of my goals for this year. So far, I’ve entered two races: the Edinburgh Marathon and the Lakeland 50 ultra-marathon. No doubt I’ll be taking part in some more throughout the year.
Well done Al, great coverage on here and on the Howies site.
If anybody would like to do a microadventure without wheels, which ticks the small-scale, friendly, arduos boxes, how about the Hardmoors 55 ?
The HM55 is a footrace along the first 55 miles of the Cleveland Way National Trail. It starts at 0900 on 19 March in the beautiful market town of Helmsley. You have until midnight to reach Guisborough. We will provide basic drinks and refreshments along the way.
Interested ?
http://www.hardmoors110.org.uk/cms/?q=node/48
And can I redirect anyone with an interest in low-key arduousness to Tomo’s own blog: http://www.thepathlesstravelled.typepad.com
It’s full of nuggets.
Nice one Al. Races needn’t cost more than a couple of quid:
Running/Walking – Long Distance Walking Association
Cycling – Audax
Swimming – Outdoor Swimming Society and Long Distance Swimming Association
This kind of blows the budget a bit, If you want something a from left-field you could try…
http://www.marathondumedoc.com/pages/en/esprit.php
Wow – that looks really lovely.
Hello Al – like the bit about the absurdity of the ‘Puffer. Spot on. There’s no doubt the Strathpuffer is a fairly pricey proposition though – race fees, travel costs (for most), extra equipment and the battering your bike takes all add up. My team got free entry by agreeing to raise fund for the British Heart Foundation – so we saved about £200 between us AND raised over £600 (so far) for a good cause. So, save cash, get extra motivation and satisfaction, and help a charity. Ask race organisers – if they’ve not already thought of it, they’ll probably like the idea.
The Puffer was quite pricey.
But 50 years from now we will remember the good stuff, not the £200.
Well done on your fundraising – I think I saw you guys out on the course. (Probably zooming past me!)
I may have something that is right up your street Mr Humphreys, so will be in touch when I have more details.
Sounds scary…
The team that organise the Puffer also do The Puffer Lite in June – 12 hours over night, The Highlander Mountain Marathon in April, and 5 Cycle Sportives in the Highlands between May and September – see http://www.strathpuffer.co.uk and http://www.handsonevents.co.uk – all with the same relaxed, friendly but professional approach – lots of adventures to be had
Thanks Alasdair.
kick ass vid (via kate’s blog) alastair, really captured the event for me and my pit crew. and i very much like the idea of british microadventures. me. i’m doing various coasts to coasts -mtb/road/kayak, cycling down the western isles, cycling down the west coast of scotland (i’ve done this more than once and it’s just sublime!), even a venture down to englandshire to have a go at the fred whitton route is in the offing, and sometime a swim to an island somewhere. can’t wait!
I recently entered my first bike races – short road criteriums, but a lot of fun, and I fear I may be hooked already. Definitely considering a mountain bike race or an adventure race in the future too. Thanks for the push in the right direction.
It’s all relative. I remember my first “real” race when I sat in the car park, saw lots of men with vests and short shorts and nearly turned back for home. Parkruns are great events all round the UK (and some abroad): free, timed 5k runs and all very sociable.