Sunday 5 March 2017 - The Vasaloppet – Shane’s Report

After we’d skied the Tartu Ski Marathon, on which I’ve previously reported, one of our number, Shane, headed off to ski the much longer Vasaloppet in Sweden. Wikipedia asserts:

"The Vasa Race" is an annual long distance cross-country ski race held on the first Sunday of March. The 90 km (56 mi) course starts in the village of Sälen and ends in the town of Mora in northwestern Dalarna, Sweden. It is the oldest and longest cross-country ski race in the world as well as the one with the highest number of participants.

The race was inspired by a notable journey made by King Gustav Vasa when he was fleeing from Christian II's soldiers in 1520. The modern competition started in 1922 and it has been a part of the Worldloppet events since 1978.

Shane took the trouble to write a report on his experience of competing in the race with a group of Estonians organised by Jüri, so rather than lose that report in the depths of our computer’s hard drive, I’ve decided to reproduce his report by way of a point of reference, with Shane’s approval, here:

I'm at Stockholm airport and my flight is delayed, so plenty of time to write you my "Vasa Report".

As you've read from Andy's mail, I got through it in one piece, though currently am unable to lift my arms above my head (not sure why I'd want to do that anyway).

It was an early start on race day, the bus was to leave at 5.15am for the start, Jüri suggested breakfast at 4am. I woke up at 3.45am  and went down to breakfast to find a couple of the Estonians already eating! We were staying about 20min by bus from the start, but it took an hour or so on race morning due to traffic jams. I got to my pen at 6.30am, 90min before the start and there were already about 20 rows of skis laid out! I was in pen 10, the very last one, which was about 500m from the start line. (The start is pictured above – Ed)

Being in the last pen is a significant disadvantage as there is a major bottleneck up the first hill after about 1km and around 15min had passed before I reached the start line. The first 3km was a slow shuffle, sometimes just standing on the hill for a few minutes at a time. It took me an hour to complete that first 3km; Andy would have hated it!! Jüri, who skis at similar pace to me, started from pen 7 and was at the first checkpoint in 1h 30, it took me 2h. As you can imagine, it's quite hard shuffling up a long, steepish hill, often having to pull poles from under the skis of those behind you and finding a space for your skis with every step. Anyway things got more civilised soon after that.

Conditions were pretty good. It had snowed a bit the day before and was about minus 8°C at the start and not forecast to rise above about minus 3°C. There were some open areas beside lakes when the wind made it feel much colder. The tracks were pretty good and held reasonably well given the number of skiers before me. The course was about 6-8 tracks wide most of the way (the start was about 30 tracks wide!!). Being able to change tracks often to find the best track is a big advantage and not one of my strengths. Between the first checkpoint (at 11km) and the finish I passed over a thousand people; that could have been many more if I was better at track changing. There was more uphill than I had thought from looking at the profile and a couple of tricky downhills. I was involved in a bit of a pile up on one downhill when someone fell just in front of me, not sure how but I didn't hurt anything!

There was a food station about every 10km or so, these were congested and slow to get through (unless you didn't want any food or drink). I only skied through one without stopping. I must have eaten at least 10 "Vasaloppet buns" and drunk as many cups of blueberry soup.

Overall it was great fun, a friendly and brilliantly organised event; I enjoyed every minute (except perhaps the shuffle up the first hill). I guess my goal was to finish in daylight, which would have been sub 10 hours. It got dark when I had about 4-5km to go, but there were floodlights for the last few km, so quite fun really!

Anyway I finished in 10h 25min and no complaints as it was a great experience. No medal though, as only those who finish in under the winning time +50% get one. I would definitely recommend it and I'm sure to return to do it again. Jüri finished in 9h 15, the best of our group was 4h 40 and the winning time was 3h 57 (that’s three hours fifty seven minutes!!).

The expo was massive, loads of gear for sale, food freebies, etc. It was at the finish; we were there on Friday and there was lots going on and a great atmosphere as there was the relay race that day, with quite a crowd watching the finishing straight.

The Estonian group seemed like a nice bunch and though it was a bit difficult to get any conversation to start, I'd chatted to several of them by the end of the trip. (I think some of them spoke very little English), Jüri tried his best to look after me.
Anyway, the in flight wifi has just come on so I will stop waffling, send this now and maybe try and get some sleep.

Best of luck to the Engadineurs of the group next weekend.

Bye for now

Shane

Well done, Shane, that’s a considerable achievement, and thanks for agreeing to my publishing this. Our French friends, Pierre, Yolaine and Joel, who are good skiers, took 11 hours 41 minutes to do this race in 2016. Here’s their ‘report’:

“To answer to Martin, the only thing that we have taken easy on that journey is the beer at the end of the race. No in fact it was quite hard, because when you are at 30km from the beginning and already skiing for 4 hours, it is very difficult to imagine that you need to ski 60km more. But we have done it. We have skied all 3 together all along the race that was a good point. Curiously, the last 20km were the easiest, because we knew it was possible to finish before the time limitations, because the race profile was better and because we were helped by the Swedish "bravo" all along the track. It has been another marvellous adventure for us.”

I wonder whether Jenny & Co will report back on their ‘Engadine Experience’?

Stop Press: Jenny plus two others from the Tartu trip report succeeded in the Engadine. Jenny comments:

‘It was a great event and we had fantastic weather, a bit busy in some places going up the hills, although Trevor assures me that all I needed to do was double pole up the middle of the herringboning queues!’

Tuesday 14 March 2017 – A Surprise ‘Victory’

Well, that was a surprise!

After their ‘reserves’ finishing at the bottom of the pile last week, ‘The San Marinos’ found themselves coming about 12th out of 14 teams in last night’s quiz. But much to our surprise we managed to avoid enough pitfalls (including both the quiz master’s and Bev’s assertion that ‘Rubber Soul’ was a Rolling Stones album!) to arrive at the winning square in the ‘Snakes and Ladders’ contest involving the final 25 questions. It was our 13th and last correct answer that got us there.

John dutifully split the winnings between last night’s four team members. We will spend wisely…

An evening stroll, and a parkrun

Friday night saw three of us on the last of our current series of evening walks, from the Drum and Monkey pub in Alderley Edge. Despite the full moon I failed to take any pictures that can be reproduced here, and there are already loads of pictures of Alderley Edge on these pages, so I’ll make do with a picture of our short route, above, from which you might notice that I set off in the wrong direction and had to backtrack. Andrew and Sue had wondered about the direction I was taking, but had said nothing, assuming it to be a new route.

There was lots of deep mud and light pollution from highly illuminated properties on the loop to the south of the B5087, but we managed to get round without any further injuries.

Perhaps our next evening walk will be in daylight?…

Saturday morning found us cycling to Wythenshawe parkrun, before heading up to Bacup for an afternoon with Jessica.

My new Salomon Speedcross 4 shoes were the envy of the crowd!

The shoes performed well, bringing me home just in front of the running legend known as Ken Burgess, who struggled round despite a knee problem.

Sue managed to finish in a little over 30 minutes, though she couldn’t hold off a determined looking Ron in the finishing straight. Ron’s in training for a marathon, and close to his PB despite the slow course and conditions.

Here’s the melee at the finish. Can you spot Sue?

As usual, we adjourned for coffees at the courtyard tea room, where we were joined by an assortment of ‘cripples’. (Jeanette – can’t run but can cycle; Cary – can’t lift settees without damaging his back.)

Today’s course was a wet weather one that is generally slower, for various reasons, than the normal course. It’s known as the ‘Bowtie’ course. I wonder why.

Results are here. Thanks to Paul for keeping me company around the first lap before speeding into the distance. My new shoes worked well, and I suffered none of the usual slippage – I’d have gone faster if I didn’t have to hold one arm as if it is in a sling as a result of the shoulder damaged in Estonia; but it is slowly getting better.

Thursday 9 March 2017 – Dunham Massey Winter Garden

During a short interlude between dental appointments I joined Sue at Dunham Massey’s Winter Garden.

In fact, I jogged the 5.8 km towpath route from Timperley whilst Sue arrived on her bike via a yoga class. Lattes and cake all round was our reward.

It was cool but sunny in the garden, with lots of flowers in bud and a few in bloom. Some of the latter, and a few berries, are pictured below – mostly Sue’s pictures as she is better than me at this sport…

I didn’t make a note of all the names of these flowers, but no doubt some of them will appear on the following list.

There should be more visits in coming weeks, as the garden continues to spring into bloom. Well worth a visit if you can get there.

Tartu Ski Marathon Trip 2017 – Index and Summary

This was an Exodus Travels trip – cross country skiing in Estonia culminating in a ski marathon race.

Sue and I booked on the trip after Susan and Roy (Connecticut) found it. Ken and Helen (Ottawa) also enrolled. There were 14 others on the trip, together with Andy, the Exodus leader. They surprised us by virtue of all knowing each other from previous trips!

Can you spot everyone in the picture above, which was taken by Jűri, the local ‘fixer’ for Exodus? From L to R: Elly, Martin, Karen, Jenny, Steve, Sam, Stephen, Maureen, Roy, Ken, Phil, Mat, Helen, Sue, Tania, Trevor, Jim, Shane, Andy, Gareth and Susan. (You can click on the pictures for a larger version, which you’ll find anyway in the slideshow.

Sue and I travelled via an impromptu birthday party in Solihull.

The Cambridge Hotel near Gatwick proved a good place to stay and leave the car for a week, before we headed via EasyJet to the Tallink Spa Hotel in Tallinn and attempted a brief ski at Pirita (see ‘On the Piste Again’) before adjourning to a restaurant that in my blog entry I may have incorrectly named ‘The Golden Pig’. Anyway, the food was good and I was glad I chose the chicken in favour of the gigantic pig shanks. This was near the central square, where the Town Hall dates from the 14th Century and is the oldest in the Baltic region. (Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, situated on the Baltic Sea, a short ferry ride from Finland.)

So that was Monday.

We spent Tuesday based in Tallinn, which proved an interesting place to visit. My blog entry for the day is here.

The morning saw us on our skis again – most of us had now managed to get equipment that matched and fitted (yesterday I’d had skis and poles that fitted, and boots that fitted, but the ski bindings weren’t compatible with the boots!). We went to a rather icy area of artificial snow tracks – Nomme, where Sue is pictured with Andy.

Tuesday afternoon’s walking tour of the old city was enjoyable; it would have been more so had we bothered to don our down jackets.

Wednesday (blog entry here) saw us on a bus to Otepää, with a 16 km ski around artificial but enjoyable trails a stone’s throw from our hotel.

On Thursday (blog entry here) we were joined for the morning by a leading Estonian skier, Martti Himma, who demonstrated some warm up exercises and techniques.

The afternoon found four of us who were either crocked or had done enough laps of the 6 km ski circuit, strolling around the perimeter of the ski area, past a lake, a cemetery and a large church, and enjoying a long, lazy break for drinks and cake at Elsa’s tearoom.

Susan and Roy decided to pose on part of the National Geographic Yellow Windows Culture Route.

Friday was Sue’s 50th birthday. We had about an hour’s coach journey to Haanja, where the skiing was limited but good. My blog entry is here.

We spent an enjoyable time on a lake, where Andy captured the ambience in this image.

Saturday was a day off skiing for most of us. It was ‘A Trip to Tartu and a Race’ day.

Several of us bought these Salomon trail shoes for €65, which I’m told was a good price.

In the afternoon, three of our number, Andy, Shane and Sam, had entered a race in which they were to complete two and a half laps of the 6 km loops – 16 km.

Here they are after the race. Their times appear later.

Sunday was ‘Race Day’ for all of us. The elite race started at 9 am, and was the only one in which proper timing splits and age category positions were recorded in the official results.

The Exodus Travels group embraced a lone Canadian elite skier – Karen, who dressed as Superwoman and completed the 34 km race in 2 hours and 4 minutes.

The faster members of our group set off at 11 am. This chicken was faster than any of them.

Roy had to strain every sinew to keep ahead of the injured Susan.

Some of the rest of us took advantage of the free meal offered by the organisers prior to our 2 pm start. The food wasn’t very appetizing.

Whilst Helen and Jim did the short ‘Half Marathon’ two and a half lap route, the rest of us went for the 34 km, five and a half laps option. During the race it started to rain and the tracks got icy, so after four hours the race was stopped for reasons of safety. That meant that Jenny, Karen and Maureen didn’t manage all of the final half lap, but they did over 30 km in the slightly challenging conditions.

Our times are shown below. As the race took place in seven waves over two days, all with different track conditions, the organisers haven’t bothered to provide the normal age category positions and other data for non elite participants, which I think is fair enough – it would be pretty meaningless.

I’ve uploaded quite a few pictures that can be viewed as a slideshow here. If those on the trip let me know if they want any of the images at their full size, I’ll send them on.

Despite the poor snow conditions, this was an excellent trip in the best of company. I think you may see us again. Special thanks to Andy for managing to handle the large group with ease and keeping us well informed as to ‘what happens next’.

Saturday 4 March 2017 - TGO Challengers’ Snake Reunion Walk

About 30 Challengers attended this annual reunion, of whom roughly 22 enrolled on Graham's Saturday walk. He had chosen an excellent route.

After leaving the Snake Inn at 10 am prompt, we were soon stretching our legs on the woodland path up to the Roman Road, which we quickly deserted in favour of the path above Oyster Clough.

From this excellent rising path, pictured below, there were good views towards the Ladybower area.

We passed a shooting cabin; very basic, not really usable as a bothy, but it would provide shelter in an emergency. Today it simply served as a marker whereby we turned south east towards Cowms Rocks.

Here are two Grahams and David, looking back to the rising path, with Seal Edge and the Kinder plateau in the background.

The group was still intact despite Graham's electric pace, from which he was eventually reined in for an elevenses break on Hey Ridge.

Then a lumpy descent led down through a break in the plantation created by an ancient wall, to the Alport Farms.

From the farms, Alport Castles stand tall to the east, with The Tower in the relative foreground and good views up the Alport Valley for added interest.

We used a bridge, not the ford pictured below!

Soon we were on a subsidiary ridge with fine views.

The rocky summit of The Tower looks higher than it actually is from this ridge.

A few people followed Graham up to The Tower, pictured below, but most lunched amongst the rocks far below.

From here, there's a gently ascending ramp that emerges by the excellent path across Rowlee Pasture, from where there’s a good view back down the ramp to The Tower.

By the time I reached the Rowlee Pasture path there were only 8 in the group. Others had elected to go on ahead of the leader and had taken a short cut back to the Snake via the Alport valley.

Here we are on the flagged path across Rowlee Pasture.

What a contrast to last year (except that Sue is dressed identically), when our walk followed the same section of path.

After losing two more of our number at Woodcock Coppice (from where there was an easy walk back to the Snake), a residual group of six headed across the A57 and up a good bridleway through the well named Woodlands Valley.

That left Graham, me, Sue, Brenda, Tim and Graham (I think), for the final stretch past Upper Ashop, where a group of 16 mountain bikers was encountered on an entertaining descent.

Shortly afterwards a helicopter landed nearby. We thought nothing of it – helicopters are often seen hereabouts, generally in relation to path reconstruction and seeding badly eroded areas.

In fading light, obstacles caused by Storm Doris were easily negotiated on our way to rejoin the Roman Road and head down to The Snake Inn, which is up for sale.

Here's our route, 21 km with about 850 metres ascent, taking a very leisurely 7 hours or so (Graham having had to moderate his pace to avoid getting literally miles ahead).

There’s a slideshow (35 images) here. Click the first image, then manually scroll through the pictures.

On return to the Inn, we discovered that Colin, one of our group who had gone on ahead by the route not marked on my map, had fallen and broken his ankle. Hence the helicopter. The minor epic had been handled in exemplary manner by various TGO Challengers and the local Mountain Rescue team. Colin was, and is, ensconced in a hospital in Sheffield. We hope the operation went well and that he’s back on his feet as soon as possible.

Colin wasn’t entered in the Challenge this year, so his accident doesn’t free up a space. However, I was at the back of the standby list at number 80 and during the course of the day I was told that there is now a place for me, so I assume that everyone who has not withdrawn and who wants to take part this year is being allowed to do so.

I’d better plan a route!

Just in case anybody is interested, my postings about TGOC reunions can be found here.

Finally, thanks go to Alan Hardy for organising this event, which must have been a bit more stressful than usual due to management changes at the Snake, whose staffs looked after us well, so thanks also to them. We hope that Alan’s poorly knee is well enough by May to do the Challenge, and that Sue O’s knee also gets better. In fact, a lot of people seem to be in a slightly crippled state, so good luck and ‘get well’ – Everyone!