The Sam Houghton Challenge is a mountain bike event set around Staveley and Kentmere in the Lake District, as it was local a group of us thought it was a worth while event. I thought that I would write it up in memory of Fred Hool (16th February 1948 to 3rd June 2008) a fellow RADs mountain biker and a 'good bloke', who would have been game to give it a go.
The Challenge is run in the memory of Sam Houghton who lost his battle with skin cancer in the summer of 2006. He was a young and exceptional mountain biker who lived in Staveley and regularly enjoyed the fabulous trails of the Kentmere Valley. The Sam Houghton Challenge is a fitting tribute.
We thought it would make a good challenge and sadly following Fred's death it became more poignant and gave more purpose. The blurb says "The course opens up some of the best natural mountain biking in the UK with a 46km long course with 1400m of ascent through Kentmere, Longsleddale and Troutbeck valleys and taking in the infamous Garburn pass". We have ridden these routes many times over the years, but putting them all together was going to be a challenge and hence worthwhile.
4 of us initially put our names forward and formed one 4 man team, then 4 more followed and entered on the day, so we had 2 teams. Now the second team (Paul, George, Joel & Ian) actually got the first start time off at 12.40pm the other time (Jamie, Grant, John & Chris) were off 10 minutes later at 12.50pm, so there was much merriment guessing where we would catch each other up, will it be the first or second gate! Anyhow just time for a last coffee before the off, & George managed to bang his head on a car door before the off and needed a plaster (this was to be the first injury of the day but not the last!).
So off they set at 12.40 with us in hot pursuit 10 Min's later, it was hot & sunny and hard work up the first hill, I blame the coffee and cake for breakfast! We soon split up on the first climb and on the first downhill I punctured and let the others go ahead, while changing the type a young man passed me heading back to the start, he had had 4 punctures and had ran out of repair patches!
I regrouped along the Longsleddale valley with John & Jamie, then it was up the hill at Sadgill and over to Stile End, this involved a little walk up the track. Again we had split up, with Grant getting away from us, once over the top I took it easy on the descent (not wanting to puncture again) and I saw a bunch of riders at the side of the trail, then I recognised then as our teams, apparently Paul had come a cropper and bounced off some rocks! After some time resting at the side of the trail we walked him down to the lane where George went off for the car to take him off for a check up, happily he was OK. The rest of us continued on our way, this now involved climbing UP Garburn, it was hot hard work even when walking up. At one point half way up where Joel paused his riding he put his foot down to rest, only to find no edge to the track and so he tumbled down the enbankment into the bracken and had to be lifted out! It's best to stay on the bike! We made it to the top and started on down, Jamie went ahead I stopped for food and half way down Ian and Joel caught me up we continued down towards Limefitt where Ian came off just at the end, he was cut up but OK, he chose to go back the short route. So Joel, John & I went on to do the complete route, via Troutbeck, Longmire, High Borrans, Mickle Moss, down to Kentmere Hall, Green Quarter (a bit of a climb after 4+ hours) then the finale of HP rocky descent and back to Wilfs for hot food and a rest, overall it took over 5.5 hours, but well worth the challenge in the end. Well done for everybody who took part and supported the event and the charities.
The Challenge is run in the memory of Sam Houghton who lost his battle with skin cancer in the summer of 2006. He was a young and exceptional mountain biker who lived in Staveley and regularly enjoyed the fabulous trails of the Kentmere Valley. The Sam Houghton Challenge is a fitting tribute.
We thought it would make a good challenge and sadly following Fred's death it became more poignant and gave more purpose. The blurb says "The course opens up some of the best natural mountain biking in the UK with a 46km long course with 1400m of ascent through Kentmere, Longsleddale and Troutbeck valleys and taking in the infamous Garburn pass". We have ridden these routes many times over the years, but putting them all together was going to be a challenge and hence worthwhile.
4 of us initially put our names forward and formed one 4 man team, then 4 more followed and entered on the day, so we had 2 teams. Now the second team (Paul, George, Joel & Ian) actually got the first start time off at 12.40pm the other time (Jamie, Grant, John & Chris) were off 10 minutes later at 12.50pm, so there was much merriment guessing where we would catch each other up, will it be the first or second gate! Anyhow just time for a last coffee before the off, & George managed to bang his head on a car door before the off and needed a plaster (this was to be the first injury of the day but not the last!).
So off they set at 12.40 with us in hot pursuit 10 Min's later, it was hot & sunny and hard work up the first hill, I blame the coffee and cake for breakfast! We soon split up on the first climb and on the first downhill I punctured and let the others go ahead, while changing the type a young man passed me heading back to the start, he had had 4 punctures and had ran out of repair patches!
I regrouped along the Longsleddale valley with John & Jamie, then it was up the hill at Sadgill and over to Stile End, this involved a little walk up the track. Again we had split up, with Grant getting away from us, once over the top I took it easy on the descent (not wanting to puncture again) and I saw a bunch of riders at the side of the trail, then I recognised then as our teams, apparently Paul had come a cropper and bounced off some rocks! After some time resting at the side of the trail we walked him down to the lane where George went off for the car to take him off for a check up, happily he was OK. The rest of us continued on our way, this now involved climbing UP Garburn, it was hot hard work even when walking up. At one point half way up where Joel paused his riding he put his foot down to rest, only to find no edge to the track and so he tumbled down the enbankment into the bracken and had to be lifted out! It's best to stay on the bike! We made it to the top and started on down, Jamie went ahead I stopped for food and half way down Ian and Joel caught me up we continued down towards Limefitt where Ian came off just at the end, he was cut up but OK, he chose to go back the short route. So Joel, John & I went on to do the complete route, via Troutbeck, Longmire, High Borrans, Mickle Moss, down to Kentmere Hall, Green Quarter (a bit of a climb after 4+ hours) then the finale of HP rocky descent and back to Wilfs for hot food and a rest, overall it took over 5.5 hours, but well worth the challenge in the end. Well done for everybody who took part and supported the event and the charities.
Here are a few pictures:
No comments:
Post a Comment