Friday kicked off with a canoe competition on a nearby lake. It was picture perfect (except for a few drops of rain early on) but dead calm on the water, that is until 33 very unsteady canoes launched. We were navigating the lake looking to develop and produce oil, but seemed to produce more blisters and sore knees than anything else. We planned somewhat conservatively again with to ensure that we were able to finish on time, and maybe more importantly not drown. While we executed to perfection, gaining valuable bonus minutes, there were still a few teams which were able to amass more bonus points, to more than offset their slower times, and again came in with negative times. We were however gradually moving up the leader board, and while the upcoming mountain bike event made some of nervous, I was supremely confident in our team and bike skills.
Stage 2 video
As we made our way to the second event of the day we were welcomed to the town of Chagford with narrow one lane roads, instead of hoopla and fanfare. I am sure the locals hadn't seen a convey of 50 SUVs and mini-vans come through their town ever before. Chaos ensued and on more than one occasion we ended up backing down the narrow roads to find a place for the oncoming traffic to pass. Finally though we made it into the Dartmoor National Park and got to see what we would be faced with. The gentle rolling hills and wandering sheep at the entrance to the park were quickly replaced by the tall trees and steep pitches we were about to be come more than intimately familiar with. The aforementioned traffic problems meant we were rushed to the starting line and before we knew it on the road for a 2 hour endurance stage. The stage was based on the upcoming Olympic games, and we were to register as many teams as possible, by acquiring the athletes, coaching and equipping them, and finally registering. Bonus points were given for 'booking' travel and accommodation arrangements. For certain portions of the stage we were required to stay as a team of 4 and for others a single pair could progress the process. We were quickly greeted by the aforementioned steep slopes, and with the rain in the previous days and weeks, the soft ground made for some serious white knuckle descending. The highlight of the stage was a portion of trail which had been marked as 'poor grade of track'. Looking back not sure why it had gotten the negative classification because it was perfectly ridable, and looked like something straight out of a movie or fairy tale. It as truly unlike anything I had ever seen. The entire forest was covered in a layer of emerald green moss, which made it look like the surface of some far away planet. There wasn't any vegetation other than the trees and moss. Perfect green pillows with great pines as far as the eye could see, topped with equally brilliant green needles. I could imagine that nobody has set a foot in that part of the forest in years, other than the trail we were on. Some brilliant strategy let us to register 3 teams for the Olympics, and secure significant bonus points along the way. While some teams we far more fit than we were our planning saw us into 13th on the stage and edge into the top half of the classification after the stage.
Stage 3 video
With no rest and relaxation we jumped straight into the cars and back into the traffic jams of Chagford, with a pure strategy stage on the horizon. Back at Exeter University the teams were mixed and matched to see just how good we were at leadership and team building as we tasked with building a self-propelled vehicle able to carry a landscaping timber 2 meters, from the most basic ingredients. Teams were given a length of bungee cord, 4 discs of a tree, planks of wood and misc. nuts bolts and screws, and let loose to build their machines. There were some pretty 'interesting' things built by various teams, and only about 50% of the teams were able to achieve success within the allotted two hour time limit. It was the great equaliser for the teams, with some of the leading teams in the event failing miserably, and adding more than two hours to what were minuscule cumulative times up to that point. We unfortunately didn't fair all that better with only myself on a team that was successful in their attempt. We slipped back into the bottom half of the leader board, going into the last day. In what was a fitting end to our epic day, a fire alarm in our building forced us to watch the sun fade into the distance, while standing outside in the pouring rain. Luckily there was no late night event sprung on us late in the evening and we were able to get some much needed rest. With two endurance events on stage for Saturday we were going to need our rest.
Stage 4 video
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