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Polaris Challenge 1999

The Wark Forest, Fall '99

It was on a wet Friday evening after a busy week at work when I called to pick Mike up for my 3rd Polaris. Mike wasn’t full of enthusiasm due to the rain, but I’d seen a good forecast and was looking forward to a weekend out of pager and mobile range. After a cracking meal cooked by Sue which set me up for the entire weekend we departed for the 2-hour drive up to the Event HQ at Bellingham.

For those of you who do not know, the Polaris Challenge is a 2-day mountain bike orienteering competition for teams of 2 based in a different part of the country. The idea behind the event itself is that you have to collect as many points as possible, over the 2 days, whilst being fully self supporting, and wild camping at a designated campsite on the Saturday night. Points are gained by visiting checkpoints spread across the course area. The more difficult the check to get to the higher the points. Some checkpoints are only open on 1 day, and others both. There is also a time limit of 7 hrs on the Saturday and 5 on the Sunday, stray over these and you start losing points on a sliding scale.

When the event is first publicised, all we know is the region, in this case Northern England. About 10 days prior to the event you receive the details of the event HQ and base, this time Bellingham.

Anyway, back to the plot. Once at Bellingham Mike and myself quickly erected Mike’s tent, and then headed off to the event HQ to collect and mark-up the map from one of the master maps detailing permitted private routes, and any areas that are out of bounds. Once done, we found a local hostelry where we marked on the checkpoints over a couple of beers.

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny. We quickly arose, sorted ourselves and the bikes out, and double checked we had everything. After Breakfast we headed up to the start and the ”Give Out”. In keeping with Dawesy’s first law it was at the top of a hill by a radio mast. Once started we headed the few hundred yards along the track (bog to be accurate) to the Give Out where we were given details of which checkpoints were open, along with their points value, along with the GR for the overnight camp. After a brief panic at how far apart the open checks were, we decided on a rough plan of attack for the day. It was during this that the guy responsible for this sadistic event came across, introduced himself and asked what we thought of his brainchild - I stayed calm, and replied that it was ”interesting”!

We headed off to the first checkpoint along with just about everyone else which was about a 3-mile road ride, at which point everybody else seemed to go one way and we headed another. We shortly found out why when the bridleway disappeared into the forest. After about 30 minutes fighting through undergrowth and climbing over fallen trees we emerged onto a fire road shortly followed by some other fools who’d made the same tactical error. Never mind we’ll learn for next time and pack a machete and chainsaw. Some quick riding found us making up time again and rattling off the next few checkpoints. After a stop for lunch, Mike’s poor form due to injury and fitness started to show though. The weather started to change, and as we dropped near to Kielder Lake, the wind picked up and it started to rain. It was by the lake that we decided to have a break from the rain and we ducked into a nearby tearoom, before we headed up to the overnight camp. About a mile from the camp Mike’s rear mech decided that it was sick of living, and in a last defiant act committed suicide by flinging itself into the rear wheel. As we were so near we walked to the camp, where we assessed the damage. The mech was totalled as the cage that holds the jockey wheels had been twisted and torn from the rest of the mech.

We quickly pitched camp between the showers. By this time the campsite was filling up rapidly with dirty and tired cyclists a couple of very pleasant but dirty females asked if they could pitch next to us. Once I brought some very peaty looking water back from the river, which was the only source of water on the site. We brewed up and I dug out the one luxury I had made room for - chocolate hobnobs. These were warmly received by both ourselves and our neighbours Victoria and Jo.

An evening meal of dried pasta for me, and corned beef hash for Mike followed washed down by a couple of cans of beer. As night and the temperature fell we retired to the warmth of our sleeping bags. I did not realise how cold it had become until I had to answer a call of nature at 04:00 when the tent fly and zip had frozen up, along with my wet pair of boots. By morning the temperature had warmed up, and we ate breakfast and depitched ready for our start time of 08:50.

Sunday’s plan of attack was to limp back to the finish along the road. We had rigged Mike’s bike up as a single speed by removing the recently deceased rear mech and shortening the chain. However this left Mike with a single low gear which was only good for about 8 mph. We paused at the Tower cafe complex where we had a cup of tea, and made use of the other facilities. Another competitor who also stopped was overjoyed at the availability of real toilet paper and the warm air hand drier (it was truly wonderful)!

We then headed slowly onward to Bellingham and the car without any further mishap.

Thanks to Mike for being my team-mate once again, to the 2 guys who went looking for the bits of Mike’s rear mech, Victoria and Jo for being excellent neighbours, the other 995 competitors for the camaraderie, and to the organisers for another excellent event.

Gary Dawes

Last Modified: 7 May, 2003