Rss/XmlARWC: Trek to Bike
Merrell/Wigwam came into TA2 focused and in good spirits. They said that they felt good about their navigation during the micro-nav(orienteering)section. TA2 sits at a remote spot called Kinloch Hourne, the road that leads to Kinloch Hourne is the longest dead end road in the U.K.
The sleep-tac-toe has begun,Helly Hanson blew in and out of the TA but pulled over several hundred meters down the road and slept for at least an hour, Balance Vector bagged 2 hours of sleep as did Bujfors and Merrell/Wigwam. Sole got about an hour, Crested Butte and Nike motored on out of the TA. Bujfors, Merrell/Wigwam, Sole and Halti all took advantage of the local hospitality. There's a quaint Little B and B just down from the TA, soup was served in large quantities, heaps of crumpets and sandwiches were devoured and orange juice and lemonade flowed freely, satisfaction could be seen easily. Then those teams took advantage of roofs and beds for the sleeping session. Veteran moves, getting out of the elements for even a brief period can do wonders for the brain and body.
It's difficult to really know who's in the lead now with the different sleep strategies being used. The leader board isn't necessarily a correct representation of who's ahead of who, it only registers who's ahead at a given checkpoint. If one team stops for some sleep and another passes them then the passing team is now ahead but the sleeping team will show up on the leader board as ahead until the passing team goes through the next checkpoint. Then of course the passing team will get some sleep later and they will be passed and so on to infinity or at least to the finish line.
The team is predicting 10 to 12 hours for the next section, times have been long for all teams so far. I suspect it'll take them a bit longer than that, but I hope not. This section also contains the Red Bull aerial exposure which is a point to point rope slide with some velocity and then a hard hand over hand pull back up. Just a little WOOO HOOOO! to wake'em up in the middle of the night.
The Weather is still being kind here with periodic light showers and fluctuating temps, the forecast for later in the week isn't as good though.
Next report from the fabled Loch Ness. Jeff Akens
