RACE 8 - REMPSTONE ROAST (4) - 20 February

This is the forth and final race of a series of races that takes place in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset on the Rempstone Estate.  Rather than spend ages here explaining how lovely the part of the world is, why it's called the lsle of Purbeck and so on, I've put all that information at the end for a change,quoting copiously (well plagiarising actually) from http://www.dorsets.co.uk/Purbeck/ 


Health warning: you might want to get a cup of tea or a beer at this point as this update is rather long and rambling.  


The races were held in November and December last year, January and February in this.  I'd already competed in last years races (unable to January as it clashed with Run Rampage).  The races are organised by a really friendly triathlon club, and are just basically, really great fun.  This one consists of a 4 mile cross-country run, 15 miles of mountain biking and then a cheeky little 1.5 mile run to finish (you off).  Love the fact that all the distances are in "old money". 


For the second week running I'm getting my excuses in early.  I've a cold - sore throat, runny/blocked nose type but NOT man-flu.  I know, it's a bit pathetic to have an excuse again - I really need to "man-up".  Never mind it has given me a reason to eat whatever I like, personally find chocolate works for a sore throats, because as they say 'feed a cold and starve a fever' (or is it the other way round, I can never remember).   


Well the rest of this update is brought to you from Somerton, Somerset.  Well I did say at the outset that part of the reason for doing this was to visit as many people as possible during the year so here I am being spoilt rotten at Mum and Dad's. After an early start (6am) - for those of you interested in such things took the A3 (which incidentally goes across London Bridge - some trivial knowledge); M25; M3 (through the cutting at Twyford Down - scene of demonstrations .... I wonder what happened to "Swampy"? Whether he settled in some prosaic existence?); M27 around Southampton and then the best bit - the A31 across the New Forest with the mist hugging the heath. Really evocative - reminds me of a cycling holiday last year I spent  there and the fact there is an orienteering race at the end of March which I really must book (unfortunately the day after the annual hockey dinner but ....)  Then the A338 around Bournemouth which morphs into the A35, past the centre of Poole, passed the end of the road where friends live (more of which later) and turning off towards Wareham. Stay on the Swanage road (A351) finally turning left at Corfe Castle - easy to spot as it emerges like a broken tooth on its motte.  Onto to the road to the Sandbanks Ferry. 


Got to the Burnbake Campsite where the race HQ was sited just after 9am in time for a brew. Exchanged a bit of banter with the organisers - also availing themselves of the tea / coffee / hot chocolate. They must have got up early to check out and mark the course, set up the transition - never fails to amaze me how much time and effort people are willing to put into the organisation of clubs, races events etc. The real stars!  After a cup of tea - put the bike together and got ready. 

However venturing into the nearest woodland for the necessary 'relief' realise just how wet the last couple of days have made it!  This was emphasised by the very cheerful race organiser -  with an ear to ear grin she explains that some of the muddy looking puddles are a) very muddy and b) are deeper than they look - something I found out later on! She also mentions that those of us with elastic laces should make sure that they are on very tight as the running course is a 'bit muddier than usual". 


Again to digress - elastic laces are really useful in non-muddy races as it allows you to change shoes very quickly in transition. In this case my trail running shoes (yes you can get special trainers for running off road - they have more grip than normal trainers and the ones I've got are meant to let the water drain out more quickly which as you've seen for pictures from earlier races is a bit of a necessity!) and into to my mountain biking shoes (which - you've guessed it are different from my road bike shoes in that when mountain biking you occasionally - well a little more than occasionally in my case - have to get off and push therefore they also have more grip and recessed cleats compared to road shoes). So as you can see from the long rambling digresson - "kit/gear" considerations are the main reason for doing off-road duathlons! Actually while on kit - for those interested the bike is a Scott Scale 50 'blinged' with some oval chain rings (which I could also go on about but think will leave another time). 

Anyway back to the race - eventually - the start line is by the St John's Ambulance - which always raises a giggle.  The run starts through the campsite and through broad leaved woodland - very muddy but managed not to loose my shoes. Then onto sandy trials through coniferous woodland - marginally less muddy but the trials acted like streams - passed one of the volunteer marshals who cheerfully egged us on with a "you're still looking clean" - I think he was being ironic!  By this time the sun had come out and it was fantastic running through such lovely countryside - gently going down hill.  Needless to say the slog uphill back towards the transition was a little less enjoyable.  


Back in transition decided not to put the cycling jacket as with the sun it began to feel pleasantly warm - though on reflection that might just have been the run I'd done. The cycle course was back through the camp site and into the woodland where it had been very muddy on the run and although we went the opposite way on the bike it was - you've guessed very muddy!  So now well and truly caked in mud we head out up a long incline on sandy /wet trail up onto the heathland at the top of the hill. There fantastic views over Poole Harbour almost worth stopping admiring and taking a photo except that firstly I didn't have my camera on me (it was back in transition) and secondly as soon as you got to the top it was straight into a rather more rapid decent. Picking up some really good speed back down into the woods the first corner you come too had a large muddy puddle just on the blind bit! As cycling is a bit energetic you tend to do a lot a breathing through your mouth - aka gasping for breath! So as mountain bikes don't tend to have much in the way of mudguards .... Suffice to say there was a certain grittiness to be washed down with a drink.  


As we'd been warned there were some large puddles which if you didn't get just right tended to stop the bike dead and you can guess what happened .... Although to be fair I got most of them right and it was only the once that I had to get off and push. Back eventually onto some sandy trails which weren't running with water and we're just errrr ... well sandy.  You know what it's like walking on sand dunes - well it was a bit like that - cycling through treacle!  Also came across a group a people all in flouroesent jackets and poles, looked like they were training for some kind of forensic team - decidedly odd. 


Did the second lap - i.e. repeat - long incline, muddy puddle, gritty mouth, wet feet, cycle through treacle = end result wet cold feet, very muddy, and a bit tired.  Morale took a bit of a  hit as ending my cycle I saw some of the first runners finishing. However consoled myself that I'd only been overtaken by 4 people on the bike, and the run was only 1.5 miles so I was only 10 mins or less behind. So slipped into my trail shoes (another advantage of elastic laces is that you don't have to struggle tieing you laces with wet cold fingers) and off on the run following the route of the first lap initially - which if you remember was the wet muddy section. Just sprinting (OK more of a staggering jog at this point) when I was halted by dulcet tones asking would I mind terribly if I stood still? Shocked into standing still - I mean they must of realised I was 'racing'! I was confronted by two very nervous skittish horses who had been startled by the runners in front. And - you've probably worked it out by now, as horses don't actually talk - they were being ridden by two very attractive (see how I notice the important things even in a state of near exhaustion!) for want of a better word 'gals'. Puffing chest out and trying not to gasp for breath too much - said of course I wouldn't mind and while they thanked me, explained I was delighted to have the chance to catch my breath - though obviously I didn't need too! Finished to see the first cars leaving but it was such a beautiful day - quite frankly wasn't bothered or demoralised in the slightest.  Even less bothered and totally 'moralised' after a 'breakfast bap' sausage, bacon, egg, mushrooms ..... and a cup of tea. 

Scott Scale 50 

Back to the car park where everyone was packing up - interesting variations of putting very muddy bikes, kit and riders in and on cars.  Overhead one wife berating her husband 'I know you love that bl**dy bike - but you love the car too!' I wonder what heinous crime he'd been party to - probably got some mud on the upholstery.  Trying not to show off (too much) I got my power washer out plugged it in to the car's cigarette lighter and proceeded to hose down the bike.  I'm not saying that anyone else was looking on enviously as obviously I was very subtle about it ..... not!

As drove back to Poole crossed an area of very low lying land, much of it flooded so you can see that in a bygone age, without all the modern agricultural drainage and such, the area could have had the sense of being an isle.


Many thanks to Karon, Andy and the boys - Findlay, Keir  and Leon, firstly for lunch and then introducing me to the joys of the sneezing panda and lego men singing the beer song on YouTube.  Also may have competiton soon from Findlay as he runs cross-country for the school, plays rugby, tennis .... generally an all round sports star - so long as he doesn't take up triathlons (yet).  It was a great way of winding down after a race - much more preferable than my default of go home, eat, lie on the sofa, fall asleep, wake up stiff and so on.

That even off to Somerset which is basically A35 to Dorchester, turn right on to the A37 to Yeovil and you're virtually there - who needs SatNav? Then two days of TLC.  Thanks especially to Mum who like mum's all over the world did my washing for me (probably a bit muddier than even those I bought back from college) and for telling me how to use the pre-wash (I suppose I could read the instructions but then they're really only the manufacture's opinion of how things should be done ...)

Found out something else is celebrating it's 50th - Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (which shamefully I've never read - think I got half way through at school but I have seen the film with Gregory Peck!



Result: 23 out of 40 in a time of 1:52:35 (about 4 mins slower than last time)


Series Result: 13 out of 21 (basically they take the best 3 results out of the four races - in my case all my three results as I'd missed a race)  


BACKGROUND:

"Purbeck is a district of Dorset that takes its name from the peninsula known locally as the 'Isle of Purbeck'. This sixty square mile chunk of land jutting into the English Channel is bordered on three sides by water and, although not actually an island, has an insular character which is largely due to its geography.


A ridge of chalk from the Cretaceous period known as the Purbeck Hills runs along the peninsula from Ballard Down, a National Trust nature reserve north of Swanage, managed for its calcareous grassland habitat, through Corfe Castle and almost to East Lulworth, a hamlet consisting of 17th century thatched cottages. East Lulworth is relatively low-lying due to a break in the cliff that occurs at Arish Mell, while to the north is Luckford Lake, a small stream feeding into the River Frome, which in turn runs intoPoole Harbour. In the past the low-lying land would have been very boggy and difficult to cross in winter, hence the 'Isle' of Purbeck.

There are a number of Iron Age, Roman and Saxon archaeological sites to be found on the isle of Purbeck. Nine Barrow Down, for example, takes its name from the nine barrows (stone age burial mounds) that have been found along this ridge on the northern side of the Purbeck hills while Flowers Barrow, in the south, is an Iron Age hill fort built 2500 years ago, a part of which has been lost to the sea thereby dramatically demonstrating the effect of coastal erosion.  The first settlement in the area would have been at Wareham. Easily reached by road and rail, today’s town forms an ideal base for exploring the Purbeck coast. Wareham’s accessibility attracted regular raids throughout history, especially from the Vikings, and it was eventually captured by King Canute in 1016. Raised earthen walls were built around the town for protection and today these walls are a haven for wildlife and enclose a thriving market town with a Saxon street plan and more than 200 buildings of historic and architectural interest.
The nearby Corfe Castle represents another attempt to defend the area from marauding armies. Built in a gap in the Purbeck Hills this ruined castle dates back to the 11th century. It is now owned by the National Trust, who are currently attempting to restore it. The village of Corfe Castle, built in the gap below the ruins, is a picturesque affair and attracts many visitors each year.


The Purbeck coastline is part of the ninety-five mile stretch known as the Jurassic Coast, named England’s first natural world heritage site in 2002 because of the unique insight it offers into 185 million years of the Earth’s history. The Purbeck Beds are an internationally important record of the evolution of mammals at the beginning of the Cretaceous period, and a total of more than 100 different vertebrate species have been identified from fossils. The Purbeck limestones are also famous for dinosaur tracks, the most significant of which are at Keat’s Quarry, where footprints more than a metre in diameter were discovered in 1986.


The more recent social and geographical history of the area is inextricably bound to its complex and interesting geology. Large deposits of Purbeck Ball Clay in the north give way to parallel strata of Jurassic rocks where the land meets the sea, including Portland Limestone and Purbeck Marble, a very hard limestone that, although it is not strictly marble, is capable of being polished. The Purbeck Hills, meanwhile, are part of the Southern England Chalk Formation which includes Salisbury Plain, the Dorset Downs and the Isle of Wight and gives rise to some of the most spectacular cliff scenery in the whole of England.  Purbeck Marble, like Portland Stone, has been in great demand over the centuries. Many of England’s more famous cathedrals are decorated with Purbeck Marble and much of London was rebuilt in Portland and Purbeck stone after the great fire of 1666. This mining activity led to a number of cliff-edge quarries, the remains of which can be seen at Tilly Whim. These are typical old stone quarries right on the cliff edge called after a special type of wooden crane used to load stone onto boats, known as the ‘whim’. The nearby 'Dancing Ledge' offers another example of man’s influence on Purbeck’s landforms. A massive piece of stone was cut out of the cliff and shipped to Kent in order to construct Ramsgate Harbour, leaving behind a flat ledge the size of a ballroom dance floor. 



The Ministry of Defence have played a significant part in Purbeck’s recent history, most notably in the case of Tyneham, a ghost village commandeered by the War Office in 1943, along with 30 square kilometres of surrounding heathland, for use as a firing range for training troops. This temporary measure became permanent in 1948 when the army placed a compulsory purchase order on the land and village and it has been used for military training ever since. In 1975, following sustained lobbying, the village and footpaths were opened to the public at weekends and throughout August and today, although the Elizabethan Manor House was pulled down in 1967, the church and schoolhouse remain intact and are preserved as museums. The absence of farming has allowed the land to become a haven for wildlife. "