|
20/09/2009 Wind Prospect sponsored the third round of the ‘Midlands Autumn Trailquest’ held in the Lincolnshire Fens on Sunday 20th September. Much of this annual ‘orienteering on bikes’ event is set within view of Red House wind farm in Gedney Marsh.
Wind Prospect developed and constructed the Red House wind farm in the Spring of 2006, which consists of six 2MW Repower MM82 turbines with an overall height of 100m. The wind farm provides an impressive background to a very challenging event.
Trailquesting is usually performed on mountain bikes as much of the course is off road. It combines route planning, navigation and cycling skills and is enjoyed by competitors of all levels. Winner, Nick Calkin of High Wycombe CC, one of the top competitors nationally, covered 103km in the 4 hours allowed to score 475 points.
Competitors are issued a map showing the location of all of the checkpoints when they sign in on the day, but only get to know the points value of each checkpoint when their 4 hour time limit starts. As it is rare for a rider to be able to visit all the checkpoints, even Nick only managed 24 of the 30 available; choosing which to visit to get the maximum score is a key part of the sport. Getting back on time is also vital, as penalty points are awarded on a sliding scale for every minute late, and after 30 minutes you lose your entire score.
Once everyone is in, the scores are totted up, and trophies and prizes awarded. In second place following Nick this year was Andrew Waller of CATS MTB on 429 points, and in third Dave Barker of Rugby Velo on 386. Wind Prospect provided model wind turbine trophies to the winners in light of the major influence of the Red House wind farm upon the course.
This is the third year of the Fens event, the second sponsored by Wind Prospect, and it is gaining a reputation as one of the toughest and most enjoyable fixtures on the calendar. The unique fenland landscape, event organisation and Wind Prospect sponsorship all contributing to this growing reputation, with competitors this year travelling from as far afield as Southampton, Halifax and Malvern. |
