Great Drumtochty Challenge

The Great Drumtochty Challenge is a mountain bike orienteering event based around Fetteresso and Drumtochy forests about 20 miles south of Aberdeen.

For myself and David, entering the male senior team class, this would be our first taste of bike orienteering. It was with an amount of trepidation that we approached the event having had some interesting experiences navigating in forests before.

In advance we agreed some rough tactics. We would try and use our (supposedly) superior speed and fitness to reach the remote checkpoints first, which we hoped would be worth more points. At the end of the allotted 5 hours we’d go for the closer ones, thus running less risk of returning late and accruing a time penalty.

Upon registration we were issued with 8 figure grid references for the 43 checkpoints. We also marked hazards, including whins and larchon, onto our map.

The checkpoints were spread across a larger area than anticipated namely the inclusion of Durris Forest and Kerloch Hill. Kerloch was a real surprise as it is a fair trek away and is only connected to Fetteresso by some sketchy footpaths of unknown quality. At 534m above sea level it is also a steep and tricky climb (or descent) from either side which had claimed previous victims. The challenge was hard to resist so we decided to head there first, a decision that was confirmed when the points for each checkpoint were announced shortly before the start; the cairn at the top of the hill being worth 100 points, easily the most valuable checkpoint.

We got off to an inauspicious start, failing to find the first very busy checkpoint. Confidence was slowly gained as we collected some easy points before enjoying some sweet singletrack. The climb/push to the summit of Kerloch was tough in the very humid conditions. David’s route choice over the next section was particularly inspired favouring some technical singletrack instead of the more direct fire road. I didn’t take much persuading.

After the occasional wrong turn and some cooked brakes we were cutting back through to Fetteresso, which involved a long carry up a steep, heather covered, boggy hillside. Once back on the fast rolling fire roads we collected several more checkpoints, including one on an island in the middle of a river.

With time slipping away fast we sprinted for the finish, pausing only to collect the first checkpoint that we’d missed. This left a gruelling 1.5km climb to the finish against the clock. In the end we checked in 30 seconds late, only a 1 point penalty.

We reckoned that we’d done quite well and were delighted when the results were announced and we were winners of our class.

Thanks to David’s Dad and Lynda for the lifts there, the extra 22 miles cycling each way would’ve been hard work. We’ll definitely be back next year, after all we have a title to defend.

Click here to see more photos.

Posted: 08/05/06