The Heb - Race on the Edge
The Heb - Racing on the Edge
Carrick Armer / 02.09.2017
The Heb - Race on the Edge has been a bright and breezy affair so far. After a very calm CalMac ferry crossing over from Mallaig on Friday and a fairly calm night at the Shell Bay campsite, the race began in fine style from the beach near Linacleit.
The race route this year is fundamentally the same as last year, slightly re-ordered and refined to account for some issues and ideosyncrasies of the islands. The ride out to the intertidal island of Vallay came first this year, with three orienteering checkpoints out around the island. The reaction to the two mile ride across the sands was the same as previous, a mix of awe and amazement. One male pair suffered the ignominy of a pinch flat on one of their bikes as they rolled down the gravel ramp from the road to the sands, and another female pair had managed to get... ahem... 'navigationally embarrassed' on the moderately waymarked road route to the section. At least this year the tide was fully out!
The 'breezy' part built during the day, and that became evident as the racers set off back from Vallay back over to the mainland, the headwind starting to show itself as they rolled across the sands and onwards towards Lochmaddy and the kayaks. The short kayak leg was relatively sheltered, in the bay close to the Taigh Chearsabhaigh museum and cafe, still had enough of a wind across it to make the turn at the end bouy a little complicated and penalise any teams that swung out too wide, having to fight their way upwind back into the lee of the islands to make it home. Solo racers, to escape being disproportionately penalised, paired up and paddled together, except Jonathan Ellis who ended up paddling with race director Paul McGreal as there were no solos close behind him. The race director was very happy to get a left handed paddle so quickly, being handed it by an incoming Dave Spence who'd taken it accidentally and struggled round cack-handed with his impromptu partner.
Onwards from Lochmaddy riders headed onto last year's 'Marmite' section, the Langass off-road loop and the Hebridean Way ride. The track is still as rough as it was, with good gravel surface for about two-thirds of the Langass section, then patchy gravel, unfinished trail and open moorland for the remainder. Like last year, the first section was mandatory; unlike last year, the second and third sections were optional, but with a two hour penalty for skipping off around the road and missing the two checkpoints on the trail. The vast majority seem to have opted to ride the trails, with only a handful taking the road options, so either the penalty was too lenient or people wanted a break from the tarmac!
The last big stage for the day was the Eaval run from Claddach Chairinis, with three checkpoints - a shieling, Eaval summit, and the edge of Loch Obisaraigh - as in last years edition. The tweak from last year was differing penalties and a time cutoff, meaning this year only a handful made the summit itself, the die-hards and the those going for the podium. The going from the road end was slow, even to the closest shieling CP with Rachel, the marshal at that CP, having disappeared up to her waist in a bog on the way out. She wasn't the only one, either, several racers finding just how warm the knee deep bogs were.
And now, the racers are all fed, watered and back at Shell Bay, and possibly pondering tomorrow's stages. Due to the weather forecast - 50mph gusting headwinds - there's likely to be a certain amount of dynamic replanning. The ride down the beaches may cease to be funny fairly quickly. As might the run up Hecla and Beinn Mhor. As with everything, we'll see how it goes!
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