Cracker 98 Snowdon Challenge
32 people accepted the challenge of a race up Snowden between cyclists and walkers.
There were 24 walkers and 8 cyclists who set off from Rugby at 7:00pm in two mini-buses.
After a 4-hour journey they arrived at the house, in which they were staying in
overnight, at about 11pm. Next morning after an 8am start, (all suffering from cramp
after staying in a house designed for 8 people), they got ready for the big race. The
race finally started, from different sides of the mountain, at approximately 10:30am.
The Cyclists Viewpoint
The day started well: the weather was good, peoples' bikes were in good
order, and so were our spirits. But after the first few zigzags we found
that we were already pushing our bikes, and after an hour we were
carrying them... in fog, wind and rain. But fortunately we made it to
the lovely warm café on the top.
Coming down we thought would be easy, but within the first five minutes
two of us had crashed off our bikes. It was better once we were out of
the clouds, but after some fast downhill Nathan and Paul found they had
punctures and Helen's back wheel came off. A quick repair was carried
out, but Nathan forgot to put his front brake back on, and he raised the
total number of crashes to four before he realised.
Nevertheless a good day was had by all - in retrospect! - and lots of
money was raised for Cracker.
Walkers report
The 24 walkers set off on the Miners Path, with the BBC Newsround crew, all dressed in
the proper gear and ready to go. However, their hopes were dampened after heavy rain
and strong winds sent them on their way. Luckily the clouds blew over and brought better
weather.
For the next half an hour the walkers were taking it easy and enjoying the spectacular
views until they the saw the very steep climb ahead of them. After the great struggle
up the scree they decided to split into three groups. This was because they realised
that they all wanted to walk at different paces. They entered the cloud at about 2,500ft
and from then on could only see 50ft in front of them at the best of times. Their speed
gradually slowed as the mountain got steeper and their legs ached. A wave of relief
swept over them as they reached the summit, although they could barely see anything in
front of them because of the thick fog! They were all really tired, not surprising after
walking for about three hours. The walkers had won! However, they were too tired to be
bothered and so decided to sit in the café to relax and wait for the cyclists to arrive.
One hour later the cyclists struggled in, defeated!
The way down was a lot easier and the path was much less steep. After a two hour walk
they arrived at the mini-bus at approximately 5:30pm. They then met up with the cyclists
for chips and finally arrived back in Rugby, very exhausted, at about midnight after a
long day.
Report By Andrew Beverly, Simon Beverly and Lucy Wrighton.
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