We were able to do 5 well deserved glides and some walking that allowed us to cover a bit less than the 40km that we needed to do to reach TP2 (Accous).
The conditions were still very humid and we had to wait quiet a long time on the take offs for the sky to open, the good thing about this is that it gave us the opportunity to join Ignigo and Greg and walk / fly together!
Eventhough we had hoped to fly more we are happy to hit TP2 flying and to finally not be at the very end of the ranking!
We hope that the forecast will change and that we will be able to have some proper flights before the end of the race. We are still motivated so, until then we will keep on walking !
Things are getting spicy. As most of our group lost the best flying day walking or in the clouds, we started the day high up in the mountains with a forecast of 30 km/h+ winds.
We decided to climb the nearest hill anyway, but up there we measured winds up to 13m/s – def too much. However, lower down we found a “protected” spot and after “quick” one-hour contemplation, I decided to give it a try. Should I have known it wouldn’t be the sketchiest take off spot of the day, I would have taken off immediately instead of waiting for one hour… 😀
Conditions were smooth and nice, lifts everywhere. I got some additional height and then I hit the wall wind in the valley. After that, full bar, a sketchy landing and barely any distance at all. We gained nothing, asphalt was the winning option again. But hey, at least we’ve got some nice shots!
Then it was just too hot, too far, too windy and too tiring. Spain as I imagined. Our next selected take off laughed at us with gusty wind. But the way down was long and would take ages. In between the cycles, we measured around 7m/s, so I decided to give it a try.
I walked down a bit and opened the wing. The cycle came brutally, I had to knee down holding the Bs. But well, I’ve done that before, in Chile, South Africa, Brazil, so I count on my experience. I pull the wing up, the lift comes immediately. I’m traversing the slope, twisted. I can still stall it, I think… I manage to turn around and try to get to my speed bar. My always peaceful Scala seems to be mad. I sort out a cravat, push the bar and try to calculate how much altitude I need to jump behind the ridge. There are no landings in front and I can barely move forwards – sideways it is then.
I take some lifts on the way and clear another ridge as I can’t seem to fly along it. After the next one, there are only high mountains. I’m not taking chances, so I decided to escape all the lifts and move towards the main valley. The valley is calm and there are big landing spots there – I like that. I guess I could have pushed further… Still, I gained some positions, found some limits, and most importantly, flew over really slow terrain.
We finished the day early, at 20:10. As the storm approached, it made more sense to fly down in the morning than to descend that late.
Two days running in the rain, very hard and with some short flights to advance a few kilometers flying in the French geographical labyrinth, with countless valleys, small mountains, and small roads that connect almost everything, but a bad decision running or planning to another place can make you lose a lot of time or gain many kilometers on your feet.
The tiredness in my legs is already noticeable and an injury that I had in 2016 has also begun to come back. I have no problem climbing the slope but it is very difficult for me to descend it, so these two days I have noticed a lot of the kilometers accumulated.
Today is the third day in which we hope that the weather will be with us and we can make longer flights and to avoid kilometers on foot.
Good morning! We’re checking back in after days two and three of seven.
Day two again brought unfavorable weather for flying – this meant that Rob (and the entire field) was pounding pavement for most of the day, although he did manage to get in five short flights. Each of these was a welcome (albeit brief) respite from the monotony of walking and jogging the road systems. Some of his flights had shallow, sporty launches, but Rob did a great job navigating these and pressing forward down course. Both by air and on foot, he charged hard and managed to gain ground on those in front of him. In the evening, Rob tagged TP2 in Accous, France, hiking up to launch and gliding out to the main road to walk a few more miles and end the day in a great position.
Day three was a tough one. The weather was better and Rob was feeling good when he set out, aiming for a nearby ski resort from which to fly. Rob and Keith hiked up, found a good spot, and Rob set up to launch. However, they ended up having to backtrack and find a new launch, as it turned out that they were just inside a no-fly zone. Once back in flyable terrain, Rob launched and tracked east, but ended up back on the ground. He hiked up and took a couple more flights from other spots, but once the west wind set in, Rob found himself in a tough position and it was difficult to climb out. He ended up gliding out of that zone to meet back up with Keith and I at the van.
Although he didn’t make as much progress down course as he would’ve liked, Rob’s still in good spirits and morale is high. There are still four more days of the race and we’re confident he’ll get some excellent flights in the days to come.
After a difficult day with a lot of walking on the road and small glides in the rain, today Xevi has been able to take advantage of a good day of flying, with about 140km flown between the great mountains of the central Pyrenees and a few kilometers from the TP4.
We started the day with a 4h walk from Aretta to the summit Cap de Leuba. 1,500 metres in altitude later, we found ourselves in the fog…
Patience is a virtue and we waited a good three hours at the launch site until visibility slowly improved.
We hoped to take Accous while flying and then go straight on in the direction of Candanchú, because the group on the south side certainly wasn’t sleeping either… Luckily Patrick and Reto were able to take the turnpoint in the air- we were catching up!
Shortly before the pass up to Candanchú, however, we had to land and take another hike. It was already close to 6pm at the time. Up to the pass and ready for take-off in two hours? No problem!
And what a reward we got: a breathtaking evening flight of 15 kilometres until 8.45 p.m.!
But the Pyrenees are wild, let’s see what they have in store for us tomorrow!
