Logan Walters has been pushing hard on the pavement and trails through clouds and rain.
The weather has only allowed a few short flights, but a decision to take a different hiking route than the other athletes delivered a great flight to just outside of the Accous cylinder, saving a lot of kms on the road.
He is happy with his position and eager for the better flying weather we expect tomorrow.
Well… that was not really the best day ever. Low clouds, drizzle and fog were the big topic today. Oh and I nearly forgot – walking, shit tons of walking. A short sledder from a col down to the village of Alcay saved at least a few km’s and, but that was it…
As a gift for all this walking, inflammations of the knee and feet ligaments set in… It’s time for a weather change.
The 170 cm beds in the van turned out to be way too short, and we didn’t get much sleep that night. In addition there were thunderstorms keeping us awake. Next day was wet and showers of rain were forecasted all day. Still we were optimistic and wanted to continue the same way we did the day before: Hikes and glides.
Optimistic and ready to hike and fly!
Already at the first summit of the day we got caught in the clouds with rain. We walked further east and finally I was able to launch and fly down. The only thing was that we were now too far east and off route. I hiked up a new hill and was able to launch high enough to get around on the correct sideand back on track. So I thought…
On the first day I had difficulties with my instruments (XCTrack). I related this issue with interference from the tracker device. But now my tracker was repositioned and I still had issues with my instruments. Long story short: My XCTrack did not show the correct direction to go, it also showed that the next WPT was 2000 km away! All crazy! It ended up with me flying 90 degrees off route. Bahh… Stupid error. This could have been avoided with better preparations.
So now I had to keep the pace up on the ground for another 15 kms with the rain chasing behind. The goal was to fly one more time before the rain came. But when arriving at the next summit we had low clouds, rain, and winds from the back. We had to walk back down. No good for my knee, and no good for morale. The conditions down the trail became so bad, with slippery mud and heavy rain, that me and my supporter just had to laugh about the situation.
Finally back down on the valley floor the clouds were down to ground and we had steady rain. Some food inhaled and then a last 10k run to our base for the night.
Soaking wet after a long day in the rain…
A tough day where we lost a lot of ground to our competitors. Most of them were only hiking that day. But I cannot blame anyone but myself. Too eager to go flying instead of hiking, and not well enough prepared with regard to setup of instruments. Together with more rain than we hoped for, this made it a bad day for us.
The second day was also marked by many kilometres on the road. Patrick still feels fit, all the running doesn’t bother him much. We were able to record three flights and thus catch up with some of our competitors. Nevertheless, the hope is high that tomorrow he will finally be able to stay in the air longer.
Accous, we are coming for you!
On the way…
Day 2 is a game of hike and hike.
Team Australia started the day in the tiny village of Manexenea after a few mistakes put us on the backfoot in an otherwise great first day.
A strong effort from Rich, who spent the day walking with Nico from Team Argentina, saw them catch up with the main pack.
A key glide into Alcay further tightened the field. From there, as the rain settled in, it was a march onwards towards Accous.
With better weather on the forecast for tomorrow, getting into a strong position to tag the turn point and head onwards into Spain is the key!
Resting after the first day 26 juni 2022 with Chrigel Maurer
Arriving at the first stop of the day and walk next to Maurer.
This was Noe Court’s day 2 at the XPYR – Refreshment and Stopover – D
NOE COURT – Day 2 – Getting some supplies. In this type of race it is very important to keep food and hydration under control.
Short interview with team Masztalerz/Desmond on day 1 of the race X-Pyr 2022 (Hondarribia – El Port de la Selva)
Dancing with Tomas Matera – On day 2 of the race X-Pyr 2022 (Hondarribia – El Port de la Selva)
Day 1 – Hondarrabia – Mendive
The weather was announced rather gloomy and rainy for this start of the race. To the delight of the team, it finally took place without too much precipitation with some windows.
➡️ The objectives have been achieved with a lot of kilometers (including a lot of walking 😅).
Indeed, a few well-placed flights and a few well-exploited thermals made the day profitable… for the rest, we had to walk, run and walk again… and run again.
A satisfying climb of the Rhune with a 4th place at the top. Thank you to those present for their support 😉
➡️ 4 take-offs on the day’s segment: La Rhune, Axulegi, Urretzi and Arla.
The end of the day ended by running in the rain to reach the night site: Mendive.
Time to rest for the whole team now… while waiting for the starting signal tomorrow morning!
Another great battle to come:
“Rainy X-Pyr Happy X-Pyr? 🤔”
Regards,
Marie
The kms are already beginning to be noticed, the inconveniences are appearing…
