After my Romanian holiday, it was back to France to get down to business. I
signed up for Bornes to Fly since it’s such a great event in a stunning
location (just like Xpyr, of course). But unlike Xpyr, I didn’t hope for
bad weather on the first day (so we can have a nice leisurely stroll up la
rhune without sweating too much!).
In fact I was under pressure to finish the three day event in two days so I
could arrive in time for a gliding competition at my home French club. No
problem, the organisers said, last year the winners finished in 24 hours!
Well yes, but unlike some other hike and fly competitions they don’t limit
the number of French entrants so the level is very high. It’s a risk to
expose my “international” level skills in such competitions. But anyway
it’s already too late for me!
My last minute supporter for the last hike and fly event was going to
Tenerife for a holiday so I managed to recruit another local that I met
years ago, and he did a great job. He even told me that he enjoyed it – I
don’t know, is that normal? He got to try out his new tent and probably his
car now smells like cheese and socks. I thought we might have a go at the
eco challenge, where you minimise the ratio of supporter driven kilometres,
but he seemed quite keen to roam the countryside and get involved. So to
that end I chose my evening landing spot on day one to be pretty much off
the map.
Day one was a scratch fest with (mostly) weak conditions and slow climbs.
Crossing the same extremely wide valley three times back to back was not
normally how I’d spend my time when there were much better thermals in the
mountains, but I guess these unusual behaviours are an opportunity to
learn. Day two was cloudier but was an absolute blast. As opposed to the
single flight on the first day, I hiked and flew over five passes, and my
last flight to goal was after 8pm. I placed 33rd, which is top half, better
than on day one, and pleased my mother as it’s “a nice symmetrical number”.
So this time next month we will be deep in the Pyrenees. I’m looking
forward to the adventure.
Nick (New Zealand)
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