The paddling was much faster than we expected as we raced along with the tide in the Menai Straits. Although it was shortened, most of us (except Sam!) were happy to be on our bikes in the sunshine and riding some great trails. The run around Conway town walls was novel and it didn’t take too long to hunt out the controls in the castle. Rosemary had to resist climbing every tower just for fun 🙂

After that it was more cycling, and some experimenting with the bike tow to equalise our speeds. The zip wire was a real highlight for us all! We had 54 minutes of penalty for going slow in the prologue, so had plenty of time for chips, egg rolls, bacon rolls and sugary drinks beforehand. The actual ride was hair-raising as we plummeted off the edge of a quarry and flew at high speed to the other side. 2km in no time at all 😀

We have just finished a long trek. We have been out for 9 hours and didn’t even get any checkpoints! Don’t worry though, it was a tactical decision to make sure we have plenty of time for some of the later stages. We’re all hoping to get up the mystical Cader Idris tomorrow! Right now it’s 5:30am. We’re putting the tent up and getting a couple of hours sleep so we can have a strong day tomorrow. We’re looking forward to more sunshine, great views and our first proper cafe stop. As a team we’re working really well together so we should have another 4 days of fun racing. Hope you’re all following our dots and thanks to the parents who showed up on course today!

P.S. Remind us to tell you all about the swamp of doom, in which we nearly lost Sam but finally emerged soggy but unscathed…