Abu Dhabi Adventure Race 2008

Abu Dhabi Adventure Race

Team For Goodness Shakes has just returned from Abu Dhabi where it represented Great Britain in The Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge along with the world’s fastest and most accomplished AR teams.

We spoke to Fi Spotswood, member of Team FGS:

"The calibre of the competitions was astounding, with a Big Name line up like I’d never seen before. But to take our minds of the competition was the stunning scenery; azure blue sea and clear blue skies, mangrove, desert, mountain and white sandy beaches. The first few days certainly felt more like a luxury adventure holiday rather than a gruelling endurance event. The 24hr mtb world of muddy 10 mile laps seemed a million light years away. By day 3 the race had started in earnest with a ten hour kayak across the Arabian sea. We set off in the dark from our self-sufficient camp on a desert island. Slender kayaks with white sails caught in our head torch lights were beautiful, and the silver flying fish were hopping out of the water in front of our boats. For a few hours we paddled in darkness until the sun came up and the final 8 hours of the day stretched out before us. We stumbled out of the boats on the sandy beach and dragged ourselves, aching and chaffed, into the next stage – the 107km desert run. This was where our exposure lights came into their own. We had used them quite a bit during the race – at each camp to sort out the intricacies of our kit, to measure out our energy drink, to pitch tents, plan routes and plot GPS coordinates. But where other teams dragged their heavy bags over to the floodlights to save their head torch batteries, we drifted off to sleep with the piggy back battery recharging our joysticks. Quick check in the morning… green means go. The desert trek was the crescendo of the week’s racing. It began in the fog, with racers struggling against each other over the wet sand and into the wilderness. The scorching sun eventually beat off the fog and there we were, four tired bodies, surrounded by more nothingness than any of us had ever experienced before. We trekked, jogged and stumbled over the sand dunes, eyes stinging from the sweat, feet at times screaming with pain. The heat eventually slid away and we continued into the night. The lights came out and it was clear straight away what a blessing our joysticks were. The thick elastic bands were comfortable on our heads and the reach of the beam was ample, even on the lowest setting. Occasionally our navigator Andy would flick his beam onto full power and trail it over the dunes ahead of us to pick up the footprints of the teams ahead and make a quick judgement about their route choice. 12 hours of darkness and the sun came up again, willing us to complete the stage fast, before the heat became unbearable again. By 10 we were sipping cans of chilled coke, peeling off our sand gaiters and planning our attack on the final day, which was bike-run-bike. Legs fresh after a good feed and sleep we attacked the hill climb and continued flat out into the bouldery run stage, finishing well up on our usual daily position. Then there was the 200 meter abseil, an untimed section which gave us the opportunity to sit back and enjoy the stunning views from the top of the Jebel Hafeet across the desert. The final 27km bike to the finish in Al Ain was more of a procession with the lead teams holding their positions and a few others making the odd break to liven things up a little in the peleton. Abu Dhabi was a race to remember. Standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the most talented adventure sportsmen and women felt great and coming in the top 20 was a fantastic feeling. With massive thanks to Exposure Lights for the support, along with other sponsors Torq, Squirt Lube, Gore and our team sponsor For Goodness Shakes."

Fellow team mate Andy Wilson said "Have to say the lights exceeded my expectations. I thought using an mtb light as a headtorch would be a compromise but, they turned out to be the most comfortable head torch I've ever used - and I'm pretty picky. Light output & battery life was awesome & recharging in the middle of the desert from the battery pack was a real bonus. They have rendered my home build LED redundant..."