Journal 2008 - The Journal Royal Highland Fusiliers - The Royal ...

A Maori warrior on patrol.Stage 1 – Capt McClure, Capt Pennington.did not let up at all during the hour-long parade and it wasundoubtedly with some relief that the crowd dispersed to theevening function, especially for those involved in the Parade whowere soaked to the bone.The evening involved a buffet dinner, a considerable amount ofalcohol and some valiant attempts at public speaking by severaldignitaries who were drowned out by the sound of rain and noise ofthe crowd. We continued to meet individuals from other Regimentsaffiliated to 1 RNZIR and several dignitaries before the evening’s end.The visit allowed us to refresh the links with 1 RNZIR, whichwere established over 40 years ago.(NB: More excellent ‘Visit’ photographs are on the third page of theColour Section under 1 RNZIR.)THE TRANS ROCKIESCaptain R R D McClure1 RNZIR 50th Birthday Parade.In August this year I had competed in the Trans Rockieschallenge; a 7-day mountain bike stage race held in the CanadianRocky Mountains. The race covers over 500 km of wilderness andascends over 11000m. The race is a team event, each team madeup of two riders who must remain within two minutes of eachother at every check point. This year over 600 competitors fromover twenty countries competed. I entered the race with CaptTented Accommodation.Charlie Pennington RM who I had only met a few months earlierwhile deployed in Iraq.The race commenced in Panorama Ski resort approximatelyfour hours away from Calgary. The Kootenay Rockies providedthe stunning backdrop to the event running north to south andfinishing in Fernie. With one exception, each day we would raceto a new location. The event organisers moved the camp each daywhile we raced. A mobile shower unit, kitchen, marquee, tentsand RVs (for those who could afford them) followed the race toour new destination.Each day saw us in the saddle for an average of 4 hrs with thelongest stages taking over 6 hrs. The first descent of the TranRockies was an eye-opener; this goat track, a few inches wide,first contoured the mountainside before dropping over 500min a series of tight switchbacks. On Day 2 we encountered ourfirst technical problem when we realised Charlie’s rear hub wasbroken: he would have to pedal for the whole of the stage ashe was unable to freewheel. As Day 3 dawned aches and painswere now being felt and my backside was not looking forwardto another day in the saddle. Day 4 arrived and with it therealisation that my body could feel worse than the previous. Itfelt colder and we were taking longer to warm up; the first hourwas painful. This was one of the longer days, 113 km and over1300m climbing. Charlie had a major accident, coming off ona fast descent. He recovered well enough to pull us along theforestry service roads and we finished 47th.THE ROYAL HIGHLAND FUSILIERS 47