A challenge of a lifetime!

On arrival in Costa Rica all Challenge participants were eager to get on the road and get to our first hotel in Quepos. It was a bumpy 3 hour trip from the Airport at dusk, the sky was turning the most amazing colours of orange and red, before it went dark and the stars above shone more brightly than you could ever imagine. We all knew we needed to get a good night's sleep to prepare us for the next 7 days and most went straight to bed.

We started out as a big group at about 8:30 on the Saturday morning, cycling into the hills from the Pacific Coast, ending the day with a multiple hour hike to our first camping ground and the first of many cold showers. It had been an eye opening introduction in to what we should expect over the following 6 days. We had a briefing about the next day, which was the first day of racing, which was a team Hike and navigation.

Early morning start up some very steep climbs and Anthony, Trevor, Lee and I were making excellent time ahead of the rest of the teams, that is until we got lost... to catch up we ran to the mid-way point at the river and were found to be in 5th place only 5 minutes behind. After a quick break and water re-fill we all headed out again for the second stage of the Hike. We found ourselves with two other teams, one from Siemans and the other's were Suzie, Shashank, Patrick and Steven. We all decided to go in the same direction, and we all got lost again. We found the 'right' path about an hour and a half later after spotting other teams below us, and about 45 mins after that, we crossed the finish line together, taking equal points for a massive effort. We then had a short cycle to the next camp, a lodge in Santa Maria and the second of the freezing cold showers. We had our first 'quiz' but I think it should have been called mastermind!!! Any team that achieved over 5 really needs gold stars...

Third but second day of racing saw a 4:30 wake up call for an early morning road race up a long incline. Trevor and Anthony were supporting Lee and I all the way and we managed to make it up in good time, managing to pass a couple of teams on our way. The biggest story of the day was the courage which saw Suzie do that same climb having come off her bike within 5 minutes of the start, kudos Suzie!! We were travelling through 'undulating' hills for the rest of the afternoon on off-road track, which saw a number of our team members falling off and more injuries ensued. By the close of day three, only two of the Liberata team had no scratches to speak of...

Fourth but third day of racing, saw another full day of cycling and another racing challenge. The race on this day was a big team effort and we all worked together to make sure we were taking full advantage of the wind and the effort we were putting into our legs. At the end of the day, we saw another long climb to our first bed of the challenge and it could not have come at a better time. The evening was spent in the bar and the restaurant, it was the first opportunity for all of us to relax, and even though we had been together for four days, we could now mingle and get to know the other teams a little bit better.

Fifth and fourth day of racing we all woke up knowing we would be saying good-bye to the bike saddle and hello to the rafting paddle! The morning race was on undulating terrain and we again worked hard to get through it as a team and make the best time that we could. We had a little more fun after the race coming down the steep hills, freewheeling through amazing scenery and taking it a little easier, that is until we reached the unexpected climbs which were scattered every so often between the. We took the final bit of off road track down to the river and met our guides... WHITE WATER RAFTING IS AMAZING! The first day we only saw grade 1 - 2 rapids but we still had a few falling out of the rafts and going for a swim. We arrived what seemed like minutes later at a river side campsite which looked like something out of a dream. I remember this day as being the highlight of the trip for me, everyone again got to relax, we all chatted freely and looked forward to the day of rafting ahead of us while spotting the odd firefly here and there amongst the trees.

Sixth and fifth day of racing started off quite early as the team practised for a challenge later on in the day, the recovery from the raft overturning! Heads under water and bodies completely soaked but we felt confident going into the day that this one at least could be ours. We headed down the river and not long after pulled to the side and we started the 800 metre race where we had to self-navigate, Trevor took charge of the steering and the rest of us paddled our hearts out. We had a bit of bad luck at the beginning by going into a tree but overall we performed quite well:) A little further down river and we had to turn the raft over.... we watched six teams go before us, and all of them had different techniques, some were entertaining and others very impressive. Our turn, and 16 seconds later it was over... this is one we did win and it all came down to working as a team and wanting the same result! Through shallow waters we scrapped through and reached our final camp early afternoon. In a briefing we found that we would be having another early morning and had to be on the water by 5:00!! We all had second servings of food and got an early night, although not sure how much sleep we all managed to get.

Rush in the morning to get the kayaks to the water, Lee and myself were seeing this as a big challenge and looking forward to again performing well in the race, so we took it easy going down river. Once at the start of the race, we got beached!! Along with Trevor and Anthony, we then tried to play a game of catch up but for some reason or another we could not manage to go in a straight line and we fell behind. After swapping kayaking partners, and putting in a massive team effort, we got into a rhythm and caught up some time up on the others but were not able to catch up to the group. After a packed lunch, we carried on up the river toward the beach on the Caribbean coast, sloth's and monkeys in the trees, amazing wildlife and birds along the shores, we were kept entertained. Lee made me laugh all the way and made sure a smile did not leave my face. With a bit of effort, and a lot of shouting directions, we were going in a straight line and finished up on the beach proud of the effort we had all made.

There may have been things I wish I and the team could have done better, but I could not have wished for a better set of people to be sent to Costa Rica with. I have learnt some big life lessons and I have made some lifelong friends. I have been lucky enough to see one of the most beautiful countries in the world from a point where most would not venture. I have seen others grow and been humbled by their achievements, and I know what difference the money I raised for the Prince's Trust will make from first hand experience.

I know that I will continue to support the Prince's Trust in their work by fundraising and I hope that I can one day be able to give my time as a volunteer. I hope that everyone will continue to recognise their amazing work and make contributions to them in the future!! We have until the 28th of March to collect all of our monies and if anyone out there has not yet made a donation I ask that they do so at www.justgiving.com/liberata.

Lastly, I would like to thank Bob Gogel for giving all of us this amazing opportunity. I would also like to thank Jan Guias-Palmer for all her support and work behind the scenes. There are also a number of other members of staff who have helped the team raise funds and administer our web pages and blogs, a big thank you goes to you as well! We could not have done it without you!

We made it!

James and Christos vist Coed Eva Junior School

Christos and James visited Coed Eva Junior School in Cwmbran today to address the pupils about Liberata, The Costa Rica Challenge and the good work of the Prince's Trust.

A friendly welcome of tea and biscuits was followed by the school assembly and a hearty rendition of "Weve got the whole World in our hands". We then talked about the geography of Costa Rica and some of the perils we would face along the way. The school have kindly donated £300 to the cause and asked us to follow up this visit with news of how the challenge went. Thanks to all involved in setting this up and of course to Coed Eva Junior School for such a warm welcome. James and Christos

And into the new year we go!!

Well.... it's now 2008 and only 59 days to go until our big adventure in Costa Rica.

It's been an interesting few months with some hectic training and fundraising taking place - but there's still heaps to go between now and take off in early March.

The Christmas/New Year period has been a tough one with regards to training with the overall object to at least not go backwards!!! Additionally - there are no New Years resolutions this year as they are all Costa Rica resolutions and have been in placae for a couple of months now.... all that is needed is some additional focus!

Off to the gym tonight (despite being the last thing I want to do) and every night this week (except maybe Friday), bit of a bike ride this weekend then off to the hilly region of Norfolk on the weekend of the 20th for some serious hiking along the chalk cliffs (let's hope the weather holds). Then a bit of a surf the first week of Feb (yes, it's gonna be COLD) which should help as will certainly need to be active out there to stay warm and I'm sure that there will be some more mountain biking in Feb. So.... looks like a busy couple of months for me at least and I'm sure that the rest of the team are similarly busy training in the short lead up to the event.

Now just need to finalise that fundraising and it's be all systems go! So.... if there are any of you out there reading this that haven't donated.... please visit our just giving site at www.justgiving.com/liberata and make a donation - send me an email at simonfellowes@liberata.com with the subject and you'll get yourself some tickets for our raffle - first prize a tailor made suit from 'A Suit that Fits' second prize two introductory courses for scuba diving and we might even throw in a bottle of champange as 3rd prize. Get involved!!

Til the next update (with hopefully some photos!)
Simon.

.. hey ho it's Christmas time!

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a great 2008!

I did some more fundraising today at the Co-op Department Store in Derby and raised £270 from the very generous customers. I did scare a couple of people as they thought I was a fixture, so when a tall banana started talking to them, I think they all thought they had gone mad*LOL*

Unsurprisingly enough, I have yet another cold... did not help standing by the drafty door today but the amount raised and the awareness of the charity were well worth it!

I have some collection tins in a local Derby salon, Sally Montagues, and I shall be collecting those funds in the new year. Also still in the process of arranging an event with Derby County Football Club.

The Star - Staff go ape for Tracey 19/12/2007

By Nick Ward

STAFF at a Sheffield company monkeyed around to raise £800 for one of their colleagues taking part in the charity challenge of a lifetime.

Employees at Liberata collected the cash with a Banana Day in aid of Tracey Armston, who needs to donate a minimum of £3,000 to the Prince's Trust to compete in the charity's Costa Rica Challenge.Workmates dressed up in banana suits, gorilla costumes and pyjamas and organised fundraising activities.

Tracey, aged 26, from Nether Edge, will undertake a seven-day journey across Costa Rica in March.

EPIC WEEKEND IN WALES

Thought I would add in my little bit as a different point of view from Trace's - fantastic weekend!!!!

A fantastic training weekend was held in Brecon over the weekend 15th to 16th December. Those in attendance was; myself (Simon Fellowes), James Brayshaw, Trevor Longhurst, Tracey Armston and Christos Tsakiris – all a little bit the sorer for a weekend of serious cycling.

The weekend started circa 7pm on Friday night with team Jag departing Clapham Junction with the Newport Xmas party as the first destination. Whilst Trev and I were on the M4 hurtling towards Newport – James and Christos were firmly in the Christmas spirit making the most of the free wine and open dance floor and having a grand old time. Arriving at Newport around 10pm we met Paul Davies who unfortunately wasn’t able to take part in the Challenge itself although he did make the initial team. Both Trev and I could sense Paul’s disappointment in not being able to take part and felt for him as he certainly seems to enjoy his mountain bike riding and although having a number of extra years of experience on all the other members of the team – certainly looks as tho he’d ride most of us into the ground!!

Dragging Christos and James from the Newport Christmas party (and then the accompanying Wedding marquee dancefloor) we finally made it to James’ pad in Cardiff which was to be base camp for the first night. After a couple of games of Tiger Woods golf on the Wii and a sobering up cup of tea it was off to bed by 2am

Early doors start on Saturday morning had us setting off from Cardiff by 8:30am – with a slight detour through the back waters of Treforest to pick up Trace who had been sensibly holed up with her brother and his girlfriend for a quiet night in front of the fire with a bottle of wine in preparation for a big weekend.

Arrival in Brecon at 10:30 had us welcomed by Keith from BikesandHikes.co.uk who had our 5 sparkling clean Gary Fisher mountain bikes there and ready for us - as well as a couple of maps with detailed tracks for us to explore over the next couple of days. A quick check-in and change saw us on the bikes by 11 and hitting our first of many many hills. Day 1 saw a couple of very sore heads (Christos and James), lots of hills and a bit of mud across the moors. Some spectacular scenario was on offer and the temperature was well below zero as evidenced by the fact that all the puddles were covered in a thick layer of ice. The track we’d chosen for the day was pretty much all up hill – offset by one big decent on tarmac about halfway through which would have been great fun on a nice warm day, but due to the temperature making it feel as though we were riding through a cloud of needles felt more like a tortuous waste of all that uphill climbing we’d done in the 3 hours prior. All enjoyed very much the final run down the hill and back into Brecon – however I know that there were a few broken hearts over the last few miles as each hill we crested across the moors only seemed to reveal a slight dip leading into yet one more monster climb into the distance.

After a quick change, a nice warm shower (and for some of us a quick power nap) we were off to the local pub…. For a cup of tea! The local Chinese catered dinner with more than ample serves of prawn crackers and numbers 11, 131, 145 and 165. The numbers might not sound appetizing but the food certainly was and it seems that the service crew don’t understand any English other than numbers (even if they were Welsh!). Portion sizes were sufficient to allow us to replenish energy levels whilst leaving sufficient to feed a small 3rd World nation. We departed to the local pub where the locals were all cheering on local boy Riardin for the X-factor final and had a couple of pints and a few games of pool until it hit 9pm and we decided that was late enough to head home to bed. I think we all watched the conclusion of the X-factor final (how exciting are we) before catching some well earned zzzz’s.

Another early start for 8:30am breakfast and after a quick stop at Morrison’s for lunchtime supplies we were on the road by 10:30 only to be held up by Trev and a flat tire…. 300m into the day’s ride. At least he could have waited an hour or so to make it a worthwhile rest stop!!! The Sunday morning was ALL up hill. The track was called the GAP and was through some Lord of the Rings style scenery with us heading up a valley with our destination firmly in sight…. Way, way, way up the hill and some tricky terrain. The terrain was made all the more tricky by the frequent ice with all puddles and run-off covered in a thick layer of ice making some sections difficult to even walk across. Somehow we made it and the reward was awesome – with not only the view magnificent but a thrilling section of downhill ride over some nice little pebbly bits with a few little jumps thrown in. A short little climb back up across the top of the hills (in a freezing cross wind) saw us enter the forest and a nice little bit of sheltered calm with cold pies and sandwiches for lunch and what was left of my lucozade frozen in my drink bottle. The next section was all single track down hill and a great little ride which made all the uphill worth it. Through the forest and through the mud made for some very challenging riding and saw most of us off the bikes at various stages (often in the middle of a mud puddle!). The boys all loved it and although Trace was a little anxious at times – she put on a brave face and was never far behind.

The White Hart pub appeared almost by magic at the bottom of the decent and we couldn’t resist popping in for a bit of a warm up and a ½ pint of Guinness before hitting the canal track for a smooth 10 mile trek back into Brecon. Feeling a bit tired and broken from the prior two days riding we all lined up for a bit of slip-streaming and put our heads down in an effort to plod home as easily as possible…. That is until Trace got bored and powered ahead to set the pace.

All in all we covered plenty of ground (circa 50-60 miles) and feel as though we’ve climbed just about every hill in Wales in some pretty extreme conditions (which unfortunately are nothing like the heat we’ll experience in Costa Rica but all we’ve got to work with). We each got some good team time and got to know each other where previously many of us had only briefly met. It was a great weekend and we’ve all walked away a little bit sorer than we started, but feeling good in the way that only some serious exercise can provide. We’re aiming to repeat it all again sometime in January and anyone who would like to join us is more than welcome to come along!!

Padded cycle shorts definitely recommended.

Til next time!
Simon.

Brecon Weekend!!

I have to say congrats to the guys for getting through this weekend! We had two heavy days on the bike and I think all of us are taking a break from the saddle if you know what I mean... but still hard training to come in the gym don't you worry:)

The first day we were out from just before midday to just past 4pm, dusk was upon us when we returned to the B&B mud ladden and freezing cold, but feeling good.

Night out at the local pub, with some rather fine cuisine at the Chinese too, and we were even fortunate enough to be in Wales for a big welsh event!! Watching Rhydian lose X-Factor while taking in some Guinness and a few games of pool.

An hour into the second day, we had already tackled a number of hills and this one was causing more than a few problems... but I think we managed to get up most of it on the saddle...

Just a little bit further on the trail... we hit the hill of ICE!! and when I say ice... I mean literally a river frozen over... an inch of ice forming on the fence just from the wind!! Needless to say we had to conquer this one on foot...

After climbing all the hills... or so we thought, we wanted to take a breather!! Here are all the guys pretty happy with that achievement... and so they should be!!

...told you and so we thought... another hill....

Sorry guys, forgot we promised not to mention that word for awhile!!

We finished the day on the canal path and enjoyed a slightly easier ride back to Brecon before all having a much needed shower and getting back on the road home... this time in the warmth of a car!!

Thank you to designated driver Simon for getting us there and on our way home!! Thank you to James for arranging the weekend!! and thank you to the guys for putting up with a slightly hesitant girl going through all the mud!! I had a wicked time and can't wait for the next visit!!

To the rest of the team who did not make it.... you need to get to the next one for sure!!

Simon Makes The Paper

The Next Mountain Biking Weekender

The next Mountain Biking weekender is taking place in Brecon on December 15th/16th. Check out some of the trails on the following link…

http://www.mtb-wales.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Subjects&file=index&req=viewpage&pageid=76

The Gap has been recommended as a classic trail so may give that a go. Snow is forecast so bring gloves!
The plan is to meet in Cardiff on Friday night or first thing Saturday and then head north into the Beacons. Bike rental and overnight accommodation in Brecon has been arranged. No doubt a few beers and a Chinese will follow a day on the saddle!

See those brave enough there!

James