samedi 21 novembre 2009

vendredi 20 novembre 2009

CP8

Arrived at cp8 at 12:45, thank you to elodie, mouny, francois, guillaume, olivier, jp. Yeaah. 20 km to go

Signpost 150

Yeahhh, tai mo shan, checked. 25 km left to go. Walking towards CP8 to meet support and get it over with.

Caro and jen

Cp7

Checked. Caro and Jen are with us now. Yeahhh. 1:45 min adv.

Support waking team

Cp 6

Checked. Left it after breakfast and teeth brushing at 6:00 am. Thanks damien, julie and jerome. Sun is rising. Last but not least tricky part ahead, needle hill.

Cold..freezing

3:15 am

Signpost 106

2:30 am Exhausted and cold but ahead of time. We are walking with the support of fabien, gerald and paula. Joan is sleepwalking. It is tough.

walkers sleeping ahead

CP4

00:30 . At cp4. So windy on man on shan. Great to have Fabien and Gerald with us. Met with Paula and Ryan. Beacon hill we will beat you.

Signpos t77

9:30 pm. Man on shan,here we come. Walking time 10h30 min.

Cp3

Signpost 60

Night time lamp time.

Special to our families that follow all around the globe.

Cp 2

Arrived at checkpoint 2 after 5.5 hrs then 10 min breaks. there we meet surprise supporters Juliette, Guillaume and AntoIne. Everything is feeling good despite knee pain, neck pain and anxiety.
Serious hiking is now starting.
Looking fwd to yr support messages.

Support team, we are 45 min ahead of schedule.

jeudi 19 novembre 2009

Signpost 42

4 km to go to CP2. We are up and walking.

CP 1

Yeaah CP1 in 3.5 hrs!!!

To supporters at CP3, cover yourself,/lots of wind. Freeezing.

Signpost 10

190 to go! Changing to our team tshirt. perfect weather: sunny with a little wind.

Pre 100 km

Powergirls synchronization

SG ready to rumble

The four of us woke up and show up on time at the meeting point and we are all heading towards the starting points!!
Chloe has a very bad neck pain but she is still in and excited. We will make it.
Starting time: 11 am.

Glamour preparation

D-1' glamour preparation at the beautician so that we all have nice and red nails for trailwalker. It was also a great way to party for Joan s birthday. NOW we are ready.

dimanche 1 novembre 2009

Cloudy Hill and Pat Sin Lei


Saturday, October 31st

Team Members on call: Joan and Chloe
Walk with Ian's crew - Stages 8&9 of the Wilson Trail

elevation: +1,340m, same negative
length: 17K
time: 6h

We decided that the best way to celebrate Halloween was to join Ian's crew for a 'long and tough' hike, as advertised in Ian's invitation email...
We started from Tai Wo station (KCR East Railway) up to Cloudy Hill that we found quite similar than the hike up to Needle Hill. From the top of the mountain, there are beautiful landscapes on the right, and surreal views on Shenzhen skycrapers on the left...
We continued down to Hok Tau Reservoir.
A warning board announces the beginning of Pat Sin Lei, advising unexperienced hikers to find another way... But nobody looked too scared about it (halloween mood?) and the group happily took the path. The way is long and tough before actually reaching the 'Pat Sin Lei' or the 8 Immortals Range, named after the 8 hilltops to climb and rechristened 'the 6 virgins and the 2 bitches' by the group, who suffered the most on the 2 tricky last hilltops....
The hike offers sumptuous views over the Country side and the Chinese bay, and we can even catch sight of Tai Mo Shan (section 8 of Mac Lehose, the highest hill in HK).
We came back to civilization (= beer) down the 8 hilltops, at Luk Keng village, where it's easy to find food, drinks and transportation back to Central.

Conclusion: very good training hike, beautiful landscapes but don't go there if you're not well equiped!

samedi 24 octobre 2009

Sections 6, 7 & 8... And the team finishes the trail!

Saturday, October 24th

Team members on call: Lorene, Chloe
Sections 6, 7 & 8: from Tai Po road to Twisk
elevation: 1,100m + , 800m -
length: 20.5KM
time: 5.45h

Beautiful Saturday morning of a 3 days week-end in Hong Kong: that's the perfect timing for the two of the team who has not walked all the 10 sections of the trail to finish it!

Here we go then, start at 6am, more or less awake, with few recommandantions from a colleague of the top of our mind: don't get too close to the monkeys of section 6, pay attention to the cows on section 7 & beginning of Tai Mo Shan, be careful where you put your feet on the way down from Tai Mo Shan...

Nobody fooled us about it: section 6 is most probably the easiest and the shortest section of the whole trail. Monkeys were here as well, but not aggressive at all. The only difficulty of this section is definitely not to get lost! Carried along by our enthusiasm, we did not see the turn to make and continue along Golden Hill road up to the end. Guided by a group of old Chinese people that we made laugh a lot, we found back our way but lost around 15 min.

Section 7 starts with a beautiful point of view which totally rewards the hike up to Needle Hill. Elodie, who did it 3 weeks ago, warned us before: don't watch Needle Hill from the bottom. It really looks insurmountable, but we found the 1,000ish stairs easier to take that the ones of our weekly Twins' hiking.
Grassy Hill's slope is quite smooth and nice environment who remind us the French country side (cows are definitely part of the landscape but we hadn't seen them).

Tai Mo Shan the highest mountain of Hong Kong (957m) was not worse than expected. The way goes up to the top in a not too steepy slope.

The hike in general was quite smooth, but most probably because we did it early morning and avoid the heat of noon time. We did not go too fast, but did not take any break of more than 2minutes, and have plenty of time to chat(usually we stop speaking on the way up, but this time, the slope was not steepy, and except from the way to Needle Hill, we managed to speak the whole hike...)

Conclusion: we feel ready for the rumble!

lundi 19 octobre 2009

Morning trail + Hong Kong trail


Saturday 17 October

Team members on call: Chloe, Elodie and Lorene
Special guests: Caroline and Paulita

Weather: Hot and Sunny

Objective: Morning trail + Section 1 to 7 of Hong Kong trail
Length: 44 km
Difficulty: Long

What is the best way to start a week end? Wake up at 5 am on Saturday to go hiking. Yeahhh!!

After the 36 km the past Sunday, we raise the bar and plan to walk 44 km. But at the same time we wish to finish early and knees are a bit exhausted after the numerous hills of the week before. Hong Kong trail it will be + morning trail but minus section 8 and the stairs to Big Wave Bay.

Sections 1 to 4 are new to us and actually really nice, quite easy, with great views of Hong Kong island. With 5 ladies on board this morning, obviously the topic of the day is men, good looking men, but I won t reveal more...

After 27.5 km, it is finally lunch time. It is Noodle shop near the water reservoir, so so nice and relaxing. Then we say bye bye to Paula and Caroline who definitely deserve to rest.

After lunch, the main difficulties of the day (besides the lenghth..) remain: Jardines's Lookout and Mount Butler. Then the Tai Tam reservoir where we almost git lost but hopfully a nice lad and teammates helped us find our way. They are also preparing for Oxfam Trailwalker.

We are not done yet... 44 km, it is quite a way. After the Tai Tam reservoir, section 7 and the catchwater await us. A very long catch water. We even run at one stage in the hope to finish quicklier.

Lorene announce the end of today s hike at post 83, but at post 83, no road, no bus ... Lorene don t know how to count. The end is actually at post 84 but after 500 steps, 500 unexpected steps. Still we are so glad to finish after 10h30 min of walk.

44 km, checked!!!

Last challenge of the day: fight the mosquitoes at the bus stop and find a cab. we did find a cab but Lorene is full of mosquito bites!

vendredi 16 octobre 2009

First race!

Sunday, October 11

The whole team on call!

Special guest: Paula, Matthieu


This week-end training was a bit special as we participated to a real race organised by Salomon on the most difficult part of the MacLehose - sections 3, 4 and 5 (36.7Km - around 1,500m of positive elevation, same negative).

That was really exciting as it was for 3 of us a first real competition, in the same conditions than the D day, and above all, because it was the first time that we manage to walk all together for a long training.

The first section went smoothly, except for the big fear when Lorene twisted her ankle on a rocky slope down. She finally managed to finish the trail thanks to her two walking sticks and her iron will!

We made a break at the check point between sections 3 and 4 of 20minutes, which made us realize that it's the time we need to do the things we have to do in a hurry (eat, refill the camel bags, stretch) and leave us no time to rest at all.

At the end of section 4, it started to rain and mood started to shade... Fortunately, as we will most probably do on D day, we stopped at the noodle shop few hundred meters after the check point and enjoyed a rejuvenate hot meal... Break was a little bit longer than expected (40min) but it really worth it. After the rebirth, the 5 of us finished the race in 11.20hours which was a bit more than expected but remain in the average time advised by the organisation team to finish the whole trail in 35hours.

Due to the incessant rain, it got dark quite early which was a bit problematic as we brought only 2 lamps for 5... Nevertheless, the Beacon Hill part enjoy the lights of the city and we didn't suffer too much from the night (but more from the rain!).

Anyway, in these difficult conditions, we were just happy and proud to cross the finishing line as a whole team.





mercredi 14 octobre 2009

Hear from the walker: Joan


Is it your first time doing the Oxfam Trailwalker Hong Kong?
It's going to be my seventh time, I can't believe how it happened, because i said to myself every year it was my last Trailwalker. I am saying it again: 2009 is MY LAST TRAILWALKER!

Why do you do the Oxfam Trailwalker?
Challenge I guess, also my friends are doing it, why cant I?! I started as support team to find doing the walk is more exciting, and registered in 2003 for my first one. From then on every year, there is a reason to come back and do it again. The best thing about Trailwalker is that it keeps up your daily weekly monthly training, you have a goal to go for in November. It's fun to do it with a gorup of friends.

What is your role in the Sport and Glamour team?
I am "mama san" of S&G team, my first Trailwalker team of all girls. I enjoy walking with these young girls who dont know what they are going into, but still determined to do it, I like this spirit. That's how I started, getting pain, struggling, and feeling rewarded at last.

Any memories so far?
Last weekend is our 36k race as a team, I was very exhausted after 28K wanting to drop out at the noodle shop (the famours noodle shop at half of Maclehose!), it was raining, getting dark, having no torch and I did already 20K the day before.....so lots of good reasons to escape. "No, you cant do this!!" Lorene was holding my rucksack as a sign of "no go". After a hot soup noodle, rain stopped a little bit, I was feeling rejuvenated. Finally resisted coming coach that could take me to Taipo MTR, I followed our girls up to Beacon Hill and finished the last 7k. I knew I would regret if left them and let them down, we are all so pleased that we finished the race as a team and our support team Paula!

What is your glamour symbol?

Feminine hobbies. I like stylish jewelry and clothes, not caring about brandname. I like colors and patterns on fabric and paper prints.

What is your sport attribute?
My pro-trek watch that can tell elevation (not very accurate as it works with temperature), compass, temp. it's a comfort by checking on my watch how much elevation achieved when going up hills. On my last Kilimanjaro trip, our head guide wanted to buy my watch as the same model turns out very expensive in Africa, evetually I didnt sell it.

What is your favorite hike in Hong Kong?
Hongkong Trail, Pat Sin in New Territory, the hike in Sai Kong leading to fish restaurants, Twins leading to Stanley....

What is your next challenge?

??? Not much elevation, Kilimanjaro should be the highest of my conquer. However, Tibet, Nepal, hikes in New Zealand, and some trails in Europe .... are on the bucket list.

mercredi 7 octobre 2009

Hear from the walker: Elodie

Is it your first time doing the Oxfam Trailwalker Hong Kong?
Actually it is the first time I am doing anything like that. I never thought of myself as the sportive kind, even if I have always been quite competitive.

Why do you do the Oxfam Trailwalker?
Sometime I ask myself the same question, especially after a long and difficult training… To be honest, my first reason is for the challenge

What is your role in the Sport and Glamour team?
I am the “photographer”; I love to take pictures along the way. They make great memory and I am sure we will be so glad to have them in the future looking back.

Any memories so far?
During one training we took a shortcut by error. We were supposed to pass next to a reservoir but we could not see any water; so after a while we stopped a group of Australian guys and asked if they have seen the reservoir. We then realized we had been walking the wrong path and had to go back on our steps, adding one hour to an already long walk. The following day looking at the Oxfam website we found a post about the specific shortcut we took with the following comment: “Team taking the shortcut will be immediately disqualified”. Good thing it was not the actual race day…

What is your glamour symbol?
I love nice underwear. It’s not what you see, it’s what you don’t see :)

What is your sport attribute?
My back-pack! It took me a while to find the perfect one: light, with easy access for water-bag, pockets on the side for the energy food and my camera so I can access it while I am walking, a place to carry my 2 canes and enough space inside for changing clothes…

What is your favorite hike in Hong Kong?
Definitely the Dragon's Back. It is fairly easy but the reward is high: fantastic view and the Shek-O Thai restaurant and beach at the end of the walk.

What is your next challenge?
I would love to do a Trailwalker abroad. There is 13 Trailwalker across the World as of now: http://www.oxfam.org/en/getinvolved/trailwalker

mardi 6 octobre 2009

Dear supporters,

2 good news today!

Good news 1: New donations have been done online . hkd 800 raised as of today!
Yeahh! Thank you so much for your donations.
Lets continue on this trend: Donate here

Huge news 2: SG validated our sponsorship request.
SG will help us raise funds in HK by organising 2 charity hikes, an in house movie screening, as well as helping us recruit volunteers for the support team. More info on this 2 charity hiked to come soon.
Thank you SG ;)

Training of Oct 4, Lantau Peaksss

Sunday 4 October

Team members on call: Chloe, and Lorene
Special guests: Jean-Philippe and Marc-Olivier
Ian's Crew: Ian, Carol, Cristina, Hans and Bernd

Weather: Hot, Sunny but windy

Objective: Sunset peak and Lantau peak
Length: 17 km
Difficulty: ***

The hike of the day, led by Ian, has 3 parts:
Part 1: Tung Chung to Ngong Ping
Part 2: Lantau Trail stage 3 & Lantau peak
Part 3: Lantau trail stage 2 & Sunset peak

To go from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping, 2 options, option 1: the stairs under the cable car, not so fun; option 2: The secret trail.
And Ian and co, with all their hiking experience, know both. Lucky us!
Don't ask me the way, because it was like a maze and I would probably get lost if I try it again by myself.
It is a very nice walk through the Tung Chung villages. We even walked by a temple in which monk where singing. Amazing.
Anyone has the map of this trail?
This walk arrives at the end of the Lantau trail stage 3 and is a good walk up 400m ish. Definitely ** difficulty for us.

Still 400 m ish to the top of Lantau peak and some 400 m quite steeper than the previous ones.
Lantau peak, here we come!
This is a quite demanding hike and we welcome warmly the little wind on the hill. You get an amazing view of the Big Buddha from the trail.
Once finally at the top, we do a photo and snack break, without forgetting to strech of course. Then down to the road and end of section 2 of the Lantau trail and after a short lunch break, saying bye bye to our special guests, it is time to go for the Sunset peak. Yes we have to climb one more time... We can make it!

Section 2 of the Lantau trail goes smoothly as well, not without breaking a sweat though. What a relief to arrive at the bus stop! When you think that it was only 17 km and that next sunday, we go for 36 km ...
Lets go to the long awaited China Bear for fresh drinks




samedi 3 octobre 2009

Hear from the walker: Chloe

Is it your first time doing the Oxfam Trailwalker Hong Kong?
Very first time indeed, and I have to admit, my first sport competition, my first involvement in any kind of event like that! I have never been a sportive woman, always preferring partying than practising sport with my friends, but the challenge was so tempting when the idea came out...

Why do you do the Oxfam Trailwalker?
The idea really came out from friendship and appeal of personnal and team achievement... Since we brought up the team and started the training, I found many other reasons in participating to the trailwalker: of course the charity case, but also the discover of HK incredible Country Side, I even happen to realise that I love hiking! But the main reason deep inside is still the team spirit and it could never be the same without Lorene, Elodie and Joan.

What is your role in the Sport and Glamour team?
I am the Team Leader, ie I am the main contact between the Oxfam organisation and the team. I am here to make sure everyone gets the updated info on the race, and that Oxfam gets the right info on us! I will also be the one collecting the total sponsorship and send it to Oxfam in December... But, as Lorene said, it's a team work, and we are really working together to collect the sponsorship, organise and coordinate the support team (to bring us dry clothes and food at strategic points during the race) and work out the training schedule.

Any memories so far?
Already plenty of memories!!
My body would definitely remember the Sunday hikes right after partying (vodka or sport, one should make a choice!), the climbs under the 'very hot weather' signal, and the Thursday mornings at work after the Twins night (every Wednesday night, we walk the Twins, a hike with a hell stair of more than 1OOO steps !)
But what I will bring with me after the event is the kindness, patience and support from friends, family and other Oxfam participants.

What is your glamour symbol?
I love cloth and designer brand... What do you mean it is related to my first name?

What is your sport attribute?
I bought a camel bag with a double pouch, one for energy drink and the other for plain water. A small button allows me to control how I want to mix my drink (you know I love cocktails). I find it very useful as I don't like the taste of energy drink and mixing it with plain water is the real solution!

What is your favorite hike in Hong Kong?
My favourite hike would most probably and without originality be the one to go to Tai Long Wan. This White sand beach in the New Territories is a real piece of paradise where it is possible to rent camping material and spend the night.

What is your next challenge?
The 50K HK Trail? A marathon?
don't know yet, and please don't ask on Nov22nd... my answer would be to sleep on Sunday morning!

jeudi 1 octobre 2009

Hear from the walker: Lorene

Is it your first time doing the Oxfam Trailwalker Hong Kong?
Yes, it is first time I will do the Oxfam Trailwalker ever, in Hong Kong or elsewhere!
I did some hiking in the Alps when I was a teenager and I hike from time to time in Hong Kong, but that's about it for my hiking experience.

Why do you do the Oxfam Trailwalker?
Really for the challenge.
And we have the chance to have it in Hong Kong: Lucky us.

What is your role in the Sport and Glamour team?
Besides closing the hikes aka being the slowlier one, it would be fundraising.
I put my SG CSR Ambassador experience at use for the team and for Oxfam. We built this blog with the help of my brother to promote the team and encourage donations. We are also organising two fundraising hikes and one charity movie screening!! But really it is a team work ;)

Any memories so far?
Well, we did meet a fellow trailwalker who advised us to look for hot male support team in Lan Kwai Fong.

What is your glamour symbol?
It would be stilettos, I love shoes and I love high heels.
I am particularly proud of one pair that is loved by women but also men (the SG one)

What is your sport attribute?
My cardio watch, that can measure my heart rate. I love to train hard, but not too hard either.
The watch helps me endurance training by doing a regular effort.

What is your favorite hike in Hong Kong?
My favorite hike is the Pok Fu Lam Family Walk. It is definitely n easy one, but it is just 20 min away by bus from my place and it is a real hike aka not road type hike, with a nice little path, really green and also really peaceful. The perfect gateaway from the city to get some peace of mind.

What is your next challenge?
Most probably running a half-marathon.. or directly a marathon?

lundi 28 septembre 2009

Ozone Exposure

Training hard can lead to some unusual pains for the amateurs we are.

We were all very surprised and a bit scared as well to experience chest pains while hiking. Thanks to Elodie, we know what happened now: Ozone exposure.

Ozone is in the lower atmostphere (the air we breath) an air pollutants created by cars emissions and other pollutants when there is sunlight. The more sun the more ozone and consequently ozone peaks are at the hotter hours around noon. And it is typically an urban pollution.

Of course, ozone exposure causes adverse health effects, lucky us. Symptoms of exposure include chest pain, but not only: feeling of irritation in the eyes, nose and throat, shortness of breath, and wheezing.

Outdoor activities are therefore not recommended when ozone levels are high.
But we did not know it and we did exercise in an urban area, on very sunny days and felt chest pains.
How do we check the level of ozone in HK?

The HKSAR Environmental Protection Department created an Index: The Air Pollution Index (API) than is monitored on a real time basis. Check the API out before going outdoor!
Besides, the website of the HKSAR Environmental Protection Department on Air is very clear and I highly recommend it.

To learn more about Ozone:
A very good Q&A on Ozone by the Dpt of Health of the State of New York Ozone Exposure 1
The WHO study on Ozone pollution Ozone Exposure 2
And an excellent summary of this study by Green Facts Ozone Exposure 3

The Story Episode 3: The Fundraising

We are also in to participate because this is a charity event that aims at raising funds for Oxfam and fight against poverty and climate change.

Learn more about our cause on
http://www.oxfam.org.hk/oxfamtrailwalker/eng/

This is why teams who raised more than hk$28,000 the previous year or pledge to raise hk$70,000 the current year can get a priority registration.

So, though we want to raise as much fund as possible, for our first participation as a team and for three of us, we want to focus on the sport challenge rather than the fundraising one.

Still there is a minimum hk$6,500 to be raised to be able to participate to the Oxfam Trailwalker.

You wish to support us?
You wish to support Oxfam Hong Kong?
Then simply click on the Donate button to make an online donation to our team and to Oxfam!!!
Of course all funds go to Oxfam ;)

We thank you a lot for your support!!!

lundi 14 septembre 2009

The Story Episode 2: The Test

Saturday 8th August 2009

Team members: Chloe, Joan, Lorene Special Guests: Ian, Ludovic

Weather: Definitely too hot

During the race, all team members need to go through the 10 checkpoints (CP) together, so one of the tricks for team success for the Oxfam Trailwalker is to have the same walking rhythm in the team. Nothing less motivating than to walk alone or have to wait for your team mates at the CP.
It is set that Chloe, Elodie and Lorene are poor hikers. But as we are young, we hope that with a lot of training we can catch up with the rhythm of Joan, if only she is not hiking crazy fast…It’s decided that Chloe and Lorene will challenge Joan on the Twin peaks on HK island.

The twin peaks are also known as the 1,000 stairs hike and as the best training in town for trailwalker. It is also the Wilson trail stage 1 reverse, *** (very difficult), 4.8 km.

To our surprise, we were timed at the start of the 1, 000 stairs. In the end, we sweated a lot, walked the stairs in 23 min with a very hot weather and completed the trail in 2.5 hours. Most importantly, we were declared fit enough to walk with Joan. Yeahhh!! For the story, her best time on the Twins trail is 1.5 hours but again, this Saturday was very very hot.

The Story Episode 1

Once upon a time, in June, during a CSR walk at Mount Butler, Elodie is one of the nice organizers and she is closing the hike. I, her friend Lorene, am staying behind to chit chat. We are keeping company to the last two hikers, the lady who has been dragged by her friend to the hike in office gear, designer bags and little heels shoes, and Angela, our dear sweet colleague, who has finished the Oxfam Trailwalker twice. So Angela has difficulties to do the Mount Butler hike, which is a medium difficulty hike, but she finished twice the 100km endurance hike… And then Elodie remembers that I suggested I wanted to do it and that I am a poor hiker and she says that she is absolutely not fit and has no muscle so we should do the Oxfam trailwalker together. Mmm why not, but we need to be four in the team. She then mentions Chloe, that she got to know better in the past few weeks, and that she would be perfect for the team as she would like to do the Oxfam trailwalker but has almost no hiking experience. The three of us would form a great team of zeros. It’s Chloe who comes up with our fourth team member, Joan. Joan did the Oxfam trailwalker 6 times and finished twice. She is looking for a team, she is working for SG, and after a Twin peaks test, we are a team of four SG ladies, the Sport and Glamour team.

dimanche 6 septembre 2009

Training 3: section 9&10 of the Maclehose Trail

Sunday 6 August

Team members on call: Chloe, Elodie and Lorene

Weather: Hot and Sunny

Objective: Section 9&10 of the Maclehose trail + New Finish
Length: 21.9 km
Difficulty: * and *


For this week-end, when again the very hot weather signal is on, we decided to try long and easy, to try section 9&10. In the morning, no more very hot weather signal, but it is still quite hot, so section 9&10, here we come. Also we really need to discover the new finish point.


Section 9 goes very smoothly and quickly. Only 15 min later we noticed we finished it. Lets not forget the break in front of the pine tree as we still cannot get a nice rest area with a view on the reservoir. Indeed, weirdly, after two hours of hiking and a half, we arrived on the new finish trail. Weirdly because the hike is supposed to take 8 hours ... on top of that we jumped from a Maclehose trail signpost 73 to an OTW signpost 93...


We go back to try to understand what and when it went wrong. On our way, we meet some fellow trailwalkers, four guys - but a t what time did they start hiking to be already there .. without taking a shortcut - Yes they did see the reservoir, yes we definitely went the wrong way. No worries, we continue to go back on our steps and find where we missed the trail.
We are now back on track. Youpi!

1 biker, 2 bikers, 10 bikers, the path is not large at all and quite crowded, we need to stop and let them go each time... grrr. We only like the bikers when they show off their abs.
We do see the reservoir now. We turn left to the new trail. It is quite flat, not flat, no road anymore. We finally arrive at the signpost 93, again. Hopefully also, because we can start feeling the lenghth of the trail in the legs.

One last twist though, we are supposed to turn right after the barbecue site .. but which barbecue site? Number 7, 8, 9? Countless barbecue sites around us. At the grocery shop, Elodie put at use her cantonese and we learn that the finish point is at only 20 little minutes walk. Yeah! 2O mn later we do find the holiday camp / Finish point, though we did not eactly arrive the right way, but it is close enough and the normal way go through a gate that will only be open the day of the event. We call it a day.

In the end, with our little detour of 3 km, we walked 25 km. Long and "easy" challenge accomplished.

lundi 31 août 2009

Training 2: section 3 of the Maclehose Trail


Sunday 30 August

Team members on call: Chloe, Elodie and Lorene

Weather: Very sunny

Objective: Section 3 of the Maclehose trail
Length: 10.2 km Difficulty: Very difficult


The very hot weather signal is still on for this week-end and we learn our lesson the week before: no uphill between 11 am and 2 pm. We could do section 9&10, which are flat, but it is time for difficulty. We will do section 3, and we will do it as early as possible.


After negotiation, quote "finishing at 7 am or starting at 7 am, ther is no difference really", we meet at 6 am in Admiralty.


Section 3 starts uphill straight away. The view is simply beautiful. We sweat abit on this first hill. Then down a little bit and up gain. Down one more time and 3 hours and fifteen minutes later, it is already finish. In the end, the weather was a bit cloudy so not too hot (still our dry fit clothes were totally wet). The indicative time is 4 hours :). The views were again beautiful. It's 11 am, the morning was great and we have the entire afternoon to recover.


samedi 22 août 2009

Training 1: Section 1&2 of the Maclehose Trail

Sunday 23 August

Team members on call: Chloe, Elodie and Lorene
Special guest: Anne-Laure

Weather: Very hot weather signal

Objective: Section 1 & 2 of the Maclehose trail
Length: 24.1 km Difficulty: Easy and medium


For our first training session, we have a special guest, Lorene's friend, Anne-Laure from Biarritz. Therefore, we decide to take it easy and do section 1&2. It is all the more a good idea, that the very hot weather signal is on, and though the signal is on, it takes much more than that to stop Chloe and Elodie the warriors.


We meet at 10 am in Admiralty and start hiking at 11. It is indeed very hot. Section 1 runs smoothly, it is mainly road, flat, a nice walk around the reservoir, and no shadow. Elodie is walking ahead, normal she says, we only walk 24 km today.


After a long hour, we can catch a glimpse of the beautiful Long Ke Wan beach. However we also notice an unusual scene. There is the clear blue water, the many junk boats and, many people gathered on the beach while an helicopter lands on the beach. A few minutes later, the helicopter is gone and everything gets back to normal.
One hour and a half of walk and we stand on Long Ke Wan. It is just so hot, we cannot resist to jump in the water before lunch, and it feels so good. It is a popular spot for lunch, many fellow walkers next to us. We try not too stop too long though, 30 min break and we start again.

It is now that is gets hardcore. The weather gets hotter and hotter, we are digesting and a there is a hill of 300 m up. 300 little meters that take us hours. Lorene is the only one to notice the board at the beginning of the hill mentioning heat exhaustion and precising that many hikers experienced difficulties on it because of the heat. Because of the heat, we need to stop every 20 min to cool down in the shadow and drink a lot of water. We all feel a little bit dizzy. Who said doing the Oxfam Trailwalker would be easy!!

But we are not alone, at each shelter we meet fellow hikers who train for the Oxfam Trailwalker. Who else could be hiking with this weather? We casually chat about the trai,l the weather. A very promising atmostphere. It seems that it is difficult for all of us today.

We finally manage to reach the top of this f..ing hill. Forget about the time, it took us ages. Thanks God we go downhill and the weather gets cooler. We are so tired, so late in our schedule that we would only finish section 2 past 9 pm. Besides, the sky gets very dark, we can hear the thunder and fellow trailwalkers tell us that it is raining in Shatin. There is just no way that we walk under the rain. At 4:30 pm we call it a day. At 5 pm we are in the bus, Alleluiah!!!

The bus drops us in Sai Kung and as exhausted as we are, we take a cab. Not any cab. The "Dictee magique" cab. B-U-F-F-E-T, Buffet, our cab driver is learning English, F-R-E-E-W-A-Y, freeway. We are still trying to find the link between buffet and freeway.

At this stage, we believe we only did section 1, 10 km, in 6 hours. We are so far from our goal. I, Lorene, just think that we are still alive despite the heat. In fact, it appears that we did go as far as checkpoint 1, which is at one third of section 2, 17 km. And it was 35°c in the shadow while there was no sign of shadow on the trail. L'honneur est sauf. We were not that bad.

We really suffered but this was our first training and we got this feeling of accomplishment. We started training!!