Friday Night Preview
Relaxed atmosphere as teams register
Friday Photo Gallery | Map and Route Gadget
 Welcome to sunny Glenfinnan, the LAMM event centre where teams are gradually arriving and registering (then heading for the pub to avoid the midges, which appear as soon as the breeze drops).
It is bright, hot and sultry on the camping field, but the surrounding mountains are wreathed in dark clouds, making them even more imposing. Saturday is forecast to start misty, with clouds burning off to give a hot and sunny day.
Early competitors are reporting straightforward journeys, despite the Mountain Bike World Cup taking place 15 miles down the road at Fort William.
However, one Swedish entrant has had a major problem – at the airport he found his passport was out of date. The other members of the four Swedish teams and their families left him behind. But, not to be deterred, he is arranging an emergency passport and has bought another, later flight to bring him over.
Glendessary Estate has kindly agreed to host the event centre in a lovely field beside the River Finnan. Race Director Martin Stone reports that the courses cross ten estates. When seeking their permission, he sent all the landowners a dossier of letters from previous estates to reassure them that the having 500 teams of two on their land won’t cause them problems.
We look forward to visiting another estate for the wild midcamp tomorrow night. The question is – which one?
Felicity Martin
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