Page 14 - Chiron Autumn 2017

12 CHIRON CALLING
On 22 September 2017, fourteen personnel from 1 MWD Regt deployed on Ex DRAGON TRAIL to the region of Saalbach Hinterglemm in Austria. The aim of the exercise was to deliver an enjoyable but demanding Adventure Training package in order for personnel to attain their Mountain Bike Foundation (MBF) quali cation.
We began our journey late evening after tting the bike trailer and loading up the bikes. On boarding the minibuses there were a lot of tired faces and it was clear that some had dragged themselves out of bed with their pillows still in hand, ready to get their heads back down as soon as they could. Although there was some excited conversation as we departed, it soon wore off as we settled into the long journey to Austria. The personnel taking part in the exercise had a mixture of abilities; some had been keen on mountain biking for a number of years, whilst others would be riding an off-road bike for the rst time.
Once we nally arrived at our accommodation for the week we found ourselves in an exceptional location, with outstanding views and ideal positioning right next to the village centre and cable cars. On Sunday the two instructors headed out on their bikes to check the safety of the various trails and tracks we would be using over the coming week whilst the rest of us travelled to Werfen for a tour of the largest ice caves in the world. This was a good way for us to become more familiar with each other in preparation for the week ahead.
The rst day was used by the instructors to assess our abilities, put us through some basic drills and teach us some new skills ready for when we would start our descent of the trails over the next few days. After a full day of us practising on at terrain, the instructors had a shock in store for us on the second day. It was
Enjoying apple strudel on a well-deserved break
Ex DRAGON TRAIL
By Pte Trickey
safe to say that my thoughts and opinions of mountain biking completely changed when we had to ride around 15km up a mountain. The route did not seem to end and I was unable to enjoy the views as I was too busy either complaining about the pain I had in my backside, shutting my eyes or wishing my bike had an engine! After a few painful hours of climbing we had nally reached the point at which we would turn back and it was thankfully all downhill from there. After the very dif cult climb on day two the rest of the week involved descending the various downhill trails in the area, trail-side repair lessons, navigation and most importantly; apple strudel! I think most would agree that the downhill trails were more enjoyable than the uphill climbs, even with the majority of riders taking more than one tumble along the way.
Throughout the week the weather was better than anticipated; blue skies and a bright sun certainly put the icing on the cake. On the last full night of the expedition everybody celebrated with a
Pte Trickey getting some air time
meal in a local restaurant. We reminisced about funny memories from the week and it was a great way to nish our week of Adventurous Training. Even with the long drive back to the UK, I am sure that all personnel who attended the expedition will agree that it was a terri c week!
Ready for the route down the mountain.