2016 AVP Treasure Hunt

Last year I devised and ran a cycling treasure hunt .. I thought it may be a one off, I had time on my hands, I was on sabbatical. So when it was suggested I run another, I must admit I accepted with some trepidation. Matters became even more fraught when my proposed co-orginiser dropped out. Anyway, with the help of Mrs TdF, the route and clues were drawn up and with assistance of my old RideLondon buddy, we recce'd the course. What we ended up with and with the luck of the weather, was a very credible event.

The 2nd Annual Axe Valley Pedaller's Treasure Hunt was held on Sunday 8th May 2016, the hottest day so far of the year. 22 cyclists, extending across the generations, pedalled over to the start at Millers Farm Shop, Kilmington when the owner's son, James had kindly permitted us to setup Treasure Hunt HQ.

9 teams formed up while maps and questions were issued. After the ride briefing, all riders departed at 10:10. The clock on this ride was to be a key factor as in addition to the usual, who can find the most treasure (or answer the most questions) there was also to be a King of the Mountains (KOM) award for the most questions answered in the quickest time. Then, in case of a draw, we had a caption competition as a tiebreaker which was also turned into an award of its own.

The route took our Pedallers over a 12.5 mile route, starting in Axminster before heading out into the beautiful countryside of Smallridge, Membury and returning along the Yarty Valley.

As with all Treasure Hunts and quizzes there are always questions which cause controversy in the post event debriefing .. were there 5 crosses or 7? were there 34 or 72 boards on the mill? and which railway bridge did you mean? .. and this was no exception! However, when one team gets all 26 questions correct the question master has to feel vindicated; fiendish clues provide for a worthy winner.

In this year's event, we actually had 2 potential winners. 2015 champions, Becca and Roger were firm favourites. In last year's event, they gathered in 100% of the treasure and on Sunday, joined by Graham, they proved their metal again in being the only team to secure another clean sweep! The 2nd team who coulda shoulda won, was that of Andy and Wes. They incredibly finished an hour ahead of our champions and missed out on the overall award by only 3/45 points, and even then, these 3 dropped points were only marginally short of what was required on the answer sheet! Without doubt, however, Andy and Wes came away uncontested with the KOM award, with an average of 2 mins per correct question versus the winners at 3 mins. This was truly a competition for all!

Then there was the caption competition which based on a Pedallers' laughometer, team Andy/Wes and Mark/Dawn had the greatest appreciation in that order and so the award went to Mark & Dawn

We'll be back next year with a new route, new questions and seeing whether Andy & Wes can finally topple Becca & Roger's crown! See you in 2017.