tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33973280220831487402024-03-06T03:31:04.707+02:00Team Lickety SplitAdventure Racing at it's casual bestWilliamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740685465982253153noreply@blogger.comBlogger161125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-77916896044418712222013-05-17T08:49:00.002+02:002013-05-17T08:49:24.665+02:00Expedition Africa - 6 to 11 May 2013 <div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Team Lickety Split & Team Bad Medicine get together to race Expedition Africa.</span></div>
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<br />Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-59026998020715272802012-10-09T15:40:00.001+02:002012-10-11T12:18:03.743+02:00Adapt or Die, Part 2<b>Adapt or Die, Part 2</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJobf7w0dS4SXenzvFf6x2z8rVvE_9IqMnkb0amFB8tw7xcOzAem-kflSGLU0UA40n5gGPE9R2JajSoYDHg7VescFfU88Fb1PePyJdXri2s9zOdpPc6ipEcpTisqfpzJAL6RUYXPGM8kk/s1600/C2C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJobf7w0dS4SXenzvFf6x2z8rVvE_9IqMnkb0amFB8tw7xcOzAem-kflSGLU0UA40n5gGPE9R2JajSoYDHg7VescFfU88Fb1PePyJdXri2s9zOdpPc6ipEcpTisqfpzJAL6RUYXPGM8kk/s1600/C2C.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJobf7w0dS4SXenzvFf6x2z8rVvE_9IqMnkb0amFB8tw7xcOzAem-kflSGLU0UA40n5gGPE9R2JajSoYDHg7VescFfU88Fb1PePyJdXri2s9zOdpPc6ipEcpTisqfpzJAL6RUYXPGM8kk/s320/C2C.jpg" width="320" /></a>A year has passed since my disastrous race in England (Devon Coast to Coast in September 2011). My race report was aptly named "Adapt or Die" and can be read <a href="http://teamlicketysplit.blogspot.com/2011/09/adapt-or-die-racing-in-uk.html">on our blog</a> or <a href="http://www.ar.co.za/2011/09/adapt-or-die/">http://www.ar.co.za/</a>. If you don't have time to reread the report here is a quick summary: I went unprepared for the weather, expecting to race the same way I do in South Africa; I ended up with hyperthermia due to cold temperatures, consistent rain and wind, and ultimately missed the half way cut off.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Day 1 in Red, Day 2 in Green</td></tr>
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I booked for the Scotland Coast to Coast a long time ago, something like 6 months before the race I had entered. I spent a lot of time testing various clothing strategies on races I was doing, specifically wearing more clothes than needed to get used to feeling like a teddy bear. I collected a few additional items of clothing in case I needed them etc. My race planning included three different possible sets of clothing based on weather prediction for the day, and I even took an extra backpack with me to the UK in case I needed something bigger on race day.<br />
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<h3>
Adapt or Die, Part 2 - The Perfect Race</h3>
Day 1: Run 11km, Road Cycle 77km, run 1km, paddle 1km, run 1.5km<br />
Weather prediction: 12-16C, 0% rain, winds SE 35+ km/hr<br />
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As no rain was predicted, but the temps were lower than I'm used to at home I went with clothing for cold but OK conditions:<br />
Hi-Tec trail shoes, Compression Socks, Long Lycra Tights, Cycling Bib Shorts, Long Sleeve Top, Cycling Top, Wind Proof top, Buff, Cap, Long finger Cycling gloves<br />
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Leg 1: 11km trail run (single track)<br />
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The weather at the start looked ominous, heavy cloud and high winds. The race was nicely managed with everyone starting in a large area with controlled access, clearing our electronic timing chips as we entered the area. The race organiser tried to give some last minute instructions but the crowd was too large and I doubt that more than half the field heard him. The race was started with a loud noise from the load hailer and off we went. I took it nice and easy at the start which was a problem as I was stuck behind slower runners when we reached miles and miles of single track. This section then took me a lot longer than I expected because 1200 people over single track takes a while. My clothing seemed perfect for the cool weather, when I had a section of sustained running I got warm, but not hot, and while waiting in queues I felt cool but not cold.</div>
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Leg 2: 77km Cycle (Road)<br />
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Transition was nice and fast using a triathlon style transition area with all the bikes in rows etc. It made it easy to come in, eat something, put my backpack on and to get out onto the bike leg. Day 1 biking was all on road, fortunately my hire bike (a Dawes 20") did not have heavy off-road tread. The whole bike leg was in a stiff wind from the South East, while we were riding South West. This resulted in either a full on head wind, or a strong wind from our left. An abiding memory will be the line of riders in front of me all leaning over to their left to keep upright. Wherever possible I rode with my front wheel on the right-hand side of someone else's back wheel, giving me some protection from the wind. I was feeling good and rode every hill (quite unusual for me), tried to fly down every down hill, had occasional food stops, (about every 45 minutes). However, at about 67km my energy dried up and I started struggling, I crested a hill, quite please I had ridden up it, only to see a hill, far steeper, at the end of the next downhill. In the end I pushed up most of it, and we crested into the strongest wind of the day, the steep downhill didn't even help as when you stopped peddling, you got blown to a standstill. I struggled through the last 10km, including a downhill that would have been very pleasant if the wind had just held up for a bit. Unfortunately near the end of the cycle leg I lost the bite valve of my bladder and had to finish the race without a bladder for water.<br />
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Leg 3: Run/Paddle/Run<br />
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Logging my bike into the transition area, I dropped my backpack and ran, jogged, shuffled off down to the shores of Loch Ness. Reaching the paddle put in I met with a long line of people waiting for their chance to paddle. (Race organiser later apologised for the delay but bad weather and boat problems meant they were struggling to return the sit-on-tops fast enough for the athletes arriving). I was teamed up with another solo racer and she and I quickly paddled across to the other side of the Loch,<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidEtXmbdnsc8-1ouXzRAygIUYGFRwhGtq0edl-ExrLYZc4ex5hNhgcZ7xQlV3KsAcDpjMgy4Y6pTjQ26EDpSMw_0GgTgzvwAwBZWRpIj3bzE2OM_8Qp9BsnKAHLWP2koIzWDlSztW9xVE/s1600/nessie+the+loch+ness+monster+what+is+it+Lake+monster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidEtXmbdnsc8-1ouXzRAygIUYGFRwhGtq0edl-ExrLYZc4ex5hNhgcZ7xQlV3KsAcDpjMgy4Y6pTjQ26EDpSMw_0GgTgzvwAwBZWRpIj3bzE2OM_8Qp9BsnKAHLWP2koIzWDlSztW9xVE/s320/nessie+the+loch+ness+monster+what+is+it+Lake+monster.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo taken around 30 years ago in nearly the same spot!</td></tr>
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(Yes, I saw Nessie, he wanted to eat me but said something about tough
South African steak or something). Another short run got me to the end
of Day 1.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTYgT6XyVhhYS1z-QwQfRFeLu5cYe0qo_wzmtPg1ZuS7l_yCglzJAVw5QiAZZ-xE2E7x7BnXtQriWTDXdnpGSuHBFRnA3W91Q-9OM7Yt5x91tvbFUB-wFlfUdyLR0Q9XMd-814kJdR_ZQ/s1600/highlandcattle.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTYgT6XyVhhYS1z-QwQfRFeLu5cYe0qo_wzmtPg1ZuS7l_yCglzJAVw5QiAZZ-xE2E7x7BnXtQriWTDXdnpGSuHBFRnA3W91Q-9OM7Yt5x91tvbFUB-wFlfUdyLR0Q9XMd-814kJdR_ZQ/s320/highlandcattle.jpg" width="320" /></a>Other than the wind, and the last 10km of the Cycle I had had a great day of racing. I felt reasonably<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTYgT6XyVhhYS1z-QwQfRFeLu5cYe0qo_wzmtPg1ZuS7l_yCglzJAVw5QiAZZ-xE2E7x7BnXtQriWTDXdnpGSuHBFRnA3W91Q-9OM7Yt5x91tvbFUB-wFlfUdyLR0Q9XMd-814kJdR_ZQ/s1600/highlandcattle.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a> strong once I was off the bike, I felt positive and was enjoying the views when they were there. I saw some of the weird woolly Highland Cows (aren't they just so cute).<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTYgT6XyVhhYS1z-QwQfRFeLu5cYe0qo_wzmtPg1ZuS7l_yCglzJAVw5QiAZZ-xE2E7x7BnXtQriWTDXdnpGSuHBFRnA3W91Q-9OM7Yt5x91tvbFUB-wFlfUdyLR0Q9XMd-814kJdR_ZQ/s1600/highlandcattle.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
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Day 2: Off-road Cycle 26km, Road Cycle 23km, Run/Hike 23km, paddle 1km<br />
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Weather prediction: 10-14C, High Chance of Rain, Low winds, mostly SW and Westerly<br />
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With rain being predicted, and the temps being substantially lower than I'm used to at home I went with clothing for cold and rain:<br />
Hi-Tec trail shoes, Compression Socks, Seal Skin Socks, Long Fleece Tights, Cycling Bib Shorts, Long Sleeve Fleece as base layer, Cycling Top, Wind Proof top/Rain top, Buff, Cap, Glove Liners and Long Finger gloves<br />
Added to my compulsory gear was my Wind proof top, and a balaclava<br />
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Leg 4: Cycle<br />
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We had a choice of what time we wanted to start, the clock started for each of us as we left the cycling transition area. I wanted to start as early as possible (7:30) but only got to start at about 8:15 after breakfast and travel etc. I was feeling quite stiff and sore and struggled to get to a decent pace on the bike. Fortunately 3 guys riding together came past and I joined the tail of their drafting line, and hung on with them for about 5km, when one of them had a chain problem. I had by now warmed up quite nicely and pushed on. I found that on downhills I was substantially faster than most of the other riders and I can remember a long downhill through the forestry plantations where I bombed down the hill overtaking streams and streams of people. Without a bladder I had regular stops at small mountain streams to fill up my bike bottle. The road cycle was pleasant without any further energy issues and I reached the next transition and very nearly rode into the way of a car, suddenly I realised how little attention I had been paying to the area around me.<br />
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Leg 5: 23km Mountain hike/run<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Nevis on a COLD day.</td></tr>
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At the Transition I gave back my hire bike, and added my bike tool kit to my backpack before heading out into the hills, at the start a lot of people seemed to be running past me, but after a few kms I was into my stride and my short run/walk strategy was paying off as I started overtaking quite a few people. We headed out into the mountains, crossing a few ridges before reaching a large glen (valley) below what I think was Ben Nevis. We hiked through stream after stream, with the days rain coming down the hillside, cascading down the pathway we were hiking along. I don't think we travelled more than about 100m at a time without having a puddle or a stream in our way. Even my seal skins didn't help much as the water would splash into the top of my socks all the time. After what I guess was 16km I met up with another South African, apparently 6 South Africans living in London had all travelled up to do the race. We had a good chat until I headed off up the next hill/mountain. The last downhill was really steep and I struggled a lot to keep my footing, I seemed to slip every step. I saw someone slip and slide down the hill side, and after yet another slip, sat on my bum and slid down the hill, coving about 200m in what felt like 10seconds. Everyone around me had a good laugh as did I. Only problem was the right turn in the path I missed and slid into a bush. But at least I was at the bottom of the steep section and could walk most of the rest of the downhill without slipping all the time. A short jog along the tar road I reach the Paddle transition.<br />
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Leg 6: Paddle<br />
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We did not have to wait at the boats, but there was a strong wind from the right, 90 degrees to our required route. I was paired up with an inexperienced paddler and she and I struggled a lot to cross the first windy section. I was continually pulling the nose of the boat back right to keep the nose facing partially into the scary looking waves. I only remember having one scare where it felt like we would tip but I'm sure there were more. Once we were half way across we were protected by some small islands and had an easy paddle to the finish. Once we reached the end there was a short run/shuffle of 50m or so to finish the race.<br />
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I felt strong the whole day. My hiking was strong and I probably passed more people than passed me. My clothing was once again suitable for conditions. (I have found a good fleece to be the best possible base layer as it keeps the heat against your body).<br />
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I finished the race (about 170km) in 14hours 51 minutes, in 173rd position of 397 finishers. Overall a very good result for me.<br />
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I was better prepared for this race than for the race last year. I knew myself and my equipment better, and had taken a lot of time to prepare for the conditions I was going to experience. I was not particularly fitter (I was probably a lot fitter the previous year), but I had spent a lot of time riding when it was cold, trying different kit, I did some running in the rain to see what I needed to keep warm. I cut down on weight by carrying less water, less food, but sufficient for my needs during the day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tired, wet, covered in mud, but Finished!!</td></tr>
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Lickety Splithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13465078750008133216noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-81168418408064710952012-09-05T09:01:00.001+02:002012-09-05T10:20:10.270+02:00Full moon Bethlehem - Lickety Split Race Report<div class="WordSection1">
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<b>Race: Kinetic Full Moon, Bethlehem, 2012<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Team: Team Lickety Split<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Members: William Cairns, Sue Belcher (Mixed Pair)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A good finish is a win!</td></tr>
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Just so you know, I was sick, on and off, for a month before doing the Kinetic Full Moon race in Bethlehem. My fitness was the lowest it has been in the last few years. But I don’t miss races unless I absolutely have to so I teamed up with Sue as <b>Team Lickety Split</b> to do the 120km race.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Kinetic races typically vary from being very easy to about moderate in difficulty. Mostly it is just up to the racer and their team mates to ensure that you finish a race. Occasionally weather interferes in the team's planning (anyone remember Full moon Bronkhorstspruit, or Double Moon in the Northern Cape). In the end Kinetic races are there to be finished.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We decided to take it easy and went through on Friday night. Sue had bike problems and was in and out of the bike shop all week before the race, even as late as Friday afternoon, so we got away late and reached the camp site at about 23:00 the night before. This still gave us more than enough time for a Wimpy breakfast and packing etc before the race started on Saturday. With me not being able to stay awake for more than 16 racing hours at a time we packed a good selection of bedding and comforts for the night time transition, also watching the weather report for the previous week we knew that warm clothes were going to be important so in they went.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The race started with a peaceful, rather uneventful ride down to the Ash river. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The river paddle was far more of a challenge than a peaceful flat water river should have been. Strange eddies abounded in the river waiting to tip over unsuspecting paddlers, while irregular rows of willow trees crossing the river behind blind corners made quick thinking and quicker paddling important. We saw 3 swimmers, including a boat tipped over by a willow branch, before we ourselves were tipped over by one of the evil eddies. We came around a tree and suddenly the boat tipped over in about 0.001 milliseconds. Just before we reached the dam we went over the only 'white' water under the bridge rather uneventfully after everything else, and stopped to collect some other team's missing cap. On the dam we experienced 5m high waves, ok probably close to 1m, but when you aren’t a water baby they could as well have been 5m high waves. I have only twice experienced heavier water than that on a race. But in the end, we were surf-skiing the waves into the transition and with the wind and waves behind you, those 5m waves are much more fun.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was absolutely freezing in transition, and stripped off the wet clothes and just wore a fleece. Unfortunately this meant that some of the planned warm clothing for the night cycle got left behind which later came back to worry me. I had a cup of really bad hot chocolate that tasted heavenly just because it was warm.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first hike was a very pleasant jaunt through the country side. The map was accurate to almost the finest detail as it was only 2 years old (what a privilege), we used the opportunity to compare short cuts across country to road speed and were pleasantly surprised at our progress. We picked up a pair of novices that were looking for the check point in the wrong kloofie and carried on. I tried to give them a few navigation guidelines such as you can’t always believe the trees, fences and field markings as these change often, while roads and rivers remain the same. Once darkness fell a small mistake made us walk an extra 1km to the dam as I followed the road instead of the fence. Sometimes tiger lining is a good idea, especially if you can follow a fence while doing it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Back at the transition I had a short lie down, that lack of fitness was starting to hurt, before rushing through the transition and getting out on our bikes. My water bottle was actually already frozen. The start of the cycle was a pain with fences, gates and cows all over the place, once we hit the road things went well, even if rather slowly for me going up the hills. After the checkpoint I struggled to get going and got more and more tired. In the end I was pushing my bikes up 1% gradients with Sue waiting patiently and then even letting me rest at the top of each hill. I think we got passed by about 3 teams, they could not rest as they had no warm gear on and must have been freezing, we were properly prepared and I was at times overheating because I had too many clothes on. Sue at one point even let me sleep for about 5 minutes but it did not help much. Overall those last 10 or 15 kms were done at about 7km per hour (on BIKES!), man was I pathetic.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At transition we had a brief fight about how long I'd get to sleep, Sue insisted on 1 hour, I said 2, in the end I agreed on 1 hour and set the alarm for 1:30. [evil grin] and then used the snooze button to Sue's disgust. Sleeping with 3 blankets in transition was an absolute pleasure, it was nice to be prepared.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We got going on the night hike as soon as possible, only about 20minutes slower than Sue wanted. We disappeared into the night, and immediately ended up at the bottom of a cliff, so much for good navigation.... So we went around the cliff and skirted most of the valley behind the ridge trying to maintain our height as much as possible. In the end we dropped through the valley quite high up before heading up to the trig beacon. Walking uphill uses a lot of energy, and therefore generates a lot of heat, pretty soon we both wanted to stop and strip off some layers and have a bite to eat. One of my long term enduring memories from AR will be from that stop. We were sitting on the side of a hill looking back across the Free State, on our left was a valley running northwards, on our south a kloof that looked about 150-200m deep, above us the full moon shining brightly on the exposed rocks all around us. <b>Now that’s why I do ADVENTURE racing.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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We continued to the top of the hill where a team was waiting and wanted some help on their route choice to the next point, I said I thought their route choice was correct and what sort of landmarks to look out for on their way there. Off we went following the ridgeline all the way to the Abseil checkpoint, pretty straight forward but looking at the route afterwards going through the valley might have been faster than the ridge line. One thing I notice about my own navigation is that sometimes I overestimate gradient and think valleys are kloofs instead of gentle valleys. At the abseil we got our harness and gloves and climbed another 15m up to the abseil point. We got hooked up and started down, first reaching a small ledge before dropping into free fall for about 35m. As someone that does not particularly care for heights, abseiling is often my least favourite part of a race, this time, with the free fall and the full moon behind me showing my shadow bright and clearly on the colourless featureless rock if was a most surrealistic experience and the <b>first abseil I have truly enjoyed</b>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just around the corner from the Abseil</td></tr>
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After the abseil we quickly hiked around the mountain, went up the wrong kloof and backtracked to the next checkpoint. We then followed the kloof up the left bank and ran out of bank having to climb 60-80m up bare rock and scrub bush to the top or the kloof before walking along the top of the cliffs to the last check point. Unfortunately the last point was about 40m below us in a lovely cliff area (like the rest of the kloof). We spent about 30 minutes looking for a way down but from later info we should have gone a lot further along the top to find a way down, before deciding it was firstly not safe to try descend without knowing where to and secondly we were running short on time to finish the race. So we turned around and left the point, having probably been at the exact point we needed to be, just 40m too high. <b>This hike is my all time favourite AR hike</b>, it was not easy, but not too tough, navigation was challenging but not difficult, terrain and views were fantastic all the time, even the abseil will stay with me for years to come.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our missing CP!</td></tr>
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At transition we had an opportunity to thank the farmer and his wife for being allowed on the property, while laughing at Wiehans reaction to our box packed full of sleeping bags and blankets. A quick bite to eat and we were on our way. Being in full daylight again my body had forgotten all the trials and fatigue of the night before and we cruised the first 15km without a problem. The last 15km I felt tired and slow but was probably travelling about 3 times the previous nights speed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We finished in 23:30, just in time for our now famous, finishing during prize giving. As always we got clapped into the finish. We had breakfast and got some lovely prizes, Sue continuing her record of winning the good prizes at the race with a new pair of shoes to go with her two backpacks already won.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our thanks to Stephan and Heidi for organising the race, to Cindy, Wiehan and Lizelle for marshalling and doing photos, to all the other marshals that were there. Special thanks go to the land owners for allowing us to cross their land.<o:p></o:p></div>
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AR is a special sport, we have easy races and we have difficult races, in the end I enjoy the memorable races and this full moon race is certainly one of my all time favourite races.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: grey; font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">Sue: I ask you.....who uses the snooze button on a race......?</span></h4>
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Williamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740685465982253153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-24984738829583267802012-08-06T09:26:00.001+02:002012-08-06T11:10:44.843+02:00A bad weekend that felt good<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This last weekend was the annual Capestorm Rogaine. Mike and I entered again to defend our title as best Veteran Mens Pair which we have won for the last 2 years. However it was to be a very busy weekend as my Daughter Loreley was coming back from 6 weeks exchange student program in Germany, and Con and I had been volunteered to arrange the Nag Mars for the local Voortrekker Kommando's Kommando Kamp. All my boys were also returning on Sunday form the Kamp so we did not enter the MTB rogaine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So Friday afternoon Yolande picked me up from work and we rushed through to the Kamp terrein, and spent 2 hours setting up everything for the two nag mars routes. From 7:15 until 00:00 I was rushing around checking that everything was going well, that the kids were safe and having fun. Overall it seems it was a success. Yolande helped out and after everyone was on the route set up our mattress under the stars.<o:p></o:p></div>
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4:30 in the morning we were up and on our way to Lydenburg to meet Mike. All was on schedule until 30km outside Lydenburg something in the engine broke and a terrible noise at high revs forced us to crawl along at 40-60km/hr the rest of the way, making us late to pick up Mike. Yolande spent the day arranging to have the car towed back to Joburg and arranging a Hire car while Trish took Mike and I to the start. In the end we reached the start about 15minutes late.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I got a very quick briefing, nothing new in the briefing except being told that all cliffs on the route were considered dangerous and out of bounds. This seemed to limit the course to 2 sections, a long South and West section (out and back route) or a corcular route to the North of the start. A quick count of the high score points indicated the out and back route was the better option with the 3 50 pointers being our goal, as we were late the 60 pointers were considered a little too far for us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mike and I set out immediatly with a big uphill to the first point. We collected the first 3 points bang on schedule and reached the 4th point on the route about 30minutes ahead of expected time due to most of the route so far having been a gentle downhill. At one point we reached the edge of some of the cliffs and spent some time enjoying the view. As we were ahead of schedule we decided to head off and collect the 3 60 pointers on the far west section of the map. At this point we made a small error in route choice, choosing to drop down the side of the valley and walk on the road instead of going straight through the pine plantation and bee-lining for the point. Adri and George who were just behind us at this point got way ahead of us by taking the direct route. We had already taken a few short cuts through the forest and should have realised that the direct route was not that much more difficult than the route along the road.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Having learnt that lesson I started being more prepared to take the direct route, however its a lot more difficult to judge distance when under the trees than when on a road, and twice I thought we had gone further that we had, in both cases this meant the short cut only save half the expected distance saving as we continually had to recover the route on a road that we were originally trying to avoid.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Once we were done with the 60 pointers and had returned back to our original route we were slightly behind our expected time schedule. While the distances and terrain for the 60 pointers was not difficult it took us longer than expected. I quickly readjusted the route, missing a 50 pointer that originally was on my planned route and exchanged it for a 30 pointer. We had a short rest and a water stop at the hiking hut before heading up to the lookout tower and onto another point. On this section of the route the rock formations were amazing. It looked like an African version of Stonehenge, with massive slabs of rock standing haphazardly on end in a gigantic square.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A joint decision made us skip the second last point on the route as it included a 140m decent accross rough terrain, and we finished our route with a lowly 20 pointer before rushing to the finish and making the cutoff by about 4 minutes. We covered about 27km in 5 hours 40 minutes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Overall we collected 540 points out of a total of 1050. If we had had the extra 15 minutes we would have added another 40 points. We did not find out where we finished as we immediatly rushed off back to the camp site to see if Yolande had got everything for the car sorted out. We found the whole camp site set up, a hire car ready to take us home, the tow of the car back home all sorted out.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anyway on Sunday we rushed off home, Collected our Daughter from the Exchange organisers, collected my 2 sons and my exchange son from the Voortrekkers and finally settled down to some proper weekend peace and quiet, (with lots of stories about Loreley's six week visit to Germany)<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>Williamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740685465982253153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-53060733519787063492012-08-03T12:11:00.000+02:002012-08-06T07:35:18.318+02:00OF MICE AND MEN - SOLIS ORTUS RACE REPORT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bad Medicine on the top at breakfast break</td></tr>
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(Final team: Sue, Larry, Tobie, Jaco; Super-second Mike and Team manager and serial SMSer William)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvpzpM91M85L3KiZI5KxCZsckZ-1ELVLQZ1btv6nx9mHG0GesBlkrew0ghDPXdOZcqY0HgDRPniS9aP32nWbGY1eK0JJhs87Cyowy061idZfw4kt2lziN1-0AYYs17eknZM3D38QpkYck/s1600/IMG_5469.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvpzpM91M85L3KiZI5KxCZsckZ-1ELVLQZ1btv6nx9mHG0GesBlkrew0ghDPXdOZcqY0HgDRPniS9aP32nWbGY1eK0JJhs87Cyowy061idZfw4kt2lziN1-0AYYs17eknZM3D38QpkYck/s400/IMG_5469.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhojPoFTZNuLRdnJ-L67KpMoWIrAO_JrCqZ5vQI6LRajdCUZHH9GPQz2fgPiya4mtpAHQcb8JuCnZLyJsrgVObBISC3mtYkO3HtU-Gv7vLhmELCOdz35G_P7F-NmhhwVFkqT2FEILa4Njo/s1600/IMG_5383.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhojPoFTZNuLRdnJ-L67KpMoWIrAO_JrCqZ5vQI6LRajdCUZHH9GPQz2fgPiya4mtpAHQcb8JuCnZLyJsrgVObBISC3mtYkO3HtU-Gv7vLhmELCOdz35G_P7F-NmhhwVFkqT2FEILa4Njo/s400/IMG_5383.JPG" width="400" /></a>Why is it that the best laid plans of mice and adventure races so often go astray? True to form on Friday morning, there is an email from William (indispensable navigator) to say that he has a mysterious virus and will not be joining us for the race in only a couple of hours from now! We had already met up on Thursday night after work, to drop off all kit for packing in order to be able to leave directly on Friday and get a head start on the traffic....well that was the plan anyway. So a flurry of emails later, William had organised Larry aka Team Lava (who it would seem is available at the drop of a hat) to pack up and spend the weekend racing with us. (My thanks to his long suffering family!)<br />
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Which is how we found ourselves jostling to NOT be the one to have the responsibility for navigating what is potentially the most difficult navigating weekend we have seen so far! Finally we decided on a democratic view, but Tobie who is our newest addition to the Party offered himself up as Speaker of the House. He had no idea what was in store for him! Three hours later, we were still on-route from Randburg to Edenvale to pick up Larry at home, navigating through rush hour traffic - do I hear Con saying “Guys this is my swan-song, I’m NEVER doing this again!” Actually the drive was not too bad, but got us to Coromandel at the rude hour of 10 p.m. (There goes the plan to be fast asleep by 8!) Luckily Jaco had gotten there before us and organised bunks in plush double beds, reached through a ballroom sized bathroom - no doors, so no bathing done that night! Just race registration, pushing of race gear into backpacks, laying out of at least 15 bits of clothing (for the anticipated freezing 4 am start) and into bed, lights out.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_1ZkBR55CxxTOby050Z4DdnU8XS9pNj7D3i42He94tGM5TzkrpSJfHCF4yBZjczBcj_iuWY8BAhOQUXltTBy2bUAHjuxTnKaBeLZfaARQeVJ9BFjO4QfosdbaQlkra8n3MFRsaMnunQw/s1600/Clouds.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_1ZkBR55CxxTOby050Z4DdnU8XS9pNj7D3i42He94tGM5TzkrpSJfHCF4yBZjczBcj_iuWY8BAhOQUXltTBy2bUAHjuxTnKaBeLZfaARQeVJ9BFjO4QfosdbaQlkra8n3MFRsaMnunQw/s640/Clouds.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
Map plotting was at 3, so we staggered out of bed at 2.30 am, feeling our way past the 80km racers in bed, vainly hoping to sleep until their somewhat later start time. Race briefing ran late, leaving us only 10 minutes to grab our bikes and load them onto the car, before saying goodbye to Mike and lurching out into the dark - last as is our tradition. The maps were pre-plotted on 1:50 000 scale and we were surprised to find that we had only 1 x A3 area to cover - all on the same property! On and up in good adventure racing tradition, took us past the waterfall and above the clouds to the very top of the escarpment for a sunrise view to rival anything I have ever seen! Not before we had spent a fruitless half hour searching for CP 3, lost down a rocky scree, deep in a gorge. When we arrived, Team Geronimo were backtracking, soon followed by Bad Medicine and ourselves all scouting up and down in the same area. My rule is not to spend too much time looking, so when Geronimo left without the point, I decided to gather up the team from the 4 corners of the globe and follow as well.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbzbnwXpDq6pjdwN2dpuajHzck-hemns4PrKMoGzlgqknqfUZVe0r_-Wap0ByyUsBQtrWi24KbAdx1lGHIICTYxInTq9OStRMkFph8qVgwRHlRC61Esl8Ugw2stQ9HQ9Jebz-_9xEc8Dw/s1600/Larry+&+Tobie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbzbnwXpDq6pjdwN2dpuajHzck-hemns4PrKMoGzlgqknqfUZVe0r_-Wap0ByyUsBQtrWi24KbAdx1lGHIICTYxInTq9OStRMkFph8qVgwRHlRC61Esl8Ugw2stQ9HQ9Jebz-_9xEc8Dw/s400/Larry+&+Tobie.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhop7qGsoPQkC7pkYPe_z9dNeRiDPXFPYdoOEmh_I9MDC8ufteSRVTFpvcTYanHwjdedTUED54dn2tgG2yiJEhtRYGHZOa3taZWl0XHGljRH5x_xXRbNhEvHkye8d66TAUFLSuvVC1WvDI/s1600/Larry.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhop7qGsoPQkC7pkYPe_z9dNeRiDPXFPYdoOEmh_I9MDC8ufteSRVTFpvcTYanHwjdedTUED54dn2tgG2yiJEhtRYGHZOa3taZWl0XHGljRH5x_xXRbNhEvHkye8d66TAUFLSuvVC1WvDI/s400/Larry.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIlbJyBKZJET8iH4GqJPn_5KM6dw8zJupnBl7e302W475BTc2jK4Jy9SdC0XGRWvC2AKhUQ3S2pzHIPyayW4mqV3UGzCT8oYc2-X38UKZTsyTaGbX0QdD7YXpltWxO_ydxxNQqbAoDs5s/s1600/Clouds+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIlbJyBKZJET8iH4GqJPn_5KM6dw8zJupnBl7e302W475BTc2jK4Jy9SdC0XGRWvC2AKhUQ3S2pzHIPyayW4mqV3UGzCT8oYc2-X38UKZTsyTaGbX0QdD7YXpltWxO_ydxxNQqbAoDs5s/s400/Clouds+2.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is why we race!</td></tr>
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It can be noted that there is only one way to go from the top of the world, and that is down, so down we went. We had been warned that there was a no go area in the gorge after CP7, so in a vain attempt to avoid it we tried to track around it on the ridge, looking for an elusive CP 8 which was not far away. Our inexperience in reading altitude and distance started to show here. After an hour of searching and ‘democratic debating’, we agreed to backtrack and use the gorge anyway. (I wondered where the devil Bad Medicine had gotten to as they were with us at CP7 - you got away from us there, Mark!) There was a clearly marked path along the side of the cliff, taking us above the forbidden gorge. If only we had only walked 10 metres down the gorge we would have seen this, but hindsight is a wonderful thing!<br />
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Still we were happy to be moving forward again and amazed that Tobie was doing so well with the map reading! Unfortunately, he had other problems, his feet had blistered and he was hobbling - we had done around 15km’s so far. We did a First Aid stop and another....and another, but Tobie is tough and pushed on regardless. Clinton had warned us that he was forced to position the CP’s securely, safe out of the wind - we took this to mean ‘hide’ as CP by CP they became more difficult to find.....or was it tiredness on our part? <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiawaR1pCbpKc-3d79FiYIl4YTVF4kk7tc2D3fdxz4nhvISK_lgRsfF4aCxMiDPD7u8xODhdCXRRl7Lr5A5g6f5hYABx5j90_TpD-MieeYgtwjuPRgy0e40IEHdfdenHQ12azSpdsd7kvM/s1600/T2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiawaR1pCbpKc-3d79FiYIl4YTVF4kk7tc2D3fdxz4nhvISK_lgRsfF4aCxMiDPD7u8xODhdCXRRl7Lr5A5g6f5hYABx5j90_TpD-MieeYgtwjuPRgy0e40IEHdfdenHQ12azSpdsd7kvM/s400/T2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBmzYIUwYv1RaMx4ymM9IBNRiWDGEO6h1Atj_8Jeg5Rp3HibsSiDXSgHaZOhmdSHVNTzt2ewH7EcfxMbneNna7khY2JzItFeZTMKdLJ1LzBS53nbMbgwnNbJ4ENHZSfp0nWbTdrXm3euU/s1600/IMG_5478.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBmzYIUwYv1RaMx4ymM9IBNRiWDGEO6h1Atj_8Jeg5Rp3HibsSiDXSgHaZOhmdSHVNTzt2ewH7EcfxMbneNna7khY2JzItFeZTMKdLJ1LzBS53nbMbgwnNbJ4ENHZSfp0nWbTdrXm3euU/s320/IMG_5478.JPG" width="213" /></a>T2 came late in the afternoon, with the welcome view of Mike and Geronimo passing us on their way back down the mountain on the bikes!! OMG! they’re finishing the MTB leg and we’re just starting ours! We saddled up and rode out determined to make a good push, a push it was...unfortunately straight up a vertical climb! Now we knew why Alex’s eyes wandered when we asked him about the terrain going forward! Yes, the climb was vertical - I discovered my handlebars were above my head in places! On and Up! Tobie who had been looking forward to resting his feet on the pedals, instead found himself doing a punishing route march on foot! Welcome to Adventure Racing - where although it is a bike leg, it doesn’t mean there is a path, or a track, or even a grassy area.....no we found ourselves pushing and heaving bikes through a shrubby thicket, across a grassy ridge, past a dam, and up another hill to the CP. From there we needed to traverse another grassy ridge on foot towards the same road we had walked down earlier. We could see it from where we stood on the top. Unfortunately, the next CP beckoned.....and we could see the road through a saddle far below, where the CP should be. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnNwzk9NT46V_zG-CrUKocYPugP2cnNoSWTKDEPOBl2IuOkTcgJ0jfIIGtt9-PqA-IR5odYHSuJk4rD_8C7PRMZRPYSGfbaESJDo-eItqF1EEY14Rh2OJWys1w9JY2lscsRpRIwaM0Vmk/s1600/PICT0021.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnNwzk9NT46V_zG-CrUKocYPugP2cnNoSWTKDEPOBl2IuOkTcgJ0jfIIGtt9-PqA-IR5odYHSuJk4rD_8C7PRMZRPYSGfbaESJDo-eItqF1EEY14Rh2OJWys1w9JY2lscsRpRIwaM0Vmk/s400/PICT0021.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking for the checkpoint.........!</td></tr>
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Our choice - a 3km walk across rough ground, followed by a 5km ride down a rocky road in the dark versus a 3km hike straight down. The hike down just looked so much easier at the time and we were quite comfortable on foot by now.......! We did get down before dark and gained plenty of character along the way. Jaco and Tobie are now officially initiated in the art of Real Adventure Bushwacking! Added to that, we never got that CP which beckoned so charmingly! We beat bushes for an hour in the dusk, with the team walking easily 2km’s further up the road, before giving up. Back at the farm, we saw another team leaving, while we stopped to thank the farmer and change headlamp batteries. It became a recurring theme during the night, that one or the other of our members was riding without a headlamp until the next stop to change batteries. We met Clinton at T2, or rather we were found desperately scanning the map and our foggy brains for any clue as to where it should be, because the locked up police station we were at, was clearly NOT the right place! Luckily Clinton turned up with a convoy of cars, having chased a rumour that we were still up in the mountains! A quick top-up of water, food and new maps and we pushed on into the dark, stopping to put on extra layers at regular intervals. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7DelwfrSgw-dcNY_-cRnRf-9MZ3HDn5WMGUfIlFroJXlDlVdJSr7L0doAz84TS2YwWhGlleAKG2OJaqLcIrI_avJZWEF9wFlAW2ZCbTqx_aCt6mj3jKReeWIBnRNvVPO0rgOF1aO1KTU/s1600/Tobie+&+Jaco.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7DelwfrSgw-dcNY_-cRnRf-9MZ3HDn5WMGUfIlFroJXlDlVdJSr7L0doAz84TS2YwWhGlleAKG2OJaqLcIrI_avJZWEF9wFlAW2ZCbTqx_aCt6mj3jKReeWIBnRNvVPO0rgOF1aO1KTU/s400/Tobie+&+Jaco.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the hiking is REALLY starting to HURT!</td></tr>
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I have done this climb before in the dark on a Kinetic race and knew what we were in for, but it didn’t seem half as steep this time. The CP’s were picked up slowly, and bit by bit we progressed. Unfortunately, we discovered that Jaco was mismarking the race card, having marked CP18 (cancelled) instead of CP19, so we were looking for a ‘pipe under’ when we should have been looking for ‘bush up above’, which confused us and slowed us down! In our sleepy state around midnight, we discovered that we had missed the CP under the road altogether and since we needed to find it, gritted our teeth, turned our bikes around and biked back up the hill. Larry showed that he has a special kind of fortitude, leaping off his bike and diving into tunnels under the road at every chance. On the third stop, we found the marked bunting Clinton had warned us to look out for, but try as we might, could not find a reflective board anywhere!! Now thoroughly chilled, we gave it up after beating all the bushes and holes in the ground (fighting off trolls....or was that sleepmonsters?) for a half hour and trundled home to the farm entrance - Tobie with tattered feet and Jaco cramping by now.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu02fUwIGOIUyC1w4rDUJ67SSw4oH3-MOq3MSXP5_FiJZv3vUsra2FLjoXb0FA7_yewAr0d4EkO_ZzQ0d_6WKyzCtzfIXNTA6UbkVGvV5ZOV6K4z2dgiicgG9pJBSsuNUMPsT4KfkMQ9E/s1600/View.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu02fUwIGOIUyC1w4rDUJ67SSw4oH3-MOq3MSXP5_FiJZv3vUsra2FLjoXb0FA7_yewAr0d4EkO_ZzQ0d_6WKyzCtzfIXNTA6UbkVGvV5ZOV6K4z2dgiicgG9pJBSsuNUMPsT4KfkMQ9E/s400/View.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu02fUwIGOIUyC1w4rDUJ67SSw4oH3-MOq3MSXP5_FiJZv3vUsra2FLjoXb0FA7_yewAr0d4EkO_ZzQ0d_6WKyzCtzfIXNTA6UbkVGvV5ZOV6K4z2dgiicgG9pJBSsuNUMPsT4KfkMQ9E/s1600/View.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a><br />
I have very fond memories of this climb! Normally, I am normally the only one in the team who stays awake all night, but this time (maybe because Jaco and Tobie were reduced to walking) we were moving very slooowly and I was fighting sleepmonsters hard! Larry and I would wait for the guys to pass us on foot and then saddle up and ride past them to the next turn, then flop down in the dust, for a power nap, before doing it all over again! In my memory, that driveway was 100km’s long! Telescoping forward in the beam of my headlamp endlessly! 2012 came and went.....and so passed 2013, 14 and 15! Finally we reached the top, just before the drop to the house. A bakkie passed us saying the guys were just behind...to my horror we discovered that Tobie had gone to sleep in the middle of the road and the bakkie had to wake him up to pass! The stuff that AR stories are made of!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMFXfvswVIewa43AhyAye9Sk4w8zS6tHCLdLZcIk3k4zHjIOAs2-BU7Ae5ZIFGWYR4LktEXjhJv4zOHth4xQf1DUATkivjMOShd5RchB5aDdlC4XxHbh3fLsQmhClQXuKcwVjAd07dyiU/s1600/View2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMFXfvswVIewa43AhyAye9Sk4w8zS6tHCLdLZcIk3k4zHjIOAs2-BU7Ae5ZIFGWYR4LktEXjhJv4zOHth4xQf1DUATkivjMOShd5RchB5aDdlC4XxHbh3fLsQmhClQXuKcwVjAd07dyiU/s400/View2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
The problem with transitioning at the start is that the beds are really comfy and it is sooo easy to just stop right there! However, Lickety Split prides itself on finishing all races, so we grabbed a 1 hour sleep (dirty clothing and all, straight into bed) and headed out before daybreak. Jaco declared himself done, but Tobie bravely gritted his teeth for the Spitskop climb! Once again we passed Bad Medicine, going home along that long driveway, and picked up some pointers on route choices. We managed to find a path heading in the right direction and changed our plan from following the firebreak burn we had originally picked out. As it turned out, it was a good choice. We followed our noses to the ‘dead carcass’ CP and followed the race briefing tips to the ‘pine tree in donga’, which left only the flag on the top of the koppie to track down! 25 minutes up and 25 minutes down, we were trudging back up the long driveway, passed by racers rushing back to Joeys in their cars after prize giving. Give a thought to the racers on foot, chaps......slow down so we don’t have to eat so much dust in your wake!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-YFGNpD0on62U2fuRhCxd2shPBvwucvqXmG3S18lhU8brWM5_W5Q2eKtKDlZtx-1mf_0K0wcNnU2o8woxLYmlHbjEEAuNsAxFJ0GkpX0qC0OhWzsSlwbNNxaegcr3JDKPWx1lEAmnQE/s1600/IMG_5472.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-YFGNpD0on62U2fuRhCxd2shPBvwucvqXmG3S18lhU8brWM5_W5Q2eKtKDlZtx-1mf_0K0wcNnU2o8woxLYmlHbjEEAuNsAxFJ0GkpX0qC0OhWzsSlwbNNxaegcr3JDKPWx1lEAmnQE/s400/IMG_5472.JPG" width="400" /></a> <br />
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Our prize giving was a warm welcome from the Tswane Club and a 2L bottle of coke, then everybody took off leaving us alone in that huge, weird house.<br />
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I guess the other racers had managed to find some privacy to wash after the race, because we were left with only cold water, so the dream of washing off all the trail dirt was abandoned and we packed up quickly for the long road back. If we hadn’t had Mike to drive us, we might still be out there in a ditch, as we all fell asleep instantly and Tobie was still asleep 5km’s from home!<br />
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The distances I have for the race include all detours and short-cuts, but we managed around 75km’s MTB (hike-a-bike shortened the route) and totalled 40km’s on foot. I was wearing a pedometer which helped on the foot legs, when we started looking for an expected CP early, I could check it and say ‘ we’ve only done 3.5km’s and need to do 5 before we start looking’. Afterwards I had a look and discovered that I had done 21.5km’s on the second hike leg, but also somewhere in the vicinity of 25 000 steps!<br />
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Thanks go to Tshwane club for putting on such an interesting, challenging and well organised race. The views were Faaantastic!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKs4dlncTgrzA8AzOzS7w9ET-UMg2xRwYIbSyEGhSk_Vu95kXGqUySEhzRFokvedk2m1Od8CNyoiUSenyErutedOd6u_u-prJ4CU8ndhcm-AZWbPRhEzhiJPcxDmKgFD5i9c93JFi6oE/s1600/IMG_5515.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKs4dlncTgrzA8AzOzS7w9ET-UMg2xRwYIbSyEGhSk_Vu95kXGqUySEhzRFokvedk2m1Od8CNyoiUSenyErutedOd6u_u-prJ4CU8ndhcm-AZWbPRhEzhiJPcxDmKgFD5i9c93JFi6oE/s320/IMG_5515.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
Thanks to William, for volunteering your car, compass, map bag and keeping in touch throughout the race, and Mike for driving us and the bikes around all weekend (good help is hard to find), though the scintillating conversation was distinctly lacking on the way home! Thanks to Larry for jumping in and volunteering for all the dirty scouting work - you fitted into the team just like an old pair of shoes!<br />
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Here’s to the Blue Full Moon race in September! Whoop! Whoop!</div>Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-58409807589377090492012-07-24T15:57:00.002+02:002012-07-24T15:57:47.077+02:00The Dark Horse - Solis Ortus 24 Hr Race<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The team for this race: William (Navigator), Sue (Team Mommy), Jaco (The Strongman), Tobie (The Gentleman) </div>
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27 - 29 July at Dullstroom with love from Hardy at Tshwane AR Club.</div>
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WoooHoo!</div>
<br />Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-2531771162810569942012-07-10T13:13:00.002+02:002012-07-10T13:13:56.783+02:00Dead of Winter Run - 7 July 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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AR Club run - 19.something km's from the South end of Emmarentia Gardens along the Braamfontein Spruit, to Sunninghill for coffee. Beautiful day for a run with Fred!</h4>
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<br />Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-81757028561168336392012-06-04T07:32:00.004+02:002012-06-04T07:41:00.652+02:00<h2>
Team Lickety Split / Voetsek at ATFest near Cullinan.</h2>
65km Adventure Race. 2 June 2012.<br />
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<br />Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-62892159127862968912012-02-06T12:51:00.024+02:002012-02-06T13:30:11.340+02:00<span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIGrAc7fmr-dpHaUqyNgrz5tNfaVmVu9yCdAqY94a6tICq2UNg81d7wtqGDb99zqhEunD6uy_DyaDMG8UPCiCPEDHf8nQoOTD7RB8cRqcsXL_hBfZy6qDLa3O5lRkNHPTaxgbVwIXGLE/s1600/Mug.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 295px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIGrAc7fmr-dpHaUqyNgrz5tNfaVmVu9yCdAqY94a6tICq2UNg81d7wtqGDb99zqhEunD6uy_DyaDMG8UPCiCPEDHf8nQoOTD7RB8cRqcsXL_hBfZy6qDLa3O5lRkNHPTaxgbVwIXGLE/s320/Mug.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705978218701115186" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br style="font-family: arial;"></span> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Arial; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:8.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:595.45pt 841.7pt; margin:1.0cm 1.0cm 1.0cm 1.0cm; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <p style="font-family: arial; font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-ZAfont-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >RED ANTS RUMBLE – 27/28 Jan 2012</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-ZAfont-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" > </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:130%;" lang="EN-ZA" >Team Bitterender – Johan, Jaco, William and Sue</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:130%;" lang="EN-ZA" >Venue: Stanford Lake College near Haenertsburg</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" > </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >It could have been called “The Race where you got your money’s worth”, but anybody who knows the area would have guessed as much! So when Red Ants said we were to get some 3700m of ascent, we knew we were in for a treat! Unfortunately it was a bit of a shocker for the 2 new members of the team, Johan and Jaco, but they ‘rose’ to the occasion magnificently (excuse da pun)</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" > </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >With the clock standing at 13 weeks to Expedition Africa, Lickety Split is hoping to finalise the team members for all the warm-up races. Johan and Jaco were both bitten by the AR bug (and quite possibly some other toothy bugs too) at the last Kinetic Full Moon but had a trying time and were looking to get some quality time with an experienced navigator. So they teamed up with William and I as Bittereinder, a team who’s main goal was to have fun and finish comfortably. Before hand, we organised a couple of paddle, hike and bike sessions, to sort out seating arrangements in boats and forge the necessary team spirit for a group about to spend plenty of time in each other’s pockets.</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >The trip up was uneventful as we were lucky enough to leave early and miss the traditional Friday afternoon snarl up in traffic. Time not being a problem, we decided to take the scenic detour around the road works to Haenertsburg and got a foretaste of the kind of hills we could expect. Bike drop-off at the village hall was accompanied by phone calls to missing members, still waiting at the detour. Back at the Adventure Centre, we started our tent city on a beautiful grassy bank, as we were to host 5 tents eventually. Here was Nic Mulder waving his camera at anybody standing still and looking like a serious adventure racer – still don’t think we qualify!</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >So started the mad scramble of registering, pitching camp, unpacking and generally wondering where our all important bits of gear were hiding? Supper soon followed – a much appreciated dish of lasagne! Time for race briefing, only to be told by Brian that we were waiting for several teams lost to the roadworks. So it was back to the tents to look for all sorts of important items which miraculously seemed to be missing! No whistle, no drybag and from the cursing outside, Jaco had lost his bladder too! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Anyway, the extra time allowed us to find everything. Who could have guessed..the whistle still firmly attached to my backpack – exactly where it should be!</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >Race briefing finally rolled around and with maps in hand, William had a chance to use his latest toy. A distance counter to log up leg-time and speed predictions, which were right on the money! Though we did manage to finish a full half hour before predicted time, in spite of our best efforts to make a five day event of the MTB leg!</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; line-height: 11pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family:Helvetica;mso-bidi-font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" >Leg 1 - 5km orienteering: </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; line-height: 11pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" >True to our team name, we started dead last, having let the rush go. Nic Mulder helped us along with an instruction to get on with it! Unfortunately, by the first OP we had already overtaken some teams. William chose a clockwise route which would have gotten us round very efficiently, if it was not for the usual Orienteering snafu which can occur when I think I’m clipping OP 5 and William believes he’s told me OP 4. Rats! That added an extra km to the outing (but it was still early in the race) which put us back in second to last place at transition. Happy and singing in the dark.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnHRMa3Vur7FLJSI-IljjQMg9Y3nHNzTLjBm6XUBlLTLkb7gUWqLWWoJOF5AKanPHAOLEPRd6coekqpsey6gKXoqBylGFFfxNw4w8zqm6Pehvq7eYRq1hRikGffyG51P-BqujhKOfQJuc/s1600/PICT0008.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnHRMa3Vur7FLJSI-IljjQMg9Y3nHNzTLjBm6XUBlLTLkb7gUWqLWWoJOF5AKanPHAOLEPRd6coekqpsey6gKXoqBylGFFfxNw4w8zqm6Pehvq7eYRq1hRikGffyG51P-BqujhKOfQJuc/s320/PICT0008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705974095221454386" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;mso-bidi-font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; line-height: 11pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family:Helvetica;mso-bidi-font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" >Leg 2 - 10km paddle:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; line-height: 11pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" >As I’m sure many teams did, a quick rush over the road to put into the nearest water, much wiggling around in the boat and repacking of backpacks, only to take 3 strokes and take out on the far side for a(nother)portage! We had no idea there was a channel until after the race, though it helped to hear that Lickety Split (with their navigator in boat) spent much quality time in that channel! It only took us around 10 minutes to portage, retrieve shoes lost in the swamp and drag ourselves back into the boats. The waterfall was quickly navigated too and then we settled down for an enjoyable paddle. Somehow we had started moving up in the positions, in spite of our best intentions to stay at the back.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; line-height: 11pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hYXdqQ5y3tJAYFPK4_cbn5ADltWBd8CqNsR3ASeYpIteTJgUZwEG38k-XMYMMRI1eK-kHR61_sBkGDTMRxQKAHlvvaFPhRcD2Ry6Lh7AnLF8VYP3Rx8Q8WA898mJTFQQU2QK4A7hb-w/s1600/PICT0005.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hYXdqQ5y3tJAYFPK4_cbn5ADltWBd8CqNsR3ASeYpIteTJgUZwEG38k-XMYMMRI1eK-kHR61_sBkGDTMRxQKAHlvvaFPhRcD2Ry6Lh7AnLF8VYP3Rx8Q8WA898mJTFQQU2QK4A7hb-w/s320/PICT0005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705975527307135330" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;mso-bidi-font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; line-height: 11pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family:Helvetica;mso-bidi-font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" >Leg 3 - 7km hike:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; line-height: 11pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" >Nicky handed us the map and having watched other teams set off in completely the wrong direction earlier, made sure we had it facing the right way up before we took off down the road. Her lovable doggies very kindly offered to lighten my trail food bags of all my droë wors, but I hung onto it for later. Somehow, although we usually stick to the road in preference to bundu-bashing, this time we bashed across the river directly to the trail, instead of following other teams up the road and across the river by the bridge. Boy was that a good choice, as it set us up perfectly to find CP 1 onwards! I lost count of how many teams we met going the wrong way along the trail, having missed CP1 completely! Happy and singing in the sun. A quick photo shoot with Eric at the cemetery and onwards we led – speculating on the origins of the town as we passed.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; line-height: 11pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2_yEk5pAC4xrETQ7Yp2B-pzkNeEfsUHoTdCLHCsF0OJqiMqi5MH6CNV3S9p_PsdDU5dJ0zVwFTChx13hRS0CdaLLtcZh4M6vJvVT3Wkv8XjTmgEOMP3X3JPsd1Xx6h58ukX2BdxSCtY/s1600/PICT0013.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 365px; height: 273px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2_yEk5pAC4xrETQ7Yp2B-pzkNeEfsUHoTdCLHCsF0OJqiMqi5MH6CNV3S9p_PsdDU5dJ0zVwFTChx13hRS0CdaLLtcZh4M6vJvVT3Wkv8XjTmgEOMP3X3JPsd1Xx6h58ukX2BdxSCtY/s320/PICT0013.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705978555461219810" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;mso-bidi-font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; line-height: 11pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvEifY10Ycimz4DfV-AkM7mUPe7pYoUNRjZJ7upgINxjf2Zj8Gg-ynr9Ak2wZpkllkfTm3QMQGwerBIpnzBsmTULJNriZuTyuKLjOHvzDgKn62AAz8S62i_CURqZ2ZoRrWVBVe4_jMRbM/s1600/PICT0014.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 289px; height: 385px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvEifY10Ycimz4DfV-AkM7mUPe7pYoUNRjZJ7upgINxjf2Zj8Gg-ynr9Ak2wZpkllkfTm3QMQGwerBIpnzBsmTULJNriZuTyuKLjOHvzDgKn62AAz8S62i_CURqZ2ZoRrWVBVe4_jMRbM/s320/PICT0014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705978848539627282" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family:Helvetica;mso-bidi-font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" >Leg 4 - 50km bike:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; line-height: 11pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" >Here started the Real Adventure Race! Bikes collected at the hall, we set off knowing we were in for a bit of a climb, but completely oblivious to quite how hard it was going to be in the heat of the day! One hill crested, followed by another! The team slowed down to a walk, with many stops to drink and pour water over William who suffers on hot district roads! In spite of this, I was determined to ride the whole way and was doing quite well, only to be overtaken by William pushing his bike! I discovered that if I worked really hard, I could just about keep up with him! Luckily, we are training for expedition sized legs, otherwise I might have been a little disappointed in our time of 7 hours for this leg. Needless, to say, we managed to greet most of the back end of the race’s teams as they overtook us. We stopped for a minute to check if a member of a two man team was OK, when passing them in the forest on the side of the road. It seemed he was suffering from heatstroke and was waiting for Aderic and his ambulance.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxXEo1GlfxZbyfYuk_rvYO3Ff75_iCQbgmgXkkub-DA4qwVOGruQO-09rkOPhvn-mDThWRhjdtvK9xW7YAvYEmWqvMDUOG1cuElxYUWzG_Kd6T1k0aozYwr8ZEHrj4bOefGuLSIzN_hRI/s1600/PICT0023.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxXEo1GlfxZbyfYuk_rvYO3Ff75_iCQbgmgXkkub-DA4qwVOGruQO-09rkOPhvn-mDThWRhjdtvK9xW7YAvYEmWqvMDUOG1cuElxYUWzG_Kd6T1k0aozYwr8ZEHrj4bOefGuLSIzN_hRI/s320/PICT0023.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705979470902663090" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" > <br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; line-height: 11pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5idQSHgsq01Og7ntcfAUY1oJ_mMNE-uYIyRlMdbSEUIGb4Cfnj7RD8oVKi0k6XGBf-zbMyoo5zhmd7qPl58xmJpBHMaqVoIrmQMb_YaD3vjkXFKIMLcw5Ki7w5MS2JDEHKfpuO213kWk/s1600/PICT0025.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5idQSHgsq01Og7ntcfAUY1oJ_mMNE-uYIyRlMdbSEUIGb4Cfnj7RD8oVKi0k6XGBf-zbMyoo5zhmd7qPl58xmJpBHMaqVoIrmQMb_YaD3vjkXFKIMLcw5Ki7w5MS2JDEHKfpuO213kWk/s320/PICT0025.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705979917634676674" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" >A </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" >highlight was the stop to wade through the icy water in the mine (all 4 of us) and wandering through the cave for an elusive checkpoint. I managed to pass right through and find the back door, before shouts of “Gottit!” brought me slithering back. The quantities of left shoes had us guessing for a bit, before our heat-cooked brains finally made the connection between them and the New Balance flags. </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmiUD0EB7ZR6N6cVw_hKdovt8C-sWc9N5GqU2_7Yo0Jebk1tUpBeyiTBhLvcKFsdQBzqZkeUZ8gZVvKvL86vOCL_sx4PUdmbNvL2WKf0WAfL1AfdVO9nvYSCNjJNU61su_iFt5kSdKPyA/s1600/PICT0028.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmiUD0EB7ZR6N6cVw_hKdovt8C-sWc9N5GqU2_7Yo0Jebk1tUpBeyiTBhLvcKFsdQBzqZkeUZ8gZVvKvL86vOCL_sx4PUdmbNvL2WKf0WAfL1AfdVO9nvYSCNjJNU61su_iFt5kSdKPyA/s320/PICT0028.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705980240054537314" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family:Helvetica;mso-bidi-font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" >More uphills - we met Larry of Team Lava seemingly without his team who, when they passed us picnicing in the cool, declined to stop and join in. I should mention that Jaco hates hills! He said it several times, bitterly and with emphasis…”I HATE hills” Never mind, the uphills eventually came to an end at the next transition – then it was DOWNHILL!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0.1pt; line-height: 11pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family:Helvetica;mso-bidi-font-size:100%;color:#181512;" lang="EN-US" ><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" > </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnipTE8ZuonHAlI_5mIqKn7KeqLdD14_YyHg-yOx5Fz7qN-lHFff2SIlsBbzdxQfAzkhOlGdlJrhkqZRKVbUqvtLcYGZZ5LIFTNOUN0O4SVYpBVaBLnv0ZQ4566YT3dwDFC-Mw3uxdQs/s1600/RAR-InTheKloof.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnipTE8ZuonHAlI_5mIqKn7KeqLdD14_YyHg-yOx5Fz7qN-lHFff2SIlsBbzdxQfAzkhOlGdlJrhkqZRKVbUqvtLcYGZZ5LIFTNOUN0O4SVYpBVaBLnv0ZQ4566YT3dwDFC-Mw3uxdQs/s320/RAR-InTheKloof.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705980609628453538" border="0" /></a></span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >Leg 5 – 15 km hike, kloofing:</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >This late afternoon transition, left us scrambling to get out on the hike leg and put in some serious distance before it got dark. The aim was to get both waterfall CP’s done during daylight – a good plan as it turns out! The hike into the kloof saw us meet up with Eric and his camera, for a chat and the exciting news that Lickety Split was doing really well!! Go Guys!</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGS91CMrM7mVRJSow_Kc0hMHvFdjcV1Yl7Na4ArexlQbAZHwJC0ZCNk0T7Y2DDMdFsGAjsyjhZSyJhmxOWd8zMPeDR2PCVKve2cVpgI1AC8ouKzHW8MvWQyrsqBv72c0pWXhR21B2ZvLo/s1600/PICT0033.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGS91CMrM7mVRJSow_Kc0hMHvFdjcV1Yl7Na4ArexlQbAZHwJC0ZCNk0T7Y2DDMdFsGAjsyjhZSyJhmxOWd8zMPeDR2PCVKve2cVpgI1AC8ouKzHW8MvWQyrsqBv72c0pWXhR21B2ZvLo/s320/PICT0033.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705981149532264434" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >The kloofing was challenging, with every member of the team slipping around on the boulders, but only me actually making a serious dent in one knee. I asked for a bit of spit to rub it better, but nobody offered! The Garfield question put all the men in the water looking to see if there was actually any grafitti on the wall, but we came away without too much time spent looking, leaving only Jaco’s sock lost to the effort. I ask: who goes swimming in their socks? But evidently all three members of Bittereinder do! Jaco was left to make full use of William’s strapping tape instead. Dark descended inevitably and the multiple crossings of the river became a bit tedious. Being so small, I disappear easily; slipping and sliding on large boulders and left a slice of skin behind, on one evil crossing. At this point we had completely lost the trail. We knew where it should have been, but searching upriver only brought banks which were surely wrong, so we doubled back several times (crossing that river again……) I suggested a supper break and I guess the distraction turned William back to into Captain Fantastic, because he disappeared around the reeds and right back onto the trail! We even managed to help other lost souls (Team Assitport was also lost in translation higher upstream) back onto that road that led up out of the valley. Unfortunately, it was here that Johan began slowing down with an old injury to his knee and we limped slooowly uphill and back to transition. 20 minutes and a break…….</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" > </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >Leg 6 – 39km bike:</span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >Midnight brought a cold wind and with Johan limping on a damaged knee, we decided to add an hour of sleep at transition. Since various teams had seen fit to stable their bikes in the warm gazebo, we showed grit and bunked down with one sleeping bag between two on the grass, trying hard to ignore insensitive racers shining headlamps on us. Unfortunately, this was the end of Johan’s race, so we decided to push on. 1.15am saw us eager to be away, off the cold mountain top and warming hands on the handlebars in the forest. It was to be a huge vertical descent between columns of pine trees, like Alice down the rabbit hole! Without the benefit of a sleep I’m not sure I would have roared down the rocky slopes quite so fast, but it seemed OK at the time. We stopped to decide whether Brian would have expected us to enter the private roads with conspicuous ‘Do not Enter’ signs, but keeping to AR tradition, pushed on trusting to the compass and William that we were still on the right track. However, one turn too many to the South when we should have been headed North, had us doubting ourselves and spending a fruitless hour backtracking up the vertical road (hike a bike) before deciding that we were in the right place anyway and heading back down. To our utter surprise, we were never passed by another team during the entire night’s ride!</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jTn0Kz9GwZwR383G6g1adrCKZ3OJHQV9P3gyGpjUVzvw-Q7oNgGvXCn0EmYoijaVFuNd0mMANElI423KaK3th_MWiwz5mXNO9Auu3QIClVjaHccXyJXhdEX8a3HI_z_RxCKTVrq1_GM/s1600/RAR-On+Bikes.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jTn0Kz9GwZwR383G6g1adrCKZ3OJHQV9P3gyGpjUVzvw-Q7oNgGvXCn0EmYoijaVFuNd0mMANElI423KaK3th_MWiwz5mXNO9Auu3QIClVjaHccXyJXhdEX8a3HI_z_RxCKTVrq1_GM/s320/RAR-On+Bikes.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705981469080941826" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" ><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" ><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" ><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" ><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >Sunrise saw a welcome stop for a breakfast muffin (OH for some coffee!) then with no more excuses, onto the tar road and back to the canoe transition. In spite of knowing exactly where the turn-off was, we still managed to overshoot it in our sleepy state. </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxen2rZwQH1TLiZcFmbEWIWTYevlXQqYGYyPdGs61EN_eE2nTE2NOtc7XFBZbfMEpkMDxYC-O4RPKQjv6OzqJCgdHmRm34eVdrsQy23fdm_bcngobB78Lj0suVA-zGhoKIMxl6L51ed_E/s1600/PICT0041.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxen2rZwQH1TLiZcFmbEWIWTYevlXQqYGYyPdGs61EN_eE2nTE2NOtc7XFBZbfMEpkMDxYC-O4RPKQjv6OzqJCgdHmRm34eVdrsQy23fdm_bcngobB78Lj0suVA-zGhoKIMxl6L51ed_E/s320/PICT0041.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705981934169493810" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" > </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >Leg 7 – 10km paddle:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -7pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >A warm welcome by Nicky and a not too efficient transition saw us back in the boats and fighting sleep, now that we were sitting down. As we were one short, the obvious solution was for William to balance the second boat with all the backpacks in the back seat and go it alone. Note to self – pack some sort of a leash for towing in future!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -7pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >It was lucky that the mist had lifted to some extent, but we still found ourselves paddling into the wrong bay, then back out again looking for the waterfall. I was fighting sleep and pink elephants in the front of the boat, but William was paddling like Hercules on his own. Jaco and I struggled to keep up!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -7pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >Each portage was more than interesting with 2 boats and only 2 and a half paddlers, but with William and Jaco showing true grit and several trips, both boats made it around the waterfall and over the reedbank, then through under the bridge (with a spot of cursing by now) to an excited welcome by Brian and Mike on the bank. Whew! As always finishing is a bit of an anticlimax for me. However, I am always just as glad to have done so! Why do we do adventure racing………because it always feels so good when you stop!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -7pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -7pt; font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >My feeling about this race, is that it was just hard enough to be exactly what a good adventure race should be! Some interesting and exotic sites….and long enough to let you know that you had worked! Well organised with friendly faces at every transition. A big thank you to Red Ants and the other helpers who worked so hard to make it fun for us racers – especially to the marshall in the river. We still have no idea how you actually rode a bike with what looked like everything including the kitchen sink, into that far distant valley!</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUnNH_MVqaREJr3aeN1-CzWKNL9WtgjYvxlv5Pz-0N1-NG9mc0Nnz1Bz-8sSQ_gT-zGXIi46_3hNNFPuiKOe-5TCTNaxWyYkrbUZ4HAoZCFPNWt-C4pWU52ZMKWQVuyVZkmF_j3NaK34/s1600/Mug2.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUnNH_MVqaREJr3aeN1-CzWKNL9WtgjYvxlv5Pz-0N1-NG9mc0Nnz1Bz-8sSQ_gT-zGXIi46_3hNNFPuiKOe-5TCTNaxWyYkrbUZ4HAoZCFPNWt-C4pWU52ZMKWQVuyVZkmF_j3NaK34/s320/Mug2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5705982104227828770" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -7pt; font-family: arial;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >I look forward to racing with Jaco in future and am equally sorry that the gentleman of the team, Johan will be unable to do the long distances with us. Thanks to William for captaining and navigating a fantastic racing experience once again!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -7pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" ><br /></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" > </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-ZA;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-ZA" >Thanks for the Ant Trail - Die Bittereinde(r)</span></p>Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-58826152789494247292011-11-22T14:01:00.002+02:002011-11-22T14:10:44.237+02:00Centrogaine - 8 Nov 2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gL9pqykZbSJAxXZwmNsAj_BLFocvWIa8F7ee77wxH2-cZMsdsmdu5eQA-vg7OXx3yGkHAZ_Aol9oPY5swmD30H7yfXlF31xgqxMzaTTXFPuALQ-owrTZkEXelZP-aeILtzH9flB845Q/s1600/298412_10150311290111736_631796735_8335801_640373660_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gL9pqykZbSJAxXZwmNsAj_BLFocvWIa8F7ee77wxH2-cZMsdsmdu5eQA-vg7OXx3yGkHAZ_Aol9oPY5swmD30H7yfXlF31xgqxMzaTTXFPuALQ-owrTZkEXelZP-aeILtzH9flB845Q/s320/298412_10150311290111736_631796735_8335801_640373660_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677789384225360242" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="messageBody" ft="{"type":3}">Last night Susan Belcher I participated in the Centrogaine (Metrogaine in Centurion). It was well organised by Fernandos Santos. It was also a lot more fun than I expected. Sue and I ran approximately 12km in 90 mins and only the last 2km did I feel my tired legs.<br /><br />Fantastic weather organized by Nando, made for a perfect evening in the suburbs!<br />Lickety Split finished 16 out of 40 teams and 5th in our Mixed Team category.<br /></span></span><p>Reported by William - posted by Sue.<br /></p>Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-67862348391582905232011-11-07T08:27:00.001+02:002011-11-07T08:27:50.437+02:00Mystic Sable<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:x="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel" xmlns:p="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:powerpoint" xmlns:a="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:access" xmlns:dt="uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882" xmlns:s="uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3-00AA00C14882" xmlns:rs="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset" xmlns:z="#RowsetSchema" xmlns:b="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:publisher" xmlns:ss="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet" xmlns:c="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:component:spreadsheet" xmlns:odc="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:odc" xmlns:oa="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:activation" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:q="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:rtc="http://microsoft.com/officenet/conferencing" xmlns:D="DAV:" xmlns:Repl="http://schemas.microsoft.com/repl/" xmlns:mt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/meetings/" xmlns:x2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2003/xml" xmlns:ppda="http://www.passport.com/NameSpace.xsd" xmlns:ois="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/ois/" xmlns:dir="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/directory/" xmlns:ds="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#" xmlns:dsp="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/dsp" xmlns:udc="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:sub="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/2002/1/alerts/" xmlns:ec="http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#" xmlns:sp="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/" xmlns:sps="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:udcs="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/soap" xmlns:udcxf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/xmlfile" xmlns:udcp2p="http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/parttopart" xmlns:wf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/workflow/" xmlns:dsss="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/digsig-setup" xmlns:dssi="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/digsig" xmlns:mdssi="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/digital-signature" xmlns:mver="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns:mrels="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships" xmlns:spwp="http://microsoft.com/sharepoint/webpartpages" xmlns:ex12t="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" xmlns:ex12m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" xmlns:pptsl="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/SlideLibrary/" xmlns:spsl="http://microsoft.com/webservices/SharePointPortalServer/PublishedLinksService" xmlns:Z="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" xmlns:st="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"> <title>Re: #ARWC2011</title> <style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; text-decoration:underline;} span.EmailStyle17 {mso-style-type:personal-reply; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; font-size:10.0pt;} @page WordSection1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" /> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout v:ext="edit"> <o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" /> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--> </head> <body lang="EN-ZA" link="blue" vlink="purple"> <div class="WordSection1"> <blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">50km is further than I am fit enough for </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;color:#1F497D">J</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">On Saturday morning we did a 24km run, overall it had about 500m altitude gain, mostly from running around the Fort Klapperkop monument. At about 18 km I really started feeling it, with light cramps in my calves. Basically I had to walk about 100m out of every 300m to keep going. My time for the 24km was 3:00:17. I also grew a blister where the strapping tape had rolled up (same spot as the blister I got doing the Wakkerstroom Mountain Challenge – I think it is specific to those shoes). At about 3km to go I got overtaken by two girls who were running very comfortably and then ended nearly 3 mins ahead of me. At the end of the race I had a great chat with Nando, Karin and Erik (who came to cycle at Groenkloof), I went and spent the day with a work colleague (an ex-runner) which was very peaceful.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">The evening run was a very flat run, I started by matching my pace with the two girls who had come past me so easily on the first stage. At the waterstop they really wasted time and I carried on without them. In the end I finished nearly 2 minutes ahead of them. The route was very flat and I suppose I should have finished the 9km faster than 58mins.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">On Sunday morning I woke up so stiff, my legs were killing me. Yolande and Kids came along to do the 6km fun run and Loreley tells me I looked really funny at the start of the last 16km stage. This stage was really technical in places, really rocky uphills but with very fast flowing single track sections. I really enjoyed the section along the top of the hill where there were small lose rocks but overall very flat and comfortable running. I kept up with the two girls again until about 6km where I went ahead. I ran out of energy a little later and while eating a packet of raisins they caught up again. However the last waterstop again let me get ahead and I finished about 2 minutes ahead of them. I did the 16km without cramps and I feel finished quite strongly. Overall time 2:11 which I thought quite slow but I don’t know if I could have done much faster.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">So overall we did about 49km, and it took me 6 hours 11 minutes. There were only 32 entries for the long event of which 30 started and 27 finished. It was tough but really enjoyable, I think I need to find a few more of these running stage races to do next year.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Williamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740685465982253153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-82916508749684708242011-09-28T12:24:00.002+02:002011-09-28T12:31:11.488+02:00Adapt or Die - Racing in the UKAfter having decided a while ago that I wanted to do an overseas race, I did a whole lot of internet searching and discovered the South West Coast 2 Coast race in the South west of England. The SWC2C is a cross over Ironman/Adventure race that includes both a 2 day staged option and a 1 day extreme non stop option. The race seemed perfect as I know quite a few people in England that could help me out, as well as being a solo race so I could organise everything on my own. By the time I entered the staged option was sold out and I entered the non stop option instead (my prefered style of racing). <br /><div><br /><div><br /><div class="WordSection1"><br /><p class="MsoNormal">I did a lot of running training leading up to the event as my cycling was doing well. I also knew that I would overall need to increase my normal racing speed by as much as 25% if I wanted to make the cut offs.<br /><br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal">I left Johannesburg on the Thursday night, arriving in London on Friday morning, met a long term online friend Wayne who was helping me out with transport and logistics, we collected a hire bike on Friday afternoon, and went to bed early that evening. Saturday morning started with a 3 hour drive to the start for registration and collection of race numbers etc. A short briefing was held but from my point of view was not very good as it contained no information about race logistics, instead was just a run down of the route according to the race book we recieved. My assumption that things would work the same way as in South Africa came back to haunt me later as I did not get the kit I needed when I needed it. I used a small 15l Salomon rivo backpack I won on the last Full Moon race, but covered it with a South African flag.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></p><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQYJaRDb2S8FyW5lfKeWhpiBkyf7NrmxCCf1XBG67ZdtShutPuxhg85vdcsFHbKvANPvwf2rAjwGTtyB2n_xNE36-9WL_OvsXxD1VULCytu8yX4iroVnUSjWx_uuHNbwE1MhWnHze9qiK/s1600/sea.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657354834007714770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQYJaRDb2S8FyW5lfKeWhpiBkyf7NrmxCCf1XBG67ZdtShutPuxhg85vdcsFHbKvANPvwf2rAjwGTtyB2n_xNE36-9WL_OvsXxD1VULCytu8yX4iroVnUSjWx_uuHNbwE1MhWnHze9qiK/s320/sea.jpg" /></a>Before the race started we had a 2.5km walk to the start - this was quite peaceful until the rain started - it was a short downpur but should really have prepared me for what was to come later. In the rain I put on First Ascent Apple Jacket - while not a waterproof top I have found previously that even when wet it keeps the wind out. The start of the race was the most Northerly point of the Country of Devon (Foreland point) where in the middle of nowhere there is a small lighthouse. Looking down at the lighhouse in a terribly overcast day, with strong winds I could see a "sundeck" with chairs etc - and I thought to myslef that there is no way anyone would ever wnat to sit out there.<br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Leg 1 - 11km run: By now the rain had cleared and the wind had dropped (being protected behind the hills from the southerly wind) and we started the race at about 7:20. Being proudly Lickety Split I let everyone rush off into the distance and run up the steep coastal hills while I strolled along and reached the top of the hills 50m behind everyone else. At the top the wind was howling again and I struggled to start running. Once over the ridge and dropping into the woods I got into <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj39OLUbsVEF3l4wBx7PxqtNY0dMcBCncvggQYxY1BxDJ1crppOnsRJ7xFIwnn-qqiWMwaWvNkIhapnxKxTk3eaOWx0SrPvfPRUC19LyxfuyjDcfrsXS0pzMlNHIqGYMQcK_lXJjWRrPZ7H/s1600/church.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657355214861244594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj39OLUbsVEF3l4wBx7PxqtNY0dMcBCncvggQYxY1BxDJ1crppOnsRJ7xFIwnn-qqiWMwaWvNkIhapnxKxTk3eaOWx0SrPvfPRUC19LyxfuyjDcfrsXS0pzMlNHIqGYMQcK_lXJjWRrPZ7H/s320/church.JPG" /></a>my stride and really started enjoying the run. The path led through the trees, up and down a few hills and along the banks of the river. In many ways the wood reminded me of the forests found in Kwazulu Natal and Mpumalanga with gentle undergrowth under the towering trees. Bit by bit I was overtaking the back end of the field and by the time we got back to the tar roads leading into the village of Brendon I had overtaken 15 or so people. Overall I found the other racers very firiendly and accomodating and everyone let me through as soon as I caught up with them.<br /><br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Leg 2 - 85km cycle: I transitioned quickly onto the bike and got out ahead of a lot of people that had finished the run ahead of me. Coming out of Brendon were a couple of mean hills and I decided to save my strength and pushed up the hills. At one point I was greeted in Afrikaans by a fellow racer so I was not the only South African in the race. Once over the hills I got going and was enjoying my ride, even the short rain shower I had shortly after that did little to dampen my spirits. Unfortunatly I started getting cramps in my lower calf after only about 5km of riding and these cramps stayed with me for most of the cycle, I am still not sure if the cramps were from the cold, or the 12 hours sitting still in the aeroplane the day before. The most amazing thing was how much spaces cars give cyclists on the roads, in many cases cars drove slowly behind me until we reached a section of double lane before overtaking me. I rode along at a good pace and though I was feeling a little cold (being soaked from the rain and the strong wind creating a large drop in temperature due to wind chill) I felt OK and carried on. Even the second shower did little to dampen the spirits though by now I was feeling really cold. By about 50kms into the cycle and the 6th or so rain shower the heavens opened and we had a lot of really hard rain.<br /><br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal">By now the wind was really strong, I was soaked and I had not really adapted to the conditions. Being soaked at 8degrees, with a howling wind probably made the ambient temperature about 0Degrees - thats freezing in case you did not know. Only once I started realising that I could not concentrate properly did I stop and put warmer clothes on. (Difficulty to concentrate is a sign of Hypothermia - at the time I was struggling to remember the next instructions I needed to do "Red Hill Cross, Turn left following the sign that says Meldon 4km"). In the pour<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxewuLCVGJ0evKxQG-0gfc1cFC9FUYsItbu1HIsbyKUq7IcbYgCeC0A-9xU4vcEoj40LEB1j6o964hlZcxOyVQY32BVKNeUohDv3lbdEzTPRgpG2SnKZsUwl7UIceXgDri_5_6wgySaKep/s1600/weather.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657355213534794498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxewuLCVGJ0evKxQG-0gfc1cFC9FUYsItbu1HIsbyKUq7IcbYgCeC0A-9xU4vcEoj40LEB1j6o964hlZcxOyVQY32BVKNeUohDv3lbdEzTPRgpG2SnKZsUwl7UIceXgDri_5_6wgySaKep/s320/weather.jpg" /></a>ing rain I stripped down to my pants and pulled a fleece top on, then put my cycling top over the fleece before once again putting on my wind proof top. This made me feel a lot better and I continued at a very slow pace - the cold was just sapping all my energy, making cycling really hard. Slowly and regularly people were overtaking me. At one point 4 guys came past me and I decided to force myself to keep up with them. I rode the last 20-25km with them and they certainly helped me get to the transition, we were all quite tired so other than them asking me a few question about being South African we did not chat much. I made the cutoff with about 10minutes spare.<br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Leg 3 - 7km hike/run: At transition (no transition bag) I happily had a hot cross bun my friend Wayne supplied, and cake mix supplied by the organisers and left as quickly as possible onto the hike up High Willhays (highest point in South west england) - I walked up to the top trying to recover some heat and some energy. Instead of a trig beacon the highest point was marked by a large cairn of rocks, I added my rock to the cairns before turning and heading back down. The moors are public access land and I saw various flocks of sheep each makred with a different color spray paint accross their backs. On the way back to transition I trotted as much as possible. Crossing the moors was interesting with what looked like dry grass being 10cm of water when you step on it - fine while walking by definitly ankle turning stuff when running.<br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Leg 4 - 37km cycle: At transition again I got going as soon as I could and the first few kms were wonderful flat riding on a cycling specific tarred track and I pushed as hard as I felt I could to try recover some time. At one point we went over, then under a fantastic viaduct before returning to the country roads. My 4 friends from earlier soon caught up with me again and we rode along together most of the way. With about 15km to go I decided I needed to push again and started going faster. I still felt really cold and the exercise was not enough to warm me up. With about 6 kms to go I had 35minutes to make the next cut off and thought I was reasonably safe, but I came around a corner and was faced with a 2km long uphill - so I slogged up it (pushing most of the way) and reached the top with about 5 minutes to go - from the top I could see a wonderful downhill followed unfortunatly by another 2km uphill. I slogged up it knowing by now that I would not make the cut off but hoping I would be allowed to continue.<br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Once I reached the top I had about 1km to go to transition and I took it reasonably peacefully. By now I had realised I was far behind the cut off time and had reached the conclusion that I would be almost happy to be told I could not continue.... I passed Wayne just before the transition and he told me he had arranged an extra 15minutes for me - unfortunatly this was about 40minutes after cut off already. I continued to the transition where I was told I was too late to continue. I went into the hall and had some hot food and tea.<br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal">About 45minutes later I went out of the hall to collect my bike and started shaking - not shivering but physically shaking from the cold. I could almost not hold my bike due to the shaking. Even after a warm bath that evening and a long sleep in a warm bed, the next day a gentle breeze started me shivering all over again. I am not sure, but I cannot but believe I had reached the point of Hypothermia during the race.<br /><br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal">I consider myself an experienced adventure racer. I have done almost 20 races of over 100km in length, including Expedition Africa of 500+kms. I have titled this report "Adapt of Die" as even with all the experience I have at racing under South African conditions I was not able to adapt to the new conditions I was racing in, and in the end this was the reason I did not finish the race. In South Africa I suffer heatstroke very easily and while racing I would rather be cold than warm to prevent it. Under the race conditions I experienced in England, I should have realised that there was no chance of getting heatstroke and switched immediatly to ensuring that I did not get too cold. At the start of Leg 2 I should have been wearing my fleece as a base layer. I had presumed I would get access to my transition bag at each transition and had left warm leggings in the bag - I should have been wearing at least my leg warmers if not my full fleece leggings on the cycle. At home I have a polar buff, this should have been on my head and not in my cupboard.<br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Humans are creatures of habbit. And the habbits I have learnt over the last 4 years of racing meant I did not finish the race. Adapt or Die!<o:p></o:p></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"></p></div></div></div>Williamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740685465982253153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-20222421037259471492011-08-29T13:02:00.001+02:002011-08-29T13:02:47.284+02:00Wakkerstroom Mountain ChallengeOn Saturday I did the Wakkerstroom Mountain Challenge, a 21.1km Halfmarathon starting in Wakkerstroom at the church and going out and back along the Utrecht road (The Alternate route back for those that did the Balele Tracks race). The route had 2 big hills in it, on the way out we went up a long climb out from town, I guess it is a climb of 300m over about 3kms, and later at the 8km mark a drop of about 200m over 2kms. It is an out and back race so each downhill had an equivilent uphill etc. <br/> <br/> I ran up about 2 thirds of the hill on the way out before walking, and from about the 6.5km mark I really got going. I ran to the turn but the stop at the turn disrupted my running and I struggled to get going again. I walked up the hill and then finally got going again -and comfortably ran the last 6kms to the finish. <br/> <br/> I finished in 27th place (of about 40 runners), in 2:09:49. I am happy with my time, and even better straight after the race I played soccer with my boys, and when we got back to the farm took my yougest son for a walk. Immediatly after the race it felt as if I was goign to cramp but by keeping walking around I was OK. <br/> <br/> <br/> I still think I am going to struggle to make the cutoffs in England, but overall I do feel a lot better about it than I was feeling last week. My fitness is definitly a lot better than I thought it was.<div style='clear: both; text-align: center; font-size: xx-small;'>Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4</div>Lickety Splithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13465078750008133216noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-45647224017113733772011-08-23T15:18:00.030+02:002011-08-25T07:34:16.904+02:00Full Moon Machadodorp - August 2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeuZ4Wf1s2PIRPmUVw6IqU00bdpRn8zw-S3sgRpDySyrvcvlh_gf3Tisa7SgFf7fIJouzZE13q7RWUY7_Io4cPOi17vcu5deed4lZ09xralAD6PnZ7mpKmBX39WkD0M3t6ZzTkrGAz6o/s1600/FM+Start.jpg">
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<br />Members: William Cairns, Mike Underwood, Sue Belcher, Gail Arnell
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<br /></span></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">After all the planning, map plotting, route choices, packing, getting bikes ready, finding the loo and general pre-race activities the race was about to start. </span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0O6n9Ta5uAEeaKTCpxEUlpJvBB8IDTLdg0_yFIhuxun-_SUlEAAgWVutX2BePpJwg2I3qfuqa-IWU2rH7JCLodJI7rCr8vWBsO-mb74I4hZgUJKYFywSqdJ8WuVH-ySxm94o4a4apFJA/s1600/Hill+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0O6n9Ta5uAEeaKTCpxEUlpJvBB8IDTLdg0_yFIhuxun-_SUlEAAgWVutX2BePpJwg2I3qfuqa-IWU2rH7JCLodJI7rCr8vWBsO-mb74I4hZgUJKYFywSqdJ8WuVH-ySxm94o4a4apFJA/s320/Hill+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644043038451928722" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeuZ4Wf1s2PIRPmUVw6IqU00bdpRn8zw-S3sgRpDySyrvcvlh_gf3Tisa7SgFf7fIJouzZE13q7RWUY7_Io4cPOi17vcu5deed4lZ09xralAD6PnZ7mpKmBX39WkD0M3t6ZzTkrGAz6o/s1600/FM+Start.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeuZ4Wf1s2PIRPmUVw6IqU00bdpRn8zw-S3sgRpDySyrvcvlh_gf3Tisa7SgFf7fIJouzZE13q7RWUY7_Io4cPOi17vcu5deed4lZ09xralAD6PnZ7mpKmBX39WkD0M3t6ZzTkrGAz6o/s320/FM+Start.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644042876951998434" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Team Lickety Split faded into the background hiding behind all the teams that were planning to rush off onto the course. When the race started the team strolled off to their bikes, collected their helmets and backpacks before riding onto the route. By the time we hit the road there was not another team in sight - just the way we like it. Off we cruised down the road, passing first one person who in their rush had dropped their water bottle, by the time they caught up we had passed yet another person who had dropped another waterbottle. Everyone we passed came racing past us again as we gently cycled down the road. At the last turn before the transition we overtook another three teams who were trying to decide what route to take.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">
<br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23Kz77GLT5Q9-IqDNgxU3neDPag0qEe2flwNCPaAgQuZYAxhqcGfxDxT8Obv9kduOM0QjxPMueWPQlsv8Lv7rE14H9eYIHLvf31gJSaXCHLiZlzl6Y_XDckw7pO7Iq2CyplIx6ZmyaDo/s1600/Eric.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 251px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23Kz77GLT5Q9-IqDNgxU3neDPag0qEe2flwNCPaAgQuZYAxhqcGfxDxT8Obv9kduOM0QjxPMueWPQlsv8Lv7rE14H9eYIHLvf31gJSaXCHLiZlzl6Y_XDckw7pO7Iq2CyplIx6ZmyaDo/s320/Eric.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644043511947467746" border="0" /></a>
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<br /></span></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">We came into transition last, but left ahead of three teams. All three quickly overtook us on the 3 km hike to the paddle transition. So once again we arrived at transition last.
<br /></span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihxPq_8hZl5DRYdTPGbWOppdBO1yyKmUDCPoe7AcTaqwv2x5lAE3Hreyn26bVdB08qXR_a48yq6w_PrUufpeYIgENTTrerLQUAvLJmEnq4Bo6Cb3Pn20Mo6bcsuE3MijDR9zE7o6hwfKM/s1600/Sue1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihxPq_8hZl5DRYdTPGbWOppdBO1yyKmUDCPoe7AcTaqwv2x5lAE3Hreyn26bVdB08qXR_a48yq6w_PrUufpeYIgENTTrerLQUAvLJmEnq4Bo6Cb3Pn20Mo6bcsuE3MijDR9zE7o6hwfKM/s320/Sue1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644044066243073442" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTrQt97JutRyj3t7qZv4JmO5tRCjANlG7QxZNuN8TOO3GHPkkXQhrmgGMQ0hMZkqvg4CD677vqj3QS1IKwhaXDlJYIeyIEvk9HiJ86l4-9eF91bcnXcyC0gdk-OCaFlpdctBl1vnXuOE/s1600/Paddle.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTrQt97JutRyj3t7qZv4JmO5tRCjANlG7QxZNuN8TOO3GHPkkXQhrmgGMQ0hMZkqvg4CD677vqj3QS1IKwhaXDlJYIeyIEvk9HiJ86l4-9eF91bcnXcyC0gdk-OCaFlpdctBl1vnXuOE/s320/Paddle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644043890306431266" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Putting in the boats allowed us to overtake three teams once again, and on the paddle we overtook another three teams. The rocks in the river were irritating as each rapid we got stuck, Gail and I took turns getting out and pulling the boat over the rocks. In a way hitting the flat water of the dam was a pleasure - for the first 2 kms when sore shoulders that were not getting a break started being the problem instead.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">
<br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibgL0r2Q_I6qrwIUtyCTvh5r87xPL0KH7Cbg8zKbdUTwpEy8JdGi-IvbpqMLz66fr0kpu4voVc-KDVa7NMJ90E50sC-KpEt9mpwwmGHIwWiZeOwfkRv2xzbocRui61fqFJkaQ93B2rSKY/s1600/Sue2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibgL0r2Q_I6qrwIUtyCTvh5r87xPL0KH7Cbg8zKbdUTwpEy8JdGi-IvbpqMLz66fr0kpu4voVc-KDVa7NMJ90E50sC-KpEt9mpwwmGHIwWiZeOwfkRv2xzbocRui61fqFJkaQ93B2rSKY/s320/Sue2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644044947992138498" border="0" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl420-aFOXa8_QtsU3BJOkNM9ikGBxdk7IudYY7j50mVIhlmRwMqfrgVdYZvQ89Y4wkQvdF3r4ZkK9cZ_ewYZgVNgTnqOS7YzPQGaLiKWn2JD27YbgecSzf91n5T_2kms6dz4g4DQ6afg/s1600/Transition.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl420-aFOXa8_QtsU3BJOkNM9ikGBxdk7IudYY7j50mVIhlmRwMqfrgVdYZvQ89Y4wkQvdF3r4ZkK9cZ_ewYZgVNgTnqOS7YzPQGaLiKWn2JD27YbgecSzf91n5T_2kms6dz4g4DQ6afg/s320/Transition.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644045073085796274" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Again in the transition we overtook another 3 teams, until Sue realised she left kit behind and had to return losing all three places again. </span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8K3NliYNcrRLnjZwnjlUS43TnwTHHPSqDmZtoRZAEhx_N_zmzLxChaNE20yGKmvt_OM4NbaL9bHuCosSaGBsnzvT7Fx6jrXQMj8spiJ4Qryp16d20oG9dbxXJdkTRW9t0-e5GdLEMWZU/s1600/Team2.jpg">
<br /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Off we went on the hike, choosing the easier but longer road route instead of the route along the dam shore in case the shore path ended at some point. Half way along the route we ran a few steps until we realised that Mike had decided running was not a great idea and let us disappear off into the distance. In transition we had some food and collected our night gear.
<br /></span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruLAY79v_6pHhBVFoOxdXTnQOvlD9XPmYJCDY4S7dIAMxwaEBlYHeDu-F1AaFO5mKOiK6X4qA4tpsvGe-znqPjzhf4F75iErbD6MxvPNbPevJXvnHJTu11zsB_9EO3OF_MvDqgxqgZRs/s1600/Mike1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruLAY79v_6pHhBVFoOxdXTnQOvlD9XPmYJCDY4S7dIAMxwaEBlYHeDu-F1AaFO5mKOiK6X4qA4tpsvGe-znqPjzhf4F75iErbD6MxvPNbPevJXvnHJTu11zsB_9EO3OF_MvDqgxqgZRs/s320/Mike1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644045750917201266" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Leg 5, a 30km cycle, included a steep climb, over 400m climb in under 3kms. We rode out of transition in daylight and reached the climb just after night had fallen. In the end the climb felt a lot longer than it really was - most of it was done by the guys in the team pushing their bikes while the girls rode rings around us. Those 3kms took us nearly 2 hours to cover (Ok not so long but it felt like it). After the climb is was easy going to the next transition crossing paths with the race ambulance collecting a team who were struggling.
<br /></span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8K3NliYNcrRLnjZwnjlUS43TnwTHHPSqDmZtoRZAEhx_N_zmzLxChaNE20yGKmvt_OM4NbaL9bHuCosSaGBsnzvT7Fx6jrXQMj8spiJ4Qryp16d20oG9dbxXJdkTRW9t0-e5GdLEMWZU/s1600/Team2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8K3NliYNcrRLnjZwnjlUS43TnwTHHPSqDmZtoRZAEhx_N_zmzLxChaNE20yGKmvt_OM4NbaL9bHuCosSaGBsnzvT7Fx6jrXQMj8spiJ4Qryp16d20oG9dbxXJdkTRW9t0-e5GdLEMWZU/s320/Team2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644046886469702450" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">In transition we heard many stories about how difficult it was to find the check points. One key item I heard was that the fence did not exist, so when we started off I did some careful checks of the bearings along the trees that used to be along the fence. This allowed us to walk directly to the 'difficult' OP overtaking about 8 teams in the process as they had all followed the road instead of a bearing and were searching on top of the wrong koppie. From the first point it was a straight walk along the roads to the next 3 OPs. At one stage 3 other teams were all hiking along with us but some quick decision making without stopping at the non-existant airfield got us away from them and we finished the Leg more than 20 minutes ahead of them.</span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4ZXmo7mCSGDEuFhZMRkqArJ1Zo_lDl0kEmcoTEq3PwuRFutmq3mkRL-MaWjNX9RFKTE2rrEwrajf4MekTSlxjKQwy6dr7obX6HGjqqcbVIC2v3BPqshdCDKbuQeFBwI6yew0HPv-7eQ/s1600/Gail4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4ZXmo7mCSGDEuFhZMRkqArJ1Zo_lDl0kEmcoTEq3PwuRFutmq3mkRL-MaWjNX9RFKTE2rrEwrajf4MekTSlxjKQwy6dr7obX6HGjqqcbVIC2v3BPqshdCDKbuQeFBwI6yew0HPv-7eQ/s320/Gail4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644047937145724530" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Transitioning back to the bikes we were discussing the option of stopping to sleep, Mike especially was suffering badly but the decision was made to push on and try and finish or at least get to the last transition before daylight came. Off we went, I was expecting some ups and downs on the first section of road but it felt as though it was just more and more uphill. We nearly missed the turnoff toward the steep downhill due to miss measuring the distance but fortunately we saw the gate. On the downhill we struggled mostly due to being tired. At times the downhill was slower than the earlier heavy climb we had done, Gail's poor lighting system on the bike was especially troublesome as she could not really see what was ahead of her. I occasionally let the rest of the team get ahead and rushed down sections of the trail, I did this a few times until I had fallen twice, then decided to take it more peacefully. Once we reached the farm road at the bottom we went a little faster but still struggled to maintain a decent pace. At one point Mike and I saw some eyes looking us out of the bushes near the road, based on the size of the animal I would guess it was a leopard. A kilometer of so later we finally gave in and pulled onto the side of the road to get an hour sleep. Due to the cold we had not rested enough and continued to the next checkpoint quite tired. Bad navigation saw us overshoot the entrance to the last transition and we had to backtrack.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;">
<br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBlaC7jv7vYxFMmRWZtFPtJbfxyl5gC8p2wcujpc_-BdH-n_x9S_K9oy8jTkmc192mqvGui7D4LOcr-yXQC88505DoVMcO-RQrQH3s0pAlk8YcnRPCXTxTL4tEKrwpVg72xAS0NBTVxaM/s1600/transition2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBlaC7jv7vYxFMmRWZtFPtJbfxyl5gC8p2wcujpc_-BdH-n_x9S_K9oy8jTkmc192mqvGui7D4LOcr-yXQC88505DoVMcO-RQrQH3s0pAlk8YcnRPCXTxTL4tEKrwpVg72xAS0NBTVxaM/s320/transition2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644047815245018914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">A superb breakfast of sardines and bread was had before we headed off onto the last leg of the race. It was daylight already giving us great views of the MOUNTAIN we were about to hike up. Daylight clearly gave Gail a bunch of energy (maybe because she could actually see stuff again) and she lead us up the path. </span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPcpFS93LFO9xOZOee1k4zTHqs2tvBs9sYE0_uFoMnhVbLQqGN09l_hdlJVzglxtzflnNOawEGrZOkTTHopdS2alsFXtYakxcm8-mpjFofkimt71XRp_-Os3NoFH0CwpvLeCSVsA4pd4/s1600/Gail6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPcpFS93LFO9xOZOee1k4zTHqs2tvBs9sYE0_uFoMnhVbLQqGN09l_hdlJVzglxtzflnNOawEGrZOkTTHopdS2alsFXtYakxcm8-mpjFofkimt71XRp_-Os3NoFH0CwpvLeCSVsA4pd4/s320/Gail6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644048796851387538" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfKf0wdvrzWk4GVHlo32UcNIQFw1QfkLSY11yv0hk9F3_IQhA0zffscB_N52ktnQwkiRngekl35eG-UC3xU9lJLdN2DL3xzmfifONeqVzQB6pGHdyhCeUjfuULP6uoEkGSRG5lO_cmhh4/s1600/Checkpoint.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfKf0wdvrzWk4GVHlo32UcNIQFw1QfkLSY11yv0hk9F3_IQhA0zffscB_N52ktnQwkiRngekl35eG-UC3xU9lJLdN2DL3xzmfifONeqVzQB6pGHdyhCeUjfuULP6uoEkGSRG5lO_cmhh4/s320/Checkpoint.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644048996631061938" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Reaching the saddle at the top was a wonderful feeling until we realised there was still another 50m of climb ahead of us. On top of the mountain we were deep in the mist and I made the decision to follow the hiking trail rather than trying to find the short cut over the top that Stephan had told me about, the decision was made based on the fact that by following the path I could not get lost, where taking an unmarked route ran the risk of getting lost in thick mist and wasting a lot of time. I also misjudged distance badly and thought we had passed the checkpoint when we still had about 500m to go to the checkpoint. I blame a lot of the problem the fact that the hiking map was not clear enough. </span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqYjqHnMspVi4f2I5Kqp7JZy_gjJlkaAxaTiThSgjkVL9GG51YQT9PhiuBySrR4fg45i-4Xo-pYu95ZKdz8-5AkZx8vklO5qH__xvUpJ-uGf8qbRfToUNqu_vJiiDfDtDMaCPwT67IjA/s1600/Wow2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqYjqHnMspVi4f2I5Kqp7JZy_gjJlkaAxaTiThSgjkVL9GG51YQT9PhiuBySrR4fg45i-4Xo-pYu95ZKdz8-5AkZx8vklO5qH__xvUpJ-uGf8qbRfToUNqu_vJiiDfDtDMaCPwT67IjA/s320/Wow2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644049647152059330" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm4CYs8pi_eyMRTwAgVf26vs1k2D7Gxx_JNxZ-ouGfWl-77Vq6fSJlmzWhpS986GPBCsPrZ5NpMF40IdV52ckHkItYclUMsIIDB1Qxdm4FC841egERMvZP1oAWzZQZdQOsgfrJR2QfiYI/s1600/Wow1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm4CYs8pi_eyMRTwAgVf26vs1k2D7Gxx_JNxZ-ouGfWl-77Vq6fSJlmzWhpS986GPBCsPrZ5NpMF40IdV52ckHkItYclUMsIIDB1Qxdm4FC841egERMvZP1oAWzZQZdQOsgfrJR2QfiYI/s320/Wow1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644049545379282322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">As the "newbie" in the team, we volunteered Gail to do the abseil. She abseiled through a waterfall and seemed to slip quite a bit. From the abseil it was a pleasant hike to the end which we took at a faster pace to stay ahead of the mixed team just behind us. (In the end they were not official).
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<br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLK0N3ae_K7ojOHU52S3KPEBjXbPZo7M-Q8GeIibOGkDMpOblbHvpcbOI8shgcN2XUfeccr_RWFx-FqjyZjtjKRgwp6x11TQSwaKMJZvakMK0S4nxiLC868UUypoos8XF7HtCgtPHe_0/s1600/Gail2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLK0N3ae_K7ojOHU52S3KPEBjXbPZo7M-Q8GeIibOGkDMpOblbHvpcbOI8shgcN2XUfeccr_RWFx-FqjyZjtjKRgwp6x11TQSwaKMJZvakMK0S4nxiLC868UUypoos8XF7HtCgtPHe_0/s320/Gail2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644050220593799554" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk7xJslFHWN89ck8zjeu6urKpf_80ZMxzHT7AelxTw4ztTgX1i7ag1eEQaWTNE-VTtY07SJSRGSsNpjPmV3WmWHx0U0uVS1_OrCt4Km4qnqsjgKDbm6-icK_fCSOytKdj66FdRyOYQbDw/s1600/Gail3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk7xJslFHWN89ck8zjeu6urKpf_80ZMxzHT7AelxTw4ztTgX1i7ag1eEQaWTNE-VTtY07SJSRGSsNpjPmV3WmWHx0U0uVS1_OrCt4Km4qnqsjgKDbm6-icK_fCSOytKdj66FdRyOYQbDw/s320/Gail3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644050348297454274" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">We finished in 21 hours, an hour slower than expected, but the downhill cycle took us more than 2 hours longer than expected. We were the last team to finish with all members and all checkpoints - placing us in 10th spot overall.
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<br /></span></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Well done to the Kinetic team (again) for a well organised event and a wonderfully challenging route. Overall the Route was a lot tougher than we had been expecting.
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<br /></span></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Well done to my team members for putting up with me the whole way. Especially well done to Gail for fitting in well, Mike for the vasbyt in continuing to the end of the race, thanks Sue for being yourself, sorry if I did not hear half of what you were telling me at 1am in the morning.
<br /></span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgId_OHtVrxTImEqJKAhxkRu5NA7r4IyXvERJy0xHOj09E31_TzLfjnGFeOoYA0SPm1HYGB-8HUEZMruj6OPu2G2mnSULO1vauCC3krQjae8irZPBodNTC8whvxmYUuSEzp5-hETjw5gXQ/s1600/Fin2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgId_OHtVrxTImEqJKAhxkRu5NA7r4IyXvERJy0xHOj09E31_TzLfjnGFeOoYA0SPm1HYGB-8HUEZMruj6OPu2G2mnSULO1vauCC3krQjae8irZPBodNTC8whvxmYUuSEzp5-hETjw5gXQ/s320/Fin2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644050741922148962" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:12pt;">Thanks to First Ascent for our Kit.
<br />Ably written by: 'Captain my Captain' William.
<br /></span></span></span> Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-10819416738521789262011-08-16T07:31:00.002+02:002011-08-16T07:35:22.795+02:00Full Moon - 13/14 Aug 2011<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Written by Karin Joubert. Team: 4 Peaks 2 Knobs</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:11pt">Firstly - Awesome race! We finished and got all the points! What a wonderful adventure.
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<br />However, Bella was not feeling well from the start - was trying her best, but after the paddle on the cycle to the big hill, it was all down hill for her, and for us a 'moerse' up hill. (She was on antibiotics until Tuesday, and still recovering from a flu).
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<br />Eish! The paddles didn't even do the trick for us on that river! However on the dam it was much better. As we were the last team (ok, one pair behind us) on the paddle, it was a bit later in the day and the last part was into a strong wind! Wet wet wet!
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<br />We still saw Lickety Split when they left for the 2nd cycle at transition.
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<br />Our cycle was not good - took us hours. Mainly walking up that hill, pushing Bella's bike as well and carrying her backpack. Erik losing his bike light when the mount broke 5km's into the cycle, didn't help either.
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<br />We were really happy to get to the farmhouse. At least we saw a lot of teams there that already finished the trekking.
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<br />We asked the medic to help Bella and waited to see if she can continue. After an hour she decided, it won't be possible to carry on as she didn't eat or drink anything for 3 hours on the cycle leg, and not feeling well.
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<br />The 3 of us set off on the trekking leg. Some teams said, go for OP4 first, other for OP3. We decided, 4 it will be!
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<br />Sherbet! Shaks! Shhhiiiiit! We struggled to get the koppie! Hooked up with another team, that was already trekking for 3 hours with no OP's in the bag. Finally we managed OP4 and the rest was easy. However that leg was just over the 3 hours. (I think - will check spreadsheet).
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<br />The time was ticking and we left the transition as heavy mist was descending. 4km's to the turn off where the mother of all rocky technical descents began! The thick mist made it really difficult.
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<br />Jaco took a tumble, injuring his leg and Mr Photographer himself missed an action photo as he did a somersault over his handle bar! Testing his new Catlike helmet, which was up to the task.
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<br />At the crack of dawn, I had a puncture (not me, my back wheel - lol), and we were attacked by a crazed cow while we were repairing it. Ok-ok! Back to our cycle. Taking it easy through the sandy sections, we found our groove in the last 12km's to T5.
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<br />We nearly didn't do the last hike, but sandwiches, hot chocolate and 'a motivational talk' from Stephan, saw us on our way!
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<br />The climb to the top of the mountain was tough, really tough, but we raced down with an hour to spare before cut-off.
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<br />We all had a great adventure and Erik cannot decide between racing or sticking with photography!
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<br />This was my side of the story and I do believe the others had a similar experience! :-)
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<br />Whoop-whoop for Adventure racing!
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<br />That's all folks!</span></span></span>
<br />Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-70030235407956777252011-08-02T09:52:00.001+02:002011-08-02T09:52:41.355+02:00Senseless Winter AR<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"> <style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; text-decoration:underline;} span.EmailStyle17 {mso-style-type:personal-compose; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; color:windowtext;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only;} @page WordSection1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" /> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout v:ext="edit"> <o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" /> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--> </head> <body lang="EN-ZA" link="blue" vlink="purple"> <div class="WordSection1"> <p class="MsoNormal">On Sunday I teamed up with Beyers Rossouw to do the Senseless Winter AR sprint race as team Master and Student.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The race consisted of 4 legs and an obstacle course. There were 2 hiking and 1 cycling leg with the third leg (leg 2) being a choice between hiking or cycling – each team could choose for themselves.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">First leg was a quick run to the other side of the kopjie behind the start to fetch the map for leg and a short 4km run to fetch 2 CPs. Most teams chose to go over a saddle in the kopjie but we stuck to the easy running route around the kopjie and by the time we reached the map were amongst the front teams. My running fitness let me down as I could not maintain the pace and it felt as though half the field passed us between CP1 and CP2.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">At transition we quickly decided to cycle as I had struggled so much with the run, so we quickly transitioned to the bikes, but in the rush I could not make sense of the map – it just felt wrong. I called a navigation stop, calmed down and orientated the map properly. I probably added 3 minutes to the transition but this was worth the effort when we cycled out of transition and saw 4 teams rushing off in the wrong direction. We quickly cycled through the first two CPs and then started the long grinding cycle up to the radio mast. I was hoping that from the mast we could find a way down the other side even if it was only a cattle track – no such luck and we had to choose between turning around and cycling the 10km back, or Hike a bike down the hill. What is an Adventure Race withing a hike-a-bike so off we went. A drop of about 250m over just over a km. I estimate we made up about 10minutes following this route.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We were told the race route had changed and we no longer had the choice between cycling and hiking, and had to hike because we had just done the cycle option (I hate it when rules change during a race) – so off we went – Beyers running far stronger than me - until we reached the horses – a quick 200m on the horses did nothing to relieve the effort pains in my chest before we were off on foot again. On this third leg there were 6 optional points – we were planning to get 4 of them, but found that the one OP was harder than expected to find and after 5 minutes of looking I made the decision to drop it – however we did get the other 3 points we had planned on.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Leg 4 was again on the bikes – looking at the route I estimated a 14km cycle to collect all the optional, and with about 90mins left before race cut off we had enough time to collect them all. It was a relatively easy cycle – especially comparing it to the earlier cycle and we collected the points quickly and efficiently finishing about 20 minutes before cut-off.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to Beyers for putting up with my slow speed - <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to Senseless for organising the race – it was tough but do able<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Well done to Cyanosis for their win<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">One suggestion to the race organisers – we would have completed more optional points on the final hike if we had known how long the last leg was. In the race instructions I would suggest giving the compulsory distance (minimum distance to collect all compulsory points) as well as the optional distance (minimum distance to collect all optional points) to allow teams to plan their routes better. For example the race instructions could have included the following: “Leg 1: Hike 4km, Leg 2: Hike 6km or cycle 20km, Leg 3 Cycle Compulsory 6km, optional 13km, Leg 4: Hike Compulsory 6km, optional 12km” and let the team mange their expectations themselves.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Williamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740685465982253153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-18698604605463088292011-07-25T07:30:00.006+02:002011-07-27T07:17:38.143+02:00702 Walk the Talk - 24 July<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLd4RLhThHPBTJtoDUnVuM1UuuJ-6ZQn7fvG1P6bsdsgMGg1YJgrYWQOQe4LgFOOnnC6YaIkMOjhDH3WPdovWYcUrbpFYrR-HD8BfX8chNwVfjpDz6CmvIXAjT8JCNzyPdIlKFxwmiBEg/s1600/IMG_0331.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 252px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLd4RLhThHPBTJtoDUnVuM1UuuJ-6ZQn7fvG1P6bsdsgMGg1YJgrYWQOQe4LgFOOnnC6YaIkMOjhDH3WPdovWYcUrbpFYrR-HD8BfX8chNwVfjpDz6CmvIXAjT8JCNzyPdIlKFxwmiBEg/s320/IMG_0331.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633158357392186258" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">30km's walked in a shade under 5 hours. A beautiful winter's day, with excellent organization and the good company of Karin and Eric who joined our group at around the 15km mark. That's the herd of 5km walkers behind us! One more good reason to be doing the longer walk!</span>Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-50032051687471990202011-06-27T08:55:00.001+02:002011-06-27T08:55:53.028+02:00Kinetic Sprint - 2011\06\27<div class="WordSection1"> <p class="MsoNormal">On Sunday the 26<sup>th</sup> June, Team Lickety Split consisting of William Cairns, Mike Underwood and Gail Arnell took on the 20km Kinetic Sprint held at Glenburn Lodge near Muldersdrif. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The race consisted of a short orienteering leg, a cycle, a short trek and finished with a paddle and obstacle course. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Careful planning while standing on the start about which points to do in which order proved fruitless as the plan fell apart before the first checkpoint when the team got caught up in traffic and fell far behind where they wanted to be. Fast running between the next points recovered some of the lost ground but in a sprint event of this type the first leg, and first check point always prove critical. The orienteering leg wandered around the lodge grounds before finishing back at the start/finish area.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The cycle started by wandering through the veld around the lodge grounds before heading on a single track path around the local mountain side. From my point of view a large amount of the single track was not ride-able and we pushed/ran along the route below the looming cliffs above us. Once we reached the other side of the mountains we had a wonderful technical downhill before hitting the fence roads and district roads. A few stupid navigation errors such as missing a point on the fence and miss timing a turnoff lost us some ground.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">From the start/finish area we went off onto the trek leg, by this time our legs were feeling the race and our pace slowed to a fast walk with regular short jogs where possible, after fetching the first few points we returned toward the start area along the same unrideable single track path. Being on foot was a lot easier than the earlier cycling. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The finish of the race on the short paddle was quickly handled and we stood in the queue for the obstacles, a good indication that we were further back than we wanted to be.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Team Lickety Split finished 6<sup>th</sup> in the Mixed teams (3 people per team) category, a reasonably good finish considering my state of fitness.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Well done to Karin and her team for winning the Ladies Team Category.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#666666">#</span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> </div> <br> <font face="Arial" color="Gray" size="1">Disclaimer: This message and/or attachment(s) may contain privileged or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient you may not disclose or distribute any of the information contained within this message. In such case you must destroy this message and inform the sender of the error. T-Systems does not accept liability for any errors, omissions, information and viruses contained in the transmission of this message. Any opinions, conclusions and other information contained within this message not related to T-Systems' official business is deemed to be that of the individual only and is not endorsed by T-Systems.<br> </font> Williamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740685465982253153noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-18733297746628631242011-05-24T09:19:00.056+02:002011-06-15T07:23:03.685+02:00Expedition Africa 9 -13 May 2011<span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5tYCXadcdAD9qMK_V6IMqi6noJ7eaI-n018n_IFAd-LVVMUBVdjWNwgzsEdMgj-Aoz1lvvwHtRpHWzviU3Zy2Ag39P5eJBQGF_RuNO-ste0SnYcnNDO5r665P6z5Aq6R1ngtKWGSsme4/s1600/4.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5tYCXadcdAD9qMK_V6IMqi6noJ7eaI-n018n_IFAd-LVVMUBVdjWNwgzsEdMgj-Aoz1lvvwHtRpHWzviU3Zy2Ag39P5eJBQGF_RuNO-ste0SnYcnNDO5r665P6z5Aq6R1ngtKWGSsme4/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610278418564073810" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Just how does one eat an elephant? Well one bite at a time, of course! </span><br />So that's what we set out to do....right from that first 'preparation' race in <span style="font-family:arial;">February.</span> We tested necessary gear, sleeping times, ingredients for meals and transition strategies. Unfortunately, we were to discover that what works for a 'short' 250km race, does not fit an expedition race! Mainly it was about handling 4 hours of exercise, versus a leg of 16 to 20 hours. You are not just 4 times more tired, but something like 10 times more! Luckily, we also discovered that as the days passed, we became stronger to meet the challenge! Willia</span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">m put some thoughts together about the journey we took.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Arial; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Courier; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Courier; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:595.0pt 842.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzi633fwwkvA0AcR6sQk5qA68x4lMpr5X0YbfFuU5y_HjU4xN0IIZjfnM4bwWbHs3f4wFJRQcFjBXobrRxyavQiU9kNPzCuI_nekQjI2k5oN5cOZOu8rutB24aqYYbc93sQ1vh8uwRZsY/s1600/1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzi633fwwkvA0AcR6sQk5qA68x4lMpr5X0YbfFuU5y_HjU4xN0IIZjfnM4bwWbHs3f4wFJRQcFjBXobrRxyavQiU9kNPzCuI_nekQjI2k5oN5cOZOu8rutB24aqYYbc93sQ1vh8uwRZsY/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610279438962744242" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Getting There</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Once we got to the airport in Cape Town it was cool being able to collect a bakkie from Sue’s sister to use for the week. Man did we pack that bakkie to the limit, Sue and Nando sat with a pile of luggage between them on the back seat and I had a backpack stuck between my legs.<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukbiZc8D8lw3YvWmgIdQM6umBlPh8TgdmT7Znlc26_WnJYuBSeRm9OU_NhLGYr646WpHNitGkYgqxZwEyu_U5T3vMuYFwBGQd1aTwUk_KFxnlIN3ZXKjCDhUNBpKo6onyDKdL5a2-5Z0/s1600/3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukbiZc8D8lw3YvWmgIdQM6umBlPh8TgdmT7Znlc26_WnJYuBSeRm9OU_NhLGYr646WpHNitGkYgqxZwEyu_U5T3vMuYFwBGQd1aTwUk_KFxnlIN3ZXKjCDhUNBpKo6onyDKdL5a2-5Z0/s320/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610279157800142482" border="0" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Pre-Race<br />We had two tents per team, being almost the first ones there was fun and we sorted ourselves out, visited the shops etc before most of the teams arrived. We had a good meal in Hermanus on Saturday. Making large cardboard boxes waterproof is a bigger job than you would think and we spent a good few hours with packing tape </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKsP81Aaap_MsOwBWfEQ3_zR9Hq8s2tTKu4yPPVC6kTsIK6fInRQIY-9rbCDAiMmOgw3yfRnFgMuexE_j5b15j5JsJ5ZF0tCtk0WpRjTfLwqGUOd-IW8B4XM54w5nKVPtGub30fLyDis/s1600/08052011.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKsP81Aaap_MsOwBWfEQ3_zR9Hq8s2tTKu4yPPVC6kTsIK6fInRQIY-9rbCDAiMmOgw3yfRnFgMuexE_j5b15j5JsJ5ZF0tCtk0WpRjTfLwqGUOd-IW8B4XM54w5nKVPtGub30fLyDis/s320/08052011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610279949459921714" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">and black bags getting them waterproofed.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6QcTIEPUu5kq7NHKo8oEQb2p3q-aMfxC6sOTm6cQ6rHWpNmtkcM-cKIumQdGBFDM6I_RBsarGAcGNW8MO1nUVR5qxUE31q25XFckOMynVgLlEeVsJlFEEP1n75iNO0_fWYwqBYzeAXzs/s1600/DSCF0035.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6QcTIEPUu5kq7NHKo8oEQb2p3q-aMfxC6sOTm6cQ6rHWpNmtkcM-cKIumQdGBFDM6I_RBsarGAcGNW8MO1nUVR5qxUE31q25XFckOMynVgLlEeVsJlFEEP1n75iNO0_fWYwqBYzeAXzs/s320/DSCF0035.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610281185195381714" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Race Start – Leg 1 – Hike/Orienteering – 14km<br />Due to high winds early in the morning the sea kayak was cancelled and we started in more traditional fashion with a quick hike/run through Hermanus, the highlight being the trip up Hoyskop a small koppie in the middle of town, and then the trip up the kloof behind Hermanus and back over the mountain with the wind howling around us.<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXP2fciU7NyYCnNoeuOPgZxr2_LgMaa8rOcK2Zeu9rx-41amsxBlEA45f6iXWYKRSGXT8qFqpJoody3UIu7ckFPf0cLFE1sSseyuOW6l8MvgmFR2vTVeGb_jKxGY6yaEykz16AheSWP0/s1600/09052011.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXP2fciU7NyYCnNoeuOPgZxr2_LgMaa8rOcK2Zeu9rx-41amsxBlEA45f6iXWYKRSGXT8qFqpJoody3UIu7ckFPf0cLFE1sSseyuOW6l8MvgmFR2vTVeGb_jKxGY6yaEykz16AheSWP0/s320/09052011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610282290928234066" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZPIHkIVZKD4VMdjikYFPuGn_zxdqxMOvGwMvABT8m7kCT1sZqC1-iGlSh9OJxz_ZpzApHhjjBOEdxPybrOTD2inFJBYEM4P8z1eMIX3R-L4y0zdGZ1mZ5A2pltQwLJ7EfRH0zLGz4kU/s1600/DSCF0057.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZPIHkIVZKD4VMdjikYFPuGn_zxdqxMOvGwMvABT8m7kCT1sZqC1-iGlSh9OJxz_ZpzApHhjjBOEdxPybrOTD2inFJBYEM4P8z1eMIX3R-L4y0zdGZ1mZ5A2pltQwLJ7EfRH0zLGz4kU/s320/DSCF0057.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610281796967331890" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"> Leg 2 – Lagoon/River Paddle – 20km<br />Most of leg 2 was a peaceful paddle up the lagoon with some wind in the later part of the lagoon making it a wet experience as the waves broke over the boat. Sue and Nando must have been soaked sitting in front of the boats. We struggled to find the river that fed into the lagoon that was our way up to Stanford a few kms upstream. In the end it was a case of everyone go in different direction until we found it, I fell waist deep suddenly and nearly had my foot trapped underwater – but at least we found it.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCk-9tZiRkBnNjz5TrgoILbJ9no8VK5wTaoy7thyphenhyphenP-HjjoS8jc1128umTUtkjZEalNQjzkKMw-DB2DSp5ILbwiNXZE93l2YPN0Rp1IUNXducRYXBYL3uOz-YXkNrYMr5bizF6wkWI01AU/s1600/DSCF0064.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCk-9tZiRkBnNjz5TrgoILbJ9no8VK5wTaoy7thyphenhyphenP-HjjoS8jc1128umTUtkjZEalNQjzkKMw-DB2DSp5ILbwiNXZE93l2YPN0Rp1IUNXducRYXBYL3uOz-YXkNrYMr5bizF6wkWI01AU/s320/DSCF0064.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615476574078172322" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCk-9tZiRkBnNjz5TrgoILbJ9no8VK5wTaoy7thyphenhyphenP-HjjoS8jc1128umTUtkjZEalNQjzkKMw-DB2DSp5ILbwiNXZE93l2YPN0Rp1IUNXducRYXBYL3uOz-YXkNrYMr5bizF6wkWI01AU/s1600/DSCF0064.JPG"><br /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv5lp3zpwdU50QyJ3yG2lWimPqCMYl3rNjaqCdzPiM3ZVswWuvsVBcnpYkxnrCcFDPqm4STTC_filDFwn91BIb86PwQ4UlysX6S6qHbKoZ09oHYk3ZZKv8DR3kBAKNCSEon6LTw_Et0j0/s1600/DSCF0071.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv5lp3zpwdU50QyJ3yG2lWimPqCMYl3rNjaqCdzPiM3ZVswWuvsVBcnpYkxnrCcFDPqm4STTC_filDFwn91BIb86PwQ4UlysX6S6qHbKoZ09oHYk3ZZKv8DR3kBAKNCSEon6LTw_Et0j0/s320/DSCF0071.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615476992803694290" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Leg 3 – Hike – 36km<br />From Stanford we retraced the length of the river and lagoon to end back on the beach again before hiking along the beach all the way to Gansbaai. Gansbaai has changed a lot since the maps were drawn up and we overshot the checkpoint by a good 2kms or so. We retraced our route got the point and finished the leg. At the transition we stopped for about 2 hours of sleep. (End of Day 1)<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkt-JmkjCXRWJbofAdM6JTA3dnF22jcHlc3FytvsReQ5tlK4Wbz6sT5eXsgdKsGLyBbHF-KOGfVQZNDQafBE2eLHSwpjhhjjx5_s36FsY_dRTM20ZARx4OOSjOZZbcjZgyJM3WyXHnUY/s1600/DSCF0080.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 249px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkt-JmkjCXRWJbofAdM6JTA3dnF22jcHlc3FytvsReQ5tlK4Wbz6sT5eXsgdKsGLyBbHF-KOGfVQZNDQafBE2eLHSwpjhhjjx5_s36FsY_dRTM20ZARx4OOSjOZZbcjZgyJM3WyXHnUY/s320/DSCF0080.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615477461441325346" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSR4eI_vUKq8iRo1BoN17pjBQR9Ina0yTyMz5nu1MhHse8DVtJRQkVrUYeiuwwDifKuuyVPZYHExBKbJqa0EaovYjHVVPxlP7HsJztQ29E-8NHNi3Uybsb37RpbE9qXvFNaS19knvZXoM/s1600/DSCF0088.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 326px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSR4eI_vUKq8iRo1BoN17pjBQR9Ina0yTyMz5nu1MhHse8DVtJRQkVrUYeiuwwDifKuuyVPZYHExBKbJqa0EaovYjHVVPxlP7HsJztQ29E-8NHNi3Uybsb37RpbE9qXvFNaS19knvZXoM/s320/DSCF0088.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615477836920680322" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Leg 4 – Cycle - 140km<br />This leg felt like it went on forever. We cycled inland toward the town of Elim, just before getting to Elim we changed direction and headed back to the coast via the Agulhas National Park. We visited the Lighthouse, and saw a dead whale in the little bay as well as a dead seal later along the beach. Once finished with the beach we headed back to Elim where we stopped for a few drinks. Just outside Elim I buckled my back wheel and while we tried to get some sort of rear brakes working in the end I continued for the rest of the race with no back brakes. At transition we again slept a few hours. (End of Day 2)<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguneRrFRksLrXccVYAr0BV9BsZ_uyIbYg-liELyUuggxav2aGiZWCaJvgkYo6A9xj6WPHYUf8WWCphEiYFQw6JpovcGfEaTCI3URm-qy7daYrZoNQuWl0cFjVVzlejbASZo9OynISnHnI/s1600/DSCF0104.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguneRrFRksLrXccVYAr0BV9BsZ_uyIbYg-liELyUuggxav2aGiZWCaJvgkYo6A9xj6WPHYUf8WWCphEiYFQw6JpovcGfEaTCI3URm-qy7daYrZoNQuWl0cFjVVzlejbASZo9OynISnHnI/s320/DSCF0104.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615479021515367730" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOwykjo_u10Pzey01UWcHcpwTxMpyHB1S9pSTTIofie9UmALQIcWV1RNm-nPC-QyjvIb1ZYuDWrgb_9co6G32LJ_3oTqUPSrJSjgsTsDfFYg4qZdy2-d8BJfRJjmYC8-2eTc1pxjAa7ds/s1600/DSCF0102.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOwykjo_u10Pzey01UWcHcpwTxMpyHB1S9pSTTIofie9UmALQIcWV1RNm-nPC-QyjvIb1ZYuDWrgb_9co6G32LJ_3oTqUPSrJSjgsTsDfFYg4qZdy2-d8BJfRJjmYC8-2eTc1pxjAa7ds/s320/DSCF0102.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615478661638331922" border="0" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Leg 5 – Hike – 47km<br />The hike started with a direct assault or about 5km through the fynbos up the side of the mountain. The alternate route was about 13km along roads. The fynbos was thicker than expected and it seems the alternate route was faster. Once over the mountain we had a similar choice of 8km through the fynbos vs 13km through town.</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwz2IVpaQsm4aBUoyhwP1H9P_qHFMjq2y7uT90FoxtcrNVOKKWKGFOYXkeCsL_hihuEOhX7ku-AvcRUD2ZOGR0Nm6yQ3luTef5rXP-Sv9EH5LzCKjJf0aAiDPgouK0LgL2miwWI9dSeXc/s1600/11052011.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwz2IVpaQsm4aBUoyhwP1H9P_qHFMjq2y7uT90FoxtcrNVOKKWKGFOYXkeCsL_hihuEOhX7ku-AvcRUD2ZOGR0Nm6yQ3luTef5rXP-Sv9EH5LzCKjJf0aAiDPgouK0LgL2miwWI9dSeXc/s320/11052011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615815939873426610" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wzkqdOVJ-OY7Rp76qTygKKfme5ajeaLJj5h9FZxDd4fyi2uDrlXcIikruSA8-kk9DsasFEomlJioAEaXrj0k9G6CTjihNJKeQouHR2ilG_eUl_gB-y7mRJ7rM7TEiiOz-VtY1hdaHXM/s1600/DSCF0105.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8wzkqdOVJ-OY7Rp76qTygKKfme5ajeaLJj5h9FZxDd4fyi2uDrlXcIikruSA8-kk9DsasFEomlJioAEaXrj0k9G6CTjihNJKeQouHR2ilG_eUl_gB-y7mRJ7rM7TEiiOz-VtY1hdaHXM/s320/DSCF0105.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610282672332921762" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">The option of stopping for breakfast in town won and we headed into Napier for a really good breakfast. Coming out of Napier is where Con’s feet started being a problem. The hike continued going over another 2 mountains and then finally going around a mountain late the afternoon. By this time Con could hardly walk and I think Nando’s back problem was really starting to hurt. Once darkness fell Con and I entered Zombie state and Nando and Sue kept us going. Con’s feet got progressively worse and in the end we called Heidi to organise him to be picked up, while the rest of us continued.<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpqwqUYqXXdcPVNch3-_z9mnTone20MfYDzUDBv4_laKWX5MKZpS0MrtDBJ5sB_ZP5MaOmSpwN-jbqqQ4NSmfXp3Le4Ie0kER5-FjXQcgJvj3TV9KRhqov0WmUiZCMqvDVTX6CWoYhbg/s1600/DSCF0134.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpqwqUYqXXdcPVNch3-_z9mnTone20MfYDzUDBv4_laKWX5MKZpS0MrtDBJ5sB_ZP5MaOmSpwN-jbqqQ4NSmfXp3Le4Ie0kER5-FjXQcgJvj3TV9KRhqov0WmUiZCMqvDVTX6CWoYhbg/s320/DSCF0134.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615813484018008082" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">In transition Con had his feet seen to by the Medic – he got the full treatment including ‘staal drupples’ injected into the blisters to dry them out. At the time we did not realise that the major problem he had, was bruising rather than the blisters. (End of Day 3)<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtqeM_JEiixT-6_6Dq50WyZXWPm2pG_3cLlBjJxCEz0wdExQuaNnZef81qK17V0EgzKdxi2pvssAN68EMnLVlHwhCby0kkp2OB9mIxO6fxT7LWRbBn91PEajGwp6ZmhjO8An8-vPp-9w/s1600/Team.tiff"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtqeM_JEiixT-6_6Dq50WyZXWPm2pG_3cLlBjJxCEz0wdExQuaNnZef81qK17V0EgzKdxi2pvssAN68EMnLVlHwhCby0kkp2OB9mIxO6fxT7LWRbBn91PEajGwp6ZmhjO8An8-vPp-9w/s320/Team.tiff" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615814038423693090" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Leg 6 – Cycle 105km<br />After a good sleep, we chose to have a longer sleep to give Con the best chance of recovering we headed off again, unfortunately Nando’s back had not improved sufficiently and after a few kms he decided it would not be possible to continue and he returned to Transition. The rest of us continued meeting Erik on the way and stopping late in the afternoon in Greyton for a late lunch.<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZndVbv6eYsMGoi9z01L9-KDcji0s30OvTEPhVqoHbo3WP4C4jy9RS93ky_sXk8WfDWMaN_A7lbJ_blxeTmbxIy-OjuihwdJwJjeZI-SbceEcnzv-j9xgjejYgtPy9XUx9nPTbyA0nwR8/s1600/DSCF0139.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZndVbv6eYsMGoi9z01L9-KDcji0s30OvTEPhVqoHbo3WP4C4jy9RS93ky_sXk8WfDWMaN_A7lbJ_blxeTmbxIy-OjuihwdJwJjeZI-SbceEcnzv-j9xgjejYgtPy9XUx9nPTbyA0nwR8/s320/DSCF0139.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615817534007620626" border="0" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFJgU8bZrigZgCse68PzVgrDjGC7UDDyym8IdEDDzygbD9C-SuC9UF20LOkwW6JED357srTg9VO_xjBSpILBCQ9YbyJCGdAXxojfZa4roeGYcdG_-6PpZIznYv2cUrOQZQaTx_jLEQwg/s1600/other.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFJgU8bZrigZgCse68PzVgrDjGC7UDDyym8IdEDDzygbD9C-SuC9UF20LOkwW6JED357srTg9VO_xjBSpILBCQ9YbyJCGdAXxojfZa4roeGYcdG_-6PpZIznYv2cUrOQZQaTx_jLEQwg/s320/other.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615823061816379186" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Leg 7 – Trek 23 km – replaced with Cycle 30km<br />Once we reached the next transition we knew that there was no chance of Con doing the Trek, as a team we decided to therefore ride around the Hike leg and continue on to the next transition. It was an easy Cycle being all on Tar roads, but the long uphill really got us down only to be replaced with the joy of the long downhill to Theewaterskloof dam. At transition we took it leisurely, having decided to skip the paddle and complete as much of the last day as possible. (End of day 4)<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4cy_cVvCc0wiXzoKuD3OLQiEKQ3tx6IduLsiQjHf_HslEffYUMX4gJsAPaHoGMMqE3tyj87jHMbvsu3lmWO_gjHnrTsYA5B42PvlxMoJcWmKNgfUuFNapmSWY6MLl9tmtZLslAnksl8/s1600/Sunrise.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4cy_cVvCc0wiXzoKuD3OLQiEKQ3tx6IduLsiQjHf_HslEffYUMX4gJsAPaHoGMMqE3tyj87jHMbvsu3lmWO_gjHnrTsYA5B42PvlxMoJcWmKNgfUuFNapmSWY6MLl9tmtZLslAnksl8/s320/Sunrise.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615819029620725458" border="0" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGi9I4Ra3bLwtZ5qK83CrsO3VZOj1NQ4tVgRIx_9ZmVGAWQduvkIBnB4On7w9OYZ3o84o176c0ANcK-1wDZW3-HsTSg1PSYkcVvy5-8adcduj7HNksufDPw02G8D2-9AvDeBI0V42UuK4/s1600/Team+mist.tiff"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 363px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGi9I4Ra3bLwtZ5qK83CrsO3VZOj1NQ4tVgRIx_9ZmVGAWQduvkIBnB4On7w9OYZ3o84o176c0ANcK-1wDZW3-HsTSg1PSYkcVvy5-8adcduj7HNksufDPw02G8D2-9AvDeBI0V42UuK4/s320/Team+mist.tiff" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615820523933024210" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Leg 8 – Cycle 70km</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">This cycle made it over 200kms of cycling in a row. It started off just as dawn arrived and had us cycling in the mist over the bridge across the dam, before once again turning off onto dirt roads back towards Hermanus. Just before we reached the next transition we met up with the camera crew and while they were filming us Cyanosis arrived (by car) and handed out ice cold cokes as an encouragement to everyone.<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnMClNzkSUukcIJsj5JRcDW3PBG3L8yTyy7vJ5xga2juBxsMgLCBPQ6PtuOkGGzvNkX3qE96f02VZMebvxH0Z_W76aO_fOWvCAxFcfYqOFL4DGHnj59TQJawTstzYkgp2YfsUgqS3zY2o/s1600/Fields.tiff"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 217px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnMClNzkSUukcIJsj5JRcDW3PBG3L8yTyy7vJ5xga2juBxsMgLCBPQ6PtuOkGGzvNkX3qE96f02VZMebvxH0Z_W76aO_fOWvCAxFcfYqOFL4DGHnj59TQJawTstzYkgp2YfsUgqS3zY2o/s320/Fields.tiff" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615820218172069842" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Leg 9 – Orienteering – 4km<br />Sue and I did the short orienteering leg (pushing our distance on foot to over 100km on the Official race distances). Con lay on the grass and had a good sleep.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Leg 10 – Cycle – 8km<br />Off we went on the last cycle, a lot of it being on tar roads through Hermanus and Onrusrivier back to the start/finish area.<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iFtmOUXDV1pV3Cfccq6qATSFeYuclFH2ppHhSW58aoSIfAL4bw9UjJcmrZNEys-FFKw46h47o5y8Ibor8HylJSymyDEb04sN_mGq-a_1P99AWpHiFLvKLM-Yjdqiys3C_y1CdzIuVEU/s1600/Team+finish.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iFtmOUXDV1pV3Cfccq6qATSFeYuclFH2ppHhSW58aoSIfAL4bw9UjJcmrZNEys-FFKw46h47o5y8Ibor8HylJSymyDEb04sN_mGq-a_1P99AWpHiFLvKLM-Yjdqiys3C_y1CdzIuVEU/s320/Team+finish.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615822450872977202" border="0" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;">Post Race<br />We were about the 7th team to finish after 103 hours of racing. Officially we finished 19th due to losing a team member and the fact that we missed 2 legs of the race. We got some great trophies that I am going to treasure. The trip back was peaceful and unexciting. It was a wonderful experience that I look forward to repeating next year. </span></p> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span>Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-10011761132166274362011-05-03T13:57:00.003+02:002011-05-03T14:08:54.350+02:00Racing thoughts<span style="font-family: arial;">Team Lickety Split is on short finals for Expedition Africa, so I spent a couple of minutes today reading race reports from races similar to EA. Getting my mind around the race, so to speak.<br /><br />Tatum Prins hit the nail on the head with this insight from AR World Champs - October 2010.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">"This sport is so incredible. It has this way of humbling you. You end up having this love hate relationship with </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">it. One minute you are crying and ready to call it quits and the next you are laughing hysterically and loving every second. All this changes in a matter of seconds. Quite simply, it’s a beautiful kind of crazy! Your highs and lows are amazing, so much so you can’t understand them. In fact I can’t even try. All I know is that AR sucks you in and keeps you there. It bares your soul. At times it rips it apart and just lays it open for all to see. It teaches you the importance of living life. It puts life into perspective. It teaches you to never give up, to keep looking forward. It pushes your limits. Emotional, physically and spiritually. It shows you the importance of having 3 friends as team mates because without them in AR you are nothing. They are your world for those 5 days. It’s you, them and the elements. Life becomes simple again.</span>"<br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">It's going to be uber cool to be taking part in the same race with all the 'heavyweights' next week! Mighty Mouse.</span>Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-71869360366157714932011-04-26T11:59:00.005+02:002011-04-26T12:03:15.055+02:00Kinetic Sprint - Amazingwe Lodge17 April 2011<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgSEZqkTt6WIbCTbrfadTe61FGmSZdYfMJjD4rFHhFGf8q08GKLL8lSRSfSzxGcncquuPLkboF31AZuDXATQqkJUrSiYsfaVeqKm5aoPqLdLeSfy6NruUybTYDIotQqEVIpUich8cgwnY/s1600/Mike+%2526+Wills.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgSEZqkTt6WIbCTbrfadTe61FGmSZdYfMJjD4rFHhFGf8q08GKLL8lSRSfSzxGcncquuPLkboF31AZuDXATQqkJUrSiYsfaVeqKm5aoPqLdLeSfy6NruUybTYDIotQqEVIpUich8cgwnY/s320/Mike+%2526+Wills.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599830358638117906" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;">Mike & William - 3rd in Men's Pairs</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Con & Sue - 4th in Mixed pairs</span>Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-17490959501162255102011-04-13T14:26:00.037+02:002011-04-28T08:52:59.205+02:00YstervARK LEGEND - 8/9 April 2011<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKI6KbtLzRUiJR9SSPHN-Jws6R0nmdSDqYEiiIwkLjVTxtiioQNKFufqf-Q4TWAXQzxwItHQrwqZmWN9d6RX_OplMYpKRE6VAFTdO4sz0eKgaII0FpvZEDf5S0cNoLbWlMonZtAhUAw3s/s1600/Team+pic+start.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 418px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKI6KbtLzRUiJR9SSPHN-Jws6R0nmdSDqYEiiIwkLjVTxtiioQNKFufqf-Q4TWAXQzxwItHQrwqZmWN9d6RX_OplMYpKRE6VAFTdO4sz0eKgaII0FpvZEDf5S0cNoLbWlMonZtAhUAw3s/s320/Team+pic+start.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595309756892739330" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Captain my Captain William, This is my Swansong Con, Flying Portuguese Nando and Mighty Mouse Sue.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The final race in the series - rumoured to be LEGEND - we had to be there! As usual it was not plain sailing before the race. William managed to pancake his front wheel rim while riding to work on Monday - this is a model for which you can no longer get spares, AND you don’t want to buy a new bike the week before a race! Then we discovered that one of the canoes we had counted on using, due to a mix up in communication, was not available to us any longer.......!</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />This had William running around organizing bike parts and canoes frantically in the evening, so that we could test them at Emmarentia on Thursday.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">The Gods were on our side, as the canoe he bought - a Foxbat - turned out to be perfect for our needs, if you discount the fact that more than half of the team do not want to spend more time swimming it to the nearest bank, rather than paddling it! She’s a Foxy Lady....fast and unpredictable!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The trip out to Aasvoelkrans Resort went like clockwork, William, Con and I in William’s car with bikes and boats on top - we were there by 7......with no sign of race organizers anywhere. We thought we had more than enough time to prepare and maybe even fit in a little sleep? However, putting bikes together, doing kit check, stuffing down food, shuttling boats to the dam at Olifantsnek and testing out our shelter for the anticipated kit check on route, took us right up to race start. Clinton had managed to raise 11 teams from a total of only 2 on the Monday, so we had the usual quantity of racers. A quick check of hands, revealed that around half of them were virgin racers, looking a little chilly and apprehensive in the dark.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRPSzJ20Yu4YelivU7ob_Cp1l2Sylj2T6KaOMydk1KBbLR1OK9GpjuKQGtagJq69WaTnEi3KK31qtTOqvYLmdA0LXAO70H3da-dFeCI14TvnsdNUn0bcmG6iY3w2do5bVT58G1HvZkHs/s1600/Con2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipRPSzJ20Yu4YelivU7ob_Cp1l2Sylj2T6KaOMydk1KBbLR1OK9GpjuKQGtagJq69WaTnEi3KK31qtTOqvYLmdA0LXAO70H3da-dFeCI14TvnsdNUn0bcmG6iY3w2do5bVT58G1HvZkHs/s320/Con2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595310021869582146" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">The first task was a quick orienteering run around the resort, using verbal clues to collect our passport - surprising how difficult it was in the dark and unfamiliar territory. The teams now split up a little, we hefted our backpacks, mounted our bikes and set off into the dark. (45km MTB)<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgro6gSZyI90mdopuXi-WXUaYbWLIo52wdGqzsBw0KF9iaK82UraCzGmlhAwXoCMJsgqiZPvqGdyKHPgWETa9vmMR2nPa8S8aan6YpsVcztcmNLM7-UGtbEC9CADvAhxhc5m4wUvbYgy1Q/s1600/Con+%2526+Sue+cycle.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 332px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgro6gSZyI90mdopuXi-WXUaYbWLIo52wdGqzsBw0KF9iaK82UraCzGmlhAwXoCMJsgqiZPvqGdyKHPgWETa9vmMR2nPa8S8aan6YpsVcztcmNLM7-UGtbEC9CADvAhxhc5m4wUvbYgy1Q/s320/Con+%2526+Sue+cycle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595310219263097090" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Knowing we were in the Magalies area and the roads were all likely to go UP, did not actually help at all! Race Director Nico had found the longest district road in South Africa that goes UP AND UP AND.......The trouble with cycling in the dark is that you cannot see how far you still need to climb, but after an hour of climbing, you would just really like to KNOW? Anyway, the turn onto the farmer’s mealie fields was a welcome sight, the grassy jeep track.....a change of scenery, the view downhill heavenly! </span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Into transition some time after midnight and happy Hallo’s shared with Uncharted. They were just exiting the caves and Lizelle was pumped up by everything she had seen and done. She assured us that it was “GONNA BE AWESOME”!<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygxLi1NVOYpKaxqvLx72WogOY3zYJAPcsKQc4ACE40E-f-X4YQxgrJRI7nwumqh9ZT_DIuNIGabGlhU29a354zAV4us-BwsLwqaVr5iYpd5B2_8MIQfUvuO3SJlJ4APawGp2qbBFS0Ss/s1600/Caves.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygxLi1NVOYpKaxqvLx72WogOY3zYJAPcsKQc4ACE40E-f-X4YQxgrJRI7nwumqh9ZT_DIuNIGabGlhU29a354zAV4us-BwsLwqaVr5iYpd5B2_8MIQfUvuO3SJlJ4APawGp2qbBFS0Ss/s320/Caves.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595045166992097890" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0q8IlWsuDXwoorSN8gHC8Jmz6fOfv3DbXiYEziDy0xvnJYVKaYwEqrAuK_xm-AyTGrk9qD5SPyZV5rt57gUOUq2vekoHh_ZbgC0eb8BVRdg3PhMkLWkOSIVwvQW6iqiui0PmSlkvocMA/s1600/Abseil.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 199px; height: 296px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0q8IlWsuDXwoorSN8gHC8Jmz6fOfv3DbXiYEziDy0xvnJYVKaYwEqrAuK_xm-AyTGrk9qD5SPyZV5rt57gUOUq2vekoHh_ZbgC0eb8BVRdg3PhMkLWkOSIVwvQW6iqiui0PmSlkvocMA/s320/Abseil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595310410881955346" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSP6YkyewUWsss-jUJFo8m2aZyQ_9jxetdWLwv0DTmYkFNZnDBbw921-l7c-h79WKhb6n8DdXhs-gc0qJuoywl6j-0XNHc7ej6RCHhGMYNro_H2k4mmPxoSl24g_cO3oINFTw9OMLJt8/s1600/Team+in+cave.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 394px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSP6YkyewUWsss-jUJFo8m2aZyQ_9jxetdWLwv0DTmYkFNZnDBbw921-l7c-h79WKhb6n8DdXhs-gc0qJuoywl6j-0XNHc7ej6RCHhGMYNro_H2k4mmPxoSl24g_cO3oINFTw9OMLJt8/s320/Team+in+cave.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595310580723488786" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">The first of the surprises Clinton had promised us.......this is the Weltevreden Caves - our entry an abseil (30m) down a pit entrance, where miners used to mine lime in the early 1900’s. (3.5km orienteering) We were given a map and instructions to stay away from the fungus on the floors - rumoured to cause illness if inhaled. It being around 2am in the morning, our trip around the caves was somewhat otherworldly! I almost felt as if I had fallen into a Star Trek movie, trekking the 3.5km around underground looking for checkpoints. The ground underfoot was loose and slippery, but we spent time sneaking quick peeks around at the stalagtites and formations, while checking below for fungus, ducking flying bats and negotiating slippery rocks! So odd to be wandering around alone and far away from the ‘real world’ then bump into familiar faces of other racers, around the next corner!</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVQ58AYjOFlH6D3GPqhQK_YE0F6H4VPnf9XkMV269a4Z-DuLFG7il_3ZQmEXDCQbZ5dVUFTL0RNr6tnD7TFdfPKMS54JgtAKmV83yDHZJYYoQyrLPI6acvxYzeB8_oz60STSQmwN63KJg/s1600/Nando+Cave.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 412px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVQ58AYjOFlH6D3GPqhQK_YE0F6H4VPnf9XkMV269a4Z-DuLFG7il_3ZQmEXDCQbZ5dVUFTL0RNr6tnD7TFdfPKMS54JgtAKmV83yDHZJYYoQyrLPI6acvxYzeB8_oz60STSQmwN63KJg/s320/Nando+Cave.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595311569692145586" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Nando bravely volunteered to crawl into all the small muddy spaces to find hidden checkpoints and Con did a fantastic job of keeping us on route. One vertical boulder strewn shaft was a little beyond our sensible capabilities and we elected to go back by the safe route. With flagging headlamps, we completed that leg and sat down to change batteries and transition back onto bikes. Tshwane had organized hot and cold drinks at this point, and it was very welcome. Thanks, Guys! It was not only AWSOME, but also LEGEND!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Now for the long leg through the dawn to the dam (50km). Knowing that we had climbed so much, we anticipated a long run downhill, back in the direction we had already come. The downhill took a while to arrive, but finally we were tearing into the dawn back to the dam. Several teams were in the area when we arrived, and upon seeing a chilly looking group entering the water for a swim, we told ourselves that they had obviously forgotten their canoes and elected to swim instead - little did we know this was the next surprise engineered by Clinton!</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBchf5_3fJoUXrXsJa_ntKepmn8Z25J4yEG18duripF7L3T72IX6ZBjLqgjisIn6kT5kSoY3AqYmV5lkrHfixt2rT0gcIgPbdzAF9wYK9UBaX0MdWHLJXRlA00r52Xi1SBqRTTJa448A/s1600/Con+canoe.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 217px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBchf5_3fJoUXrXsJa_ntKepmn8Z25J4yEG18duripF7L3T72IX6ZBjLqgjisIn6kT5kSoY3AqYmV5lkrHfixt2rT0gcIgPbdzAF9wYK9UBaX0MdWHLJXRlA00r52Xi1SBqRTTJa448A/s320/Con+canoe.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595311855200489442" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">A quick anti-cockwise trip around the dam (7km), into slightly choppy waters, gained us checkpoints at the Willow tree and a trip up the bank for the Cave checkpoint. Back to the log strewn exit from the dam, where Con very nearly dragged me off my feet in his eagerness to get onto the next leg. Here was Eric to preserve the moment with his camera. William whipped out his penknife to remove the headlamp from his bike helmet and being somewhat sleep deprived, left it in the grass, hereby losing us 10 hard earned minutes from our finishing time!</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Not that it mattered.............<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Nnbee_-dpLGpt1Q-IQWpb_MbEGhn3sR-0URS9mplRwBSgFw8TI-H_gyvMZkugHoPVxQCJXDKQvi7M8Duxu2bo-z46YiJIutVcZi_jqMdYzq9zTaBw9KpVPiwAn92C5o-sWTXaMaBLqc/s1600/Canoe+exit.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 393px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Nnbee_-dpLGpt1Q-IQWpb_MbEGhn3sR-0URS9mplRwBSgFw8TI-H_gyvMZkugHoPVxQCJXDKQvi7M8Duxu2bo-z46YiJIutVcZi_jqMdYzq9zTaBw9KpVPiwAn92C5o-sWTXaMaBLqc/s320/Canoe+exit.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595312041759533154" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Now we discovered that we had to chose between a hike around the dam, or a swim directly across - of course this being adventure racing, it was the swim (200m), which turned out to be the best option, as the hike lost a couple of teams their final places in the race. Stripping down to as little as possible, exchange some insults with Eric and we set out kitted in life jackets, which then needed dragging behind us for the rest of the race (20km), but as I said before, this is adventure racing!</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">We had exchanged race position with team Stealth several times during the race and were running a ding dong battle with them right up to the dam wall where we left them having a bite to eat and looking a little tired - maybe they were just tired of our incessant banter? </span> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuqLGTTUd42dfdb6W9Y85wokFfuRqtc6ryombcemXfDIDVy1rWPGtlIvsCDNaA_xYuUWbHdQeYTIhTlGz4A8M9dc3gz77rC5u_8abkOMRXzF1T2CB9WHciCu1K510AK-82TnF6-prX2N8/s1600/Golden-Orb-Spider-Ballerina-600.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 124px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuqLGTTUd42dfdb6W9Y85wokFfuRqtc6ryombcemXfDIDVy1rWPGtlIvsCDNaA_xYuUWbHdQeYTIhTlGz4A8M9dc3gz77rC5u_8abkOMRXzF1T2CB9WHciCu1K510AK-82TnF6-prX2N8/s320/Golden-Orb-Spider-Ballerina-600.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595316662543002210" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">The hike to the dam wall was interesting, mainly for the quantities of fauna and flora, specifically the Nephila Clavipes - better known as Golden Orb-web Spiders. Boy! There were plenty of them! Large and carnivorous looking.....though we told ourselves they were not poisonous....we have the odd arachnophobe in the team, so William took up a large stick and beat the trail for the rest of us!<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqFmOZohXI8KnKhEOTPanvJfHsDjcu8oMw_E64QROWROsnMhZLNPPpRBXw_xfiC-5D4V_TTa8pn9ei50fqImzbRrTGApFkrC1jozQqtMiAP7CUI893qi3gplAb_RhNedEm19Qqis6V3M/s1600/09042011%2528007%2529.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqFmOZohXI8KnKhEOTPanvJfHsDjcu8oMw_E64QROWROsnMhZLNPPpRBXw_xfiC-5D4V_TTa8pn9ei50fqImzbRrTGApFkrC1jozQqtMiAP7CUI893qi3gplAb_RhNedEm19Qqis6V3M/s320/09042011%2528007%2529.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595312741004844210" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The route away from the dam wall checkpoint, lead straight up the cliff face, past the first peak, then onto the second and at last we could see the first beacon shining high in the distance. That done, we could see the next 2 checkpoint beacons somewhere further into the clouds before us, but this is what we have been training for.....the shrubbery even looked like fynbos, so on we went.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">William was particularly thrilled to be following a trail only a metre wide, with steep dropoffs on both sides - we felt a lot like we were doing Salomon Skyrun just there. Somewhere on the top of that peak, we met Nico running alone and in the middle of nowhere. He explained that he was just out checking on things and that we were close to the next checkpoint, where we would start descending. Whoop! Whoop!</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQ_-iHUPqNBKULvxGzRi4QIv62ca7E84mC8x-nEMmnQEQN2dWIDiYNBF2ZNLHbgRnJR-0w6uIHh1hWaagfOdVJ2QSIc-kC9PRqGGObp8hrzaknGtPB3pf8TlBwaqzAv19tW80RI4DOKc/s1600/Chain+group.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 428px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQ_-iHUPqNBKULvxGzRi4QIv62ca7E84mC8x-nEMmnQEQN2dWIDiYNBF2ZNLHbgRnJR-0w6uIHh1hWaagfOdVJ2QSIc-kC9PRqGGObp8hrzaknGtPB3pf8TlBwaqzAv19tW80RI4DOKc/s320/Chain+group.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595312997791943106" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">At that checkpoint, came the expected gear check. We hunkered down and squashed ourselves under the flysheet - unexpectedly discovering the largest ‘penknife’ we have ever seen, lost in the grass. You could skin an elephant with that thing! </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9nJdfZ3b-DIhSEqZb4lp7dkqIgVgw94wPg_g46YR780FcBslbsv_yCUEqYWc4wBsR7Nr7FSIIVvj3v43oRM01EKJOTvj0IT9wkc80MMAloU8yeCEIcU6uC8bJPaj7Vl2KZkKAiq-yV1E/s1600/Con+chain.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 215px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9nJdfZ3b-DIhSEqZb4lp7dkqIgVgw94wPg_g46YR780FcBslbsv_yCUEqYWc4wBsR7Nr7FSIIVvj3v43oRM01EKJOTvj0IT9wkc80MMAloU8yeCEIcU6uC8bJPaj7Vl2KZkKAiq-yV1E/s320/Con+chain.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595313267525979602" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">That completed, we elected to miss the boulder route off the mountain and try the chain ladder - because it sounded like more fun! It must have been quite a climb up, as we discovered Eric (again) and Karin flaked out in the grass at the top. A quick stop to satisfy the photographer and then a shaky descent down the slippery ladder......will it ever end? Legs wobbly and untrustworthy by this stage.<br /><br />At last on solid, if not horizontal ground, we spent what seemed like hours trailing Con, who could smell the finish, down the foothills and back to the Aasvoelkrans Resort.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">We told ourselves if just one person clapped, we would run through the finish - well exactly one person clapped, so we raised a jog and completed our race happy......and well before prize giving! We finished in 5th place in a time of 16h05 with a warm welcome from Clint and a bottle of Coke for our troubles.</span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqLbFVRoFChkBqHo-KeBOehyphenhyphensLmR-LtbzivvFrt4-YJCBn0zbzjTvsYw2EldvNkp_Hxiuq9HrK-1dWN9WNIYzPee0dONTGXnXeLSoDGe_FeoK4swHcprksfCAx3XHbDxqWsjg-NF8Rgo/s1600/photo_3564_20110413.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqLbFVRoFChkBqHo-KeBOehyphenhyphensLmR-LtbzivvFrt4-YJCBn0zbzjTvsYw2EldvNkp_Hxiuq9HrK-1dWN9WNIYzPee0dONTGXnXeLSoDGe_FeoK4swHcprksfCAx3XHbDxqWsjg-NF8Rgo/s320/photo_3564_20110413.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600522838755996386" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Congratulations to Hawkstone on a highly deserved win and to all the other teams who took part - you're all winners!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Thanks go to Tshwane Adventure Racing Club for organizing yet another excellent race! We even managed to each win a Buff! (by default)</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Thanks guys.......it was LEGEND! We’ll be back!<br /><br />Mighty Mouse<br /></span> <span style="font-family:arial;"> </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"> </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"> </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"> </span>Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-15864201839450315232011-03-17T14:11:00.009+02:002011-03-18T13:25:41.351+02:00Race Report: Kinetic Double Moon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJG7OLA2NgHozTXBxD5IAU0DvtKw0Cnwn5bFATBUiQ0wpLFzdKFx7I5H_PDQTuaKwQy6JRZCF814PhXRZ48YPcn-Eu7EAB1NUvWYpwTXA8aQ8-qx7ykzU6eyTnxkxuTSc0-1citbhkqgY/s1600/Start.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJG7OLA2NgHozTXBxD5IAU0DvtKw0Cnwn5bFATBUiQ0wpLFzdKFx7I5H_PDQTuaKwQy6JRZCF814PhXRZ48YPcn-Eu7EAB1NUvWYpwTXA8aQ8-qx7ykzU6eyTnxkxuTSc0-1citbhkqgY/s320/Start.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585286307818817826" border="0" /></a><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"> <style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; text-decoration:underline;} span.EmailStyle17 {mso-style-type:personal-compose; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; color:windowtext;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only;} @page WordSection1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults ext="edit" spidmax="1026"> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout ext="edit"> <o:idmap ext="edit" data="1"> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">
<br />Kinetic Double Moon Adventure Race</span><o:p></o:p></span><div class="WordSection1"> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">March 2011<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Team Lickety Split<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Members: William Cairns (Captain), Sue Belcher, Nando Santos, Con Loubser (Navigator)<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Fetching: Mike Underwood and Trish Black</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">An adventure race consists of more than just racing. Finding team mates, getting to the race, understanding the challenges of the particular race, understanding each team members strength and weaknesses and knowing what to pack and how to transition are all critical aspects of the race. Getting home must also be planned for.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Lickety Split has been together for 18 months now. So finding team mates is a real pleasure as we can rely on finding 4 of the team mates to do the race. Often we can rely on the other team members to help us out with seconding. For this race we knew we were going to be tired after the race and therefore arranged with Mike and Trish to come and collect us from Bethlehem after the race. A really good idea, as on the way home all of us had a good sleep.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdJiKepev-Gye2rzIMZcUjrYELGJydmhMivmQYP8Gup7CjCO2KbVelzA0Z-aBYC8rfSWwgJz3P0q3Q35ZZJSfFCUEjlwH-f00NmZtgt_wgoMnpX-iOz0eYQG2-prwAepfCBwGIT96ouv8/s1600/6.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdJiKepev-Gye2rzIMZcUjrYELGJydmhMivmQYP8Gup7CjCO2KbVelzA0Z-aBYC8rfSWwgJz3P0q3Q35ZZJSfFCUEjlwH-f00NmZtgt_wgoMnpX-iOz0eYQG2-prwAepfCBwGIT96ouv8/s320/6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585286649964342034" border="0" /></a>
<br /><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">After the race briefing and before plotting the maps the team sat down together and worked out the estimated times we would be taking on each leg. This is a great way of planning your requirements for each part of the day, and also for knowing where you need to push (to use daylight on hiking legs) and where you can take it easy (cycling at night) as well as knowing how to pack your race box, and what food you need each day. By planning the times per leg you can also identify the best spots on the route to sleep. Our planning worked out spectacularly and at all times we knew which sections needed the hard work and where we were able to rest.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We took turns plotting maps, with another team member checking the plotted points. We did discover that there was a point that we had not plotted and corrected it. We also spent time tracing the whole route to ensure that every point was plotted correctly.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Out of interest, our team is able to cycle at a good speed at night, not quite our daytime speed but not considerably slower. However we find that hiking, especially where there are not roads, we travel half our daytime speed, or even slower. So by trying to do as much hiking as possible during daylight we significantly improve our times. (Rough averages: Daytime cycling 15-18kms per hour, night time cycling 10-14km per hour, daytime hiking 5km per hour, night time hiking 2-3km per hour, at night hiking over rough rocky terrain without paths, as low as 1km per hour)<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0M55hRfb3OjPurcgdI_zKUE0K-eNONZiXb6QBBA8pbu0MdkcC2rqrNtns6mKwJJywUW0tj91z4Qxt-nediA5H9tCS_1NkHlZzoCTLgCsii_SUhz90lxEOhuD1u02_Kksr2yhKWT2gGGM/s1600/5.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0M55hRfb3OjPurcgdI_zKUE0K-eNONZiXb6QBBA8pbu0MdkcC2rqrNtns6mKwJJywUW0tj91z4Qxt-nediA5H9tCS_1NkHlZzoCTLgCsii_SUhz90lxEOhuD1u02_Kksr2yhKWT2gGGM/s320/5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585287019241486178" border="0" /></a>
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Orienteering Trek - 14km, 7OPs, Collect in any Order<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">- Estimated 3:00, Actual 2:49<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We knew there would be about an hour of Dark at the start of the leg and due to the fact that we did not know the quality of the tracks marked on the map we decided to stick to the larger roads that were well marked on the map. This had us starting with the highest point on the leg as the first check point.
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIfgGvzxrsgW0L3IDSIK128ZWuFGdqVunMoUveTW87o6W7UE7ew5JvLPKnLQUOKySRueQF2AzDIoiYNvb0EIHT50mcN_xo3sxiCX1T4-VIJA_S9wktX8rqJ6wK8QtEaNQzzaJK3KlWTE/s1600/068.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIfgGvzxrsgW0L3IDSIK128ZWuFGdqVunMoUveTW87o6W7UE7ew5JvLPKnLQUOKySRueQF2AzDIoiYNvb0EIHT50mcN_xo3sxiCX1T4-VIJA_S9wktX8rqJ6wK8QtEaNQzzaJK3KlWTE/s320/068.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585287358363156610" border="0" /></a>Obviously a lot of teams had made the same decision as there was a long queue up the hill. For the rest of the leg we followed the smaller tracks marked on the map and found them to be pretty good roads.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Knowing that we would be hiking during the late afternoon (leg 4) we knew we needed to save as much daylight as possible and ran as often as we could on this leg. While this made this leg faster over all it hurt us as I suffered from heat exhaustion later in the day and Sue struggled with energy levels on the cycle.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-zhtRhRtOrFEQsczeMMtrmlihiLs5g1hwQEPyEjq0mNUpwXuWbI37tdkoM4ixOf14XR6M9Jc6Kp4EHjah4EZvmAEoVn4poBTjSRDBTPuFzVfmiflW5Aww8QwHmi86ZhHTZ56jYfmY3-Q/s1600/Morning+paddle.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-zhtRhRtOrFEQsczeMMtrmlihiLs5g1hwQEPyEjq0mNUpwXuWbI37tdkoM4ixOf14XR6M9Jc6Kp4EHjah4EZvmAEoVn4poBTjSRDBTPuFzVfmiflW5Aww8QwHmi86ZhHTZ56jYfmY3-Q/s320/Morning+paddle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585288729856775026" border="0" /></a>
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Paddle Orienteering - 5km, 4OPs, Collect in any order<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">- Estimate 1:30 (inc Transition), Actual 0:50 (inc Transition)<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">On the hike we had already passed 2 of the checkpoints for the paddle, in both cases we were close enough to have clipped them. But back we went to each and clipped them. Having seen the points made it very easy to navigate to them and just having watched some of the teams ahead of us we already knew where a third point was as well.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We have been doing lots of paddling training as we know EA will require many KMs of paddling, I really felt that the paddling training had helped and was feeling more comfortable than normal on the bath tubs.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk0kix9h2TZMU4lVUXMn5pxJoacGfOmpOrwnmnuQzMRgweWk9Ckc5nC_hQ2QgiONI9x4GujGeN9F1KtztKw2lS6LKpRqhGR0fYyeRXJeBU_e-nBUgXZ5w27K2alM4hxJ1WxyBlGY9C87U/s1600/Bike+2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk0kix9h2TZMU4lVUXMn5pxJoacGfOmpOrwnmnuQzMRgweWk9Ckc5nC_hQ2QgiONI9x4GujGeN9F1KtztKw2lS6LKpRqhGR0fYyeRXJeBU_e-nBUgXZ5w27K2alM4hxJ1WxyBlGY9C87U/s320/Bike+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585289674775192658" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhELpRrzzZe7KBfMANmoKuUtF2vjnl8kU0nptP9A6-v1lef04DPqlpDy7F-oAM4ffTSj8M3Ss7cGKqHUthSkmUtIEtfvkKohKrICx-Em-C7M0Nurv2Qk-u281_JWXsflSvouLq9Hiyzkx0/s1600/Bike+3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhELpRrzzZe7KBfMANmoKuUtF2vjnl8kU0nptP9A6-v1lef04DPqlpDy7F-oAM4ffTSj8M3Ss7cGKqHUthSkmUtIEtfvkKohKrICx-Em-C7M0Nurv2Qk-u281_JWXsflSvouLq9Hiyzkx0/s320/Bike+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585290121760817522" border="0" /></a>Cycle - 64kms, 3 CPs, Collect in order<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">- Estimate 5:30 (inc Transition), Actual 5:50 (Inc Transition)<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Pretty soon on the cycle we realised that the running in the first leg had taken more out of Sue than we had realised, Con pulled out our brand new towing system and hooked her on and towed here speedily up the hills, Nando and I struggling (and usually unable) to keep up. Temperature went up quickly and I started suffering from Heat Exhaustion, which made us slow down significantly as I needed to rest in shade regularly.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPErjBqX3bqazxyTyH8XE-PG_ubTFzQQKZT-ybbgHYlWdlist3J8swu4OwFpEDG08RrRv7dhpMHtMEpMGfFBpJZtdg9b4xzC-8DXpHBK_5ORIHkhLEIekB_QYk50gohEL747wuu_9l9fk/s1600/Cooldrink+stop.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPErjBqX3bqazxyTyH8XE-PG_ubTFzQQKZT-ybbgHYlWdlist3J8swu4OwFpEDG08RrRv7dhpMHtMEpMGfFBpJZtdg9b4xzC-8DXpHBK_5ORIHkhLEIekB_QYk50gohEL747wuu_9l9fk/s320/Cooldrink+stop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585290545993217586" border="0" /></a>
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">A stop at a middle of nowhere shop for an ice cold liter of cooldrink really helped but I only really recovered after a swim at the Meiringskloof transition.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">As a team we have never really used towing as an option before. However after this experience I admit that it makes a massive difference to the teams overall speed and a towing system should be considered as an option at all times.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYxaj9EVpo9zpVRhi7-vTHsFGbRO1vTOQdBNh6pF20lYnCBBmLzriXUfFuRKfytqKxXd6PEgx8eWekF06ueegffEgywvI0pTftUl-7kcsI9R7qp9aBkQjUT5fVjBzjiLkTx6lIiPNks0/s1600/Mieringspoort+Transition.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYxaj9EVpo9zpVRhi7-vTHsFGbRO1vTOQdBNh6pF20lYnCBBmLzriXUfFuRKfytqKxXd6PEgx8eWekF06ueegffEgywvI0pTftUl-7kcsI9R7qp9aBkQjUT5fVjBzjiLkTx6lIiPNks0/s320/Mieringspoort+Transition.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585378244851360754" border="0" /></a>Hike - 18km, 6CPs, Collect in order<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">- Estimate 6:30 (inc Transition), Actual 8:50 to Abseil (Inc Transition)<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">After a rather slow Transition as I tried to drop my core temperature we went off on the hike. The overhanging cliffs, the tunnels and the kloofing were all amazing. Definitely a place to take the family camping.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD7zmX6o5_KjvmN0Ta5gImrJHTTlEZDgLxki795fFXpwtkDppNMEg1RgMfUH6j5SfdfyH12vHU0ExjGTfvRKTtANCavhR84U8vhPKTrJSv6dqMkr6gjhrhN-_olZUy20jnYVf4Tj32ID0/s1600/Tunnels+2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD7zmX6o5_KjvmN0Ta5gImrJHTTlEZDgLxki795fFXpwtkDppNMEg1RgMfUH6j5SfdfyH12vHU0ExjGTfvRKTtANCavhR84U8vhPKTrJSv6dqMkr6gjhrhN-_olZUy20jnYVf4Tj32ID0/s320/Tunnels+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585377706116322642" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Once through the tunnels we climbed a mountain, and went down the other side, climbed a mountain and went down the other side, by now it was dark and we were not traveling very fast, a stop at the check point to refill water and off we went, climbed a mountain and went down the other side.
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSUrsPRnAhkXhLckPoOreHB93kRYDsAj0EkiRXCUg1KX5MrdTav6goBVl4qtla9Mic10WDS3XBcGa6T3r8Nqn8oQ5EO78GyadiZNFo7mS4ZjjfToB4mP_h3jgKMs75VmVJlLGy1U1uvw/s1600/Tunnels.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSUrsPRnAhkXhLckPoOreHB93kRYDsAj0EkiRXCUg1KX5MrdTav6goBVl4qtla9Mic10WDS3XBcGa6T3r8Nqn8oQ5EO78GyadiZNFo7mS4ZjjfToB4mP_h3jgKMs75VmVJlLGy1U1uvw/s320/Tunnels.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585292098509244402" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Con's navigation was pretty much spot on except near the checkpoint where we went the wrong way but soon realised the mistake and recovered. This shows the importance of knowing where you are at all times, and if you don't know exactly where you are on the map you need to continually evaluate your position to identify where on the map you are allowing you to find out if you have made a mistake.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSF8yGMV2ualgDDljDRu35NrN2pvWT22osMvEgIf9OYYNjb5Un9vTXld5VcHrosU8mY-MZMnASfJ4ts1wv0MFP6X1g7WCZ74zOrYpykTsd_VaYShwU95_vWQQURJ7TTZ8M0Yd9ftF0MrI/s1600/Chain+Ladder.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSF8yGMV2ualgDDljDRu35NrN2pvWT22osMvEgIf9OYYNjb5Un9vTXld5VcHrosU8mY-MZMnASfJ4ts1wv0MFP6X1g7WCZ74zOrYpykTsd_VaYShwU95_vWQQURJ7TTZ8M0Yd9ftF0MrI/s320/Chain+Ladder.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585293611092657346" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfk_MWDRIm3tSm4d9yomYWlAODM-aqoqyocdk6t70piSf9vNN9JnFGJevC5APOL2M3JbaQ870iUVN3k9X3AKQk8KGDK9f1dOrps0SG-bAF4TsewyirRvc-60HKakgejV4jmtRaVY4p1as/s1600/Checkpoint+search.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfk_MWDRIm3tSm4d9yomYWlAODM-aqoqyocdk6t70piSf9vNN9JnFGJevC5APOL2M3JbaQ870iUVN3k9X3AKQk8KGDK9f1dOrps0SG-bAF4TsewyirRvc-60HKakgejV4jmtRaVY4p1as/s320/Checkpoint+search.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585292384965486146" border="0" /></a>
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">On this hike we met the owner of one of the farms and she offered us water etc, but clearly she thought we were mad to be traipsing round the country side like we were.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As usual I was rather slow on the abseil - I have just never got used to heights and go down at the speed I consider safe rather than trying to save time. When I started adventure racing I must admit my fear of heights made abseiling really difficult, however as time has gone on it has become easier and easier, and mostly I just take the attitude, close your eyes and go!<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Sleep<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">- Estimate 3:30, Actual 5:53 (Inc Abseil)<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Back at the transition we decided to have a 3 hour sleep, giving us about an hour and a half of night time riding before sunrise. But when it came to waking up I just could not get going. In addition I had left a flat tire to be fixed after waking up. This meant that we spent about an hour extra getting ready to go instead of going. Looking back at this it was rather disappointing as usually I wake up quickly and am on the go seconds after waking.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I also believe that if we get everything ready before going to sleep we would save a lot of time. I think I could ride my bike while half asleep, but cant change a tube nor pack the box properly.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHW11X88vdSi-UzM7wBnyjeBLr-WOm35xPHKN6NAuKelIaONSECryyTABfpe36lo9lYalATyf9mN-IEh5yg9yhKkE9abK46Y0ei10V50vzztmVIUcvzYTg8mZEBWq3WL1WhFXTce6_4I4/s1600/Nando.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHW11X88vdSi-UzM7wBnyjeBLr-WOm35xPHKN6NAuKelIaONSECryyTABfpe36lo9lYalATyf9mN-IEh5yg9yhKkE9abK46Y0ei10V50vzztmVIUcvzYTg8mZEBWq3WL1WhFXTce6_4I4/s320/Nando.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585293987609010210" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Cycle - 67kms, 3CPs, Collect in order<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">- Estimate 9:00, Actual 8:48 (Inc Lunch)<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Cycling out of Fouriesburg on the tar road was great, after just waking up we needed a nice easy ride, even the dirt roads we rode on were of good quality and made riding easy. Sue had regained her strength and was doing well, my body temperature was doing ok, and as a team we were progressing well. The tar road down to the Lesotho border was fantastic, and we reached speed of over 50km an hour. I remember thinking that Con better have chosen the right road as there was no way I wanted to cycle back up the tar road.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Cycling along the Caledon river with South African mountains to our left, and Lesotho mountains on our right was like a fairy tale, I personally love mountains and being between them like that was beyond my wildest dreams. The sandstone cliffs, buttresses and valleys were fantastic to behold. At one point we could see what looked like four ranges of mountains one behind another lying in front of us.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifCBesj3GPe_UcDpSCY92f_GVKizy7WGETPW7JrpDUYKel_5nIDsDYYlBSHeIUcNezKi8kRWJAQuX1nYB0hrpcv503uW9N7b8MJAuA54AE5l-in96zWVU0Stx8wlvh7SweHCyONlx6GNI/s1600/Nando+in+the+pass.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifCBesj3GPe_UcDpSCY92f_GVKizy7WGETPW7JrpDUYKel_5nIDsDYYlBSHeIUcNezKi8kRWJAQuX1nYB0hrpcv503uW9N7b8MJAuA54AE5l-in96zWVU0Stx8wlvh7SweHCyONlx6GNI/s320/Nando+in+the+pass.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585294571664555026" border="0" /></a></p>
<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Just before we reached the mountain pass we had been told so much about, we caught up to team Hawkstone, a team consistently faster than us, but were struggling as Alec was not feeling well. We greeted them (Nando sharing some of his secret pills with Alec) refilled water at the farm and continued.
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">We reached the pass and I towed Sue up the first 2 corners. By then I felt like I did the day before, all energy gone and core temperature rising far too quickly. Con once again took the tow and headed off, leaving myself and Nando amazed at the speed he and Sue were traveling. I started dousing myself with water at ever stream and puddle we saw on the pass, this seemed to help as I never reached the same level of heat exhaustion on the route.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip8gumXvsdaHZEWDao_PPpAA7W_ELMt0Su7N4_Set432xSqsQ0jO9-njKpn_836oybfazCxyKbutLAkhURf_mHaAG8_fSFIn3izXIR72Lc3KVUDDq1pG5wvHcdEjWjFz-QYDZd9m_eLW4/s1600/Lickety+Split.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip8gumXvsdaHZEWDao_PPpAA7W_ELMt0Su7N4_Set432xSqsQ0jO9-njKpn_836oybfazCxyKbutLAkhURf_mHaAG8_fSFIn3izXIR72Lc3KVUDDq1pG5wvHcdEjWjFz-QYDZd9m_eLW4/s320/Lickety+Split.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585295721629796674" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0097Gy29joU5TXsu1eBF49zS6DLLSeNDEAuYVRrduDCH9N_97GFtcVuo02NToiXc0RYqcPE93ni4oBisl4lggqyRZxqtw_igzp7ChSXeI3wOiZlLz1SKDZtqMmCe7pM2aKhCgRNDJN5E/s1600/4.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0097Gy29joU5TXsu1eBF49zS6DLLSeNDEAuYVRrduDCH9N_97GFtcVuo02NToiXc0RYqcPE93ni4oBisl4lggqyRZxqtw_igzp7ChSXeI3wOiZlLz1SKDZtqMmCe7pM2aKhCgRNDJN5E/s320/4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585296127667677634" border="0" /></a>Once over the pass we greeted Eric the photographer, who really made us feel as though he were the team personal photographer and headed on toward Clarens. As we came into Clarens we stopped at the supermarket and bought cooldrinks and food, then stopped at a local cafe for lunch. The food we had was really good and made us feel great.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWuWbDryN0LUysZZWhqy0DsdAWNA_J39eiKHqhq0looICwuxztj3h1S943okU_Cyp9yQV9vT42p8jbMLbufPG7LIV7xBMWMUYs9TtzQEnHOYeC-XtFPvOK8gUVhiTGcD8MHYy9DJR5hkc/s1600/Clarens+lunch.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWuWbDryN0LUysZZWhqy0DsdAWNA_J39eiKHqhq0looICwuxztj3h1S943okU_Cyp9yQV9vT42p8jbMLbufPG7LIV7xBMWMUYs9TtzQEnHOYeC-XtFPvOK8gUVhiTGcD8MHYy9DJR5hkc/s320/Clarens+lunch.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585296618973744754" border="0" /></a>We realised that by stopping for lunch before going into transition we saved time as it meant a short transition, while people that went into transition first completed their normal transition times and then still stopped for lunch. It makes me wonder if an effort should be made to drink remaining fluids and eat more food just before you reach transition would not make for faster transitions.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzGkAUd9UfesIQY5hHkC_3GoLZB8TXbBDdnrOLhcd3j-f2-GstJyBtAj4d6_Ni0WU0FZx6Dm5OzM6nQLwQKonrjtA9UH8Pb6m0Gs7gp-_4j9PKBTN0wrzmjZBlLpwQi4Ds5pdcHMIA6w/s1600/071.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzGkAUd9UfesIQY5hHkC_3GoLZB8TXbBDdnrOLhcd3j-f2-GstJyBtAj4d6_Ni0WU0FZx6Dm5OzM6nQLwQKonrjtA9UH8Pb6m0Gs7gp-_4j9PKBTN0wrzmjZBlLpwQi4Ds5pdcHMIA6w/s320/071.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585297099167051106" border="0" /></a>Hike - 10km (shortened to 6km), 3 CPs (Shortened to 2CPs), collect in order<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">- Estimate 3:00 (plus 0:30 Transition), Actual 2:20 (plus 0:12 Transition) - shortened route</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The hike from Clarence into the mountains was really just there and back to see how far it was. The one CP was removed as it was taking teams too long to get to and would therefore influence the race end time. When we reached the top of the cliffs we found that the landscape did not match the map and we ended up needing to orientate the map purely by compass. This was interesting as normally I tend to orientate my map more by landmarks that I can see than by compass. Many teams felt that the CP was plotted incorrectly but once we found the CP and really compared it to the map we felt it was placed correctly.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On the way down we met Hawkstone (Alec looking strong), Dew Point and Senseless coming up the mountain. We suddenly realised we were sitting no worse than 5th as we knew about some teams that had already withdrawn. This actually made us decide to push hard as it was possible we were actually racing for a podium position. We pushed hard for a quick transition but looking at our times we just didn't get it right.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFms0PKHH4SDAGl2Dunhij31Sj3QB8RwUzfESsXHVCMRJie6ufVsix4BpsjGhoQqo3eqUJF24ZZcMqiLkgipRAzuzqvKbPSy36Mqbw_unCNO0p02dwdgiQX6SoBT-mJz10C3L-OGqydN8/s1600/2.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFms0PKHH4SDAGl2Dunhij31Sj3QB8RwUzfESsXHVCMRJie6ufVsix4BpsjGhoQqo3eqUJF24ZZcMqiLkgipRAzuzqvKbPSy36Mqbw_unCNO0p02dwdgiQX6SoBT-mJz10C3L-OGqydN8/s320/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585297636379566322" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Cycle - 35km, 2CPs, collect points in order<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">- Estimate 3:00 (plus 0:30 Transition), Actual 2:20 (plus 0:28 Transition)<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As we left transition I found I had a puncture. We stopped right there in Clarens and changed the tube. (Now both tubes were slime filled) and continued, over the rest of the leg we continually found that my tyres were going soft and had to stop and pump them up. Soon we switched to bombs just to save time and try and stay ahead of Senseless who we believed were right behind us.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Just before the next transition we stopped at a stop street for warm clothing and Hawkstone, with a fully recover Alec, came charging past us as if we were standing still (we were). We followed them into the transition and quickly onto the dam. (Later Hawkstone told us that Senseless was about 500m behind us at the time.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Paddle - 20km (Shortened to 12km), 2CPs, Collect in order<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">- Estimate 4:30 (inc Transition), Actual 2:34 (Inc Transition) - shortened route<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We headed off into the dark, Paddling in the dark is always a surrealistic experience for me. You seem so much smaller in the dark and on the dam it feels so silent. Even when noises reach you from the shore it still feels as though you are in a bubble out there on the dam. Con asked if we should go for the closest point first, and I reminded him that we had to visit the points in order. We quickly reached the first point and then we headed off into a headwind to get to the next point. The boat was bouncing on the waves and splashing Nando in front of the boat on a regular basis. While we were heading to the second CP we encountered 2 teams doing the points in the worng order, having a great tail wind helping them across the dam.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcB_kY0Qmrlb2gGZLoQvITH-eONDiykMcQGn4FWiXeRz2jAllkNGdC2ouhfPZfeHSe7i8rRSiUfqznEfwhD7a2T8ISjBRf0DE1wr2WrnOqchM5tA-ZC7UUfEKup2_73z-U_EXnsNGNMk/s1600/Paddle.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 104px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcB_kY0Qmrlb2gGZLoQvITH-eONDiykMcQGn4FWiXeRz2jAllkNGdC2ouhfPZfeHSe7i8rRSiUfqznEfwhD7a2T8ISjBRf0DE1wr2WrnOqchM5tA-ZC7UUfEKup2_73z-U_EXnsNGNMk/s320/Paddle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585298468873293778" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">Cycle - 17km, 2 CPs, collect in Order<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">- Estimate 2:30 (inc Transition), Actual 1:43 (Inc Transition)<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We transitioned quickly and headed out, Soon we reached the first CP and headed off home, unfortunately we hit some soft sand on the road. This made the going tough for Sue who was too tired to manage without falling, resulting in her and myself pushing our bikes through the sand. We rode the hard packed roads where possible.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If Sue had had a chance to sleep either before the leg, or during the leg we would have coped on this section a lot better, but as she was tired it became a bit of a slog.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We rode into the finish, in 5th spot, behind Hawkstone and ahead of Senseless. At the finish we were treated to a winners podium with champagne. Nando in his post race state found that adding champagne to the end of a race caused lightheadedness and he required a little rest before continuing with the nights festivities.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Overall we were only 55minutes slower than our scheduled time, but about 4 hours of racing had been cut from the course.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Prize giving was fantastic. When we were called up in 5th spot we had as big a cheer from the other teams as the first place team got. That made us feel really special.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Team Lickety Split had set out to use this race as a trial run for Expedition Africa, learning each others abilities and weak points as it was the first time this combination had raced together. We did far better (about 7 hours) than we had expected to do. We found our weak points, and we know what we need to improve our overall performance. As a team we have one more opportunity to race together when the Ystervark Legend race happens next month. We hope that at the Ystervark race we can finalise our preparations.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCNX_XYqZzpoJst2yldT4URDn4PCQia5IKPetcNosHWyPtdgpBBtgfbjILkcYp1CpAVVoHFiWoYIXfinH2eMnq8rIwWyD_eDmG0WxUG0nYLinkFH1dEpI5603rAXtf_HAXFrJMQV02VXE/s1600/Packing+up.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCNX_XYqZzpoJst2yldT4URDn4PCQia5IKPetcNosHWyPtdgpBBtgfbjILkcYp1CpAVVoHFiWoYIXfinH2eMnq8rIwWyD_eDmG0WxUG0nYLinkFH1dEpI5603rAXtf_HAXFrJMQV02VXE/s320/Packing+up.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585298835023567906" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thanks</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">A big thank you to Mike and Trish for making the trip to Bethlehem to collect us.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">A big thank you to Heidi and Stephan and their team of helpers and Marshals for organising the race and making it possible for us to travel the country in such a spectacular way.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Also a thank you to all the Land Owners in the area that gave permission for us to travel over their farms.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p></div>Williamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740685465982253153noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-26393335821008753982011-03-14T20:22:00.001+02:002011-03-14T20:22:33.040+02:00Double moon - Our RouteCon spent some time recreating the full route we followed on the race, including the small navigational error. In the end:<p>Hike Orienteering - 16km distance, 398m elevation gain<br>Paddle Orienteering - 4.5 km, 52m<br>Cycle to Meiringskloof - 64.1 km, 881m<br>Meirinskloof Hike - 20.3 km, 830m<br>Cycle to Clarens - 63.4 km, 1538m<br>Clarens Hike - 7.1 km, 368m<br>Cycle to Saulspoort - 35.8 km, 338m<br>Paddle on Saulspoort - 11.5 km, 54m<br>Cycle to finish - 13.9 km, 234m<p>Total Distance: 236.6 km<br>Total Gain: 4693m (and that includes google's surprising elevation gains on the paddles!?!?!?!?)<p>Bike: 177.2 km<br>Hike: 43.3 km<br>Paddle: 16 kmWilliamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17740685465982253153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3397328022083148740.post-46254049950830674402011-02-08T07:24:00.009+02:002011-02-08T07:39:17.216+02:00YsterVark AMA-Zing Race - 28/29 January<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmRG4OOQ-glz8vR2KBHoyjkVOc6XGOGxql3-l0NhqWsNyO-geXt8ITt2snIWcgzG_DfdC8lQduyBal81PAszo38kCkXF5C3LcyawF0Kmr4Q28qZ0pNThX0wNU5mfFCEXC-hBG2JReNQI/s1600/168948_10150144731327774_710102773_7859151_3102715_n.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmRG4OOQ-glz8vR2KBHoyjkVOc6XGOGxql3-l0NhqWsNyO-geXt8ITt2snIWcgzG_DfdC8lQduyBal81PAszo38kCkXF5C3LcyawF0Kmr4Q28qZ0pNThX0wNU5mfFCEXC-hBG2JReNQI/s320/168948_10150144731327774_710102773_7859151_3102715_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571185894542184978" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >Written by our guest team-mate Karin Joubert.</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Mike, Nando, Con and Karin with William seconding)</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:100%;" >Wow! Awesome! AMA-Zing race! I truly enjoyed it….and thank you to Lickety Split for the opportunity to race with you!<br /><br />Con, Nando, Mike & William – you are all gentlemen – thank you for being so kind, supportive and taking me into your team. I am going to try and say a few things about the race, however, not sure if I am ‘William Shakespeare’, though!!<br /><br />(I’m not going to write the normal race report – rather want to share my experience)<br /><br />We all arrived safely at Mnweni – a few of us only a bit earlier than others. We all had a few hours sleep, got up at around 2am – made sure of last minute gear, and ready for the 3am start. Nando however, had to do his last ‘admin’ a minute before the race started – the team did say, ‘that’s Nando’. J And off we went….into the dark – 20km hiking/kloofing! I wasn’t sure how long this would take us….never thought it will be 8 hours! Phew! Surprise-surprise! And it did take us more than 8 hours! What an experience!<br /><br />Walking – hiking - climbing – kloofing – it was wonderful! The beautiful Drakensberge and surroundings were ‘picture perfect’! (first time in the ‘Berg’ for me!) Going all the way to the top of the mountain, to one of the caves, was difficult, but fairly doable. Not quite sure what the time was when we reached the top, however the sun was already awake and smiling at us.<br /><br />But now the ‘difficult’ part started (for me though) – I never realized that I am so ‘afraid’ of heights. I couldn’t even stand close to the edge, to see how far we have to go down. I really wasn’t aware of this ‘short coming’ of mine. We started going down the mountain – slowly at places – cause this ‘bangbroek’ just couldn’t get a move on. Thank you for the 3 of you, Con, Nando and Mike for helping me. You know where and when! Finally we reached the bottom! And the legs/thighs talking in foreign languages! But I made it – all smiling!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifymSJOXnTIO-14XXvil5WxyZH_wod7SgK_WT-ZRZrHvmIe09h3PFQCYua5MLYQIp3JUfua9kRw9Ec8d6UJbuq69fkq_EI6PjO5oFlU81SBYOK1C4LHj-oJrpVnWz6oQtRyWjeFWuZIss/s1600/180908_10150144745492774_710102773_7859644_6885749_n.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifymSJOXnTIO-14XXvil5WxyZH_wod7SgK_WT-ZRZrHvmIe09h3PFQCYua5MLYQIp3JUfua9kRw9Ec8d6UJbuq69fkq_EI6PjO5oFlU81SBYOK1C4LHj-oJrpVnWz6oQtRyWjeFWuZIss/s320/180908_10150144745492774_710102773_7859644_6885749_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571186478981872898" border="0" /></a><br />The last part of the hike, myself and Con was chatting and walking at a steady pace, with Nando and Mike strolling along! We waited for them, and as a team we arrived back – with our wonderful second waiting to take a photo! He was so happy to see us! He filled up our bladders, checking our food supply, making sure my blister is fine, I could feel the energy he was having – thank you William – it was awesome.<br /><br />Off to our first MTB leg – it felt wonderful just to get of your feet and onto the bike! Really bliss! We were going at a steady pace, I would say, enjoying the moment, moving on swiftly. Until Con told us – yip, we are going to the top! We then realized that this is not going to be an easy ride! Through rivers, up hills, sun laughing at us – 35 degrees! Have to say on few hills – ‘in granny gear’ I was passing the guys – felt really good – hehehe! But it didn’t last – the really tough hills I had to push my bike up – I wasn’t the only one, a lot of the other teams had to do the same!<br /><br />I really think we had a great bike ride and then it was time for the paddle! And William waiting for us, ready as always, making sure we have everything – paddles, ‘plakkies’, water, and and! Thank you William – you were great!<br /><br />Have to say, the ‘paddle’ around Emmarentia dam really helped me, and I was ready to start the paddle with Con in the K2! And so were Nando and Mike! The paddle went smooth, and we return to ‘base’ (hehehe) just under 2 and half hours! This was awesome guys! And waiting with warm spaghetti bolognaise – our wonderful second – William, damn you were a star!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvP2TPcCsE2Ctx77Tj-Jq2EAyNtCRNFTAdC9XX2fcnRYzN0fEzvySVYJrC3KFAR_3-mln31cE96I5jU8ALOzlxX6osuFYy8dAvzbOVgCdPPzGDcZzZS2zsqis-P0KA9WjHMuFqgXO_OtI/s1600/179404_10150144744507774_710102773_7859630_5989066_n.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvP2TPcCsE2Ctx77Tj-Jq2EAyNtCRNFTAdC9XX2fcnRYzN0fEzvySVYJrC3KFAR_3-mln31cE96I5jU8ALOzlxX6osuFYy8dAvzbOVgCdPPzGDcZzZS2zsqis-P0KA9WjHMuFqgXO_OtI/s320/179404_10150144744507774_710102773_7859630_5989066_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571186928799696610" border="0" /></a><br />The sun was setting and we still had 2 legs to go – MTB ride and a last hike! We were ready and started the ride with smiles on our faces. We were trying to use the last bit of sunlight the day had to offer. This didn’t last long! We got the next CP quite easy and then started heading back to transition point 1 – but knew one more CP was up for grabs before we get there. I was really enjoying every moment of this!<br /><br />We were counting the river crossings – and it seemed that we were just not getting to the road where we have to turn off to get the last CP at a bridge. Myself and Mike were wondering how far to transition. Nando was ‘just’ riding his bike and Con very determined to get the last CP of the bike ride. Con then said, let’s go down this road, the other 3 of us realized, if we go down this road, we have to come back up again. Luckily it took us to the bridge (only about 1.5km down) and there Nando spotted the CP point. We were all very pleased with Con’s navigation skills, I even asked him, ‘how did you know it was this road’? He just said: ‘I had this feeling’! I then told him: Well done, really proud! J<br /><br />Heading back to transition was really putting a sparkle into my eyes! Knowing that we got all CP points up to now! Very happy campers – that were all of us!<br /><br />Still feeling good, not really sleepy – I was ready for the last hike. Or I thought I was ready….don’t want to say much about this last part, just that it was amazing to head back into the mountains at that time of night, through rivers, going up steep hills (yet again I was a bit afraid of the height).<br /><br />I had a wonderful experience with you guys, I really enjoyed every moment! You are gentlemen through and through! Would love to race with you guys again – hope I didn’t disappoint!<br /><br />Thank you so much for all the help and support! The gear, motivation, and and....</span>Sue Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037187984847062774noreply@blogger.com0