Lickety Split standing by for team briefing!

Swazi Xtreme

Team Lickety Split is about to leave for Swaziland where we will be participating in the Swazi Xtreme adventure race. The race starts 6 am Friday morning and continues to 6pm Sunday evening. Over the 60 hours we have to travel 250km using our feet, mountain bikes and canoes.

 

The team is William, Con, Adri and visitor Hein

Our Seconds are Mike, Sue and Trish

 

A training outing for the Swazi seconds – also known as Kinetic Adventure : 25th July

8 Legs (Run, MTB, Paddle, Run, Paddle, MTB, Zip Line, MTB, Paddle & Obstacle) Distances guessed at 22km MTB, 6km Run, 600M Zip line, 1km paddle.

Participants: Mike Underwood & Sue Belcher. Both hot in training for fetching and carrying!

Venue: Paddle Power near Pelindaba.

A check of the web site for Paddle Power carried a promise of hectic white water and steep drops over a weir! Discussions ensued as to whether we would need life jackets (with our swim at Yster Vark still fresh in our memories) but since Mike’s lifejacket stayed in William’s car all week, the issue was never resolved. Upon our arrival we were pleasantly surprised by millpond flat river water, a bank festooned with lashings of sponsor banners and tables dripping with race gear for sale. The air was chilly near the water, but with a promise of heat to come. Layering was the order of the day for Good Adventure Racers – such peeps well represented by Lisa, Carine, Alex Pope and their teams….all of whom were well represented on the winners podium, at race end.

All legs were pre-plotted on Google maps, which we collected after each completed leg. Stephan upped the anti, by supplying a race card with a barcode on the back, which was to be scanned into the computer after each completed leg. Each CP had an alphabetical letter to match to a letter on your race card.

Leg 1 could be done in any order – choice of North or South. We went North because it looked good, along with around 15 other teams and having decided to avoid congestion at all costs, conserved our energies by jogging gently and chatting, until we were happy that our CP was relatively free of the crowd. Picking up our punch for the rest of the race, a gentle jog back past Carine to greet the marshall who recognised the team and asked where were Nando and Adri? Mike warned me that it was a devious plot by our rivals to slow us down and to watch out for further delaying tactics!

The MTB transition was made even speedier, when Mike decided that his missing bike pump could become a fatal problem and we decided on a 5 minute detour to the carpark to get it – worse luck, it was not in the car either, so we made do with just an adaptor for my pump. Actually, this was a good decision in light of Mikes puncture later in the race!

Now the CP’s had to be done in numerical order and we quickly picked up CP 1 through 4, with only a 800m detour down the steepest hill, to check out the gorge & view, before turning back past other lost racers to CP 4. Hightail back over the river bridge, transition to paddling back over the river again, for the next run leg. Now I can only think we were tiring without traditional stops for breakfast, because we stormed right past CP 8 and bushwacked into 9, telling other racers who were amazed to see us pop out of the tall grass, that we were following our race plan to confuse and mislead other rival teams!

Transition to MTB, quick bite to eat, peanuts (you have made at least one convert William!) and a false start down towards the river, no…back past the carpark and finally out for our ‘long’ MTB leg. Relatively uneventful, with only one short detour. Chatting to other teams, a chicken run over the Muldersdrift tar road, with a blind rise and motorbikers doing 250km/h……into the lodge grounds and a search for the correct zip line tower. One of 9 fixed lines Stephan had told us. Ah, there it is all covered with USN banners and flags! Promised to be the slowest of the lines, we were still mightily impressed by the speed with which we winged over the valley. More impressive still, was the speed and skill with which the zip line crew, strapped us in and sent us off! Almost no time wasted hanging around this CP, no time to have breakfast, only welcome drinks supplied by USN.

Once again Mike and I added some extra mileage to our route, but were soon back on track, until mike says “Stop, I’ve got a flattie”. With only minor grumbling about Bruce having messed with the inner tubes (Sorry Bruce, we take it back) because it turned out that the tyre was slashed and even slime could not stop that hole! We wondered whether it was once again a fiendish plot by our rivals to slow us down? A quick change of inner tube and after much pumping, Mike unscrews the adaptor ……..and the inner valve……and we begin again! Fortified by a 5 minute rest and more peanuts, my brain synapses started firing again and I suggested that we convert my pump to presta – then for some more pumping!

Back on the road again, into transition, a short paddle down the river to hand in our race punches, back to the obstacle, up and over ……..and the first sprint of the day! Through the race finish…..stone last and just 2 minutes before prize giving! Whoop, whoop! We were perfectly happy!

True to form, Urban Kinetic outdid themselves with prizes for all the categories up to third place, and a table dripping with give-aways. Mike scored a puncture kit!! (wonder why?)…and I grabbed a Morningside Cycles service for my MTB. A beefy burger from the kitchen together with a boozy cooler, a relaxed chat next to the river with Mike and it was the end to another event thoroughly enjoyed by us both. Now highly trained and primed for any eventuality, we are raring to take on the supporters role, at Swazi Pro.

Hens Teeth

At about 8pm William and I climbed out of the car at Oom Dirks place near Loskop dam ready for new adventure. The stars greeted me happily from an inky black sky, scintillating with joyous freedom at the thought of ruling the night without any moon for a whole night. The beautiful night sky complete with Milky Way and all its nebula had been there all along since my last rural outing, waiting to astonish and lift the minds of the adventurers from the city.

Our minds were ready and excited, waiting to face a night and day of continuous human powered movement. The car was full of the equipment, prepared for whatever Hardy might have up his sleeve for our entertainment. The two canoes had made the journey intact, lashed tight onto the cars roof rack, and the bikes were on the back, repaired from their last outing. The girls arrived about an hour after us and we dressed and did our final preparation, filling water bladders and lubing the bikes. Our team comprised myself, Willaim, Sue and Adri. We all had some new kit to test. This year’s proliferation of Adventure Racing events in mid-winter has broadened the season for us to enjoy our sport, and following a fortnight after the icy adventures on the Noon to Moon at Bronkhorstspruit dam ,my three team mates who had all participated there had a new respect for the cold and new preparations for sub-zero racing, met eish, ne.

This night was fairly mild in comparison, probably at about 7deg C when we started.

I was a little apprehensive of my ability to meet the as yet unknown challenges, having become a happy chocolate eating couch potato for two months after breaking my collar-bone and having a metal clavicle fitted. I hadn’t even been out on my Mountain Bike in that time, having lent it to Bruce for the last race. An hour’s sleep in preparation brought us to race briefing at 9:30 pm, and then having an outline of activities helped us to concentrate more on detail planning than worrying. 3km paddling up river, a 4km hike, 3.3km in the canoes back down stream. We could just float (how easy), but Hardy mentioned RAPIDS! Then 7km Cycle, 4km hike,14km cycle, 14km paddle, 7km hike, end. Straight forward. Wonderful. Now its 11PM. Go!

Sue and I picked up our K2 and carried it on our shoulders the 800 metres to the river. Sue is tough. Testing my new Sealskin waterproof socks I tested stepping into the water. The socks worked extremely well, dry feet, warm toes. Sue steered sitting in the front, me at the back, testing my repaired arm for paddling. Not too bad, no pain, quite strong just a little apprehensive about doing this for 20km.

The beauty of nature intrudes into the race. Mist rises up from the river and engulfs the boat, swirling wisps disorientating as in the blackness it is your only reference. When thick you can’t see the reeds of either river bank, and then a gap swirls past and the stars shine reassuringly, looking down on these going on from above. We explore a few cul-de-sac dead ends, and battle with turning the canoe around in the tight space of each disconnected pond with many other lost canoes doing the same manoeuvres. Whoops, there goes someone capsizing into the cold waters, and I think that we mustn’t do that. No we just can’t. And so we feel our way up through the waterways in the night, and the adventure is definitely on.

We arrive at the start of leg 2 hike. Sue and I pull the canoe up onto high ground and take off our life jackets and new waterproof pants. Their design is poor, pulling down at the back. We won’t recommend those but we are dry, and so we climb the steep hill away from the river. We need to cross a barbed wire fence, but as William leans on it, it snaps, a deep scratch is ripped across his palm, and his hand lands on five barbs from the strands beneath. It’s very rusty, and the pain and inflammation becomes a companion for Will for the rest of the race. He wonders out load (very) how long since his last Tetanus jab. We just hope his navigation remains good. William is our navigator, an integral discipline of the race, and one that ‘Will’ enjoys thoroughly. Its serious business, with Adri seconding the role and gaining more experience in the art. We discussed the differences between Orienteering, Navigation and plotting. He gives us stars to walk towards, and we find our checkpoints easily in the dark, crossing little rivers and surprising cows in the dark. We are connecting with what’s real and finding nature, - and it is magic.

The hike is pleasant and my new dri flannel tights covered by thermal long johns are warm and comfortable. Its been 4 years since Will and I did our first race in Clocolan and nearly froze by not having the correct clothes or experience of what works for AR. It’s much easier now, and remarkable that distance and time are of much lesser importance compared to mental attitude. We complete a circular route and get back to the boats, put on our water proofs to prevent splashes wetting us and put on our frosty lifejackets and helmets, just in case. The current will take us back.

Lisa shouts out to switch off our headlights to use the natural light to see, but there is none, and we don’t take the time for it not to be scary. Its new moon, 2:30 am in mid-winter and we’re paddling on the Wilge. At places the current is quite strong, and suddenly Adri and William are having problems with steering, their rudder is not working. Sue and I slow down, but suddenly we go nose first into the reeds and the current spins the boat. I don’t want to go backwards down the river and I paddle furiously in reverse trying to straighten the boat against the strong current through the narrow section. The canoe wobbles from the effort and tips and next thing we’re over, capsizing into the mid winter midnight darkness. This is an incredible intensity of experience, a moment of acute awareness. All the thoughts of don’t and mustn’t and what if, and the cold reality of the water combine. This is adventure.

My life jacket bobs me up to the surface and I check for Sue, - she’s ok, also holding onto the boat, using it to keep together as we get swept through the fast flowing area. I can see how cold Sue is, but I seem to be OK, all those layers of thermals keeping me slightly warmer. I joke that my water-proof socks aren’t working. I call out to the others, telling them we are out, in the water. Rescue us. Take me home to a fire and bed, but they are having problems too, their rudder cable has snapped and they can’t steer. So Sue and I and the sorry waterlogged boat float into the reeds downstream. With super human effort we pull the boat out and empty it, but the cold is getting into Sue’s system. If we can paddle hard enough we can warm up, but we need to wait for the others who are crashing into each river bank side in succession. It’s cold and Sue starts shivering in the way you think it’s necessary to do something to prevent hyperthermia and there is no time to fix the other boats steering. We carry on, paddling to get warmer but it’s not too long before we are back at the place from where we had set out.

We pull the boats out, 300metres shy of the rapids that Hardy included in the downstream leg. We can legally portage around those and we carry the boats back to the camp. Sue and I go and have a warm shower. I stand under the water in all my clothes and wash the mud off, and then take off everything I'm wearing. You can’t carry on so sopping wet. Ok, so I’m nice and warm again, no hyperthermia for me, but surely this upset has ended our race, Sue looked very cold and said she didn’t have much in the way of dry reserve clothing. I put on a tracksuit and step out from the showers barefoot ready to find a warm sleeping bag and get some sleep, only to find Sue and the others already dressed in her cycling gear waiting for me to hurry up for the next leg.

I pretend I’m not surprised by this and pull on my wet waterproof socks, dry cycling pants and cycling jacket. My cycling helmet pours water on me. My Ledlenser headlamp is still working - remarkable, it must be very waterproof. And then we’re off into the night, first on foot about 1km to the other end of the rapids to get the checkpoint. We see other frozen capsized racers warming themselves at the fire, and are glad to have missed the rapids and more spills. Then it’s back to the base and we're on our way on our bikes. My saddle reminds me to train more.

After 7km we reach a checkpoint and transition to hiking. A short walk to a lovely waterfall and pool and then up a steep kloof scramble of about 250 metres assent to the top of the mountain. Route choices are available and Will decides to stick to the ridge and try and identify the correct spur from the top to find the next check point. We hike across the top until Sue spots a very thin sliver of moon just preceding the rising sun. There is solar eclipse for Easter Island the next day, so Hardy really did choose a very new moon darkness for us, on this side of the earth.

We have a bite of breakfast and descend into the forest valley, going deeper and deeper, like a trip in ‘Journey To The Centre Of The Earth’. It’s an incredible countryside, beautiful and fascinating. A hike around some spurs and over yet another hill bring us back to our bikes and we ride for 7 km finding checkpoints before getting to the place where the others are starting their final 14km long canoe leg. When we tell Hardy we can’t paddle because our boat is broken he looks at us incredulously like he expects good Adventure Racers would have fixed their boat by now, using bubble gum and plaster. Anyway, that choice makes us unofficial and we are now part of the Hoona Tand category.

We do a fun obstacle course and cycle the alternative 14km to the base camp racing each other on the way. From base we set off on the last 7km hike. It’s very technical, (read difficult) walking over loose rolling boulders, up onto a hill and back through several valleys and hills with rolling stones to test ankles, judgment and luck. We couldn’t find one of the checkpoints on top and so probably added three km to our walk while searching for it. Adri commented that being navigator for the team is like been a goalie in soccer, nobody blames you for losing the match but everyone knows you could have prevented it. Well, we’ve won the game, we’re the first team in. We arrived back just after 4pm (17hours 10 minutes) having thoroughly enjoyed our adventure. The race was an excellent mix of paddling, cycling and hiking. Thanks Tersia and Hardy and all the support crew for presenting us this opportunity to be out having fun doing the things we enjoy so much, with wonderful team mates for whom our admiration grows each race.

Lickety Split coming into Transition

We did ride all the way to here – it’s just the last little bit we walked... Promise!

 

 

Lickety Split at Tswane Ystervark and Hoona Tand Adventure Race

WooHooo! Team Lickety Split goin' to Swazi Pro

5th to 9th August.

Full Moon Adventure Race - Team Please wait for us!

Event: Kinetic Full Moon Adventure Race

Team: Please wait for us! (Part of the Lickety Split adventure racing team)

Members: William Cairns, Sue Belcher, Bruce Barker

 

A race report never does true justice to the actual race. I really really enjoyed the Full Moon race. Overall it was an easy race, no physically or navigationally difficult sections. I was also properly prepared mentally for the race which always helps to make a race more enjoyable.

 

Sue and I have been racing together for about a year now. Our normal 3rd team mate Mike is currently suffering from a broken collar bone so we invited Bruce to join us for the race. As his first ever AR experience it was maybe being thrown into the deep end.

 

Between us we had all the required gear - except PFDs, fortunately Sue knows lots of people and could organise some - but they were at the Bronkhorstspruit dam and we had to rush there before the race to collect them. At the race start we met up with Bruce and tried giving him all sorts of advice on kit choices - more than likely confused him rather than helped him.

 

Leg 1 - 14km Paddle, with a bit of a run

 

Due to the paddling practise from a few weeks ago we knew that the fastest way to paddle was by not using the seats in the bath tub, but rather to make our own, therfor we arrived at the start with extra pillows to sit on and fitted neatly into the boat. At the start there was the normal rush by everyone to get the boats into the water, which we stood around and watched - rather confusing Stefan who asked us if everything was OK. At CP1 I was elected to do the run while Bruce and Sue paddled up the river. I was close behind 3 other runners when we went past the check point - all three of the others missed the check point - I was kind enough to tell my fellow Lickety Split team member the answer but the other had to go back about a kilometer to fetch the point....

 

Leg 2 - 10km Cycle

 

The cycle leg was uneventful, however I quickly realised how unfit I really was because the hill from the Transition area out of the main gate made me walk.

 

Leg 3 - 13km Hike

 

The weakest part of my navigation is going directly across country where I cannot see the end point of my route. For this reason I decided to go the long way around and kept on the roads. Probably about 1.5km longer, and 15minutes longer in time, but less hardship on feet and legs. We had no problems finding the point and then the biggest navigational challenge of the route was to go across country and find the checkpoint on the "small dam wall" - somehow, probably mostly by luck - I hit the point dead on after hiking the 3kms in the veld - not even 10m off.

After that it was over the hill follow the road. We found the next check point quite easily - and while punching another two teams caught up - not wanting to spoil the fun we quickly left, and strangely one of the other teams followed us instead of clipping the point first. After a few 100 meters they realised their error and had to return.

 

Leg 4 - 30km Cycle

 

Rather straight forward, and most surprisingly exactly 30kms. Poor Bruce was struggling during this leg, the previous week he had done his first long cycling training, and his tender rear end had not yet recovered enough to ride again. This leg was where it really started to get cold. When we reached the Transition at the end of the cycle the marshal "kindly" told us that the current temperature was -3. So -3 seemed to be rather cold, but the real impact of it only struck when we reached our boat and found that it was frozen over, picking up the PFDs made a crunching sound as the Ice broke.

 

Leg 5 - 3km Paddle

 

Both Bruce and I struggled to paddle, my right arm kept cramping as I paddled on the right hand side. Poor Sue probably did 60% of the effort to get us to the next transition. Now if you realise Sue is half Bruce's height and probably half my weight (and a 3rd of Bruce's) that’s quiet an achievement.

 

When we reached the other end Bruce had had enough and decided to drop out. It was quite comical seeing his face when Sue and I said "OK, bye" and marched out to do the orienteering. Maybe if he knew that dropping out would not stop us continuing he would not have felt so bad...

 

Leg 6 - 7km Orienteering

 

The many locked gates, no access zones and a map without enough detail made this leg a little frustrating. We decide to do 5,6,7 in that order but the access gates between 5 and 6 were locked so we had to take the long way around 5,7,6. After that we came back toward point 5, took a short cut under a few wooded white fences. And here I got confused. At one point I thought North was in the East and therefore could not Orientate my map properly. For about the first time ever the compass helped in getting my bearing correct and we discovered we had walked straight past OP3 Earlier in the evening. I also made a bad route choice choosing to do

OP1 before OP2 making us walk back up a steep hill we had just walked down.

 

Leg 7 - 3km Paddle

 

In all honesty I cannot remember this leg. I think the sleepy monster was getting his claws into me. I can remember the finish and realising our packs had been moved. Then getting to the bikes and finding them frozen. Also here we once again saw Lickety Split and Con admitted to not having plotted the last Hike - so I lent him my map to plot from - This must rate in the same category as taking a tube with a hole in it on an AR....

 

Leg 8 - 50km Cycle

 

We went peddling off, getting our legs going after the frozen paddle was quite tough but we slowly got going. A minor navigational mistake took us down the wrong road to the main road and resulted in us backtracking a kilometer or so to collect the point. Back down the main road and left off into the dark. Most of the cycle my Odometer was showing a cycling speed of 14km/hr, suddenly i looked down and it said 11km/h so I peddled harder and it dropped to 10km/h. I then realised I was peddling with my eyes closed, one eye open to check where I was going. Suddenly I fell asleep on my bike and just caught it before it fell. We pitched camp in the grass next to the side of the road and caught 20minutes sleep.

 

When we woke the sunrise had started and we peddled off at about 16km/h - quickly making up the time lost. We were cycling "so fast" that I missed the next check point and we had to again backtrack to collect it. The morning quickly warmed up and slowly layers of clothing were removed. Soon we were at the transition.

 

Leg 9 - 7km Hike

 

We strolled over the grasslands to the next checkpoints. All were found with minimal effort and we reached the abseil. We quickly decended and hiked off down the valley. It was quite interesting chatting cheerfully to all the people busy climbing on the cliffs. Many of them were quite interested in the race.

 

Leg 10 - 2km Paddle

 

Paddling the bathtub at this point in the race was like asking us to climb Everest. Even Sue was getting tired and was taking rests on the way back. Coming toward the finish the first person we saw was team mate Mike which was great - and then everyone came out of the Marque to cheer us in. The best time to finish a race is during prize giving, you then get the most cheers!

 

Equipment:

Socks - due to the cold weather we had bought ourselves waterproof socks (seal skinz). Even though my socks became wet inside I think that my feet stayed warm all the time compared to not having the waterproof windproof socks on.

Cellphone - I have been regularly buying myself a new phone as each race I go on I seem to get my phone wet, it has never mattered what waterproofing I put around it. A while ago I upgraded to a Sonim XP3 Quest. A waterproof and impact proof phone. I did the whole race with the phone pushed into the back pocket of my cycling top - it remained working right throughout and proved to be as waterproof as promised.

 

Big thanks go to Stefan, Heidi and their marshal team. I think their approach in supplying boats, staging unsupported races is a great way of growing and maintaining the sport of AR in our area.

 

Full Moon A Race

The Full Moon Adventure Race will be remembered for the huge yellow moon which laughed at us all night - and the extreme cold! We believed we had prepared ourselves for it, by rushing out last weekend and buying all manner of warm clothing and waterproofing. By 10 o’clock that night, we all wished we had more to put on, but all survived without loss of limb.




Pre-race preparation was leisurely, we arrived hours before the start and floated around digging out numerous pairs of gloves and warm tops, not yet knowing what order the race would take. The weather warm and beautiful - giving no inkling of what was in store for us.

Route handout and race briefing took place and sooner that you thought, we were lined up next to the kayaks for our first loooong 14km paddle to CP1, 2 and 3. We decided to let the rush go first, before getting into the kayak at our leisure and set off in our prepared positions. Bruce on the stern, William in the middle and myself with legs hanging over the bow

Plugging along, we found ourselves overtaking several teams which had not rehearsed positions the previous weekend. Skip the rest......and we were back at the bank a couple of hours later, only to find that it was actually winter and were all frozen to the marrow, upon getting out of the boat! Here we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves only 1 boat behind Lickety Split, exchanged “Hi’s” and when I looked around next - they were gone! Very quick transition Lickety Split! We spent time changing clothes and getting warm for a MTB leg which could run into dusk, then set off up the steepest slope imaginable. Cold muscles screaming at the torture! William easily navigated us to the next transition at the farmhouse, where we added more layers for a hike leg of 13kms, into the dark.

At this point we were around a third of the way down the field and had also met up with Lickety Split just leaving as we arrived. This hike leg, we decided to go the long easier way around on the road, rather than directly cross-country over the hill and through tall grass. Once again William navigated us straight to the CP, with only a small amount of time spent looking for a dam wall, which looked more like an earth embankment to me. At this point the team was still going strong. William singing “Happy Birthday tooo meee”. He protesting that it is the only song he knows!

Now without sunlight, we headed out up the valley navigating by the stars. This placed an unexpected hill in front of us, but undaunted we summited that and found the expected road below....only to discover we had added some extra mileage to our trip. Talking of ‘trip’ this is where Bruce managed to begin his first of several spectacular ankle-twisting trips. To his credit, he gritted his teeth and pushed on for the cause.
Passing a couple of teams returning by the light of the moon, we were warned that the ‘locals’ were not friendly and made a rough detour high up the hill to avoid the soccer crowd in the shacks below. Finding the CP just as 2 other teams approached, we hussled back down the hill, surprised to be followed by a couple of them who had completely missed the ‘river junction’ CP and maybe thought we were members of their team?

At the farmhouse, we added another layer, enjoyed a cold supper with hot mugs of tea and logged out for another MTB leg. Here starts the ‘real’ adventure racing! The temperature had dropped below freezing and the low ground near water, was exactly like cycling in a deepfreeze.....air gasping out of us in white clouds. Hands and feet burning and hurting. Still William kept us up to date on expected twists and turns in the road and we found CP after CP exactly where they were meant to be! Boy was it cold though! You pull your beanie down over your ears, buff up to your eyes, icicle of snot hanging from your frozen nose and cycle on - wrapped in a bubble of discomfort! Feet could not be ignored as they screamed for attention.....burning and then frozen solid. Expensive waterproof/windproof socks and shoe covers were not proof against the cold and wet. Determination had nothing on us though....we pushed through and met the Red Ants team passing in the opposite direction, having already done 2 kayak legs and an orienteering leg. Go Guys!

Kayaking back to the marquee only remarkable in that it was more of the same....ice everywhere....cold.....cold! Bruce was starting to wilt and finally conceded defeat now that he was back near his car, on solid ground, hot drinks and huge bonfires all around. William and I had both experienced unfinished races before and were both steely determined to see this one through to the bitter end. I was feeling remarkably well and the orienteering leg was in front of us, lit up by the moon and street lamps in the housing estate, but the hour was late - the graveyard shift.....12 hours down and more of the same to come. William and I began a bit of a ramble around the estate....the most efficient routes seemed to evade us, though we were still working somewhat within a schedule which we had worked out would bring us into the finish by around 10 the next morning. Exchanged “hello’s” with Lickety Split once again! The air crisp, clear and cold....we stopped for a second, to admire a torrent of icy water gushing over the dam wall.

Coming back to the marquee, we were lucky enough to see The Red Ants finish - they had already completed a kayak, MTB, Hike, Abseil and kayak, which we had still to face! They looked absolutely frozen, which made me feel warmer and stronger. The feeling soon wore off, the kayaking left my fingers in such pain that I was jumping around on the bank crying and flapping until my warm, dry gloves rescued my frozen fingers. A quick change of shoes, check to see that my frozen chain would still turn, rub ice off my saddle, exchange greetings with Lickety Split who were huddled by the fire....and we were off! The night was long and solitary. Plenty of time for introspection, while waiting for William who was slowing down.....and finally we both realised....asleep on his bike....only his forward momentum keeping him upright! So we hunkered down in the grass for 40 winks at 5.30am in our space blankets. Chilly, cold moon still chuckling above us.

Daybreak and we were off, slowly at first and then faster as we warmed. Stops to remove clothing as the sun rose....picking up more checkpoints.....tired now after 20 hours on the road. Transition at another farmhouse....change shoes for the last time....swop beanie for peak cap.....chat to Heidi who was full of enthusiasm and promises of breakfast awaiting us in camp. Off wading through the tall grass.....sloshing through the mushy ground.....up the koppie to the abseil with friendly faces and happy chatter. Dangling on the line as my abseil turns into a bungie jump....quick plod over the hill to the kayaks for the last leg. An olympic entry into the water.....20 minutes to the marquee....will we be in time for prize giving? Hey, there’s Mike and Trish waiting for us on the bank.....what a fantastic surprise! Yells of “Hi Mike” bringing the whole crowd out of the marquee to welcome us in! Wow, what a finish - and we get a trophy too! Final word - Yes it’s worth the pain to finish.
Post-race - surprised to find that I have no sore muscles, just feel heavily hung-over from lack of sleep .....and boy are my lips CHAPPED!
High point: Completing a 140km race and collecting all the CP’s, coming in to a crowd of welcoming teams, clapping and happy faces.
Low point: Frozen frostbitten hands after kayaking at 3am. The pain!
Race Review: Fantastic organization by Heidi and Stephan, CP’s well placed, great support and facilities, distances realistic, lucky draw prizes....as usual amazing! Thanks go to Urban Kinetic for a memorable event.

Nooo Shooos as tested at the Winter Trail Series - 20 June

I thought I should mention my upgrade from XA Pro's to "Wings" Reason being the difference is remarkable! They stick to rocks like glue! I mean when I bought the XA Pro's I thought that they would be like Windows XP. Reliable, hard working and indestructible.......right? Wrong! The XA's after 3 years of being 'out there' are looking decidedly shabby and road-weary. So when I spotted last year's Wings model heavily discounted, I forked over (still a king's ransom) and tested them out today on the long Trail. Distance: 14.something kms, elevation gain - challenging! To my delight, they performed in a far superior manner to those shoes worn by everyone around me. What goes up, must come down again and we slithered and scrambled down dozens of hairy, loose bouldered descents - me as sure footed as the proverbial mountain goat! What a treat! And they are comfortable too! Not a rub or blister in sight.

The race itself was well attended and decidedly challenging, a good outing for anyone training for next weekend's Full Moon race. Not too chilly in the morning and comfortably warm later on.

I should also mention another purchase - touted as the secret weapon of the Lickety Split team for sub-zero, wet nights spent paddling around Bronkhorstspruit. Sue's 'walking' model Seal Skin socks. I wore them around the house most of yesterday and though my feet were not totally toasty, I did not feel cold floors and a session with the hose-pipe watering plants outside, did not leave me with cold wet feet from the leaks, which usually leave me wetter than the plants!

Needless to say, I'm sure that by this time next Sunday, some 7 new pairs of Seal Skins will be well and truly tested by the Lickety Split team!

Well done Nando - Comrades 2010

Well done Nando on your Bronze medal at the 2010 Comrades marathon!!

Magalies Monster - Race Report

So we woke up nice and early. With just over an hour to get ready... We had a peaceful bath, enjoyed a hearty breakfast and were ready to leave – a little late but it was not that bad... well so we thought until we climbed into the car and the GPS told me I was 45minutes late for registration. So I drove fast...

Anyway I was only 24 minutes late for registration – which left me 35mins to register, fix my bike as the brakes were not working, lube all four bikes, check tires for everyone. Ohhh and Yolande left my cycling shoes at home so I had to do the whole race in takkies while I had mentally prepared to use my cleets...

So I got to the start with about 5 minutes to spare, right at the back – about where I felt I should be. Off we went into the orange orchards, and I looked back to see nobody behind me. Yes I was stone last not really as planned. So I pedalled a little faster and flew down the hill, overtaking a person or two on the way. But I was struggling, tired, sort, really didn’t feel like doing 75km on my bike for the day. So I struggled up the next hill, chatted to the girl next to me, and carried on. I looked at my cycling computer and saw that I was averaging about 10km per hour.

There was one really fun downhill at about the 20km mark – very rocky but fast. I was doing about 30km per hour down the path, overtaking a few of the 45km riders who had earlier come past me.

At the 75/45 km split I went peddling up the long flat grassy path to get to the start of the monster. At about this time I was peddling in granny’s big brother (Granny, her big sister then her big brother are the three lowest gears...) I stopped and rested in the road, I told everyone it was to stop them hitting a rock in the middle of the road. And then pushed up the hill – I do push a bike quite well and overtook about 10 people on the way up.

At the top of the hill there was a girl in bright yellow MTN colours, with navy tights, who interestingly enough had a bright yellow butterfly on her bum – which I told her instead of saying good morning.

I missed the half way cut off by 5mins...

So I rushed off down the other side of Breedt’s nek – which had really terrible erosion. At some spots I nearly had to push. One guy just in front of me came off and seriously winded himself. I helped him up and carried on while his friend tried to revive him.

After Breedt’s Nek the route was a little uninteresting but I was picking up a little speed, and started feeling better, or so I thought until Butterfly Bum girl came flying past me as if I was standing still (ok I was but I was having 4^th breakfast). I quickly packed up and tried to catch up but she was actually going faster than me, until her derailer broke and I helped convert the bike to a single speed – which by the way I could not get right until someone who had better tools than me arrived 5 minutes later. So with butterfly bum lady sorted out I went sailing into the sunset again.

It is amazing how much stronger I get toward the end of a race. Toward the end of the race I was starting to ride the uphills again, riding in a proper gear.

I finished in 7:40 – 40mins after final cutoff, so I was an unofficial finisher but I did actually finish. I never saw butterfly bum lady finish, but I hope she did.

Yolande, Loreley and Kaylen all rode the 20km race. Loreley was officially the last finished of the 20km race, but she did win her age group section and got lots of prizes.