Ugene Nel had the pleasure of racing with Rika Viljoen in the Bull of Africa expedition race in 2005 as Team Energy. Here Ugene writes of his memories of Rika at this race.
So it was then that we – Team Energy – found ourselves without a female team mate with less than a week to go before the start of the 500km Bull of Africa AR in the Richtersveld area. With a few days to go, we somehow managed to find our lady – Rika. We fondly called her “Poppie” during the race because we found out that she was a ‘trompoppie’ (drum majorette/cheerleader) at school. We were quite honoured at the time to have our own team cheerleader.
It takes a brave person to sign up and race in a team with people you don’t know and I remember thinking that at the time. I’m not sure I could’ve done that myself. Rika fitted in right away. We only met her the day before the event started – the planning was pretty much done via email and cellphone. The one thing that was evident from the start was that she was totally on the programme and clearly looking forward to this very tough AR – as it turned out to be.
The long and short of it is that Rika pushed all her boundaries to the max during this event. In the seven days that we had the pleasure of getting to know her, she embedded herself into our memories with the manner in which she overcame all her personal challenges and fears – BIG time!
One of the most insane abseils ever happened at this race when we had to rappel 160m down a vertical cliff with a complex system of descending devices. 160m of rope is extremely heavy and purely to get started is a massive challenge. Lifting this required plenty strength, let alone the actual process of descending this height in this complex manner. Rika had tears in her eyes as both Iain and Trevor started their descents – both of them with big eyes as they worked their ways over the edge – the Orange River far below.
Rika knew that if she backed off our race would be over and with tears rolling down her cheeks, she overcame a massive personal challenge. With clenched jaw and grit she clipped on and with some guidance we rappelled together on 2 different ropes, a few meters of rock face separating us. Watching her focus was amazing. Nearing the bottom – which took about 30 minutes – a smile started to appear on her face. This time, tears of joy flowed down her cheeks. My own was tears of pride – it was humbling to experience what I witnessed that late afternoon on that cliff face.
It did not stop there.
Immediately after this abseil, we scrambled down a steep scree slope to the edge of the Orange River – about 150m wide at this point. The transition was on the opposite side. It was now dark and we had to swim across. It was freezing cold. Earlier in the race, Rika also shared with us her fear of water, which resulted from a nasty experience when she was younger. This crossing of the Orange then, was not just a simple event – having just overcome this massive cliff behind her, she was now literally between a rock and a hard place. There was no way back or even side ways – only across the river. A few more tears flowed, the rest of us got together with Rika and we crossed the river. Rika made no sound and laughed with conviction when we reached the far bank. She overcame two massive personal challenges and in very difficult circumstances within a space of 90 minutes. We were in awe and so proud to have our Poppie chick with us and looked forward to the 40km paddle.
On the next bike leg, we again had to cross the Orange River from the Namibian side and this happened at midnight again. There is nothing easy about crossing a flowing river at night – doing that with full race kit and your mountain bike is no small task. Oh, and it was very cold – again… This time – and without batting an eye lid – Rika was the first in the water and attacked this obstacle with seemingly no fear. In fact, by the time I reached the other side, she was already in dry clothes – waiting for us.
As is the case with most of these long races, one’s feet takes a beating. Rika mentioned quite a few times that one of her feet was not happy. Eventually, she sat down and we were forced to check it out. Yep, her foot took a beating on the heel. I made a joke and said I could take the knife and cut a hole in the shoe to relieve the pressure. She immediately liked this idea and made me do it… Refusing was not an option. It worked and she strolled off at speed – she was super-strong on foot!
At one point, on a very long hike leg, we ran out of water with 30km to go. We found ourselves looking for anything and Iain even tried chewing on some cactus, which made his lips turn purple. Going into a side canyon and sucking on stones, we found a tiny fountain under a cliff. During all this time, she never complained and only laughed at our antics, trying to talk properly with swollen tongues.
It was then, after 6 days and 22 hours that we crossed the Orange River one last time – with our bikes. This time to finish and what elation!
Poppie did us proud and in many more ways than just finishing this race. She displayed courage and grit of tremendous proportions. We were humbled by her ‘vasbyt’ and we got to know her well in those few days.
Poppie, we had a very special bond with you during that event and one that lasted in our memories. It is so desperately sad to bid you farewell. Your smile will remain embedded in our memories!
Lots of love and strength to your family!
Ugene Nel