Our challenge started before the race with putting a team together. With little experience and almost no knowledge of what is required,we assessed friends as team members and after asking quite a few and having setbacks with injuries, we finally managed to have four individuals making up TEAM PSYCHOSIS.
We hardly knew each other – all coming from very different sporting backgrounds and with varying abilities and fitness levels. And what a team in the end! Everyone did their part and more in supporting each other and keeping a good vibe going. Laughter sorted many a situation. Navigation errors were taken in the stride and the support just never ended for each other. Even the chick managed to carry two bags at some point. Encouragement to keep going never lacked.
The first hiking leg was a tough one, with my bag being carried in the first km already. But what a start to a great adventure, with a huge climb up a very steep Sebebe Rock. With not having run almost at all on the first hike, we really had to push the last few kilometres in order to make the 4 o’clock cut off for the canyoneering leg.
This was the leg we all looked forward to the most and regretted as soon as it started. I don’t think we have ever been that cold in our lives. With me having a fear of water and not even jumping into the swimming pool at home, it was a challenge and the fear I was planning to conquer. I hesitated for a second on the first jump but I am no ‘sissie’ and made that leap of faith, following Johan and my back pack into the water. I managed well and with all team members in the icy water we swam on to the next slide. On that slide I was so nervous I forgot to keep my breath and paid dearly for that (As the camera man recorded my air gulps). William negotiated that slide like a pro, taking into account that this is where he broke an ankle a few years back. My fear was back and the next jump meant the rope for me. Overall it was a freezing cold experience and we would all love to do that again soon! (Yeah right).
We struggled to find the route out to the transition in the dark and got ourselves stuck between a cliff and the river, as a choice for a route. We started climbing the cliff and Johan went about 60m up before he realised the rest wouldn’t manage that way out. And then the decision to take a fast short cut down was taken for Johan, as he plummeted down past the three of us with a 25m fall. The water splash we were all waiting for at the bottom became a knock into a tree, which broke his fall and possibly prevented serious injury. His helmet didn’t suffer the same fate and neither did his pants or bottom. Sadly I never took a picture of his pants, which was stitched up later with the help of his ‘substantial’ medical kit (inside joke after the medical kit check) or his blue bottom for that matter. And sacrificing a watch in the fall as well.
We teamed up with the NSP team and found our way out with the help of a local lady phoning her son and getting him to meet us up the road and show us the route out to transition. The support and enthusiasm of the local communities was really great throughout the race, children running with us, chatting in good English and giving us much needed water at times.
The 4rd leg was a cold but humorous paddle on the dam in the moonlight to the check point (through ankle deep mud and ice cold wind to find the check point) and then the transition at the dam wall. After a hamburger and a short sleep in transition, we set off for the first cycle leg with a much enjoyed hike-a-bike section early on.
Blisters were the first problem to hit us, with the walk in cycling shoes and little did we know it would be the start of many hikes while pushing the bikes, that day. The climbs were a just a ‘tiny’ bit harder than anticipated and Johan hiked our bikes, two at a time, up the steep roads (as they say in Afrikaans: ‘Wat ‘n yster‘). We eventually managed to get to the next transition at around 10’oclock that night to, after getting horribly lost within 2km of transition and using some locals help to find the cave, on the way to the cave, the transition luckily found us.
The caving leg was such an awesome experience with William climbing those rocks that at times looked impossible for me, like a 10 year old boy. The man child in him blossomed. A hot shower (believe it or not) ended the day and we cooked pasta for dinner at 1 o’clock in the morning, which went down like a steak on the braai.
The decision was made to shorten the next 155km cycle leg in order to save the team that was for sure not up to cycling those hills, so a relaxed day followed with cycling from coke spot to coke spot, as we stopped at every spaza shop on the route. We were photographed like celebrities, all be it fairly dirty clothed ones, by a local mother after she saw some articles in the local paper at one of our stops. Attention as well, from some man with a panga wanting a bike, no harm done though, we passed safely.We reached transition 4 at around 3pm. We had time to unpack, dry clothes and even had that steak and a glass of wine for dinner, as we had to wait for the next morning to set off on the white water paddle leg.
The paddle was a tough leg with lots of walking due to the low water levels, but no shortage of fun through the rapids.Other teams spotted the crocodiles in the water but we never did and obviously neither did the crocks spot us. Johan and I had a ball laughing all the way, with near swims often, but successfully negotiating all the rapids. Our team mates, William and Andrew were not that lucky and got that long awaiting swim through the rapids.
The next hike was a killer! We decided that we would bundu bash if we reached a certain point during day light and so we did. Dead reckoning down a steep cliff with thorn trees of note meant we had scratches in places we couldn’t see, but we made it to the bottom just in time and found our check point just as dark set in. In the dark we eagerly hiked the same freakishly steep koppie and waterfall three times just for the view, and then also hiked straight past the next check point just for training purposes.
Fatigue was getting to all of us, with people falling asleep on their feet. We walked hand in hand and arm in arm up the road, but eventually ended up with a cold and hard sleep next to the road somewhere for an hour. Andrew started spreading his food on the road side and struggled to get to the transition after being dehydrated. We decided to give him time to recover in transition 7 and used the time for a quick extra nap. But to no avail, he never recovered even after a few hours of sleep and the doc advised him to withdraw.
The three remaining members set off on the last cycle at around 2:30pm and what a cycle that turned out to be for me! The navigation in the forest became tricky at night and we were not sure where we were at times. I reached my lowest point in the race there for sure and struggled to cycle even the flat bits,about 8km from transition I was ready to give up. I don’t think the other two ever reached a low on this race at all (Supermen). We reached the last transition in the early hours of the morning.
None of us was into any food that night and a three-hour sleep was enjoyed. We left transition for the final hiking leg with the decision to take the short cut. Then felt ok later and changed our minds. Then changed our minds again, because the female in me had enough and the men took charge (for a change they had the chance) and made the decision to cut the leg short, thinking I wasn’t going to make it. Don’t tell them, but I would have!
What a mission to get over the mountain, to the resort gate and last check point (Ok maybe I wouldn’t have). I am sure that last 5km took us four hours to complete and sadly we did get to see some more thorn bushes after all.
We got to the finish and met a smiling Andrew at the finish line; he had recovered a little after a day’s sleep and was there to welcome us home.
What a journey, what a ride! A new crazy level of awesome and from here on it can only get better and be a lot more fun. It sure is one for the bucketlist.