Port Edward greeted us with beautiful sea views and cosy accommodation. Excitement was tangible as local and international teams arrived and started race preparations. We felt like professionals, not because of our ability, but because of our matching branded T-shirts (sponsored by Jackal’s company – Digiterra) and our printed stickers.
As required, we assembled and waterproofed our cardboard bike boxes like professionals – copying everything our neighbours (Haglof Silva) did – they didn’t seem keen to share any more racing tips… perhaps it was a language barrier or maybe that stoic Scandinavian countenance.
Taking to the sea for the community project was a first time experience, not only for little Londile, but also for Fris Chris – who was unceremoniously dumped by a huge wave and nearly drowned. After the training session we considered ourselves seasoned paddlers – a good state of mind for what was to come the following next day…
Lets Paddle! Race morning brought us an amazing red sunrise on the beach. Stephan’s music added to the the adrenaline filled atmosphere – What a privilege to be part of such a world class event.
And then the gun… Take 80 boats, 160 eager adventure racers and monster waves and you get… mayhem, carnage and chaos! The previous day’s near death experience motivated Chris and Kous, who charged through the breakers – but Jackal and Tjokkie were dumped again and again… swimming more than paddling!
Behind the breakers, the ocean paddle went calmly but the exit resulted in more wave dumping. After grabbing backpacks at a transition along the Umtamvuna river we continued upstream to T1 on the river bank and so began the first trek of the race.
A short, tough hike with flawless navigation by Fris Chris included a healthy 600m climb out of a beautiful river gorge, along the top and back down. We made our way along the river back to T1 with a bit of rock hopping that was a small taste of what was to come on the hellish hike later…. Keen spotting by Fris Chris saw us collect CP6 at the bottom of the ‘waterfall’ (a dry rock face) – clearly tricky, as (much to the delight of our competitive spirits) we came across a few teams heading back to find it. After a quick paddle back to transition, we changed, ate and set off at dusk for the 2nd trekking leg.
The ‘Great 80km Trek’ would have made these Afrikaner boys’ forefathers proud – although without ox wagons and luckily not ‘kaalvoet’. The initial stroll along the beach and another beautiful sunset made us believe we could be on holiday… but then reality grabbed us again as we headed inland, and raced the Belgium team to the abseil… We had to wait about 2 hours before we could descend. It was a great opportunity for a rest and to chat with the other teams. Confident in our safety ropes and ninja night time vision our 90m abseil eventually began. It was slow, bushy (we did some bush pruning on the way down) and dark… but luckily no broken bones or split lips.
We headed back to the beach for a loooong, tiring trek in the soft sand. The shallow river crossings robbed us of time as we removed shoes and (some) clothing to keep them dry and prevent abrasions. The Jackal brought out her arsenal of jokes and word games to keep the team awake and positive… “so, what do you get hanging in a lemon tree?”… “Sore arms!”
After some time, Kous (the heaviest) complained that he was sinking the deepest in the sand – if only this beach hike was at the end of the race he would have treaded as lightly as a Tolkien elf, having lost a substantial amount of body weight! The brief excursion inland proved swampy and frustrating as the team got bogged down, stumbled around in the dark while pushing the team dynamics to the limit… Eventually we made our way back to the beach to carry on. By daybreak we reached Mtentu lodge, guzzled down some coke and freshened up on the ablutions. Seeing other teams sleeping and relaxing on the couches made us realise we were not the only ones having a hard time.
From the lodge we travelled alongside a few other teams to the next checkpoint – all the way down, then all the way up an enormous river gorge. After climbing forever in the hot sun, we were rewarded with a superb natural swimming pool and had a quick refreshing dip.
We continued through Mkambati, at times taking a good slow running pace. At the park entrance we met up with a park ranger who escorted us to a quicker, more direct route towards the Mkambati river gorge. On our way there we met up with team Park Rangers, and chuckled at the irony. Through the gorge, we quickly found a ‘proper’ dirt road. At this point racing insanity overcame the RaceMiere and we worked up a champion hiking pace which saw us overtaking 3 or 4 other teams on this stretch of road. Needless to say when we reached the town 6km further, we were rather tired and hungry! It was dark and the shops were closed, but a local shopkeeper opened up his shop and his home and cooked us eggs on bread for dinner! What an unforgettable experience to have a humble meal cooked by a complete stranger, on the shop floor in the middle of the night!
We set off again through a never ending agricultural field – only to be blocked off by a large swampy river of unknown breadth (hard to judge at night). Not everyone could be convinced to do an icy night time swim. So we headed back to the village to take the longer option of the road to CP 13. At this point, we were probably past 40 hours of racing with no sleep – and here we entered the realm of the Sleepmonsters… Up in the road ahead we saw a strange shimmering light approaching… the weird form resembled a one eyed alien wearing a shiny jumpsuit – it turned out to be a lone adventure racer, wearing a space blanket wrapped around his waist as a skirt – looking for his team that were sleeping along the road here somewhere! At this point we decided to have a nap. A nearby forest provided a good shelter for our first sleep of the race, and we rested for about 4 hours.
Dawn broke and so did the blisters on Jackal and Kous’ feet. But still the Great Trek continued… We entered a tea plantation area and found a soft grassy spot for rest. We developed a quick-relief method for resting our feet (which at this time felt like well tenderised and salted lumps of meat) by lying on our backs and hooking our feet into the straps of our hiking poles.
At about late lunch time, we entered the Canyon…! we enjoyed the first hour or two, being out of the sun in the cool canyon and the feet enjoying splashing through the refreshing water. But it turned out to be hard going, scrambling over rocks, slipping – sliding – falling. Jackal was new to the experience but quickly learned from the others who gave some tips and tricks for the rocks, and with some practice she was doing a good pace down the canyon. With daylight fading our hopes of reaching the end before nightfall faded as well, as the belief that CP 15 will “just be around the next river bend”. Making peace with doing the canyon at night, we were grateful for having proper lights for path finding in this situation. After about 10 hours in the canyon we reached the welcome sight of CP15, knowing that T3 was near.
Crossing the Mbotyi river bridge, Chris unknowingly deviated about 10 degrees to the left from his forward direction of travel while reading the map and almost walked right off the bridge! Luckily he bumped into one of the small bridge railing blocks and jumped the right way to safety, avoiding sure disaster.
On our 3rd night of racing we were glad for a stop in some civilisation, but disappointed that the restaurant was closed. No chicken curry, only race box food for us…. Thankfully the 3 Latte en 1Platte offered us their booked chalets, as they were leaving on the cycle leg. Sleeping 2 hours in a real bed was great… Thanks guys!
Lets Ride… 140km cycle – The next morning we left before daybreak and started that insane climb out of Mbotyi, zig-zagging over the steep gradient. A bad start for Chris who recovered after something to eat and Jackal’s stay- awake (caffeine) pills. We cycled to the beautiful Magwa waterfalls and entered into open country and easier navigation. It felt like we were forever climbing upwards, gaining elevation, even after a downhill, the uphill after it was twice as high. Some enthusiastic local school kids encouraged us on our way. We found a great spaza shop on the way to Lusikisiki. Here we achieved one of Tjokkie’s main objectives: to have a beer with the locals on the race route – luckily it did not seem to affect his bike navigation. A nice Zamalek quart was accompanied by some brilliant vetkoek and Russians, a hungry adventure racer’s dream. Strengthened by this top grade racing fuel, we made our way to Lusikisiki.
Approaching our turn off to Flagstaff we rode into the middle of a Police shootout. Twenty seconds earlier and we would have been in the line of fire! Luckily the pandemonium subsided quickly and with Tjokkie bravely leading the way, we cautiously we took the turnoff. It really felt like you dropped 50m only to rise 200m repeatedly. A real knee breaker and a test of grit. The merciless hills took their toll and by dusk at CP20 at the road junction we took a break… Jackal had a sit sleep after maybe a tear or two…
So the bike lights came out, for the better so we didn’t become demoralised by the sight of all the uphills. Eventually we reached the tar road that turned south again. Needing water, we fortunately found a policeman who took us to a local primary school and asked the security guard to open up the school so we could fill up. At this time the team was taking real strain. Kous was desperately fighting off sleepmonsters and a throbbing knee injury from a fall in the canyon.
Sanity and semi straight lines of travel was kept together by a thin thread word games, singing, and whatever could keep the mind occupied. Tjokkie managed very well navigating under these conditions (Go Tjok Norris!). Many harsh words were uttered as we crawled along at snail’s pace the seemingly endless barrage of uphills thrown at us. At CP21 at the diggings we had to have a team talk. Making up time was essential but the unravelling condition of some team members meant that a short sleep was on the cards. Fris Chris kept watch, being the strongest of the bunch at that stage. That hour in that uncomfortable pit was just enough to get the team moving again in more or less a straight line. Out of the darkness we met up with team Life and cycled together for short stretches until they stopped for what we understood was a team eat. We could never determine which of their members were eaten, but remembering their looks of hunger a day earlier in the canyon we were not about to stick around to find out.
Still peddling merrily through the night we suddenly, in the space of about 1km lost all the elevation we gained in the whole bike ride. Yes, for those that took this particular road, how will you ever forget that crazy downhill? Doing it at 4am in a sleep deprived state makes it just so much more fun! Going down, with the smell of burning break pads in our noses, we figured that this road was probably a one way, as we could not imagine how any vehicle would be able to drive it upwards. Just as a last spiteful jab, we were met by another monster uphill. At this stage the guys took turns to push Jackal’s bike up as she was developing some major foot problems which regular healthy doses of pain killers could not fix. We slogged the last few km’s to T4 arriving at 5am.
20km paddle
T4 was a large marquee tent – no restaurant unfortunately, so Jackal whipped up gourmet sardines on rice cakes. A wet, nasty 2 hour sleep among the bike boxes and teams entering and leaving the tent was all that could be mustered before the next paddle leg. Jackal had a nasty splashy experience with a long drop (South African name for a pit latrine) which was more of a short drop. The local kids gave us a hand carrying some of our gear down the 1km steep path to the river while the guys made turns to carry the boats. Back breaking stuff. On the river, Fris Chris and Kous were very unhappy with their boat, which was broken. After lots of swearing and spinning and splashing and adjusting of paddling technique, the boat seemed to start to repair itself and later both boats could progress downstream at a handsome pace. The 20km paddle was a welcome break from the quad breaking cycling of the previous day. We were heading to Port St Johns and the ocean once again!
Cremorne Estate welcomed us with a fire, toasted ham and cheese sarmies and cokes – but all was not well with the RaceMiere. Kous felt an unwelcome chill entering his body. The medic gave him a Vitamin B injection and the team set off up the mountain to CP22
Lets Hike 40km (33km) Kous’ condition worsened, he developed a fever, turned green, had diarrhoea and started vomiting. Jackal slipped in Kous’s vomit on the way down the hill amid the laughter of her team mates (Still sorry about that one Jackie, I owe you one!) Sadly Kous made the decision that his state was too serious to attempt the rest of the hike.
In the early stages of the hike, Chris became zombified with sleepmonsters but pulled through with the help of his team mates who pushed/pulled/dragged him for a while.
The start of this hike was all about chasing the tides. It was getting dark and the sea was coming in – we had to cross a river mouth before the water covered our heads. Amazing to see the fish jumping every time the waves came in. We got across with little fuss and then raced towards to cliffs to get across before it was too late. We scrambled from rock to rock – angry sea on the one side and sheer rock face on the other… it was scary and exhilarating! We made it to the other side and crashed (slept) for 4 hours under the trees – waking up to another beautiful sunrise.
The Transkei scenery was breath-taking as we made our way along the shoreline. We came across a(nother) river mouth – Jackal’s feet were taking strain and she was determined not to get them wet again. She found a small holiday resort with boats and bribed a very old, fail local man to row her across with a very dodgy looking hand made paddle. The rest of the team watched with interest. It took forever to get across and the boys decided swimming was a better option for them. It was on the other side of the river that we met up with Bad Medicine and a few other teams for a joint scramble up the mountain as the rocks made it impossible to go around.
We followed the shoreline for quite some time – it was rough going where the mountains met the sea – scrambling over the rocks – trying not to get our feet wet.
Haha, at this point – I cant really remember much! So here are some pictures… clearly there were a lot of bloody hills!
130km (100km) cycle
Arriving at T6 the hikers were noticeably haggard after a tough night hike. Kous was transported with a group of other sick racers from T5 to T6 (Mboyti) the previous evening and was feeling refreshed after a full nights’ sleep, but still only recovered sufficiently from illness that next morning to attempt the final bike ride. A welcome pasta meal and chips served as a final refuelling for the final stage of this epic adventure race.
Transition took probably longer than it should have – but easy for Kous to chirp – he had full night’s sleep on a mattress instead of a night hike under his belt. The team left at dusk, but it was soon clear that Jackal could not continue further. Her feet and ankles had taken a harsh beating for days now and pain killers seemed to be ineffective at this stage. Her feet and ankles were too swollen to fit in her cycle shoes! The team was unofficial at this stage, so the decision was made and only the male members of RaceMiere continued with the last bike leg. This proved to be a good decision!
The first stretch of the last bike leg was that unforgettable hike a bike along the beach to the @%$# cattle track up the hill. Carrying the bike up there produced lots of sweating, swearing and fatigue and the darkness did not help our situation either. At the top we managed only a short distance until we decided it was time to sleep again in the safety of a forest. The next morning saw that crazy single track descent into the river valley. No time for terrain assessment – race mode and sleep deprivation just makes you take the extremes in your stride. In the river valley bottom we met up with Bad Medicine and had a nice chat while carrying the bikes up the %$#% valley on the other side.
At the top we could mercifully cycle on some proper wide dirt roads the rest of the way. A stop at a local spaza with a welcome Coke and some Albany brown bread served to temporarily plug the oncoming Mbotyi belly which started haunting some team members. We were now ahead of Bad Medicine and somewhere near the Lunar Chicks, but time was running out on this last Saturday. Being over keen to get to the finish Kous made a nav error and went down the wrong junction, only to realise the mistake about 8km later. We turned around to start the uphill back. At this point Tjokkie collapsed from major stomach cramps and could ride no further. As if sensing our predicament Stephan magically appeared out of nowhere 5 minutes later with the bakkie and trailer to take us back to Port Edward to be on time for the awards ceremony. We shared the ride back with Bad Medicine and the Lunar Chicks and swapped some war stories. Jackal joined us for the final walk across the finishing banner and we felt like heroes, even if we did not finish the course on human power.
This was 3 of the team’s first expedition distance AR, something that each member has wanted to do for years and it ended up being everything they hoped it would be. The experience was truly eye opening, how a person can push boundaries and attempt things you once thought impossible. Combined with the stunning natural beauty and raw humanity of the local people and the true adventure and testing of yourself and team, this will certainly count this as one of the best experiences of our lives.
A big thank you to Digiterra and 32GI for their generous sponsorship of food, drinks and clothing. Thanks to the RaceMiere team of “ysters” for sharing the crazy dream, for sticking it out there and picking one another up and keeping good spirits in the hard times, you are amazing people!
Thanks Stephan and Heidi for doing a great job organising the adventure of a lifetime and Deo Volente – we will be back for more!