Team Xtreme's Race Report

Team Xtreme’s race report by Trevor Hellens

 

We kicked off with a blistering start, Local knowledge definitely gave us the advantage in the beginning, I always struggle with doing things under pressure but before we knew it we on our way up to CP 1 with team Olympus hot on our heels, we knew exactly how to get to the first 3 checkpoints learning quickly that we had left half the maps/instructions/cell phone in the car, we bargained with Olympus to share their info in exchange for our local knowledge example 44/108/Gate Celtis Rd. Then a very quick transition at crossways , having a quick look at the map and then putting it into our pocket and heading up to the Swartkop trig  and then to Midmar Gate 1.

 

As you may have guessed we were leading up to here, the biggest problem was we had not really looked at  the map and were racing on knowledge more so than navigation, Without even looking at the next check point CP10, I handed over the maps to my team mates and thought this would be a comfortable leg to let them navigate and for me to drive (despite George even hinting that maybe we should re check the map) Half an hour later after blogging the Nelson Mandela  site and the killer pig I gave my team a call to see how they were doing and they admitted to me that they were lost, I decided to go have a drink in the Everglades Bar and watch the Tour de France. My team mates were luckily enough to hook up with team Yoshimi and stuck to them like glue, borrowing, begging and stealing anything they could get from them.

 

16h00 Team Xtreme came in with Yoshimi to the Everglades hotel starving and dehydrated, we had some lunch and decided to get out the map and start working from it properly, we hiked over a little bump to a trig beacon and then descended the other side to the transition just in time before it got too dark.

 

We decided to really slow down the pace and really study the map and not make any mistakes from here on in as it was going to be a long cold night. We jumped onto our bikes and headed for CP 14 and what a relief to finally find it with yet again a helping hand from team Yoshimi. This bike leg got colder and longer as we were aiming for Kamburg Nature Reserve or transition 6.

 

Almost midnight and we arrived at the Transition 6 with temperatures close to 0 degrees, we jumped into the car and put the heater on full ball and had a great supper. We studied the map and were really concerned about getting to the finish which as the crow flies was less than 5km but would be some seriously tough navigation and we really were in no mood to be lost in the middle of nowhere so we decided to hike on the road around to High moor roughly 22km long. We got ready, put on all the warm clothes we could find  and started to pack the bikes onto the car,,, 1 bike,,,,2 bikes,,,,,3bikes,,,, where’s the fourth bike gone (Stolen) from right under our noses. Talk about a sick dark feeling, especially having a touring Scottish lady racing with us, she could not come to grips or understand that such a thing could happen, but we explained to her that this was South Africa and anything is possible.

 

We decided that we really needed to pack up and get out of the area as quick as possible as we were all alone in the middle of the bush. We drove a kilometer or so away from the transition 5 area and then began the hike that really never ended and got steeper and harder towards the end finishing at 04h00 in the morning and adding a 10 minute penalty for missing CP 10. The hardest leg of the whole event was probably the drive home trying to stay awake.

 

Thanks George for an awesome race and well organized, we really enjoyed the new format of having a rotating driver and emailing the CP’s to the blog

 

Team Xtreme

Martin Hall

Ryan Timmerman

Hannah Barnes

Trevor Hellens 

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