7 AM
Adventure Racing race (Trekking) 2:03:00 [4] 13.0 km (9:28 / km) +693m 7:28 / km
shoes: Salomon Crossmax Red #1
Expedition Africa - 500km Adventure Race - Hermanus, South Africa
Team Cyanosis, with Nathan, Mac, Jane. Finished 2nd behind Merrell and ahead of Accelerate (UK).
Stats:
Race Time 63h 38m 55s
Race Distance 473 km
Altitude gain 10'335m
Bike Stats:
Dst 323.27
Av 16.2
Mx 61.4
First leg started at dawn in the old Hermanus harbour (sea paddle cancelled due to strong winds) with a 13km running leg through town and a bit into the mountain. Got off to a good lead. Got chased down by Merrell and overtaken, but regained it just before the end of the leg. First into T1 by a few secs.
Adventure Racing race (Paddling) 2:52:00 [3] 15.0 km (11:28 / km)
Paddle from hell. Into a gale force headwind across the Kleinrivier vlei. Big waves of up to 1m. Stuck with Merrell most of the way, but they pulled away on the river.
Adventure Racing race (Coasteering) 5:08:00 [3] 32.0 km (9:38 / km) +617m 8:47 / km
shoes: Salomon Crossmax Red #1
Short section through Stanford, then a long run to the beach. We were walking already with Mac's ITB injury. Good nav saw us still only 4 mins behind Merell, who had run most of the way. Then a long walk down the beach in Walker Bay NR. Passed by Accelerate just before Gansbaai transition, but still only 15 min behind Merrell.
Adventure Racing race (Mountain Bike) 9:35:34 [3] 132.0 km (4:22 / km) +1741m 4:05 / km
shoes: Specialized Epic Expert 2010
Fast riding for most of the leg. Caught Accelerate after about 30km. We stayed together to chase Merrell down. They made a wrong turn though, putting us in the lead after 60km. In Quoin Point NR (80km) we took the outright lead in the dunes when Accelerate hesitated. Put in a good final section to extend our lead to 40 min on Accelerate and 1 hr on Merrell.
Bike stat: Dst 137.81, Av 14.4, Mx 61.5
Adventure Racing race (Trekking) 12:19:00 [3] 51.0 km (14:29 / km) +2264m 11:51 / km
shoes: Salomon 3D Pro khaki #12
Started the long hike at about 3am. First checkpoint saw us on a good route up the mountains. However, we 'misinterpreted' race director help on the next leg, finding ourselves following a fence line through dense fynbos down and up a huge ravine when we had expected a path (20km in). Quite a few other good nav teams also had the same predicament. This gave Merrell the lead. We thought Accelerate had also gone ahead, but had instead done the same route choice as us. Merrell then proceeded to outrun us over the rest of the course whilst we walked. 2 team members now injured.
Ended with a 5 hour compulsory stop at transition. Surprised to find ourselves in 2nd and only 1 hr behind.
Adventure Racing race (Mountain Bike) 7:40:00 [3] 96.0 km (4:48 / km) +1443m 4:27 / km
shoes: Specialized Epic Expert 2010
Left transition in the dark again (Tuesday night). More fast dirt roads through the Overberg. Slept for 30 mins in the doorstep of the Genadendal church near the church square. Looked almost exactly like a setting in Portugal and Spain. Got into transition to find Merell had taken another 1 hour out of us. Now 2 hrs behind.
Bike Stats: Dst 95.98, Av 11.4, Mx 56.0
Adventure Racing race (Trekking) 7:45:00 [3] 24.0 km (19:23 / km) +1335m 15:10 / km
shoes: Salomon 3D Pro khaki #12
An up-and-over trek over the Riviersonderendberge. Up was easy. Down was more technical, but we got this at first light. Got to abseil and canyoneering at the bottom (now only 1 hr behind Merrell again) before the walk to Teewaterskloof Dam (2 hrs behind again).
Adventure Racing (Paddling) 3:30:00 [3] 23.0 km (9:08 / km)
Paddle round the dam to 2 CPs. Surprisingly went quite quickly. No wind which was a blessing and did it at mid afternoon, so reasonably un-cold.
Adventure Racing race (Mountain Bike) 4:39:26 [3] 64.0 km (4:22 / km) +912m 4:05 / km
shoes: Specialized Epic Expert 2010
Still 2 hrs behind Merell, and 2 hrs ahead of Accelerate. The section was mostly downhill on the Van Der Stel pass through Botrivier. Easy roads once again. Ended at Hamilton Russell vineyard.
Adventure Racing race (Orienteering) 2:00:00 [3] 8.0 km (15:00 / km) +277m 12:47 / km
shoes: Salomon Crossmax Red #1
Google map orienteering around the vineyard. 6 CPs, no problem. Easy pace. 5 mins slower than Merrell, but in the dark instead of their light. Opened another 1hr on Accelerate here.
Adventure Racing race (Mountain Bike) 19:48 [3] 7.0 km (2:50 / km)
shoes: Specialized Epic Expert 2010
Final 7km downhill cycle into the finish at Onrus.
Overall 2nd. Disappointing that we could challenge hard for the win.
Picked up a mild strain on the lateral side of my foot on the last downhill mountain section. However it's healed quickly and should be okay.
