Mazda Drifter 2001 Adventure Race Report

Mazda Drifter 2001 Adventure Race Report & Pictures

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By Caroline Brawner (Team Energy)

Pre-Race Race:

Teams gathered at the V & A Waterfront in anticipation of participating in this promotional event between 11 AM and 1 PM. The first surprise of the day was that those hours were for registration; the race didnt start till 1 PM. Team Energy was among the first four teams chosen to start the race so we got our gear ready. We were to do a climbing wall then a run, a paddle in our favourite form of watercraft (crocaducks) then a swim in the less than hygienic waterfront water and, finally a run back to the start. Wanting to spend as little time as possible in the water, we got our fins out. However, Bradley said that these would not be permitted. Trevor was not happy about this especially since hed already had a conflict with Bradley over the restriction on using our own paddles (much lighter and more efficient than standard paddles) on the river paddle. In protest, Trevor sat through the briefing with his mask, snorkel and fins on!

The pre-race went off without a hitch and we placed something like 8^thwe didnt care and hadnt pushed because the race didnt contribute toward anything. We had thought it would determine our starting position in the real race but it didnt, this whole event was just for the cameras.

It was fun but we had to wait till the last team finished so had to find a tap to take a shower and went to Ferrymans for a meal before finally driving up to River Rafters on the Breede River just outside Worcester. We got a chalet and, after much pfaffing about, Bradley finally started the briefing at 8:30. We were told as little as possible but learned we would start at 2 AM and our team of four would be divided into an A and a B team. Since we were on the river we knew wed paddle early but assumed wed have to wait till it was light, about 4:30. So we thought wed be doing a run or ropes course or something on land first. This made decisions about gear very difficult. We organised our stuff and finally got to bed about 10:30. Dougie got us up at 1:15not much rest for any of us.

The Racethe paddle:

We went to the start at 2 AM to discover everyone loading up the canoes so we followed suit. Just after 2, Bradley announces the As would paddle the canoes a couple of hundred metres and wait for the Bs who would swim to the waiting canoes. So, Jean-Paul and Caroline paddled off while Richard and Trevor waited to hop into the water. JP and Caroline tried to manoeuvre their canoes into a good position but it was a rather chaotic scene. After a few minutes we could hear the sound of splashing and started calling out Trevor, Richard, Energy! (Caroline tried Wicki wicki once as instructed by Trevor but felt a fool). We were practically hoarse by the time Richard and Trevor found us amongst the bedlam of 48 boats going in every direction in the pitch dark. Richard got whacked in the nose by a paddle and we later heard tales of boats ramming swimmers (unintentionally perhaps but unavoidable given the situation). This was actually one of the most dangerous moments in the race and it seems very lucky that no one was seriously hurt.

The river had more water than we had expected so we never had to drag the canoes except for portaging over 3 weirs (Trevor was impressed with the amount of abuse the canoes could take as they were essentially thrown down from the tops of the weirs). However, there was very little current so we got no boost from the river and it was also sometimes difficult to read the river to see which channel to take. In fact, in the pitch dark, we did make a few wrong decisions but usually boats in front of us made the mistakes first so we benefited from them. Trevor and Caroline were frustrated once as they were able to take a quick channel but Richard and Jean-Paul got caught in a mash of canoes and were forced down a long channel. Caroline and Trevor just had to sit and wait while numerous boats went by before JP and Rich finally caught up.

After about 3 hours, Carolines arms were giving out and Trevor, who had to pick up the slack, was also tiring. It was then that Team Rocky came by and, in the next 20 minutes, we saw them twice switch paddlers. Apparently they regularly switched the man paddling with Rebecca; with three strong men switching, they were able to keep fresh. Seeing their success, we then switched Richard and Trevor. Richard was then able to pick up the pace with his more rested arms.

The paddle ended a few kays sooner than we expected as Bradley had not gotten permission from the farmer for 48 canoes to land on his property (or the farmer had changed his mind???). We quickly changed into dry running shoes and took off with half a dozen other teams.

The First Run/Hike

We made our way toward Arangiekop but ended up unnecessarily going up and down a hill that some teams went around much faster. Then began the long, continuous uphill. At one point, we saw a road at a saddle and considered bundubashing across to it. Then we bumped into Zirks team going the other way and saw that he was going to go down to take the road up to the saddle. The vegetation was very unfriendly so we decided to do the same. Later, teams that tried bundubashing said they had had to go up to the top because it was such rough goingand very time consuming.

We continued along the road which contoured for miles around the mountains, occasionally encountering incredible little streams of cool, clear water. A couple of teams passed uswe are far from the fastest team but throughout the race kept getting ahead of other teams by finding shortcuts and by superior navigation. For example, when we got to the kloof that we were sure we needed to go up to Arangieskop but the path started to turn and go down, we backtracked to a hint of a trail that Rich had spotted. A few metres up this trail we came across a No Entry sign. We then knew this was an escape route and hurried up it till it met the proper trail. Some teams missed this turn altogether but others spotted us on our way up and followed. It was a long steep uphill but at least the cloud on the mountain was now shading us. We reached the PC point in second place but just minutes before a few other teams. We dashed down the hill to our seconds in the transition point below, coming in third just seconds behind another team. Bradley then did a gear check on each team and was unimpressed with the scruffy 4 metre and 7 metre ropes we had--it was supposed to be one good 10 metre rope. Only afterwards did we discover that Richard had another 10 meters of strong, wide nylon strapping in his backpack (he apparently wasn't aware of the request to show our ropes at the gear check).

The First Cycle:

We ate pasta, chocolate shakes and apples under the shade of a tarp while Dougie and JP consulted over the next bike leg. Dougie had gotten the inside scoop on a shortcut from a local farmer that would cut the distance by as much as 20 kays! It turned out to be the most stunning kloof wed ever seen with fantastic geology. There was a decent jeep track and it was slightly downhill so we made good time to the next PC point. Getting out was much longer and involved several long uphills during which one team overtook us. When we got down to a good wide dirt road, the guys took turns pushing Caroline; this worked well and did speed things up. We arrived at Montagu Hot Springs to find our seconds happily esconced in a grassy, shaded campsite. We had our big meal of ostrich mince spaghetti bolognese and loaded our packs with warm/wet gear. Actually the first stop was only a few dozen metres from camp where we had to do the abseil. However, only two members of the team had to do the jumar ascent while the others waited. To get up to the abseil we had to scramble up a steep cliff with unstable rocks without ropes or any safety precautions. That was truly the most dangerous part of the raceone slip and someone easily could have fallen (rolled/bounced) all the way down; Trevor actually advised Bradley about this and we later learned that they changed the route and teams only had to climb to the short abseil and didnt have go all the way up to do the long 70 metre abseil that we did.

The Second Hike:

Then we ran up the kloof in the decreasing light, reaching the bottom of the mountain and the beginning of the Bloupunt Trail in the dark. Richard had developed some blisters by now, which hed taped up but that were not adding to the pleasure of the climb. It was a very steep climb and went on endlessly; we finally reached the saddle which we knew wed have to return to in order to get to the next checkpoint. But we continued up a zigzag trail into the mist and total darkness. We encountered the first place teamLand Rovercoming down but counted only three of them. Later we learned that one of their team was sick and theyd left him at the saddle. At PC 5 we asked the marshal what OP3 wasour next destination. Since OP 1 and 2 had been the jumar and abseil, we had assumed this was also some form of activity. But he said no, it was just an unmanned point. We asked if all four of us had to go down to it (it was half the distance down that wed just come up) and he said something like technically yes but it didnt really matter. So we decided that Caroline and Richard would stay near PC 5 while Trevor and Jean-Paul would go to OP 3. They took emergency equipment and one of the super lights while Richard and Caroline got out a bivy bag and lay down to rest about 10 feet from the trail. Not 20 minutes later, a team came by and saw us although we pretended to be asleep so didnt talk to them. They had not taken the trail but had come straight over the mountain top and descended right on us. Jean-Paul and Trevor saw their lights but were bundubashing at the time so didnt pass close to them on the trail. Later we learned it was Team Suburu, who had been very pushy as both our teams tried to climb up to the abseil even though each team had their own abseil rope and there was no advantage to pushing ahead.

It took Trevor and Jean-Paul longer than wed expectedabout 1 hoursand both Caroline and Richard were freezing by the time they got back. We descended to the saddle where we found Zirks team bivying and another team talking with them. Zirk was turned around and thought he had to go up the mountain opposite the one he needed to. After talking to both us and Zirk, the other team turned around and went back down the mountain! We discovered what wed thought was a path on the way up was actually not a path so we had to bundubash across, down and up through some pretty horrible brush to get to PC 6 which we had seen as a flashing red light on the next mountain across. As with all the marshals we encountered, they had been there for hours and hours before anyone had arrived and were now staying longer much longer than theyd expected. Even though it was cold when sitting still, wed done so much climbing that wed drunk more than wed expected and Trevor asked the marshals at both PC 5 and 6 for water; PC 5 had none and PC 6 were down to their last few sips.

Now it was an endlessly long downhill but at least there was a path that took us down to the river. It was light enough by 4:30 to turn off our torches. We searched for a way across the river which had little water but hopelessly thick reeds. We eventually found a route but then had to backtrack a kilometre to go to the old fort which was PC 7. Jean-Paul ran ahead with the other three walkingwed hoped it was unmanned and we wouldnt all have to go the whole distance. But it was manned and Jean-Paul had to explain that we were just behind but eating breakfast. The good thing was that they had a whole coke bottle of water to spare so we gratefully took it with us since we had about 10 kays to jog back to the hot springs.

We walked into the beginning of town then turned through a neighbourhood and eventually on to a dirt road that took us back to the kloof wed gone through last night. One of the camera people found us and followed us through the streetsnot very exciting footage. Richard was hobbling quite badly now as his blisters had begun to pop but he kept up gamely. We arrived in camp to find many teams taking life easy. A few had pulled out for various reasons and some of the slower teams were not competing seriously so saw no reason to hurrytheyd had a sleep, showers, breakfast and were just planning their route up the mountains wed just endured. Some discovered a different route that took them by OP 3 on the way up to PC 5it was right there in the Mike Lundy book that Jean-Paul had but hadnt thought, in the rush, to look in; he was very angry with himself.

The Second Cycle:

Anyway, we had breakfast and got into our cycling clothes. We didnt have an auspicious start because we couldnt find the right roadwe asked at a farm and finally found it. Again, wed been dogged by a camera during this rather embarrassing section. Unfortunately, today was bright and sunny and we were already cooking by 8 AM as we had to go up and up and up. Then the track ended and we had to get the bikes over barbed wire fences and through nasty brush where there was no trail at all. More ups and downs and barbed wire fences then we finally got to a farm where we asked for some water. They were the friendliest people in the world--they filled our bladders with ice water and gave us Coke and delicious peaches right out of their orchard. The farmer also showed Jean-Paul an orthophoto of the area so he could see an alternate, shorter route back to the finish. Reluctantly, we left this piece of paradise.

More uphill and finally a downhill (on wretched rocks) before we got to the next PC point. Then we turned on to the main roada wide smooth dirt road that unfortunately was white, meaning it reflected the heat from below and was significantly hotter than a normal brown dirt road. This road involved 7 kms of steady uphill and the guys were too hot to ride more than the first couple of kays. Caroline, able to take it at her own slow pace, didnt find the heat too unbearable and made faster progress than the menfor the first and probably only time in her life! When we finally reached the top, Trevor had to convince the marshal that it was not against the rules to give us waterand he had many litres of glorious ice cold water.

No, we werent at the top yetwe turned off on to a regular dirt track and continued up and down and up several kilometres till we got to a gate just before the checkpoint. Right then, with only one more section to go, both Team Rocky and Team Lemon showed up. We all rushed up to the PC point but we let them take off first (after giving Team Lemon an inner tube because they hadnt brought any) because Jean-Paul didnt want them to see us take off down the shortcut. This road was hellaciously steep and rocky so progress, especially for Caroline, was slow and difficult but the bad part was actually only about two kays (the same height it had taken 7 kays to go up) before joining the dirt road wed cycled earlier in the morning. By this point, our adrenalin was pumping and Trevor was pushing Caroline to speeds shed never reached on a bicycle before. We didnt know how much of a lead we had on the other teams and Trevor was bound we were not going to let them get ahead at this point.

The Finish:

Then the ridiculous happened: we got to the edge of Montagu and didnt know which way to turn. Dougie had given Jean-Paul just the part of the map that had the trailsprobably assuming JP knew how to get around Montagu itself. We looked at the mountains and thought the kloof where the hot springs is was to the left so off we went right through town. Despite exceeding the speed limit and jumping all the stop streets (it was a public holiday so there was little activity), Caroline noticed a sign that had an arrow indicating that the hot springs was in the opposite direction! She asked the guys to ask someone but it was another 6 blocks before Trevor couldnt take her badgering anymore and called to a guy walking on the pavementwho said it was the opposite way. Screechabout face-- but we still didnt really know where to go so JP ran into the police station and was told it was just 2 kilometres along the road. Trevor started pondering the possibility that we would come in behind the other two teams because of this mistake. However, it turned out we were at least a hour ahead of Rocky; Lemon had gotten numerous punctures and came in way behind.

The camera man took us each aside for a quick interview but it was the hot springs that we had in mind and spent a good hour soaking our poor, tired bodies. Bradley may have tortured us for two days but he was nearly forgiven by providing such a wonderful finishing point. We learned that a team had been lost since shortly after the paddle yesterday and several searches had been made. Apparently because of this, prize giving and dinner were delayed and then Bradley dragged out the speech, prize giving and spot prizes so that people were literally falling asleep at the table. Word came that the lost team had been found30 kilometres off course! We finally got dinner after 9 PM and were out cold in our tents not long after 10.

Comments:

Our total race time was something like 38 hours. We were originally disqualified (without consultation) because of our misunderstanding the meaning of OP3 (a term we'd never heard before which turned out to be a compulsory checkpoint). Somewhat sadly various nasty rumours about us spread around the checkpoint/basecamp/finish and we found it very disappointing that fellow competitors who should have known better took them at face value. After a detailed representation, Bradley changed that to an "unofficial" finish - we're not happy with that but have run out of energy to object

I was impressed with my team mates and our newest member, Richard, was a pleasure throughout. Our seconds were second to none and were cheerful throughout. The scenery and location were stunningI only wish Id had more of a chance to enjoy them!

A last comment concerns the introduction prize money which seems to have altered the nature of the game. Instead of being a sport that has up till now been just for the fun of it and rules were enforced mostly through mutual respect and personal integrity, now some teams are becoming rude as well as taking to finger pointing. There has always been a healthy competitiveness between the teams but there was also a friendly, were-all-in-this-together attitude that seems to get lost when prize money is offered. Very sad.