A tale of 3 navigators, team Lava race report, Ystervark and Ama-zing AR, Mnweni, Natal
Sitting between four walls again, my mind just does not want to adapt. I’m day-dreaming of hiking above the clouds, staring at waterfalls…I’m paddling into the sunset and flying down gravel roads on my bike. This is not all I remember though…this is a tale of three navigators:
Leg 1: 24 km hike, CP1-5 (navigator: Ari) and CP6-7 (navigator: Nadine)
Pre-race jitters had all of us warmed up for the race. We couldn’t wait for 3am (Saturday) to be set off. Found CP1 easily (if climbing up the side of a waterfall at night could be called easy…). We then enjoyed the mental test of seeing the string of headlamps split into two…we went left on Ari’s direction and found the double-drop waterfall (CP2). Wow, what a magnificent sight! And yes, you guessed it, day was breaking.
CP3 and 4 had us hiking up a narrow kloof which was a tough climb, we waved to the herdsman rounding his cattle that we (hopefully) did not disturb on our way up. Found CP5 on the ridge: “There she is, she’s looking at me…” unaware of the challenge to come…
I should have ignored Ari when he indicated that I should navigate to CP6, as I recall: “would be an easy one to find”. Finding a do-able decent was challenge number one and the classic mistake of “Fitting the features to the map”ended up in a fruitless search for CP6 (river junction). This “scenic detour” was ended by a decision to just go down river and see what features presented themselves. And of course you guessed it: we then found CP6 thanks to Ari and Greg. My apologies, team, I hope to be forgiven in time….(ok, ok, a loooooong time….)
By this time we were all feeling a bit down, and I’m sure Larry would have taken over the navigation at this point if he had had his glasses there. (right, Larry? he he). After a scouting, we found the “bridge” consisting of a couple of wooden poles and also CP7. Hiking back to transition in scorching heat was torture; our seconds probably wondered if we opted to stay in the mountains forever. We were feeling a little delirious, we were stone-dead last, by miles!
Leg 2: 35 km Mountainbike, CP8-9 (navigator: Greg and Ari)
I wisely opted to hand over the navigation at this point. We usually try to give the navigator a mental break and some time to just enjoy the race and scenery, but in my case I guess I had fallen from grace and the team needed some trustworthy source of direction (oopsa!). Greg and Ari brought us to CP8 (Telkom tower, which is OBVIOUSLY on top of a mountain) and found CP9 successfully.
There is an insider story to this leg which does not need telling to outsiders. Ok, ok, I almost gave up the race here, believing that I was finished, boxed and sent off via DHL. Thanks for understanding, Lava, you pulled me through on this one! Greg and Ari: you’re damn strong, that’s all I can say….may I borrow your quads for the next race? Please?
The realization hit us hard here, that we still had a lot to do, but it was a motivating sight to see our seconds waiting on us, with boats ready to rock, NOT that we were planning to rock the boats!!!
Leg 3: 20 km paddle, CP10-12 (navigator: Nadine)
We were super-motivated to learn that we have managed to catch up on all the other teams. We managed to overtake a few teams on the paddle and found the checkpoints easily. I must admit to letting the waves hit Larry and me directly from the side a few times, just to enjoy a giggle at Larry’s verbal discomfort and paranoia about falling out the boat. We were enjoying ourselves again.
We ended up paddling with Team Stealth, which we have raced with before (Diamond Dash AR) and enjoyed their companionship. Being four boats together, made dodging sandbanks easier as we called out to each other whenever one got stuck. We did the take-out of the boats together too, and honestly, without Team Stealth, Ari would have probably drifted downstream and be lost to humankind forever.
It’s quite a mission to get four boats out of the river when all four are holding on to each other at various degrees of stability: there were people and paddles on the bank, people and paddles in the boats and people and paddles in the water. (Correction: Ari and a paddle were in the water). Rather lose a paddle than a person, that’s my advice….darkness had just fallen, but it surely was fun…
Leg 4: 14 km mountainbike, CP13-14 (navigator: Nadine)
Feeling that I had redeemed myself from the CP6 fiasco, I led us successfully to CP13 and 14 (under bridge). I was a little annoyed that Larry knew what CP14 was while staying on top of the bridge, while I had to climb down (on the wrong side of the bridge), back up, down again on the right side of the bridge and back up again. This leg felt really long and the sleep monsters were pouncing on both Ari and Greg. We needed a couple of winks in transition, and we needed it badly.
Leg 5: 16 km hike, CP 15-19 (navigator: Ari)
Getting a short nap recharged us for the hike. I remember though through my half-asleep-half-awake state, Peet (our second) asking Larry to just sit down and get some rest! Which of course he didn’t…
We found a “wading” spot through the river that was only knee-deep and congratulated ourselves on not getting dunked like some other teams we have heard of. We found CP15 easily. Team Stealth joined us en-route to CP16 were we tried our luck without success.
We encountered a poor freaked-out horse that was stalking us, not sure whether we were going to eat him, or whether he should eat us. Believe me, we were freaked out too! It was kinda weird being followed by a pair of fluorescent galloping eyes.
During some scouting at CP16 we made the decision to turn back: Greg was by now taking power-naps while both hiking AND stationary and we were hoping to be back before prize-giving at 8am Sunday. We were a bit disappointed at not finding the remaining checkpoints, but were content at having come so far.
Post-race post-mortem:
Ø Waterproof everything all of the time
Ø Dry socks and wet shoes is a comfortable sensation (gotta try it!)
Ø Trust (and use!) the compass
Ø Contribute to good team spirit
To close then in Ari’s words:
“I’m still walking around with robot-red eyes, a now-leaking snout and sore throat, steel-brushed and allergen-blotched legs, radiation-seared neck and forearms, a desiccated scalp, irreversibly-swollen feet, brand new six pack! A head filled with images of the incredible array of hardcore s**t we got up to…and all this in the space of one lifetime framed into a weekend!….whatever could possibly be more fun…”
Nadine Nunes
The anti-navigator
