Bull of Africa
Leaders in the mountains. Cross Sportswear in 3rd starts 70km trek
Lisa de Speville / 28.06.2005
10h30, Tuesday: Last night there was much excitement when news came through that Merrell had arrived at CP22, the bike-to-hike transition within the Richtersveld National Park. Even better news was that Mazda arrived 9-minutes later and even better news was that the two teams left TOGETHER!We have received no communication from the jumar section at CP24 but as the teams were completely rested after their darkzone enforced sleep on Sunday night it is a certainty that they have pushed through the night and are probably en route to Cornelskop, the heighest point in the Richtersveld.
The only other news is that Cross Sportswear is still in 3rd place. They made CP22 at 03h28 this morning (Tuesday) and left at 05h00.
Over at CP16, the paddle take-out, teams are starting to filter through. The North Face made it off the water last night a little into the darkzone. The teams are allow to paddle into the darkzone for a maximum of 30-minutes BUT, they incur a time penalty of 15-minutes per 1-minute spent on the water after 18h00. It makes sense to take a penalty to avoid having to spend the whole night on the side of the river.
Martin & Scheepers/Pinegold were within spitting distance of the take-out when the darkzone started. They tried to portage but because the terrain was so difficult and dangerous (and the boats so heavy) they made little progress and had to remain for the 13-hour period on the shore. They checked in at the take-out at 07h44. But, this sadly puts them 13-odd hours behind The North Face. BUT… I would presume that The North Face has not slept? Martin & Scheepers would be fully rested and as they are my friends I’m holding out that they’ll still manage to climb a place if they push through without sleeping.
The FAAP Nokia Adventure team are officially out of the race. I’m not sure of the story but the marshals who were still waiting way back along the course (and who had been out there since Saturday) are obviously relieved. As you can imagine, having the field so spread out has created some difficult logistical problems for the race organisation. So, they are out and are safe and will be brought through here today.
Word too is that The Thales Matadors are also out. A very inexperienced rookie team they’ve done well to hold out for so long. I think the following anecdote was in reference to The Thales Matadors… It seems that one of them was ill (a day or two ago). They were left with a marshal on the first mountain biking leg – at CP7. The other three continued. Our logistics director, Rob van den Bergh headed along the route to see if he could find them. They were nowhere to be seen and not on the route that they ‘should’ have been on. Evidently they surfaced and will be brought through here to HQ.
Sofrana Unilines have also withdrawn. One of the competitors injured his hip. I’m not sure how or when. I believe that they do want to do the paddle and are hoping to be transported through to the paddle put-in today. I have no confirmation on this. Interesting, Stephanie, who appears to be navigating for the team, has complained about the language on the maps as many place names are in Afrikaans, one of South Africa’s 11 official languages. The map legend carries English and Afrikaans descriptions but the place name would definitely appear foreign. But, the same would apply whether you were in Spain, Argentina, Brazil… Even for the South Africans some names would appear incomprehensible. The important map elements are the contours, symbolic representations and topographical details. Place names are essentially irrelevant.
Team Halti were the only team observed yesterday to have swum through the Shambok Rapid… We don’t’ know whether there were any others. Our photographer Peder Sundstrom was on the scene, capturing what should be quite embarrassing. Canadian canoes are not the easiest to capsize and the rapid is… child’s-play. Worse… both boats flipped. We think this is very funny.
I saw South African teams
Other news is that Lagoon Bay/Century 2000/Saucony are also out… actually I think they are continuing unranked. Willie Koetzee has, like many others, succumbed to this flu-type virus, which seems to be doing its rounds. They passed through CP12 at 21h53 last night.
Finally, Team 8848 have surfaced. They left CP12 at 04h50 this morning and are currently on the abseil. The team is now unofficial. Carla Germishuys was been suffering with ITB inflammation. I heard that they have been unofficial since CP6 but this is unconfirmed.
That’s it. So, now 90hrs into the race only 13 teams remain in the official rankings and if the current rate of attrition continues the numbers may continue to drop.
ENDS
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