Adventure Quest Africa

The Weather Turns

David Ogden - Team Manager of \'International Adventurers\' / 30.07.2002

We woke up to a damp morning. No teams had arrived overnight, Andy was coming down with a cold and by 08.00 the Race Director ruled that teams doing the shortened course could restart at 09.30. I made a quick dash by car into Cradock to collect medicines for Andy, together with bread and instant noodles, arriving back in time to break camp. Another pleasant drive to the next transition area, following the river and skirting around hillsides, including passing through a small tunnel before descending past a dam. We did briefly spot two teams on the river but couldn’t identify them.

We parked on the side of the road and spread out clothes to dry. Grant carried out some maintenance on the bikes and we checked all lights were in working order with new batteries. The forecast was for snow and strong winds. The team arrived at 14.30 in joint 11th place with everyone in good spirits, including Primus who had taken a swim passing close to some trees. A group of incomplete teams had joined a “big team� so the transition was quite busy. The next leg was to prove the most challenging both for the competitors and the support teams.

The bikes where back in A1 condition and the happy team set out, knowing that they were using bikes for the last time. We had been advised that the track to the next transition via a mountain pass, was rutted, and slippery. One vehicle had already been rolled and I was a little concerned as I was driving a small Fiat, following the Landrover! I stopped and checked the ground clearance and when we came to a ford I paused before entering the water the bumper making a perfect bow wave to keep the exhaust clear. The track was quite tricky in places however, there are similar roads in Cyprus and the Fiat coped well. There was still snow on the mountainsides.

Eventually we arrived in the darkness at the final transition and set up a tent for the team. It was a cold and windy spot and there had been snow lying earlier in the day. The team had expected to arrive in six hours, so as the expected time of their arrival approached Julia started preparing toasted sandwiches, their favourite food. The ETA came and went. The first couple of teams had passed through then noone. Other support teams arrived but no sign of any teams so we decided to get some sleep. I kept watch at first then Julia took over and I caught a couple of hours rest in one of the teams sleeping bags, as they had taken my dry one with them.