The World Adventure Racing Championships (XPD Australia)
Thule Adventure Take the Lead
Rob Howard / 05.11.2011
When the dark zone was lifted at CP41 on the Arthur River at 07.30, the leaders were not there waiting to get on the water. The 150km bike ride to get there had proved so tough that the lead teams had to sleep and rest on the way, and they didn’t arrive at the transition until just after 05.30. Seagate were first to arrive, though Thule Adventure had caught them earlier on, then taken a wrong turn. Even so they were only 8 minutes behind and at this point Seagate decided to sleep, while Thule Adventure pushed on.
It was the first time in the race that Seagate had not lead, but they felt they needed to sleep after the rigours of the ride. Chris Forne had ridden 100km on a single speed bike after his derailleur broke again and Nathan Fa’avae said; “I’m feeling a bit crook. Heat stroke maybe? Things are not going our way but we are still fighting.�
Thule did not look in the greatest shape either, but were determined to get on the water. Per Vestling was the most upbeat and was hurrying the team up, which was not easy as all were so sleepy. “This is our chance to win,� he said. “We’ve mostly made good choices and only small mistakes so things are going well. We’ve not slept much and are really tired after the ride. Some of the route was in bush or sand dunes and there was no trail for some time. It was navigable but not rideable. You have to get on and get through these things. If you can solve these problems you are doing OK.�
Asked if he thought the team could complete the river paddle before tonights Dark Zone he replied, “We will try as we will be home free if we can make it, but I don’t think we’ll make it.� The fastest predicted time for the 75km paddle and 12km of bush trekking is 15 hours and even the leaders may not be able to sustain that pace now, so they will camp out on the river tonight.
Martin Flinta looked weary and Miriam Guillot was woken up when she found a leech in her bag. She squealed, pulled a face and plucked it out, saying, “I hate them!� At the same time Marcel Hagener of Seagate was wandering around looking for a patch of forest to sleep in that was not too damp as he too was worried about the leeches.See All Event Posts
