Expedition Africa 2012

Thoughts on the Course

Louise Foulkes (ARWS) / 07.05.2012

It is a hive of activity here now at Expedition Africa. The course has been revealed (see separate report) and teams are busy marking up maps and scratching heads as they pack 6 days worth of food and gear into trunks. Teams have until 4 pm this evening to finish this and will then have a “last supper” together at 6pm. After this it will be off to bed to catch as much sleep as they can before an early start in the morning to catch a bus to the start.

The general consensus on the course is that teams believe it will be a very fast race to begin with and that after mid-camp, a compulsory 5 hour stop, the real racing will begin. At this point the terrain quickly becomes harder and the individual legs get longer. There is a 128km bike straight out of the midway camp as well as a tough 58km trek that are both seen as the crux of the race. Navigators have indicated that while there is some route choice, they don’t believe this will have a huge impact on the course. 

Another issue teams have raised is that they will need to plan their race around the tides. Last year’s race was won and lost through the tides influence on the firmness of the sand on the beaches while trekking. Low tide saw front teams run through these areas while others slogged in the soft high tide sand. There are some significant coastal beach treks in this year’s race. In addition to this, the tide will also influence paddling times on the many estuarine rivers. It is predicted that teams may paddle up to 2 km per hour slower if they are caught travelling against the tide. 

Viewers at home will be happy with the cutting edge live tracking. Teams are provided with GPRS units that will update their position on the live web site every 60 seconds. To access this map, go to www.kineticgear.co.za and click on Expedition Africa. Supporters will also be able to follow what is happening via twitter and the races Facebook site.

Logistically teams are provided with 2 large re-supply boxes that rotate to different Transition Areas (TAs) around the course. They must pack all of their food into these. Teams are also provided with a very large cardboard box to put their bike and biking equipment into. Finally, each team has a kayak bag in which to put their kayaking equipment. This bag must travel with them on kayaking legs.