Expedition Africa

Arriving at Expedition Africa

Rob Howard / 03.05.2013

The old maxim goes that getting to the start line in good shape is the first challenge at an expedition race, but it’s not just about training, kit packing, map preparation and studying the route book before the start.  At an international event like Expedition Africa the journey to the venue is all part of the logistical exercise which teams and organisers have to get right.

Things can easily go wrong at the outset.  Will everyone get there and in good time, will the bikes arrive, and in one piece?  There have been stories in the past of racers forgetting visas or passports, missing flights and connections, and it is common for bike boxes to get offloaded somewhere en route.  Careful packing and planning can help avoid problems, but everyone needs the good luck to avoid any unforeseen delays. 

Fortunately there was very little angst at Johannesburg airport as the teams flew in.  Most flights arrive there in in the morning, perfect timing for the 12.00 meet up to get bussed to the race, and no teams were running around frantically trying to retrieve any missing bags or bikes this time.  (The only person who had a lost bag was Aya Kubota, the Japanese photographer covering the race.) 

Some teams chose to avoid any risk of delays and get more rest by arriving a day early.  Irish team Beast of Ballyhoura/V Graph were one.  On arrival they had shown some airport workers pictures of the snow covered mountains in Ireland, telling them they were 1000m high  ... and they only found out later why the audience looked perplexed.  The runway at Johannesburg is over 1000m high!  The Haglofs Silva team arrived early too and were put up by the Silva distributor for South Africa – even finding time to give a talk to some of his clients.  Now that is efficient Swedish sponsorship in action.

Getting all the teams and their gear loaded up to move to the race start can be a stressful business too.  Normal vehicles are not designed to take the vast luggage loads of AR teams and there are often not enough seats or space.  Just in case this happened, everyone piled on to grab seats, and there was some vehicle swapping and a couple of racers who had to run for the already moving bus, but the organisers had it all in hand with plenty of vehicles and luggage trailers, and the convoy moved off with all the international teams on a comfortable coach.  (Ironically Haglofs Silva missed the bus and had to catch up by car, though to be fair the bus did leave early, something unprecedented at a big race.)

There can often be a long journey within the host country to get to the race area, and today it was a 5 hour drive to the Northern Drakensberg.  Lisa who runs South African adventure racing website and lives in Johannesburg gave some ‘tour guide’ commentary and there were a couple of relaxed stops to along the way, the second at the town of Harrismith where the previously flat, dry terrain began to turn mountainous. It had been a sleepy bus until this point with not much to look at, but the increasingly impressive views of the Drakensberg woke everyone up, maps were studied and cameras clicked as the level of excitement rose.

The bus arrived at the Orion Mont-Aux-Source Hotel as the last of the day’s sun caught the tops of the mountains and there was a warm welcome on the veranda, with drinks and an acrobatic display of local dancing and drumming to welcome the teams to Africa in style.  Some teams have self catering apartments and others rooms, all spacious and comfortable, and they know the race will start and finish right here. (The start banner was already up above the veranda steps.)  At some races teams sort out their own accommodation and are scattered about, but this time everyone is in the one place and it was a relaxed and sociable gathering as teams and racers caught up and swapped news.  The mood was helped by a superb buffet meal at the hotel (adventure racers can sometimes strip kitchens bare, but there was plenty to go around) and the knowledge that there is still a full weekend ahead to prepare for the race.

Things could not really have gone any more smoothly on arrival day and Expedition Africa 2013 is off to a great start.