Expedition Africa

Welcome to Expedition Africa

Rob Howard / 04.05.2013

The process of getting ready to race continued to run smoothly today as the remaining South African teams registered at the Orion Mont-aux-Sources Hotel, teams began their race packing and the Opening Ceremony took place.

Those who wanted to go shopping in the nearby town of Bergville were at breakfast first and ready to set off in a couple minibuses in search of food, gas and bike parts.  Bergville was 45km away and it was a busy market town with plenty of shops, street sellers, mini malls, a wholesale market and a bus station where the local minibuses came and went rapidly. (There are people standing at every junction along the road, presumably waiting for rides.)

It was a crowded and bustling place with very long queues at all the banks and money markets, heaps of clothing and bags of vegetables piled on the street, and women in brightly coloured dresses carrying goods in every direction. After the airport and hotel, it was a chance to for those who had taken the trip to encounter rural South Africa for the first time and there were smiles and a friendly welcome at every turn.

The food shopping in the supermarket was easy enough but bike parts and gas took a bit of searching out. (Although there are people walking everywhere along the road and in the fields I’ve not seen anyone on a bicycle.)  In the end everyone had their chores done and it was time to head back to the hotel for the afternoon’s opening ceremony, which was held in the conference room.

This was amazingly well prepared for the arrival of the teams, with each table set out with lots of products from the race sponsors and an orange and white race bib set out over each chair ready for the teams to put on.  (The rules say they have to be worn from now on.)  There were short and very genuine welcomes from the Drakensberg Experience tourism group, and the Orion Hotel Group, and both have been a huge help to the race coming here. Then the Race Directors Heidi and Stephan introduced everyone, with each team coming up to the front to say a little about themselves and to have their team photo taken.

This was a good chance to get a glimpse of the relationships and rivalries among the South African teams, most of which have supported the previous two Expedition Africa races.  There were quite a few family members in among the teams (though not always on the same team), a couple of well known South African Race Directors were competing, and there were several teams who said they were vying to come in last and finishing was all that mattered.  

Team Bad Medicine said,, “We are made up of the remains of two teams, we took the worst half of both but are getting quite at this adventure racing game so we might even finish this one!  We want our full money’s worth, all 133 hours of racing!”  There was a great sense of humour among the local teams and it seemed every South African racer had a nickname.

There was a wide range of ages and experience, from Expedition race novices on their first major race, to old hands at the sport. Bruno Rey who races with the SXM team said he had raced the Raid Gauloises in this area in 1996, and Karen Lundgren, who has joined Tecnu this year, refused to own up to how long she has been racing, just saying, “a very long time.”

As they came up each team got their race book, which gives all the relevant race information and the course details, though the first maps will not be given out until tomorrow. This was gone through very clearly and concisely by Stephan, who has a no-nonsense, straight to the point approach, expects everything to happen on time and the teams to look after themselves with no ‘babysitting’ by his organisation.  He made it clear they are responsible for themselves. “I’m not going to ask you to show me your tent and get in it, but if you get stuck on the mountain and it is not adequate it’s your problem,” he said.  Equally there will be no staff clipping teams into ropes and checking their climbing setup.

The race uses boards with letters on to mark CP’s and each team carries their own race passport and punch – because if punches or electronic equipment was left out it would soon disappear.  Teams were shown what to look for and told there is no out-of-bounds on this race (something I’m not sure I’ve ever heard said before at a briefing), although in a small area of National Park teams must use the marked paths.

The race has clearly made great efforts to ensure visiting teams are not at a disadvantage during the race.  Teams will be given all the available maps of the area, so everyone has the same, and the race has marked some well known but unmapped trails on the maps they will give out, so visitors are not at a disadvantage. Something else which was said more than once by Stephan was “an expedition race goes forward”.  The exact route won’t be given out just yet, but he’s clearly not one for complex courses with loops or backtracking, preferring his race to be a point to point journey.   

There are no short course or adventure options either, it’s a course you either finish or you don’t and Stephan pointed out that teams who pull out will not be allowed back to the hotel until the race closes, unless they have stopped for a medical reason. “If you have just had enough and don’t want to go on, I am not having you back here relaxing while the other teams keep going,” he said.  “We won’t bring you back here, so you’ll have to stay out at transitions until we can get you after the race.”

It’s going to be a good, old-fashioned expedition race.