XPD
Tales from the Transitions
XPD HQ / 18.08.2004
Goldfish (team 10) infamously known for writing Postcards to fans during their daily 6 hour lay-up, asked for the following to be put up.
‘Mail to our Legion of Fans (Trish, Jim, Peter, Wendy, Anne, Bill, Terry, Joel, Karen, Grant, Nanna, Adrian)
*Like our supporters we are very warm at night under the 4-man doona,
*All can look forward to the time when we are the only internet news because everyone else has Finished
*Strange noises from our tent at night has been renamed Symphony Under the Stars
*We ARE wiggling and waggling our tails
*The way we get excited about our mail you’d think we were posties. We ration readings to one letter per checkpoint, or distinctive feature. We like the thought of setting the team record for most mail.
*We have had some scrumptious beef casseroles (cold, reconstituted freeze-dried) but be assured, Mums, they are not quite as good as you make
*Better go now- apparently we’re been doing too much talking
Team Goldfish, over and under and on, on, on, on
TT
Singing seems a common strategy used by teams to help stay awake. One team which arrived at T/A 6 (Nellie Gaari – start of 1st kayak leg) late at night said they almost missed the turnoff into the station, at a likely cost of an additional two hours trekking, because they were so engrossed with the exercise of their vocal cords. Can you guess their song? “Lean on me.� I may also have a tip here for some of the newer teams, it is rumoured that Tom Landon-Smith and Alina Mc Master from AROC Mountain Designs often break out into a verse of Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate.
TT
A special moment at T/A 7 (Aust Inland camp). Team 4 Vero along with their pancakes were given a great surprise. One of the team had without the knowledge of his fellow team members obtained a sealed message or package from the families to be handed out at that checkpoint. Superb planning and a lovely gesture.
TT
Cardboard doonas were the fashion on Sunday night at T/A 6 (the start of the kayak legs). Kayak packaging and big cardboard boxes were recycled into thermal insulation for sleeping on. Some teams even used the boxes, with the ends cut out as doonas. Clever, but the midnight chill was not entirely beaten.
TT
Team spirit is alive and well in XPD.
Within the teams as well as between the teams we have seen again that the spirit which is a feature of these events is alive and well. It is reported that one team ran out of food on the first kayak leg, and in true racing spirit another team shared most of their food.
TT
On the second kayak leg teams had the option to take with them on the kayak one mtb (as an aid in portaging and/or backup on the trekking leg.) SG1- Starfactor on leg 10 (40km trek) had two members with really sore feet, once again in great spirit Adventure Hedonists team lent them a bike for most of the leg.
TT
Adisseo admit to having a “Barry Crocker�. Adisseo have once again put the adventure into adventure racing. Earlier in the race Adisseo team member Trent decided to have a sleep on the run (literally) with the consequences of a small cut on his forehead and a black eye. This time Adisseo have gone onto the 60-85km kayak/portage leg without a map. A few hours after leaving the transition area Adisseo were seen on the road attempting to hitchhike themselves, four packs, four paddles and two 15ft kayaks. After flagging down Gareth our camera man one of the team members said “mate we have had a bit of a Barry Crocker! Does this road go to Menindee�? After a small conversation they asked “If we paddle will we see the TA from the river�? They were last sighted having a team meeting in their kayaks on the side of the road.
SleepMonsters
