Southern Traverse
Impressions of Southern Traverse
Gary Tompsett / 16.11.2004
There was great detail in Geoff\'s fly through introduction to the course, giving many tips and lots of \'strong advice\' about certain choices. The questions didn\'t pose much difficulty for Geoff and his crew, as some of the competitors looked to cut corners on kit (hope they didn\'t).
The weather forecast was shown as satellite pictures, and there were gasps in the audience, but no modifications were made to the course prior to the start. Hope they don\'t regret that.
I spoke to Nicky Davies at the start, who is racing with local team Greymouth Seaside Top 10 Holiday Park (some team name!), and looks like they are doing well. She was pretty chilled and smiley, and said that the course looked just like any other rough vegetation bash at Southern Traverse. Is it really like any other? There is a guy on her team whose wife is expecting RIGHT now and he only wants to hear from her. News to look for out for.
Sam Dring and her Microsoft team looked nervous, but sure that they could make the cut-offs and had planned in great detail especially as Geoff gives estimates of slowest and fastest times.
Their support is Tim Leggett wife and Lee who is their \'personal trainer\' at Microsoft. Serious, friendly, and switched on support I think. They had huge binos and kept on looking from TA2 but the team didn’t come in. I wasn’t so sure of USA support as their guys seemed more interested in making a movie ... a short movie.
I also spoke to Lundhags (who I met at the Stockholm City Challenge), now with the addition of Michael Nordstrom. I reminded the girl of her dodgems driving at that event. They were all laughs and smiles at that - a happy team, chilled but focused. But Michael looked anxious, and was seen being towed on the bike. They\'re all very, very good, and have obviously adapted quickly to navigating in the bush.
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