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Tea and toast - the sequel

Susan McKenzie / 16.11.2005

Balance Vector had finished the bike leg and was on the third trek before the next teams made it to the midway point of the second 89-kilometre bike leg. It would be dawn before the next teams would make an appearance at CP17, the lodge at the town of Waiuta. At six am, the bikes rode into sight – eight in all. The racers poured into the hut, a mix of Swedish racers (and one Finn) from Cross Sportswear and Halti.

“We were sleeping and they caught up to us,� explained Sarah Clarke of Halti as her teammates snapped shots of each other in the TA.

“When did Balance Vector come through?� asked Cross captain Mats Andersson. When he was told they had been through more than half a day earlier he was amazed. “Do they have wing or something?�

“So how many teams have been in?� he continued. It must have been the fatigue, because Andersson was slow to realize they were second. “Not Nike? Not Merrell? Or the Kiwis? Wow.�

“That was a really hard night,� said Magnus Persson of Halti. “I think I will have to kill Geoff Hunt. And I will not be the first.�

“It is so much trekking on this race,� said Andersson. “It’s good to be on the bikes but we carried them a lot.�

“That river crossing was crazy,� said Sarah Clarke.

Halti’s Mikael Nordstrom is not only a racer, but also a race director. Next year, his race, Explore Sweden, will host the ARWC. When asked if he thinks his course will be as tough as this one, he shrugs and shakes his head. “It’s just …� he trailed off. “I don’t think so.�

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