---

It’s a beautiful day for adventure racing

René Taljaard; Photo: Wouter Kingma / 11.08.2008

Monday, 11 AM: USN is still in the lead, with uge.cyanosis and Bjurfors Adventure Racing hot on their heels. These teams have already passed the next transition area at Clifton Grange Lodge just outside Komga (where they swapped their bikes for hiking shoes), and they are currently making their way along the 45 km hiking trail to the transition area at Mpotshane Lodge.

This leg includes a checkpoint at the infamous “Moordenaars Kop� (Murderer’s Head) – a spectacular lookout point over deep valleys where endless grasslands stretch to the horizon and time seems to stop. Its name refers to an incident when a group of British soldiers jumped off the mountain and plummeted to their deaths in an attempt to escape an advancing Xhosa army.

A little further along, at a checkpoint close to the Kei River Bridge, teams will test their jumaring skills at the Gorge. According to www.sportstrack.net, team USN is there at the moment. Once they arrive at the Mpotshane Lodge transition area, teams will exchange their hiking shoes for their mountain bikes once again, and set out on the Bull’s longest cycling stretch – a 93 km ride to Mazepa Bay in the Eastern Cape's Wild Coast region.

A total of ten teams have completed the 40 km paddling leg on Wriggleswade Dam, and set out on the 50 km mountain bike ride to Clifton Grange Lodge. At checkpoint 16 along the way between these two points, teams are required to write down a quote from famous apartheid freedom fighter, Steve Biko, to prove that they were there: “It is better to die for an idea that lives rather than to live for an idea that is dead.�

Further developments include the withdrawal of two athletes – Eric Sullivan from American/South African team Feed the Machine, who has a knee injury, and Ian Evans from Kreature.co.za, who has an ear infection. Both teams have decided to continue with the race, even though they will no longer be able to achieve an official rank once they cross the finish line.

“I am very disappointed, this is the first time I’ve ever quit a race,� explained Sullivan, “But I have another race in China in two weeks’ time and I just can’t afford any further damage to my knee.�

Today really is a perfect day for adventure racing; out here the days are as bright and agreeable as the nights are cold and harsh. Generally speaking, the athletes are tired, but loving the experience. A quote from Toppie en die Laaities’ Roland Pearce pretty much sums it up: “I’m having a jol� – colloquial speak for “a really, really good time.�

See All Stories On This Race