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Dynamic Adventures in Croatia

Jonathan Mayne (Dynamic Adventure) / 08.10.2003

Under close direction from Nicky, Mark and Johnny carefully lifted Simon from the kayak, and Dynamic Adventure crossed the finish line of Terra Incognita 2003 in 5th place. Under the glare of the cameras, the team put their arms around each others shoulders in a huddle, enjoying the satisfaction of the moment and basking in the glory that they had finished Europe’s toughest adventure race with only 6 hours sleep in just over 4 days of non stop racing.

The adventure had begun 4 days earlier in the Croatian Ski Resort of Bjelolasica. The 2 hour bus journey to the start proved to be quite taxing for Dynamic Adventure with the navigator Mark being unable to contain his excitement and having to balance precariously in the stair well of the coach as he tried to pee into a empty water bottle – trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle is the expression that springs to mind! This was all too much for Nicky who promptly vomited into her rucksack! All of this caused much amusement to the other competitors who were looking far more relaxed about the next 4 days than we were!

With Marks damp shorts slowly drying and Nicky wiping her breakfast off her chin we congregated on the start line with the other 27 teams. After several months of preparation, the whistle blew and we began the first stage of our Croatian adventure!

The first stage was a healthy yomp to the top of the ski resort, a total of 800 metres of ascent, followed by a fast tracked, downhill section and then onto the bikes for a 50 km bike ride to the town of Senj where we’d jump in the kayaks.

As the teams snaked their way up the hill, it was not long before one of the Dynamic Adventure team had their first tantrum! With Mark, Nicky and Simon enjoying the healthy pace at the start – Johnny ‘slow but steady’ Mayne, dropped further and further behind his team mates and upon reaching the summit threw all his toys out of the pram! Needless to say he received no sympathy, was laughed at by his team mates, nicknamed the snail and clipped into a tow rope for the rest of the section! It was going to be a very, very long 4 days he thought!!

The bike ride was a beauty, through the forests lining the Croatian mountains and we were then spat out onto a phenomenal downhill section which took us from 1000 metres to see level in under an hour. Thanks to seamless navigation from Mark we picked off quite a few teams on the bike ride and turned up to the first transition in 12th place – not bad considering the vomiting, damp shorts and tantrum!

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