Expedition Africa
Lost: One Teams Sense of Humour at Bottom of Cave
Sarah Hearn / 08.06.2015
“I want to go to sleep now” was uttered in several different languages and with varying degrees of exhaustion this morning and throughout the second day of Expedition Africa 2015.
Team Merrell Adventure Addicts rolled in ahead of Peak Performance to Transition 4 and the enforced dark zone, ordered burgers and got first choice of beds on which to lay themselves down until race restart at 06h30 Tues morning.
Night kayaking cannot be permitted down the river, which is populated with crocodiles and hippos, so the leaders get a long relaxed evening and a good sleep even before some teams pull into T3 with the caving experience and long mountain bike ahead of them.
If the canyons of the first day tested a fews fear of heights or water, the Ghobolo Caves revealed even more. After a brisk 2km hike through the forest, teams entered through a small hole, where they had to find their way, assisted only by a thin piece of string, to a snug, chimney like exit, 800m away via a labrinth of passages 9m below the surface. Often crawling, sometimes in cavernous spaces, always watched by bats and the creatures of the dark.
The cycle route took them through Swaziland's oldest nature reserve, Mlilwane Wildlife sanctuary, where plenty wildebeest and zebra roam, with an eye always on the crocs. And it sent them up. A lot. Over 3000m of undulating ascents to admire the expanse and ruggedness of plantations and hills.
Making Merrell's leading strength even more remarkable is that new team member Robyn Kime only recently took to a bike and has never cycled more than 80km in one day. In the past 30 hours she has pedaled 235km.
What is constant, at these races, is the diversity of athletic abilities displayed. Top of the world ranked teams start at the same line as a group of friends who thought, a while back, that they would give this thing a bash. The unifying element is that every entrant has a powerhouse of mental energy igniting the physical capabilities of their body. Just to contemplate the distances and suffering is too much for the average individual but these racers all have a belief in the limitlessness of their self.
Anyone involved in these events is positively affected; inspired, encouraged and left in awe. At those who win with incredibly fast times, and at those who just keep putting one foot forward. Marshals and staff are brought to tears countless times seeing participants' joy, determination and grit and the heartfelt and hardwon respect and camaraderie amongst team mates.
Team Cyanosis, strong contenders earlier on, unfortunately had to withdraw, bitterly disappointed, due to illness, and Racing Denmark lost one member due to severe cramping.
The kayak, raft and trek legs yet to come provide ample opportunities for the photographers to indulge us with more spectacular images which are loaded daily on the Kinetic facebook page and website.
Some dots are moving on Www.kineticgear.org Some are peacefully still this evening.
SleepMonsters
