Chasing Seagate

Rob Howard / 12.11.2016

The two teams who followed Seagate into the Nerriga transition were having a tough time.  Columbia Vidaraid arrived in second place with Barbara Bomfim walking very gingerly on extremely sore feet – you could see every step was just about too painful to bear.

The end of the previous mountain stage was 8km along stony roads in temperatures in the high 20’s and it was the last thing the footsore athletes needed.  There was some compensation at the end though as the pub were cooking sausage sandwiches and Jon Anber Arambalza was quite to go and buy a plate full and a few colds beers to ease the team’s thirst.

The were hustling through transition, wanting to get out before the third team arrived, and confirmed they’d not had any sleep so far in the race.  They had pushed through the previous day from 17th to 2nd place, and Arambalza said, “It wasn’t a plan really, but it’s not a surprise as we’ve done it before. We are not the strongest paddlers so had some catching up to do.”

Adventure Medical Kits were next to arrive and upped the ante when it came to racers in pain.  Kyle Peter lead them in, and as he passed me said just one word.  “Ouch.”  Rob Preston looked grim and Mari Chandler was looking after a very sore footed Erik Sanders. He was carrying his shoes and very gingerly treading his way through the grass at the roadside – every step a hesitant and painful one.

Once in transition he still seemed quite bright and positive, no doubt feeling better just to get off his feet. “It’s just sore from walking on wet feet,” he said, “and I really need to sit here for an hour and dry them out in the sun. But that isn’t going to happen.

“I’ve had it before, but this is just much worse, and much more painful.  It’s like torture really.”

Asked if he felt the team could still push on and catch Seagate he replied, “Yes, anything can happen and there is a lot of racing still to be done.  There is a lot of course still out there.”

The team did gain a place quite quickly, moving into second as Columbia Vidaraid had to stop on the ride to Bungonia and sleep at the road side.  They were just too tired to safely ride on. 

Seagate were almost a full stage ahead at this time and had arrived in the Bungonia National Park for the caving stage. The marshal there briefed them and showed them 5 different caving maps, each with a CP marked in it. She was very impressed how carefully they studied the maps (taking about 20 minutes at the check-in table) and how clearly they grasped the stage.  She also said 3 of caves have some very tight squeezes in them ...  I’ll tell you more about the caving tomorrow when more teams are at this stage.

Among the other chasing teams Shotz Sports Nutrition have pushed up into 4th, but former World Champions Thule Adventure pulled out this evening. The reason is not clear though Martin Flinta had an injury and the team had a difficult day getting lost at the end of the mountain trek. 

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