Team DAD Race Report - By: Marias Dekker
TEAM DAD FINISHES FIRST WITH BROKEN FRAME
I was so excited about the Red Ants’ sprint race when I first heard about it, that I immediately decided to take part. I was at the previous race at Nkwe as a spectator and knew I had to return as a competitor. It looked like everyone had so much fun. My training partner, Rynard van Hoven, and I decided to take on the male team category challenge. When we got there we assembled our bikes and everything still seemed hunky dorey, I even went for a little warm-up ride. As the race’s start came closer, we got on our bikes and headed for the start line. I realized that my rear wheel is touching against the inside of my chainstay. As I bent over my bike to double check if my skewer was tight, I saw the broken chainstay on the driveside of my frame. With five minutes to race start, I decided to improvise with an iron file and some faithful cable ties, almost like a broken arm. The circus had to go on.
At the beginning of the race I the resistance of the tyre against the frame (due to lateral flex) was so hectic that we dropped out of the leading bunch almost immediately. I shifted to the big chainring and found it to reduce the flex on the stays significantly, but it was still there. We started catching up and eventually passed the front team. With Rynard’s help, we made a gap between ourselves and the second team. The gap seemed to grow steadily. I was too afraid to look behind me, because I feared the picture of us being caught. I had to pedal with all my power to keep the bike going. Luckily the course was not too technical, nor the climbs too steap, so we could maintain a constant rhythm.
Eventually we got on to the cross country running leg. It was fun from the word go, with bundu bashing, river crossings and dodgy tree stumps to balance over rivers. Although balancing over thin bridges might not be the most difficult task in the world, it becomes more difficult when your heart is beating 170bps and your blood sugar is well below normal. Add to that the stress of a team on your heals desiring your place on the podium and the reality of icy cold water flowing peacefully beneath you, then it’s something else. Luckily it went rather smooth, but not without getting wet with that icy water mentioned earlier. In fact, apart from about three other water crossings, we had to SWIM along approximately 300m of river. The only thing that made me feel better, was the fact that someone was there before me to put the bunting tape in the trees.
The race ended with a a second mountain bike section through quad bike track, which was a highlight for all, with winds and turns that would make one crazy. Luckily in adventure racing crazy is cool, so everyone smiled. We finished first, with the second team not far behind us. My first adventure race ended up to be a bit of a different experience than I anticipated – ironically, not because of the distance, the course or the weather, but because I had to do it on a broken frame. The whole course was well marked and offered lots of variety. It was well balanced, with nothing overdone (not even the cold water) and ultimatley an awesome race. Thank you to the organizors, the sponsors, Pro Act ventures and Prestige college for all their efforts to make it possible. Congratulations also to all enthusiastic finishers!
Groete,
Marais Dekker
Ride. Love. Leave a legacy.