Darkzone Adventure Race
By: Ryan Hodierne

With two of our members unavailable for the race, it was up to Brian and I to do the honours for the team, in the Hikers Paradise Dark Zone Adventure Challenge. Nicky and Gerrard were in Natal for the Sani2C MTB race where they did very well in the mixed team category and Gert opted to take part in the race accompanied by his wife.

The morning of Saturday 4 March saw, much to our disappointment, cold and windy weather. After an interesting drive to the race venue, we set up camp at the Buffalo Gorge camp site in the afternoon then made our way to the start which was approximately 20km from the camp/transition site. Despite the howling wind and cold there was a good turnout of teams all looking pretty miserable due to the weather conditions, for which no one was really prepared. .

The start.
Maps were issued a few hours before the scheduled start at 19:30! The route looked challenging with a few exciting legs included. After race briefing, the start was signalled, and all teams were first required to pitch their shelters before leaving on the first MTB leg, inflated tubes and all. Brian and I got off to a good start, holding 2nd place on our way out against the wind to CP1. .

Time for a swim.
At CP1 also Way Point 1, a dam, we were confronted with a swim leg where the tubes eventually served a purpose, as we had to use the tubes to get across to CP2 on the opposite bank. And then diagonally back on across the dam to CP3, where Brian decided to play soccer with a boulder and unfortunately came off second. Ouch! .

Hiking leg #1.
It was then on with the takkies and backpacks, and off to find CP4 located at a really interesting lodge area called Klipdrift Camp, where we were met with disbelief by some of the visitors wondering what we were up to at that time of night.
We then followed a river to CP5, which took us longer than it should have and a number of teams caught up to us at this stage. Realising we had made a mistake, we put the pressure on and pushed hard to CP6, positioned at a windmill, the one Gert had difficulty finding!? We then had to find our way back to the dam, making our way through wetland and countless Maize fields, to where we had left our bikes.

The Miserable portage
The next short stretch to CP7 was one neither of us were looking forward to, as we had to portage our bikes and backpacks across the very choppy dam, floating them across on our trusty "little" tubes, (one of the most miserable experiences I have ever had in the water) once again fighting the wind and waves. We very wisely abandoned our tubes at the end of this stretch, as a slow mountain bike route followed on very sandy roads, with a strong head wind.

Mountain bike leg #2
CP8 was conveniently located on route which was followed by Way Point 2 and on to a somewhat tricky circular MTB leg over rough, muddy terrain to CP9-10-11, where I spent the majority of the time going over the handle-bars, due to some cleverly concealed warthog burrows.
Eventually we were on our way to CP Sierra ("central transition") where we checked-in approximately 1hr 5min behind team Cyanosis, who were flying through the course.

The Final hike
After a quick bite to eat and a t-shirt change, we set off on the final hiking leg to find CP12, which was in the vicinity of a camp site on one of the hiking trails over the mountain behind the camp site. Having found it, we then stumbled down to begin our search for CP13… an expedition in its own right!
What should have taken 30min, ended up taking us more than 2hrs, as we looked for the CP which we were convinced was not there. It finally turned out to be much higher up the hillside.
Things weren't looking so good for us at this stage as Brian had managed to twist his ankle badly, and the cold weather was starting to take it's toll on us. By now, Team Sterling Light Lager had managed to bridge the 1hr 30min gap we had made on them, and effortlessly sped up the fence line along which CP 13 was described to be on, and found it, much to Brian and my amazement. We were quick to follow, and headed off after them on the way to CP14 & 15.

CP15 marked the location of one of the best abseils around, where we met up with Sterling Light Lager and overtook them for good. A light misty spray cooled you as you descended the cliff face into the dark unknown, until eventually you were met by some of the friendly helpers from Gravity Training who assisted us off the abseil.
From the abseil, we opted for a risky descent to the river below; Brian was in excruciating pain by this stage as we pushed hard to make the 12hr cut-off. A fun river crossing led us to a hidden CP16, from where we headed to CP17, a good distance away.

Next stop…HOME!
The final stretch to CP18 was over very technical terrain, and not much time could be made up as we were forced to walk, careful of every step as the small thorny bushes were out for revenge, cutting our shins to shreds. We headed up toward the saddle between two peaks, which never seemed to get any closer, but once at the top, Brian took another tumble, further injuring his ankle.
Reduced now to slow limping speed, we maintained our ground and caught site of CP18 only a few hundred metres from the finish. By this time it was day-light, a long, cold night out was over.
We finished 1hr 10min behind team Cyanosis, and ended up the winning pair in second place overall. Cyanosis had a winning time of 10hr 15min This really was a tough race!

Out of the 40 or so teams who entered the race, only 24 managed to reach the finish line. However, only 4 teams actually completed the entire route, 3 within the cut-off of 12hrs. The other 20 teams were instructed to follow a shorter course in fear of them not finishing in time.
Fun was had by all, as the prize giving saw smiles all-round. Well done Cyanosis!

Thanks for another great event!!

Thanks
Our thanks must go out to our sponsors, Sandown Mitsubishi, for all their support, without which we wouldn't be able to compete and enjoy all the great races out there, and to USN for the supplements they provide, which keeps us going! Thank You guys!
We would also like to thank Kiewiet, one of the seconds from team Bells & Castles for assisting us in driving our vehicle back to the central transition area and allowing us to make a smooth transition.