WCAD 3 High Noon will be remembered as a race that took place in some of the most testing weather conditions imaginable. There was snow, hail, wind and 100mm of rain!
The race took place in the secret Kaaimansgat valley, just outside Villiersdorp with the start and finish at the Bishops Outdoor Education center on High Noon farm. The venue was fantastic and allowed everyone to stay indoors, huddled around fires before and after the race. Lots of people also chose to make a weekend of it and stayed upstairs in the massive bunk room.
The race started at 8am with a short 3-4km micro-navigation trekking leg. Teams literally ran off the start line in every which direction and spent the next hour or so collecting 3 check points in whichever order they pleased.
Competitors soon realized that trying to keep their feet dry was going to be an extremely futile exercise and most teams quickly embraced the conditions and went into full “adventure mode”. The micro-nav split the field up nicely before they hopped onto their mountain bikes and made their way towards Elandskloof Dam.
The mtb leg to the dam was short but included a couple fairly tricky CP’s that split up the field further. Teams soon realized that the route choice was not nearly as straight forward as it appeared on the map and those who chose the longer way round via tar road to CP 5 probably ended up shaving 15-20 minutes off their first mtb leg.
Once at the dam, competitors could chose to do the paddle or trekking leg first as both were loops that came back to the same transition. The paddle leg first required teams to carry their boats 300m down to the water’s edge before paddling to the opposite end of the long, narrow, snakey dam and back.
The return paddle was into a freezing wind and most people could hardly feel their hands by the time they finished the 5km paddle. It is not every day that you get to paddle through snow covered mountains and teams were generally flabbergasted by the beautiful surrounds, despite the ever increasing discomfort. One team was obviously so distracted by the views that they managed to paddle into a tree and sink their boat… never to be found again!
The trekking leg took teams up into a beautiful kloof and long course teams had some extra work to do with an outlying CP which afforded a closer look at the snow covered peaks. Streams had become massive rivers by this stage and the rivers were raging torrents. Nevertheless, teams trudged through this leg with amazing tenacity before returning to transition and beginning a tough mtb leg.
The final mtb leg circumnavigated the valley and wiser route decisions often required teams to lose altitude in order to traverse faster. The highlight of this leg was visiting a massive waterfall which was on steroids after about 40mm of rain up until that point. Short course teams then kept to the lower slopes as they made their way around the valley but long course teams had to endure a great deal of hiker-biking and terrible roads in return for their infinitely more beautiful course.
The end of the race became a game of survival for most but this only made the glory of crossing the finish line that much sweeter! We were amazed that more than half of those who started the race, managed to stick it out to the finish. This is what AR is all about. The courses are designed to test you. The weather is all part of it and this time round the weather took the challenge to a whole new level! Well done to everyone who was even brave enough to pitch up and special congrats to all those who finished this grueling race! It certainly was an adventure!
Full results, pictures and the race video can be found on the website, www.wcad.co.za
A big thank you to our series sponsors, Cape Storm, Bridgedale, Karrimor, Glider Sunglasses and Totally Wild for their continued support of the WCAD Series.
See you in Paarl on 27 July 2013 for WCAD 4! Entries open on 14 June 2013.
Visit the WCAD Facebook page for photos from this race.
Author: Chris Fisher (Race Director), Photos by: Christopher Combrink
A wet and wild race in the Fair Cape. Sounds like an event that the late Paul Mitchell aka “the rain god” would have organised. Participation must have been EPIC.