WCAD 80km, Ceres

The beautiful Ceres Valleywas the setting for the 3^rd and final leg of the 2011 Western Cape Adventure (WCAD) Series which took place on 12 November. This 80km race was advertised as being slightly more manageable than the Leg 1 and 2 in an effort to attract more novices and it had the desired effect with about half the field ready to embark on their maiden adventure racing experience.

30 teams of two lined up for the 4h45 am start at Fairfield Cottages and set off on the 8km Micro-Navigation leg  first-up. Teams had to use a 1:10 000 aerial photograph to find their way to 9 Check Points (CP’s) on the farm just as the first rays of sunlight struck the orchards. Most teams made fairly easy work of this and were back where they started about an hour later.

From there the pairs hopped onto their bikes and made their way towards Ceres town and up to Ceres Zipslide Adventures where they zipped through a gorge on the first 3 slides totaling about 450m of gravity fueled fun! The professional set-up and experienced guides managed to get competitors through safely and in high spirits for the day to follow.

Teams then meandered through the farmlands along the bottom of the Skurweberg Mountains towards Eselfontein all the while keeping a close eye on their navigation in an effort to pick the quickest route through the maze of orchards and farm roads. The main transition for the day was situated at the picturesque Eselfontein dam and came after about 30km of mountain biking. Here teams had access to their race crates and refueled their bodies before heading up the mountain via a beautiful kloof (if they opted) in search of an illusive Protea bush bearing the CP that would turn out to be the bain of most team’s navigational efforts. The trekking leg was roughly 7km and brought teams full circle back to the dam for a quick dip before continuing on the bike.

Eselfontein farm boasts some of the best singletrack around and riders got a taste of this before starting the hard slog home into the wind, through the rolling farmlands. Once back on Fairfield Farm, they headed straight for the main dam and a 30min kayak loop was all that stood between them and the home straight.

The fastest time of the day was posted by Team WCAD Racing, consisting of Evan Price and Quintin Smith who blitzed around the course in 7h16min. The winners of the mixed category and overall series winners were Paul Hatfield and Robyn Ferrar of The Way Across who took exactly 8hrs. For the full set of results visit www.wcad.co.za or visit our facebook page (and ‘Like’ us while you are there)

Thanks to all those who attended and made it a special day of adventure. Special thanks to our sponsors and all the helpers for your hard work and Ceres Zipslide Adventures for accommodating us. We have 5 races scheduled for 2012 and look forward to seeing you at the first one on 4 February 2012.

Author: Chris Fisher (race director) |  WCAD Series 80km Adventure Race, Ceres, 12 November 2011