Having had a couple of days to reflect on this AR here goes with our report...

Our all-ladies team was very excited about this race as we would be racing as our official team for The Bull later this year. Kelly flew out from Australia especially to be here and 2 seconds flew up from Cape Town to share this racing experience with us. After fighting the torrential downpour we finally arrived at Riders Ranch, eager to get our maps so we could start plotting our routes. We were faced with compulsory points (CP's) that we had to get to stay official as well as a multitude of optional points (OP's) which we pretty much decided we would be leaving out from the beginning if we had any hope of meeting the cut-offs for each stage.

Our super seconds set to work setting up camp while Tam and I (the 2 navigators) stuck maps together and chatted routes and strategy. After a few hours sleep we got going on the first hike at 5am on Friday morning amid a mass of headtorch beams. Not a great start as we took a bit of a round about route to CP1, but it seemed like most other teams did as well. This would be 1 of the only legs where we picked up a couple of OP's as they were basically on our route anyway.

We were treated to the first of 3 beautiful sunrises and were soon swimming madly through the raging brown Lusutfu River and making our way through a very manicured golf course to T1. We also collected CP2, CP3, CP4 and CP 5 on this leg. Our seconds had dropped our bikes off here so after a quick change we set off on the mtb ride, collecting another 2 OP's on the way. Soon enough we met our seconds at a very rocky soccer field at T2 where piles of stones were neatly packed around the perimeter of the field. (Darron had made a deal with the local community that he would hold a competition amoung the seconds to see who could collect the most stones to help them clear up their soccer field a bit).

We did a quick change of kit and headed off on the next hike, which soon turned into a whole lot more effort than planned. We stayed on the road too long instead of cutting across the valley and in so doing added about an hour and unnecessary climbing to our route. Then we hit CP 6 and the boulder avenue and fought our way over car-sized boulders enroute to the first FP (a compulsory floating point which indicated a specific route to be taken). After the FP we got onto a path next to the river so the going was much faster. We clipped CP7 and CP 8 at the homestead and did a steep climb up to T3 on top of a mountain.

What a treat to be able to experience such beautiful views. At this stage we already realized we wouldn't make the 6pm cut-off at the end of the next hike and bike but got a quick refill and kept going on our next hike. The area was so green and the locals very friendly- we were treated to lush green valleys and even got introduced to one homestead's pet pig "Pinky".

Down into the next valley and we clipped CP9 at the cottage while the locals had a very loud game of soccer going on! They were only too happy to pose for a quick photo before we headed up the road and looked out for our turn down to the kloof. The kloofing leg had earlier been cancelled due to high water levels, but we caught a glimpse of the kloof and were very glad we weren't heading in there. Alex was the marshal at CP10 and was waiting patiently for all the teams. We pushed it out of there as it would soon be getting dark and managed the climb out of the valley up onto the saddle just as the last light faded. At least we were able to catch a glimpse of where we were heading and check our maps while some coughing cows kept a close eye on us.

Now completely dark we watched as headtorches seem to weave all over the hillside. We found a good route straight across a valley to a nice road on the other side which lead us straight into T4. Mark and Cheryl were the welcoming marshals here and chatted to us as our super seconds fed us and gave us updates of what was happening in the race further up front. It was now quite clear that we would not make the 10pm leaving time from T6 either as we still had a 16km mtb and 5km hike ahead.

Our seconds for this race were Pam, Michelle and Valerie and they were just great. Yummy sarmies, warm meals and lots of smiles and encouragement kept us all in good spirits as we headed out at 8pm from T4. The mtb leg was quite muddy and we made an error after CP11 which wasted some time and after climbing a hideous hill and flying down a fantastic 7km downhill we went wrong right at the end of the leg at the dam. We had just come past a huge crowd of Zionist Churchgoers finishing a session and this crowd of about 50 people stared at us as we quickly rode past.

Not really spotting the dam in the dark we did a bit of a detour before backtracking and finding the marshal up on the very muddy road. By this time it was around midnight and we weren't sure if we would make it in the next morning by 6am if we did the next hike so our seconds drove us the next bit to T6. This also meant that we could start again at 6am and not be short-coursed throughout the next day- although we were now racing unofficially having being transported to T6 as well as missing "The Bull" night hike.

After grabbing some food we eventually got about 3 hours sleep on a cold classroom floor. Day 2 dawned with bodies sprawled all over the place. Some Pro teams were getting back from the night hike which we were disappointed to not have got a chance to do from a night navigation experience point of view, but we felt good and were soon flying down super downhills. An aspect of this format of the race that we really enjoyed was that we got to cross paths with the top teams all through the race as they did extra distance picking up OP's along the way. Very quickly we had clipped CP 16 and done the 12km downhill, passing weary-looking teams returning from the night hike on the way.

From T7 we left our bikes for our seconds and headed off for the hike and ropework section. From the start of the hike we spotted where the ropeworks would be taking place and got very excited for what lay in store. We crossed another wide fast-flowing river before climbing 400m up to a koppie where we searched for 45mins before another team phoned Darron who said the point was marked on the wrong koppie on the map. A bit frustrated we headed across to the ropes and clipped CP 17 before tackling the fantastic ropes section where all the points were OP's but we decided we couldn't pass up such a awesome section and it was good prep for The Bull.

The teamwork activity involved getting across a crevasse of sorts and was quite nerve-racking. Tamryn got to go first and as we lifted and pushed her across she was comforted by Darron who jumped out the way and said "I'm not here to help, I'm just taking photos of you". As Tam slid down the rock we managed to push her up again and the rest of us got across a bit easier. Next was an awesome traverse which we did 2 at a time. Gustav double checked we were all clipped in before we slid across the great divide, the earth falling away beneath us! We landed on a rock pinnacle where we quickly clipped in and did the +-40m abseil. Team Kreature.co.za were up there with us, thanks for the help and photos - they came out brilliantly!

Then it was my turn to ascend the rope on the other side of the pinnacle. Quite hard work, but the views of the Mkhondvo River below were fantastic. Back on top of the pinnacle I was entertained by Thursia from Team Hawkstone as she screamed her way down the traverse with Clint. Bonus that I got to abseil off the pinnacle again. We got all our stuff together and set off for T8. Although this section took long we thought the experience definitely worth it. We found a good path and made good time but were then stumped with trying to find FP 3 below T8 in the kloof. In our attempt to find it Tam had a scary slip, nearly taking a big fall while her hiking pole bounced down the rocks and over a waterfall- luckily we caught her by her backpack and she didn't suffer the same fate as her hiking pole.

It was good to see our seconds who had been looking at the ropeworks point with binocs all day. We moved quite slow in this transition but had good food and drinks before setting off on our spotless bikes for a 25km mtb leg. Our super seconds had very kindly taken our bikes through the car wash (the attendant was very confused and not sure what to charge for bikesJ) and it was a relief to not have slipping gears. Not far into the ride we did a river crossing with our bikes at CP 18 and soon after the darkness set in. We made a slight error but corrected pretty quickly and slogged our way towards CP 19 as Team Boerewors kept us company for a short while. We could see the flashing light of CP 19 from far away and on climbing the last hill thought we were approaching a shebeen.

Marshals Cheryl and Mark had some very happy spectators for company and Mark had put up the team rankings for us to see so we spent a few minutes checking out the progress of the teams in front of us- it was interesting to read, thanks Mark!

We flew down the next hills as fast as our fast-fading breaks could carry us and soon arrived at T9 at 10:05 pm. Here we chatted to Darron, Lisa and Anita and although technically we could have left immediately on the next legs we knew we would never make the 6am cut off the next morning. Again disappointed in missing good night time navigation experience we got moved to T12 and put up the gazebo in the freezing wind. (T10 and T11 were bike drop offs and pick-ups during the night legs).

We got about 4 hrs sleep and woke surrounded by mist and some tired looking teams. Our choice from the night before was reinforced as we chatted to Kinetic USN and Kreature.co.za who had left T9 the night before at 7pm and got into T12 just after 5am. We left on the final bike leg of the day at about 6:30am, initially keen to do the rafting. The views descending down into the valley were just stunning and we stopped for numerous photo stops and to enjoy the view. We clipped CP23 and CP24 and it was only as we were making our way along the road to the rafting that we remembered that they were closing this section at 8am, glancing at our watches as we rode in it was 8:10am we realized we had missed the opportunity to raft, which in the end was better as we would have run out of time for the 11am cut-off.

We saw Uge.Cyanosis as they got back from the rafting with stories of John Collins having been caught in the swirling pool below the waterfall. It sounded scary and hoped he was ok. Soon we were back on the road and heading for the widest river crossing of the race. With bikes on our backs we crossed the Lusutfu River as Uge.Cyanosis, Kinetic USN, Salomon Pro, Olympus, Siyeza and more teams also crossed. Darron was there taking photos and the film crew was following closely behind. With about 1.5hrs to go till the cut off the excitement was tangible and it really was fun to be in between so many other teams. We made the dash up to the last CP25 and then back down to the railway and realised we had 1 hour to do the final 14km mtb ride.

Luckily service roads next to railway lines are great to ride on and we picked up the pace and made our way towards Sidvokodvo Village. One error getting on the wrong side of the railway line at the station was quickly corrected and having a few minutes we clipped OP56 in town just for fun. We saw Uge.Cyanosis and McCains Addicts racing to get 1 or 2 more points and turned onto the tar as Salomon Pro flew past us. We crossed the bustling finish line with about 3 mins to spare, what a stunning race! We all hung around waiting to see if Cyanosis would make it and they snuck in with about a minute to spare, securing their victory with 1 extra point! Well done.

To Darron, Lisa, Anita and all the wonderful marshals and support crew, thanks for a super race, we learnt a lot and had such fun along the way. What a beautiful part of Swaziland to be priviledged enough to race through!

To Kel, D and Tam, thanks for a good, fun race. Sometimes as 4 ladies we would approach groups of men in the dark hours with a bit of apprehension but we never had a problem, except for one over-eager onlooker getting a bit close to KelJ To Pam, Harvey and Val, thanks for the super seconding- you 3 were fantastic and we really appreciate your help and support.

Team Dew Point would like to thank the following sponsors and supporters who have committed to our dream of being the only SA all-ladies team racing The Bull of Africa and raising funds for Masimanyane Women's Support Centre in East London. Shape Magazine, Kreature.co.za, Whasp Energy Gels, Salomon Footwear, First Ascent and we happily welcome Jockey on board as a product sponsor as well.

For further information on our quest to help the women of the Eastern Cape please visit our blog www.teamdewpoint.blogspot.com and any donations towards our cause would be greatly appreciated. Masimanyane is a registered Public Benefit Organisation and therefore all donations qualify for tax refunds. The following bank account has been opened solely for collecting funds for Masimanyane who is an organization that aims to stop violence and abuse against women, offers counselling and support services to these women and educates about gender equality.

Name: Team Dew Point
Bank: Standard Bank
account #: 027195368
branch code: 018105
Ref: Your full name
Type: Enterprise Savings Account

Lauren Greeff«