Dewpoint reached at Double Moon

Pushing out of Joburg on Thursday 10th March, heading for Bethlehem for Kinetic’s Double Moon 250km AR, Team Dewpoint (Kevin Rodwell, Mark Goulding, Lauren Goulding and Gerrit Prinsloo) was very excited about the opportunity to have a kind of ‘dry run’ for Expedition Africa in terms of the unsupported nature of the race and to judge fitness levels and test out some different foods. I think many teams had the same idea and it was a good solid test!

If you have never done a Kinetic-organised adventure race of some kind than you are missing out. Stephan and Heidi and their crew have set a new precedent for unsupported AR’s, no stone is left unturned. Each team of 4 was provided with 2 x 4-man tents and mattresses (with a chocolate on the mattress), all already set-up and waiting on arrival at Barbersbaai campsite on a game farm outside Bethlehem. The massive white marquee was pumping music and we couldn’t believe the fantastic Salomon jacket we received in our goodie bags. Each team was also supplied with 2 x 160 litre race crates ready for packing. After being welcomed and listening to briefing we knew we were in for a super race. Of the 250km, the rough breakdown of disciplines was 185km mtb, 40km trekking and 25km paddling with slight adjustments as the race went on. After copying CP’s, preparing maps, packing race crates and getting bikes ready we went to sleep for about 4 hours. 

Up at 4am on Friday morning we did last minute prepping and had something to eat before lining up with all the other teams. The first leg was a 14km orienteering leg on the game farm where the OP points could be collected in any order. Mark set the standard for great navigation for the race on this leg with a good route choice and we set off at 5am towards the highest point first. We spotted lots of game on this leg Black wildebeest, Impala, Waterbuck, Blesbok, Eland and lots and lots of evidence of porcupines- the sunrise was beautiful and soon after we were back at the campsite for our orienteering paddle. This was a short 5km paddle on the farm dam to collect 4 OP points in any order. 

The next leg was the first big mtb leg of the race, a 65km leg to Meiringskloof outside Fouriesburg passing a few small farming or train station settlements along the way. The roads were undulating and surrounded by lovely farmlands. Towards the end of the ride in the heat of the day we came across a small shop selling ice cold drinks that went down extremely well, before hitting the hot tar for the stretch into Fouriesburg and Meiringskloof. This was a welcome sight and we were looking forward to getting off the bikes for a few hours. 

Gerrit has visited this area before and had told us how beautiful it was, so after refreshing ourselves with cool pool water and grabbing some chow and snax form our race crate we set off into the kloof area and surrounding mountains for the next 18km trekking leg. On top of the cliff above the campsite we could see the gazebo of the ropework guys where we would be doing our 45m abseil a few hours later. We needed to use as much daylight as possible on this leg, so we got going in our super comfy new Salomon S-labsJ Bad Medicine were with us for a lot of this hike, nice to have these positive guys around! The massive caves we passed through were quite surreal, huge and overhanging- just amazing! We saw Uncharted heading for the abseil as we came off the chain ladder and headed for the kloof- awesome racing guys! 

We picked up the kloofing section quickly and made our way upstream through the “water tunnels” which were eroded “tunnels” made in the sandstone rock, really beautiful. CP 6 appeared quicker than we thought and we exited the kloof and quickly chose a line over the mountain so we could try get to CP7 in the daylight. We spotted Lickety Split just ahead of us and started the steep climb which provided stunning views of the area and soon enough we were descending to the hiking hut and farmhouse and looking for a way to the dam. CP 7 clipped, we set off back over the mountain heading for CP 8 at De Rust guesthouse. It was here that the last light faded and immediately it was a lot harder to pick a route and keep up the same pace. On the saddle of the mountain we met up with a few teams returning from CP 8, Do it Now, Hawkstone etc. who kindly told us about a jeep track we could follow to the point. This helped a lot, as in the dark we couldn’t pick out a good line to CP 8.

It was a less direct route, but a safe one and we got to CP 8 just after Bad Medicine who had taken a straight line to the point. They joined us on the jeep track for heading back up the mountain as we then descended again and kept up a good pace towards the abseil. Mark chose a good road and as I was feeling pretty sleepy here I slotted in behind him and just followed his footsteps- this part of the hike seemed to take forever so I was very glad to finally hit the abseil point. For a while we had been hearing loud music as there was a group of off-road bikers who were having a braai and party at the campsite- the music was blaring and those guys were certainly in fine spirits!! Phillip and his ropework guys helped us into our gear and we completed a fun 45m abseil before dropping down into the campsite.

The lawn was strewn with sleeping bodies and we were glad to see that most of the teams were still in transition. We had already decided to just have a 2 hour sleep, so after some faffing and packing we tried to get some sleep. The guys seemed to have no problem, but unfortunately happy bikers performing doughnuts and singing kept me awake for most of the time. We struggled a bit to get going after the sleep, but managed to get out of there just before 3am, ahead of the other teams which would give us a bit of a head start on the next 67km mtb leg.

 This is the leg we thought would make or break the race, initially we thought we would do more of it in the dark, but were glad to actually hit the Lesotho border section in the daylight. This must rank as 1 of my favourite mtb legs of any AR I have done in the last 8 years- wow! It was a super mix of tar, district road and jeep track and the mother of all passes over a mountain where everyone pushed their bikes as it snaked for 8kms to the top. I think it was the stunning scenery that did it for me. I took so many photos, and it was almost picture perfect. The Caledon River, beautiful green grass, massive sandstone rock formations, herd boys with their cows and loyal dogs and big willow trees hanging in the water- just beautiful.

There is no way I would ever have gone along this road and it’s one of the reasons I love AR- the places that we get to see that we normally would not are just incredible. Stephan told us later that the pass we climbed and descended down the other side towards Clarens was an old entry point for Lesotho and there used to be a border post there. Well, I admire whoever was brave enough to tackle that road on a regular basis, never mind actually make the road in the first place! We overshot the sharp left turn up the pass by about 500m, but thanks to Pure Adventures we came to our senses and found the correct path over the passJ We couldn’t believe we came across Erik taking photos half way down the pass on the other side, thanks for getting to some crazy places to take shots Erik!!

Heading into Clarens we were quite looking forward to a discipline change and got our gear together at the guesthouse and prepared for the next quick hike which would just take us 2 hours. Unfortunately by this stage the race had got the better of Gerrit, this was his first ever adventure race and he gave us quite a fright as he swayed and nearly collapsed on the side of the road as we started the hike. We turned back to a small restaurant and ordered ice cold coke and some food and after a bit of a rest Mark and I headed out on the hike and Kev looked after Gerrit, got him some food and something to drink and got him safely back to the guesthouse to recover.

 One thing I’d like to mention without naming teams, is to think twice about telling other teams what the CP’s are (on Kinetic races there is a possibility of 1 of 3 letters of the alphabet and you have to clip the correct letter on your passport- with your own team punch) and rather keep the playing fields level. It just goes against the spirit of the sport. It wouldn’t have made a difference for us on this race as we were now unofficial, but in other races it would have as we are not going to skip a point whereas some other teams will!

Anyway, after a good, quick hike we were back in Clarens and were relieved to see that Gerrit was looking a bit better but he still couldn’t carry on with us, so Kev rejoined us as we prepared for the last few legs of the race. On that note I’d like to mention that we found the number of legs in this race (9) great as it’s nice to change discipline and avoids really long slogs that can become tedious! Thank you to the guys who gave Gerrit a lift to the end for us with his bike.

 We set off on our bikes, leaving Clarens and heading towards Bethlehem as the sun was dipping low. This 35km mtb leg was on nice district roads and that combined with the relentless mozzies meant we kept moving and maintained a lekker pace and in no time seemed to be getting close to the lights of Bethlehem. Along this stretch of road we encountered 2 crazy Freckled nightjars that kept taking off and landing in front of us on the road, and 2 duiker that were totally dazed by our lights, 1 collapsed on the ground in fright before bolting across the road- shame man, we really gave them a fright!

Not sure what caused it, but I was suffering with a bit of nausea here and Mark and Kev were kind enough to do the paddle leg of about 12kms while I tried to nap (being down to a team of 3 only 2 needed to do the paddle) but between the mozzies, ants, and general transition chaos I didn’t have much luck. The boys did a great job braving the cold for 2 hours and it gave me a chance to get a good idea of the last bike leg, which, after getting dry and grabbing some water we started with a final burst of energy. It was good to know we only had 17km of mtb to go to get to the end and wasted no time in getting to the finish. It was such a warm and calm night- perfect for being out there and a super way to end the race. We all felt strong and were glad our bikes had made it through after 1 side wall cut and lots of leaking Stans followed by 2 x tube changes, 1 x patched tube, stripped front bearing and rubbing back break pads!! Needless to say, the bikes are in for full services this week before tackling Wartrail this coming weekend!

As we entered the game farm we met Stephan who was looking extremely tired but was heading out to check on the last few teams. We crossed the finish line at 1:15am after 44hrs and 15mins of racing in 12th overall (although unofficial) and were greeted by a smiling but very tired Heidi. The “red chairs” awaited our arrival where we sat and were served sparkling juice by Heidi and reflected a bit on the race. There were even some boerewors rolls for us- yum! After a nice shower we headed to bed and slept like the dead! We awoke the next morning to the smell of breakfast which was included in our entry fee- man that went down well- thanks a lot.

Prize giving followed with everyone receiving unique trophies made by some local guys (a wire bicycle mounted on wood) and there were many lucky draw prizes as well as cash prizes for the podium finishers from Kinetic. Thanks to Salomon for providing clothing and Crossmax vouchers- it’s great to see your support for Kinetic and AR! Thanks to Kinetic, Stephan, Heidi, the marshals, ropework guys, and everyone in your team who contributed to a really awesome race.

Finally to Mark, Kev and Gerrit, thank you for a great race, I had a good time out there and am excited about racing Expedition Africa with you. Gerrit, well done on tackling this as your first AR, thank you for filling in for Kelly and I hope we haven’t scared you off AR forever- well done!!

Author: Lauren Goulding | Team Dewpoint | Kinetic Double Moon, 11-13 March 2011

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