The Harrismith AR that never was

Race : Barbeton Classic
Date : 24 January 2009
Team : Oupa, Ouma, Sarah, Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat


SAID THE DUCHESS TO THE BISHOP

Its early Sunday morning. The Troggs are singing an old 1960’s classic

“Wild thing
You make my heart sing
You make everything groovy
Wild thing
Wild thing….. I think I love you
But I wanna know for sure
C’mon ….”

“Lets do it” the Bishop cuts in.
“ I thought you’d never ask” the Duchess responds
“ I meant the Harrismith adventure race” says the Bishop a bit too quickly, quickly, his tea cup rattling.
“ Yes, I know” she says smiling enigmatically.

A short pause, then the Duchess says to the Bishop “Its UGE”

Instead of taking it as his cue to reply “Yes, I know” the Bishop blushes, puts down his cup of tea unfinished and gets up to start compiling a list
- Compass
- 20 m safety rope
- whistle
- 30 l rucksack
- vanity case
- flask old brown sherry


Epilogue

The excitement of realizing a long time ambition to share a multi-day AR with Ouma builds up as Harrismith came closer. Kayak training has gone well – especially the hippo encounter and the arrival of the Ascent K2 is eagerly awaited. Not once does she doubt that we will or can do it.

As the final preparation for the race we enter the Barberton MTB Classic. The plan is for me to do the 75 km race with young Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – who avenges last year, by beating me by several minutes but also pukes – while Ouma Connie will be doing the 45 km with Sarah her training partner. The girls, whose friendship dates back some 42 years to Pretoria Meisies Hoerskool, are in high spirits, giggling and clearly keen to kick some butt as the Americans say.

The day is wet and the course has been drastically changed from previous years. Its starts with a 26 km granny gear climb that takes one way up the mountain. The route fools about for some distance at the top. The roadside drops menacingly into deep, invisible valleys that boil with clouds. I am glad this is not an AR since there’s this wold be pure instrumental navigation. Then, as we go back down, the rear wheels slide to and fro as we go at breakneck speed along muddy roads through the low cloud.

Some 20 km from the end we are taken into perhaps the most awesome valley (canyon, escarpment?) I have seen in my life. For the next 10 km we wind ever downwards between massive rocky cliffs and dense indigenous forest, recklessly charging through at least thirty streams. I just could not believe that a place like this existed in South Africa.. Best of all we have joined up with 45 km route, so Ouma will be experiencing it too – although I am already making up the apology speech since the going is tougher than I had led her to believe.

5km from the end we catch Sarah. Alone and tearful. She explains that soon after the first water table her “tjommie” had started asking strange questions – about where she was, how she got here – and repeating them over and over. When Connie insists, with wild eyes, that she does not have a four month old granddaughter - the one she held barely an hour earlier- Sarah makes a layman’s diagnosis of a minor stroke (us older people think about these things) and does the wise thing and has her bike confiscated and organizes for her to be taken down the mountain and hospital on the back of motorbike – a ride that Ouma now wistfully regrets not being able to remember.

The next 24 hours were a bewildering sequence of hospitals, doctors and learning new terminology. Transient Ischemic Attack, Transient Global Amnesia, CT Angiogram, MRI Scan, Epilan and so on.

The three successive doctors wisely interpret the penetrating look in my eye and don’t ask her what’s an older woman doing in a mountain bike race. I also don’t think its any of their business that the answer is that she was warming up for an Adventure Race.

Of course Harrismith is now no longer possible.

Why do I share such a personal and painful experience? Because every so often someone writes to the AR group discussion about their desire to do AR but they doubt their ability etc.

I hope this will inspire them to go out and do it – the sooner the better because you do not know what the future holds in store for you. If you can complete one of the bigger MTB races then you can do any of the 200 km type ARs. You already have the endurance and the bike (the biggest expenditure). All you need now is some more kit, some ropes training, padkos and a trustworthy team captain.

Go out and do it dammit.