Kinetic Full Moon, Warmbad

Race: Kinetic Full Moon

Date: 24 August 2013

Location:  Warmbad/Nylstroom

Team: Bloed en OMO  (Jan en Abel)

If ever there was a “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” event, this was it.

At the race briefing I made a fantasy estimate of being finished and sleeping in the tent soon after 1 am.  After all, 80 km (which turned out to be more like 95 km) of cycling on district roads should not take longer than 5, maximum 6 hours which leaves a lot of time to spare for a few km of paddling and some trotting on the bosveld.

We were 45 min behind schedule after the first four legs (two paddling, two hikes) as it took a while for the old forgotten navigation skills to kick in.  But, the district road turned out to be tarred (!) and it looked like we could even finish by midnight.

Then moments later it turned into some of the worst corrugated gravel road I have ever encountered. At times the humps were big enough for urban traffic calming. This was also when I discovered that my rear shock had failed and had to be locked out.

I estimate that some 30% of the total was corrugated thus and maybe 20% represented the more normal picture we have of platteland dirt road.

THE REMAINING 50%  WAS SAND. DEEP DRIFTS OF DRY, WHEEL SUCKING SAND. To say it was knee deep would be exaggerating a bit, but it went on and on, often for a hundred meters or more at a time.

As anyone who has ridden on sand knows there are only two options. To walk or apply maximum horsepower for as long as possible in the hope of finding ground firm enough of to recover momentum before the next drift looms.    

So, much of the night was spent searching for these little strips of firmer ground. The problem was they randomly alternated between the left and right shoulders.  Or, what looked like firmness was merely a thin crust hiding more sand.

Following the tracks of the preceding teams was a great help although they often indicated dismounts – generally inelegant ones.  Never again will I be intimidated by the playground sand patches presented by the usual MTB races.

The final pre-moonrise paddle (leg 6) turned out to be easier than anticipated but the final hike in the weak moonlight (leg 8) after the second bike leg was much much slower than it could have been. Our transitions were slow and reluctant and the hike, most of which could have been trotted, was undertaken with less enthusiasm than Napoleon or Hitler’s retreats from Moscow.

Which explains why Bloed and OMO finished their big comeback race almost seven hours later than fantasy. 

I ended the race with the rear wheel falling off – literally falling off – because the skewer had rattled loose on the final MTB downhill (I joke) to the finish. 

It was nevertheless a fantastic race that shall long be remembered for the camaraderie with others teams along the way and the phenomenal friendliness and effort that Stephan and Heidi and their support team put into their events.

Jan and I salute the first timers who took on this race as it demanded a lot more resolve than the usual 24 hour races.

Abel van der Merwe