Day 3: As the day ends USN approaches the coast
posted Monday, August 11, 2008 by adventurelisa @ 12:08 PM -
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News in at 21h10 - 17 teams have passed through CP24 (Kubusi Lodge), the last one before the end of the cycle from the dam (before second long hike).
Sterling Light are currently in transition, eating hamburgers.
USN still lead the race; and they're steadily gaining on the coast as they head for the transition at Mazeppa Bay, where I'm sure they'll be glad to trade their bikes for a session on foot. uge.Cyanosis and McCain Adventure Addicts are behind - still together - and their tracking units are charged again.
Revisiting the first hike... race director Sonja Otto says that the first hike seems to have broken a couple of teams, especially as they hit it at night. Lots of navigational errors happened, costing teams hours in time and wandering around in the dark. She says that the second hike is not as tough. There area number of unofficial teams after the hike.
Team Dew Point and His People are the last two teams still to come off the first hike, which the leading teams completed on Sunday morning. The people at the Thomas River transition have spotted lights and are waiting for the team/s to come through. When you consider that the teams haven't had access to a stash of food since they started the race on Saturday morning... they must be ravenous! Their food crates are waiting at the transition and there's great food at the local restaurant.
So, from Thomas River the teams cycle to the Wiggly Dam, paddle 40km on the dam and then cycle through the Kubusi area to CP25 at the Clifton Grange Lodge.
CP24, where Sonja is currently located, is at the Kubusi Lodge. She says the cycle is quite tough and although they're on hard gravel roads, they will be pushing their bikes up some of the hills, which are steep and difficult to ride.
Feedback from teams on the cycle seems to be all good. They have thoroughly enjoyed the environment and many saw game, antelope, buffalo and friends, on the way to the lodge.
A bit of information on Buff Coolmax and their withdrawal: the road leading down into the Kubusi river valley is steep and very technical. One of the guys came off his bike (no serious injury). They then got lost in the Kubusi river valley and after 3hrs returned to CP24 at the Lodge. Thus the reason for their low morale.
Feed the Machine is ranked unofficial. Eric Sullivan is out with a knee injury. Aside from the this the team is continuing and they are in fantastic spirits. Christian and Melissa seem to have bonded well with their South African recruit, Gerard van Weele.
As for expected winning time...
USN is currently 1.5-2hrs ahead of race schedule. We don't know if and how much they have slept, although I assume that they slept this morning (Monday) before dawn. Race schedule does not take into consideration sleeping time; just stage times. So, if USN sleep for a chunk tonight they'll be right on schedule. The earliest finishing time is predicted at 03h00 on Wednesday morning; so we could expect the winning team any time from then. And the winning team may not be USN... there's still a night, a full day and another night to go; and there are a number of teams out there who have slept each night and are good condition.
Sterling Light are currently in transition, eating hamburgers.
USN still lead the race; and they're steadily gaining on the coast as they head for the transition at Mazeppa Bay, where I'm sure they'll be glad to trade their bikes for a session on foot. uge.Cyanosis and McCain Adventure Addicts are behind - still together - and their tracking units are charged again.
Revisiting the first hike... race director Sonja Otto says that the first hike seems to have broken a couple of teams, especially as they hit it at night. Lots of navigational errors happened, costing teams hours in time and wandering around in the dark. She says that the second hike is not as tough. There area number of unofficial teams after the hike.
Team Dew Point and His People are the last two teams still to come off the first hike, which the leading teams completed on Sunday morning. The people at the Thomas River transition have spotted lights and are waiting for the team/s to come through. When you consider that the teams haven't had access to a stash of food since they started the race on Saturday morning... they must be ravenous! Their food crates are waiting at the transition and there's great food at the local restaurant.
So, from Thomas River the teams cycle to the Wiggly Dam, paddle 40km on the dam and then cycle through the Kubusi area to CP25 at the Clifton Grange Lodge.
CP24, where Sonja is currently located, is at the Kubusi Lodge. She says the cycle is quite tough and although they're on hard gravel roads, they will be pushing their bikes up some of the hills, which are steep and difficult to ride.
Feedback from teams on the cycle seems to be all good. They have thoroughly enjoyed the environment and many saw game, antelope, buffalo and friends, on the way to the lodge.
A bit of information on Buff Coolmax and their withdrawal: the road leading down into the Kubusi river valley is steep and very technical. One of the guys came off his bike (no serious injury). They then got lost in the Kubusi river valley and after 3hrs returned to CP24 at the Lodge. Thus the reason for their low morale.
Feed the Machine is ranked unofficial. Eric Sullivan is out with a knee injury. Aside from the this the team is continuing and they are in fantastic spirits. Christian and Melissa seem to have bonded well with their South African recruit, Gerard van Weele.
As for expected winning time...
USN is currently 1.5-2hrs ahead of race schedule. We don't know if and how much they have slept, although I assume that they slept this morning (Monday) before dawn. Race schedule does not take into consideration sleeping time; just stage times. So, if USN sleep for a chunk tonight they'll be right on schedule. The earliest finishing time is predicted at 03h00 on Wednesday morning; so we could expect the winning team any time from then. And the winning team may not be USN... there's still a night, a full day and another night to go; and there are a number of teams out there who have slept each night and are good condition.
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