The eden duo is indeed one of the most well known and well respected adventure races in South Africa. The early alarm, wakes us up with sleep in our eyes, and gear already on but the rush to get to the start always sends your adrenalin soaring, hoping you have everything ready for the big start; kloofing up the Kaaimans River, where you are expected to jump across rocks, as well as keep a steady stance, while balancing on the edge of the slippery side. One slip could mean a sore leg for the rest of the race and which would not be very enjoyable making your way up to the Saasveld agricultural college.Here [in transition] you sum up the components of the race left behind and those still ahead of you and take stock of your team, which in this case my team consisted of the beautiful but daring Nina Orzehowski, the always enjoyable and joker of the lot Ashley Willcocks, sister of well known adventure racer who I'm also a team mate with for other events of adventure racing Brandon Willcocks, and last but not least Wojtek Orzehowski who led us all the way with smiles and laughs but our guardian angle no less. We were close behind the experienced team of St. Aubins school which consisted of three strong boys and a women. They were our main competition as we were entered in the junior race, which has to consist of three racers under the age of 19, and one member over the age of 19. The team must also have representatives from both sexes. The distance for this race category is 100km of tough terrain.
When we left off for the cycle we quickly grabbed a handful of food and got handed our camel backs and cycling food from our seconds, who we are so grateful for and wouldn't have been able to do this race without. They really were truly experienced and positive, pushing us on even when we were tired. At this stage we didn't really know how far behind or ahead St. Aubins were of us. But we knew we had to keep pushing on as we made our way to the Montague pass, having done the 150km Eden duo in 2009, I knew what was coming, which was a hell of a climb. I'm don't have a very good mind set when it comes to major climbs but I knew what was coming and was prepared to take it on. With the ongoing support of my team mates towards each other, the hill was enjoyed and we all just kept going. The sparkling streams and waterfalls was very much appreciated on the pass, as my camel back had run out. When we reached the top, even though our faces were full of sweat and dirt, we all gave a very happy smile towards each other. Eventually after a long awaited end to the cycle we arrived at the next check point at Herold wines, where the mist started rolling in. We were told by our seconds that the St Aubins team was only about ten minutes ahead of us which made us even more eager to head off.
Our team mates (seconds) gave us a quick massage where needed and re-loaded our back packs ensuring we had what we need. It was now a hike over the great Outeniqua mountains. When we started the first climb up the mountain we discovered that the mist had made the dirt into mud, which wasn't very good for us, as represented by the simple equation:
mud+mist=slippery=dangerous
But this just meant we had to be more cautious. I must say I have never experienced anything more beautiful, I felt honoured to be a part of this hike. Even though it was about my third time going on it, it never seems to stop being so beautiful and breath taking. The mist was advantageous towards us in a way as it was much better than baking in the sun. I was definitely in my element with the cold weather. When we got closer to the Saasveld agricultural college which is about more than half way to our final destination, we spotted our competition and passed them while they were catching a quick breath, for as soon as we saw them we started getting a bit more adrenalin injected into our step and but that soon died down when they passed us about 500 meters later. Now at this time my nose had begun to bleed which I wasn't very impressed with. When we came more towards the Saasveld agricultural college we knew we only had a few more kilometers and we would be at our next check point.When we arrived at our next check point, our team mates [seconds] told us we were only about three minutes behind our competition, at this stage it was pouring with rain cleaning all the mud off our shoes. When we were told we were only 3 minutes behind them, knowing we only have about a few kilometers till we meet our last check point were we paddle for about five kilometers, we all jumped on our bicycles with wet hiking clothes and all and with no re supplying of food we headed off after about four minutes of cycling up one of the hills right after our previous check point at GroeneweideAubins team was already on the water but they had just got in.
We jumped off our bikes and straight into our boats which our team mates prepared for us , so professionally. Our life jackets were waiting for us in the boats which we just strapped on very quickly. Wojtek is a well known [and strong] paddler and so he attached a tow-rope to the canoe Nina and I were seated in and paddled away. I have never seen a man paddle so fast, with so much strength in my life!!!! It was amazing to see, I couldn't even keep up with how fast he was paddling. With all his efforts we passed our competition and even though they didn't look very enthusiastic about the pulley, there aren't any rules against it, and that is what adventure racing is about [team work]. After picking our boats up over bridges and going through over grown reeds we finished in a well deserved time, about ten minutes ahead of the St Aubins team. They really did lead the way. They are an excellent team, well done to them.
Mikayla, Nina, Ashley and Wojtek of Team Water Babes, won the junior Division of the MED, in a time of 13:23
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