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11-Sep-2010 10:04:40 |
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Race Report - Cyanosis succumbs to Bull of Africa |
| 26-Aug-2008 14:01:10 |
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Report by Nicholas Mulder
Team 'Uge.Cyanosis put up a good showing at the 570km Bull of Africa Expedition Race, but in the end fell short of their goal when a medical incident saw the team withdraw on day 4 of the 5-day race. The team was made up of Nicholas Mulder, Clinton Mackintosh, Eugene Botha and Jen Segger. This was a new combination for Cyanosis, as Jen, who lives in Squamish, Canada, was brought into the team in early February as the 4th team member. Jen usually races with top-flight American team Dart-NUUN, so her racing pedigree was well established and Cyanosis were confident in her abilities when they met her for the first time at the airport a few days prior to the race. It was a great bonus that she and the three guys in the team 'clicked' immediately, ensuring that the Cyanosis team dynamic was as strong as ever.
The Bull of Africa is South Africa's premier adventure race, attracting teams from around the world to compete in one of the most prestigious races in the Adventure Racing World Series. Team 'Uge.Cyanosis found itself on the start-line of this epic, unsupported race amongst some of the best teams in the world, with 3 of them currently considered to be 'Top 10'. Although the team's goal for the race was a win, tough competition would be expected from Team Buff of Spain, Bjurfors of Sweden, Lafuma Sport 2000 of France, Black Heart Bunker Capital of Australia and Team Feed the Machine of the USA. South Africa was strongly represented as well, with Team USN (formerly Salomon Pro) and Team McCains Adventure Fanatics ensuring that together with 'Uge.Cyanosis, all three of the countries top teams were on the starting line.
The race course, which started at sunrise on Saturday 9 August at the Katberg Eco-Golf Estate in the Eastern Cape, swung through various sections of the Amatola Mountains before heading off to the rural areas of the Transkei and subsequently the Wild Coast, before finishing just outside East London. The weather varied significantly during the race, with an ice cold wind blowing through the Amatolas on the first night, before Berg wind conditions developed when the top teams reached the Transkei on the third day of racing. A final sting in the tail awaited some of the back marker teams, who also had to deal with a very wet cold front which arrived on the seventh day, shortly before the final race cut-off.
Team 'Uge.Cyanosis set off to a superb start, completing the initial 10km trail run in first place. Unexpectedly tough bushwhacking and fine navigation allowed the team to dominate, despite an initial race plan that foresaw the team holding back just behind the leaders for the first few days of the race. However, Cyanosis was soon passed on the subsequent biking and paddling legs that took teams from Katberg, through Seymour to Hogsback in the Amatola mountains after a few navigational hiccups. After 10 hours of racing, the team set off into the Amatolas in 6th place on the first major leg of the race, a 70km trek through the mountains. As night fell, the team immediately started passing other teams and by day break the next morning found themselves entering the next transition in 2nd place, approximately 1 hour behind South African Team USN.
A ding-dong battle subsequently began between 'Uge.Cyanosis and Team McCains (South Africa) for second place as the race started to progress towards the Kei River. This was a proud moment for South Africa as the country found it's top 3 teams occupying the top 3 places on the leaderboard, with the plethora of international teams racing for the minor places a few hours back. The two-way battle between Cyanosis and McCains would last for the next 48 hours across various mountain ranges, through gorges and up a rope climbing section as neither team found themselves able to open more than a 30 minute gap. By Tuesday morning (Day 4) the lead teams had entered the Transkei region and were making their way down to the coastline. The tough head-to-head racing with McCains had seen Cyanosis make various navigation and strategy mistakes as the teams focus was drawn away from chasing down the leading team, allowing USN to open a 4-hour lead upon departure from the Mazeppa Bay transition, the start of a 32km long coasteering section. McCains left the transition 5 minutes ahead of Cyanosis, who immediately realised that Eugene's physical condition had suddenly deteriorated quite rapidly. Although all racers in all the top teams where coughing badly after the initial cold night in the Amatola mountains, Eugene's bronchitis seemed much more severe than anyone else's. Two kilometres outside transition he was forced off his feet as he experienced asthmatic-type conditions resulting from a viral infection in his lungs. Low body immunity after 4 days of racing, heat stress from the Berg wind conditions and mild dehydration probably compounded the issue. The team immediately armed their SOS tracking beacon and made contact with race HQ for an immediate medical evacuation for Eugene, a process that took quite a few hours in the end, given the remote nature of the landscape and the Transkei region.
The medical removal of one person from Team 'Uge.Cyanosis meant that the team was immediately placed on the non-competitive list. Eugene spent one night in an East London hospital where he made a full and strong recovery, emerging in a better condition than that of some of his team mates! The withdrawal of the team from the race was a huge blow to 'Uge.Cyanosis, but one that we do not question as personal racer safety will always come first in the team. The team was very proud to be in such a good position in a high-quality international field, with the team able to learn some good lessons from the four days and 400km of racing that they covered.
Team USN went on to win the race, with Bjurfors (Sweden) second and Black Heart (Australia) third. Team McCains also had an unfortunately incident on the last morning when they accidentally missed a check point on the race course, loosing their second place finish and leaving them well outside the podium places.
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