TAR: Deutsche Bank Mauritius Cycle Tour

We arrived on the island and it was dark already, but what a relief seeing all the island's lights from the 747 as we came in for a landing. It was the start of the amazing race (1*) also known as T.A.R. and me and my dad was doing it as a team. In our luggage both of us had our road bikes packed into our old bull boxes witch came in quite handy.

Our first encounter with the locals made us realize we are no longer in Africa, the french Mauritians don't know how to pack a minibus taxi, so after we explained to them that we were from Africa and helped them pack our bikes, we were off. Driving with a Mauritian taxi driver at night can be quite a rush, they floor the petrol, especially in the smaller streets, and it feels like you are driving with a kamikaze pilot at times, but they get you where you want fast.

Next morning... we woke up in paradise, staying 10m from the beach it was an idyllic location where we spend days just lying on the beach, carbo loading with pina coladas and Mauritian rum. As my good friend Mark Twain said: "You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven; and that heaven was copied after Mauritius"

On race day we were taken by taxi from grand bay (north island) to the start at blue bay (south island), the island is quite big as it took us almost 2 hours to get to the start. The race route was 100km following the eastern coast line of the island from south to north, not going over the big mountains in the middle of the island.

The race started with 6 starting groups A-F with +-1000 participants from all over the globe. The scenery en route was very interesting as we went through rural fishing villages with all the locals cheering us on in french 'ale-ale!!'. My dad saw a Mauritian chasing a big lizard with a stick
over the road while i waved at the little children and took photos.

As we rode the terrain and coast changed all the time from rocky coast lines in between mountains to idyllic coral reef beaches without any waves to beaches with big j-bay waves, they have it all. We also rode past a weird section were you see strange volcanic heaps of rock appearing at random places in a sugarcane field, this was caused by volcanic activity when the island was formed.

I stayed with my dad all the way doing this amazing ride and we arrived at the "arrivée" french for finish as a team. Life was good and we spend the rest of our days tanning on the beach and snorkeling after pipe fish and other beautiful fischies in the clear turquoise blue Mauritian waters...

Da Mauritian Mummy

(1*) The Amazing Race, sometimes referred to as TAR is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Race

PS: The island is not flat and has quite a few high mountains overgrown with tropical trees and plants and would make an awesome location for an AR with sea paddling between islands in the calm sea and mountains to climb, they even host a mountain bike festival (http://www.otayo.com/mountain%20bike%20festival.htm

).

Bull Of Africa 2008 - Transkei (7 day non-stop Expedition AR)

http://www.bullofafrica.com/

By Eugene Kelly (One of my Team Members)

We cannot come up with enough superlatives to describe my BOA 2008 experience, and here the credit can all be showered upon Hano and his team. Amongst all the teams we as the back-markers are the hardest to please and most definitely the hardest to manage from a logistics point of view. For my experience I’m sure I am not alone in saying that I am eternally grateful.

At times despite being literally days behind we were still allowed to test our mettle against the very same course obliterated by the top teams. We as Team Nubi did not short course ourselves but instead, like a few other like-minded teams – The Girls, Katbergers and Thule who we grew to love, we plodded on against the best Hano had to offer:

Through the maze of Lantana snares and Thorn, prickle, spike and spine barriers we did toil, our blood spilled on the very same soil trodden by USN and Mccain albeit a few days before.

We learned every lesson BOA 2008 taught (Yes this is synonymous with making every mistake there was to be made), but we came out all the stronger. Our team stayed intact despite all the hardships, and for this I am proud to say I was a part of it! In a race where there is such a high dropout rate, the personal and interpersonal discovery is so immense, it blows my mind every
time I think about it.

In preparing for a race of this nature, through the endless shopping trips, training sessions and umpteenth worries, one starts to wonder whether it is at all worthwhile. Then the AR Gods throw yet another curveball in your direction in the form of an injury, just to further test your commitment. This is in between all the team struggles that took us almost a year to overcome. So this is why as Hano said the biggest challenge of all is to get to the start line!!!

Eugene Kelly

Vit-T-Go Afriman Duathlon 2008

A duathlon with a difference, the Vit-T-Go Afriman Duathlon 2008 was hosted at Maropeng, the Official Visitor Centre for the Cradle of Humankind.
I did the Afriman: 14km Run 80km Bike 7km Run, and it was fun.

http://www.maropeng.co.za/index.php/calendar/entry/vit_t_go_afriman_duathlon_2008/

Organiser's report: Mnweni marathon

At 6 am on a strangely warm May morning, forty-six runners set off on an extreme mountain race in the Natal Drakensberg.

Only two of them returned.

The other forty-four went all the way and completed the route successfully.

Originally an informal challenge organised by trail-running legend Bruce Arnett for a handful of friends, the 38k Water for Africa Mnweni Marathon has grown over the past five years to become an established and much-anticipated fixture on the trail running calendar. This year the race was held on 17 May, and formed part of the Montrail Ultra Cup, a series which brings together South Africa's top trail races and runners in a championship league table format.

The circular route starts and ends at the Mnweni Hospitality centre near Bergville. It consists mainly of donkey trails and hiking paths, with 2000m of climb taking the runners up the Mnweni Valley to the Lesotho plateau. The source of the Orange River marks roughly the half way point. 2000m of descent returns the runners to the Hospitality Centre via the Ntonyelana
Valley.

In many places the path is loose, rocky, and very steep, and there are several river crossings to make. The path is not marked, and runners must navigate using map and compass, and carry all the food and kit they need for a day in the mountains - however, the Drakensberg streams are clean, and there is plenty of fresh water available from Mother Nature. No seconding or
support other than emergency medical services is possible along the route, although a marshal is posted at the cut-off point at the foot of the 1000m Mnweni Pass to ensure that all runners are in good shape to begin the ascent within 5 hours of setting out on the race, or else turn back to the start. There is no vehicle access to the route after it leaves the dirt road at
approximately 5km, until it rejoins the road with only about 4.5k to the finish, so emergency medical and rescue services were co-ordinated from the plateau by Rob Thomas of MCSA, and on the route by race sponsor (and marshal) Stephen Mallory, and Vandre "the Hiking Medic" van Vuuren, of SAS Medical Services.

After a hard fought tussle for the lead, the winner, Gert Forster (no relation to the writer!) stormed home in 5 hours 1 minute, with race organiser Bruce Arnett a close second only 3 minutes behind. Englishman Trevor Hughes took third in 5 hours 8 minutes.

First woman Lisa de Speville frisked home 17th overall in 7 hours 58 minutes, with a clear margin over the second woman, (yours truly :-)) who arrived several places later in 8 hours 32. A couple of minutes later, third woman Geraldine van Tromp was the next runner in, having diced for second woman for most of the race.

The safety team dealt extremely professionally with the only major incident of the day. Rob Andrew took a nasty tumble whilst boulder-hopping just before the Mnweni pass, resulting in a suspected broken arm. Stephen and the MCSA team kept Rob comfortable until he was attended to by Vandre. Once the last group had gone through his marshalling point, Stephen Mallory walked Rob back to the start, together with Bernie Shiller who was feeling the altitude, and had wisely decided to take Vandre's advice not to continue up the Mnweni pass. Vandre hiked through to the finish with the tail enders to ensure that no-one was left behind or without medical care if required.A broken finger later in the race (and a few scuffed knees!) completed the roll call of injuries for the day.

The last group of five runners arrived in darkness with Vandre, just in time for prize-giving, after 13 and a half hours, which gives a good idea of the rugged nature of the terrain. The fact that they were all smiling gives a very good idea of the calibre of people who take up this challenge!

Thanks to generous sponsorship from Water for Africa, Salomon, Sweat Shop Southdowns Centurion, AR.co.za, TMS and others, every runner left the event with a spot prize from the raffle, a reflective snap-on wrist-band, a teeshirt and a medal. The general consensus seemed to be that 2009's date will be inked into the race diaries as soon as it is released. See you
there!

Laura