Imana Wild Ride 2008 Race Update Day Four

Word amongst the Imana elderly wasnt encouraging. Day four had confusing sections of inland riding with plenty district road intersections like Spaghetti Junction and other that if wrongly navigated, would make for all day affair detours via Umtata. Worse yet, that would mean missing the 5 star buffet at the Umngazi River Bungalows.

(The Umngazi River - with the finish on the sand dune opposite)

Advised as it was to wait for a guided tour behind, Max and I were equally flawed by a two pronged evil of competitiveness and an inability to admit defeat. The team in third were not far behind, but had decided to favour caution and wait for the legendary Farmer Glen and equally experienced partner Roger Mann.

I felt like a bushman tracking his prey, reading tracks on the lie of the land. We’d jump off our bikes at intersections and run about with eyes scorching dust for Killer Bee tread. Grassy patches proved hardest, and often the only clue left by crafty Nick Floros and Pete Smith was a cow dung cake clipped on the corner. It sure did help having Max being able to ask the locals in Xhosa whether any two “Umlungu’s” (white boys) on bikes had passed. We traversed close to three quarters of the final stage’s 64km when an ill fated turn sucked us down a road neither of us was prepared to back track up.

But this was after a few kids had given the thumbs up for the usual question of “whether two whites had passed in this direction?” But Max, hesitant, asked straight back whether we were the first whites to come down here? To which they also smiled and gave a thumbs up…

Bashing through thick forest on a fading path, with increasing conviction of a wrong turn eventually confirmed by the beach beyond that had no tracks… but back wasnt even a consideration, so onward and upward we pushed. Sure now we had to be more inland, we headed straight up the hills with intent. Intent that would have ended near Umata (not where you want to be) if I didnt spot a four team train approaching from the left with rye smiles. Seemed where we wronged was the only spot everyone knows to stay left and not right. Right.

Soon we were joined by another team, making a peleton of 14. It was leisurely riding, and time to plan an attack up the final climb to gain time over our now equalling second team before the final ferry crossing. This we did. Thank goodness, as the ferry crossing was a dog show. There are a few canoes and two motor boats… No kidding which we hop into… We werent really laughing at the time, as Max and I ran through the water/swam to a motor boat, which then crashed into a paddler and argued with the canoeist as the teams behind closed in. We were loosing it in fits of exhausted hysteria.

Max applied the hurt across the final two beaches before running across the the last big dune to smack the gong - signalling to Umgazi to fetch us from across the river so as to start the feast, as well as stop the watch after four far out days of biking.

Nick and Pete had made more than twenty minutes on day four alone, while Craig and Mike were just seconds back in third. Farmer Glen and Roger tied for fourth with Russel White and Guy Schroeder, with Frank Soll and partner in sixth.

I have so much to reflect on, so many priceless moments. I’ll need to blog them, for my own sake. So bare with me when I do. I’m still fighting for visuals after my camera passed on during day one, to prove my words more than hollow. It was soul time, with all its simplicity and beauty across 200km of untouched coast. Imana Wild Ride - for the wild at heart.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 9:15 pm and is filed under Roger Mann, Nick Floros, Farmer Glen, Russel White, Guy Schroeder, Pete Smith, Imana Wild Ride 2008 Results, Max Knox, Mountain Biking, Imana Wild Ride, Imana Wild Ride 2008, Imana, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.