No Frills No Fuss 48-hour adventure race in Montagu
“Oh my goodness,” I was bursting with excitement when my owner put me in her adventure box, that only means one thing… An adventure race is happening!!! Don’t get me wrong I’ve been busy – my Buddy the bike and me have been trapping around, but an adventure race is different…
You see the bike is of course the most important ingredient in a cycle… and me, the ” bike shoe”, is more like a tag along… but NO not in an adventure race – there I sometimes play the important part too and my buddy the BIKE either gets pushed alongside me or carried – my owner then relies on ME to make her move forward.
So off we went to No Frills No Fuss adventure race in Montagu. We were ready to start at 5pm on Thursday; I was on my owner’s feet; but hang on, where was my Buddy? I realized Buddy the bike was still sleeping in the bike box, clever tactics from the race organizers, as you had to assemble the bike and only then you get to start. I watched how Buddy got a rude awakening and was quickly put together, and off we went.
My owner’s legs were trapping away trying to keep up with her team… and before I knew it the first portage arrived. It was my turn to shine, over the shrubs and rocks we went. Buddy was pushed, carried and shoved while I happily trapped over the obstacles.
But hang on; I was slowly losing contact with my bottom half!!! I tried and tried my hardest to keep it together but eventually, I couldn’t hold it anymore and I had to let go of my bottom half “the sole”…
I was waiting for my owner’s reaction but instead of swear words being shouted or tears I just heard a voice saying “Drew I need your strapping and does anybody have some cable ties?”
So there I was being lovingly stuck back together with strapping tape and cable ties and off we went again over rocks and fences. After a while, to my major horror, I was feeling that bottomless feeling again, I suppose strapping wasn’t meant for 4×4 routes and yes we had to stop again for me to get patched up.
After the 3rd time, my owner decided enough was enough she was just going to leave me bottomless. I was scared to be so exposed but after I took a deep breath I looked around. I could see the stars like millions of fireflies in the sky, I could smell the fresh karoo shrub after the rains, what a beautiful beautiful world it is! I felt exhilarated and completely forgot about being bottomless and before I knew it the cycle was over.
Buddy and I were packed up in the bike box to be transported to the next cycle after a hike. Apparently, the hike was stunning – that’s all my owner was chatting about while we were busy on our second cycle… well all I can say is it took them long enough playing in the mountains; I was getting bored in the bike box. Anyway, the second cycle leg was fast with lots of road as the organizers had to rearrange routes a few times due to rain flooding rivers and bridges in the Breede Valley area being closed.
But I hung in there – it was getting a bit chilly during the night being exposed to the elements but at least not much hiking the bike… so I lasted, I lasted the whole race, my duty was done, and I was exposed to the beauty of this world, shooting stars, the smell of the bush, the laughter of the team and it made me want to hang in there so I never gave up and that’s what’s it all about.
I can happily say this was my last adventure race but I don’t mind, I may have lost my sole, but I found my “soul”.
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