Training Log Archive: Stijn

Expedition Africa 2018 with Kev, John & Seth on Team Charnas. The race area was the Namaqua West Coast and Cederberg so we were expecting some dry conditions and long sections. The goal (as always) was to finish the full course without falling foul of any cut-offs along the way. Always great to be in a race with so many teams (52) since there is always activity around you and plenty of camaraderie amongst the teams.

The first leg was a 20km run/hike up the coast from Doringbaai to the Olifants River Mouth with loads of checkpoints to get in the detailed rocky coastline. Gloomy, misty weather, but great conditions for a cool run. We settled into the mid pack and kept things comfortable. One route choice at the end where we took a slightly longer route around the river mouth to avoid the wade/swim into transition. Still very muddy/swampy along our route though.

This was pretty much the only transition we hustled at for the entire race - most of us put on full waterproof kit as we were going to be paddling into a headwind and into the night...

The first 3 or 4 hours of this paddle were just horrendous. Straight into a strong headwind with the tide still coming out and the kayaks constantly strafing to the left. Ugh. Don't think we were going much faster than 2 or 3 km/h. Once the river started narrowing a bit we could get some shelter from the wind along the sides and things started looking up. Took one short portage as it was getting dark to cut a river corner - didn't really gain or lose us any time over those paddling but was a nice butt break and timed well with having to put lights and glowsticks on anyway. Don't seem to have gained or lost any positions on this paddle.

Not a bad transition considering we had to change out of wet kit, plot new maps and there was braaied snoek and sweet potatoes on offer ;)