Chimpanzee Bar Team - Race Report
Southern Lakes 24hr Adventure Race, Central Otago, New Zealand
The race is located in the southern part of the South Island of
New Zealand in an area renown for it barren landscape, scorching heat
and lack of wind. Unfortunately with the race starting at midnight
we weren't able to see any of the beautiful surroundings and it
certainly wasn't warm, dry and calm! The cold rain started to come down
just as we headed off on the initial MTB section, the strong wind
followed closely behind and 30 minutes into the race we had all our
clothes on and were freezing up on the exposed mountain tops. After
spending an hour up on the hill tops shivering we began down what would
normally be a very fun descent however we were slip sliding everywhere
in the mud, clay clogging up our chains and weren't able to generate
enough heat to keep warm so were chilled to the bone by the time
we finished this first section.
A quick transition into a dry
set of clothes (what a treat) and we were off into the darkness once
again, this time trekking up the mountains. 3am. Still raining and very
windy. After the MTB leg we were one of three teams all within a few
minutes of one another and we thought we might have been able to get a
break on the other teams in the trek. But we ended up in a very tight
battle with us leading for a while before a small hesitation while
trying to find a good route through the prickly bush allowed two teams
to sneak in front of us. For the rest of the trek we swapped the lead
several time before all three teams finished the stage together just as
the sun was coming up.
By now the rain had stopped and with the
sun up the racing was much more enjoyable. My team mates (Milan
Brodina, Simone Maier and Rob Creasy) are all strong cyclists so I
really struggled on this second MTB section as we zoomed along fantastic
single track by the mighty Clutha river – popular location during Gold
Rush in New Zealand 1860s. This was followed by a brutally steep climb
that somehow Simone managed to ride (even just returning from hard
racing in China few days earlier) but I had no chance. Eventually I
managed to get some Chimpanzee energy bars and Gunpowder Drink into my
stomach and slowly started to improve. This 70km MTB leg finished with
10km straight into a strong headwind and with another team right on our
heels there was no easing off.
Another quick transition and we
were off kayaking into the head wind. This stage was really tough, we
started out leading but struggled to maintain a good pace and the other
two teams slipped ahead of us. After 2hrs nonstop paddling into the wind
–which was as physically as mentally draining we could finally get out
of the boats. The steep hills and lack of vegetation make this
a stunning area to race in but the endless up and downs are hard
work, and we had another hill in front of us on the next trek. We
powered up the hills trying to enjoy the views but were dreading the
thought of another long quad destroying descent. After the quick run
downhill we made it back to our kayaks and could enjoy surfing the waves
back down the lake to the finish, what a great way to complete a race
with awesome teammates.
We ended up third and had spent most of
the day in an incredibly close battle for first. It was a really
enjoyable day out and another chance to bond as a team before the
Godzone Adventure Race next year.
Thanks to Chimpanzee Bar for all the support.
Greig Hamilton
