PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - While they refer to themselves as a bag of Liquorice Allsorts, the Plett Adventure Racing Team proved they are more than just a colourful bunch, as they managed to secure second place in the gruelling Riversdale 36-hour race.
Team leader Petrus Maree, who has been dubbed the double-decker chocolate liquorice, related how the three day race started on 3 December with a prologue in the quaint town of Riversdale, in which all the teams had to complete.
This determined the times teams would start in the early hours of the next morning - with the slowest teams starting first.
"It was a pure and true adventure race with tough navigation with proper mountain bike leg testing, good old carry-the-bike-down-the-mountain-to-the next-track, bundu bashing mountain hikes, kloofing (canyoning), scrambling up waterfalls, long swims, sweat, and the sore, scratched legs that comes with all of the above," Maree said.
To add to the challenge the teams also experienced rain and strong winds on their journey.
"Let me tell you, the wind is not so bad when you are wearing a wetsuit, life jacket and backpack. Who would have ever thought a wetsuit could be so comfortable for a 15km trekking leg?"
The Plett Adventure Racing team in action during the Riversdale 36-hour adventure race in December. Photo: Alfred Thorpe
Maree said despite the challenges, the team gelled well as all the "flavours" complemented each other.
The bag of Liquorice Allsorts included Hanno Smit, an adventure race legend, representing the good old favourite black liquorice; Maree, known as "the machine", adding double-decker chocolate liquorice to the title; Patric Mostert, the unknown flavour, and Jeannette Wylie, the mandatory pink liquorice with the potent centre.
And not unlike the sweets, the flavours gelled well enough to afford the team second place behind the victors, Team Songlines.
"If there is one thought imprinted in our minds, it would be black wetsuit-clad bodies with head torches and life jackets walking through the bush at night, in the pouring rain, searching for a checkpoint. If a farmer had seen us, he might have thought he were imagining things!"
The Plett Adventure Racing team in action during the Riversdale 36-hour adventure race in December. Photo: Alfred Thorpe
'We bring you the latest Plettenberg Bay, Garden Route news'
