Quantum Leap 250km AR: Report Back

The much anticipated Quantum Leap eventually rolled into town, along with a few upcountry teams joining the mostly cape crews. It was really good to see some of the familiar faces from the WCAD races stepping up to the longer distance format. From our side we had Chris, Quintin and Grant racing in Capestorm WCAD Racing and Steve was in team Rustproof.

The race was held near Vanrhysndorp and was a large anti clockwise loop that had an epic Doring river whitewater stage to begin with and a monster hike through the amazing Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve after halfway. The conditions were really great, until a proper rainstorm came through on the second night and fully tested everyone’s safety gear.

The race was tough, but rewarding. Only the elite teams of Merrell and Cyanosis made the full course cut-offs but everyone got their fair share of adventure. Capestorm WCAD Racing were mixing it up with these guys well into the race, but got caught up in the storm high up on the mountains and had to take the tough decision of pulling out (see their race video for full story and insight into mult-day racing). Rustproof managed to hang in there and ended up third on the ranking sheet as the conditions and missed checkpoints jumped them over faster teams.

Well done to all that took it on, especially our loyal WCAD followers in Teams (click to view reports) Indabushe, MATES, IALA, Cross Contour and Placement Partner. It was a really memorable race and the best news is that it is on for 2013. View all photos here.

Big thanks to Uge and his helpers for taking on this mammouth undertaking and putting on such an awesome event.

WCAD series Finale – 10 November

We’ve gone through quite an extensive venue search to add some fire and thunder to our final race for 2012. We had to find somewhere that had great course potential, and was a decent venue where we could have a good party afterwards. We are going to push the long course out just a bit to give you extra value for money and test your mettle. The long course will start in the dark so night time navigation is unavoidable. The short course will remain as other events, and will start later in the morning.

More details to follow within the next month. Camping will be included in your race entry whether you use it or not so why not make a weekend of it and join us for a post race gathering on the Saturday night for the obligatory war story exchange and a look back at the series over some courtesy beers from Castle Lite.

Venue: Theewaterskloof Sports Club (near Villiersdorp)
Format: Long 120km, Short 55km.
Date: 10 November 2012
Disciplines: Trek, MTB, paddle, ropework/kloofing.

Entries will open in the next two weeks. Long Course :R700 per team. Short Course R500 per team. Boat Rentals R250 per boat incl. PFD and paddles.

A word on boats. Paddling is a tricky event for an AR series like ours. We really try include it where possible, be it a dam, river or vlei. We don’t want to exclude people from our events who don’t own boats and so we make Fluid Synergies available for hire at cost price (sometimes subsidised by us). We do however want to ENCOURAGE paddling, and hope that those of you who are getting bitten by the AR bug noticed those faster fibreglass things called K2’s on the water. You can pick these up fairly cheaply second hand. It’s nearing the end of the paddling season, so you might find some popping up on gumtree or at your closest canoeing club (PCC at Sandvlei, Century City or Milnerton). We recommend getting a stable type of boat for AR (ie. Accord, Ascent).

Gravity Festival Report back

WCAD got involved in this year's Gravity Festival by organising the Merrell Adventure Sprint Race. This 30km mini AR was a great introduction to the sport of AR and hopefully many of the competitors will be lining up at future full length WCAD Series Adventure Races to take it to the next level. Watch the race video above to see what went down.

Other Adventure Racing News and Events

AR World Series news: The AR World Champs kicks off this weekend in France with the "Raid in France" race. Unfortunately there are no SA teams on the startline this year but it should be a great showdown between the biggest and best names in the world of AR. http://www.raidinfrance.com

In other ARWS news: the 2013 World champs have been confirmed as the Costa Rica AR 29 november 2013.

The location for South Africa's very own ARWS event: Expedition Africa 2013 has been announced. The event will take place in the Drakensberg. This is sure to be spectacular. There are only 25 slots available. Heidi and Stephan are in France at the moment marketing this race to internationals. Book your spot early and experience the true spirit of AR, Expedition Style and a superbly professional event!

The Merrel Eden Duo is coming up soon.The Merrell Eden Duo (MED) is better known as a 24 hour multi-sport event. It combines all the disciplines of endurance racing in a one day event. Athletes take part in pairs and in relay teams. Basic map reading skills form part of your preparation to compete in this event as all athletes must register themselves at various CP's (Control Points) on route. The route is not market but for the first 10km of single track mountain biking on leg 2. Teams need the assistance of support crew in the MED. Assistance is limited to transition areas. More info at http://www.24-7adventure.com/

Struggling with injury or need some help with conditioning for multi-sport training and racing? There is a new Physio Practice that has opened in the new Trail and Tar bike shop premises in Tokai. Physio Fit is run by two experienced adventure racers: Julia Thomas and Tarryn Povey. Contact them to set up an appointment and stay injury free! Tel: 021 712 1781 or 084 566 1053

WCAD has more SILVA AR related gear in stock including Compasses, Map Cases, Map Measurers. You can purchase these items at the race on 10 Navember.