Nanga Challenge

Now John and I are no strangers to turning up at races in an amateurish manor with the minimum of preparation but at the Nanga Challenge we probably took this dubious strategy to new levels. I carefully printed the directions and race instructions out and then left them at home. My other main task was finding a boat for John to paddle in. Here I came up wanting as well. Whilst the majority of the field were in long, sleek, mean looking Kevlar craft that you could lift with your little finger, I procured a large, purple bathtub. If we had been entering the kayak equivalent of a demolition derby we were quids in. Sadly this was a first past the post straight sprint against some rather scary elite athletes.

Lots of pointy fast boats. And John

Handing the bib over between stages

John finishing the run leg

The Farmy Army

I'll let John continue the story:

The Nanga race went surprisingly well considering my pre-race preparation of a jog around Lake Monger and a trip to Thailand. The day started well, we found our way to Dwellingup in the fog without too much difficulty and were on time for the briefing. In fact things were going so well it was only about 30 seconds after the start that I realised I had been sold a bit of a pup in the kayak department. As the entire field disappeared off in to the distance in a haze of spray I discovered that my '415' kayak had the all manoeuvrability and speed of the QE2. If you imagine a dolphin moving through the water pursued by an elderly, asthmatic Labrador you will have some idea of the difference between me and everyone else. Suffice to say that my performance was slightly disappointing resulting in a finish time about 45 minutes behind the leaders. Highlights of the stage were some pretty scenery and some slick portaging. A low point was when my swearing monologue was disturbed by a shocked looking family who came round a bend in a Canadian canoe. When I finally dragged my sorry looking behemoth of a boat back to the bank I handed over to Jake who took off like a possum up a gum tree.

I was very relieved when John re-appeared safely in HMAS Bathtub. I was quite happy to be amongst the slower bikers as I got to overtake lots of them. The first hill seemed to go on for ever, well about 5km, before I started descending on the loose pea gravelly fire roads at high speed. The mountain bike course was two laps of a 10km course. The second time round the hills seemed steeper but I was able to descend a bit faster having more confidence and course knowledge. I only stopped briefly to pick up some lost property (a multitool) which Ben later made me hand in. The final section through to the transition was actually on some rooty singletrack. It was also covered in children whom I scattered.

Back to John:

After the kayak I joined Ben for a nice cup of tea and a hot dog whilst calculating how long Jake would take to complete the cycle stage. Jake rather inconsiderately posted an excellent time for the mountain bike leg meaning that when he got back to the transition area I was in the toilet (it had been a big hot dog). A frantic 30 seconds of comedy followed as Simon and Ben urged me to hurry up as other well-meaning bystanders offered Jake running shoes so he could do the run instead. Luckily I was more or less ready to go apart from having a drink and energy gel so i was able to start only slightly less prepared than usual. The run was quite a pleasant route, heading straight up a very steep hill out of the valley before turning on to forestry tracks that gained height more gradually. I was able to pass quite a few people and was feeling pretty good about myself until I realised that they were all competing solo whereas I had just had a good rest. After only getting slightly lost on the way back down it was an easy run in to the finish where I made some profuse apologies to Jake. He was very good about the whole thing and winning a spot prize of a canoeing book cheered up team Farmy Army even more. A big fry up in Dwellingup topped off an excellent day out.

We'll definitely be back next year if they'll have us. There is some crazy talk of doing it as solos, if only to make the transitions smoother.