By Richard Ussher

Our last race for the year got off to an auspicious start when our team mate Jacob Roberts called to say he’d come off second best with a car while out biking and had a broken shoulder. Luckily for Jacob he didn’t look as bad as his bike or we’d have been at his funeral.

Ramadan was also about to start in Abu Dhabi so the whole country was about to head into a 2 week holiday and so a replacement needed to found ASAP so the flights could be organised.

Step in super sub Nathan Fa’avae who’d as luck would have it in pretty good shape having just raced in New Caledonia.

Prologue
This is where we were seriously worried about the skill level in our team with 2 swimmers and 2 almost non swimmers. We’d been up to some testing at the local pool in Nelson though and reckoned we’d minimised our weakness as much as possible with the aid of some flotation, a snorkel and some tow lines.

The opening MTB ride was just as scary as anticipated with the tension and nerves finally being released as over 160 athletes set off on the start of the 6 day race.

Off the bike and the pace was hot for the ensuing run through the grounds of the Emirates Palace hotel and out to the launching point for the swim. The swim had been in doubt earlier as several large barges had been blocking the course even as we’d set off on the MTB but even the weaker swimmers we relieved a gap had been cleared as the day was already heating up and the prospect of a further 5km of running didn’t seem appealing to anyone.

Into the water we were slightly in the lead but now it was just a matter of when we would get past, not if. Surprisingly it took a while but then as we got closer to the beach opposite more and more people came past.

It should be pointed out that Adventure racers are not renowned for their swimming abilities – in fact most of them avoid it at almost any cost, a mere survival tool as opposed to anything even slightly resembling speed. Add to that the fact there were several teams comprising top triathlete’s including Hawaii Ironman World Champion Faris Al Sultan and it seemed evident to most of us we were on a hiding to nothing.

Elina and I were going a long OK but I was intrigued as to these occasional bursts of speed we were having, I made a mental note to ask Elina as whatever it was it was making a massive difference to the pressure on the tow rope and therefore our pace, if only she could replicate it more often now!

We arrived at the beach and Marcel and Nathan had already grabbed our gear and were setting our boats up. We were off in no time but almost immediately became concerned that there appeared to be no one ahead of us and no one following either. We had very nearly decided to turn back when a second team launched and then teams started pouring out of the transition in pursuit. It turned out we weren’t the only team with mixed abilities in the swim and the only complete team on the beach had been Faris’s but they’d been making a slower transition to the boats than us.

After a quick run on the island we were back in the boats for the sprint to the finish. We had managed to gain almost 5 minutes on the closest team Vibram Sport from France in the part of the race we’d expected to struggle in the most.

I finally also got a chance to ask Elina what she’d been doing so differently when we’d been having the bursts of speed in the swim and the answer was that must have been when she had used her arms! The rest of the time she’d been staying as straight as possible and just kicking as her lifejacket had been pulling to high over her head when she tried to do an arm stroke.

Kayaking
So after a more successful than hoped for start to the race we had a great feeling within the team heading in to 2 kayaking stages where we were hopeful of putting some more time on our rivals.

Heading off from the Le Mans start it was complete chaos until we got clear of the main pack. There was a navigation choice whether to head inside a prominent boulder bank and get flatter water but a slightly longer course or take the short option and risk the rougher water.

We chose the outside and rougher water and were rewarded with some good runs down the wave faces as we raced neck and neck with the other NZ team ADCO. We had taken our sails completely down by now to try and save on wind resistance as we were heading mainly into the wind and slowly we managed to build up a small lead over the others and as we passed the end of the boulder bank we could see our route choice had paid off as we had a healthy lead on the teams who’d chosen the inside route.

A slight bit of confusion did ensue after the following CP when the satellite map and the actual coast didn’t seem to match up at all for a while. We made a detour around the conflicting headland which appeared to be under construction – and in fact was. Since the time the satellite map had been taken they’d managed to add a peninsula close to 500 metres long straight across our intended course. Sanity was restored as we detoured around and found several islands which were correctly on the map.

We arrived at the final CP for the day and our overnight camp, a tiny anchor shaped island which had a good tide rushing out making the final few hundred metres a slow struggle to get to our landing point. We could still see ADCO pushing hard about 5 minutes away but we still couldn’t see 3rd on the horizon meaning we’d succeeded in creating some considerable gaps. By the time the majority of the teams started pouring into view the tide was at a full run past the island and the final 500 metres must have seemed like an eternity for them as they inched forward.

A relaxed evening on the island and the next morning we headed out with a 1 minute interval to ADCO. Today’s paddling had plenty of shallow looking areas where navigating channels from the satellite photos would be critical to getting away again.

ADCO shadowed us for the first part of the paddle taking advantage of any small mistake we made in finding the channels and being able to paddle directly to the deeper water by following our lines. We had one critical channel to find where we were unsure if we would even find any water at such a low tide. It turned out to be only about 20-30cm deep so we had a short run towing the boats until we hit the main channel again and headed off under paddle power again.

By the end of the paddle we’d gain only managed to put a few minutes into ADCO but more importantly we now had almost 40 minutes of 3rd placed Vibram Sport who we knew would come back strong in the remainder of the race.

The Desert
A bus transfer in the afternoon saw us in the middle of the Liwa desert preparing for what most assumed would be the physically hardest stage of the race, a 120km run through the dunes of the Empty Quarter.

It was noticeable how much warmer it was in the evenings than in previous years and the prospect of a very hot day for the run made planning water all the more important. We knew it would start out at a good pace, but with all our food for over 24 hours, mandatory gear and a large amount of water our packs didn’t make the prospect of running all that inviting.

As predicted we all set off at a good clip and it wasn’t long before the group of teams at the front was whittled down to the front runners. With about 30 km to the first water station many teams found the fast pace and already soaring temperatures had depleted their water quicker than expected and by the time we made it to CP3 and the first water there was plenty of relief at being able to restock on the fluid.
The top group was now down to 4 teams and quickly headed on to the optional CP 3+ and then to CP4 before the real heat of the day came. By CP 4 the lead group was also strung out and the temperature was making life extremely uncomfortable. We made the call to take a portion of our 8 hours mandatory rest here and to try and sit out the worst of the heat, which was easier said than done with little shade except for our tents available.

All 4 leading teams had similar tactics it seemed as we left together but almost immediately Vibram attacked and the next 2 hours were at a ferocious pace as ADCO and ourselves chased. For us our only goal for the whole section was to not lose any time so once we caught back up we eased into containment mode and gradually the 4 teams came back together.

In the desert the following teams have the advantage of not only being able to see all the previous teams tracks but they are also easier to walk in than breaking a new trail in the soft sand and so as soon as the pace slackens or there is some navigation choices the gaps behind seem to close quite quickly.

By CP5 it was now dark and realising that ADCO and Vibram were going to take the remainder of their rest we followed suit. It was still amazingly warm in the evening in contrast to the freezing cold we’d experienced in earlier years at night in the desert so everyone was able to sleep in relative comfort and enjoy some good food before the final push to the end of the section – still some 50 kilometres away.
There was something of a resignation between the top teams now it seemed that it was going to be very hard to get away, especially now at night and so with the racing almost at a stalemate for the section we were able to move through at a comfortable pace, although the kilometres ticked by at an agonisingly slow pace as our route keep us high in the dunes and away from any of the salt pans where the travel was flat and firm underfoot.

By sunrise we were close to the final CP before the finish and we’d been joined by several other teams who’d been able to take advantage of our tracks and the cooler conditions to push up to the group.

It was a bit of shock to the system when several teams started to ramp the pace up with about 5km to go. It’ been a long time on the feet already but eh competitive urges took hold and for the last hour we ran through the final kilometres like we’d just started out and ended in a group sprint to the finish just over 27 hours after we’d started.

For us it was mission completed for this stage, we’d been able to keep a good cover on our competition and avoid any losses. The whole team had come through well with no major issues and many of the teams looked to have exerted themselves far more in getting through than we had. With still 2 days of racing to go we all knew that recovery was going to be critical.

The day was spent in Bedouin shelters out of the worst of the heat, watching other teams come in and reflecting on the previous 24 hours in the desert. This year we’d also seen conclusive proof that camels are in fact pretty fast through the desert as we’d crossed paths with several groups during the run that we’d seen thundering across the plains and then slipping through the dunes at a pace we could only dream of matching, despite our best efforts and memories of the extremely slow and rather un-co-ordinated camels we’d used two years previously.

Mountain biking
Day 5 already and it started with a 33 km sprint to our sponsor Qasr Al Sarab – a new resort in the middle of the desert.

We made a break from the gun, taking advantage of some top teams starting further back in the pack and by the time we made it to the first CP we held around a minute advantage. There was a strong headwind whipping up and sand was starting to drift on the roads just like snow does. It was incredible how much of it gets blown around and how much the sand mimics the movements of snow.

Vibram Sport had chosen to run very narrow cyclo cross tyres in the hope of getting away from the other teams and at the finish they’d moved into 2nd behind us and were now putting some serious pressure on ADCO for 2nd overall.

We relaxed and looked around the resort before the second bike stage to finish the day. We also received some added incentive to maintain our lead overall with the offer of a few nights stay at the resort straight after the race – if we won.

The second stage looked like being a copy of the first stage as we managed to get away early before I punctured allowing almost the whole field to pass. We didn’t do a great job of the change but before long we were on the charge through the field again. The wind was really blowing now and the road was covered in many places.

We’d covered the same piece of road 2 years ago and it’d been just over 2 hours for the section but this year far more sand appeared to be on the road and the wind was also not making life easier for anyone.

We finally caught up with the main pack of teams at the front of the race; it seemed no one was willing to push the pace at the front for fear of giving their competition an advantage so we’d been lucky they hadn’t got too far ahead.

Back at the front we put the pressure on again and slowly pulled away with one of the German teams. There was a lot of pushing as deep soft sand was now all but covering the road and our progress was slowed to a crawl. Everyone on our team was also now nearly out of water and with about 15 kilometres still to go it was looking like it’d be a very dry end to the section.

Nathan spotted an old bottle of water lying on the road and picked it up, gave it a try and declared it good to drink so we divided it up amongst the bottles and it gave us some respite from the thirst that was only accentuated by the amount of sand we were inadvertently eating as we biked though the sand storm.

It was definitely a relief to finally see the finish banner come into sight and bring to an end one of the shorter but for our team one of the most challenging sections of the race so far. Vibram’s skinny tyres had proved to be a real mistake and they conceded nearly 25 minutes to ADCO to give some large time gaps between the top 3 and make any changes on the last day difficult to comprehend.

Al Ain and Jabel Hafeet
It was an early start to the last day with a night orienteering section to start before climbing the mountain Jabel Hafeet via a canyon.

We were once again the chased as teams were set off in rank at 1 minutes intervals and it by the second control we had ADCO for company. We ran the remainder of the section shadowing them, knowing that this was the last navigational challenge before the finish and therefore we were just aiming to not lose any time.

Surprisingly our teams put further time on Vibram and after a short break to allow daylight to finally arrive we set off with ADCO to climb almost 750 vertical metres up to the top of the Jabel Hafeet which overlooks Al Ain. The canyon was one of the highlights with fixed ropes, ladders, climbing and a fair bit of exposure all involved in getting us to the top.

When we reached the final stop before the finish on top of the mountain we were treated to the extremely rare site of rain, all be it light as we all did our best to clean out the cafe situated at the top of the road. It’s also not often you have to worry about being cold in that part of the world but we were all very glad for the jackets and thermals we’d had to carry.

Finally we set off on the final ride to the finish. It started with a neutralised ride down the 12 kilometre descent to the base of the mountain before we were set free to fight for the final segment of the race. With a flat road and only 20 kilometres to the finish the majority of the results were already a formality but a few teams gave themselves a bit of extra work with unexpected punctures making for slightly more work to catch back up to the pack.

Off the bikes and it was a short run through a palm plantation and to the finish line.

After 6 days we’d achieved our 3rd win in succession at the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge. The whole team performed each and every day and it was certainly far less stressful than the past two editions where going into the final days we’d been nursing leads of only a minute or two.

It was great to finally relax and the next few days at the Qasr Al Sarab resort now beckoned.

Thanks to Qasr Alk Sarab, the ADTA and TDIC for their support in helping us get to the race again this year and all of our regular sponsors who make it possible to stay at the top of our game.
SUBWAY
PLANET X – ON ONE
R&R Sport, Kia Motors, Leppin Sport, Thule, Nike, Tineli, Vittoria & Geax tyres, Em’s Power Cookies, Speedplay pedals, Blue Seventy wetsuits,
Pearl Izumi cycling shoes, Osprey packs, Andrew Martin Kayaks, Legend Paddles, Wildside Travel

Photos by Monica Dalmasso

Related posts:

1. Abu Dhabi Triathlon Report by Richard Ussher
2. ADAC – Teams Battle Sand Storm
3. ADAC – Dunes Draw Teams Together
4. ADAC – Kiwis Cruise the Kayak
5. ADAC – Teams Defy the Desert