the suburban rush, my first adventure race and our first as a team :o to avoid any potentially damaging conflicts, we agreed on the following guidelines:

- he was not to, at any point no matter how trying, scream at me.

- i could, at my whims and fancy, scream at him whenever i deem fit.

- he needs to, really gently, let me know if i were running too quickly.

- i would, most definitely, yell profanities to let him know if he were riding too quickly.

the run start was civilised, flat and paved, which also meant the front packers took off and left us in their smoke. when we eventually hit the climb, the pack could be seen streamlining ahead of us. as everyone around us slowed, we maintained our pace and pressed on.

no kidding about the climb. everyone was breathing heavily. i am really proud of nik. with his heart rate hovering 90% the whole time, he held on despite not having run much in preparation for the race. 2 sessions exactly were all he had, 3km on the road a couple of months ago and 5km on the trail just monday passed… honestly, not bad at all! thank goodness i didnt force him to train more for i would likely end up having to keep up with him…

our run seeded us just ahead of the mid pack. then we saw our bikes! now your fun begins buddy. after a short stint on the road, we turned onto this gravel path that went erm… simply straight up. racers on the trail reminded me of ants leading to their colony. these 2 army ants joined the crowd and pressed on.

deceived into thinking the end of the climb was near round a corner, i almost fell off my saddle when i saw riders ahead pushing their bikes up this loose rocky slope! the push seriously elevated my heart rate and by this time, i was in pain with my right itb grinding on the knee :( eventually the loose rocky slope descended and riding bouncing on them rocks turned the legs jelly. the last stretch saw a final climb to a checkpoint.

after getting off the bike for a short run to the puncher (with a view), i was horrified to recall single tracks descent next… switchbacks… arghhhh… i wished i were as gleeful as nik but truth is, i suck at it. people whom we had passed on the climb began zooming by. as though destined to do something stupid every ride, the left knee blindly (i was the blind one) kissed the handle bar quite violently! the pain was enough to have me madly wonder if the kneecap was cracked. after hunching over for a while, i hobbled out of the trail.

a big bump appeared under my tights and no thanks, i was not looking what’s there. as the initial shock subsided, it didn’t feel as bad. we kept on going. the next portion of the race was the ‘bushwhack’. 7 checkpoints awaited us with a couple that required some scrambling to get to. the itb was not doing well at all. gritting my teeth to get on at snail pace with the 2 bad knees, i must look like a silly toothy moron. reluctantly, i deployed nik on a mission for 3 of the checkpoints hidden up on the hills as i hobbled along the fire road. oh! my hero!

back on the bike and more downhill! arghhhhhh… are we there yet!?

my prayers were eventually answered. i reckon the leaders had taken just over 2hr?

so here i am, sitting with ice packs wrapped over the knees, pondering if i seriously want to do something like this again.

didn’t they say it was going to be fun?