February 2--Misery loves company
By James Bowyer

"Last night was miserable, I fell off my bike 17 times," says a surprisingly well turned out Louise Lovelace after her team completed the 100-mile hell ride in just under 25 hours.

The team, covered in mud, limped into the fourth headquarters one-and-a-half hours behind the unstoppable French team Ertips. The bikes that had carried them through a sleepless night were wrecked.

Brakes worn out by steep hills were no longer working. Gears broke down until there was only one choice--high or low, depending on whether the gears packed up on an uphill or a downhill.

"I've never seen mud like it," said New Zealand's Robert Forster, who found the road at 3:30 a.m. particularly bad after he fell asleep three times while ploughing through the night.

Other teams, bearing scratches, welts, and other trophies from the ride had similar stories to tell.

"We must have pushed our bikes for 100 kilometers (62 miles)," said Cathy Sasson Smith from fourth-place Spie-Citra. The team crashed into the headquarters with no brakes.

The veteran Raiders developed a variety of techniques to overcome the problem ranging from jamming feet into wheels, dragging feet on the ground, to just good old-fashioned crash-landing.

The top four teams did not bother with trivials such as sleep, but chose to push on through the night. Trailing teams had the benefit of dry roads and comforting weather.

"We didn't need to use our brakes," was the cocky response from 10th-place Red Bull. The Austrian team appeared to be enjoying the ride, unlike less fortunate teams.

South Africa's Sun International team picked up 30 punctures on one bike. The unstoppable Mark Perrow was forced to cycle the last 24 miles with flat tires.

Ertips, Team Endeavor, Info Point/Hewlett-Packard, and Spie-Citra were forced to sit out for what was going to be their final day of their race. The last dash to glory was frustrated by the organization's decision to halt the canoe section for the day because of dangerously high waters.

Quotes

"If a person makes a mistake it is not their mistake; it becomes the whole teams."--Yves Masson of front-running team Ertips.

"It had to be one of the hours on the bike."--Louise Lovelace describing her worst hour.

James Bowyer is a freelance journalist living in Cape Town, South Africa.