Midnight Madness - BNC2012

[the BuTch3R]

completed report below...

[the BuTch3R]

completed report below...

[Traveler]

Keep going Shaun, this is interesting.

[Royco]

Keep going Shaun, this is interesting.

x2!!
Don't stop now....

[Bugzy]

Nou waar is die res??????

[Blaps]

:roll: It seems they got lost..........

[Bugzy]

The next checkpoint was more than 70km away.

It seens that it was wayyyyyy more than 70km away.........

[the BuTch3R]

completed report below...

[the BuTch3R]

completed report below...

[the BuTch3R]

completed report below...

[Mr_B]

Yyyyyeeeeeeesssssss... and then... ??

I'll fill in with a pic or 2 while we wait... from FB...

The Butcher tackles stage 5 with gusto:

ButcherAction.jpg (6.9 KiB) Viewed 3161 times

[the BuTch3R]

completed report below...

[ChrisF]

Shaun ... and then ..... ?

NICE write up !!


PS - spoke to one of the marshalls this morning. From the blindfolded obstacle ....

This obstacle had a MARSHALL on the passanger seat and the navigator walking outside - with the driver blindfolded.

The one navigator told his driver to pull off ... then stumbled into a hole .... shouting "NO, NO, NO ..." The driver says he heard "GO, GO, GO ...." Took 45 SECONDS to clear the obstacle where all others took more than 3minutes !!

[warthog]

Excellent Shaun.

We are waiting...

[Kaspaas]

Kom nou Shaun!!

Goeie skryfstyl, en die report is erg verslawend!

[Mr_B]

Shaun slaap nou eers soe bietjie...

[the BuTch3R]

After several months of waiting and weeks of prepping, the Bridgestone Night Challenge weekend had finally arrived. I put in a day’s leave from work on the Friday to do some final tweaks to the truck and to free up most of Saturday to rest ahead of what would turn out to be, by far the highlight of my entire year…

Murphy (and his annoying Law) had other plans for me and I ended up struggling with faulty relays and switches until late Saturday afternoon. Maar ek was nie bang nie! I had a quick shower, packed in the Red Bulls and Peanut Butter sarmies, and headed off to the starting point at Bridgestone HO in Montague Gardens, collecting my navigator, Anthony, along the way. This would be our 2nd year entering as a team and we were determined to do much better this year.

Driving into the grounds, I felt completely humbled as I scanned the already crammed parking lot for a space. There were some serious contenders, all with the latest and greatest mods and gadgets that money can buy.

The initial meet & greet, indemnity forms, coffee and scrutineering (coupled with the traditional vehicle-brand-banter) was followed by the competition briefing, during which I was delighted to learn that my “Butcher Shop” themed Hilux had been judged to be runner-up in the VEHICLE DRESS-UP special stage, not to be confused with the TEAM SPIRIT special stage which was deservedly awarded to our friends, Stephan Sidekick and his navigator (and wife) Spikkels.

My delight, however, soon changed to angst when we were fed the daunting news that, in addition to the 25 points we had both earned (before even departing) we would have the “privilege” of pioneering the expedition by departing ahead of all the other contestants. We quickly gathered our belongings and moved to the departure point. As the sun began to set below a beautiful, clear, Cape Town sky, we were given the nod by the marshal and we set off on our adventure. We both knew in the back of our minds that despite the stunning weather on the day, that the heavy rains of a few nights ago would come into play somewhere along the way.


The first set of co-ordinates we were provided with led us to a small clearing next to the road, just far enough out of town to allow the darkness time to set in nicely. Here we were met with 3 quick stages as a bit of a teaser for things to come.

The 1st stage was a timed run up a relatively steep embankment, around a drum and back again. The starting position was at exactly 90 degrees to the climb with no run up, resulting in a serious axle twister. As I watched the vehicle in front of me going nowhere slowly, I decided that in the absence of a diff-lock, momentum was the only thing that was going to help me up. When it got to my turn I adjusted my "loud-pedal" to high and sprinted up in a cloud of dust and a crack of thunder (which was actually the sound of my towbar making proper contact with the ground as my nose bounced up along the incline. Driving back down again provided more of the same drama and my bullbar has the battle scars to prove it.

The 2nd stage was a timed reverse around a dark, muddy track. We opted not to deflate the tyres in anticipation of a lengthy drive on tar to our next waypoint. I couldn't see a thing, nor could I hear Anthony’s instructions over the whining gearbox, but still managed to complete within a reasonable time. I heard later that some of the vehicles had to be recovered out of that mud-pit and counted myself lucky.

The 3rd stage involved the navigator estimating the width of our vehicle and then placing a stump at the closest possible distance from a tree to allow me to drive through with the minimum amount of clearance. We did pretty well at this, drawing on experience from the previous year’s challenge, and were content with our measurement of just over 60mm clearance.

We were handed out next coordinates and smiled at the fact that we hadn't deflated. The next waypoint was more than 70km away.


With three of the stages already in the bag we headed off into the night, paying careful attention to each instruction spoken by Jane-Garmin along the way (I swear it’s the same lady they used in the “Cell C… for yourself” ads). She led us out to a rural area, completely unfamiliar to us, down a gravel road that was seriously lacking maintenance.

After a good couple of bone shattering kilometers we finally saw a bright light in the distance where we knew we would find a friendly marshal welcoming us to the next stage. I imagined him to look and sound similar to Phil from the Amazing Race. “Shaun & Anthony………………………………………………congratulations, you’re the 2nd team to arrive” he would say. But as we approached we noticed a vehicle stopped about 50 meters short of our destination.

Ahead of us, separating us from our next waypoint, was a deep, dark river, with compliments of the recent heavy rains. Our dear friend Jane had obviously not been aware of the river, and judging by the facial expression and body language of the local who had since climbed out his vehicle, nor had he. (What a bad place to put a river anyway!)

He told us to wait as he cautiously, yet optimistically, approached the river, shoes in hand and jeans rolled up. Within 2 steps his knees disappeared into the water and he shook his head, all knowingly. On his instruction, we turned around and headed back down the gravel road. A few other contestants sped past us on our way out. I tried to warn them but they mistook my gestures for greetings.

All the way I wondered whether the water crossing had perhaps been part of the challenge, and at how quickly we had backed down. We were later relieved to learn that this was not the case and that the water was way too deep to pass through with anything smaller than a submarine.

So, on we drove, in search of another route to Stage 4. The detour had added just over 30km to our journey. We were a little frustrated, but far from defeated.


We reached Stage 4 a little after 9pm where we were tested on our Big5 spoor recognition abilities. Here we were at an obvious disadvantage as not many of these beautiful beasts are known to frequent the streets of Cape Town’s northern suburbs…..sadly.

One thing we do have many of, however, is shopping centers, with thousands and thousands of interesting parking spaces of all shapes and sizes to negotiate on a daily basis. This came in very handy at Stage 5 where I had to drive up and position a sinker, dangling from my bulbar, directly over a target that had been placed in the middle of the road. I nailed this challenge! Our attempt ended up being amongst the closest to the bulls-eye for the night, earning us much needed points and redemption from our dismal performance at the previous stage.

Our next set of coordinates were handed to us, and with our confidence restored, we once again put our trust in the hands of Jane.


After more than an hour of driving through farmlands and a winding mountain pass outside of Ceres, Jane seductively informed us that we had reached our destination. Here we had to demonstrate our ability to use a compass (we had 2 minutes to learn) and then race up and down a steep koppie with a tupperware container filled to the brim with water, balancing on Anthony’s lap. A bit of lateral thinking on his part enabled us to do this stint without spilling a drop. Our time wasn't too bad, but could've been quicker. Stages 6 and 7 done and dusted!

The coordinates to the next stage led us onto a dirt road a few kilometers further. This was the last time we saw tar, and marked the beginning of the excitement that would soon unfold.

We blindly followed the route that had been plotted out for us, briefly stopping along the way to locate a point on a map next to the road (Stage 8). We passed a wooden sign which read "Baviaanshoek". I had never heard of this area before but the name alone suggested that it would hold an infinite amount of offroading treasures. Boy, were we in for a treat!


As we plodded along in search of our next waypoint, something up in the sky caught our attention. It looked like 3 or 4 UFO’s dancing around in a peculiar pattern. Upon closer inspection we realized that these objects were not flying in the sky, they were in fact driving up along the face of a huge mountain that towered over the field ahead of us. Judging by the shuddering of the lights, this was not going to be a smooth drive…… but smooth driving is not what we had signed up for, was it!

We continued along the road in the direction recommended by Jane, but soon came to the conclusion that Jane had absolutely no idea how to get to where Stage 9 was hidden. We were extremely close by. We could see it ahead of us on the GPS screen, but there were no roads leading up to it. We eagerly turned off on a nearby narrow track, but this led us to a dead-end, just short of the waypoint. Surrendering to the fact that this was not the right route, and that the “as-the-crow-flies” approach was not a feasible option, we took a quick break to knock back a sandwich or two and to deflate our tyres in the hope that some violent terrain would follow.

Back up to the dirt road again and down the very next track we found the next stage. Here l was blindfolded behind the wheel (as if it wasn’t dark enough) and Anthonys communication skills were tested to the limit as he guided me through a badly eroded stretch of road. After what felt like an eternity of “left, right, stop, come” we completed stage 9 and headed off towards the mountain in the direction of the shuddering lights.


Within minutes the road surface had deteriorated to nothing more than a series of rocks and ruts. It was almost midnight but we were so energized at that point, time was of no relevance. I focused all of my attention on the ground ahead of me, planning each move, one meter at a time, choosing the best possible driving line as we began our ascent.

My focus was soon diverted when I noticed the field, that was once to my right, had mysteriously transformed into an endless, dark abyss. My strategy immediately changed from “best driving line” to “furthest driving line from the edge of the cliff”. With both hands firmly on the steering wheel, we continued to climb, and climb, and climb until we finally reached the top of the mountain, 25 exhilarating minutes later. What a rush!

Once more Jane informed us that we had reached our destination. It was inevitable though. There was no chance at all that I could or would have made a wrong turn on the way up. The top of the mountain, however, was a different story altogether. Wrong turns and getting lost would be the order of the day (night).

The remaining stages were spread far and wide. In the dark, it was impossible to tell which road led where. GPS routing was completely useless as none of these roads existed in the “real world”. We spent the next couple of hours zigzagging from one stage to the next, disregarding Jane’s monotonous pleading for us to “please drive to the highlighted route…… please drive to the highlighted route…… please drive to the highlighted route……”, like a stuck record. It eventually turned into a song that we sang along to. Clearly the fatigue was slowly setting in and our sanity was on its way out.

The tasks that we were scored on during these stages included various challenges such as boiling water, pitching a tent, using a Hi-Lift Jack, converting coordinates, etc. all in the quickest possible time. There weren’t any driving challenges, although finding and accessing these waypoints across this unforgiving terrain, in itself proved to be significantly challenging.

The ultimate climax for me was during last leg of the event. It consisted of a 5km rock climb which twisted and looped all the way back to where we had entered the mountain top, 4 hours prior. The marshal briefed us at the starting point and sent us on our way, instantly awarding us 100 points. I was surprised at his generosity, but very soon discovered that these points were far from “pasella”. The next hour would see us earning each and every point.

Never before had I experienced offroading of this nature. I was in 4x4 heaven, giggling like a tickled toddler as we battled our way up and over a never-ending sequence of rock and stone, pausing every few meters to look for vehicle tracks or some kind of sign as confirmation that we were still headed in the right direction.

The van rocked back and forth, left and right, as we crawled along. I lost count of the amount of times we bashed our heads against the insides of the cab. At one point Anthony’s head torch exploded into a display of bits and batteries as he connected with the door pillar, making for great entertainment at 4h30am in the morning.

It was pitch black and close to zero degrees outside, yet Anthony was obligated to walk large portions of the route in front of the vehicle, guiding me through various obstacles along the way. Naturally our heater was set to max help him thaw out rapidly. We continued towards a small light that had become visible in the distance, signaling the end of the stage. As we approached, I reflected on our adventure and tried to imagine the magnificent landscape that awaited us.

We arrived at the waypoint a few minutes after 5am and stumbled into a corrugated shed which housed the final 3 tasks of the evening. We hastily completed these and were sent back to base camp where the closing procedures would be carried out. As we drove off I was overcome with emotion. A combination of fulfillment, relief, and utter exhaustion.

We leisurely drove back to camp as the darkness slowly dissolved and the mountain came to life. It was even more spectacular than I had imagined. We were on top of the world, and appropriately so, as this is exactly how we felt.

Back at camp the atmosphere grew higher as the remaining vehicles gradually trickled into the area and the results proceedings began. We were satisfied with our performance. The experience itself had been rewarding enough. We had absolutely no expectations of a top placing.

We were wrong.

From the front of the crowd we heard a voice, similar to that of Phil from the Amazing Race, saying “Shaun & Anthony………………………………………………congratulations, you’re team number 3!

[Mud Dog]

Lovely report Shaun! Were any pics taken to go with that? or was your co-driver kept too busy?

[the BuTch3R]

Lovely report Shaun! Were any pics taken to go with that? or was your co-driver kept too busy?

Thanks Andy! Unfortunately we weren't able to take many photos. Some of the other contestants have been posting a few photos on the Facebook page. When I get a chance I'll copy some of theirs over to this thread viewtopic.php?f=57&t=26866" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Mud Dog]

Thanks! looking forward to that!