Day 6 (cont'd)
The first day of the rally, I accepted Robert's offer of beer, but John refused, as he was on duty. Robert also only drank coffee, cooldrinks and water. He also had a big bag of chili bites to rival [member=13967]VaalBaas[/member]' masterpieces :drif:
Today, as I'm now sort of signed up as volunteer to help Robert and John, I curb my beer drinking with dismay. I don't particularly like carbonated drinks other than as a mixer, and the Energade is sweet. I alternate coffee, Energade and water to keep me hidrated this day. Back at Race Control, I head for the bar and the sheep doser hanging from the roof, filled with brandy. I ask for a double and after some muted discussion, 4 squirts of brandy are deposited into a smallish cup and filled up with ice and Coke. I take a sip and almost choke, coughing vigorously at the unexpected strength of the drink. I immediately ask for a can of Coke, and start topping up the drink as I sip, to dilute it.
I'm sitting to the side of the stoep out of the public eye, next to John, and Robert sidles up and asks for a sip of my drink. He is still sort of on duty and doesn't want to be seen drinking. I warn him of its strength and he takes a big sip, saying it tastes just fine. I invite him to help himself any time, since he so kindly kept me in beer the previous day and later on today when we went off duty.
Later on I pass the bar to go fetch our dinners, and Elanie, one of the ladies helping out, calls me aside and apologises for the maxi double I got earlier. Apparently there had been some misunderstanding of the size of a double due to a joke that had been played on someone the previous year. I laugh and tell her it's fine, as long as they only charge me for a normal double. We chat a while, and she tells me about all her travels and life around the Karoo, about the little dogs (all Jack Russells) running around, their personalities and their quirks. She's very interested to hear that I rode here on a motorbike by myself.
I also meet Willem Avenant's family who came along to support him - his wife and cute little daughter, his brother (who could pass for his double), and his father with a megalense camera. The oom looks a bit dour, but whenever Willem is near, his chest puffs so much his feet almost lift off the ground. He doesn't say much but he is clearly very proud of his son. He is also very much into his photography, and happy to discuss it at length.
Riders' briefing is very late, after times are checked and posted. Poor John sits in the kitchen trying to keep the GPSs and his wits about him, wiping and loading tracks for each day. He is exhausted after the long day of organising everyone, and I help where I can, fetching and carrying for him.
Side note on rallies
A rally is fascinating. There are numerous people involved; officials from various organisations need to officiate. For instance there was a tall young man, originally from KwaZulu Natal. He was the official time keeper, trained and properly accredited and everything. His brother was also one, and had moved to Cape Town. The brother hadn't been available to officiate at this event, or there was a double booking, so he came instead. He had gotten involved with time keeping when he or his his brother started offroad racing, if I recall correctly.
There is a clerk of the course, who had the final say in any decisions regarding the course. It was he who decided that only the second circuit would count on the first day's special, when we bungled the direction.
There is an official affiliated with some SA organisation to do with offroad racing, even though she is also working with the WCOC.
There are a number of paramedics involved, camped just outside the camp with their vehicles. My tent was near theirs and they seemed to be having a good time in all, kuiering late into the night :
There are those who assist with everything because they know something about everything, such as Robert and John who have been involved with the rally for some years now. They fetch and carry and run and pick up and lend assistance where needed. For instance, on the first day, a rider complained that his tracks wasn't showing on his GPS, and Clive gave him a loaner. The tracking and surveillance guy, Sarel, eventually found that the fix was to download a firmware update. After that the GPS was good to go.
Then there are marshals, some in 4x4s and some on motorbikes. They are equipped with radios and ride to the deserted corners of the track, ready to spring into action as needed. I think they had the longest days, as they were up and out before everyone else, and only came back to the camp when everyone else had returned. I really take my hat off to these okes like [member=3445]Fuzzy Muzzy[/member], Nicol and others.
Sarel, the tracking and surveillance guy, apparently came of his own volition to assist with the tracking and surveillance of all the riders. Trackers were programmed for each rider, and fitted to each bike. He had a laptop showing him the positioning and number of available satellites, and a huge screen with a map of the track, showing the position of each rider as they progressed. It was fascinating. He had had the software developed himself, and was finding more and more applications for it. Looking at the satellites, he could judge where and when there would be dead spots, and when the trackers would update and the screen was refreshed.
Patiently he sat at his screens all day, monitoring the riders and alerting the powers-that-be when someone was stationary for too long. They could then quickly dispatch one of the marshalls to check out the situation. During this late night he diligently tracked the riders still out on the route - Hanli, the 3 Musketeers and the Lone Rider Nicol - and assured that they were indeed on the move and not lying in a ditch in the dark. This allowed them to complete the route for the day, when otherwise they would have been headed off and corralled back to camp.
And then of course there is Clive, spending many a weekend in the Karoo, chatting to the farmers, finding challenging routes for the riders, and marking them out. Ideally the course marshals should accompany him to get to know all the routes as well, John mentioned, and I know that [member=3445]Fuzzy Muzzy[/member] spent a few weekends here. It takes real commitment and a great effort to get everything in place, and afterwards to go around and remove the flags and markers. John said the cleaning up operation takes months.
If I have my way, I might become involved as a marshall next year. Ride the course for weekends before the racers get here, burn up in the hot sun making sure they are all OK, and then riding these awesome tracks back to base each day... I think I can do that :ricky:
