Kathmandu 24hr, Kangaroo Valley

Saturday 25th September saw the inaugural Kathmandu 24hr Adventure in Kangaroo Valley NSW. At midday 22 teams lined up under the start banner at Bendeela camping area. What faced them was a 120km course which kicked off with a 16km MTB. The first part of which involved a 150m climb over 1 km. Within seconds of the start, Freya from team Hard Tail (Matt Bacon, Freya Scollay, Andrew Rowe & Paul Barry) had come off while on tow. She recovered quickly but was left with grazed legs for the rest of the race.

Despite having covered over 16km on this hilly course the leaders arrived at the first transition with in seconds of each other. They quickly transitioned into inflatable kayaks to collect five checkpoints scattered across the many tributaries of Lake Yarrunga. First to finish the 10 km kayak leg was Dufflecoat Supreme (Steve Dowlan & Adam Hunter) in under two hours. In second place was Blue Edge (Simon Manson & Andrew Love) 14 minutes behind.

Teams then had to transport there bike 100m across the lake using the inflatable kayaks. Dufflecoat Supreme made easy work of this with all other teams follow suit.

The next 33 km MTB leg really started to split the field. Dufflecoat supreme arrived at the 120m flying fox 1hr 48 minutes later having taken in some spectacular views of the Shoalhaven river valley.

Jumping into climbing harnesses they sped their way across the river without getting wet. Each of the teams then followed suit, with everyone flying across the river without delay.

The fastest teams now had the advantage, covering as much ground as possible on foot before night fall. The teams had to collect seven checkpoints in sequence at the end of which they did a night abseiled to the edge of the river. They then had to do a night river crossing after which they were met by a large fire to warm their toes. Fastest times across this part of the course were Dufflecoat Supreme 3hrs 20min, while the slowest was 9hrs 22min. Not surprisingly two teams and several team members had had enough by this stage and decided to retire by the very inviting camp fire.

Competitors were then racing for home on a hilly 30 km MTB ride, collecting one checkpoint on the way. Hardtail were spotted heading back the same way they had come having forgotten to mark the route in to checkpoint 15.

Teams arrived back at the lake crossing expecting to paddle back, only to be greeted by an inner tube raft. Competitors scrambled on board trying to keep themselves and their bikes dry.

All that stood between the competitors and their beds was a short but hilly 16 km ride and one checkpoint. Unfortunately the checkpoint was located on a knoll off a very windy road. This caused many teams to yell in frustration as they struggled to find the checkpoint in the dark. The slower teams who approached it in the light had less trouble.

Dufflecoat supreme cleared the course in a very respectable 12hrs 41mins followed by Team Buzz an (Melissa Thomas & Richard Mountstephens) 1hr 4min later.
The last team to cross the line 24hrs and 5 minutes after the start was "and last place goes to…" (Cameron Reid & Simon Gatley) Despite having crossed the line last, they did not come last because another team incurred more penalties than them.