River Rat

An interesting aside from the human endeavour I was in the market for a satellite tracking and messaging device for my overlanding adventurs. The requirementsare quite simple to keep friends and family informed as to my whereabouts and to be able seek and coordinate assistance should a life threatening problem arise. There are two options the Spot X and the Garmin Inreach https://xcmag.com/paraglider-reviews/spot-x-bluetooth-vs-garmin-inreach/#:~:text=Unlike%20the%20inReach%2C%20the%20Spot,and%20Start%2FStop%20tracking%20buttons. The former uses the same infrastructure used to track the riders on this race, based on the poor performance in past races of the Spot system I chose to go with Garmin albeit more expensive. Patting yourself on the back for saving R3k is little comfort when you are stuck in the middle of the Kgalagadi desert running out of water with a device thats incapable of finding the help you need. Watching the number of dots on this race that were either totally incommunicado or inaccurate I feel my decision was justified.

The private security companies are doing an excellent job in making the area safe so please give them a wave and a thank you as you pass through, they're doing this as a community service and don't get paid a cent.

The only problem with the calc is that her moving average is only 12.6 kph so that would mean she will take 58 hours to finish the route. That means she has roughly 14 hours of stopping time and she has needed 16 hours stopping time for the first third completed. Theoretically possible but highly unlikely.

Seems like Pierre Oosthuizen has caught a lift with the Ambo to De Aar which makes Patsy our last rider on the route but she's 5 hours behind the cut.

The curious case of Stuart Johnston, last night I saw his tracker showing that he was being transported by ambo from point 426km back to Britstown where he was stationary for 5 hours only to be transported back to 426km and his race continues. Was this a case of a medical precaution which turned out to be a false alarm?

If his tracker is not the blink his race is effectively run and your synopsis makes sense.

Hansie has effectively created a 4-5 hour cushion so he could have a 4 hour nap at Sutherland and be fresh when either BB or Benky get there.

And he is on the move.

Hannele is one tough cookie so I expect she'll take it in her stride.

If Benky's status is correct this could be game over if he doesn't get moving soon.

Looks Hannele and PG have realised their error and have turned around.

SJ in an ambo on the R384 at 60kph, it's all happening out there.

Hannele Steyn currently off route, I remember her adding close to 200km extra in the inaugural Munga as she headed off to Beaufort West this time she's off in the opposite direction with PG for company.

I see MB is on the move now lying 7th, I am backing him for a top 3 finish.

At least his tracker is no longer "dof" and I see BB is resting up as well.

I would think that this is an essential skill to have particularly if finishing is your goal.

Another rider to watch is Martin Bain Venn who has quietly slipped into the top 10 during the day, I remember his charge through the field after Sutherland. I wonder if we are going to see a repeat performance.

Could it be that these trackers go "dof" when being charged? Because it might just be that Benky is indeed taking a nap a recharging his tracker at the same time.

Eish, the numbers are not looking good for him his moving average is 10.kph which equates to about 84 hours of riding out of 92. Patsy on the other hand seems to be keeping with the target for now. I often wonder if they're doing the same calculations on the route, do they even have the mental capacity at this stage? I have never had a problem in all my long distance endeavours but then again I have never done a race where I was on the go for more than 15 hours non stop.

Benky's tracker isn't updating but assuming you are right we could be in for a very interesting night with Hansie being chased down by a relatively fresher Benky.

Patsy is on the move again but she has about 880 kms to go and at her current race average of 9km/h she won't make it, if she manages to ride at her moving average of 13.3km/h for at least 66 hours she can take 4 rests of 6h45m each so it's still possible.

I'm concerned for the two back markers Dirtrider is holed up at RV1 behind the cut marker so he really can't hang around for too long. While Patsy has been stationary for about an hour in the middle of nowhere.

At first I thought he had a mechanical but it seems as if he is struggling to get a rhythm going. Anyway he is about to reach WP2 and hopefully he can join up with the 2nd last rider Patsy Nakell for some motivation.

Added to the fact that he seemed to have technical and there was a lot of walking before WP1.

It really is quite easy to make a button, any soft plastic or an eraser cut or filed to size will work. Just make sure that it protrudes by at least 1 mm which is the extent of the switch range . Here's an example of mine before I sealed it with some insulation tape.