Off Road Rescue Unit
Event Report
The joBerg2c is a nine day mountain bike stage race that takes place from Heidelberg just south of JHB and travels via farm roads and across farms and single tracks to the beach in Scottburgh on the KZN South Coast.
The riders travel over 1,000kms and there are over 450 riders taking part.
The ORRU team taking part were
M95 Chris, M88 Theresa, T44 Brian, V58 Russell, G10 Grant, T09 Ivor, R55 Relma, V45 Louis, T81 Ian, Y24 Jeanine.
Day ONE Friday 27 April 2012
The team met at the RV south of JHB at 05h30 and maps and GPS’s were updated and medical kit issued. Coffee was consumed.
The team then moved in convoy to the start south of Heidelberg and at 08h00 the race was underway.
The ORRU teams leapfrogged along and around the route to the Vaal dam where the riders then crossed on boats and the race continued into the Freestate, with ORRU manning road crossings, providing race communications and handling the medical and other needs of the riders.
ORRU were supported by a XCountry Medical ambulance, manned by Peter, Rick and Kev and the race doctor, Greg joined us at the race village in Frankfort for the first night’s stopover. T81 Ian joined us as planned at Frankfort.
This year we can report that the mobile showers, run by our friend Paul Venter (the Sabie sweep in a Unimog) were superb, as was the food and hospitality, provided by the local school.
Day TWO Saturday 28 April 2012
An early start at 05h00 on a cold and crisp Freestate morning, with a great breakfast at 05h30 and ORRU teams deployed to ensure the safe passage of riders through the town and onto the race route.
The race starts at 07h00 with the riders being led through the town by a huge Massey Fergusson red tractor, until the racing section where the tractor pulls off and racing begins.
M95 Chris and V45 Louis have gone ahead to get Chris up onto the high ground for comms and Louis into position on the route at a dangerous section, while the rest of the team leapfrog alongside the route manning points and assisting where required.
While the race leaders, who are pro riders are able to finish each section within hours, the bulk of the riders then take the rest of the day to finish and the slower riders are keeping the sweep rider Mark, company. ORRU are stretched each day to cover the route over 100kms long, supporting the front runners and still having members in place to assist the sweep. A long day.
We managed to get the sweep in well before dark and while some team members assisted the doctor in the mobile clinic we set up each day in the race village, others were left to discuss the day’s event with captain Morgan who was travelling with us.
Another superb meal prepared by the local school in Reitz.
Each town tackles the challenge of setting up the myriad of two man tents alongside the huge marquee capable of feeding 600 people in one sitting and then provides an evening meal fit for kings and a hearty breakfast the next day.
The whole ethos of the event is about giving back into these communities and over and above the fundraising efforts of these schools and communities, there are a number of other community up-liftment projects as the events snakes its way to the coast.
This year, funds were raised and a number of wheelchairs were donated at each overnight stop for that town to allocate where needed most. Bicycles were presented to an increasing number of interested young people who not only want to assist and work on maintaining the route and single tracks but are now inspired to actually ride in the event going forward.
Each school were presented with new Lexmark printers etc.
Day THREE Sunday 29 April 2012
Another early start at 05h00 and the same routine of deploying members through the town to ensure the riders safety until off the main roads some 15kms away from town.
A day filled with responding to calls for assistance from riders and organisers alike. The route has changed from last years and they have managed to get more cross country riding and less district road. Communications is always an issue in the flat parts of the Freestate and long masts attached to ORRU vehicles at key points is the order of the day. T09 Ivor managed to pick up a puncture near WP3.
Day 3 ends with the riders travelling the 3kms along the magnificent Sterkfontein Dam wall and again we managed to bring the last riders in just before sunset. It is a long day to start riding at 07h00 and only get to the next race village at sunset. The veldt and roads are dry and dusty this time of the year.
Y24 joined the team, having driven down from JHB that day and went straight into the race village and working in the little clinic that afternoon.
The local school did themselves proud at managing to feed them all 600 people involved in the event. While there are just on 450 riders, there are many organisers and officials such as ORRU, time keepers, bike mechanics, massage facilities, truck drivers, shower operators and the like, who also need to be fed and accommodated along the route.
Day FOUR Monday 30 April 2012
There had been lots of banter with Jeanine the night before as she was now the “Newbie” on joBerg2c having only just arrived, but on awakening the morning of day 4, greeted by Y24 bearing hot coffee for all, she made her mark…. Having then continued to produce hot coffee each morning from then on, has really raised the bar for any newbie next year. You are a star Y24…..
The challenge for this start was to manage the “Stop /Go” system that was in place just outside the Sterkfontein dam complex, that was in place during the road works and ORRU was on hand to not only manage the riders but the large convoy of vehicles, trucks and camper vans used in each village.
The route follows from the top of the escarpment down into the Winterton plateau, following a similar route as taken by the voortrekkers many years ago. G10 Grant and M88 Theresa got the enviable task of providing support and driving the challenging route down into the valley. The riders then had the long climb up and then down Spioenkop, the site of famous Boer War battles.
An interesting day from our point of view with a sudden flurry of urgent calls for multiple patients spread out along the route.
V58 Russell who was deployed on the high point at Spioenkop to handle the communications, did a superb job of managing the events as they unfolded, and each team member sprang into action as needed that day. Being day 4 the queue of injured and ailing riders at the mobile clinic was growing.
Later that evening at the Winterton race village M95 Chris mentioned to M88 Theresa that he had had this strange feeling in his chest since early that morning and that it was still there. Theresa examined Chris and then with a second opinion on the ECG, from Greg the doctor it was agreed that Chris needed to get to a hospital “quickly”. He was loaded into T09’s vehicle along with Theresa to monitor his condition and rushed through to Ladysmith and admitted to hospital, where further tests were done and his condition managed overnight. Chris was discharged the next day and had to return the following day for further tests. There was talk of the scourge of “Light Duty” troops having to wear “takkies and a mosdop”, or that he just wanted a night in clean sheets and a nice bed, or that one day working with R55 Relma, was enough to bring on a heart attack, but none of this was confirmed. Whatever it was Chris was finally given a clean bill of health and returned to a very worried team.
Day FIVE Tuesday 01 May 2012
Day 5 began with the same early start and traffic management duties to get the riders safely out of Winterton and onto the single track.
The route went through the bushveld and along some busy district roads with lots of traffic and long downhill sections withy riders going at speed. The ORRU team had their work cut out to be everywhere at once and yet we managed to keep the show going. The riders then traversed a game farm stocked with all sorts of animals including rhino. After a long and steep climb up to water point 2 the riders then enjoyed a flatish section into the sleepy hamlet of Glengarry, a wonderful setting nestling amongst the foothills of the magnificent Drakensberg.
V45 Louis having been a key member of the small team had to say his goodbyes and head back to Gauteng that afternoon as he was scheduled to be back at work the next day. Louis had been with us from the start and his ability to handle himself under difficult conditions in the field had been really tested. V45 came through with flying colours and we would miss him.
The local school again managing the huge task of feeding and watering all 600 people. The clinic while increasingly busy was handled out of a gazebo and we ended up with patients lying on mattresses, with drips tied to branches in trees. It was reminiscent to scenes from a WWI battlefield clinic, but everybody was treated and taken good care of. M88 Theresa, R55 Relma and Y24 Jeanine handling the bulk of the patients. They were magnificent. Even the doctor having to rush off midstream of patients on urgent family matters did not deter them.
Day SIX Wednesday 02 May 2012
The tractor formed up at the start in Glengarry, the now familiar green ORRU lights manning the route out and onto the racing section and 450 riders having dragged their now weary bodies out of the tents and onto their bikes the race was underway.
As that days route involved a lot of district road travelling, with farmers bakkies and taxis frequenting the route, it was decided that T09 would not just lead them out to the racing section but would in fact lead them most of the way through to the finish in Himeville. This involved travelling far enough in front of them to allow the dust to settle but close enough to protect them from oncoming traffic. It was amazing to see just how strong the front riders are, whether up a steep mountain pass or down the other side. At times it was a battle to stay in front of them. The day unfolded with the team managing traffic, fast riders, slow riders, calls for medical assistance, assistance at water points and again the clinic at the race village. As the ladies had borne the brunt of the previous evenings clinic duties, and as T09 Ivor was first in at the race village, having lead the lead riders in, and then soon joined by M95 Chris who returned direct from his further tests in Ladysmith to the race village in Himeville, both M95 and T09 set about begging, borrowing and scrounging whatever was needed to build a world class mobile tented race clinic. Our patients were treated in the clinic, in the “out patients” as well as the “drive though”. Patients with drips were in the shade of the tent on mattresses close to our care and even the girls of ORRU were amazed as to the high standard that could be achieved. In fact it was soo good they even joined us in working and that day we treated 58 documented cases.
Day SEVEN Thursday 03 May 2012
As something different, the riders were led through the first section of the route by four rather large Polo Ponies and their riders, before being handed over to the familiar red tractor for the next section until onto the racing section. One could not help noticing how far the riders stayed back from the horses, as against the daily bunching up real close to the back of the tractor.
As we moved away from the “Berg” and into Southern KZN, the route crossed the now famous floating bridge and through some magnificent forests. Y24 Jeanine, accompanied by Peter from the ambo, were tasked with deploying at a point GD4, marked on our maps and on our GPS’s. They drove for hours but never got closer than 200 meters of this point deep in the forest. They approached it from north, south, east and west, but the forest won and they could not get to the point. Which is a pity, as if they has just driven up the road the race route was on, they would have found it within 10 minutes, just like the sweep vehicles did. Fortunately there was no incident in that area so the only injury was possibly to Y24’s navigation skills …
As the teams pulled in at The Mackenzie Farmers Union grounds near Ixopo there were some who quizzed T44 Brian as to his health as a year ago it was here that he was the one medi-vac’d off to hospital for a gall bladder op. did this mean that T44 was now the newbie as he had missed the next few days last year?
By now the routine was well oiled. The last riders are finally in, the clinic is churning through patients, Y24 has managed the bulk of the “Bum Clinic “ Thank you Y24, you did a great job and was being asked for by name by the riders. The ORRU teams finally get to shower and sometimes even get to the evening meal in time to enjoy the stage winner announcements and presentations, followed by the photos of the day, taken by Calvin, the world’s best photographer. Each evening the day’s events were screened on Supersport at 9pm and we would get to see the preview of the evenings screening.
Straight after the supper and show, the ORRU team would hold their briefing and discus the day followed by the initial deployment plans for the next day. Maps were marked and any changes highlighted. By the time the team were briefed, the rest of the race village had collapsed into bed and were enjoying a well earned rest for those aching muscles. The ORRU team were soon to follow as the days were long and tiring.
Day EIGHT Friday 04 May 2012
Within the first 8kms from the start, the route hits a single track that is 14kms straight down into the Umkomaas valley. The previous evening at supper the organisers had shown camera footage taken by the SA downhill MTB champion and his mates as they did a test run on the route. With bike cams and helmet cams these pro’s showed us how it was done. Scary to even watch and we were not sure how many were going to complete that section in the 17 minutes it took the pro’s to do it in.
Because of the single track the riders were seeded into groups and sent off at 10 minute intervals. The ORRU vehicle at the start reported that there were 4 groups but later radioed through that group ECHO had just started. Go figure, but it was day 8 and brains were frazzled…
T81 Ian had been tasked to bring his MTN bike and to ride this section as the ORRU medic as there are areas where no vehicle will get to, so Ian set off towards the back of the pack with mini jump bag on his back and rode the single track. Of course Murphy is ever present and yes, one rider did fall and T81 was dispatched from the back to work his way through the pack in an attempt to get through to the patient. As it happened the camera helicopter managed to land nearby and flew the rider out to the doctor at water point 1 at the bottom of the single track. It turned out the rider had fractured his neck and was medi-vac’d out to hospital in Pietermaritzburg.
Having survived the downhill all the other riders then continued to ride the rest of the route through water point 2, which was 8kms deeper into to the race than announced to riders, leading to some disgruntled riders arriving at Jeanine’s point demanding water, only to be told they still had a few kilometers to go to WP 2…
M88 Theresa has driven T81’s Landy while he was on the bike and later that day they met up and Ian got his Landy back so he could set off home as planned. Ian had specially stayed on until day 8, to be able to provide us with the “Medic on Bike” skills and fortuitously he was able to swing past the hospital in Pietermaritzburg and collect out spine board and head blocks on his way home, thanks Ian.
Again that night at Jolivet, the mobile clinic was well frequented as riders needed their wounds tended to for one last time, to get through the last short day to reach the sea.
Day NINE Saturday 05 May 2012
A 07h00 race start through the cane fields down to a river crossing and two narrow bridges sees Day 9 begin. The ORRU teams have no traffic issues from the village of Jolivet as the riders head straight out onto the route, and miles of sugar cane fields, before heading up the mountains and into a mountain top nature reserve where M95 Chris and V58 Russell set off for early that morning to get in ahead of the riders and set up their comms masts. From that high point M95 was able to manage radio communications once handed over from water point 1. Again the ORRU teams were leap frogging between access points along the route, tending to the injured and supporting the weary. The route pops out on top of the sugar cane fields and the riders can suddenly see the sea far off on the horizon but well enough to inspire those last few ounces of energy to peddle the kilometers needed to bring them down through the fields across the last river, over the railway line and onto the beach at Scottburgh. Over 1,000 kms and 9 days of hard riding, just under 450 riders made it to the beach, supported every meter of the way by an ORRU team we can all be proud of.
For a change we were even in time to see the prize giving at 13h00 and although the weather was cold and windy, there still seemed to be a thirst that needed quenching, with ORRU finally leaving the beach area around 18h30 to head for the two guesthouses for the night. The team departed for home in convoy at 05h20 and the all clear was sent out at 15h00 on Sunday.
In closing
From the mapping and GPS work done by M95 Chris to the endless radio work handled by each and every member of the team. The endless hours of cleaning wounds and bandaging limbs, putting up drips and treating many saddle sores, the holding together of the team by our mother hen M88 Theresa and the rock fast steadiness of T44 Brian, who is up for any task at any time of the day or night.
To Grant, Russell, Theresa, Brian and Chris, having you guys on your second joBerg2c made it that much easier, as we have done it all before. You knew the lie of the land and the routes, you knew where the best comms spots were and you solved problems before I even heard about them. To the Newbies, Louis, Relma, Ian, Jeanine, what you lacked in experience on this event you made up with in hard work, passion and a desire to never let the team down. While you may not have been familiar with the route, you brought a wealth of other experience to the team and slotted in like naturals.
Again to R55 Relma, who started this event as a real newbie even in ORRU. If day 1 was terrifying to you, you rose to the challenge and grew in leaps and bounds. Each experienced team member will agree with me as to just how we watched you grow and blossom on this event, from the radio, navigating, medical, dealing with riders, driving off road and just being you. You amazed us, welcome to the team and let nobody ever call you a Newbie again…..
Each and every member of the ORRU team, along with the doctor Greg and the ambo crew Rick, Peter and Kev all worked together as one, in making the event the success it was.
As we know in ORRU, there are many strange requests that get asked of ORRU and again, we handled whatever came our way.
To the ORRU team, my profound thanks to each and every one of you. 9 days of living in difficult conditions, working hard and putting up with people and situations, yet we all survived and are better for it. I would go to war with you all….
We did lots, we learnt lots…. and we schemed how to improve it all next year…
I thank you
Ivor Rimmer
ORRU FTL
joBurg2c 2012
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