Andy located our wetsuit bag and handed out the wetsuits. The race organiser had thoughtfully erected a tent for us to change into our wetsuits. Modesty dilemma number 3. Do I go into this open-sided tent with all the blokes and take off my clothes and then perform the gymnastic routine required to get into the wetsuit? Or should I go into the little toilet block and change. Go figure.... I went into the loos.
The challenges presented by adventure racing require you to face your fears, inhibitions and foibles. I was being challenged in the prude department. The thing I have realised is that in racing, your body is a machine and no one is looking at you.... So I had a brain-wave. Why get yet another bra wet that I would then have to carry for hours in my backpack....I was going to bravely take it off and put on my wetsuit. This was almost akin to skinny dipping for me. Wow! I was making great strides. Meanwhile Ross, Will and Andy were being embarrassed by less prudish women who were stripping off all over the place. Ivan was right....the adventure racing crowd are an uninhibited lot!
Once we had donned our wetsuits, the 4 of us gathered together, ready to face the next challenge. William like me, was wearing a brand new wet suit. Unfortunately, to accommodate his broad shoulders he bought a wet suit that is about two sizes too big and looked like Andy Pandy. Andy, meanwhile had the perfect size, winter weight wetsuit. (For which he must have been really grateful as the water turned out to be a bit chilly!) Ross's wetsuit...well...it was too small and he looked like he was in a full body cast. He kept thrusting his head forward, out of the neck line in an attempt to catch some breath. The neck was so tight it looked like a vicar's dog collar gone wrong!
We all started to waddle, squelch and squeak our way up the 2 1/2 km walk to the start of the canyoneering section of our race. Ross had to mince, due to the tightness of his suit. I never seen him walk like that before....I never want to again!! (It is not good for a wife to see this!!)
Even though we had watched the video of the river with its grade 5 rapids, down which we were canyoneering for just over 2 km, I had no idea of what to expect. We arrived at the head of the first obstacle. It was a 12 foot waterfall. We had to launch ourselves off this, one at a time, into the roiling white water below.
I was overcome by terror.
Andy decided to go first. He approach the lip of the waterfall. The instructor/marshal instructed him on how to tuck up his legs and where to aim for when he jumped. He squatted. He paused. He paused a bit more. It seemed as if a dose of common sense overcame him....I thought, he wasn't going to go...He thought he wasn't going to either. He squatted a bit more and then launched himself into space. He only realised he had jumped when he found himself in the air. Seconds later, he hit the water, disappeared from view and bobbed right back up. Next up was Ross, he leapt without hesitation and reappeared in no time, his glasses firmly held on his face by his sports strap. They didn't even look like they had moved a millimetre.
Now it was my turn.
Ten minutes later it was still my turn.
The instructor told me where to aim. I approached the edge. I hate edges. I am frightened of falling over them. I am not fond of the idea of going under that water either.... I squatted down and tried to straightened my legs to launch myself over. No Go. I tried again.
I mentioned something along the lines of being terrified. The marshal was so sweet. I jokily said, "I think I would rather go over it in a kayak" The air was blue with her reply...in summation she told me I was mad, she would rather jump it! Will said I had to go. I tried again....nope.
Another team turned up...I had to let them go through. Meanwhile Ross and Andy are waiting in the freezing cold water.
I looked again. She re-explained the technique. It's just like a bomb I said, as she told me I would have to tuck my legs into a ball.
The marshal said I had to go or our team would be disqualified. (She told Will that she wouldn't have done that) I told her I really wanted to do it for my team. Will wanted me to go before him because he was worried I wouldn't go. Eventually, I made Will go first. He went over like a dream. The marshal pointed out that I was wearing a PFD which would pop me back up to the surface.
Now I had 3 men at the bottom of the waterfall gesturing for me to jump, shouting encouragement.
Finally, from somewhere deep within me I found a level of courage and determination that I didn't know that I had....I closed my eyes, I pinched my nose shut and leapt. I couldn't quite believe I had managed to do it. The rest of the team were surprised I had done it too... they were convinced I wasn't going to.
The water rushed about my head, as I plunged below the swirling surface. I felt my bike helmet, worn for safety, pull up under my chin and felt it slip slightly to the right. I was under the water no more than a few seconds and the buoyancy aid bobbed me up towards the daylight and air. Ross grabbed me as I surfaced (he said I made a face like a budgie - very complimentary). With shouts of congratulations we were off, bobbing along the river like flotsam as the current propelled us along to the rapids. We had to clamber over rock after rock, through rapids and tricky currents. Our shoes (required kit) soon filled with gravel and we had to ignore it.
We came to another waterfall, about 10 foot high, with very little hesitation but with lots of trepidation, I jumped off and we waded further down stream.
It was shortly after this that Ross slipped on a large flat rock, went down like a ton of bricks and with audible crack. I am so grateful that he was wearing a helmet because he stopped his fall with his head and elbow and bum. I was right next to him and told him to lie still and then ask him if he was ok. He gingerly clambered back on to his feet. He was absolutely fine. Thank God!
I was feeling on top of the world. Having faced another fear, I was loving floating down the river and bobbing about over the rocks.
Meanwhile, Will who had been thoroughly excited about doing the canyoneering, having done it before, was struggling. He had a raw broken blister on one foot which was causing pain, he was suffering with cold and hunger and was in a bad place in his head, he said subsequently that he was tired from doing bike nav (navigation) for so long. This was lowest point for him, most of us would experience them at some point. We just had to go slowly, instead of dashing along through the water, we had to hug the sides and even tried to get out of the water so that he could avoid the cold water.
We reached the third leap of faith...only to discover that the marshals had had to make a decision to close the obstacle because the river levels had risen too much and made the waterfall jump to dangerous. In fact, we were one of the last teams to complete the canyoneering section because they closed it to other teams due to the raised water levels.
I am so glad we got to do it ... it was incredible and was an amazing adventure. I feel like I really overcame something when I jumped off that first waterfall....
Back at the base, I stripped off my wetsuit without a second thought, chatting to other women in the change rooms. Wow! What a change. I dashed out of the change rooms and helped William dress his foot while Andy stashed the wetsuits and Ross mixed up some more meal replacement (yeugggchhhh! but necessary) I must say, although, I am not a fan of drinking my dinner this meal replacement works. I use it along with a fruit and nut bar, some dried sausage, cheese (or 'cheeses' as they became known much Will's good natured annoyance) to make a meal.
Once I had refilled our water bottles and made up some more energy drinks we were back on our bikes ready to face a night of cycling.
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