Amageza Safari 2013 Buildup: Revenge of the Richtersveld

Hey guys,

Most of you will be aware of my reasons for cancelling the 2013 Amageza Rallye. In the meantime myself and other interested parties are working on fixing the legislative issues surrounding events and cross-country style racing.

However, due to the fact the route laid out is epic, the guys all have bikes and are 'ready to race' (Sorry for stealing the line KTM  ), and taking the 'race' or 'rally' out and replacing it with 'tour', we can now continue on our merry way. My humble apologies for not getting to you sooner, but I had to make sure all is a go before announcing this, as I did not want to disappoint you twice in one year!

After shutting the fat lady for 2013 I have managed to put something together in line with relevant legal legislation.

A summary of what will happen now:

• The format will be that of a cross-country tour using a road-book and GPS Compass as navigational aid.
• Back-up and support will be similar to Amageza 2012.
• Food, Lodging and Logistics will be handled by a Overland company I have contracted.
• Extremely strict cut-off's will be enforced to keep everybody within a 50km group. This is a safety aspect.
• You will be racing the clock, not your fellow entrant.
• No assistance crew. We ride malle-moto style. A fellow entrant may assist you.
• A full booklet with the tour information will be available to paid-up entrants.
• No timing will take place on public roads with the exception of the cut-off time for starting the Special Section.
• Timing of the Special Sections will take place for statistical purposes.
• Failure to complete every stage in the time allocated will win you a seat on the truck for the rest of the tour. We cannot have stragglers. You're part of the main group, or you stick to tar. Special consideration will be given if you have multiple flats, but again, prepare to not have flats. Decent rally tyres like the Michelin Desert/Race and extra heavy duty tubes.
• There are spots for you and your bike on the Overland truck. Only 22 spots for bikes are available on the trailers at R500 per bike from Kakamas to Cape Town. First book and pay, first loaded!
• You need a valid passport. We have to duck into Namibia for fuel, so unless you can do 500km on a single tank, make sure your Passport is valid, and your bike has a license disk, number plate and at least one rear-view mirror.
• All the rules, final entry form, and information booklet will be sent to you once fully paid.
• Please pay BEFORE 7 August 2013. The Overland guys are in Namibia currently, on return I have to pay them. So get your money paid PRONTO! Pretty please!!  :3some:

PLEASE PLEASE NOTE! This route is extremely difficult. The stages and special sections are comparable to the Dakar and length and difficulty. I have tried my best to give you three days of Dakar in Africa.

Stages are as follows:

Date,Leg #,Route,Total Distance,Special Stage,Longest Distance between Fuel stops,
20 October 2013, 1, Cape Town to Sutherland, 640 km, 140 km, 180 km
21 October 2013, 2, Sutherland to Springbok, 729 km, 150 km, 200 km
22 October 2013, 3, Springbok to Kakamas, 567 km, 150 km, 275 km

Who can join:

I opened up the 'tour' for the fully-paid up entrants for the Amageza Rallye first, now its open for the partially paid as well. We already have enough riders, but there are a couple of places available. If you are one of the fully-paid and want to go, check your email, if nothing, then email me at [email protected].

If you had paid the initial registration fee and want to go, you need to pay the remainder and drop me a mail with the proof-of-payment.

The good news is that we already have enough riders. I would just like you to have the opportunity. So if you have paid your initial R3000, have the time from 19 October to 22 October 2013, will be fit and ready, then pay the remainder, drop me a email, and get ready for the adventure of your life.

You know me guys. If its easy, I'm not interested! Lets ride!!  :thumleft:





To see what happened last year, there is a teaser here:
Airs as follows:
SAT 24 August: 8am, 2pm
SUN 25 August:  4am, 2pm


Update #1:
Please find the new info for the 'Safari'  :deal: over here:

https://www.amageza.com Click on the garage door....  :imaposer:

Now...

Go to Events...
Click on 'Amageza Safari 2013'...

One item is the rules and other info.
Other one is the entry form.

Entries will stay open until 1 September. See, I don't have to pay certain sporting bodies in advance now...  

But...

Absolutely no lay-bye's.

• R6000 buys you a m@er of a adventure. 1980 dakar style.
• R500 buy's you a ticket on the party bus back to Cape Town and your bike on the trailer. You have to however, buy your own beer.  ;D

2013/08/16
Article in the Cape Argus on 2013/08/15. Research was not so lekke, but a A for initiative!

2013/08/22
When it comes to fitness, those of you entered for Amageza 2013 should be around this fitness level by now if you're planning to get past day 2  > :
Amageza Fitness Test #1

2013/09/03
On Amageza 2013:

• The Selective Section (SS) on Day 1 is longer than both days SS combined of Amageza 2012.
• Leg 2 is longer than the total distances of Amageza 2011 and 2012 combined.
• The shortest stage, Leg 3, is longer than the entire Amageza 2012.
• The SS on Leg 3 is longer than the entire Leg 2 of Amageza 2012

2013/09/04
Radio:
Can I bring a radio not specified in the documents/ entry form?

• If I allow you, I have to allow anybody.
• If your charger fails or gets lost, you cannot charge you radio.
• I don't want to handle separate types of chargers. 3 is enough. We have redundancy as everyone has a charger, so if one breaks its not a issue.
• We can also program every radio to another frequency should we unexpectedly run into a another group using the same frequency.
• Last year there where riders with similar idea. At the end of the day, it did not work, and they had no radio at all. I allowed it, but no more. This year is too remote.

Over the past couple of years we have tried many things, some worked some did not. Letting every rider bring his own type of radio did not work. The basic PMR radio is legally bound to a max Tx of 0.5W. But, the Zartek 708, Vratvark and Bosvark has a emergency override that lets you up the Tx to 3W,4W, and 5W individually. This is a lot of kilometers we will be able to hear you if you're off route, lost, broken down or injured. This is also part of our Health and Safety plan. (Yes, by law we need one!)

GPS:
The best way to test your GPS is to switch it on, then go ride for 10 hours and see if it recorded your complete track. Or, switch it on, leave it a place it can see satellites, and check after 8 -10 hours how it did. If it fails to record 10 hours at 1sec intervals then switch it to 2 seconds. The newer GPS's has a 'normal', 'less often' drop down setting. Same thing.

Please TEST your kit BEFORE scrutineering.

• Check how long your radio battery lasts if left on.
• Know how to change to max Tx mode and to know when it is in that mode. (This might save your butt)
• Know your GPS and how to enter GPS coordinates manually
• Make sure your GPS is set to degrees and decimal minutes, ie. 34°9.175'S 18°51.902'E
• Validate that your GPS can record a track of 8 -12 hours. Depending on your capability. If your boot soles wear through faster than your bike tires, you may need more than 12 hours worth of track log.
• Know how long the battery will last on the GPS and TEST your power connector to the GPS is stable. If you loose your GPS track, you will be disqualified if it happens enough.
• If you have a old GPS lying around, use it as well. There is no restriction on the amount of GPS's, only that no maps other than the base map is allowed and that it is a Garmin and can interface via USB.