A year of traveling from sea to sky

This year I chose to travel to Turkey for the Sea to Sky hard enduro. It was also my first trip to this Middle Eastern country.

Not knowing what to expect when landing at the 15th biggest airport in the world was kind of scary, as I was worried about whether my camera and luggage will in fact be waiting for me at the other end of the flight.

But fortunately I safely arrived in the early hours of the Tuesday morning in the little town of Kemer in the province of Antalya on the Turkish Riviera and yes, all my luggage in tow.

Day One: The Beach Race

Here obstacles were set up along the beachfront. Riders were sent off one at a time at 15-second intervals. They only had one opportunity to set a fast lap time, so as to determine the best grid position for the actual race.

Some of the obstacles that were set up along the beachfront were flooded by the incoming tide. This caused many problems. And with the beach being a combination of pebbles and sand, conditions became extremely difficult to manage.

Some of the obstacles were repaired, and this allowed some pretty quick times to be set up by the top riders. For the main race, 50 riders were unleashed during the prologue, starting with the slowest riders first.

The heats presented 15 minutes of riding plus one lap and the rider’s position here determined their starting positions for the forest stage.

Not easy at all. Imagine 50 riders running 10 metres, jumping onto their bike and racing down the prologue. The whole shot was your one opportunity out of the mess that was to follow.

There was carnage at the log obstacle, with riders banged up and falling off bikes with others just riding over it. At the rock garden, the same thing happened. Riders crashing hard into others, falling over – it looked like a ping-pong game.

Day Two: The Forest Race

This stage in Göynük finished at Signal Hill about two and half hours away. This would prove to not be good day for Travis Teasdale and Wade Young.

They got lost, following a route marked for the mountain race. Realising their predicament, they retraced their way back onto the correct route.

Barend Erasmus had a serious crash somewhere in this stage and needed medical care. It proved nothing serious though, but the mistake dropped him back on the start line for the canyon stage.

I walked down this Signal Hill to explore the photo opportunities. It was not the easiest of exploration trips for me. The terrain was rocky and presented some tricky climbs.

Some sections did, however, allow riders to take somewhat of a breather before reaching the much more challenging last 200 metres of this stage

Day Three: The Canyon Race

The racing time for this stage was set at about an hour and 30 minutes. The start of this stage proved to be the best opportunity for shooting pictures for the whole day.

The stage descended down a steep hill into a river, over huge rocks and boulders and into the canyon. GoPro footage confirmed that the route seemed to be following many hiking trails.

These trails were scattered with rocks and, some places, the trails ran along rock faces and serious drop-offs to the canyon floor. The finish for the canyon stage proved a complete let down.

It was nothing more than an old building dump. Less than 50 meters away was a dry riverbed with the mountains in the background. Not an ideal backdrop for any kind of serious photography.

Day Four: The Mountain Race

A beach start with 10 riders on the line at a time. They would race down the beach to the first corner about 800 metres in. Two minutes later, the next group of riders would be flagged off.

Standing on the beach, my eyes drifted to the top of Mount Olympus. It was covered in clouds. That was where these hooligans would finish, I thought, while also hoping that the clouds would clear to allow time for some good pictures.

We then headed to SPP3, which was the start of day three. Once again the competitors had to race down a mountain into a riverbed where the track will cross a river, then up a steep hill climb.

Here riders were exposed to some serious dust before disappearing from our sight again. And this is when we decided – us photographers – to head up to Mount Olympus to get some awesome pictures.

When we reached the cable station, the conditions looked seriously disheartening but we decided to give it a bash anyway.

We did not heed the advice of the locals, so when we arrived at the top and stepped out of the cable car, 40-knot winds and the cold forced us right back into the cable car station and the comfort of warm coffee.

Eventually we decided to step out when it cleared slightly, managed to get some pictures with riders coming through, but well, the weather deteriorated and we are not that brave, so we were forced back in yet again.

The long and the short is this… Yes, I would recommend it as a bucket list trip – vacation that is!