Africa-Press – Namibia. RAYMOND ‘Wall’ Greenlaw arrived in Namibia last year to help the University of Namibia (Unam) develop a master’s degree in cybersecurity.
As a former world record holder for the fastest-known time on the 4 350km-long Pacific Crest Hiking Trail, an ironman competitor in four separate decades, and a two-time solo Race Across America (Raam) rider (5 000 kilometres and 50 000 metres of climbing), he quickly fancied competing in the epic one-day classic, the 397km Nedbank Desert Dash when he arrived in Namibia.
There was only problem: Wall had never been mountain biking.
He had never ridden gravel roads, single track, sand, or off road.
Locals told him the race was non-technical and on gravel roads. He listened.
They neglected to mention the heat, wind and dust involved in crossing the world’s oldest desert, the Namib, and they neglected to mention the dreaded pipeline section, steep climbs and sandy riverbeds.
As the only male American in the race, Greenlaw wanted to make sure he finished.
The hopes of a country were riding on his back.
He didn’t want to burn his matches too early. Riders aged 60+ are allotted 25 hours, so he paced himself accordingly.
Wall had no intention of racing the Nedbank Desert Dash, as one does not conquer the Dash, one survives it.
The route had other ideas.
By halfway, the 61-year-old lost vision in his good right eye, mainly due to dust and a problem with his cornea.
Even with correction, his left eye provides only 50% vision.
He soldiered on with only the capacity of a quarter of an eye for the second half of the Nedbank Desert Dash.
Greenlaw drew inspiration from the Navy Seals he taught and from Mo Wilson’s spirit.
Lacking any real vision, he crashed seven times after reaching the halfway point.
As a result of so many falls, he lost feeling in his right arm, and it dangled useless for the last single-track, sandy section of the race.
His Namibian crew member Bruno Will provided him extraordinary support and encouragement. Quitting wasn’t an option. The Dash wasn’t going to ride itself.
At the finish, Wall wasn’t greeted to the expected hero’s welcome, because the announcers neglected to mention his age.
Thus, rather than realising he beat the cut-off time by 50 minutes and was the oldest Dash finisher, spectators thought he missed the 24-hour cut-off for younger riders by 10 minutes.
Sadly, he didn’t receive his finishers’ medal either.
Having travelled in 165+ countries and territories, and competed in many of those destinations, Greenlaw is not a stranger to mix-ups and hardships.
The Nedbank Desert Dash is not designed for novice mountain bikers, nor the faint of heart.
Greenlaw’s experience and training helped him cross the finish line with time to spare.
His key memories of the race will be seeing friends from the Long Ride Addicts group and receiving wonderful support from volunteers and Dash staff.
Will he ride the Desert Dash again? Absolutely not.
Imagine riding 200km across a desert into a headwind with a patch covering one eye.
Even by Greenlaw’s standards, the race became extreme due to his vision problems.
He hit a maximum speed of 75km/h on a dusty, dark road with his eyes operating at 25% capacity.
It is a miracle he made it to Swakopmund in one piece.
The cycling gods were on his side on 9 and 10 December, but he would rather not press their kindness in the future.
Greenlaw will continue his work at Unam in 2023, where he hopes to inspire students to strive for excellence.
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