DIRT and TRAIL January 22

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You want us to go where?
Hi Guys
My name is Manfred Noelkensmeier and
riding a Sherco 300SEF with the bike No 611
in the Iron class. I have been patiently waiting
for the introduction of the iron class and this
year’s ROA 53 Edition was my very first time
.The time trail went very well and I finished in
Pos. 25
On day 2 we experienced rain, rain and
more rain which made the track quite muddy
and slippery. Even under those conditions I
managed to reach the refuel point 2 hours
before time bar.
Unfortunately at about 4pm with 15km to the
finish line, on a river crossing I drowned my
bike and could not get it running again. Luckily
2 friendly local men who came by helped to
retrieve the bike out of the river and when I
wanted to call, I discovered that my phone has
died.
Two fellow riders stopped by and called for
help and then continued their race. Soon it got
late and I prepared for the night as good as I
could with a space blanket.
The next day, early in the morning at about
5 am I saw a helicopter flying over that area
but that disappeared soon after. That’s when
I decided to walk with my GPS following the
track towards Thaba Bosiu Cultural Village.
After about 10 km at about 08:30 am I reached
a small village where the friendly people took
care and organised a taxi for me to get back
Thanks to the Roof team my bike was
retrieved by helicopter and airlifted to Thaba
Bosiu Cultural Village
Manfred Noelkensmeier’s bike
getting a lift home.