It is hard to imagine a venue more perfect for blindfolded cycling than Verneukpan on that remote stretch of the Northern Cape between Carnarvon, Brandvlei and Upington.
We travelled there for the annual Blindfolded Figure Eight Championship and were blown away not by wind or speed but by the flat vastness of this unique space. More than 50 km long and eleven km wide, the pan is totally flat and bare. Our mission was simple: ride your best figure of eight, blindfolded. Some rules would apply, but this was the essence.
Our initial reconnaissance ride on the pan was wonderful. No traffic, no roads, no lanes, no rules. Almost like flying in two dimensions. We were not yet blindfolded but soon found ourselves disorientated: which way to our camp? When the eye can find no landmark; no mountain to mark the horizon, no tree nor shrub nor post, it is then that the mind will sneak in to create those in the form of far-off mountains, dark forests or glimmering waters and he who ventures onto the pan is soon hopelessly lost among convincing and reassuring mirages. A real danger, according to the locals.
Saltzman was the name of the farmer close to the pan, causing us to speculate on the influence names may have on destiny (salt man to salt pan?). He was much less interested in our quest than in speed and could tell wonderful stories about ambitious attempts on motorbikes and other high speed vehicles.
The wreck of Johan Jacobs’ jet propulsion dragster lies rusting on his farm, a sad reminder of a fighter pilot obsessed with speed going very quickly through the required testing and formalities before making his attempt on the one mile standing start record. According to Saltzman, Jacobs knew about wet weather approaching, so rushed into the attempt, opening afterburners too soon, losing consciousness and crashing off the 20 km course, losing his life. This all happened in 2006.
Back on the pan, we were reminded of the rules; simple in their complexity. Your starting position is determined by the rainbow colour you have drawn, red starting first and violet last. Blindfolded, you set off and endeavour to describe, as symetrically as possible, a figure of eight. You start with 100 points but lose one point for every second that your ride lasts less than 100 seconds , also one point for every metre separating your start- from endpoint. For not crossing over, you lose 100 points — it is very easy to finish on a minus score.
It is the stillness, the total absence of sound that conspires to confuse and disorientate the blindfolded cyclist hoping to find and keep his bearings. When there are no sounds, one has to rely on senses few of us have.
The championship remained unclaimed. The rider in red was the only one to successfully cross over, but she finished so far from where she had started that all points were lost. Giant circles were described by yellow and blue, both convinced there had been two. Orange fell off and was disqualified, indigo had to be retrieved by motorized means after disappearing over the horizon in a perfectly straight line. Violet, last to start, was affected by what she had seen and tried too hard, ending with something resembling a poorly drawn 3.
The championship continues next year but the rules have been further simplified. All you have to do, is ride straight to a soft marker 264m out. The scoring system is still under construction but crossing over one’s own path will definitely lead to disqualification. The sooner one starts practicing, the better it may or may not be. Huge prizes are at stake.
