Haley Smith and Andrew L’Esperance on a rollercoaster week at new Gravel Burn in South Africa

When Haley Smith and Andrew L’Esperance returned to South Africa for the first-ever Gravel Burn, Smith’s third trip to the continent this year, they were hoping for a “third times a charm” experience. After successful races at Cape Epic for both and a win at Migration Gravel Race for Smith, both were closing out their season at the inaugural Gravel Burn. A fast start, including a stage podium for Smith, gave way to more of a “bad luck comes in threes” adventure for the duo.

Bad luck, good racing

After a week that ended up being heavy on the “adventure” side of adventure racing, the Canadian gravel couple were as positive as ever when I spoke to them back at home in Canada.

I’m taking a huge amount of motivation away from the race,” Smith says after sharing that the week saw her post career-best power records and consistently better numbers than she’s seen over five or six years of struggling with her healthy. “That’s really firing me up for next year. I’ve got so much fire to do good work this winter.”

“I don’t know if L’Espy would say that he had strong takeaways,” Smith adds, “He was so rocked by his gastro, it was was way worse than mine. He was floored for like, three days.”

Indeed, after a strong first stage, L’Esperance was nearly forced out of the race by illness. In a huge show of resolve, the Forward racing rider fought past the stomach bug to regain some speed on the final days. And, like Smith, still found a lot to take away from the week.

“I think highlights for me was just getting to compete in such a deep, talented field of riders. I think that’s what I also appreciated about doing Cape Epic. They both pull in such a huge depth of talent,” L’Espy explains. “Just getting to race with, learn from, and compete with all these people for seven days in a row is a real, real privilege. I learned a lot from it, despite having some really shitty days. Literally.”

Racing wild and living rough(-ish)

The third stroke of bad luck struck Smith on the final day. After getting away relatively easy from her own G.I. issues, Smith was still racing the top 5 overall at the start of the day. Then, a catastrophic flat cost the Canadian 43 minutes and a handful…