01 July 2011

Ignitor hunter (The unsung heroes)


Pulled into Toekomst with a stupid "I dont care this was amazing" grin on my face. Got shocked back to reality when an ostrich bolted in front of me and got stuck in the electric fence... anyone say kfc... told owner and eventually bird got loose, must have a really nasty hangover though. Met Craig, John, Albert and Joan. Talked a bit about the race, its future and and. Made me think a bit. If the freedom challenge is the soul of mountain biking then the allstars and not the superstars, aka race snakes, are the soul of the race. Allstars like Craig who quite unasumingly is pushing a 32x16 singlespeed through this race, never complaining and always smiling. Allstars like Joan, taking everyday in her stride and making me feel weak on the climbs just pushing on to finish. Allstars like John and Albert (training on Bloem hills) looking for the next big challenge, Erroll and Estelle coming back to have fun on the trail again.

Allstars most definitely include the support stations, people going out of their way making sure we must finish. Sure, the racers get good exposure for the race, but the real heroes are the ordinary people who take on the challenge of a lifetime and make it all the way to the end of the trail. To the unsung heroes and legends of the trail, Lehana.

5 comments:

  1. Can' t agree more with allstars! :)

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  2. Anonymous02 July, 2011

    I count as friends both the FC racing snakes and the puffadders like me. When we are sitting around sipping coffee retelling our trail stories we have a common bond - a blanket The value of that only truly understood by those who have one. Mike Woolnough

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  3. Craig, Joan, John and Albert are the first official AllStar cardholders!

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  4. Anonymous04 July, 2011

    STERKTE AUGUST !!die laaste is ALTYD die ergste,veral met DIE ! weer..

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  5. Anonymous08 July, 2011

    agree, like the idea of the "allstars"

    ReplyDelete

Still coming home

Coming back seems to take a while emotionally. We miss the slowness and the simplicity of things - not rushing off to finish self-inflicted ...