Freedom Challenge

Mainstream

2011-07-20T15:58:00.002+02:00

Ok so the fat lady has had her last solo and i'm back to studying, kinda. Still struggling to adapt to life back on Mars, food in the fridge, being warm all the time, water coming out of taps, doing 30km in 15minutes and not two hours...

Will do some updates of the previous posts and sort out the things that never got through, photos, equipment review and all the rest over the next two weeks hopefully.

Just a quick shout out to everyone that supported me on the race, it would never have been possible to finish this year without it.

To my main sponsers and support, my mom (sorry for all the grey hairs but thanks for the support allowing me to do this dream ride again) and my dad (i now [hopefully] know the trail well enough for next year so we won't get lost...too badly).
Marnitz, dankie vir die saamry en regruk toe ek dit gekort het, die koffie na die stormreen, die terugry om te sien hoe ek klaar maak...daar is nie rerig woorde nie, die cool ding is dat woorde ook nie nodig is nie.

To Mason's Bike Inn for the bike wich has completed its second freedom with exactly the same failure as last year (a broken bottle cage).

To David for having the vision to create this magical route from Pietermaritzburg to Wellington, Meryl for all the organising and making sure we all had somewhere to sleep at night.

The support stations, looking after us, feeding the hungry bodies and souls and helping us achieve the dream and complete the journey. To the rest of the blanket wearers for the community, support, fun on the trail and so much more. To my friends and everyone else i forgot, thanks a million.

Cathing up

2011-07-05T08:09:00.000+02:00

So the blogs never really caught up to me, blaming the phone,donating my charger and being lazy and enjoying the trail too much. Currently lazing around trouthaven trying to find some stuff to scrounge, seems like i'm here too early,last year picked up at least 2kg of stuff. Anyway, will write update about today later, just occurred to me that my last sunshine day was in willowmore, let's hope that changes. Tomorrow quite sadly the trail ends with two low points, a long tar slog up with litter all over the place and a walk up an extremely beautiful valley that recently got burned down. Lots of mixed emotions of almost being finished,but the fat lady hasn't sung yet...

Anysberg, a farewell ride

2011-07-05T08:07:00.000+02:00

Started off in Rouxpos, raining, again. Knowing cape weather got ready for a long rainy day. Met up with Tim, who is back to finish the race after crashing out couple years ago. Going along nicely having fun sliding around and trying to find gears without chainsuck. Heard vicious barking somewhere off to the right, since i was riding through a herd of sheep figured it must be an anotolian seeing me as a major threat, (or a minor threat) with sheep scattering away. With the gate not far away the first thought that flashed through my mind was to go flat out into the gate and hopefully get vaulted over, painful but at least wont get eaten by a dog. Started chasing for the gate. Heard the bark right behind me and paws mashing on the gravel..too late. Turned around expecting the worst and, the vicious monster turned out to be a young one wanting a playmate. Rode the sandy track to start of Anysberg, good thing it was raining, sand bit harder. Rain started clearing up as I headed to the houses. On the way leaving the reserve I went round a koppie and surprised a small herd of Oryx. For a long time we stared at each other only 30 metres apart. Finally one snorted and off they went. Riding through this astonishing landscape, very isolated and super green from the loads of rain we’ve been battling, it almost felt like this was the trails way of saying goodbye with this special encounter. Sure there’s still over 200km to go but from here on mostly it is on good roads with signs of people and cellphone reception all over. For me personally this year with a burnt Stettyns valley the amazing wilderness of the trail ended as I left Anysberg.

Gamkaskloof, a hazy shade of winter

2011-07-05T08:02:00.000+02:00

Left the luxury stopover at Dennehof in Prins Albert and started the slow freezing climb up Swartbergpas. When you scrape the ice from your saddle you know its going to be a cold one. Nearing the top of the climb the sun started rising,what a sight, definitely one of the highlights of the trip. From there to the top kept on looking at this amazing sunrise over the mountains and missed the clouds coming over. Suddenly a light shower came down, not rain though but hail. Lying on the ground looking like a slight dusting of salt reflecting the sunrise and breaking into a thousand little rainbows..what a way to start a day. Realised again it is easy to complain,but all the pedalling, suffering and what not, just this one start/moment made it all more than worth it. Since my knee was still not loving walking after the fall decided to ride all the hills, came close just the one before the leer..will have to come back:-). On the way up swartberg pass saw a flash..first thought some crazy tourist out early. Rounded the corner and there was Maartin, a friend who drove out from George just to say hi. Cycled last part up together and had coffee at the turn off to the hell. Maartin tx,really appreciate the effort. People doing this much effort...really makes you think. Started the long fast descent,nice and flowing,lot of fun. Up few climbs and then whizzing down between 40, 60km/h on a disc eating hairraising downhill,almost came short (or very long drop) on section still frozen, someone say adrenaline rush. Good for smiling. The hell is cold. Had icy rain most of day,but was too busy looking around to take notice. Up the leer,nice steep portage. Then some very fun downhills. Big dissapointment, wanted to hit 80down horlosiekrans (fastest speed 78), have been working out how to sit earo with backpack and had a surprise ace up my sleeve. Going to fill backpack with stones. Unfortunately a big headwind
greeted me on the other side. Where i cruised down over 70the whole way last year couldnt even get to 50 this time round. Still i will be back for revenge, even if i need to pay someone to drive me up like a downhiller, i will hit 80down there:-). Got to rouxpos after a fun couple of fast downhills in the dark, almost going straight into a porcupine..quite sure i dont carry enough plugs for that type of emergency

Master of the zinkplaat

2011-07-05T07:55:00.000+02:00

Had good weather,slight headwind but sunshine! No one can be the master of the corrugations. Probably crossed the road over 100times,tried picking good lines,tried riding hard and keeping momentum,tried going slow,tried cringing away like a hurt animal in the hope they will leave me alone...all to no avail. Made it through though as everyone does,a few new friends to meet and learn about on the way. Met Johan just before Prins Albert,heard wind was going to pick up, poor guys hitting that. Johan forms part of those elite group of people whose presence of the trail adds spice to the route, driving out to meet the riders giving coffee and rusks, a lot of mechanical expertise and generally just ensuring a challenger will leave Prins Albert with the best chance possible of making it. (few days earlier he drove over 300km just to replace a jockey). What a legend, a true allstar of the freedom challenge. Had an amazing luxury stay at Dennehof, definitely something to touring this route.

Baviaans (hanging tough)

2011-07-05T07:51:00.000+02:00

Woke up couple of times through the night from knee, hurt like hell walking,going to be a interesting day. Left a bit after albert and john having to strap knee and quickly sort out some mechanicals. One of the highlight areas of the routes,not even going to try and describe the amazing scenery and beauty of the area,words fail and i'm lazy. Got to top of bergplaas (the mother) just as the sun was rising, stopped for good 10,15min just staring. Just missed a herd of buffalo, other two saw them. Stopped by game rangers asking where our back up vehicles are, since we were in a rhino area, gave organisers number,should be an interesting conversation... Going out of the reserve all the normal crossings which can be done without getting feet wet turned into waist deep hikes. Decided to push on to willowmore while the wind was still quite reasonable,especially after last years experience on this section.

Baviaans, the crossing

2011-07-05T07:48:00.000+02:00

Started off quite early, 3.30, from bucklands,fantastic hosts. Something else stuffing yourself 3 in the morning cause you will need the energy. Stuck with the group for a while but not going to wait on descents, sometimes feel like i'm just riding for the amazing downhills. When david describes a descent as a ridiculous 400m drop you know you're in for fun. Up the other side and all of the sudden the mountains drop off to the side leaving the most breathtaking view of the baviaans with the ocean in the far far horizon. Going down osseberg is something else,lot of fine tricky lines down, suuuper cool. Started with the first of 11 river crossings, unfortunately with my size and full river the narritives description of thigh deep with no crocs doesn't really inspire confidence:-). The road being semi non-existing normally was very much hide and seek with all the recent rain and flooding. After lot of fun&interesting crossings made it to the last one. Slipped on a rock about halfway through, lurching around in my best drunk elvis impression. Managed to only solidly hit one part of my body instead of taking a full dunking. Unfortunately it was my knee. Taking into account the full river and the others still needing to cross i figured crying won't be the best option,tempting as it might be. Surprised a few kudu a bit further on. Hidden valleys and the extra bit of adventure definitely add to the appeal of the trail. Made it quite early to kudu kaya,but with knee decided to stay put. Unfortunately two of the group couldnt find their way out and spent the night in there, bad sleeping conditions but unrivalled beauty there.

Addo (who needs tubeless)

2011-07-05T07:43:00.000+02:00

Start ed at Toekomst and went round the dam,navigation was much easier in the light and went through with little problems. Stuck with the new group through the gwaas. If i had to draw a profile and map from memory no one would ever attempt (or find) the gwaas, had a nightmare through there last year. Realised how much you miss when racing, again a spectacular valley with amazing riding that david found. Having a lot of fun on the bike. Even though the people in the group are great and it is a big bonus not having to open all the gates on your own, i find myself uncomfortable riding in a big group(4 :-)), need to go at my own rythm and pace, especially with my knee which is about a constant 3,4 now. Decided to go ahead and try and make my tubeless work again,the massive thorns all over made me think twice about not having tubeless. Made it to bucklands in a much better state than last year :-). Played around and eventually got tubeless working again,whoopla!

Ignitor hunter (The unsung heroes)

2011-07-01T21:45:00.000+02:00

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.

Ignitor hunter (Aloes Butterflies and Mechanicals)

2011-07-01T21:37:00.001+02:00

Woke up at Struishoek (thanks David and Verity for the hospitality), thought i'll just take easy day to Toekomst, 100km. Got to Van de Venters and immediately changed gear, I was only about 40minutes after Marnitz and Tim (+1 day). Seeing that up to now I've been clocking an hour or two faster per section than them, figured I could do their distance and pull one or two really big days in Baviaans and beyond and catch them. Two hours down the line enjoying the Karoo koppies and a smashing day out this fell apart, as did my bike over the next three km. Bit much to post all details, but had a lovely hour on aloe ridge forcing my disc open and trying to remove jammed pads (very close to being bucked off and super nasty fall), fixed, 500m on, makeshift fixing my wheel, low tech meets high tech (go duct tape and cable ties). Eventually got it fixed after working out that walking home would get me there at 8ish.

Phew riding again no walking. Although without tubeless and last tube in wheel, snakebite would mean walking... slow smooth descending. Was amazing sitting there and could count over 100 aloes around me (had the time). 2km on had to strip and rebuild my rear derailleur. Just about everything had gone wrong, but just cruising through this section looking around with hundreds of butterflies all over the place, made it worth while. If yesterday, with the mud, came close to top ten most interesting rides, this was definitely coming in top ten all time best rides. A 'two' hour section took six but I havent felt this good on my bike for a long time, maybe we need the bad to appreciate the good. But this ride, oh man, just about touching perfect.

Mudbath

2011-07-01T21:28:00.000+02:00

Stuttgart to Struishoek. Had a great nights rest and started off aiming for Vandeventers. Immediately reconsidered, the going was at times more of a graceful sidewides slide through the mud than a constructive forward motion. Ended up having to walk almost half the way to the Skurfteberg portage. Going over found some snow of previous day, nice fast descent, stopped halfway to put on my heavy duty gloves, fingers so dead couldn't open the gate. From there things got progressively worse with my bike more than faintly resembling a baby elephant. Rolling and sliding through the mud, most of the 'road' after Coetzerskloof varying between very and extremely unrideable. Eventually got to Grootdam, did a scenic 10km extra searching for the turn off. Set off again hoping for drier sections of road. No such luck. Long slide into Struishoek. One day I want to take a dh bike down there, semi rideable for the most part but with the backpack and no one else around so played it safe.
Made it down with a fat smile on my face, smashing downhill and singletrack. Quickly pulled into Struishoek farm to fill bottels and then push on last couple of hours to Van de Venters, which would help making up time to Marnitz. Got a hose and forced that grey brown elephant off my bike. Took bottles, have to go thanks... ok soup sounds great... sitting down 10, 20 min ok would love to sleep over. People like these just add to the character of the race, thanks a million David and Verity!

The small things

2011-07-01T21:16:00.000+02:00

Having made up half a day on Marnitz and Tim, the plan was to push another big day and catch up with them and have a ride down with the legends. So off to bed for an early start, set alarm for 3. Woke up with the sun shining into my room... interesting... probably that cold weather messing with the phone again. Decided to just take easy 100km into Stuttgart today, passing the halfway mark at Elandsberg. The portage this year was much easier thanks to the clear entry to the track and not walking in the field alongside it in the dark. Met up with the dog at Elandsberg again, kept my duct tape stashed far away. For the most part today the riding was scenic and easy, if someone could please just turn the headwind off. Almost got shot making my way through the field to the road, after trying a Carl shortcut, buck was shot to my far left but I dropped down with my bike and pack like a trained pro. Fright of my life and an eventful end to day.

Battle of the storm

2011-07-01T21:09:00.000+02:00

After making it to Brosterlea yesterday quite early, the goal for today was always to go at least as far as Hofmeyr, about 140km away. An icy wind was blowing, bottels froze, again, beard toes and all the rest. All along the route there has been a lot of rain and going up stormberg splashed through the ice and puddles... Mistake. By the top my gears were frozen solid, singlespeeding, and my shoes were two solid blocks of ice. Detoured to see the doctor in molteno, lovely tailwind for 10km unfortunately had to cycle it back. No chance of permanent damage, which wouldnt really make a difference at this stage. Also I walk funny and shouldn't run, yebo! Rushed a bit to get back took wrong turn and did a scenic 20km detour, thats how you learn. Mission : get to aasvoelberg and descend in daylight. Got to top just as started snowing, good timing. The downhill is one of the highlights of the route, 12km of technical descending! Next three hours just kept going, headwinds & ice rain. Made hofmeyr at 9.

Life is beautiful (ter nagedagtenis van Franken)

2011-06-27T07:34:00.002+02:00

Started the day feeling a lot better, food actually stayed with me. As i was cycling along the route and taking in some of the Karoo sights i started thinking about the route in general. Whatever people might say of David (which normally cant be repeated in most conversations), he is a visionary, a magician and along this route, the freedom challenge and everything it entails you get a chance to experience that magic. Phoned home to let them know i'm feeling better and received the news that a family friend passed away the previous day. The rest of the day blurred away with unanswerable questions. What his parents must be going through, there are no words, my heart and prayers go out to them. The only thing i could hold onto to move forward was that life is made up of moments,its up to us to make them as special as possible in the time we have here. As someone said, you only get to live once, but if you do it right maybe once is enough.

Living on a prayer, direct

2011-06-26T05:37:00.002+02:00

With this in mind somehow i decided i have to leave now before the rain starts. Got dressed,took my lunch (dry toast) and just before setting off oom andre said a heartfelt prayer for me.

When u start bonking on a bike you know trouble is on the way. When i started bonking cycling downhill for 500m from the support station with two big portages on the way not a lot went through my mind except maybe survival. Started pushing my bike up,was feeling too weak to pick it up so just dealt with the extra mud and weight accumulating. Backpack must have eaten the dog,thing weighs a ton. Somehow made it to the top,no recollection of the walk up. Left my yummy half digested toast up there. The whole time the prayer kept recycling in my head, i kept adding Lord give me strength. The descend was awesome,steep muddy slippery and brought me out of the haze a bit. Went down,and started making my way to the bonthoek portage.

The bonthoek portage is one of the magical moments of the race, forming the barrier between the mountains behind you and the 'flat' karoo in front of you. Just keep swimming... At the top i sat down,completely depleted,nothing left. Only good thing was that i couldnt really feel my knee anymore. Eventually some sheep came to investigate,had to start smiling and took in some of the views. The descend was muddy,rocky, steep and still iced over, very technical but loads of fun. Somehow at the bottom started feeling a bit better and cruized off to Moordenaarspoort for the night. Once i got there realised i made the 10hr trip in 7. ? Dont know how. Missed a lot of the views but made it,thanx for the prayers oom andre and everyone else.

The Spraypainters

2011-06-24T09:50:00.027+02:00

If anyone was wondering about the funky blogging,forgot phone in outside pocket for cold start so it has been doing some weird things.

The stopover at Chesney Wold was as to be expected, something else. The amazing food (which unfortunately never stayed in very long), a warm reception and great hospitality made me feel ready for the next big push. Thought i could try for Kranzkop with an early start and try and catch up to Marnitz a bit. After a hearty breakfast started a bit late, 6.30, and hit the nice and crispy weather outside (about -8), making drinking almost impossible, both bottles froze solidly along with my beard. The best freedom advise i could pass on would be the tips from Carl and Marnitz, when in doubt aim south then west, follow the telephone lines, never ever get frustrated, and my own from experience, grow a beard.

Anyway, as every day there was a lot of scenic riding and i just started getting into a nice rythm climbing up to the first portage when breakfast decided to stay to admire the views. Not the best way to start the day, but almost at the next support station so just gather yourself and keep going. The descend down Kapokkraal was very much rideable this year, the muddy parts still being frozen. Very fun downhill, stopped quickly at the painted farmhouse, so much to see on the trail, should be touring it.

Arrived at Slaapkrans and found Marnitz bike standing there, probably felt the same way he did when he found my bike at Ntsikeni. Went inside and found him in bed, as oom Andre said he should think about starting a spraypainting shop the way he has been redecorating their house. Since i wasn't feeling too great either, and would love to ride with marnitz again, decided to call it a day as well. Stopped at 10.30, a bit unheard of but hey was a fun day out and now i get to rest a bit and give the knee a bit of a break.

Had a lovely middagslapie, woke up close to supper when tim james arrived, a big legend of the race and amazing person. Thought would be really special if i could ride with these two as long as my knee held, might even come close to last year's experience with carl and marnitz. Had a great supper with andre and oyce (can't really thank the support stations enough, these people make you part of their homes and lives and make the journey that much easier). Went to bed early planning to stay with marnitz and tim. Had a peaceful sleep for about 3hours when the fun games began. Give or take an hour every hour till 6 i had to run to avoid a rerun of marnitz's spraypainting of the house, had a interesting cycle going alternating between...well lets not go into the details. Needless to say i really did not feel like riding, rather try and sleep and recover.

Lehana

2011-06-24T09:49:00.002+02:00

So the updates are a bit behind. Stayed over at Ntsikeni since my knee wanted a holiday..seriously considered withdrawing from the race for most of the day. Luckily Marnitz arrived and helped me get out of a bad mental rut and back onto the bike. For the next two weeks riding through a painfull knee injury was the only way to see the surrounding beauty. Soos Marnitz se, rein gedagtes...

Took easy ride into Banchory with Marnitz, great stop over. The next morning was freezing start, but nowhere close to last years -14. Still made for a very cold early morning start. Had a close to perfect day riding with great weather and riding partner. Despite knee not feeling great made good time to Masakala and decided to stay on the bike with Marnitz to Malekholonyane. Arrived there just after dark, great thing seeing my start group again. Had to make the wise/realistic choice and tell Marnitz to push on without me, the knee was seriously not loving long hours on the bike.

Next day started out just aiming for Vuvu before dark, had a interesting poineerig section with Ricky, Di and Deon, reckon our route is faster than the trail out of Malekholonyane. Seemed like another great day of riding coming up, especially with Black fountain on the way. Eventually left the group, just want to keep a steady easy pace with the knee and minimize stopping (much easier on your own). Starting again even after a 5 minute stop feels like a small horse, or a huge rugby player kicking me in the knee for a couple of minutes, seriously not fun.
Got to the top of the ridge and was almost blown off my bike, this wind was something else. Turned off to Black fountain for some amazing singletrack riding and immediately my speed kicked up t about 40km/h. This was without peddaling and going slightly uphill (gives an idea of the windspeed). Actually had to brake quite hard on the downhill to avoid some race threatening crashes, was a lot of fun being blown about half a meter off course for the small jumps that i did take...none of that for the rest of the downhill. Caught up with the ride to rhodes guys at the bottom and we formed a nice group pushing for Vuvu before dark. After some seriously hard headwind riding (people walking faster than what we were riding) made the turn off to the valley. This section of road must compare favourably with the corrugated parts later on for being the worst section of road on the race.

The valley is one those amazing sections of riding that no-one really seems to enjoy while they are there. It is a mixed walk/swim/tight lines of riding with no-one around and an amazing backdrop. Really cool adventurous riding. Made it to Vuvu just before dark after a super cool day of riding some of the best trails around, missed a lot of the scenery because of my knee though. Unfortunately DDR had a epic day out, only arriving at 04:30 the next morning so never saw the rest of my batch again on the trail.

( -->>lehana 1+2)

My knee is keeping a steady 4-6 on the better painscale (for some brilliant humor go check out hyperboleandahalf), but managing quite nicely on between 4 and 8 myprodols each day. Which might be why everything seems so pretty, but i've found this new riding partner or rather that friendly red dragon thats persistently following me. In any case lots of sheep/easy food along the way so i should be fine. Made it to the start of last climb still feeling great,started climbing nice and easy rythm and then it hit me. Or rather my lunch hit the side of the road. Thought might have been the soup so had something to eat and drink and carried on to overnight stop. Got there nice and frosted, nothing better than a warm shower after a 6km -something descend. Met up with Errol and Estelle (two amazing rasa riders, keep it up guys!) Had some coke (i know) to help settle my stomach and had to run for the bathroom. Definitely the pills so time to stop the drug abuse, hate them anyway.

Trail update 2

2011-06-20T05:14:00.001+02:00

bags, inflated them and floated across. Heading off had some mechanicals and lost some time to centacow,but arrived still feeling extremely strong. Heading off into the night i was going to make ntsikeni,maybe at 12/1ish...not to be. Going over one of the climbs had a look up and saw the start of the lunar eclipse. Hard to put in words exactly how amazing the next two hours of riding was under a full moon disapearing into a full eclipse. The science behind it quite easy,sun,planet,moon,line. But the feeling,atmosphere and riding...magical. Probably the best ride of my life.

Unfortunately picked up knee problems,decided to stop early and sleep over at some locals,next morning saw the chicken nest i almost stepped into at the bottom of my bed.

Started off feeling very good,but hit the first climb and knew i was in trouble. Knee started locking up and had a very painfull 6.30hours up what would normally be a 3hour section...time for breakfast...
to be continued

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Sent from my Nokia phone

Trail update

2011-06-20T04:58:00.001+02:00

A tad late,but here's the update on the first 5 days on the freedom trail.

First off, this year is proving to be way more a mental challenge than a physical one. The first day of riding started off at pmb,with great weather and a smashing sunrise. The aim for the day has always been ntsikeni,about 200km away. Hit the halfway mark at allendale still feeling refreshed from my swim over the umkomaas. Had a look at the rapid/crossing and knew was going to get washed away so put everything in my dry b

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Sent from my Nokia phone

FREEDOM SCHOLARSHIP FUND!

2011-06-09T01:06:00.002+02:00

So it is almost 1 in the morning, the rain is softly falling outside. Inside however it's an entirely different story, clothes strewn over the floor, medical, mechanical and a 100 other different what ifs lying around in my room.

Oh well, for all the exitement i'm feeling it could have been much worse.
Yip hard to believe it is time for the Freedom Challenge again, 2400km of breath taking riding over the country. Luckily at the moment it seems like i might catch a break from the weather, forecasts are nowhere close to last years -12'C starts. Lets hope thats not basking in the sunsine that might never be there.

Still unsure if i will be blogging from the trail this year. The main reason for this post is to help create awareness for the Freedom Scholarship fund, a bit late on the wagon i know but whatever.
So this year i'm doing the Freedom again with the following two main goals:
Raise R30 000 for the Freedom Scholarship fund.
Raise R30 000 for Die Herberg.

Feel free to have a look at these projects and even more so to donate to these causes!
Have fun watching us getting lost!

Apology

2011-02-20T14:26:00.000+02:00

Ok so i haven't really been using the blog at all, blame studying and what not. Some of you might have noticed some very interesting posts, needless to say if you want to claim the winning or whatever don't contact me. Have changed passwords and disabled some features so hopefully that will be the end of all the spam ending up on the blog.

On a more cheerful note i've decided to go back o boot camp and do the freedom again so hope to see some of you on the trail. Happy training!

Rainy weather

2010-08-08T19:31:00.001+02:00

Since i'm hibernating and studying is taking up too much time found an old quote again today. Was on an old Addidas advert, with Muhammad Ali.
"Impossible is nothing. Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in a world that they have been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing"

Some more impossible quotes:
"I don’t fail. I succeed at finding what doesn’t work." – Chris Titus
"A diamond is a piece of coal that stuck to the job." – Anonymous
"Reality can destroy the dream; why shouldn’t the dream destroy reality?" – George Moore

Ok so with all that motivation i should be able to get back to working on my impossible assignments and try to forget that it's a long weekend. Hopefully it rains enough for river to start flooding...

A day in the mountains

2010-07-31T19:19:00.001+02:00

To take advantage of perfect winter weather and to take a break from the constant programming and frustrations that go with it decided to have another wild ride in Jonkershoek. This time however i've done the whole route beforehand and knew what should be rideable and therefore what we're going to attempt.

Roping in my partner in crime wasn't too difficult, thanks Harry, and we set off early Sunday morning in quite chilly weather. Overview of the route, start by riding up to Bergriviersnek, over Dwarsberg and then onto Swartboskloof route and down it. In total close to 18km of very tough riding/walking over some very scenic mountain terrain.

The first section went a lot quicker than the previous times, made it to top of Dwarsberg in about 3.5 hours. Had a quick detour to have a look at the path to Victoria peak, will definitely come back to do the first part of it. Some very technical and exposed riding later descended to top of Kurktrekkersnek and made way up to Sterrekykerskop. Surprised some hikers, most of which just stared in disbelief. Reckon i would have done the same thing a few years ago, it just doesn't seem possible/sane to take a bike that far into the mountains.
Although i can imagine that Cape Nature would be ecstatic to find us with bikes on the route i seriously doubt there will ever be a problem with mountain bikers causing erosion up there. Not enough crazy people to do it.

Once we hit the section next to the Triplets the trail smoothens out becoming probably the best section of riding in Jonkershoek (or above it), still a lot of technical sections but very rideable and with spectacular views of surrounding mountains and areas. Saw a Mountain Adder on the trail, very beautiful but gave it a wide berth after some photos.

When we arrived at the top of Swartboskloof decided to ride down as far as possibly before taking break. Our first mistake of the day came when we started discussing the ride as an adventure and and before it was over. Harry said, "One of us should just break something then it's an epic ride..", well 5 minutes later i rode over some rocks, which when compared to the rest of the route really wasn't even worth looking at. Maybe i should have been more focused on the trail than the views but never even felt the rock that hit my big blade, broke tooth and ricocheted off into my rear derailleur snapping the hanger. Well no worries i told Harry, will just make it a single speed and then ride down. Take out the multi tool. Ok look in the other pockets, open zip shake out bag...remembered that i took it out to put camera in. Luckily had some tape, taped up the jockey and proceeded to nature-fix the chain so that it doesn't flick into spokes. Good thing it happened right at the end, would have really sucked if it broke on the singletrack earlier. Still made for some very tough and interesting downhilling on last part of Swartboskloof trail (first half down is not very rideable).

Eventually made it all the way down to the circle route, that's when Harry realised he now needs to push me all the way home. With Lady Luck smiling on us just after the first small rise ran into some friends one of then busy fixing his chain. Great, converted the bike into single speed, took random guess took out couple of links and ended up with a 30*16 which actually worked really nicely.

Equipment Review

2010-07-23T11:57:00.002+02:00

The time has arrived to do the equipment review before studies starts vying for space in my mind. Posting might become irregular/cease to exists if the academic load keeps on piling up.
Starting off with things i didn't find as useful or wouldn't take again would probably be the easiest.

Shoes- even after reading about the nature of the event i really didn't grasp how much walking there was going to be. Stupid me. With the backpack and trying to conserve energy i soon lost the urge to cycle to the top of every hill. Also certain hills were aptly renamed 'prostaat bulte'. Marnitz arguable had the best shoes i saw in the race, Shimano SPD boot. Actually anything except normal cycling shoes would have worked, even tekkies would have been too bad for the first week. That said i'm still really impressed with the abuse and bashing that my Mavic Razor shoes took and they're still going strong(ish).
Gloves- i used full fingered gloves just about every day worked fine. However instead of buying a pair of wind proof gloves i opted to go for the surgical glove approach. One pair inside and one as outer layer over gloves. Even though this probably saved me from some frostbite;-), my hands were still freezing. On certain days even with Grabber hand warmers inside. So next time wind proof gloves.
Socks- Normal woolen socks worked just fine (the R30 ones in cycle shops), but for the first part of the race, especially with the cold and river crossing sealskin socks would have been worth their weight in gold. Definitely not attempting this again without them and decent shoes.
Condensed milk in 2l boxes. Even though his seemed to be a great idea at the time, we skipped a lot of the support stations which meant that spending a couple of hours outside having some great snack and appreciating the scenery was simply put, impossible. One Can would be able to tell his friends about an amazing night hike over Lehanas and another spectacular 400km's of travelling before falling prey to some farmers kitchen.
Maxxis Monorail. Given it held out pretty well, could see the side pattern taking some serious abuse from the trail and my riding style, but never had a puncture, side wall cuts or any problems which means that either i was very lucky or that its a great tire. Most likely both. The problems that i had with it was that with the extra 10kg's (from overeating at all the great support stations ;-) ) it broke loose a lot earlier on the dirt and wasn't as responsive to being pushed into corners. With the extra weight it was really unpredictable in sand, getting thrown around a lot. Also through the Karoo saw a lot of dark spots from sludge sealing punctures, had some every night on the back wheel but almost never had any on front tire. Next time just going to stick with CrossMarks, really good all terrain tire.
Bike

Things that worked really well.

Backpack- i used a Karrimor Airspace 35l. The airspace system works really well for cycling, especially as you change your posture a lot. Only thing i would change is the side pockets for food. Most people recommend not taking anything above 25l, gives too much lee way for taking 'luxury' items, but after a while packing everything neatly becomes a drag, more so when you have to rush to be in time for the Commander(sorry for late mornings)
Bike
Camera. Even if you're planning to do the route in 10days i would still take one along. Helps retain those trail side memories, especially for the more age challenged participants ;-).
Chocolate bars and slabs, distinctly remember one Milo slab had an extremely short lifetime just before Trouthaven.
Lightweight outdoor specific clothing. Even though it does become quite expensive this is the one area i really didn't mind spending some extra cash on, see list later.

What was in the backpack:
Clothing:

Mavic Helium jacket. Had it on almost everyday. Best thing apart from being wind and waterproof was the ventilation zips, great for controlling temperature and not stopping to add/remove layers as much.
Helly Hansen base layer. Had it on almost everyday, would rather take two of these instead of the long sleeve base layer. Quite expensive but worked a lot better than my other base layers.
First Ascent long sleeve base layer. Only had it on once, had to stop to remove it later it the day which isn't really the idea of a base layer. Eventually relegated to evening wear.
Two cycling shirts. The pockets didn't really bother me, probably from the airspace.
Two cycling bibs. Vermark and Mavic, just to alternate the chafing and allocation of saddle sores. Really wouldn't skimp money here, even though you are most likely going to get saddle sores good quality kit just helps reduce the discomforts.
Long sleeve cycling shirt. Nice as extra layer.
First Ascent Firestorm fleece top. Used the long sleeve cycling shirt more, but also worked well.
First Ascent flash flood pants. Never needed them on the bike, but good waterproof layer, and doubled up as evening wear.
First Ascent powerstretch tights. Had them on most mornings, felt that it was sufficient even in the -12'C starts (maybe because my hands and feet were too cold to feel anything else).
First Ascent Dry-Lite Jacket. Even though i never wore it while cycling this is a perfect light weight waterproof jacket for those soaking/freezing days. Packed it for the snow storms, luckily didn't need it.
Cycling booties. Rather take sealskin socks, these were a toe saver on the early starts, but not really made for those portages.
Windproof earwarmers. Nuff said.
Leg - and Arm warmers. The arm warmers worked really well through the Karoo with cold starts and warmer days as it is easy to take off while cycling. Didn't use the leg warmers as much would leave it next time and just take tights.
Socks, Gloves, Helmet and all those accessories.

Spares and Mechanical:

Disc pads*2.Had another set in box somewhere but wanted a pair with me.
Chain. In one of boxes after about 1000km.
Spokes. Had a couple just in case, doesn't really weight anything and worth it.
Gear cable. Would take two next time.
Multitool. No brainer. Leatherman also usefull.
Duct tape. Had one roll with me, boxed another one but donated it as dog food.
Hose clamps. Two small ones and two big ones for the worst case scenarios.
Cable ties. Whatever you can't fix with cable ties and duct tape isn't worth fixing. :-)
Two extra tubes, puncture kit and plugs.
Sludge. Had two bottles in separate boxes, left one and carried the other one. Luckily didn't need it.

About the bike:
Rode (and still riding) a Mongoose hardtail. The only mechanical i had was a broken bottle cage. The only thing i would change on the bike is the shock, with the type of riding and the extra weight i would prefer something with a bit more travel, 100-120mm. Note to self, old Fox terra logic shocks doesn't seem to pick up corrugation. That said Glen did it on a rigid singlespeed so can't really complain.

Beating the Pofmuis

2010-07-07T12:46:00.002+02:00

Still not quite sure what to do with myself, busy updating the blog and sorting through the photo's. i've successfully beaten the dreaded Pofmuis (according to Marnitz this happens after the race when your body start retaining water and you start swelling), and adjusted the timer for next year;-).
Photo's will be on the slide show, but probable easier/better to just view them here, Freedom photo's. Well need to get back to some projects and find the motivation to not take my bike and backpack out somewhere on such an amazing day.

Since i'm going to redo most of the posts and layout, any comments would be appreciated. Also anyone wanting to join on excursion through the mountains are more than welcome...

Day 16

2010-07-06T14:10:00.001+02:00

Last day. Finally caught the double Deckers and got 5hours of sleep. Woke up, everyone seemed extremely tense about Stetteynskloof,lot of stuff lying around that people left. Went up first part of trail,looked like hiking trail, seemed quite easy. Stopped before river to take bikes apart,rest of group didn't. Went right a bit early and spend some time creating new routes for the rest to follow:-). Found the airplane wing from the Shackleton crash and the rest of the plane shortly afterwards. Mixed feelings,exited to find it,but seeing the crash site and thinking about what happened to the crew, can't even imagine.

Shortly afterwards forgot about it all as moving forward become the only goal. Photo was at the easiest crossing (no jokes), the rest i really didn't even think about taking out my camera. Went for some serious bundu-ing through hakea,reeds, bramble bushes and all kinds of impassable underbrush. Luckily i packed my bushbreaker, Marnitz. Absolutely amazing what he went through, things i wouldn't even look at twice he just went through and created a nice road for me. Took about an hour to do 50m. Even with the bike strapped to my back it seemed to get caught on just about everything. Eventually made it through and up to top of climb,got David there waiting for us. Spectacular mountains all around. Heard that there was a path cut open at the bottom,but that's just part of the fun. Found quite a lot of leopard tracks on way down,and two cameras (made some interesting photos for cape nature).

Got to bottom of Du Toits kloof and went up the old pass, probable one of the worst moments in the race, up to the second last day we've been passing through the most amazing areas, scenic ride through South Africa and loved being out there. Now we were riding up a pass with amazing scenery and mountains surrounding us,but with more litter per every 10meters than the whole trip before that.
Lot of different thoughts as we coasted into the final few kilometers, bit of unbelief that its finally finished,wished i could turn around and to it again. Not going to go into too much detail,but it has definitely been a life changing experience and learned a lot about myself.
Will go through photo's a bit later and start uploading and edit posts a bit.

Day 15

2010-07-03T04:21:00.001+02:00

Anysberg to Trouthaven: 235km, 21hrs, 1hr sleep.
Made a pit stop at Anysberg, in retrospect this was a good choice, i was still keen to go on when we arrived at 10, Marnitz in his infinite wisdom convinced me otherwise. Struggled a bit to sleep with the Leopard in the house with me ;-), but got bit more than an hour, didn't feel too bright when it was time to go on. Felt like i wanted to do the last 4 stops in 4 or 5 days and not in a single go. But got this far might as well keep going.

Being the eternal optimist i am, i decided to treat the last part of the narritives into Montagu the same way if people tell you in a race that it is all downhill from here, or that you have a 15km downhill. i'm not a pessimist, but except for Swartberg pass and a few others there just isn't a thing such as a 20km downhill. As Marnitz said, if they tell you its downhill in mountain biking that just means it's a very flat road.

So with this mindset i just kept the pedals ticking thinking the last 29km downhill would be something similar to the previous 5km's. Was i ever surprised. Ok it's probable not really a 30km downhill, but after having been on the bike for about 24hours, with short stop at Anysberg, this was the easiest part of the route by far. You would be able to coast almost into town, with exception of one or two slight rises. Hit 68km/h in the dark, would love to do Ouberg pass in the daylight again. Stopped halfway down to put on some extra layers, suddenly very cold again.

Got into Montagu, had a warm shower and huge breakfast, aaahhh the small things. Left for McGregor, up and to this point in the race i'm guessing we've probable done less than 50km on tar, and it felt like we did 50km today, feeling very weird to ride on the tar. Then the camera crew caught us, of all the places, mad downhills, insane singletrack, taking some unplanned drop offs, riding some absolutely spectacular roads we're on tape on a tar road. At least the vineyards should make for a nice background view.

The camera crew seemed to unleash a new source of energy for my new GPS, taking climbs in his stride and actually making me work hard to keep up with him. Thank goodness they didn't pitch up anywhere with serious climbs ;-).

The worst part of riding came on the way to Brandvlei prison, on the tar road almost got hit a few times, would not make for the finish i imagined. This was the second worst part of riding on the whole trip, the worst part being Du Toits kloof pass. Don't want to complain, but i'm sure there must be better ways to finish off the last few days. But then again, with the exception of a few sections, say 30km's this has been a lifetime's riding the most spectacular roads, trails, paths and unridden sections of mountain biking which has been an absolute blast so culd easily look past this.

Day 14

2010-07-02T07:35:00.001+02:00

Die Hel to Anysberg: 150km, 14hrs, 4hrs sleep.
Started at 5, i thought it would be fun and games to try a Rageltjie de Beer impersonation. Just couldn't get warmed up. So cold that i got back into bed after got dressed to just try and stop shaking. Marnitz snapped his gear cable after about 10 minutes. Then abused Tim's offer to stop there for breakfast (the provided frozen bananas and pears just didn't seem that appetizing) they were touring down the route this year. Saved by best oats ever. Thanks Tim, Michelle and Murray, for your helpfulness and hospitality and helping just about everyone on the route this year, absolute lifesavers today!

We only got to Die Leer at 9, but the stop was more than worth it. Unfortunately i tried cycling through the last river, whilst standing in the middle i saw the path to the left. Shrug, well that's how you learn, at least my shoes had dried out a bit before the walk up the ladder. Went through 4pairs of socks trying to keep my feet dryish. An absolute must -Sealskin socks.
Amazing walk up, can't believe donkeys go down there. Most of day was a rush to try make Montagu. We had some insane downhills though hit 75+ 4 different times, great. Tried hitting 80 on the Horlosiekrans downhill. This was probable the most accurate part of the narratives for the race:
"When you reach the top of Horlosiekrans prepare yourself for one of the fastest downhill rides
around. The gradient, the surface and the camber combine to draw you into a great descent.
Top speed reported on the downhill is currently 78 km/hr."

Spun out at 65km/h twice and went down as aero as you can with a 10kg backpack, started to catch up to Marnitz and then nothing. Never even got near my brakes but reckon the weight disadvantage was just too much, never got above 77km/h. Next time i'm stopping at the top and stack up on as muck rocks as possible and then hit 80! ;-)

Got to Anysberg, wasted 30mins to search for the support station, 22:00. Decided to sleep bit,got 1hour and carried on to Montagu. Marnitz though he heard a Leopard, saw some tracks, but the only wildlife i saw was a Panda, world gets a lot smaller when you can't see beyond your bike light and have been going almost non-stop for the whole night.

Day 13

2010-07-02T07:27:00.004+02:00

Willowmore to Die Hel: 250km, 19hrs, 5.5hrs sleep (Last long sleep till end)

Early morning, started riding at 3. Difficult eating so early, but then again i'm not quite sure if i still have a natural biorhythm. Left Willowmore and yesterday's decision to wait turned out to be a good one, didn't really have any wind to speak of. Took about 7 hours to do the first hundred which took Carl 12hrs yesterday.
The first 180km was actually pretty flat riding, although for most of the way you had a choice between thick sand and heavy corrugation. Going to check in shower whether or not i have a Kore logo imprinted on my ass. Good thing i have an old Fox terra logic shock that doesn't distinguish between flats and corrugation. This section must have been an absolute blast to do on a rigid singlespeed-MUCH respect to Glenn Harrison.
Luckily we found a yellow monster which made the last section of about 10km a lot easier.

Got to Prins Albert at 2.30, left again at 4.

Cycled about halfway up Swartberg pass and walked the rest, took about 2hours. The kloof section at the bottom is a definite highlight, picturesque views. Went into the hell, normally can cycle everything easily now however with backpack it is quite a different story, walked most of the steep climbs. Lights died again at least i'm becoming quite good at descending in dark :-). Actually i'm very impressed with the light, bought the Hope Vision 1. For the price class it sits in and the weight this was probable the best buy of the trip(after the backpack), will do an equipment review afterwards.

Last hill felt like it was never going to end, think we had a quiet competition about who can make the most tracks going sideways. Heard car approaching, Tim James! He drove out to come see how we're doing and brought some coffee along, what a legend! Down into Hell scary downhill, especially at night, took it easy down after almost taking the straight line to next level on first few corners. Going down it felt like someone opened the freezer got immensely cold. Starting to struggle to maintain body heat, in the shower i was shaking so much almost couldn't get dressed. At least there is no sign of that imprint. Planning on going to Montagu tomorrow and then easier day to Trouthaven and home free after that, if all goes to plan.

Day 12

2010-06-29T18:25:00.001+02:00

Damsedrif to Willowmore: 90km, 8hrs, 3hrs sleep.

Was really confused this morning, kept on doing stupid things probable just very tired. Got to bed at 3am set alarm for 6 instead of 7 couldn't sleep again. Amazing what your body can do, getting less than 5hours of sleep on average,riding more than 18hrs daily and still going. At a cost though, getting very into a very one-track mindset, eat-ride-eat-ride-sleep. Still getting stomach cramps this morning almost broke my handlebars just trying to think of something else, very unpleasant Felt better after couple hours of riding. Realised again just how beautiful the Baviaans is. This together with the riding through Natal very high on the list to do again. Marnitz just told me how close i came to hitting kudus last night never even saw them, too tired. Just remember that they were cementing the MAC climb, they will need to redo a few sections after we went down it last night.hehe.

Heading out of Baviaans hit that friendly headwind again making it three days in a row. If you look really closely at picture you'll find the pretty purple flowers which made the climb out of Baviaans considerable shorter. First climb in a while that i really felt strong on, starting to enjoy long climbs again;-). Apparently some houses got their roofs blown off, all i know is it took us 3.5hrs to do the last 28km into Willowmore. Was walking faster than i cycled at stages. When the road turned a bit wind would catch my backpack and it was quite a struggle to stay on the road. Got into Willowmore and decided to break until 2am, by which time hopefully the wind has died down.

Going to try and make up day so that we finish within 16days, Marnitz is raising funds, http://www.milesforsmiles.co.za/ (Waar daai jong werkende vriende v my met die baie geld?), and got some sponsers if he finishes within 16days, so thing going to speed up from now on. (Actually it stayed about the same sleep just dramatically decreased).
So need to get going, hoping wind dies down then put in a few long days in the saddle.

Day 11

2010-06-29T17:19:00.001+02:00

Bucklands to Damsedrif: 150km, 20hrs, 8hrs sleep.
Today we went from Bucklands over to the entrance of the Baviaanskloof and halfway through the kloof towards Willowmore. Tim James said the ride from Bucklands to entrance of Baviaans is a day's ride. Thought we could do better, since we had a whole day off doing nothing but sleep and eat and serviced the bikes. This was in fact the only real service the bike had in the two weeks, put on the spare chain, fixed gears, brakes, cable tied the bottlecage (only thing that broke during the Freedom Challenge).

Started early the morning, made some tracks all over the place to confuse some other people;-). Had another stunning sunrise. The portage over Paardeberg was fine, luckily didnt get shot at :-), very rideable road on top with fun fast downhill on the other side.

Had my first problem with bike, rock hit the front derailer and shifted it, but could fix it easily so no worries. Marnitz said it's because i ride like a hooligan, i just think the rock was bored of lying there all this time. Got heavy wind on top of the mountain,guessing something like 40km/h with gusts over 60. Blew me off the track a few times.

Had some really really insanely cool downhills. Hands feel like they have thorns in,most mornings i have puffy hands when i wake up from all the shaking. Don't really want to list everything that's wrong, trying to focus on positive things. Truth be told there is a lot more of those if you just take the time to look around a bit and realise how privileged we are.

Went down old ossewa trail,extremely rough and crossed the river at the bottom 11 times,good for oumens voete. Got to Glencoe cottages, just before the Baviaans, round about 4 ate, got everything ready and left for Damsedrift. Should have made it by 12. Instead we got a heavy headwind as entertaining company. Expanded my vocabulary some more. The last 24km of flat/rolling riding took us close to 2.5hours. On the last uphill before the end of Baviaans everything caved in again,was shaking, sweating, couldn't even walk. Hoping it was something i ate earlier. Rode last two hours with bad stomach cramps, not fun. Marnitz helped me over again, absolutely no idea how i can ever thank him, feel really bad though, if it wasn't for me he could have been a day ahead in position to win race and maybe even go for the record.

Day 9&10

2010-06-28T09:31:00.002+02:00

De Doorns to Bucklands: 295km, 26hrs, 6hrs sleep (previous day).
Have no idea how to start describing the day. After Carl spend an hour or so bundu-ing last night he got frustrated and decided he wanted to head off on his own. Which i can understand since we are riding with completely opposite goals, for myself, i want to enjoy the ride, take photos and ride a more constant pace throughout, similar to Marnitz, he's raising funds, quite sure he wanted to jaag Carl, but not go for the win/record necessarily. Carl however wants to chase. From here it should be a safe(ish) bet to say he should win. But in this race you can't plan, you can only do.

Anyway,so we headed off about an hour after Carl,went down Struishoek portage, a farmer painted rocks on way down, helps immensely. Thanks. Last year people went down a 'cliff' there, must have made for some interesting stories. I reckon most of it is rideable,but 8kg backpack, and bike shop, what bike shop...walked the first section with Marnitz. Eventually got bored and rode the rest down. Got the legend at the bottom, Tim James, spend some time chatting there, and had second breakfast mmmm. What a gentleman, really a super man. First really easy riding through Karoo. Impressed by people again, a farmers wife saw us and drove out to make sure we know the way to the hunting cottage, Van de Venterskraal, and opened the gates for us. Must have climbed a hundred fences by now and opened as many gates. Or getting close to that.
;-) On that topic,have learned to climb the normal 1.5m fences,2m,3m and 4m high ones with bike and backpack.

Had some spectacular riding the afternoon to Toekomst,through a nature reserve, really high electric fences,luckily the gate was open else you need to climb under it. Marnitz: "Ek weet nou nie hoe ek en my pikante lyfie daardeur gaan gaan nie". Had so much corrugation felt like my eyes where going to shake out, the night and next day as well. After Toekomst went around Darlington dam,had some funny moments with about 100cows following us. Went into Gwaas valley,really hard,just never really get going. Time 12ish. Everything gave in, Marnitz pushed my bike the last 500m or so. When i walked had sections where things went black,stumble along another few metres, crab a few meters...just keep going. Oh and by now we've done about 19hours, 180km lot of climbing and it has been raining for an hour. Went to sit down at abandoned farmhouse, ate whatever i thought i would be able to keep in.
Thought i truly learned something about limits. Absolutely wrong.
Rode next 14km to farm heavy headwind and horizontal rain, luckily most of it downhill. My light died thank goodness for trees next to road, could almost see the edge of the road, just stay in the middle. Almost got some fresh kudu steak. Told Marnitz i can't go any further. Said our goodbyes. Time 1:30.
Decided, screw this only two more hours to Bucklands, already wet, tired and what not, and went with him. Super nice 6km downhill,turned right and went on for another 5km's. Unfortunately while Marnitz was looking for the turn off to the farm on the left he missed the previous right turn. Turned back, he decided to go to the tar road, off the map and then try and head up back to Bucklands. After about 6km of hilly riding decided to go back since we don't even know where the tar road goes, could make big loop. Got back to farm turn off, really over the limits tired, can't really hold on to handlebars anymore, my hands were too sore. Time 3:30. Still raining.
Headed off to Bucklands,too tired to get batteries out of bag so still just using marnitz light. Climbed forever,or felt like it. Rise just never ends. Still 40km to go. Got to Kleinpoort, got some water, still raining and we picked up a headwind. Started going down, at last. Only 25km to go. Sleeping on bike. Tried turning my head into the rain. Tried slapping myself. Tried throwing water over my face. Tried sleeping. Tried not to sleep when going 60km/h. Woke up from heavier vibrations when bike started leaving the road. Started seeing some really funny/weird things. Eventually made it to Bucklands turnoff,spend 30mins going up and down looking for road, narritives wrong. At least it had stopped raining by now. Long story short, pulled in at Bucklands farmhouse 7:20.
Did 26hours of riding. 295km. Actually didn't feel so bad anymore, thought i could have carried on. Although breakfast happened in slow motion. Decided to sleep over, so rested whole day,ate&slept,really glad didn't go on, wouldn't have enjoyed it. Redefined my understanding of limits. At least it makes for a good story.

Day 8

2010-06-26T13:43:00.002+02:00

Hofmeyr to De Doorns: 170km, 17hrs, 6hrs sleep.
Had another tough/easy day. First section quite flat. Woke up early and left at 4. Was first time i felt angry/frustrated so far and didn't really appreciate the riding. There was no breakfast(since Hofmeyr is not a support station only emergency stop, and we started early), ate what i could,but knew not enough. Not blaming race organizing or people or anything, the tannie probably would have gotten up and made us breakfast if she knew what time we were planning to leave. Have to say it again, the people at the support stations are absolutely amazing. Started bonking on Elandsberg portage, 3hours into ride and that was before sunrise, not a good way to start the day;-). At Romansfontein had huge breakfast, got my new chain, still wondering if i should put it on or not. There was two huge dogs,one stole my duct tape,when i started chasing it,the dog was loving the game, so when i eventually gave up it decided fun's gone, game over and proceeded to swallow my duct tape. Luckily still got some. Carl was pushing really hard to get us past De Doorns for day. Pacelined for couple of hours which i didn't enjoy, struggled and think only took about 5 photos. In our haste to start again we missed a turn, wasted about an hour going up and down on wrong road. Eventually found right road. Long walk to top,3km,with 1.5hrs of climbing prior to that. Had another breathtaking sundown, and a amazing downhill, about 10km long. Got lost for second time at bottom of hill. Carl and Marnitz had huge argument about direction,with Carl going right and Marnitz left, what a choice,up to now when Marnitz headed off left it turned out to be wrong. So there i was looking at Marnitz' light fading left and Carls light going around the mountain to the right, mmm coin toss? 50% chance of success. Luckily stuck with Marnitz,arrived here about an hour and half (after some conversations, post freedom i need to amend this to only read 40mins max, will make a mental note to correct this sometime) before Carl, although his route involved some serious thorns and bundu-ing. Tomorrow we'll try to go to Bucklands most likely just Toekomst, hopefully not the same as today.

Day 7

2010-06-24T21:14:00.002+02:00

Brostelea to Hofmeyr: 170km, 13 hrs, 5hrs sleep.
Today went quite well,did 170km and finished before 7 tonight. Had the most amazing sunset, again:-).
Had an insane 12km downhill,lot of fun. We actually averaged above 20km/h today for last two hours, felt quite good. Starting to get second saddle sore,first one already gone, hopefully this one wont be too bad. Some wildlife again, jackal, small game and the Monkey (found new way to sit on saddle). In Hofmeyr now, according to oom Carel the race is now on,between us and Alex Harris.(Truth be told, in hindsight we lost it here by stopping early, but then again i wasn't exactly racing, and Carl still finished before Alex). I really couldn't care less, the only thing that concerns me is that i get less time for photographs and looking at the scenery and natural beauty surrounding us. In any case,tomorrow might be a very big one, again, getting up early, again.

Day 6

2010-06-24T12:56:00.003+02:00

Slaapkranz to Brosterlea: 140km, 17hrs, 6hrs sleep.
Had two big portages this morning,about 6km in total,took 4 hours to do 16km. The second portage took us to where the Karoo starts. Amazing sight looking back and seeing where we came from. Almost immediate difference in riding,seems like everything is just a little easier,but still really tough. First setback, Carel's bike broke today,makeshift fixed it with some bloudraad. His brother drove through from Klerksdorp to bring him a new bike. Still had to ride 130km with it today. Rest of day was mostly jeep track with farm roads but still had some amazing scenery. Riding through the trail so far has really taught me a lot about myself,its quite a humbling experience when you realise what the people did to make you comfortable. In Vuvu you get to sleep in one of their houses while they sometimes stay outside the whole night. We truly have an extremely beautiful country,should spend more time exploring it and realise its beauty and what sets it apart is the different people and cultures we have. Ok maybe i'm losing track a bit. Rode 17hours today, legs feeling 100%,wish could say same about my rear end. Waterbottel froze last night on way in to Brosterlea. Time for bed, 5hrs of sleep then do it all over again :-).

Day 5

2010-06-24T12:54:00.004+02:00

Rhodes to Slaapkranz: 108km, 12hrs, 3.5hrs sleep.
Today was an easy day, although we all just sat in our very small worlds for most of the day, could see the previous couple of days was quite hard. Got up at 6 this morning after only 3.5hrs of sleep,with the usual, Jong man! Staan op ons moet ry! Just though about it, in last 5 days did 74hrs of riding and slept about 26hrs, fun. Had another portage at end of day, but felt like we ran up it compared to Lehanas, got some snow/rain at the top and had the most beautiful sunset with snow in background. Very scenic portage, at the bottom some travelling Italian painted in an abandoned house, must come back to have a look at that, just tried getting out of rain and wind today. Most of day was jeep track, but downhill at end was semi-unrideable because of mud (black turf that Marnitz calls the "polisiehonde modder"), luckily stopped raining after we finished the ossewapad, had some fun sliding sideways down there, more out of control than in but made it safely. Very impressed with support stations and people along route,extremely friendly and they truly go out of their way to help us. Funnily enough,had worst service at a four star hotel. Long day again tomorrow,170km.

Day 4

2010-06-22T02:24:00.003+02:00

Malekholonyane to Rhodes: 145km, 20hrs ,6hrs sleep.
Had interesting morning,we went searching for, 'is there a frog' (try direct Afrikaans translation). Since i'm not really doing any navigation,i think i found a way to tell who is right, if Marnitz heads off left i follow Carl ;-). Had some insane singletrack to Black Fountain and over,epic epic. Rode for bit on edge of cliff/valley, very scenic. Huge smile, even the Commander smiled on downhill. Would love to come back and ride around here for couple of days.

Went into Vuvu and then headed off to Rhodes, had a long look at my condensed milk and decided to take it along (eventually it travelled about 400km before i gave it away). The toughest day i've ever had, for just about anything. The portage up Lehanas is truly something to experience, carried bike up for four hours,started getting snow about half way up. A few days earlier the challengers did the pass in knee deep snow, must have been an insane experience. Walked all the way just using the moonlight (and the occasional flashlight to find Marnitz and Carl), an experience i will never forget, absolutely smashingly beautiful. Not exactly sure i'll try it again at night but had faith in my trusty new navigation system. (If anyone has some photo's of Lehanas i would love to see what it looks like.)

Over top got onto road to Tina lodge, was freezing, my feet were sweating and i could actually feel my toes starting to freeze together, interesting. Must remember to take sealskin socks next time. Walked up long hill, cycled some but was pretty wasted, did tough 20hrs today. Down Naudes nek was the most amazing sight, went down at night, and snow all over place, some ice but great piece of riding with spectacular views in the moonlight. Would love to do it in the day sometime,about 10km downhill. Luckily for the most part it was easy riding into Rhodes after Lehanas. Got David at the Rhodes hotel for supper at two in the morning :-).

Tomorrow will hopefully be a bit easier.

Day 3

2010-06-20T20:29:00.002+02:00

Banchory to Malekholonyane: 146km, 16hrs, 6hrs sleep.

So today all the extra riding paid off,made the double to Malekholonyane from Banchory, lunch stop at Masakala. Started at 5 this morning, was freezing, close to -12'C. Pipes in the house froze even though the taps were kept running. Waterbottel leaked a bit and froze to frame. Had some fun riding over puddles. Riding into Masakala was quite fun, two portages and a lot of singletrack/cowtracks. Some spectacular scenery. After Masakala the Commander,Carl Crous, said right, Marnitz said left and we did a field trip through the middle. About 5km of very bumpy riding. To give an idea,after 14hours on bike, my ass hurts,obviously,and my calves and kidneys from shaking, not quite sure that a hard tail is the way to go in this race, although it is a bit lighter. Think bouncing ball in tumble drier ;-). Eventually found right track again, had some awesome singletrack. Up another big hill, downhill we had some SUPER insane singletrack, probably 5km fast followed by 3km sweeping jeep track, awesome! Then missioned down a cliff to take short,crossed freezing river and last 3km uphill home. Tomorrow might be a very long one...

Day 2

2010-06-19T20:30:00.002+02:00

Centacow to Banchory: 80km, 13.5hrs, 5.5hrs sleep.

Day 2 was super, started out a bit chilly but turned out to be another excellent day for riding. Went from Centocow to Banchory. Had stretch through grasslands from Ntsikeni, insanely bumpy but very rideable, wish partners could ride it, we walked a lot. Realised later on that whatever they lacked in technical skills they more than made up for with determination, hardkoppigheid and buckets full of vasbyt.(Must be that army training).

Heard some stories about getting lost through the dongas, similar to the de Decker brothers, made it through easily though. Before that had two long climbs, very steep, but worth the view. Saw first snow on road and that's after two days of sunny weather, poor people who started earlier. After some really entertaining night riding we eventually made it to Banchory heard we were at the wrong place, only got the sms from race management later on. Got some amazing food and hospitality, seems to just be getting better and better as the race progresses.

Day 1

2010-06-19T06:03:00.005+02:00

Petermaritzburg to Centacow: 190km, 18hrs, 5hrs sleep.
So the first day didn't quite go according to plan. Went out with carl and marnitz seeing that they know the route, it made navigation a lot easier. Had some amazing riding for the first day with lot of highlights.

Seeing my first Njala
Going down SUPER steep concrete road, fun
Cycling up helahela.
Lots of singletrack
Longest shooting star ever
Second worst bonk

We arrived at 15:45,wind was bit against us and Carl was bonking,had fun pushing him. Anyway,they then decided to push on,i went along with my two new maps, but only untill we find the next group and i could realx take photo's and enjoy the scenery more. What was supposed to be a 48km ended up being 79km. Pay it forward, received lot of help when i started bonking, Marnitz even pushed my bike for bit. Got in just past 12, after some entertaining walking and route finding, or lack of it. Got to go, the commander is getting restless:-)

Night before

2010-06-17T22:38:00.002+02:00

So everythings set,and lot of thoughts running through my mind. Mostly super exited to start,bit scared and worried,but just looking forward to doing the scenic route through South Africa. Really glad to be getting away from vuvuzelas;-). Had bit of problem with bike today,hopefully doesn't act up tomorrow.
Marnitz & Commander Crous want to go through to Ntsikeni tomorrow,well good luck, i've made up my mind, i'm on hday&most likely wont be pushing it before the Karoo. Anyway,time for bed,breakfast at 5.

Sleepy

2010-06-16T00:37:00.001+02:00

Ok so the blog has been pretty quite, not really sure if it's going to pick up in the next few weeks, we'll see. Tried making time to go through backpack and give equipment feedback, prob better idea to do it after the event in any case.
Bike is looking at me funny, methinks her feelings are hurt from being wrapped up in bubble wrap, but it's for her own good. My bed is currently being occupied by the clothes and spares that should see me through the event. For my hordes of followers(haha dankie freddie), if you see a cold front closing in, and you have a pretty good idea where i am gimme a sms. Apparently they closed off Swartberg pass today because of the heavy snow falls, luckily i only need to negotiate that in two weeks time, and i'm sure the Drakensberg didn't get as much snow ;-).
Ok time to finish up, to all those poor people who need to work..shame..catch me if you can..

Phone&Blogging

2010-06-13T23:35:00.002+02:00

So this is the first post from my phone, just checking that everything is working, for those who haven't noticed yet the timer's a bit off, but hey who cares, Friday 06:00 is the big day!

Freedom Boxes Part 2

2010-06-13T19:11:00.002+02:00

So at last here is the follow up with the content of my 2l ice cream boxes. Still haven’t finished my project, seeing it only needs to be in tomorrow there’s still plenty of time, ha. Also since the Freedom Challenge started yesterday a great new source of procrastination has arisen, tracking the poor people who have started already. Looking at the weather makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, actually no i'm really looking forward to cycling in the snow, but not freezing -Rhodes.

Back to the boxes, things i distinctly remember to have packed:

Chocolate Slabs, about 10
Peanuts and Raisins
Fruit cubes
Dried fruit, Fruit rolls-just about every different type available, guava, mango, bubblegum etc.
Clean Green-double up as poison if i've had enough
Plastic bags-sealskin socks are too expensive and i’m brave (for now)
Choc covered raisins
Condensed Milk
Cream Caramels
Tuc biscuits
Provita’s
Tuna
Chocolates, a lot, don't really use energy bars, ride with snackers, lunch bars etc
Liquorice Allsorts
Biltong and Droewors
Cable Ties
Duct tape
Brake pads
Space Blankets
Extra socks
One extra t-shirt...?
Batteries
Meal replacement-emergency food
Stans tire sealant
Extra chain
Chamois cream
Lighter
Cherries for the last support station

The general idea would be to try and figure out where i might skip a support station, where a might could/would need spares and what kind(cable ties in every box ;-) ), and fill up the empty spaces with as much food as possible, tape the boxes until the lids stop popping off and move on to the next one.

Looking back at the list it seems as if i sent up too much sweet stuff, especially since i don't really enjoy sweets, but on the bike things tend to be different. Ok back to books, tomorrow i'm packing my backpack for the last time before the race...

Xams

2010-06-08T16:00:00.001+02:00

By popular demand(thanks phlippie) here is my newest post. i'm busy with projects and xams till Thursday, so don't hold your breath for anything before this weekend.
Short recap, 2l ice cream boxes have been post with lot of goodies and surprises, will post more details if i'm bored sometime. Or once my backpack is fully packed. Bike is in for final service and lot of replacements, eish very expensive. Going to buy last of the clothes i need on Friday and flying through to Durban next Tuesday. After that posting might become a problem, but you can always track me on the website(if the trackers are working), Freedom Challenge.
Ok back to the books...

Freedom boxes part 1

2010-05-26T21:21:00.002+02:00

So i've been sitting behind my computer the whole day (and the previous two) and still not finished with the project. Good thing is after Sunday i probably would not have been able to ride anyway. Went hiking in Jonkershoek at 'volspoed' (which with flat batteries=no photo's), amazing view of the mountains, and except for the wind howling over the top it was a great day out. Started with the Pieke, always some great views over the valley and Stellenbosch, then went over to Rifberg, then Cathedral. This bit looks impossible but there is quite an interesting route between the two, as our fearless leader remarked, "Hierdie is nie 'n skool uitstappie nie..", and eventually down Bergriviernek. Luckily we got a lift almost to Langrivier kloof so saved a bit of time.

So almost time to get back to work, Friday is the big packing the 2l boxes. For the Freedom Challenge you can send these to every support station, lifesaver. Still need to try and figure out what i will need the most when, wonder how much peanut butter samies can fit in one (and in what shape it is going to be after a month).
Reckon biltong and chocolate might be the food of choice here, will post an update later

Landroskop hike a bike (misadventure)

2010-05-21T16:51:00.008+02:00

So the official rematch was on. Woke up got ready and hit the road to Jonkershoek, getting used to the extra weight of the backpack but still interesting cycling with an extra 8-10 kg on your back and bike, especially the first hill of the day. I knew it would be a tough day, though it would be similar to the Boegoeskloof hike a bike, wow was i ever wrong. Lesson one, don't ever trust second hand information about a route you intend to hike a bike it. But i'm getting ahead of myself.

After our previous epic over the mountains excursion i heard from a friend that there is a much "easier route" over the mountain instead of taking the route through Boegoeskloof. Obviously i was interested and tried to find out exactly the scope of the route, how long?, rocky?, and most importantly is it rideable?

After being assured that the route would be a lot easier than the kloof i was quite exited to try out this new route. Would it open up a new dimension of mountain biking in Stellenbosch area? Hopefully no one of Cape Nature will ever read this blog.

After 'scouting' most of the route on Google earth and knowing where to go i decided to go up Kurktrekkersnek with my bike. Firstly it would save me at least an hour instead of going over Dwarsberg plateau, secondly i reckoned it would be good practice for Die Leer out of Gamkaskloof during the Freedom Challenge. For those that haven't done it, Kurktrekkersnek is quite a tough climb even just hiking up, gaining close to 500m in altitude in a bit over a kilometer, which amounts to some very steep hiking.

After a gruelling hour and a half of walking i finally made it to the top, i though the climb was really worth the view (this became my motto for the next 5 hours).

From here i started on the Swartboskloof hiking trail, as soon as i hit the top of the climb i was treated to some amazing riding. Wow, this was what it was all about, why did we bother with the kloof, i have to phone harry, we're doing this again on Saturday, whoop whoop! etc was flashing through my mind for the next 15 minutes as i rode some amazing singletrack with a view, that is with a VIEW!

Reaching the Landroskop turn off the trail became very much hike and very little bike. However i was not worried, i mean it looked as if the trail would just rise over the ridge and then the rest of it should be as rideable as the previous section (still relying on my second hand information of the trail). Little did i know. When the trail eventually finished close to the top of the mountain i was ready to jump on my bike again to ride some singletrack.

A few thoughts:

If you can't really see most of a track on Google Earth there might actually be a good reason for that(i.e overgrown/non-rideable etc)
Never ever ever ever go on second hand information(unless you don't mind getting in over your head)
Cycling shoes are only comfy hiking with for the first three hours.
There's more than one way to carry your bike.

Walking for the next four hours i think i got close to discovering most of the ways to carry your bike, high up, resting on one shoulder, resting on both shoulders, with one hand, two hands, hands free, reminds me of Bubba...

Without going into the details, i got frustrated walking everything and tried riding the unrideable with some interesting results. When i eventually saw Landroskop hut i think it topped all the previous views, salvation!

The last kilometer to the hut was the most fun, being mostly rideable and extremely rocky and technical, i was loving it. A stray though crept into my mind as i was flashing down the trail, this almost makes up for the hike..WHAT? Must have lost my mind hiking the route. When i got to the hut i realised i would have to get a move on since the 'race briefing' of the Freedom Challenge was in three hours in Cape Town. So i left the Nuweberg trail to explore on another day.

The next 50km's flew by riding through the pine forests next to Grabouw making my way to the top of Sir Lowry's pass. Realising i would not make it back in time i tried phoning Harry, and as days like these work my battery died right after he picked up. So much for that plan (this is starting to read like a Clive Cussler novel too much action for one book). Well after being out for close to 10hours i started bonking (hitting the wall), not so much fun. Plan B, head to a friends house in Somerset West and then phone Harry.

Luckily all worked out to plan, and after a stop at a supermarket i was restocked, my bag weighing closer to 12kg's now. Some of the best food i've had in a long time, can't really remember exactly what i had but it was goooood. Perfect timing and Harry picked me up just outside Somerset West.

To end off the story, i made it to the race briefing, only 20mins late, had an absolutely epic training day for the Freedom Challenge and i'm thinking of the Nuweberg trail. Check out the photo's and the map to get an idea of the trail. Landroskop hike a bike

Mountain hike a bike Rematch

2010-05-19T15:17:00.003+02:00

So after taking a few days off and recovering, yesterday's mountain bike ride was just easy getting back into it. Today was an epic, ride all the technical singletracks in Jonkershoek, day. First time with an 'almost race weight' backpack, about 8kg's, makes a huge difference on just about everything, up, down, sideways and falling ;-).

Just checked the weather report and tomorrow seems about as good as it is going to get. The official rematch is on. A quick recap for those in the dark. Most of the photo's at the moment was taken on the previous excursion, starting in Stellenbosch, Jonkershoek going over the mountains and into Grabouw, most of the terrain was ride able but there was some interesting hike-a-bike sections. Interesting meaning tell your grandkids about it someday. I've scouted most of the route beforehand, hiking it, and needed someone crazy enough to believe that its possible on a mountain bike, thanks Harry. Well about 90km, 12 hours and a couple of spills later, battered and bruised we made it home. Did so much rocks and technical riding that most of our normal riding routes seem quite tame now.

Anyway, since Harry is working and i need a lot of long hike/riding days before the Freedom Challenge, tomorrow will see me attempting a new route over the mountains. If i survive will give an update and some new photo's later.
Remember to feed Hammie...

Royco weather

2010-05-15T22:15:00.004+02:00

Rain, Soup, Vitamin C.

Yes the inevitable happened, i'm blogging in English. Whatever. Actually i'm sick which is why this blog came to life. Way too much time on hand and there is only so much of a day i'm willing to spend on academics with deadlines more than a week ago and three to go. ha sounds cool.

Hopefully this is the start of things to come with regular updates etc for people to waste their time with. Soon as i can hit the bike again it's time for a rematch with Groenberg...
Oh and while i'm at this, a big up to my unofficial official sponsers making this adventure possible.

Anna Basson Properties

Masons Bike Inn