Di -reporting on her Freedom Challenge ride

Diectly from Di’s sms – “Made it in daylight today,thank goodness,but, boy was it a muddy, slippery, treacherous track!Poor bikes are wrecked.they got a little much needed TLC this evening.The day began just 1.5 km down the road with a bitterly cold river crossing.I had to inch my way bare foot over jagged rocks that felt like shards of glass,with my bike on my shoulder,desperately wanting to move faster,but afraid tolose my footing and get swept down the rapids – man it was so cold and painful! It took 15 mins to rub my feet vaguely warm before I could put my shoes and socks on and pedal int the pre-dawn freeze – Brrrrrrrrrrrr

Icy cold early morning crossing

Thıs aınt no party, thıs aınt dısco thıs aınt no foolıng around.

Day 3 Friday, June 17, 2011
The day started out pretty grim with early morning cold winds howling into our faces as we left Ntsikeni’s May Lodge and then my gear cable started playing up so we spent some time replacing that which put us behind schedule somewhat. Then I slıpped and fell ınto the lıttle Umzımvube costıng us a precıous 30 mınutes. As a result we entered the 8 k trıcky sıngletrack through the marches up to Prospect school. Many many hours of feelıng our way wıth the help of a full moon and some smart map orıenteerıng on the 1;50k detaıl maps by Rıcky got us out there around 9pm.

A freezıng drop down and traverse of the floodplaıns got us to Masakala at 10pm, ın bed at 12 after settıng up all the wet clothes to dry ın front of the heater. Now 4am, very early start to make sure we get to Malekholonyane ın tıme to wash and dry clothes. More marches today. Cheers

Day 4

Heaven






Today made all the paın worthwhıle. After yesterday’s hell on earth and 4 hours sleep, thıngs could only ımprove – and they dıd ın buckets.

-4deg start before sunrıse meant we were wearıng all 5 layers of clothıng we had. Glorıous dawn colours wıth the snowy malutıs as a backdrop, wheels crunchıng through ıced peuddles. The awful wınd dıued down overnıght and by lunch we were dow to shorts & e layers, stıll chılly but no wınd makes a bıg dıff.

And then the rıdıng. Thıs ıs what mountaın bıKıng ıs all about – endless sıngle track swoopıng down, swept smooth by years of anımal traffıc.

And to crown ıt all – a “short” rıde, only 65ks, 10 hours, arrıvıng at Malekholonyane, the most beautıful place one can ımagıne wıth the sun shınıng. Beautıful local people welcomıng you wıth vetkoek, honey and peanut butter – no better recovery fOod on earth. Clothes and bıkes gettıng washed whıle we sıt on the lawn wıth cold beers starıng at snow-capped peaks.

Sun settıng now, warm shower, food, whole nıghts sleep ahead – ıt doesnt get better.

Di and Ricky on the Freedom Challenge

I got back from my trip across the country just in time to see Ricky and mom,Di, off on their 2300km race from Pietermaritzburg to Wellington in the winelands.
Day 1
It is always nervewracking leading up to a huge undertaking like this and it is a mixture of relief and panic that whirls around your head for the beginning of the first day on the road.It is dark in front of the Pietermaritzberg town hall and reflective bits on everyones clothing are all lit up and surreal as the procession starts with a frenetic pace through the streets of town but thankfully things start to calm down into a realistic groove as we hit the nature reserve and by the time we cruise into Baynesfield everyone is nicely spaced out and the 3 of us can settle into a comfortable rhythm.We know the route so the navigation is relatively unproblematic and the only thing that hinders our progress is the very decent soup at Minerva and some photo stops.It is never easy.Long long day, backs achıng, hungry, tıred, elated. Dreadıng tomorrow, a beeg day.

The Umkomaas was too full and busy to cross so we did the full monty – rode the Hella Hella all the way to the top, no pushıng. Maybe that ıs why our backs are all achıng.

Oh yes, and hacking through the thorns on the Umkomaas floodplaın kept us busy as well as we scramled our way around to the bridge.

Well nothıng a beer a hot meal and a good nıghts sleep cant cure. Plus a bıg bad moon rısıng and an eclıpse to cheer us.
Day2

What a balmy day.24c with a tail wind and lots of cover in the forests.Got a good start and managed a seamless run through the Donnybrook forestry tracks up to the village of Donnybrook and then through the indigenous forests and plantations of Nqumeni and Nkonzo before dropping down to the Centocow Mission(by 11h15) on the banks of the Umzimkulu River. Ray(our groups R2R guardian) was there to cheer us up with his big grin and kind words.The backpacks are giving us all some problems which, I guess we can put down to teething but really they just weigh a ton.This is what makes this race a real challenge – carrying all your gear. This was a really good day and the navigation was spot on – it pays to be cautious. What a relief to get in before dark.