Gadget for you, you wanted pictures: Bike is packed and ready to go.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Cycling with FreedomChallengers
So.
I signed up for Ride 2 Rhodes.
The kindergarten-version of the Freedom Challenge, complete with a guardian to look after us :)
Gotta do a bit of training. Even though this is the novice-version, there would still be hills to climb. But when Dave suggested on Saturday that we go for a ride with Fiona and the Freedom Challengers, I was a bit wary ... these people are going all the way to Cape Town, and they probably trained accordingly - if their blogs were to be believed. Intimidating!
But I allowed myself to be talked into riding with them ... they would be cycling with full kit and apparently were tapering, and who could resist a ride in the Magaliesberg area anyway?
An early start on a coldish morning.
Dave lead us down a tar-hill to test the buff's ability to keep the ears warm, and to find out where toe-freezing-point is. Then up again, through the gate, and heaven. This is why i cycle. For dirt and pretty views and rocky climbs with gnarly downhills. On towards the dam, then down, another little singletrackie through grass, and coffee.
Then a portage - 'cos the Queen Bee said so, and even though i was gonna do the kindergarten-ride, i, too, will have to go over Lehanna. That's what they said, so I went with them.
'they' also confirmed a few other things for me:
The Freedom Challengers quickly replanned the route, and we went up the vegetable farm, a short climb, a nice downhill (the bike loved it!) then up some gravelroad, and then up a stunning little rocky climb. heart rate monitor's battery is flat, but i'm sure with the last remnants of last week's cold it would have been a ne max heartrate. All of them with backpacks approaching 40 kg's, way up ahead on the climb, and me trailing a km or 2 behind them with my 2 litres of water in my bag. (That's why I do the novice ride.)
Did I ever feel left out of all their talk about ice-cream boxes that had to be packed and sent down to capetown, or about their final preparations, or about parts of the route that i wouldn't do? Not at all. Just very thankful for a few things:
thank you, Gadget, for the entertainment provided :)
Good luck, all ye Freedom Challengers! Two weeks to go!
I signed up for Ride 2 Rhodes.
The kindergarten-version of the Freedom Challenge, complete with a guardian to look after us :)
Gotta do a bit of training. Even though this is the novice-version, there would still be hills to climb. But when Dave suggested on Saturday that we go for a ride with Fiona and the Freedom Challengers, I was a bit wary ... these people are going all the way to Cape Town, and they probably trained accordingly - if their blogs were to be believed. Intimidating!
But I allowed myself to be talked into riding with them ... they would be cycling with full kit and apparently were tapering, and who could resist a ride in the Magaliesberg area anyway?
An early start on a coldish morning.
Dave lead us down a tar-hill to test the buff's ability to keep the ears warm, and to find out where toe-freezing-point is. Then up again, through the gate, and heaven. This is why i cycle. For dirt and pretty views and rocky climbs with gnarly downhills. On towards the dam, then down, another little singletrackie through grass, and coffee.
Then a portage - 'cos the Queen Bee said so, and even though i was gonna do the kindergarten-ride, i, too, will have to go over Lehanna. That's what they said, so I went with them.
'they' also confirmed a few other things for me:
- the ride 2 rhodes is 6 days, not 7 - so i have enough cycling kit (the luxury of not having to carry everything, therefore being able to take clean kit for every day)
- the 20 litre bag will be big enough, even with travel-size makeup and other unmentionables in the bag
- thank you Fiona for all the tips on navigating! i'll see how much i can remember
- apparenlty my pet cat looks more like a dog, but in the end they admitted that maybe it could pass for a lion-cub, which is feline, which makes it a cat.
- my lift back from rhodes was in fact riding with us in the group (i only had email contact up till then)
- blue is a very good colour for a camera - now it must just arrive in time, otherwise i'll have to take the SLR
The Freedom Challengers quickly replanned the route, and we went up the vegetable farm, a short climb, a nice downhill (the bike loved it!) then up some gravelroad, and then up a stunning little rocky climb. heart rate monitor's battery is flat, but i'm sure with the last remnants of last week's cold it would have been a ne max heartrate. All of them with backpacks approaching 40 kg's, way up ahead on the climb, and me trailing a km or 2 behind them with my 2 litres of water in my bag. (That's why I do the novice ride.)
Did I ever feel left out of all their talk about ice-cream boxes that had to be packed and sent down to capetown, or about their final preparations, or about parts of the route that i wouldn't do? Not at all. Just very thankful for a few things:
- i didn't have to climb that rocky bit with a backpack almost as heavy as fiona herself.
- i know people who know how to connect all the juicy bits in the mountain in the best possible way, creating a stunning ride :)
- happy to be on my bicycle -the bike absolutely loved the ride
thank you, Gadget, for the entertainment provided :)
Good luck, all ye Freedom Challengers! Two weeks to go!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sani2C nonstop
We left Joburg early, to do the REAL sani2c - No riding up there, we had the bakkie with us.
Was cold at the top, the hot chocolate went down well with the views.
There was some good tracks up there. Dodgy at times, to try miss the 4x4s, hikers, donkeys and other traffic. Contrary to popular belief, it's not all the way downhill from Sanitop to Underberg. We arrived just in time for race briefing ... then off to bed in a tent just outside the hostel - getting up at 11, cos the race started at 12. What an uncivilised time to start a race - pablo and gerard had their hands full to keep me awake. A coffee-stop and some red bull at the Mackenzie-club did the trick.
No singletrack at night - partly to make the ride more doable. So no Nic's pass, we took the district road all the way to the bottom of the umkomaas valley - and out on the other side.
We defrostd a little when the sun came up. And slightly overheated when Gerard put Pablo on a tow, had to work hard to keep up with them!
Each team has it's own backup driver. Hein cooked up a wonderful breakfast - he even put out chairs for all of us, lubed the bikes, and he makes excellent coffee.
Was cold at the top, the hot chocolate went down well with the views.
There was some good tracks up there. Dodgy at times, to try miss the 4x4s, hikers, donkeys and other traffic. Contrary to popular belief, it's not all the way downhill from Sanitop to Underberg. We arrived just in time for race briefing ... then off to bed in a tent just outside the hostel - getting up at 11, cos the race started at 12. What an uncivilised time to start a race - pablo and gerard had their hands full to keep me awake. A coffee-stop and some red bull at the Mackenzie-club did the trick.
No singletrack at night - partly to make the ride more doable. So no Nic's pass, we took the district road all the way to the bottom of the umkomaas valley - and out on the other side.
We defrostd a little when the sun came up. And slightly overheated when Gerard put Pablo on a tow, had to work hard to keep up with them!
Each team has it's own backup driver. Hein cooked up a wonderful breakfast - he even put out chairs for all of us, lubed the bikes, and he makes excellent coffee.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Waterval Boven
Glenn has been busy in Boven. The Forest Track, Rim Trail and Contour Path will stay favourites - but he added a playstation and fourcrosstrack, extended the Contour Path, added a few bridges to the Forest Track, and extended the Rimtrail till right in town - it's rough in sections, and big fun!
Here's Paul on the playstation:
more playstation-madness. there is a chicken-run for the less adventurous.
Swampdog Grant on the fourcross-track:
the masterbuilder and some swampdogs on the top part of the Rimtrail.
a bridge at the bottom of the RimTrail
The fun part of the Contour Path (everything of this path is the fun part, actually)
A rivercrossing just before the exit of the Contour Path
A bridge over a fence as you exit the Forest Trail (wheely strictly optional)
Here's Paul on the playstation:
more playstation-madness. there is a chicken-run for the less adventurous.
Swampdog Grant on the fourcross-track:
the masterbuilder and some swampdogs on the top part of the Rimtrail.
a bridge at the bottom of the RimTrail
The fun part of the Contour Path (everything of this path is the fun part, actually)
A rivercrossing just before the exit of the Contour Path
A bridge over a fence as you exit the Forest Trail (wheely strictly optional)
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