Overshare?

Err, sorry, he says as we head off for the third day of strenous riding in the mountains of Sabie. I'm not very conversational today. Its usually when I don't have enough sleep.

Oh, I say all sympathetic - what happened? 

Well, you see its like this.  After two days of riding, my bowels haven't moved yet.  So driven to desperation, I resorted to laxatives last night.  They're supposed to work within a hour but they didn't so I ended up taking three!

Now I can see kak coming and this was coming from a looong way off.  Spellbound, I listened as did a couple of riders who slowed their pace to hear more.

And... I prompted.

I felt so terrible, he continued, that I couldn't sleep at all.  And then this morning, they kicked in and I had to walk down the stairs backward so I could keep my butt cheeks together so I didn't embarrass myself.

My mate was in the shower hogging the bathroom, so I ended up pacing around the kitchen table with a tight ass cos I knew if I relaxed the muscles, I was history.

By now, we had ridden off the road in hysterics.

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Writing, writing, writing but not for here

The NaNoWriMo fever has hit more than 170 000 (at last count) would be writers around the globe.  Writing started at midnight on November 1 and there have been wild swings in input from the over and under achievers.

I missed day one because I was riding my mountain bike - funny thing that.  And I have started now, cranking out about 2000 words a day so far.  Oops - that sounds better than it is because it is only day 3!  But I figure the words will run dry at some point and while I feverishly search for inspiration, at least I'll have a buffer.

There was one over achiever on the international forum who wrote over 30 000 words straight.  That's just intimidating.  How are the rest of us supposed to feel.  Eejit (I wish I had that skill).  I wonder if he will carry on once he hits his 50 000 tomorrow?  Short month for him but for the rest of us, its going to be hard to maintain momentum.

But what a great opportunity to just write with abandon.  Posts on the blog will be read by someone so there is a degree of structure and sense to be made.  But with NaNo, just write.  There is no one watching, critting or even vaguely interested in whether it makes sense or not.  Which is just well as there has to be chunks of drivel that pour out at times.  But that is December's problem when you finally get to read what you have written in its entirety.

I didn't choose a cycling or mountain biking topic but maybe somewhere I will have to weave a little of that into the story.

So here's to keeping writer's block at bay and 50 000 words by the end of the month.

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And we climbed

The fourth stage of Sabie Experience pre ride was a mere 55km.

If you think you will hammer it, think again. Its tough especially on fatigued legs and by this stage, trust me, your legs will be very fatigued.

I was so tired even before starting but miraculously, the legs kept turning. Climbing out of Sabi Star Chalets made me wish I had gym work in my legs. It took a huge amount of power and determination to keep riding and not to walk.

Cool, misty conditions helped but the humidity was hectic. Sweat poured off everyone in the group.

The first water point is spectacular and as we arrived, the mist lifted enough for us to look out over the cliff to the valleys below.

Microwave Alley was a great descent and the next 15km or so was really interesting riding. Undulating track through massive bamboo groves, eucalyptus and indigenous bush brought us to the second water point.

Then we did two serious climbs, damn, they tested the boundaries. Once past them, it was a brilliant fast descent down Ross Hill and pretty much single track all the way home.

We had such a cool group of people riding together over the 3 days and the humour was legendary. Only mountain bikers could relate to the chirps.

Marinus was our group leader and his calm presence backed by some serious riding talent kept us all together. But if you did falter, there was the reassuring presence of the Off Road Rescue Unit - our incredible medical and moral support group.

How they dragged the trailer over some of that terrain, I don't want to know.

As for me and my comeback, that was three damn fine days of riding. Now, where is the number for my massage therapist!
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

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