A Mini Freedom Day

What a ride today turned out to be. Quite unintentionally, we did a complete dress rehearsal of a typical day on the Freedom Challenge.

Four RASA riders (Doug, Steve, Sean and me) and one R2R rider (Derek) headed off at 6:30 this morning for an unknown distance but estimated to be about 60-70km. Well that was spot on at 61km but it was over 5 hours of riding and a 7,5hour day!

We headed through the Cradle of Mankind, over the many rocky ridges towards the Magaliesberg, rode the reknowned single track called The Bridal Trail and headed back through a farm growing tomatoes, carrots, onions with strong fertiliser.

We did loads of cattle track, path finding and back tracking, a LOT of fence climbing, a bit of guesswork, bike repairs, lunch stops reminiscent of Banchory and a bit of path spotting from across valleys. It was a very physical ride with a lot of pushing, walking and lifting and technical riding but an absolutely perfect snapshot of what lies ahead in June.

An added bonus was the herd of Gemsbok, a couple of Wildebees (one of whom charged straight into the game fence before dashing off) and a myriad of insects and butterflies and bird song.

The apple pie and cream at the end was superb. I'll let the pictures tell the story.

(Scaling the game fence over and under)