Life after the Freedom Challenge

I am pretty convinced that I will not want to look at my bike for the longest time after this three week epic. And I have been hesitant about committing to any events in the months that follow.

But who can resist the lure of a ride in our neighbouring country Botswana? For three years I have had a standing invitation to attend this two day stage race which has had rave reviews. There is always a strong Botswana showing at my Sabie Experience event and it is time to return the favour.

So on July 25th I will line up at the start of the Subaru Kalahari Challenge for two days of fun, slightly warmer weather and with a lot of base fitness! Here is an extract from their website.

Yet again, we’re going to play with the route. Some woosies (ex roadies, perhaps?) complained that Day 2 was a bit rough. So, we’re going to turn things around – Day 1 will now be long and rough, and Day 2 will be a quiet stroll in the Botswana bayous. And we’ll be going the other way around, which we hope doesn“t upset the clockwise amongst you. We think the race route has got even better, if not any easier - it’s still approximately 95km for Day One and 85km on Day Two. We have dodged some of the desert, but there’ll still be the odd patch of sand (‘horizontal hills in Botswana’) guaranteed to blip the heart-rate and blow the hammies, some real hills, a bit of wildlife, some water, and every variety of thorn known to man. Oh, and a bit of natural singletrack. South African visitors have learnt to their surprise that ‘flat’ don’t mean ‘easy’, it just means you have to pedal all the way!

The race comes highly recommended and entries are limited to 100 teams. You can get all the lowdown here.

See you at the end of July - Seamus, Steve, Neville, Marius and all the other Gabs riders.