Hours to Launch

Bokspruit - it would be dark when we passed through

The lack of choice through disciplined packing is remarkably liberating.

All of Batch B arrrived in Rhodes within half an hour of each other, to a warm greeting from the race organisers, Meryl and Glenn.

Leon and Coen had driven up from East London, Annie & Stewart from Centurion, Craig is currently based in Ghana which left Carl from Pretoria East and myself from Johannesburg.

Underweight Santacruz

We spent an hour or two prepping bikes and the one thing that stood out for me was how underdressed mine was. The only weight on my bike was the bottle with spares beneath my saddle. The other bikes had an array of bags on handle bars, saddles and top tubes.

The debate on where to load weight is one that continues to vex Freedom riders. In the end it is always a personal choice and I had no need to regret mine over the next five days, especially when scaling fences.

To my horror, I had left my charger cable for my GPS behind. Let me point out quickly that there were no routes loaded on it. It was merely my speedometer and I wanted to record the routes to see where I had gone in the great expanse of the Karoo. (I cannot tell a lie - I also wanted the data for my Strava challenges! There I admit it)

But without a detailed distance measuring device, I was in trouble.

Ready for action?

Luckily Craig had a cable and Glenn had a spare. Disaster averted. (Note: I had wondered whether I should take a battery operated speedo just in case but decided against it. If it had been RASA, I would not have the GPS at all but just a reliable old fashioned speedometer.)

Lamb was served up for dinner but Meryl took pity on me and organised a chicken schnitzel.

There was short race briefing and we would all meet in the morning for a 5am departure.

The soul of mountainbiking indeed

Back Tracking

Unsupported is a bit of a misleading title. The race is semi-supported with a chain of support stations along the route where you are guaranteed a meal, a shower and a bed and a whole lot of love. You are also entitled to send a 2 litre box ahead with extra snacks and other items you may need. eg batteries

The unsupported bit is the where you carry all your own personal requirements - clothes, spares, gizmos. This can end up being rather heavy if you are not absolutely ruthless in what the bare minimum requirement should be.

March is wet, possibly cold, possibly baking hot. It is the Karoo after all.

I had turned the clothing issue over and over in my mind and went for bare minimum. Experience showed that so long as you were moving, you would be warm. As I only planned to double up on the last day, I shouldn't have a problem with extra warmth.

My North Face pack - a relic from 2009 RASA - was hauled out and it was like welcoming an old friend. Next came all the water proof bags and the basic items of clothing, spares and chargers that I thought I would need.

The bag with snacks but no water eventually weighed in at 4 kilograms. Not bad. It would be interesting to see how everyone else had packed as all the riders had to have done a Freedom Challenge event - either RASA or Race/Ride2Rhodes.

My backpack was ready a week before the event. My bike was serviced, new tires put on and I was ready. I was also nervous.

Race2Cradock Ramblings

I like to have some quiet time after an event to absorb what has passed. I wish I had taken the time to stop our group before we reached Cradock and just have that moment when you are still and focused on the enormity of what has just gone down.

Backpack and Bike - nothing else needed

But I didn't, and I didn't manage to find my own moment to reflect. So here I am, hoping that by jotting down thoughts and experiences from the five days, I'll be able to internalise my adventure and the intensity of the experience.

My erstwhile riding partner Rob, instead of falling off his bike onto his head (as he usually does), managed to twist his knee moving boxes. He did such a good job that an operation was required to fix the damage. So, there I was, contemplating riding 600km on my lonesome.

Packed to the roof.

Had this happened last year before Ride2Rhodes, I think I would have bailed. I just wasn't that into doing that route for the 4th time. When I heard about this potential event, I was immediately entranced with the idea. A "new" section and one which had race demons all over it. I had covered most of the section in 2009 and then again in 2011 but had never strung it together properly. Now was my chance.

The loss of my riding partner was a blow but I was still excited about doing the route. At last I had some riding mojo - something I had missed for a couple of years.

The Karoo approaches

My build-up was different and risky. My training strategy was two hard sessions in the week and fun, recovery rides on the weekend. As a result, I was scrounging ride buddies all over who would be happy to ride slowly with me. I was worried about my lack of distance riding with a max of 90km in the three month build up. I had to put my faith in my very part time coach who kept reminding me that by my ripe old age, I had accumulated more than enough base. So I put my faith in his programme and hit the wattbikes hard then played on the weekends.

It was with some trepidation, nerves and excitement that I headed off to Rhodes with Carl Scholtz to prop up Batch B.

Weight off the back but the portages?

The "bokkie" - the only clues outside of maps and narratives