And?...

...and I made it!

...Well, we finally decided to leave on Tuesday morning 16 July. The weather window looked good and even strengthening for the following day or two and I was concerned that any delay, in search of absolute Utopia, could come back and bite us.
Also, the tooth abscess in my jaw, had flared up again and I was concerned that it could make me too sick to ride. So whilst I still felt OK and armed with a second course of antibiotics, I thought it best to go. Early Monday evening, we made our way through to Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, a B&B that is located virtually at the start of the route and a favourite of mine.

We left shortly after 06h00 and made good time, getting through the Steeple Chase section, under The 5 Arches Bridge, faster than I've ever been through there before.
There was no wind at this stage, but it felt cold, especially the approach to Balfour. I grabbed my water bottle for a sip to find it was semi frozen. A later analysis of my .gpx data showed this to be the coldest part of our trip, with the low being -7 degrees for a period of about 25 minutes and we spent about an 1 hour and 45 minutes below zero. It would never again drop below zero on any other part of our journey.
Apart from an inordinate amount of toilet breaks and a cough resulting from a tightening chest, I was good, but running a little behind schedule on the first stage or two.

Balfour

Gerrit was a machine. Tough as an old boot. That boy carries the heaviest backpack I have ever had the displeasure of having to lift. He was fast and he could easily have gone faster, but he hung back with me.

Greylingstad

We pulled into the little Cafe at Greylingstad for some provisions and a more serious toilet break.
Man, you can lose time with these unintended stoppages! The average speed is easily affected by these little delays, especially during the early stages of any ride.

Val

The leg to Val was good and we started clawing back a little on our schedule.

Standerton In

By the time we reached Standerton, we were 10 minutes up on our schedule. Still no tailwind as forecast. We had a burger and chips and replenished Coke and water reserves.

Standerton Out

We had a good stop and shaved another half an hour of the schedule.

Volksrust In

When you ride when there is no wind, the apparent wind generated by your forward motion, makes it feel as if you're being headed. Its only when you stop, that you can feel the lack of the wind. When you ride with a tail wind and you're moving at the same speed as the wind, it feels like a windless day, in fact sometimes you can feel uncomfortably warm. I've come to look forward to that windless sensation and finally now, it had arrived. It helped. A lot!!

Volksrust Out

Although we rode a good leg, I was really struggling. My chest had tightened further and I was wheezing, rasping, had developed a headache and feeling light headed. I'd lost my appetite and it was a struggle forcing food down. Gerrit looked as though he had just started. He had no aches or pains. Proper bloke!
Our stop was 10 minutes longer than scheduled. I was the cause.

The generous, Carl and Thea Webb

Riding about 8km's from Groenvlei, the Myprodol had taken affect and I was feeling human again. Gerrit was riding ahead. A bakkie cruised past slowly and moved on towards Gerrit in the distance.
I couldn't see the driver, but gathered from the firefighting tank on the back, that it was probably a local farmer on his way home from a pub. The Garmin read 23h22min.
When I got close to them, I realised Gerrit had turned around and was already cycling on his way back to me.
"This kind farmer has offered us a bed for the night." he said.

To be honest, initially, I was taken aback by this. I had made up my mind to push on past Groenvlei to Rassie's. This would have meant that I would have cleared the nasty climb leading out of Groenvlei and I would have gone past the highest point on the route. Psychologically important milestones for me.
I started arguing my case to the two of them, but it was met with some resistance. I was put on the spot. I tried again.
The farmer, said: "En ons maak vir julle lekker warm koffie, met beskuit. Julle hoef nie lank daar te bly nie."
I looked at that kind face, almost imploring and felt that my refusal would have been hugely insulting and a completely undeserving response to his act of kindness. So I turned and road some 3.5km back up the route to the farm.

What lovely people!!

Thea was taking photo's of the eclipse of the full moon when she saw the lights coming down the district road. The lack of engine noise, from these sheep thieves, puzzled her, so she woke husband Carl, who had lost interest in the full moon eclipse and had gone to bed.
When he saw the beams of our lights swerving from side to side as we made our way up this steep hill he said: "My magtig! Hulle soek so wragtag skaap, hier teen die heining! Kyk hoe ry hulle van kant tot kant!"

Luckily for us, he realised his mistake. By necessity, all farmers in that area are armed.

We were fed, had a warm bath and were shown to our room with electric blankets warming crisp clean linen. The following morning, they woke with us, to give us breakfast and to see us on our way.
Our parting gift was blessbok salami and droewors, culled and processed on the farm.
These random acts of kindness, are always humbling and restores one's faith in humanity and seems to be largely prevalent in the South African farming communities.

They have other accommodation opposite their homestead, en-route, which they wish to let. Please consider making use of their facilities, if you are going to tour the route, race the route, or you want to go for a training camp. There is wonderful riding in that area and a popular loop that includes the hamlet of Wakkerstroom. We have their contact details, if required.

Groenvlei Out

Our detour cost us 6 hours and 30 minutes. A creep of about 2 hours or more on our schedule, but it was well worth it and it seemed like destiny. One which would surely benefit the future of the event.
At this stage we were 12 minutes behind schedule.

Rassie Out

By the time we hits Rassie's, we were ahead of schedule by 50 minutes. The little shop at Rassie, has a new tenant. The shop does not have much to offer, but they kindly let us make use of their bathroom facilities. It is a beautiful old building, with timber floors, still in brilliant condition. The black landlady seemed to indicate, that she would consider cycle camping on the property, for a small fee. Unfortunately, I do not have her contact details.

Vryheid In

And still the tailwind persisted. It was heaven and we could blast along to Vryheid.
Now 2 hours 30 minutes ahead. I was feeling way better than at Volksrust.

Vryheid Out

Gerrit agreed to a reduced fueling stop of 30 minutes, but his trip to the Spar took longer than anticipated. We lost no time on our original schedule. Still 2 hours 30 min ahead.

Ulundi In

Gerrit and I had agreed, at the outset, to ride at our own pace and to manage our resources, the way each saw fit, but it was hoped that we could stick together. At this stage, I wanted to try and push on past Ulundi, to Silk Road.
Going  up a steep climb, at night, with only a headlamp, Gerrit wished me adieu. He was feeling a little less enthusiastic about our prospects of getting to Silk Rd.
I suggested that we take a break and eat something, while we weighed up our options. He insisted I proceed without him, but I thought it best for him, not to ride past the urban sprawl into and out of Ulundi on his own. He was not familiar with this part of the country and had never been to Ulundi.
In any event, sleeping earlier would benefit us both and we could eliminate the scheduled Silk Road stop over, for a zero sum gain. So we camped out.
I'm envious of people who fall asleep easily and Gerrit's gentle snoring, was strangely comforting.
I was wheezing and coughing and battling to fall asleep and concerned that this would wake him. Luckily, he is more resilient than that. I reckon he can sleep standing up.

Ulundi Out

Our "Stealth Camp" stopover, was a little longer than necessary. 6 hrs!
With the result that we left Ulundi 1 hour behind on our virtual schedule. (I was unaware, exactly, of where we were in relation to our schedule, at that stage, but thought that the 60hr target would be touch and go.)
I would know where we stood stood once we reached the Silk Rd stop.

Silk Road In

In sailing parlance, we were running a little too close to the wind, at this stage. It would be a challenge to make the cut off. We discussed this briefly. My sole reason for doing this ride was to break the 60 hour mark. Remember, I have failed at that quest once before and I really thought that it was achievable, without having to be a super athlete. Gerrit, on the other hand, was testing his form for a well know team event, scheduled for end of August. He's main concern being that he don't let the team down. Rest easy, my friend. You won't.
The parting happened unintentionally.  We were bleeding a little too much time, without any benefit and got separated after I pushed ahead. He took a wrong prong of the fork.

Silk Road Out

And still the wind pushed me forward.
The unwinding of the Silk Road schedule showed that, I was now 45 minutes behind.
I must confess, that pushing through to Silk Road, instead of camping out, would not have been the fastest strategy. I would have been in pieces.
The net result: My friends' suffering and discomfort, had the unintended effect of benefiting me.
Thanks Yster!.

Finish Time at Richards Bay

I had my second and last bad spell of the entire trip, on this leg. The temperature was 39 degrees Celcius and the fainting spells were coming back and I was feeling finished.

I stopped in the shade of a road side shrub.

11h 22. 

Still a fair amount of time left to 18h00.

So I ate almost everything I had left. Two pies, two small packets of Nik Naks, 2 FarBars. Drank a litre of Coke and a litre of water.

Lie down for 5 minutes.
Listen to some music.

Just move forward.

Walk up the hills.

Free wheel down.

Wait for the calories to kick in.

It will come back.

Thankfully, it did.

From my final stop at Tavern no.3, I felt safe in the knowledge, that barring any major mechanical , I would make it. I could even ease off a little.

Imagine my surprise to find Yster at the finish, cradling a cold beer. The class of the man.

A good Samaritan had given him a lift to the finish.
He had managed to smuggle a cold brew past the guards and presented it to me with a big smile on his face. They don't come much better than that. 

This world is filled with good people.

So it was off to the Zululand Yacht Club for a well earned rest and some relaxation, with my buddies, Captain Vaughan and Yster Pretorius.

Vaughaney