Equinox Double

 It's been a while and our lives have been in turmoil. We have all had different approaches and different challenges in adapting to the new normal. Our endurance cycling world has suffered as a result, but now it really is time to get back to doing what we love.

With that in mind and with a festive approach to the pending Spring Equinox, I've decided to try and do the heidelBay Double, starting on, full moon Monday, 20 September.

The A-team, consisting of Mike, Merak, Ollie, Eduan, Pieter vdW and Philip are intending to start their ride on Friday, 24 September. These boys are fast, so if you want to see how its done...

I can't wait!

It's been fun, but it's Time to move On

Click on our Covid 19 Playlist to get some audio relief.

For the Record Musings

This attempt they did on there own, completely unsupported. I had contact with them at the following points along the route, in order to take footage for a promotional type video:

• 5 Arches Bridge
• Rd crossing outside Greylingstad
• Bridge just outside Greylingstad
•  As they exited Greylingstad
• Whisky Monument
• Paul Kruger Bridge, Standerton
• Tar bridge outside Standerton
• Service rd near Perdekop x2
• Wimpy Volksrust(long stop)
• Zaaihoek Dam x2
• Outskirts of Groenvlei
• Highest point
• Rassie's T-junction
• Picasso Vryheid(long stop)
• Service rd outside Vryheid
• 10km before Ulundi
• Service rd 5km outside Ulundi
• Ulundi Wimpy(long stop)
• 10 km before Silk Rd
• Big rail bridge before Silk Rd
• Silk Rd
• Tar straight after Silk Rd
• Finish

Amongst other things:

I never rode alongside them for any significant length of time so as to chaperone/accompany them. I never handed them anything, I never touched their person or their bicycles, I never assisted them with the ordering of food or liquids, I never assisted them with sleep arrangements, I never stood guard whilst they slept, I never hid food or clothing for them in order that they might retrieve it at some later stage, nor did I retrieve anything en route in order to transport on their behalf, I never made a phone call on their behalf, nor did I knowingly do anything to assist or improve their time by providing mental support etc, etc,etc.

Record Ride Musings #5

“Derr are two fings wot don’t laast. Daawgs wot chase kaars and a gambler wot bets against Woolnough and Greaves.” – Anon
I could'a lost my house doubting these two.

Off I went to the finish line. A lighthouse beacon that stands guard on the one side of the breakwater. Creating a calm, protective entrance to the harbour, it stands strangely isolated and melancholy thrust out to sea.
It makes a statement. A fitting end to a challenging adventure.

I was tired now and popped in to the yacht club to catch some kip on Vaughn's boat. But sleep wouldn't come. I looked up their progress on the Spot Tracker. Plenty of time for me to find an ATM.
Or so I thought.

The tracker had suddenly shown their arrival. Dammit! How? That's poor, Niven! Someone needs to be there to make a fuss! I battled to start my motorcycle one last time and sped off to meet the dots.

They were there and their families had not let me down. The welcoming party did its thing. Congratulations were extended and smiles were shared. Werner Nienaber popped in with a six pack cooler box. What a nice touch, I thought!

It's a strange thing. The end to these type of endurance events.
No major fanfare. No banners or fireworks. No prize money or sponsorship deals. No television crews.

Just two guys, content in the knowledge of a job well done.
New record - 36hours 25minutes and 25 seconds.

Record Ride Musings #4

“Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light…”

There may still be a chance of rain. The few drops that splattered my visor this morning, had failed to convert into the deluge that looked so probable. I’m riding up high over the escarpment, having finally caught up and passed them. The lightning is flashing far off to the right and down below me. It feels surreal against the night sky. I’m loving this.

I had stopped at the highest point on the route, a few km’s back and set up some rechargeable lights which I mounted on my tripod. With this extended to its maximum height, the lighting effect was reasonable. Another light was placed on the damp gravel road pointing away from them, facing their direction of travel. My headlamp acted as a spotlight. My cell phone was fitted on the gimbal. I used this camera arrangement as it would be the most stable footage that I could get. The lack of light made auto focusing a tad tricky on the bridge camera. So not a practical option. It seemed an awful nuisance to put myself through, just to get a few seconds of night time footage, but I felt I had to.

I could see their approaching lights darting from side to side, long before they finally reached me. They stopped and we shot the breeze for a short while. This was the most wearisome that I’d seen them and they hadn’t yet hit the worst part of the early morning witching hours. The fact that they had passed the highest point seemed to cheer them up a bit. If only they knew what still lay ahead. I didn’t have the heart to warn them.

Where are they? I should’ve caught them by now. I’m sure that they’ve wrong slotted, although for the life of me, I can’t imagine where? After I had stowed away all the gear I set off after them. I wasn’t dawdling. After riding for 15 minutes, they were still nowhere in sight. This part of the route was both fast and washed out in places. It was dangerous and the risk of having an accident, was very real. Add to that, some exhaustion and you have a recipe for disaster. I looked for the trails cast by their bicycle lights, but nothing.

Eventually, just before the Rassie T-junction I saw the tell tail signs of life. What a relief! I passed them offering up a wave and decided to move on to Picasso’s in Vryheid. Hopefully, we could all avoid the rain. They were holding nothing back and there were steep and treacherous descents ahead. I’d rather not know. I’d wait for them at the 24hr restaurant, hoping to hear nothing until I see them. No news being of the preferred variety.

I was gushing and a little over exuberant when they finally rolled into the BP fuel station in Vryheid, at 01h35. Their fan club soon swelled to 3. The intoxicated beardo looking hippie, with the long permed hair, his more intoxicated teenage looking girlfriend and I. We were all very impressed. How could we not be? But those dark hours, that they so dreaded, had now to be negotiated.

The question was purely rhetorical, of course. He had clearly been mulling it over for a while and now after more than a day’s non-stop pedalling, was satisfied that the answer was strikingly obvious.

“Why do we do this?” he asked. “Perhaps, it’s in order to impress our mates? That would make us shallow.”

Mike made a good point. We seldom attempt a challenge of this magnitude, purely, as a test of ourselves. You know, you don’t climb Everest and not tell anyone? We need affirmation. It’s nice to be recognized for a job well done, nice to show-off a little. But it also inspires. Shallow has its place.

The Wimpy in Ulundi, was the least impressive Wimpy, that I have ever had the good fortune of patronizing. More a mining town mesh hall, than one of South Africa’s perennial favourite travel stopovers. I felt hot and stuffy and the aircon unit was either faulty or wholly incapable of servicing the large open plan area. It didn’t appear to concern Mike in the least. He seemed to have gotten his second wind. He was quite gregarious and floated from one subject to the next with consummate ease. I listened with interest and contributed best I could. I glanced over at Merak. A quiet, reserved chap, but like Mike, fiercely determined. Both of them were unpanicked and appeared to have oodles of time. The stopwatch pressure seemed to have no effect on them. They spoke of fatigue, but it seemed non-existent. Eating appeared to be a chore devoid of enjoyment, but other than that there was no outward appearance of any discomfort. As a riding partnership, they seemed perfectly matched and it showed in their progress. They were courteous to the waitress, despite her being a little tardy.

I felt fortunate to be there and to experience it all. To see how they went about their business. It’s not often that you’re allowed to move freely on centre court, whilst the Wimbledon final is underway.

A good while later, I deployed my tripod and camera on a hillock, with a good view of the service road and railway line. No approaching cyclist would escape my gaze.  I found myself amongst the urban sprawl and was soon noticed by the village children. Very curios they are and when the Zulu Question and Answer session didn’t go according to plan, they resorted to pointing and eventually, with growing confidence, pawing at my photographic equipment. In a desperate attempt at distraction, I offered them a free-gratis-and-for-nothing photo shoot. It seems family bonds are strong in these parts and a photo op is not to be missed by cousins, even as far as 3 valleys down. The nett result was that with all the yodelling and ensuing confusion, I became distracted and almost missed M&M.

By pure coincidence, they had a mechanical issue, on the crest of the very hill where I was hoping they would first come into view. It was like it had been planned. The gusting wind was buffeting my tripod and camera about a bit, but I could just make out that they were having problems with Mike’s tyre.

They had had more than their fair share of mechanical issues up to this point. A side wall cut was the latest and could easily have proven terminal. Being blessed with mechanical ingenuity is priceless in this kind of situation. Repairs of this nature are seldom straight forward and often require thinking out of the box. They dealt with the problem in relatively short order. Good. I watched them through the bobbing view finder. Hold on a second. Let’s have another swig of Coke. The signs are there. This is what you do when exhaustion settles in.

Record Ride Musings #3

“Between 12 and 18K, but we have to order the 2 inlet valves from Honda Japan. There are none in the country. There’s a 6 weeks lead time.” said the dude at Randburg Motorcycles.

“What?! No! No! No! Stick it back together and I’ll take a rain check on the front tyre as well.”

“Niven, please take it straight home. You’d be lucky to get 500k’s before you fuck up the top end.”

“Sure.”

It’s hard to fathom how well they were riding, I mean, even without considering the really tough going caused by the insanely muddy conditions. This extreme effort will, surely come back and haunt them later on during the ride. Who knows to what extent there has been equipment damage? No, there was still a lot of chicken left on this bone.

I was holed up in the Wimpy at the Engen in Volksrust. A popular stop frequented by other heidelBay cyclists. It’s the last stop where one can stock up on provisions before the onset of the twilight hours. Here the route veers away from the comforting artery of the railway line, which continues on towards Charlestown and it climbs up and over the escarpment towards Vryheid.

It was late afternoon, probably about 16h00. I had cleaned up in the heads, cleared away as much mud and grim as I could and dried using those paper towel hand rolls. I had been up since 03h00 that morning and although I had a few cups of coffee during the day, I had my first meal consisting of spare ribs and a French salad. More coffee and sparkling water. Rather modest really. A month in, I was now, well accustomed to my self-imposed break from alcohol. Where are they?

I’d had another spill on the motorbike. Given the treacherous conditions, I know I got lucky. The tally could easily have been higher. My leg hurt and started swelling. I’d done some serious damage to this leg in a motocross accident some 15 years ago. I started cycling as a form of rehab. Kinda ironic. 

I rushed over to the entrance to greet them. I approached with a camera. Mikes first words, were that Carlo had scratched. Wow! I learnt that he had slowly been nursing himself back to full riding health after having a kidney removed last year. This was obviously his longest ride since the op. Are you kidding me? What a brutal thing to attempt! (Note to self: Make those drinks at the Troyville doubles).

I had finally managed to secure a seating booth, which is not as easy as one would imagine. A bit like queuing up for your car license renewal. These booths have 3-pin 15 Amp electrical outlets AND USB cell phone charging points. Patrons would come in to have a coffee,but would loiter around long after the the cups contents had been consumed, to charge their cellphones. 

Mike had that look of post-traumatic stress disorder on his face, when I offered him a share of my booth. Apparently, the memory of their Standerton Wimpy stopover was still too raw. It seems there was a firehose involved, with humans, bicycles and bags being extricated from what sounded like quick setting mud. They made a momentous, muddy, mess, traipsing all that muck back in over the white floor tiles. Reports suggested that the place resembled Blood River. The horrified look on the other customers faces, will haunt Mike forever.

   

No matter how hard the cashier tried to convince him that he really wasn’t in as dirty a state as he’d imagined, he was having none of it.

So, I spent some time with them outside on the paved walkway instead and watched, asked questions and listened as they prepped for the next leg of their adventure.

Record Ride Musings #2

“That’s what they say.”

“Not 40 hrs, Elton! That’s unfathomable!”

“Never mind 40 there is talk of 36!”

“I’ll put my house on it. Zero chance!”

I’m setting up some camera equipment opposite the “Whisky Train Monument”. Scottish whisky, one would presume. The other with the ‘e’ is of the Irish variety. Both, eminently drinkable.

The story goes, that the Boers derailed a freight train full of Xmas cheer, destined for the privileged British Army Officers, during the Anglo-Boer war in 1900. I’m not sure whether it was the righting of this injustice, a line drawn between privateer and gentry, or the fact that a Boer is just plain ‘vrot’ with hospitality, but share the spoils with the downtrodden pommy infantry, they did. A short truce was called. All the whisky was consumed, after which, I’d imagine, it was anyone’s guess, from which side the hostile fire originated.

I recall my incredulous reaction to Elton’s comments of the previous day. “40 hours indeed!” That would mean they’d have to take 10hrs off the existing benchmark. “Do me a favour!”

They pass by soon after. Merak is looking racy out in front, Carlo is goofing around and Mike seems happy bringing up the rear. He’s running a far bigger gear and his cadence appears almost half that of the other two. Carlo, clearly the more demonstrative of the trio, has been in a great mood since the start and is having a grand old time. I rather suspect that he found a dram or 2 hidden in one of those termite mounds. A Gert van den Heever stash. Seems like a fun guy to have a brew with. (Note to self: Arrange to buy Carlo a few drinks at the Troyville.)

I knew I was in trouble as soon as I reached down to retrieve my Feiyutech 3-axis gimbal from the mud in the road. The tipping point had been breached with the inevitable consequence that the 3-axis gimbal, motorcycle and I were fighting for the same bit of real estate in the mud. The others had long since cleared out. I was on my own, caught in a situation of my own making.

I finally managed to extricate my trapped leg, then orientate the motorcycle in a north by north westerly direction and lift it and all my Katunda into the upright position. This on the fourth exhaustive attempt, after having slid down the slippery camber of the sodden muddy track, on all my other previous efforts. I was rather chuffed with myself if not plenty relieved. A little guile and dexterity can go some way, in times of adversity.  

My gear lever had snapped off at the pivot and was somehow miraculously held in place by my plastic hand guard, but thankfully it still seemed to work. However, the motorcycle often stalled on pull off. Something to do with the safety switch, fitted as standard issue, preventing accidental pull off with the kickstand still in the deployed position. I hoped by ignoring these trivial little setbacks, I could fool the universe in to forgetting about them as well.

By the time I reached Val, they had already cleared out and were well on their way to Standerton, albeit through the worst rainy season mud, seen south of Rwanda.

I saw them next whilst holding theatre at the vista window, at the Standerton KFC. They went right by.

“They must have changed their minds and must be heading for the Wimpy then, I thought. Never mind, I’ll catch them at the old Paul Kruger bridge at the exit of town.”

Record Ride Musings #1

I wrestle my cell phone out of my raincoat jacket pocket. Even without gloves it still presents a bit of a challenge.

05h47.

Must have been close to the time that cell phones first made their appearance, that I stopped wearing a wristwatch, but the exact timing escapes me. It’s at times like this, that I miss its convenience.

I’m at the 6.00am start and it's deserted. Am I at the right place? The signboard to the Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow b&b is no longer bolted to the top of the signpost, but I’ve been past there twice already and this is the next little jeep track along. Must be right. If anyone should be familiar with the start of this route, then surely that would be me.

Decision made, then. I’ll push on to The Steeple Chase and await their arrival. Hopefully, someone will get a photo of them at the start.

All the while, on my way to Heidelberg, I felt unsettled. My thoughts are clouded with the start sequence. Should I attempt to take footage at the start? Will there be enough time?

Its only about 5 or so km’s to The Steeple Chase from the trails head. They’ll be there in about 10min. If I were to leave the same time as them and then having to travel slightly longer, I’d be cutting it fine to get the drone in the air in order to film them near the approach to 5 Arches bridge. For whatever reason, I love the sight of that bridge across the river. I have to get footage of them with the bridge as a backdrop.

I drop the visor, wipe off a few obstinate raindrops with the back of my hand and push the starter button. This might get interesting.

“Hi Mike

Niven here.

I understand that you are going to have another bash at the HeidelBay Ride.

I was hoping to take some video footage of your attempt to post to a blog.

I will be on a motorcycle and the idea is to intersect your ride at various points. Other than that, there will be no interference.

Let me know your thoughts and whether Merak would be open to the idea.

I won’t take offense if you don’t fancy the idea.

Regards”

…a while later…

“ Hi Niven. We are starting at 6am on Friday morning. Weather looks like it might be miserable. You are welcome to intersect as you want. We have 2 spot trackers so it’ll be easy to find us.

Hope to see you.”

There is a little know social convention, known as the Machinists Oath. It dictates that you on a bicycle, riding along a railway service road, will be greeted with an obnoxious blast of an engines horn, at even the merest thought of offering your hand up as a greeting.

The blast of the trains horn signalled the end of my piloting session. They had been greeted.

I sighed deeply, cast a hopeful glance at the concrete giant as it lorded over the river and finally managed to land the drone on an exposed portion of the ruins of the submerged bridge.

That brought the sum total of my drone flying experience to 35min. It better be enough to keep this cookie from being dunked into that cup of Twinings.

I saw the train seconds later and knew they were close.

The Steeple Chase is a tricky, multi-disciplined part of the course. It involves a rickety farm gate which has to be negotiated in either the closed or open position, a gentle downhill Nguni legged sweep to the right, the submerged bridge water crossing, vaulting of no.2 gate, avoidance of concealed sinkhole-with-ambition on the left, the 100 acre wood dash and the Robbers Dog Slide to the left of gate 3.

Those yellow windbreakers sure do stand out. Carlo seemed a little more prepared to take risks. He hustled past the other 2 uttering a cheeky dare as he approached the stream and then made his way boldly across. M&M followed.  

We greet briefly, but I am aware that I am not my usual carefree self. The artistic pressure was getting to me. I’m a rank amateur at this filming lark. I felt self-conscious.

In the meantime, I had managed to get the drone back in the sky. It felt surprisingly easy, now, to manoeuvre and rather easy to follow them. I could view their goings on from quite a way away. Magic!

They cross quickly and without malady.

Now they can open up and stride out.

And I got my footage.

Record Annihilated !!!

There is always the other Rail Road Ride

For those of you that haven't seen this, perhaps this is a good alternative.

Cape Town 2 Upington Part 1

Cape Town 2 Upington Part2

Cape Town 2 Upington Part 3

Cape Town 2 Upington Part 4

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

Memories of a Brutal Trip

As time is few, I was busy going over some last minute planning, when I found this.
Wow, I hope Mother Nature deals us more of a winning hand this time.
For various reasons, Gerrit and I are looking at postponing our start to Wednesday morning, 17 July.

Cyclec Power Control Unit

Most South African's, who do endurance riding or bike packing events, are familiar with, or own a bit of kit designed by Graham Bate. The Cyclec power control unit.
It takes the power generated by your dyno hub, converts it to DC, and intelligently routes it to the various power accessories, that we now use on these long journey's.
What really sets this unit apart from other commercially available units, is its ability and efficiency at generating power at low speed.
It is currently, the best in class and Graham makes them here in South Africa.

Graham has been working on an improved model, currently undergoing real life testing.
Here it is:

There will be a Nutritional Deficit!

On long endurance events, such as The HeidelBay, energy management is crucial. You only have a finite number of matches in that box. When they're done, you're done.
We've all had times when we feel exhausted and we blame, only, our levels of fitness. I bet more often than not, it is as a result of us eating too little and running out of fuel.

I intend to ride long days and minimise rest and sleep, so it it conceivable, that I can burn in excess of 10000 calories per day. For the sake of simplicity, lets assume, best results are achieved when you match calories burnt, with calories consumed.
From some of the reading I've done, it seems that at most, humans can absorb 240 calories to 360 calories, in an hour. That means, at best, about 8640 calories per day, but then only in ideal circumstances. Its more likely to be around 5760 cals. There is nothing you can do to absorb more.
Sadly, there will be a Nutritional Deficit.
Some of that will be covered by fat reserves and even protein, but you will most likely be paying a visit to the 'Bonk', for a generous withdrawal of pain and suffering.
There is a process by which you can improve energy extraction, from your almost endless supplies of fat. Unsurprisingly, it is called fat adaption. This subject will not form part of this discussion.

To improve your chances of maximum calorific absorption:

• drink water, but don't forget to...
• replace electrolytes and salts
• the more intense your physical exercise, the less you'll absorb
• the hotter the external temperature, the less you'll absorb
• the more fatigued your are, the less you'll absorb
• you'll absorb sugars quicker that fats
• mix multiple sources of carbs
• eat regularly
• etc, etc

I found this article quite interesting and written simply enough, so that even I could understand it.

http://www.tri2max.com/blog/2017/8/28/a-model-for-4-24-hour-cycling-events-aka-dont-run-out-of-steam-

In order to help balance the books, I compiled a list of foodstuff's I'm likely to find at an Engen garage shop or similar and I ordered them in terms of the the most energy dense to the least energy dense, for the sake of my needs.

The more energy dense, the less weight you have to carry, the less you have to eat and the more bang for your buck you'll get.

60 Hour Schedule

If I stick to this schedule, I will break the 60 hour mark.
I have been reasonably generous with my estimations, which I've based on a 59 hour completion.
I have 1 hours float.
(Tap on table to enlarge)

.

Canal Training Ride - 130km

Eight riders pitched up on a cold winters morning, for a training ride along the Brits canals. This is their journey.

My Latest Bikepacking Rig

It's not just about the ride.
It about the whole journey. It's about discovering a new route, planning how your going to get there, how often will you stop, where will you'll be bedding down, what kit will you take, will you even take a change of clothing and what luxuries are you not prepared to do without.

We've covered some of the aforementioned items directly or indirectly and now I'd like to share some ideas with regards to my kit or riding rig. These things evolve and differ from rider to rider, so you may disagree with my assessment especially if you're a racing snake.
Racing snakes travel ridiculously light.

I will need to sleep twice in a 60hr period. I'm not sure where that will be, but I'm pretty sure it will not be a convenient stopover, therefore I have to plan for the worst. So I'm taking:

• Lightweight foam sleeping mat
• Low volume down sleeping bag
• Low volume sleeping bag liner
• Emergency space blankets
• Keep your helmet on, using it as a pillow. Trick I learnt from Grant Usher. It works!

Staying warm is more important than staying dry, although the two often go hand in hand. Therefore I'm taking a change of dry clothing that I can sleep in or use as alternate cycling kit.

• Cycling trousers with removable inner chamois. The bottom halves zip off, converting to shorts
• Merino wool base layer
• Low volume puffer down jacket
• Extra pair of sock liners and merino socks
• Beanie
• Sealskinz gloves

I believe that the fastest way for me to get down to Richards Bay, includes a strategy of 4 hours of quality sleep in a 24 hour cycle. That is why I have placed such an emphasis on the above.
I know other riders can do with far less, but I can't.

I need to limit the amount of times I stop and therefore, deciding when to stock up to the gills or when to run lean with regards food and water, is quite a challenge. Rather too much than too little.
I think at max, my bike and kit will weigh around 28kg.

I plan to carry all of this as shown in the clip below.

Initial Inspiration for the HeidelBay started with Ermelo2Richards

The portion of the route from Vryheid through to Richards Bay remains by and large the same, with the only real difference being the finish line which is now the beacon on the Northern breakwater.

Record Ride 2018

Crossing the border to the Last Outpost

En route to Ulundi

...and the record holders are: Dave, Dawn, John and Wimpie

The Proof

Some Images from the Route

Please note, images are courtesy of others!

Five Arches Bridge: Close to the Start, Heidelberg

Goofing around, Greylingstad

Tin Man Cycling, Greylingstad

Respect among foe, approach to Val

Rely on this bicycle shop at your own peril, Val

The quaint Village of Val. Well worth a visit.

Die Kliphuis B&B, Standerton. Designed by Sir Herbert Baker

Monument in memory of Women and Children who died in Concentration camps during Anglo Boer war, Standerton

Bridle Guest Farm, Volksrust

Steam Engines, Volksrust

Volksrust

Rolling Hills of Groenvlei

Wet Season, Groenvlei

Climb out from Groenvlei

Rassies Spot, at crossroads past Groenvlei

Rita's B&B, outside Vryheid

Rita's B&B, Vryheid

Tar portion to Vryheid

24hr Take Away, Vryheid

Puma Umfolozi Filling Station, slight detour required, Surreyvale

Zulu Rock Game Farm, near Surreyvale

White Umfolozi, near Ulundi

White Umfolozi, Ulundi

Marietjies Guest House, Ulundi

Piet Retief's Grave, near Ulundi

Dingaans victims

Finish Beacon on Northern Breakwater, Richards Bay

Zululand Yacht Club, Richards Bay

Richards Bay Waterfront

Protea Waterfront Hotel, Richards Bay