JohanDiv

Gravel grinding somewhere in the Northern Cape..

Hit my 7000km target...with ease. Bit fell short of my 120 000m elevation target by 802m [emoji2357]

Events limited to 250 people outdoors.. I guess that's that then..... see you guys at TB 2022. Obviously didn't commit to a Aug 2021 entry yet, and probably sold out now? [emoji2357]

I did exactly that calcs last week based on 16hrs of riding to get back to PE in time. Last year just under 100 teams finished over 16 hours.(+- 300 riders) They will have to make the cut-off points even earlier to get all the riders back to the finish line before say 21:00, taking into account that some people still need to drive to PE before 22:00 (Not sure if an hour is enough for that). Large sweeping trucks picking up 300+ riders WILL NEVER WORK! There goes the social distancing for one. And smaller bakkies picking up 300+ rider will be absolute chaos. Based on this, I think the Jan TB will not go ahead in the end.

I hate riding with backpacks.. but I'm planning a few long MTB rides this holiday where it's not possible to refuel along the way. This seems like the best minimalistic option there is. Bought straight from Uswe overseas because there's nowhere stock in South Africa. Price R1069,23 plus R645,75 import duties & taxes = R1714,98, and took less than 10 days to get here. Bargain!

Got to 82,8kg on the 1st of Dec. 42,3kg down from middle 2017 when I started cycling. Pant size 44 down to a loose 34 at the moment. A 32 will fit comfortably if I manage to hit my next target. Setting myself a new target to get to sub 80kg by Trans Baviaans on 23rd January(difficult task over 4 weeks of December holidaying!). Gonna take some serious discipline and self control over the next month to achieve that!

2019: 45% of the field scratched 2020: 21% of the field scratched I guess that was expected with the extreme heat and wind from 2019.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5459569727402243&id=555524014569236 Adriaan van Wyk pedaling with only one leg.. 20km to go!!

They should be fine.. it's downhill from Ceres on tar road where they'll pull a nice gap on the Cut Banner.. and then good gravel to the finish

Edit: Double post

Sam's tracker hasn't updated in 20mins.. he's probably already in Wolseley. Hanno is resting in Ceres..i think he called off the chase now.

My planned 50km loop in the mountain for this morning seems a bit insignificant now [emoji23]

It's starting to look like Brian is going to hold on to 3rd place. Once Sam Marx is at the bottom of Mitchells Pass we'll get a better picture of the true gap between them

Sam Marx is flying!! From 6th to on the heels of Brian in 3rd. They are just about to reach Ceres. Hanno had a bit of a rest and is now back in 5th, 20km behind these two chasing hard. His pace is looking good, if he can keep it up he'll join these two for the 3rd place battle around the time they hit the Hermon gravel road.

Five guys about to come together at Tankwa Padstal... all fighting for the final podium spot!

"WP8 here. Roger that. We almost called medics onto site for Benky it was pretty intense and the dust allergy beat him up badly. A good rest sorted him out and he went flying after that. We have had to power recycle a number of trackers as well. Some of them just glitch [emoji2373]you can imagine our surprise when ghost riders suddenly pitch up [emoji2957]"

Aaah I see

0.25 bitcoin... what now?? Thought it was 1.5?

https://fb.watch/2afvUYWUWi/

Just in time for the braai

Hansie enjoying the last bit of the tailwind I see..going almost at 40kmh on the flats

Patsy and Pierre stationary with Ambo... I hope everything is okay!

Lekker Hansie! Now it's downhill huistoe...almost all the way! Looking out the window the wind direction changed a bit..it's now a solid south wind..that Hermon gravel road is going to be k@k! Maybe I should kit up when I get home tonight and go ride that section with him..

The race for third is going to heat up soon! Hanno closing in on Brian. He brought that 80km gap from this morning down to 10km now.

If Hansie keeps going without rest, there's a pretty good chance he'll reach Doolhof around 21:00. I'll light the fire at 20:30.