Day 16 Please find the link below to Glenns race daily update – he is much closer to the riders and describes well the groups they have settled into and some of the interesting tales emerging from those groups. http://glennharrisonsa.blogspot.com/ While the weather remains almost ideal, there are some extremes too, the one group was reporting 31 degrees going into the Support Station near Somerset East, another group reported starting off in -12 and hitting a daytime high of 24. Reports too of sunburn – although I think this may be one of the few things riders are worrying less about. More concerning is the incidence of stomach trouble this year, with regular reports of a number of members of a group being “runners” rather than riders, what this is attributable to will probably remain in the arena of speculation, but it is likely to be exacerbated by the fact that riders have been on the go for two weeks or more, with no rest days. They are riding from pre-dawn to dusk and have eaten a diet very different from what they are used to. Add to this the lack of sleep and it’s no wonder that immune systems are vulnerable. Lastly on this note – even though you may not want to see food or fluid when you are sick, you know that you have to eat for the next day, so it is a case of as soon as you can get something down – down it goes. As a reassurance – the support stations will generally offer you pretty standard and safe fare, such as pasta, meat, veggies, soups etc. You won’t be offered fish or anything too rich. The Osseberg: If you are following the race on twitter or elsewhere, you will hear riders talking about the Osseberg and most of them describing it with some fear or trepidation. The Osseberg is a now disused wagon trail used originally as an alternative route into the famed Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area. It starts on a ridge high above the eventual valley and is flanked by the magnificent Cockscomb Mountains on the one side and your fist view of the ocean since Durban – with a magnificent vista looking toward Jeffery’s Bay. It is here that after riding east for a couple of hours, you make a turn and start riding west again. The Osseberg used to be accessible to 4x4 drivers and was regarded as one of the must do routes in the country for its length, technical challenge and most of all, its views. The route starts off and pretty much descends for the rest of the ride, but it is no easy ride and it is one of the most technical rides you will do on the whole trail, added to this is the fact that it is now severely overgrown and the grass and bushes tug at your handlebars, but there is enough momentum to keep going , so you do, but there are dongas, ruts and ridges which you follow, just hoping you have found the right line and continue with it until it pans out or you need to find a landing place. This is wild country though and these routes belong to porcupines and aardvark (if you must - ant bears), these buggers can dig and they leave craters or rather holes which can swallow you no problem, often they are covered by grass and the only warning you have is the “Faaaark – hole!” from the rider in front of you if you are lucky. But oh the views – they are endless and pristine as you smell fynbos and brake pads. When you eventually reach the river you arrive at a well laid out but overgrown abandoned camp site in a beautiful valley – did I mention overgrown? Well it would take famer Glen and all his resources a day to clear 1km in this place and you still have many km to trek to get to the road and Cambria Support Station. So the trek down the river begins, you walk in it, next to it around it and cross it 11 or so times. The bush is thick if you are on the side of it and the reed almost impenetrable in it, but forward you go. At this stage there are about 50 cyclists going through there each year and they give it a gentle comb or tickle as they pass over it – year after year it gets worse and more overgrown. Alex Harris referred to it as Mordor two years ago when he did it at night after a massive deluge and he fought the night to find the river to cross it as he had to bash through massive bermed debris of acacia thorn trees washed down in the floods of 2011. Few people go in there at night and few if they do, don’t end up spending the night in there as even on the clearest day it is confusing to find your way out. As it is a wilderness area famed for leopards, kudu, warthog etc, you see carcasses and smell dead carrion from time to time, whatever the case you know that you are being watched by animals as you move through with great effort. As a final thorn in the side so to speak, if you try and hack your way through a shortcut, you will discover the thorns or every description, the worst being something like a prickly pear, except it is light, so it sticks and it has barbs so you can’t flick it. It clings and spikes at the same time, almost impossible to get rid of, even with gloves on. So that’s the Osseberg – it is wild, beautiful and majestic – but to get through you need a barbarian mind set and you don’t go timidly, or else it will detain you – perhaps for a night. It is one of the privileges of the Freedom Challenge. Pictures: The start of the Osseberg trail looking down in to the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area. Wading in the Groot Rivier. Looking back at the valley toward the Cockscomb Mountains in the distance.
