eddy

I always run like this on my morning 30 km Spruit ride but from your list I seem to have left some stuff out. From tomorrow I will additionally pack a small Camelbak to carry the excess.

And for 94.7

Do you tow it in a Ventertjie ?

Fixed

One might have been me on my Cotic ! By the way: a single speed bike is actually perfect for the spruit. Without the mechanical advantage of gears you can actually get a proper workout...

Can I bring a gravel bike with drop bars ?

And mine. 10 speed Record (10 speed crank) Old Shamals Everything except the bartape and chain bought on the hub or as a hand-me-down

We are in Jo'burg. Pop up for the weekend. You could get here tomorrow night have a quick beer and be back in Bloem for work on Monday morning....

in retrospect, and knowing what a lovely bike you rode on, would the ideal bike be a HT or DS ?

I think Vetseun has recently finished the first training ride of his extreme plan......

Sure they work. Hell, the restorative powers of the bracelets even brought a thread dead for 7 years back to life. Amazing. Like Viagra for the Internet.

This ^^^^^^^

Interesting that you should say that because one of the reference points I have is running Comrades. It was the uncertainty of what lay ahead that was the hardest part. Only when I realised that I would make it, could I relax and enjoy the race. I did it when the cut-off was 11 hours. Now it is 12. I am not dismissing the efforts of the 5000 odd runners who finished between 11 and 12 hours last year, but the mental calculations of time vs distance would be much reduced.

Sure we can ride 1100km across the Karoo to Cape Town, or even do the Trans Cape route from Plett to Cape Town, but that really isn't the same, is it ? What makes the Munga special is not the distance per se, but the competitive aspect of it; some racing for line honours, some racing their own demons and everyone racing the clock. There are no easy miles because you need to keep going. No parking off in a river crossing to cool down, no long stops for a Coke and a Bar-one at a spaza shop (or even a Zamalek quart and a bag of niknaks if it late in the day) because the is no "late in the day". All days are contiguous. And, critically, the mental pressure. Pressure of knowing that people are watching. The pressure to ignore the easy way out - step into a support vehicle and your ride is over, but it is always there to ease your suffering. The pressure of having to navigate when sleep deprived and the implications of making a small mistake. All of this will make it even harder. Vetseun, Taito, Benky and other hubbers, you deserve all the respect I can give.

MM rode for 58 hours but it seems he forgot to stop anywhere. Does anyone know how he kept his lights and GPS charged ? Did he have a dynamo hub?

If I understand the rules properly, the mechanical certainly cost her more than the 25 odd minutes it took to to fix it. Was it not on the first stage where drafting was allowed ? if so, she lost the opportunity of going with the "bus" and had to ride alone (or with slower riders) for the rest of the stage.

And they would have to be strong to contain those big goolies....

He has won in this country but I think he picked the wrong steed for the race. This is not a 360km sprint and as he says, the corrugations got to him. I trust he will race here again.

They take nothing away from you, me or the other riders by being classified as development riders if they have come though an academy. But they do serve as potential inspiration for other youngsters, for role-models in their communities and for motivation to other academies to prepare riders. I have no problem with them entering.

B@stard

OK, fellow Munga participants. I'm off to bed now with a good book and a glass of Lagavulin 16 year. sleep tight.

Sure. By the weekend he should have ridden some of it off though

I see Dion Guy has moved for 22:36 in the first 23 hours, so only stationary for 24 minutes....

I think everyone feels that way, but I think that I have a foolproof way of figuring out if it the race for you. Whilst sitting lekker in your chair at home, pick a rider - say Benky or Jeannie - and stay awake and only allow yourself to sleep when they sleep. Do that for three days and see how you handle it. I think that the sleep deprivation must be the killer. Just look at Martin D at the FC this year. Delirious after 9 days without proper sleep, he still would not quit and spent a cold night trying to find the path in the dark when most would have given up and gone to sleep after 30 minutes. I know that I am not wired like those that can do this.

IIRC the first checkpoint is at Vanderkloof dam. What are the others? Is there a route map we can follow?