Dusty

Dirt-Rider in the Eatern Cape. First bridge crossed

Waiting with baited breath to find out where Pierre and Stephen spent the night. They are not tracking at the moment. Did they make it to Ntsikeni????? This is making for fantastic viewing!! Tough on Pierre if he slept out in the open again. There are quiet a lot of dwellings in that area, so maybe they found shelter. Enjoy the adventure Dawdle

Big, big , big day for dirt-rider today on his way to Ntsikeni. Probably the most climbing on the entire route. There are 2 monster climbs which I would not even think about doing on a ss. Hope he is strong and well again. Will make for interesting 'reality tv'.

dirt-rider it appears, did spend the night in the Umko valley. Tough, dark place, especially on your first night of the race. Send him stong thoughts. Legendary stuff though. Will make for great war stories!

dirt-rider having a horrible first day of rasa. Got lost and went down a huge hill which he has had to climb back up. Hope he can regroup. Arrived at Minerva 14.45. Still got a long way to go today. Sleep out in the Umko valley??

And away they go! In Bisley already

Check the BB and the free wheel body too, they have been known to go (quite regularly) on the FC. Everything of the best to all riding. Enjoy the experience.

I got a shimano crank for my epic for this very reason. Pain in the butt everytime.

Talking of Endura, this http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/za/en/endura-stealth-extreme-tights-2013/rp-prod18080was my best piece of FC kit. If the weather is lousy you will not be cold and your bottom half will not be wet. It has a fleece lining which does not pool sweat like normal waterproofs. You can wade through rivers in these and you will still be dry. Cons: pricey and quite heavy, however if the weather is bad(eg 2012)you will not regeret carrying the extra weight. If you do get one online, note that the sizes are quite small.

That hole cannot be your leak if it is a tubeless rim. You should not need rim tape either. Have a look for a bad seal elsewhere.

On the recent Freedom Challenge Race to Craddock

Keep your 6 bolt rotor and get an adapter. They are fairly cheap and I have found that they work well. Not sure of advantages of 6 bolt vs centre lock. Works the same for me.

We've used Crossmarks/Larsens(26) with Stans and have never had a sidewall cut, or had to pump a tyre for that matter even with the abundance of thorns (see pic). Not the grippiest (or lightest) of tyres, but you chose your poison.

Make them your own now. Cutting up the narratives and putting them on the applicable maps can be very handy. Saves a lot of swapping of maps and narratives around, on your map board. If you decide to do this you may need to reduce the narratives so that they don't interfere with the actual route. PS packing of the tubs is a part of the whole experience and can be great fun. Get creative with what is inside. Your tub can give you something to look forward to at the end of sometimes/most times very hard days.

Yes, on Sunday. We got a few fish.

A pleasant day on the water

It adjusts the clamp onto your ball thereby allowing for different sizes

New Freedom Challenge website up and running.

If you haven't already, you may want to start researching your backpack at this stage. I found it helpful to train with the backpack that I am going to use and slowly build up the weight. I found that the weight in your backpack is directly transferred to your saddle. Building it up slowly, is a bit easier on the butt. Also with a slow bulid up of weight, your joints don't take the pounding they would if you suddenly add 6/7 kgs. (we just carry water in plastic bottles to add weight). Others have different stratergies!

Small field. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Take your climbing legs for the second half

Stunning section of the Frredom Trail and great bang for your buck. Awesome accomodation on this section. In my opinion this is worth touring even if you cant race it.

Good game on the go at Canberra!

Leave your bike behind and take your fishing rods with "Tuna"

Great piece of journalism.

Sad