2013 Freedom Challenge Updates

[tubed]

Day 5:

 

Yesterday saw a pretty normal day in the FC with most riders progressing as per normal, the reason for this is that there are really four types of riders in the FC (as I see it):

 

1.

The racing snakes

: they know/ have recced the route - even at night, they have a very clear plan and sadly as we saw with Tim yesterday it is quite often an ‘all or nothing’ approach – go big or go home. There are no novices in this category – some novices may try, but I don’t think it is possible, it’s too hard physically and the navigation to Rhodes too complicated. A novice would have to have a seasoned guide they would be riding coat tails with.

 

2.

The returnees:

these guys have finished previously and know what they are in for, they have a strategy and its to finish again - they know that alone will take a huge amount of good fortune, they plug away consistently and try and avoid the obvious pitfalls - they generally have a large amount of fun from day 1 until they finish.

 

3.

The accomplished novices:

these are the guys who are fit and strong, but in reality have no idea of what they are in for, they go out hard on day one and then generally settle into a sensible pattern once they realise that they have no idea of where they are going or that 80km can take them 14hrs depending on the terrain. A good snot klap like getting into Ntsikeni in the dark at 2am when it is minus 5 makes them realise that this is a whole different game. Most of them finish comfortably.

 

4.

The novices:

make no mistake these guys will have trained and prepared to the max, but they will remain unprepared for the very long days and the harshness of the terrain. But the biggest issue is mental side of this event, when one starts falling off the pace and it gets lonely in a very strange place, the mind does all sorts of things and people ask if this is worth it, hence the fact that families are not allowed near you – in that state you WILL climb in the car and go home. These guys can still comfortably finish – but they will need a strong mind most of all. The support from the race director over the phone is a big plus, he wants everybody to finish, but there still is a near 50% dropout rate each year.

 

So if your mate is out there at the moment and struggling a bit, or falling off the pace, now is the time to tell him to hang tough, that you are following his every move and that coming home early is not an option.

 

Finally besides the drama of Tim’s withdrawal – the other major factor has been the weather – they have had perfect weather and when that changes - and it will – so will the race change dramatically.

 

The pics below are from Alexander Venter – they give an indication of the easy riding conditions – shorts and sun, they were en route to Vuvu yesterday. Today they are batting a howling gale over the top of the Drakensberg at about 2900m, they should get their first glimpse of last weeks snow.

[suzieQ]

so this oke looks like he's ready to race, HARD!

https://twitter.com/...0533633/photo/1

christo van heerden.

 

must say, for the past few years the RACE snakes have been put in the last batch and the winner has come from the last to leave. this year the weather is good quite early so one of the early rabbits could get a big gap before hell breaks loose in the malutis with the quick okes battling through it.

 

 

Nice set up on Christo's bike!

Can anyone give me any idea what the bag under the saddle is called and where I can get one??

[tubed]

Day 6:

 

Today saw the start of Glenn Harrison and his determined effort to get to Rhodes and beat the record. He has been motoring along and has dropped all of the other pretenders in his group, he passed the first support station this afternoon with barely time for a look at the cricket on TV, but has just tweeted that he has stopped for naartjies at Donnybrook - the craving spoke. He is making good time and will shortly be into the maze of pine plantations and hopefully out before it gets fully dark, he then marches upwards to Ntsikeni. (I got my figures wrong with Tim the other night and if he does stop briefly there it will be just under 200km with 5800m of climbing!!). Question is will he stop at Ntsikeni or push further - that will be a near midnight decision.

 

Elsewhere the first guys have gotten to Rhodes and by now will be bathed and having a beer at the bar, some finishing there and others pushing on tomorrow into the Eastern Cape.

 

There is a small band who pushed through Vuvu this aft and are going over what by all accounts is a very very windy Lehana's pass in the late afternoon, probably to summit the Drakensberg (approx 2900m) in the dark, from where it is very long mostly downhill and undulating road into Rhodes - again a very very cold descent awaits them, but the reward of a hot bath will make it worthwhile.

 

More later.

[tubed]

Day 6: Part 2

 

Glenn Harrison completed his haul up to Ntsikeni arriving at 00:30 and left at 01:45 - it seems he didn't sleep and probably just ate and regrouped, he is off the mountain and onto district roads again making good time for the farm Glen Edward and soup for breakfast. A rare small navigation error where he lost about an hour in the hills near Politique farm is probably due to screaming fatigue and the need to sleep. It really is a monumental effort he is putting in and will try and give some stats on distance and ascent by the time he stops (Steve?).

 

Spare a thought for Guy McKechnie who is apparently on a single speed (why oh why Guy!) making it already harder than it needs to be, he got into Masakala at after 3 am on his own. I see he has put a call out to Shebeen for some spokes to be sent to somewhere along the route - that is allowed and what friends are for. He is doing this the hard way.

 

Front runners in the Race for Paarl are Andy Masters and Peter Stephens, they are going great guns and made it into Rhodes last night, (see pic below of them with Owen their riding partner who is stopping at Rhodes). The smiles tell it all they have had a great ride so far and are well set with still more good weather in front of them - although it does sound like there was a lot of wind over the Berg and into Rhodes.

 

The other pic is of Alexander Venter cresting Lehanas Pass, the highest point of the race over the Drakensberg, the delight is clear to see and he rightfully describes it on his blog as "the hardest part of the race", it is about a 3/4 hour portage up to the top of the mountain and in the howling wind it is no mean feat to keep that bike above his head. I do see that the snow is absent.

 

Notable so far is that nobody has quit the race as far as I can ascertain - that might be some sort of record and it bodes well for a high number of finishers this year - the further they get before a hardship, the better their chances of making it to the end. Looking at the weather it seems pretty good for the next week - although a long way off, next weekend sees a decent front approaching.

 

For the guys heading for Rhodes today - they will get the chance to mix with locals at the pub, watch the rugby and share some incredible stories - Rhodes hotel will be the place to be.

 

See also: @freedom_trail, #RASA2013, Facebook/FreedomChallenge

[mazambaan]

That Owen looks like a dogged competitor!

[tubed]

The many dogs and the farms/ places you stay at are part of the adventure, my favourite was Jasper, this stoep was his turf, but his best move was through that open gate when an unsuspecting rider left it open and he would dash down the passage of the farmhouse, claws scraping on the wooden floors and out the back door and around the house before he could be reprimanded - a fantastic hound all around!

[Warren911]

a huge :thumbup: :clap: for the race reports and updates!!!!

Excellent reporting!!!

[tubed]

a huge :thumbup: :clap: for the race reports and updates!!!!

Excellent reporting!!!

Many thanks Warren for the encouragement - glad you are enjoying it

[tubed]

Day 7:

 

Lots of drama today - not all of it race related - some guys just seem full of drama - then you have the softly spoken Glenn Harrison who lets his legs do the talking and is still blazing down the trail - he seems to be sleeping for about an hour at various spots and last I have him is resting up for a bit at the Maria Linden Mission Station, before tackling the Maraphane Ridge and moving on to Malekgalonyane Chalets at the foot of the Drakensberg near Ongeluks Nek.

 

Still 'leading' the race seem to be John Loos and Paul Erasmus who pushed on through Rhodes and made it to the farm Chesneywold where they will be met by farmer Christo and his wife Minki - you don't get away there in a hurry and I suspect Christo's bar and peak cap collection along with some beverages and the rugby have meant that's as far as the race has progressed.

 

Back to the drama - there were some 'big' names in the batches out of Pmb this morn, none bigger than Robbie Macintosh, he went through Allendale SS1 quite well and then the wheels came off so to speak (cramps and crashes) and he has found himself a BnB in Donnybrook - remember what I said about novices?

Others in the group include Christo van den Heever and Charles Mansfield, Francois Riekert who have all pushed on to Centacow and perhaps beyond - they all seem fit and strong.

 

Then deserving of a paragraph of their own are Marnitz and Werner Nienaber - Marnitz being the ever chirpy FC veteran on the tandem with his brother - they also only spent an hour at Allendale before pushing on in the late afternoon - its not that often that riders get in late to Allendale and push on - they must have a plan - but they are off the pace right now.

 

As an idea of what the guys are eating - well it varies depending on the host - some of the most humbling experiences in this race are when those who have so little make you a meal - you might not be used to boiled chicken and rice - but you soon realise that you need it and it has been prepared with graciousness - so you keep quiet and eat up.

Then there are your prepacked 2litre ice cream boxes waiting for you at the support stations with whatever you packed into them, including your maps and bike spares etc and usually a note of encouragement from your loved ones. See the pic below - usual stuff includes choc, bars, dried fruit, biltong, and anything else snackable. Also drinks and all other sorts of potions and pills permissible.

 

As for the meals - well once you get into the farms past Rhodes these farmers are waiting for you, the pic is of a meal at aforementioned Christo and Minki - the bread is freshly baked mosbolletjie, there are two choices of meats and the veggies are not al dente, usually the veggies have cinnamon and sugar on the top of any starch and the 2l coke is cold. The hospitality I cant describe, but you eat until you realise that you are doing detrimental damage.

 

The third pic is a variation of what you get at a farm mid morning or elsewhere as a snack: fresh vetkoek, jam, cheese, biltong, coffee and cooldrink. Lots of places have homemade soup too.

[Percyzn]

Does the last batch leave from PMB on Monday morning? and if so, what tiime and from where please?

thanks Percy

[Warren911]

@tubed

 

Thanks again for the great reports!!

I love this thread!!!!

[tubed]

Does the last batch leave from PMB on Monday morning? and if so, what tiime and from where please?

thanks Percy

 

Hi Percy

 

All groups leave from under the clock of the Pmb town hall at 6am exactly, they then head out to Bilsey Nature reserve, its a rather low key affair, but the understated nature of it is probably just as it should be. Feel free to ride with the guys out along the route as far as you want and chat to them, although tomorrow has the real race people in the group, it is also the last group to leave.

The three guys at the back are likely to be the three who did the 80km Duzi trail run today - their legs wont want any of what is about to happen at 6am tomorrow. Look out for Dr Leon vd Nest an ENT doc he is one of the nicest guys I had the privilege of riding with.

 

Hope you go and please take some pics.

 

Charl

 

PS: I see you ride a Cotic SS, I understand that is what Glenn Harrison is tearing up the course on - SS with rigid fork.

Edited June 16, 2013 by tubed

[PHIL BUYS SPORTS]

 

 

 

 

Awesome thread!!!

 

@TUBED Do you perhaps have a link to the place where I can trace some riders? Was on it once but struggling to find it again on the site..

[tubed]

Awesome thread!!!

 

@TUBED Do you perhaps have a link to the place where I can trace some riders? Was on it once but struggling to find it again on the site..

 

Sure here you go:

 

http://www.guardian.co.za/login.aspx

 

username: freedom

password: password

 

Select the rider you want and select latest position, then click on green arrow and it opens a pop-up which will have a link to a google earth map in a new window

 

just be wary there are all sorts of issues with it - I currently cant refresh it to find my mates en route to Vuvu

 

but generally it does work

[tubed]

Day 8:

 

Lots of action today out on the trail with the guys who started yesterday and who seem intent on racing finding the legs – Robbie Mac left his unscheduled BnB and has since been tearing up the trail, maybe I was wrong about the those tri bars in an earlier pic, because it seems that when he hits the district roads he really gets the old diesel going. If he can handle the tricky navigation until he is past Rhodes and then even into the Karoo we could sse a massive push for home – can’t wait!

 

Charles, Christo, Gaeren and Francois et al are riding hard and sensibly it seems, certainly they have a race pace going, followed behind by the Marnitz tandem who too are hitting some good rhythm – one thing for sure is that Marnitz knows the route well, although he does go wandering at times. It’s a bit early to see how these guys are tracking – but it seems like there is a lot of resolve there.

 

Up at the front of the race it seems like the pair of John Loos and Paul Erasmus have hit some health issues, with Paul’s tummy causing him some grief and they have slowed to get some rest at Slaapkranz (see pic below of farmer Andre on his lawn at Slaapkranz, continuing the dog theme, these two precious working dogs are out in the morning for a game, the lawn is frozen solid, the hosepipe is like a solid iron pipe, that’s snow in the left of the pic, this is a cold part of the world near Barkley East).

 

On the issue of getting sick – if one takes into account the extreme conditions, the constant overheating and freezing, the lack of sleep etc, it is almost taken for granted that you will get sick – so unless you break something you have to either rest up, self-medicate or carry on. So getting sick is not such a big deal – its more part of the challenge.

 

Glenn Harrison spent some time at Malekholonyane Support Station in the early hours of this morning, then seemed to do a quick double back to where he left the route and started a massive charge today, which included the feared Vuvu Valley and is currently going up and over Lehana’s Pass in the dark on his own – that is one seriously brave guy, he then will have a ridiculously cold descent into his finish at Rhodes. (just for good measure I understand he is on a Cotic SS with a rigid fork).

In other related news, the three nutters who did the 80km Duzi trail run today, they start at 6am tomorrow in the last batch to leave which traditionally has the defending champ and the racing contenders.

 

Another feature of the trail tonight is the large number of people still out there pushing/ stretching for another support station or intermediate stop – that’s all well and good until there is some tricky navigation and you have to do what the elder guys Rob and Roy did and you end up sleeping out in the bush. This usually means that you are quite near to a warm bed and a meal, but you have no clue where it is – so you put on everything and wait for first light. Then it is very very difficult to ride a full day the next day as you need to eat and rest, so like they did they ended up spending the day at Vuvu. So Robbie Mac is sleeping at Ntsikeni – a wise move in my books, then give it horns when the sun rises and you are rested with a full stomach. As an indication the general temperature now at night will be anywhere between -5 and-10.

 

Some other pics, (sorry I am not getting rider pics at the moment as they are all – riding and few are posting.), so the pics are some of the features of what one experiences.

The shepherd and his three dogs (again) are typical of a Basotho herdsman who is up high somewhere tending a flock or herd, the dogs are working dogs and the blanket is a symbol of his status as a herdsman (from where the blanket wearer community theme comes from).

 

The bed is your accommodation in Vuvu, it is a hut and family would have vacated their home for you to stay in – humble, but warm and all you need (unless you need to pee at night which a walk outside in the freezer).

 

The signpost is the top of Naudes Nek – just to show you don’t need to go to Europe to ride cols, you can get your kicks here in old RSA, note the wire tie downs for the sign, the wind is woes there a lot of the time.

 

(PS: thanks for all the compliments – I am trying to promote the event within the spirit of event – I realise it is ‘fringe’ event, but I think it is a wonderful local story which should be told as it unfolds, so please if you can share/ repost please do.)

[cat-i]

Glen's in at Rhodes.