2013 Freedom Challenge Updates

[tubed]

As an aside, probably going to head through to diemers this afterrnoon, depending on how late then okes take to get there. if they hurry, then the boss isn't going to look kindly at me knocking off at lunchtime!

 

Enjoy the Pinotage and fireside chat - the twitter account is very quiet today - they must be up to something...

[tubed]

And just like that Glenn obliges with the profile I was waiting for, (nicely written Glenn):

http://glennharrisonsa.blogspot.com/

 

2013 Rider Profiles - Avril Metelekamp

 

If there's one person who'll have some stories to tell after this year's Freedom Challenge, it has to be Avril. She started out with Batch B and made good progress to Rhodes, relying on a pre-dawn start time. A few hour's riding in the early morning darkness seemed a good way to ensure she would get in comfortably before nighttime.

Two days out of Rhodes, she came a bit unstuck on the two big portages of Slaapkranz and Bontehoek and only made it to Moordenaar's Poort for the night. The following day, after stopping in at Brosterlea for lunch, she set off to conquer the Stormberg, still hoping to get to Romansfontein that night. The wind had picked up and the light was fading, so she made the first of many wise decisions and turned back to Brosterlea. She faced a similar situation again after leaving Grootdam a bit behind schedule but this time pressed on and found herself coming down the Struishoek in the dark... the white rocks must have helped because she found her way down without incident and then continued on to Pearston. Exhausted now and with flat batteries in both her tracker and phone, she found accommodation in the little town instead of pushing on to the next support station at Gegun, nearly 2 hours away - another wise decision.

 

The remarkable thing about her ride is that she had been riding mostly on her own since Moordenaar's Poort. Added to this were the various bike troubles she was having, first the rear brakes went, then she lost a cleat. Although she met up with other riders now and then at support stations and they helped where they could - John and Barry managed to sort out the brakes - she was riding big days and taking on the tricky navigation with nothing but the wind for company. The Hout Bay Boys tried to help by leaving a few crucial arrows in the sand for her to follow, which she was really grateful for!

 

"Now I'm scared. Alone in Baviaans valley and don't know which way to go, please can you help..?" The message came through a few hours after she had sent it - the race office was on the road from Rhodes and signal was patchy - we tried to reach her but by then she had gone into the dark zone. The story that emerged the following day was one of true courage. Avril had found her way to about the sixth river crossing, by which time she was exhausted and thrashing about with no real idea of where to go. She still had the good sense to stop, find a place to rest and light a fire, hoping that in the morning she could continue or at least keep a look out for other riders coming past. Morning came and with it the sound of birds - also eventually, the sound of voices - her 'rescuers' were the guys and gal from Batch E and when she saw them, they were greeted with tears of joy and relief. She had survived a dark and cold night in a cold, lonely kloof. They all made their way through the remaining river crossings to Cambria, to hot food and a warm bed. She then latched onto her new-found friends and rode all the way to Willowmore, a long 170km double up, which meant she had caught up a day on her schedule. The next day the party continued as she tailed them across to Prince Albert: "Yeowsers! flew with racing snakes today, was so lekker to have company. Going to leave an hour before them and try make Rouxpos - hope it works..." Well it did work and she went all the way to the finish with this group. They were not the only riders who commented on the tenacity of Avril, others who had finished earlier had also been impressed by her efforts.

 

The Freedom Challenge produces it's fair share of war stories every year, the adventures and misadventures along the way. It also produces it's fair share of heroes, people who when faced with the hardships, stand up and take it on the chin. Occasionally it also produces legends, people who do all these things and more - whose fighting spirit inspires everyone they encounter on their journey and touches their lives in a positive way. This lady is one of those legends. Well done Avril!

 

Avril half-wheeling her husband John

Edited July 3, 2013 by tubed

[Nancy Drew]

Die Leer at the Hel/ Gamkaskloof:

 

there has been a LOT of talk about this spot, this is the best photo I can find, its pretty much straight up to get out

 

That looks crazy scary... leaving 'the hel' on the road is scary enough on it's own!

[Nancy Drew]

So much respect and admiration for Avril. Well done! Spending a night alone in Baviaanskloof in the cold and dark must have been an agonizing experience

[mazambaan]

Thank you about Roy and a small bummer that he's out - I was too lazy to scroll down.

 

Hat's off to him - respect to have done that well.

[DJR]

Now that it is all done and behind her......the Baviaans is prime leopard country and they've introduced a herd of buffalo a few years ago. Avril, you have my respect.

[tubed]

Now that it is all done and behind her......the Baviaans is prime leopard country and they've introduced a herd of buffalo a few years ago. Avril, you have my respect.

 

The part that she would have spent the night in is really really off the beaten track and that is saying something in the Baviaans as the main road is already wild. Things there definitely go bump and growl in the night, it might just be the porcupine or the aardvark, but leopards are curious by nature. The buffalo and the rhino there are seemingly quite meek. But huge respect Avril.

[tubed]

The Six:

 

The six finishers yesterday are quite a bunch and not unusual for this stage of the race, in there are some guys getting their blankets after starting before as well as a father and son pairing.

 

For three of the guys in the photo (Andy, Peter and Philip) this is the achievement of something they had set out to do previously and had failed at. Failure is something we all do regularly, but actually not that often when it comes to a big thing, like deciding to try and finish the Freedom Challenge. Usually at these guys age they have had a measure of success and when they try something big, they all but eliminate the risks either by effort or by finance (lets be blunt for a moment), but when it comes to the Freedom Challenge, neither of those are really a guarantee of success. So when these guys fail and come back and try again, you know that they want it, and you know what it means to them to put themselves in a place again (publicly) where failure remains a real possibility.

 

I am glad to say that they are all now finishers and for some it is a massive monkey off their backs and the relief will turn to joy and celebration. In time maybe another goal worth striving for - something neither money can buy, nor effort and influence can guarantee.

 

Well done guys for going back and finishing that thing - you have my admiration for sure.

 

The father and son:

 

Again not unusual, as many of the current mountain bikers are riding because of the cycling culture instilled in them by their parents. Cycling is truly a sport where the camaraderie can be shared between the generations and the Freedom Challenge is all about perseverance and resolve. In some of the other stage races it is good to see these pairings, but I have seen quite a bit of frustration in those - mainly because of the obvious compatibility issues when it comes to flat-out racing and the fact that everybody around you is doing just that - it is hard then for these guys to stick to the plan of 'just riding'.

 

The Freedom Challenge requires that you 'just ride', 30mins here or there makes no difference and ideally there are parts you want to share with someone significant - there are many such moments. There is also the fact that you need people to help you and its no shame for a son (or daughter) to carry something for their parent, because for sure in this ride there will be days where they will do the same for you.

 

So if you ride with your dad/mom or child and this does appeal to you - I can assure you that you will create a lifetime memory of true significance if you can finish this together.

 

PS: Guy - well done for doing it your way - respect on a single speed.

Edited July 4, 2013 by tubed

[tubed]

Karoo riding:

 

All the remaining riders are heading for home and are either in or exiting the Karoo for the Breede River valley, some images for those who were looking earlier to ride between Prince Albert and Cape Town - my advice: just do it.

Edited July 4, 2013 by tubed

[Shebeen]

man, this really just makes me wanna get on a bike and ride. (i rode into work this morning, 30km with a pomping south easter behind me).

 

for those who think this is all just armchair stuff and beyond them, think again. bike touring is starting to take off here and offroad is way more fun. the prince albert to cape town route is kind of the standard FC option, but there's alternatives with starting points at laingsburg or even matjiesfontein.

 

here's a link to one we did a few years back fully unsupported. we only had a roof over our heads one night. it was flippen awesome, and i think the total cost per person for the 6 day trip was R700

http://theblanketsaga.blogspot.com/2009/12/anysberg-west.html

[tubed]

Karoo riding contd:

 

If you enter the Prince Albert district, and announce yourself prior to that with credentials and intentions, the DWK will probably ride out into the veld to meet you.

 

On the back of the Mercedes is the crate with proper Koffie and Boere Biskuit (rusks).

 

As I said: just do it, get out there.

 

*DWK: dik wiel kommando aka Johann Rissik - in red top, (he is escorting the last group out of the district this morning via the Swartberg Pass on his bike as we speak) Your hospitality - Karoo style, is assured.

 

(PS: spot the dog too)

Edited July 4, 2013 by tubed

[Percyzn]

Can anyone tell me the ratio the single speed bikes run on the PMB to Rhodes section. Thanks Bruce.

[tubed]

Day 25:

 

There are few left to finish, so lets bring them home.

 

Robbie Mac should be the sole finisher today - unless Gaeren keeps his foot on the gas, jeepers I had to recheck the tracker this morning after nearly spilling my coffee, I think he rode two big doubles (ie skipping support stations) in the last two days and seems on a charge to get home.

He left Montague at 2h40 this morning! At this rate he wont even wake the folk at McGregor for breakfast, but is likely to find Eric still in bed waiting for his morning tea at Kasra.

 

This is not unique, as last year we did the double (ie passed Kasra) into Trouthaven arriving there after battling a NW gale up the Breede river valley to get to Trouthaven to start the kloof the next morning. During the day we saw Gawie take off on his single speed and that's the last we saw of him as he got to Trouthaven and went into that Stettyns Kloof as dark was falling and the storm hit - few people would be that brave.

 

Another nutter worth reading about here is the Nutty Professors last push to get home (http://www.mikewoolnough.blogspot.com/2012/07/day-15-and-beyond-final-push.html)

 

So go Gaeren!

[DJR]

Tubed, thanks for posting those Karoo and Swartberg pictures. I agree, just do it!

[Seepglad]

Die Leer at the Hel/ Gamkaskloof:

 

there has been a LOT of talk about this spot, this is the best photo I can find, its pretty much straight up to get out

 

Latrinus climbing the ladder, offline, circa 2009 - link to pic

[tubed]

The Breede River Valley:

 

In the Freedom Challenge, the Breede River Valley is familiar to most of the riders, probably because many of the riders either come from the Cape and have ridden in or around it and secondly because it is well used by the Cape Epic. Now before you think I am even going to venture down the road of which event is better etc, there is no point in doing that, suffice to say most people who ride the Freedom Challenge would probably also ride the Epic if given a chance and many do – it’s just about riding a bike after all and nobody argues about that.

 

But the Freedom Challenge and the Epic have another thing in common, they both use the Breede River Valley to get to where the race needs to end, in the case of the Epic, it is often to get to the Boland or the Overberg as the case may be, in the case of the Freedom Challenge it is to get to Paarl.

 

So they both use the beautiful rather gentle foothills surrounding the valley to traverse it and they both use the Trappieskraal portage to avoid the tar roads. In the Epic, the Trappieskraal climb is a good sorting out of the field, it is a loose long climb under the power pylons which few manage to ride and many curse for the traffic jams of slower riders, it is generally characterised by mayhem and disdain for the race director. For the Freedom Challenge riders it is a gentle push up and over the hill, it’s a chance to smell the fynbos, pose for some photos and take in the majestic Cape mountains looming, it is also the calm before Stettyns Kloof the next day. Stettyns deserves its own post, just because it is nothing like you will find anywhere else on a bicycle race that I know of.

 

So while the Breede River Valley is gentle fynbos, wine farms and super cuisine - Stettyns is a place for a barbarian mind set and need to face up and meet your final challenge.