[Event] Freedom Challenge 2014

[Shebeen]

looking at the final group of riders, Allendale SS1 is now closed for the year as the fishers are heading for centacow(SS1.5) already.

 

The front 4 are guns blazing, all past centacow and on their way to ntsikeni(SS2) to join the ntsikeni in one day club....will anyone stop there?

 

Glenn has been in front all day, but only just. The team merrell pairing of tweet and smelly have been just behind, with flight captain tim james a similarily miniscule distance back, They would have had a fun time at 12:46 at Allendale when all four were there at the same time...incidentally that is the same sort of time it took Martin Dreyer to get there in 2012 when he and Alex Harris traded suckerpunches all the way to paarl.

 

In short...the race has begun and there is a 95% chance the 2014 winner is one of these 4. Real question is, who blinks first?

[Ryanpmb]

looking at the final group of riders, Allendale SS1 is now closed for the year as the fishers are heading for centacow(SS1.5) already.

 

The front 4 are guns blazing, all past centacow and on their way to ntsikeni(SS2) to join the ntsikeni in one day club....will anyone stop there?

 

Glenn has been in front all day, but only just. The team merrell pairing of tweet and smelly have been just behind, with flight captain tim james a similarily miniscule distance back, They would have had a fun time at 12:46 at Allendale when all four were there at the same time...incidentally that is the same sort of time it took Martin Dreyer to get there in 2012 when he and Alex Harris traded suckerpunches all the way to paarl.

 

In short...the race has begun and there is a 95% chance the 2014 winner is one of these 4. Real question is, who blinks first?

 

Trackers show Graham/ Hano having drawn closer to Glenn and put a gap on Tim - you have any better info on this?

[Thug]

Well done Ryan & Percy on your ride!!

 

I see that Glenn is tearing up the trail. Pretty glad about that cause he has to be back in Boven by the 5th July.

[Shebeen]

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrace is on.

 

glenn is at SS3/masakala

tweet/smelly must be about an hour behind

tim is probably 2/3 hours further back past SS2.5 Glenn Edwards.

 

the first three all dossed for a bit at ntsikeni, tim breezed straight past into the lead...but then must have stopped elsewhere.

 

this has the makings for an epic - glenn will have his plan's bedded down. I think tweet and smelly will do better in some areas and fall back on others as a pair. Tweet was also getting all existentional on social media after a somewhat disappointing(for them) 7th place at expedition africa two weeks ago (smelly sat this one out for once) - maybe the thrill of the chase will be revitalising them. and NEVER count out tim james. i reckon he will be always within pouncing distance waiting for a mistake.

[tubed]

FC 2014: Update Day 6/7:

 

Apologies for the slow updates here  – work is intervening this year.

 

Race to Rhodes and the Eastern Cape:

 

All the riders just going to Rhodes are done now, although Rhodes remains a major bailing point for those going to Paarl, as they find the thought of another 2 weeks of riding just too much.

For that reason any support in the form of family arriving at Rhodes, while a very attractive option is strongly discouraged, if not banned!

The comfort of a car ride out there versus stepping back out into cold Eastern Cape morning after a full nights sleep in a warm bed and a full meal is a tough choice to be made.

 

There is a very strong argument that the hardest part of the race are the 5/6 days after Rhodes, there are several reasons for this: the bitterly cold Easter Cape, the numerous portages and the potential mud and wind.

The Stormberg region is one not known to many South Africans, it can be very beautiful and green in summer, but in winter it is generally grey, brown and often misty.

To finally illustrate this point, South Africa coldest ever recorded temp was recorded last year at Buffelsfontein “South Africa has a new minimum temperature record of -20,1 °C, measured on 23 August 2013 at Buffelsfontein in the Eastern Cape"  

I don’t think I need to say much more than that, other than the wind chill when riding in this area makes it excruciating.

 

Riders and retirees:

 

Clint/ trailwarrior continues his steady progress on toward Rhodes with his riding partner Fanie, hopefully they are getting stronger and more confident as they go. Stephen Kellerman seems to again be bringing up the rear of the race with his ‘I do it my way strategy’, although I get the impression that getting lost this time was not part of the plan having completed the ride previously on his own. But if even some of the most knowledgeable get it wrong like Kevin Davie did at Politique farm up in the mountains it goes to show how hard the navigation is. These mistakes are very time consuming as you have to backtrack or bundu bash your way back to the trail.

For this reason it is fully understandable that many of the novices have hitched on to the likes Gawie du Plessis, Dave Bell, Steve and Di Thomas and Jacques Swart – and even these fold sometimes take a wrong turn or two, but they soon find it being a place they don’t recognise.

Sadly there have again been a lot of retirees, I am not sure of the nos at this stage, but it proves again that even in good conditions this race is very tough.

To hear Alaska Jill complaining of sore arms from portaging, just emphasises how totally prepared you have to be.

Talking about being prepared Marnitz is still finding himself hidey holes at night where it is safe – that means he is avoiding the urban areas, I do hope he showers during the day as he passes the Support Stations!

 

 

The RASA 2014:

 

The fireworks have well and truly begun and the best place to try and follow up to date is the @freedom_trail twitter feed or www.glennharrison.co.za, where John Loos has returned from his great RTR a couple of days ago and is blogging up a storm.

Its early days and the Glenn, Tim and Graham/ Hanno are setting the pace. The Fishers also blogging at www.bicycling.co.za are still in it, they are steady after some small mechanicals.

It will be interesting to see the two adventure racer teams vs the two seasoned solo riders, they will have different tactics and approaches.

 

I will try and post some photos as soon as I get to a place that allows outside internet access. Sending these updates from a Blackberry is challenging.

[Shebeen]

not sure why Glenn is still in SS3/masakala...or maybe it's just his tracker being left behind(it's been stationary for way to long in daylight hours)

 

speaking of Glenn...here is his ride/kit.

 

you will notice a few 'custom' items, like his hubdynamo and power system. the usual on bike bags. and for him a rear derailleur this time.

[Ryanpmb]

Drama as Graham/ Hano take the lead and Glenn and Tim get struck down at Masakala.

 

Mike still leader in the clubhouse for R2R as Graham/ Hano approach Ongeluks...

 

http://glennharrison.co.za/drama-stomach-bugs-strike/

[tubed]

Nice to be back online after being in internet wilderness, so chuffed to see other guys picking up the thread, lot and lots of useful stuff and some pics, thanks especially to Shebeen and the PMB boys.

 

The race is being covered very well by John Loos, see the link here again:

 

http://glennharrison....za/blogspot.com cant get more up to date than this!

 

 

Another blog I like is this: http://philipler17.b...gspot.com the reason Philip has my admiration, is I am pretty sure this is his 3rd attempt and other than a finisher, the guy who goes back to finish the unfinished business rates highly in my books, even if the race has kicked the Cr@p out of you in previous years and humbled you - you go and finish.

So Philip I am holding thumbs that you crack it this time.

 

Seems like Philip has got himself some good riding partners and as there is not much more I can say about the race, this photo bears some mention.

As I can see it is Con, Coen and George or Philip taking the shot. Loutebron is one of the big portages and signals a move out of some of the highest mountains which will probably be behind the photographers back, when one looks back from here you really do get sense of massive achievement and feel the promise of what lies ahead.

 

Another feature of the photo is the kit, despite it not raining, you can see just how cold it is there with the layering of kit. All the kit is functional, by this stage anything which doesn't have a use has been discarded and additional things needed have been borrowed from riders stopping at Rhodes. Just look at the pack sizes now, (accepted they are wearing most of their clothes), but I have seen bigger camelbacks on riders in the Epic prologue!

 

These guys are now moving close to as efficiently as they can be. They will be eating properly, drinking as needs be and totally focused on their next goal - probably a support station with a meal and rest.

It really is a great place to be as rider and endurance athlete where you are at some of the most efficient you will ever be on a bike, ie tuned in technically (there is surprisingly a quite lot of technical riding in the FC, especially if you have to walk you can waste time). You know by this stage instinctively when to walk, ride, push or carry - you no longer have endless debates in your head or doubts in your mind as to what the best option is.

 

Hopefully we see some more photos coming through now that the mad dash to Rhodes is over - its a ride of a lifetime and the photos will be there forever if the memories begin to fade.

Edited June 18, 2014 by tubed

[Ryanpmb]

Only a pleasure Tubed - not as knowledgeable as you but we gave it a go. The racing yesterday was exciting.

 

To touch on some of the equipment... See attached pic of my bag. I ran an 18L pack with an expanding pocket between the main bag and the smaller our one. This pocket probably extended the capacity to about 20L and was useful to stuff layers in that were getting taken off during the day (and put back on later) without disrupting the organisation of the main bag. I'm not sure what it weighed but it was certainly lighter than most packs I felt. Percyzn and I ran pretty slim and were riding only to Rhodes but I don't think our packs would've changed much. The only items we didn't use were a waterproof pair of pants as we didn't encounter rain but we needed to take these in case (wet bib and 100+km per day don't go well together). Our water proof jackets were used a few times in very cold windy conditions - most of the time good layering with quality base layers was sufficient - even in -11 temps. We found the best way to keep warm was to ensure the extremities where warm - hands and feet. We also run little frame packs - these were used for first aid bit n pieces and food eaten throughout the day.

 

 

We managed to find these little flasks which we took along with us. Little 'luxuries' like this can make a big difference. These were taken by riders heading on to Diemersfontein when we got to Rhodes .

 

 

Those paying attention to detail will have noticed the black and blue socks many riders are wearing. SealSkin socks... these are a must as they are waterproof (yes, walk through a river in them and your socks beneath and feet stay dry!) and keep the feet nice and warm early morning and late afternoon (extremeties mentioned earlier). They seem to regulate well too and we often wore them through out the day, keeping grass, reeds etc off our legs. Thermal gloves and thermal inners were used for the hands, although most of the time inners and normal gloves were sufficient.

[tubed]

Ryan, You have been bitten by the bug, and with all that equipment, experience and confidence I am sorry to say June wont be the same until you have gotten the rest of the trail out of your system.

 

Rhodes is a bit of a swap shop - bet those guys had been eyeing your flasks long before Rhodes and there were dibs on them that you didn't know about. I see Phillip is thanking Kevin for socks on twitter - in previous years Glenn's bike has at times looked like not much more than a frame and handle bars at Rhodes as people have stripped it as they pass through.

 

Seems like Gawie is looking for a saddle at the moment, two years ago he was tinkering with his bike (some guys just cant help themselves!) just before the Baviaans and stripped the thread on a quick release - try as hard as he could he couldn't find a solution and very luckily for him I think it was Pete Stephens who drove all the way from PE to give him a spare. Although Pete was as desperate to get back o the trail for any sort of action as he had himself pulled out if I can recall ( he subsequently went back and finished last year). Long story short - don't tinker with something that works and there are always guys on the sidelines looking to help/ get involved.

[Shebeen]

 

Those paying attention to detail will have noticed the black and blue socks many riders are wearing. SealSkin socks...

...first thing I bought after finishing FC. if you want to wade rivers, get the high ones, water gets in to easily on the ankle length version.

[Ryanpmb]

...first thing I bought after finishing FC. if you want to wade rivers, get the high ones, water gets in to easily on the ankle length version.

HAHA - we got the knee length ones. Perfect for winter crossings with lower rivers. In summer we got them full of water - they don't let water out from the inside either #waterballoons !

[Ryanpmb]

Ryan, You have been bitten by the bug, and with all that equipment, experience and confidence I am sorry to say June wont be the same until you have gotten the rest of the trail out of your system.

 

Rhodes is a bit of a swap shop - bet those guys had been eyeing your flasks long before Rhodes and there were dibs on them that you didn't know about. I see Phillip is thanking Kevin for socks on twitter - in previous years Glenn's bike has at times looked like not much more than a frame and handle bars at Rhodes as people have stripped it as they pass through.

 

Seems like Gawie is looking for a saddle at the moment, two years ago he was tinkering with his bike (some guys just cant help themselves!) just before the Baviaans and stripped the thread on a quick release - try as hard as he could he couldn't find a solution and very luckily for him I think it was Pete Stephens who drove all the way from PE to give him a spare. Although Pete was as desperate to get back o the trail for any sort of action as he had himself pulled out if I can recall ( he subsequently went back and finished last year). Long story short - don't tinker with something that works and there are always guys on the sidelines looking to help/ get involved.

 

True story - bug has bitten. Will be back next year. A quicker R2R intrigues me for now. Full RASA definately in my sights.

 

Rhodes is a great stop. There seems to always be a lot of people coming and going so it's the first place to fix, swop and help. I got involved with attempted fork repairs, changing brake pads, other spares off my bike... In fact, nearly had my whole PYGA taken on to Diemersfontein without me on board .

[Shebeen]

oh dear...the hub bush mechanics got any good ideas here??

 

Julia Fisher @jigst · 5m

Any advice for

@

advlogger

s cracked frame

@

freedom_trail

....2000km to go

 

[Ryanpmb]

oh dear...the hub bush mechanics got any good ideas here??

 

 

Julia Fisher @jigst · 5m

Any advice for

@

advlogger

s cracked frame

@

freedom_trail

....2000km to go

 

 

Yoh yoh yoh! Some farmer out there must enjoying canoeing... glass fibre that puppy up! Otherwise duct tape for now... If it's a dual sus I would lock out the rear suspension too.

 

Where's BogusOne when you need him?

[dirtrider]

Yoh yoh yoh! Some farmer out there must enjoying canoeing... glass fibre that puppy up! Otherwise duct tape for now... If it's a dual sus I would lock out the rear suspension too.

 

Where's BogusOne when you need him?

 

Duct tape for sure . A L-shape piece of metal/hard plastic will work with the tape if it's taped at the bottom of the toptube and down the downtube .