[Event] Freedom Challenge 2014

[running man]

Agreed, its not great, the twitter feed seems to be about the best and that seems to be sleeping.

 

Seems like Clint (TW), Lise and Fanie were headed for a night out somewhere, that's part of the deal and they will be in good company and safe, probably find themselves a school hall or a 'spare' home somewhere. I am sure we will hear from them soon as the sun starts coming up.

 

Those guys need a lot of encouragement a this stage - if you have mobile nos for them, make sure they get some good strong sms's. If they are going to make any decisions they should phone Dave first and make those decisions when the sun is shining.

 

Just seen a tweet that they left the river crossing at 7am, Ngwangwane river I would presume as the tracker's last time stamp at around 8pm last evening shows them there, they might have hunkered down there for the night? All strength to these 3.

 

Thanks Tubed for getting the RASA thread going again and all your fantastic efforts to keep updates coming in, having been there your insight into what the riders experience and go through is invaluable for those friends and family sitting on the sidelines trying to comprehend it all.

[tubed]

FC 2014: Day4 (Thurs Wrap)

 

I struggled yesterday to follow the race with Jumpertrax being down, some trackers off/ batteries fading and general Eskom antics. At this stage the twitter feed seems to be the most reliable source of info, if you can discern the facts from the chatter. Rather than try and keep up with the very rapidly changing race at the moment, I will try and comment on some of the other stuff going on.

 

My takeouts from yesterday:

 

The Race to Rhodes is hot and these guys are really serious about the honors for this. At the front of the race the DuToits who seem to hail from Elgin are setting the pace, they are being hotly followed by Bruce and Ryan the newbies gaining some serious cred at their first outing. Then there are John Loos (FNB’s economist – I think he seems to regularly disappear on the FC during strike season when most other economists are blowing hot air anyway with their crystal balls), he is riding with Paul Erasmus and these two seem quite determined to be the first tracks out on the trail if they can catch the front guys.

 

Yesterday saw the start of Kevin Davie, he gets his own paragraph out of respect, Kevin’s one of our most seasoned journalists and an even more accomplished endurance rider. His book stands as one of the most inspiring accounts of getting people in the growing touring culture in this country. Kevin usually tweets up a storm – his silence since the start must be an indication of the fact that he is not messing around. He arrived at Ntsikeni at about 3am this morn and left not long after that. Kevin is old school and as such he rides alone, probably the same could be said of Tim James, Glen Harrison, Marnitz Nienaber and a few others like Alex Harris – these are the guys who are totally comfortable with the occasional companion, but in reality there are few that can keep their relentless pace. Contrast this with the pairs and small groups who ‘race’ nowadays, just different strategies, each to their own. One thing about the solos is that they are at times hard to follow and disappear into radio silence.

 

Contrast the solos with some other happenings: it seems we had the first group sleeping rough last night somewhere near Bosholweni, they are Lise, Clint and Fanie. Now before you start feeling too sorry for them, please let me assure you that they are in absolutely no danger whatsoever. The trail is the safest place they could be and the fact that they are in each other’s company just means they have someone to verify their story. These guys are struggling on the trail, but they are making the memories of a lifetime. (perhaps Lise has too many of these as she is a returnee and I think has seen this movie before), but for Clint and Fanie – that will go down as one for the grandkids. With the sun on their backs and the climb up to Ntsikeni in front of them they should be good to go this morn, if not a bit hungry, but if I recall they will be smashing anything they can see at the spaza shop as they start the big climb.

 

A comment regarding the jumpertrax feed: this is a newish system, (the old one wasn’t much better), but a lot of the time it is probably down to the fact that the riders are not stopping to charge their trackers or they haven’t got somewhere to charge their trackers. In terms of their priorities, they are riding, food and sleep. So this means us sitting here have to do with the lack of pictures, tweets, trackers etc etc. The race office will be trying their best, largely via sms as there are large patches of trail where there is no signal at all, especially not data. As a result sometimes the only time you might hear of someone is when they have checked in our out of a Support Station (SS) as this is compulsory and hopefully they send the race office an sms when they do so. (Although I assure you that when its time to go, you are batting with cold fingers, gloves, lights, maps and generally making sure you are good to go and the last thing on your mind is an sms to Mery). Similarly when you get in somewhere, it is food, your boxes and warmth which are your priorities – the sms may come much later). So if your dearest or favourite is not responding, they may be a host of reasons for this. I can assure you that where there may be danger, Dave knows precisely where you are and what state you are in, he will take action if needs be.

 

Lastly the weather – nobody is talking about it, perhaps they don’t want to jinx it, but its fabulous and it means the riders have one less thing to worry about, ie mud, wet and wind. Let’s leave it there for now.

[tubed]

For some insight into another of the legends, Mike Woolnough, who started today have a look here http://www.mikewoolnough.blogspot.com/

[Shebeen]

my pick of the tweets for today

 

Retweeted by

Freedom Trail

john loos @john_loos · 3h

Lovely morning on top of Mparane Ridge. How's that recession going back in Jozi guys?

 

Freedom Trail

@freedom_trail

·

5h

5:47am. At the City Hall. Whole batch wanting to get to Ntsikeni. Going to be an interesting day!!!

[Shebeen]

here is Batch E from this morning, a personal note on one of the ridersThe guy in the middle with the black vest/blueshirt and big smile is Stu Brew.He's a kiwi, but lives in the isle of man. He did the cape epic in the mid noughties with a guy called jannie. Then jannie did the freedom challenge, and told him it was also worth riding.Next year he came back and did FC...loved it.about two/three years ago he came back for round 2 and got about a third of the way before a big crash took him out the race.So he's back for round 3...good luck, the kid can read maps well!

Edited June 13, 2014 by Shebeen

[cfish50]

Thanks for the well summarized update! great to catch up on the action in one fell swoop BUT.... and its a BIG BUT!!!!!!...... Did you have to bring up the weather! Almost too good to be true and don't want to jinx it so let leave that out of the equation until it becomes an issue

 

Keep up the great coverage.. much appreciated!

[cfish50]

here is Batch E from this morning, a personal note on one of the riders

 

 

The guy in the middle with the black vest/blueshirt and big smile is Stu Brew.

 

He's a kiwi, but lives in the isle of man. He did the cape epic in the mid noughties with a guy called jannie.

Then jannie did the freedom challenge, and told him it was also worth riding.

Next year he came back and did FC...loved it.

about two/three years ago he came back for round 2 and got about a third of the way before a big crash took him out the race.

 

So he's back for round 3...good luck, the kid can read maps well!

 

Hells bells... short sleeves and short pants! he is also hard as nails!

[tubed]

Hells bells... short sleeves and short pants! he is also hard as nails!

 

Stu Brew - what a character, loves SA as much as he does NZ, loves the people and his afrikaans pronunciations are a treat.

 

He has many many friends along the trail and more supporting him - because when Stu's not riding he is one of the best supporters you can have at the end of a connection from the Isle of Man. From strategy, to weather, to priceless words of encouragement and most importantly keeping your family in the loop - Stu's the man.

 

Looking forward to returning the favour bud.

[tubed]

Some bikes:

 

Pic of the bikes against the wall are of the the lads Con, Bruce and Ryan, they are passing by Masakala community lodge (some of the best vetkoek going down there right now), lovely morning sun. Now those Pyga's are legitimate, they will have been through a number of rivers, been on the shoulder and collected some cow dung and dust - proper Pyga's now.

 

The other pic is of Con's bike before the start, looking all race ready.

[Marnitz Nienaber]

You don't have to worry a bit about their welfare, there a lots of friendly people who will take the in as if they are family. If they don't find a home they will spend the best night ever under the stars and for years to come they will talk about that night. Ask the container brother hood, still talking about it.

 

Remember God is watching them from the sky, He will keep them in safe hands.

 

Enjoy

 

PS I will be on the look out for them and give them your best wishes.

[tubed]

"I have got the 3 that slept in the bush" mr ngcobo Ntsikeni

 

 

What this means is that that they are safely in at Ntsikeni Lodge and Mr Ngcobo and his wife will give them a hot shower, a warm bed, hot food and wash their clothes.

 

As Marnitz says he wont trade those nights out for anything - you cant buy those, you earn them.

 

Well done to the three of them for persevering this far.

[running man]

"I have got the 3 that slept in the bush" mr ngcobo Ntsikeni

 

 

What this means is that that they are safely in at Ntsikeni Lodge and Mr Ngcobo and his wife will give them a hot shower, a warm bed, hot food and wash their clothes.

 

As Marnitz says he wont trade those nights out for anything - you cant buy those, you earn them.

 

Well done to the three of them for persevering this far.

 

That is great news, well done Clint, Fanie, and Lise. Enjoy the warm and friendly hospitality there and here's to a good day tomorrow. Hopefully you'll be able to receive all the good wishes from your familes too, the trick is the only cellphone signal is in the tiny windows in the kitchen. MTN on the left window. Vodacom on the right.

[Jaxbeav]

That is great news, well done Clint, Fanie, and Lise. Enjoy the warm and friendly hospitality there and here's to a good day tomorrow. Hopefully you'll be able to receive all the good wishes from your familes too, the trick is the only cellphone signal is in the tiny windows in the kitchen. MTN on the left window. Vodacom on the right.

 

Thanks guys! God bless the Ngcobo's!

[NickyDee]

"I have got the 3 that slept in the bush" mr ngcobo Ntsikeni

 

 

What this means is that that they are safely in at Ntsikeni Lodge and Mr Ngcobo and his wife will give them a hot shower, a warm bed, hot food and wash their clothes.

 

As Marnitz says he wont trade those nights out for anything - you cant buy those, you earn them.

 

Well done to the three of them for persevering this far.

[NickyDee]

Thanks guys for all the updates... we are all newbie followers- specifically of Clint, our brother, husband, father, uncle, son etc etc... your updates are worth gold... actually no, they're priceless! :-)

[tubed]

Seems like the madness has stopped for a bit tonight, except for the Nutty Professor ( Mike Woolnough) all are in and settled as far as I can establish. Mike may well set a new benchmark tonight - we know he is capable and it has been on the cards for some time. Go Mike!

 

It seems the Du Toits have some ailment and hunkered down in Vuvu.

 

There is a huge group at the intermediate stop at Tinana Mission set to descend on Vuvu and Rhodes tomorrow.

 

Not sure where John and Paul got to.

 

To my real surprise Kevin Davie seems to have mucked up Politique and only got to Glen Edward, that's a real pity as he probably could have/ should have got to Masakala. Cmon Kevin!

 

The bos slaapers (Clint and Fanie) have made a wise decision and are regrouping at Ntsikeni. Lise has gone on her own in the late afternoon - eech maybe she's just brave, what she doesn't need now is a second night out.

 

There is a biggish group saying prayers at Centacow.

 

Stu Brew is making the most of the Waddilove hospitality at Allendale. Stu may be a racer, but he would never ever be so rude as to refuse good food and a chat - good man!