deanbean Posted July 11, 2014 Posted July 11, 2014 Strkes a chord woth me Nonky. Love the bundu bashing. I fo a lot of that in the Transkei, and also a bit in the Amatola's, I'm due for another epic ride I think
tombeej Posted July 11, 2014 Author Posted July 11, 2014 chickenrun4me, you seemed to be 'wired' very much the same way I am. Great posts, thanks for that.
Ryanpmb Posted July 11, 2014 Posted July 11, 2014 ...the ride over the ridge into the Ntsekeni vlei with boisterous herds of wildebeest must be one of the most breathtaking views from a bike... This is quite a special experience - look forward to it every time I head out to ride Nstikeni .
tubed Posted July 11, 2014 Posted July 11, 2014 This is quite a special experience - look forward to it every time I head out to ride Nstikeni . First year I got to Ntsikeni in the dark, didn't even now there was a mountain there, it was just left, right keep going until the lights appeared. Second year we approached and arrived in the late afternoon, the golden glow of the mountains and grasslands along with the herds of wildebeest was something special, as was the sunset. I think Alaska Jill's fear of the night is why we enjoy such rich photos from her blog - night time photos are not that great.....
grc Posted July 15, 2014 Posted July 15, 2014 Spring Ride to Rhodes entered What have I just done?? I will be following this thread with interest - I luckily enough have a huge amount of experience I can tap into via a number of battle weary old veterans who have accumulated many miles on this trail. The daunting bit is I still have to do the hard yards myself as all the theory in the world won't help when I am out there and bleeding through my eyeballs!!
G.S.W Posted July 15, 2014 Posted July 15, 2014 At least your eyeballs won't be frozen!!The bleeding is optional.
fandacious Posted July 15, 2014 Posted July 15, 2014 http://www.jilloutside.com/ If you are planning on doing the FC or R2R read this blog. Apart from being great reading, it will give you an idea of what a major part navigation will play in your whole experience. do you know liehann?
Trackz Posted July 15, 2014 Posted July 15, 2014 My 2c and this is what I'll be doing for R2R 2015 (if there are any entries left :-)).- Training on the bicycle. The faster you can ride the better so you can spend more daytime on the route. Training like you do for Epic is overkill, train like you do for a solid Magalies Monster and try and ride frequently rather than far. You are all mountain bikers so the riding aspects you have covered and you know the pain of not being fit ... now onto serious matters.- Train to be on your feet. Do hiking up steep inclines to get your calves & Achilles conditioned. Push/carry your bike and work out how to hang your bike on your backpack so you can walk hands-free or with little upper body effort.- Navigation. As per others, recce if possible. If not possible, learn that route from heart, plot it, trace it, Google through it, visualize it, dream it. Spend a lot more time on navigation than on riding, kind of pointless being fit and you head down into a wrong valley at sunset. Use the narrative sparingly, many before you have got lost on narrative only, it's a valuable aid but better to rely on the maps, they are not interpretations, they reflect fact. Learn how to read maps and keep track of where you are.- Equipment. Ask around, buy a few cappuccino's, all the lessons are out there and there are many who will most happily share their experiences. Get equipment questions out your system early on so you can focus on NAVIGATION!- Mental preparation. Much neglected and the only good reason in my view for long rides. You need to get your mind right for long hours, learn patience, embrace humility, you will become despondent, you will ask yourself why, you will have to HTFU!- Ride with fit chicks. I kid you not, your ego will force you to try and keep up and fit chicks don't stop ... they just keep going. If you can keep up, you'll be fine :-).
G.S.W Posted July 16, 2014 Posted July 16, 2014 Start packing now! And then pack again and again until you have a bag and bike that don't weigh a ton! Consider the fact that that you may well have to sleep out, so be prepared. Have a good light but with a back-up that you can still see well with, I bought a Fong-Kong light with a spare battery that let me down badly. 500-800 lumen is more than enough light as when its dark out there its seriously dark!! Ride with your pack on at least 3 days a week with a minimum of 70% of your total pack weight. Riding with a backpack changes the way you ride and handle your bike. Work on your core muscles and also strengthen your arms and neck muscles. Feeding yourself while on the trail is a tough one. Vary your food types and minimise the sweet stuff. Recovery drinks like chocolate milk and Ultramel custard are great the first few days but you end-up hating them after 3 weeks so make sure you vary your food stuffs and eat whole foods where you can. I can recall raiding the left-overs in other riders boxes just to try vary my diet and the amount of energy bars, sweets, pills and biltong left behind was staggering. Probiotics are also a must to keep the dreaded trail gut at bay. A great race to see how your preparation is going is the 36ONE in Oudtshoorn, its long, its tough and it has more hills than you could ever imagine and its about 2 months before the RASA.
G.S.W Posted July 16, 2014 Posted July 16, 2014 Tutorial on How to make a Map board to mount on your handlebars for Adventure Racing, MTBO or bicycle touring. Best map board ever! Thanks Chris Fisher
Ryanpmb Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 do you know liehann?I met Liehann this year. Rode with him for a day or two...
Ryanpmb Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 Start packing now! And then pack again and again until you have a bag and bike that don't weigh a ton! Good advice . Consider the fact that that you may well have to sleep out, so be prepared.If you are prepared and ride within your limits you won't be sleeping out.
Ryanpmb Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 Spring Ride to Rhodes entered What have I just done?? I will be following this thread with interest - I luckily enough have a huge amount of experience I can tap into via a number of battle weary old veterans who have accumulated many miles on this trail. The daunting bit is I still have to do the hard yards myself as all the theory in the world won't help when I am out there and bleeding through my eyeballs!! Please man - you not even carrying your kit/ bag etc... easy ride ...
Percyzn Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 "I finished in 2011, leisurely 21 days IIRC." You make it sound so easy ! But you approach to the race is what I was also thinking of doing . I like my sleep and believe it is vital for proper recovery . Also not to big on the group ride thing and prefer to ride alone . The mechanical issues are the main reason why I want to do it on the SS , am even reconsidering my previous decision to maybe put a suspension fork on the bike , but that call I will make later . Come ride some of the trail with me on your ss, and a pack, then let me know if you still going ss for rasa. I went from ss to 1x, to 2x in three reccie rides!
G.S.W Posted July 18, 2014 Posted July 18, 2014 Sleeping out is always a possibility!1 wrong turn and Robbie and I had to ride about 85 Km extra on one stage, fortunately we were re-routed on district roads so navigation was not a problem but it cost us big time.
dirtrider Posted July 18, 2014 Posted July 18, 2014 Still got the idea to do it on the SS in my head despite what everybody tells me . I see there are many diffirent SealSkinz socks on the market , normal Ankle height socks the right ones ? oooh and I see you get light weight and mid weight as well !!
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