Freedom Challenge Race Across SA Day 1

FCRASA day 1

As there are some English speaking people who read my blog, I will post in English.

We had breakfast at 05:00 and left for the City Hall at 05:35. As we were ready to leave The Sleeping Bag, FG realised that ge had left his helmet behind. Fortunately he could retrieve it quickly. On the way there I notice that my cyclo meter is not working! Chris Fisher replaced the battery, but that did not work either! I would just have to stay with the group! 

Our start was not very good. The instructions were clear but everybody except Sandy and myself went one block too far. We all regrouped at the next traffic light. We were escorted out of town until we entered Bisley Nature Reserve. The first part was tar, but it quickly turned to a very good quality gravel road. My cylometer started working as soon as we turned off onto a track through the sugar cane. We all stayed together and had an easy ride to the Richmond tar road. After a few kilometers we turned off to Baynesfield. 

Initially it was a tar road, which changed to a good gravel road after a few kilometers. We then turned left to follow a foresty track up to a ridgeline. From there we follow a old disused jeeptrack to the radio masts on top of Cunningham Castle. This was followed by a very hairy downhill into Byrne. Halfway down the hill my saddlebag opened and my warm top fell out. Luckily I noticed it and stopped to pick it up. We stopped in Bynre at The Oaks for lunch after4:30 of riding, stopping for 20 minutes.

Out Bynre we initially had some tar until we turned off to Illovo Neck Forest Station.  After a short climb, we rode a contour path taking us to the Umkomaas Valley. Part if this road is a scary cement road with an unreal gradient. A number of Freedom Challengers have ended there race here due to fading brakes or lising control due to going too fast! This road led us down to the edge of river where we followed some cattle tracks along the side of the river. Some section were very rough resulting in slow progress. There also was a section where we had to scramble over some rocks. Johan Radcliffe and myself decided to go around crisding the river at the bridge, while the rest went through the river at a point where it was about thigh deep. 

The river is followed by the infamous Hela Hela climb. A climb of 9 km which can only be climbed by the very fit. I pushed my bike up the last thitd! In 2014 I managed to climb it in one go! I strated this with Johan, but he dropped me early on and Inonly saw him again at the end. Once on top the road is fairly undulated, going past a settlement and then past the Mckenzie Country Club, one of the Sani2C stopover points. A few kilometers past the Club we turned off to Allendale, our stopover for the night. 

Johan finished an hour before me. I finished at 16:12 and the test of the pack came in at 16:30. We had an early supper and everybody was off to bed by 21:00