Freedom Challenge RASA day 19

FCRASA day 19

Montagu to Trouthaven is suppose to be an easy day with no mayor challenges and all district road. We got going just after 05:00 and had visions of cover the 160 kilometres good time to reach Trouthaven before darkness descended on us. All went according to plan up to McGregor, where we had a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. We arrived at 08:45 and was out at 09:10. When we round the first bend out of town, turning in North Westerly direction, we started encountering the wind. As the day continued, the wind got worse. The total distance for the day was 160 kilometres. We completed the first 52 kilometres at an average speed of nearly 15 kph, now we were battling against the wind! Our aim of arriving before dark was being blow out of the window! We started working together against the wind. We would ride one behind the other so that the front rider breaks the wind and the rearer rider hides in his wind stream, changing position every 1 kilometre. We climbed Gannaberg Pass under protection of the wind behind the mountain, but when we started descending the other side we had to pedal into to maintain a speed of 10 kph going downhill! Down the bottom of the hill the fearceness of the wind calmed and we managed to maintain a speed of just over 10 kph. Most of the rest of the day was in a North Westerly direction, so the battle was relentless! Getting closer to the Brandvlei Dam, we were "blessed"with a 7 kilometre stretch with the wind on our backs. While we were riding we saw that it was raining over the dam area. As we the mountain area, we decided to don our rain jackets. Our timing was pretty good, because the first drops hit us soon afterwards. We were fortunate in that it was only a light rain, but the wind was not so kind! Passing the exit gate of the Brandvlei Prison, we stopped for a rest and I donned my waterproof Sealskiz gloves. The sun was setting but we still had about 15 kilometres before we would be able to enjoy the comfort of a warm chalet. We were fortunate in that the last 12 kilometres were with this fearce wind over our right shoulders. What we hoped would be a 10-11 hour day, turned into a 14 hour day. It was riding up hill for nearly 100 kilometres. When we got to our chalet the two guys we were sharing with had a fire going. They graciously also left the double bed for me! There were internet reception and I checked to see were Leon Erasmus, my brother's son who started 6 days after me, was. He set out from Anysberg earlier that morning. At this point he was still far away, battling against the wind. When I finally switched the lights off at 22:00, they were still about 4 hours away. They finally arrived at 02:00!