FC 2026 Day 1

 FC 2026 Day 1

Please excuse any spelling "problems" as I do not have the time to check this!

Got up at 04:15, had breakfast and assembled outside at 05:30 to cycle down to the start at Pmb Town Hall. The wheels started rolling at 06:01 and we were "escorted" out of town and through the traffice to the entrance of Bisley Nature Reserve. 

After a few km we went through a gate and then cycled through some cane fields, liking up with a tar and down to a T-junction to Richmond. A few km and then right into the Baynesfield Estate back onto gravel. This carried on for quite awhile until we took a forestry road up the hill. The road winded up the hill and after some lefts and rights, we entered a track through a grassland up another hill which resulted in a lot of pushing. Down the other side tge track was very rough and I took the conservative opion  to rather push. This ran into a better road and then a beautiful downhill to The Oaks at Byrne. 

Lunch was tomatoe soup and bread. I "sort of" teamed up with Sara-Jane. I generally am stronger on the hills than her, but our pace. She did have some stomuch issues today, so must have affected her riding. We left Byrne together and cycled together right up to the "entry" of the Umkomaas. She have done this route recently, so I let her do the navigarion along the bank of the river and tonthe point where we crossed. Unfortunately my phone's battery was flat, so I did not get a photo. 

Now came the big climb of Hella-Hella. This really is one hell of a climb. Most of it is between 10-12% and it is about 12 km long. This involved a lot of pushing! It took more than two hours to "conquer" it. 

I was running out of time to get into Allendale before dark and navigation in the dark always create problems. I have been having problems with my ofometer all day, withbthe result that I was not sure of the final distance. At a point I "decided" that I probably am on a wrong road. I checked the narrative and decided to go back to the Mackenzie Club. Just before I got there, I saw Sara-Jane's light and joined her onto the ride to Allendale. It turned that I was on the right road and should gave carried fir a further 100 meters! 

We arrived at Allendale at 18:12 and after 108 km with 2,644 meters of climbing!