Roof of Africa - Day 1

Today is the first day of the Roof of Africa. Staged in the 'Mountain Kingdom' of Lesotho, this is Africa's toughest enduro and the final round of the newly formed World Extreme Enduro Championship.

This year a few international stars like Bartosz Oblucki and Chris Birch are taking on the local pros and some of the former winners in Lourens Mahoney, Jade Gutzeit and Daryl Curtis.  My brother, Igor (No. 157) is giving this gruelling event a go too!

Couldn't find any shots of Igor, but here are a couple from the Roof of Africa website:

The day started off with 'Around the Houses'. A special stage around the streets of Maresu...

... a fast and furious crowd pleaser. Flat-out through dusty streets on knobbly tyres! Scary.

Only minutes after finishing this stage, the competitors start the first time trial... 80km across some rather bike-unfriendly terrain...

The Roof of Africa website promised live timing and a race ticker... but it's crap. There is no mobile phone coverage in Lesotho... and I guess no-one brought a sat-phone along. So, I don't know how the brother got on. I hope he finished and will get to start tomorrow!