Speedtherapy: South African Adventure

As I'm seeing my arse again and going down onto the rocks on the big climb, another rider blasting up narrowly misses me. He gets to the top no problem, stops, puts his bik on the stand and starts scrambling down the trail. He gets to me and my strewn bike and it's only then that I realise that it's my brother. He was on his last lap.

Igor was in for a good finish, but drowned his bike after going down in one of the crossings on his last lap...

"You okay?"
"Yup. Just cream-fuckin' crackerd."

Igor hauls then fires the bike up, and picks his way up to the top of the hill, only pausing for seconds at a tricky sloping rock section. Awesome! Another rider, one of course the marshalls and event organisers, stops at the top of the hill and comes down to help the fellow struggler up. Rescued!

I trudge to the top of the hill - bejeesus - that was tough. My gear feels like it is 500kg, dragging me down. I crawl to the bike, absolutely exhausted from a 50 yard scramble. I rest while the other guy and the marshal get up the hill. We rest, eat, drink and rest another 10 minutes after they get up. I get back on the bike. The marshal says it's just a big descent and then a trail ride back to the start/finish. He'll follow us.

Puff-adder - a bite from this local bad boy and you're in shit. My cousin nearly lost her leg from one... she still walks with a limp.

I move off, and get to the descent. Within a minute, I've left them behind. I press on carefully and get down without seeing my arse again. Little victories. Onto the trail ride... this was fun. Too knackered to give it beans and have a blast, I just cruise along enjoying all the scenery and awesome riding.

One more big river crossing and I'm back at the start/finish. My other brother Nic is waiting there, ready to refuel and get me going onto lap 2. It took me 3 hours, 20 minutes to do one lap! I had struggled, fallen, gotten back up, fallen again, learned a lot about two-smoke riding... crashed myself to the point of exhaution, but most of all... I had fun.

A reprofiled shin - fuck that hurt!

One lap was enough - that was it for me. A bunch of competitors didn't even make it around for 1 lap - so I was happy with my effort. I got my gear off and recovered while Igor went off and did a 4th lap - just for fun!

Igor and Tanna

In South Africa I had fantastic time with my brothers, father, niece and friends... racing, sightseeing, chilling-out and even managed to get a wee safari in :-) The trip reminded me of all the great things about South Africa - I want to visit more often than every 4 years.