Day 7 – Rhodes to Rust de Winter

Relatively easy day 112km, 2270m climb. 12 hours which included a 2 hour lunch at a homestead along the way. Weather cold and windy and worse expected. 4 riders who left Rhodes today got a good dose of tummy bug, myself included.
Kevin got it the worst and I believe he has stopped short of the final portage for the night.
One of the group took a wrong turn and arrived well after dark.
We arrived to find Adam at the support station. He was riding with Xolani but after following Xolani down a few wrong routes decided he would try it alone. Adam is amazing, no other word for it. He only started riding a bicycle 6 weeks before the start of the race!
Glen, affectionately referred to as "Forest" after spending the night as race leader after Day 1 sleeping on the forest floor, stayed back at Rhodes where he has been for a few days and I have heard he has withdrawn from the race because of ill health. He was billeted with us last night and really looked grim.
Today we had a few firsts. First little section of tar road for the last few hundred km’s and first stop since Day 1 to have electricity. Paraffin lamps do create a certain ambience but electric lights are more convenient for our normal rising time of between 4 and 5 in the morning.