Days 2 and 3

Today was much like yesterday in one respect and in another the complete opposite. Yesterday I had no fun on the trail and today was just the same. Yesterday was really hot while today was icy.
My lack of fitness combined with a 10kg backpack and a dysfunctional right pedal makes for a long uncomfortable day. The bits of my body that make contact with the saddle feel like they are both ulcerated and raw. Perhaps just a bit raw. It just hurts so bad that I look forward to portages or any walk for that matter and we have had that in spades. Yesterday due to the hot conditions we had to carefully manage our water resorting to boiling river water at one stage. It was the hottest day I have experienced on the trail in 4 years. We were looking forward to the evening just to cool down. When we eventually arrived at Ntsikeni at 20h30 after 14 and a half hours on the move it was sub zero. The main reason for our late arrival was a navigational error heading into Centacow Mission. There is a lot of active logging in the forest and it changes everything. Collectively our group have been through that section 18 times and we still got it wrong. The remedy to get back on track was a hideous climb over one mountain followed by. A long slog. Cost us nearly 2 hours. Cold start this morning crunching over iced over puddles. Fought our way through the thick grass of Ntsikeni valley. Rode the rest of the day into a strong and freezing head wind. Mountains tops around St Bernards Peak covered in snow. Gawie got tired of the slow pace and set off on his own. He eventually caught up with us having lost his way on the trail as we exited the last single track an hour from making the support station Surprised to find Trevor and Eugene still at Masakala when we arrived. Trevor having experienced problems with his freebody. He has a new pawl which is not the right part by they have managed to grind it into usable shape. They plan an early start. The rest of us are going to sleep in and leave at the civilised hour of 8. Weather tomorrow looks grim. Max of 8 Celsius predicted.