Saturday, 11 July 2009

Looking back, I can only smile...

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As you have probably deduced from Mike’s blog, things got pretty nasty out there and the race ended up being a lot harder than we were e...
5 comments:
Friday, 10 July 2009

Last Word

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Back at work going through my email - doesn't compare to being on the trail. As hard as the ride was this year I have not been traumatis...
Wednesday, 8 July 2009

Final Day

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Today all we had to do was get through Stettynskloof and then make our way through to Wellington to cross the finish line. For those of you ...
3 comments:
Monday, 6 July 2009

Day 20 - Montagu, McGregor, Kasra, Trouthaven

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Just over15 hours today, 165km. Leaving Montagu this morning I was stuck by the number of lit dwellings on the farmlands. We have become acc...
2 comments:
Sunday, 5 July 2009

Day 19 - Finally some sleep in Montegu

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By the time we arrived in Montagu at 11h30 this morning we had been on the road for over 30 hours. We had only covered 220km since leaving D...
3 comments:

Day 18 - Die Hell, Rouxpos, Anysberg

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It is now 3 in the morning. We have been moving since 5 yesterday morning. We are sitting around the table debating the merits of pushing on...
Saturday, 4 July 2009

Day 17 - Prince Albert to Die Hell.

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Took us 10 hours to cover about 65km today. That did include 1 hour of parking off in the sun drinking tea and later stopping to make a snow...

Musing from atop a mountain pass

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10h30 Tuesday 30th June. Here we sit on top of the Swartberg Pass drinking coffee. It it amazing how your race can suddenly change. 24 hours...
Friday, 3 July 2009

Day 16 - Willowmore to Prince Albert

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172 km day in 14 hours. Better than the nearly 20 hours it took us to do a similar distance yesterday. Given the terrain and weather conditi...
3 comments:
Thursday, 2 July 2009

Day 15 - Cambria to Willowmore

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19 hours 45 mins! Today we started at 04h30 with the objective of getting to Willowmore which is the support station beyond Damsedrif. It is...
3 comments:
Wednesday, 1 July 2009

Day 14 - Bucklands to Cambria

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12 hours today. Battled to get going but finished feeling strong. Weather was great today. In places it was hot enough to have just a short ...

Day 13 - Toekomst to Bucklands

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Today was in total contrast to yesterday. We were on the road for 11 hours today which included a 45 minute lunch stop as well as a 45 minut...
Saturday, 27 June 2009

Day 12 - Van de Venterskraal to Toekomst

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Soft day today. Too much wind, too much mud and too much cold rain to be fun. To add to our misery we sustained a side wall gash of the fron...

Day 11 - Stuttgard to Van der Venterskraal

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Yesterday was a miserable day with leg problems. Last night I spoke to Doc Rudi who explained that the recommended treatment for acute ITB w...
1 comment:
Thursday, 25 June 2009

Day 10 - Elandsberg to Stuttgardt

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Today was horrible! Early in the ride my right knee started hurting. Pedalling was impossible without experiencing intense pain. To add to o...
3 comments:

Day 9 - Romansfontein to Elandsberg

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13h30. Owing to a professional foul committed the previous day ( we diverted around a portion of the route due to thunder storms ) we were o...
1 comment:
Wednesday, 24 June 2009

Day 8 - Vaalbank to Romansfontein

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A day to remember; a day to forget! Thunderstorms, rain, sleet, wind, mud and freezing conditions all combined to make today a hard miserabl...
3 comments:
Saturday, 20 June 2009

Day 7 - Slaapkranz to Vaalbank

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11h30 today. Day started with back to back mountain portages. The first 20km's took us 4h15 by which time we were clear of both mountain...
Friday, 19 June 2009

Day 6 - Chesneywold to Slaapkrantz

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Short day. We took 5 hours to cover 36km today with one portage. Started out with minus 3 degrees this morning. The ground blanketed in fros...

Day 5 - Vuvu to Chesneywold

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15 hour day. We started the day by scuttling up Lehana ahead of everyone else. We did start about 10 mins ahead of the next couple of riders...
2 comments:
Wednesday, 17 June 2009

Day 4 - Malekhalonyane to Vuvu

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12 hours today. Day started at 05h10 with 8 of the riders from Batch A who we have caught up with. Getting out of the support station was tr...
1 comment:

Day 3 - Banchory to Malekhalonyane

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14 hour day today. We arrived at Masakala at 12h30 after a good ride through the Taylorville single track and left again 20 mins later and r...
Tuesday, 16 June 2009

Day 2. Centacow to Banchory.

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Hard day. Only covered 86km in 14 hours. Climbed some big stuff today. Legs are tired. Lack of sleep is showing. Only had 4h30 sleep in the ...
Monday, 15 June 2009

Coffee time in the mountains

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It is now 07h30. We have been on the go for 3 hours so far. Most of it uphill. Our method for hauling the Beast up the mountains is to tie a...
1 comment:
Sunday, 14 June 2009

Day 1

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Today was really tough. 156km in 16h20. The tandem is really hard to keep moving. With two human passengers loaded with trail luggage the to...
1 comment:

Great way to start the race

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Shoulder still not is good shape. Have patches and drugs so hope it gets better quickly. Now at the start about to set off. Hard day ahead ...
Saturday, 13 June 2009

And the final weight of the Beast is. . . .

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27.4kg ! Oh my greatness this thing is a monster! This is the weight without water in the bottles. I am hoping all the fences and gates alon...
Friday, 12 June 2009

Just what you shouldn't be doing the day before the race!

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Friday, 5 June 2009

The Art of the 9 Hour Taper Ride

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With just 10 days to the start of the race it was time for a gentle ride to fit in with the concept of tapering your training before a race....
1 comment:
Tuesday, 2 June 2009

Close encounters with Coco

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Glenn says: Considering the time and effort that have gone in so far, it would be a real pity to sideline myself with an injury right now, e...
2 comments:
Sunday, 31 May 2009

It is getting cold!

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Winter has finally arrived on the highveld.This morning it was freezing cold. For the first time this year I had to wear my beanie! I suspec...
5 comments:
Saturday, 30 May 2009

The Race is Almost Over

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"The race is almost over" is a comment someone made yesterday. It might sound a bit odd considering we only line up at the start i...
Saturday, 23 May 2009

Where can I get one of these?

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If there is one thing that Glenn excels at it is his ability to eat non-stop. He is a grazing machine! When we ride together he stays off th...
1 comment:
Thursday, 21 May 2009

Go Big or Go Home!

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Firstly I must thank all of you who showed concern for my injury following the posting of the bruised shoulder picture. The interest it arou...
2 comments:
Monday, 18 May 2009

A Tale of Two Rides

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Friday saw a handful of us dashing to Magaliesburg and back. It was a fast and enjoyable ride. I covered about 106 km's in about 7 hours...
2 comments:
Thursday, 14 May 2009

So I guess I am a Wimp

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First point is that whether you spell my present condition as Whimp or Wimp it makes no difference except that one is generally regarded a...
Sunday, 10 May 2009

... and we all rolled over and the one fell out...

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Early Sat 9th May 5 of us gathered at the Sasol garage at the foot of Krugersdorp hill. The plan was to ride up Krugersdorp hill and then th...
3 comments:
Saturday, 2 May 2009

Just Keep Moving

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Glenn says: So Mike hasn’t been sleeping well and I’ve been getting restless after a recent forced layoff. We are both quite consum...
Wednesday, 29 April 2009

Restless Nights

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Uninterrupted nights of sleep are a distant memory. I just can't stop dreaming about the race. Judging from conversations with other ent...
1 comment:
Monday, 20 April 2009

Training is Addictive

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In my previous post I was moaning about being tired of training. In the 7 days ended yesterday I managed just short of 23 hours of training ...