Adventures of an Ordinary Cyclist

A journal of my Freedom Challenge mountain bike adventures, 2007, 2009(tandem)2011, 2012(solo) and 2014. Race to Rhodes and the 2300km Race Across South Africa. The race starts in Pietermaritzburg and ends in Wellington close to Cape Town, with a 26 day cut-off. The Ride to Rhodes(2008-unblogged and 2010) is a shortened version that starts in Pietermaritzburg and ends 6 days later in Rhodes.

Monday, 30 November 2015

Is the Munga really the toughest race on Earth?

If you go online, www.themunga.com you will see the Munga billed as the "Toughest race on Earth." Click on the Race tab and...

Munga Equipment Choices - Part 3

I will be riding without a back pack. Reasons for that are covered in a previous post — "Riding in the heat". Stuff that normally ...

Sunday, 29 November 2015

Munga Equipment Choices - Part 2

Lights. Apart from standard 29er MTB setup I am running a dynamo hub which will make me power independent. For those not familiar with dyn...

Saturday, 28 November 2015

Munga Equipment Choices - Part 1

4 days out from the start of The Munga I have prepped my bike and loaded a selection of kit for the race. As it stands, I am probably 4kg...

Friday, 27 November 2015

How to Tackle The Munga

The numbers. CP1 219 (219) 1099m WP's 70, 140 CP2 395 (176) 591m WP's 277, 337 CP3 585 (190) 886m WP's 457, 522 C...

Friday, 20 November 2015

Equipment modifications for Munga

Bike needed a few mods. As some of you know I got awful carpal tunnel syndrome after the Race to Cradock last year that kept me off my bik...

Thursday, 19 November 2015

Munga nutritional requirements

My race nutrition is not something I think anyone should try emulate. I am guessing that I will be in the minority of one who adopt a no-sup...

Wednesday, 18 November 2015

Staying hydrated while riding.

How much should you drink while exercising? This is an interesting topic and one that is poorly understood. There is an abundance of poor ad...

Riding in the heat.

As a rule, people don't like riding when it's hot. As a rule, people just don't like it when it's hot, period. But what is...

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Munga Ahoy!

What is The Munga? Don't wish to bore you so go to the website www.themunga.com and read all about it. Alex Harris, visionary and rac...

Sunday, 27 September 2015

LCHF and endurance riding - Part 3

LCHF adaption can play a huge part in endurance performance. By reducing carb intake you reduce the insulin loading and allow the cells to b...

Thursday, 24 September 2015

LCHF and endurance riding - Part 2

Hitting the wall (a term used in running parlance) or bonking (cycling terminology) describes a condition where the body runs short of store...

Sunday, 20 September 2015

LCHF and endurance riding - Part 1

I have been asked to elaborate on my experience with LCHF and endurance riding. From the outset let me be clear. I am not an expert in n...

Sunday, 26 July 2015

Race finish

I arrived at Rubicon, the official finish of the Race to Rhodes, with Gawie and Andrew at 14:50. The ride from Tenahead had taken just over ...

Over Lehana to Rhodes

Sitting in the school at Vuvu I realised that I was still in the company of the RASA race leaders in Andrew and Tim. If I wanted to win the ...

Saturday, 25 July 2015

Tinana to Vuvu

We planned to get to the start of the Vuvu valley as the sky started to lighten. That way we would be riding into daylight which would aid o...

Tinana

We arrived at Mrs Kibi's house in Tinana at 16:40 with daylight to spare. Tim had pushed through to take on the Vuvu valley in the dark....

Saturday, 18 July 2015

Black Fountain - Part 2

The route to Blackfountain from the previous village consists of a slow ride up drag paths and cattle trails. It is a little tedious and tak...

Thursday, 16 July 2015

Black Fountain - Part 1

There are a number of sections of the Freedom Trail that stand out. Most for the hardship and commensurate satisfaction derived from conquer...

Friday, 10 July 2015

Queens Mercy to Malekgalonyane

We left the Queens Mercy store at 07:30 and wiggled through the village that lay beyond. Fairly soon we were bouncing down the rutted distri...

Masakala to Queens Mercy - Scribbling through the dark.

As I stood on the threshold of Masakala with favourable weather forecast for the next few days I was eager to get on with the days riding. L...

Thursday, 9 July 2015

Willing head but broken body.

Here is the message I send while tucked up in bed at Masakala. "If you accept that fitness is not the absence of exhaustion but rather...

Wednesday, 8 July 2015

Masakala - time to regroup.

According to Gawie, Tim was having a nap in an outside room. Andrew was still behind us but arrived 40 minutes later. In the interim I took ...

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About Me

Mike: Johannesburg, South Africa; Just an ordinary guy who started riding in 2005 at the age of 45. I started with the ambition of completing the local 94.7 Cycle Challenge (94.7km). This is an annual road cycle race in and around Johanesburg. Some where along the way it become a race and not merely a completion excercise. I clocked a 2h54 in my first attempt only 6 months from my first trundle down the road and back. I was hooked and then discovered the magic of MTB. While my efforts on the road were credible, MTBing humbled me. Having said that, over the last 24 months I have competed in 9 multi-day events. I'm a very middle of the field rider, but I enjoy every minute of it.

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