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.

Saturday, 31 December 2016

Racing The Munga 2016 - Roller Coaster Time... But It's No Fun Park

The bumpy part of The Munga starts as you leave Fraserburg. Apart from a 60 km section of road that flanks the Tankwa Padstal it was going t...

Monday, 26 December 2016

Racing The Munga 2016 - The Quest for Coffee and Eskimo Pie

After my alarm went off I lay in the ditch for another 5 minutes savouring the simplicity of my life as it existed in that moment - It was m...

Thursday, 22 December 2016

Racing The Munga 2016 - Loxton ...or Not

Arriving in Loxton we signed in at 02h34 - two hours after Vaughn Roux and an hour and a half after Heinrich Visser and Jeannie Dreyer who a...

Wednesday, 21 December 2016

Racing The Munga 2016 - On a Dark Desert Highway.

After leaving Pampoenpoort Rafeeq and I rode alongside each other and chatted. We weren't solving the worlds problems or devising a stra...

Saturday, 17 December 2016

Racing The Munga 2016 - Onward to Pumpkin Fritters at Pampoenpoort

The route out of WP5 had us winding along farm tracks. By the time I had stopped to open and close a handful of gates it was dark. Looking b...

Wednesday, 14 December 2016

Racing The Munga 2016 - Water Point to Water Point.

Skirting the Smartt Syndicate Dam I was 420 km into the race. I felt okay even though the temperature had once again ticked into the 40'...

Racing The Munga 2016 - Taking a Trip to Mars

Last year it took me forever to ride from Britstown to Loxton. It's a 190 km stretch and I think it took me almost 17 hours. I seem to r...

Monday, 12 December 2016

Racing The Munga 2016 - Taking Stock.

I arrived in Britstown to the care of Renato Sabbioni the Race Village lead. He handed me a couple of ice cold flavoured milks and ordered m...

Racing The Munga 2016 - Crossing Paths

As I lay there I became aware of a vehicle approaching. I saw the glare of lights and the rumble of tyres on gravel and thought it was a car...

Saturday, 10 December 2016

Racing The Munga 2016 - Getting into Race Mode

My best guess was aardvark. Under a clear sky without a breath of wind it was dead quiet save for the snorting and snuffling coming from the...

Tuesday, 6 December 2016

Racing The Munga 2016 - A Friend in Need.

I left the first water point on my own. Ahead I could see a pair of riders battling into the wind. The race rules prohibited drafting except...

Racing The Munga 2016 - An Inauspicious Start.

Whatsapp 15:05 > "Man it's hot. Just stopped at a farm school to get some water. But not before hurling my guts out. The bottl...

Wednesday, 30 November 2016

Munga 2016 - back on the start line.

It's only mid morning in Bloemfontein and already it's 35 Celsius. The small voice in my head asks the inevitable question, 'W...

Tuesday, 11 October 2016

Durban Dash Up 2016 - Final Thoughts.

After 36 hours on my bike I appreciated the low-key finish that is typical of endurance cycling events. The field is stretched out so far th...

Durban Dash Up 2016 - Vereeniging to Thaba Trails

Twenty minutes after leaving the garage shop I was on the outskirts of Vereeniging. Traffic was light and it was cooling down. I knew the ro...

Monday, 10 October 2016

Durban Dash Up 2016 - Scampering to Vereeniging.

The turn toward Vereeniging couldn't have come soon enough. The sun beat down on me and I was tired. I wanted to get it over with. ...

Sunday, 9 October 2016

Durban Dash Up 2016 - Once More unto the Breach

Shakespeare was obviously an endurance cyclist. Why else would he have written: ...thou and I have thirty miles to ride yet ere dinner t...

Saturday, 8 October 2016

Durban Dash Up 2016 - Heilbron to an uncharitable place.

The ride from Heilbron through to Vereeniging was going to be tedious. The 52km stretch of road from Heilbron to just short of Sasolburg whe...

Durban Dash Up 2016 - Reitz to Heilbron

I was cold leaving Reitz and the climb out of town was welcome. Jason, still on the phone to me, was scouting ahead and giving me his take o...

Friday, 7 October 2016

Durban Dash Up 2016 - Reitz for Coffee...or not!

Jabbering away to Jason while I rode certainly helped me stay awake. We tried to figure out how far back the ever present Ted was. It seems ...

Tuesday, 4 October 2016

Durban Dash Up 2016 - Really cold and boring

The section from Kestell to Reitz is a tad under 70 km. It's not particularly challenging, mostly flat and fast... kind of. It's a...

Monday, 3 October 2016

Durban Dash Up 2016 - Into the Dam Mist

I knew it was going to get nippy when I passed below the Sterkfontein Dam wall. The cold cascades over the wall and fills the valley below. ...

Sunday, 2 October 2016

Durban Dash Up 2016 - Estcourt to almost halfway.

I left Estcourt on a little used road and headed northwest paralleling the N3 national road. 20 kilometres later the road ended and I turned...

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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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