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.

Sunday, 26 February 2017

Racing The Munga - How to Prepare (Part 4 - More of this and that)

I would like to disclose that I do not get to ride The Munga for free. I pay my way like regular folk. While on the subject of disclosures...

Saturday, 25 February 2017

Racing The Munga - How to Prepare (Part 3 - A bit of this and that)

There are any number of reasons why you are reading this post. Maybe you are bored and it's a great time filler, or perhaps you just lik...

Monday, 13 February 2017

Racing The Munga - How to Prepare (Part 2 - Physical Training)

Now that you've landed on this page we need to get a few things clear. If you are a proper athlete then there is nothing of value to be ...

Sunday, 5 February 2017

Racing The Munga - How to Prepare (Part 1)

A few days ago I received the following message - "Please would you consider posting about how you prepare for something like the Munga...

Sunday, 29 January 2017

In memory of Andrew Bradford

Thursday I woke to the news that a cyclist out with friends for an early morning ride had become the latest victim of a hit and run incident...

Sunday, 15 January 2017

Racing The Munga 2016 - All Done

Once I had made sure I was good for 3rd place I had dropped out of race mode. In doing so I had also lost my race routine. My usual morning ...

Racing The Munga 2016 - Bush Pubs, Rock People and Cowboys on Camels.

I had 72 km to get to the finish at Diemersfontein Wine Estate in Wellington. Apart from a few kilometres of gravel out of Esselfontein the ...

Racing The Munga 2016 - Last Race Village.

The route threaded between the vines of the farm Uitkoms before heading up the Bo-Swaarmoed Pass. It's only 3 km long and although not t...

Racing The Munga 2016 - Leaving the Desert Behind

As a rule, the Karoo doesn't let go without a fight. To escape its clutches I needed to get to the Karoopoort Pass 40 km from the Padsta...

Saturday, 14 January 2017

Racing The Munga 2016 - Tankwa Karoo Ahoy!

In no time at all the road flattened out signalling the end of the Ouberg Pass. I knew from the previous year that there was a climb to get ...

Friday, 13 January 2017

Racing The Munga 2016 - Getting My Flow On

Just short of the Ouberg Pass that would have us plummeting off the Roggeveld Mountains Rafeeq slowed up. He muttered something about being ...

Wednesday, 11 January 2017

Racing The Munga 2016 - Heading Out of Sutherland

At 7:36 PM I had been at the Sutherland Race Village for 2 hours. In that time I had eaten, showered, and managed to get 90 minutes of shut...

Monday, 9 January 2017

Racing The Munga 2016 - Of Chess and Endurance Racing

There are three phases to a game of chess, the opening, the middlegame and the endgame. The same can be said of racing The Munga. The openin...

Saturday, 7 January 2017

Racing The Munga 2016 - I get to see SALT and a Good Measure of Grit.

As I got closer to Sutherland the dirt road eventually gave way to a paved surface which made the riding easier, although still with a good ...

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...

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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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