Day 9, Jolivet Farm to Scottburgh

Crossing the finish line.

Sorry about the delayed reporting.
Kurt finished the final day in 4:24:22, a magnificent effort considering the challenges faced. Total time in the saddle 48:19:15(++ since first day was a standard time for all),  approx 920km.

Day 8, Mc KenziClub to Jolivet Farm

Kurt reported a tough day, developed an Achilles tendon issue. Finished in 6:08:01

Day 7, Hazeldene to Mc Kenzie Country Club

Posted track log, Kurt said it was a hard day, just 2 days to go...

Day 6, Glengarry to Hazeldene Underberg

Hi folks, sorry for the silence, internet service is virtually non existent in these parts. You may have noticed the track log was kept relatively up to date, that in itself was a struggle.
We will post many pictures and a full report once we get to civilization.
So far Kurt has done really well.

Day 5, Winterton to Glegarry, Kamberg.

Another day in paradise.  Sorry we have very bad internet at this part of our journey, so we are unable to post any pictures, hopefully we will be able to share them with you soon.

Today's distance was 98 km with many hills and dales, but Kurt had a very good day, coming in in 5hours and 1 minute.  He promises that he will be taking it easy tomorrow, we will have to wait and see. They tell us it is all down hill from here, can we believe them?

I am now going to sit back and soak up this beautiful scene.

Day 4, Sterkfontein Dam to Winterton Country Club

Day 4 once again dawned a beautiful day.  The only thing that put a damper on the day was that Grant could not continue this great adventure, due to an ITB injury and had to return home (Trish came to fetch him).  Grant we are going to miss you.

Considering Kurt was now an individual entry and having to find some company for his ride, he had a good day.  The scenery is spectacular, well for the supporters that is, I don't know whether the participants have time to stop and look, because they are now into the Drakensberg and the climbing and descending takes some concentration.

Day 3, Reitz to Sterfontein Dam

Today was one of the the toughest day of the trip, 160 km of driving the camper.
Oh sorry forgot the riders, they only had to peddle 130km, tough going.
Very poor internet connection, will post more details and some pics tomorrow.

Day2, Frankfort to Reitz

Day 2 dawned a beautiful crisp autumn morning. With all the enthusiastic competitors on the start line and raring to go, but it was a very slow rolling start, as the road out of town was a very steep downhill.  So the good old faithful Massey Ferguson tractor lead the race out of town to the dust track.

Dirk and I decided to have an easy day, so went back to the camper, clean up the camper and ourselves, then had coffee before starting this very long journey of 63 km to Reitz.  Typical Free State scenery, with miles of farm lands.

After setting up camp, we then waited at the finish line, and the wait was not so long.  Kurt and Grant finished this 91.3km stage in 5 hours and 35 minutes.  The terrain consisted of single track and some climbing, different to yesterday, which was mainly flat.  The ascent for today was 1064m and the descent was 994m.  So now they are heading for the mountains.

So for now folks, it's off for a massage for the 2 guys and then another good dinner, with the meat supplied by Karan Beef and braaie

d by the local farmers.

Catch you tomorrow after day 3.

Day 1 Heidelberg to Frankfort

The Camper van was collected on Thursday morning and taken to Harveston Retirement village - had to give the residents some entertainment.

After 3 months of training and many hours in the saddle, the big day had arrived.  We left home at 5.30 for Heidelberg, the start was at 8.00am.  Considering this is the first major Off-Road cycle event that Dirk and I have attended, it was quite an eye opener.  We have never seen so many people on bicycles in one place.  There was the big count down and the Red Massey Ferguson Tractor lead the procession away down the winding, dusty road.  Half way through the procedure the helicopter pilot decided it was a good idea to give the camera man a view of the start line.  Needless to say start post and banners went flying, to be rescued by the organisers.

The supporters played "follow my leader" to the second watering point, where the cyclists had to cross the river by dragon boats, the bikes went separately.  It was at this stage we decided this was very similar to the army, "hurry up and wait" was the name of the game.

Kurt and Grant finished today in the time of 6 hours and 49 minutes.  We ended the day at Frankfort School where the campers are kept separate from the tented village.  As I finish this update for today, the sound of very tired, hungry people is the music of the day. So off to dinner we go, and then an early bed.

Things are happening, fetched the Campervan this morning, we dont have a lot of space to park it but fortunately there are some empty building sites across the road.

We leave at 5.00am tomorrow morning to get to Heidelberg in time for the 8.00am start of the Joberg2C race.

The Joberg2c race is a 900km off-road cycle race from Johannesburg(actually Heidelburg) to the sea(Scottburgh), 9 days of torture?
On Thursday(25/4) we will pick the Campervan up, the race starts at 8.00am on Friday(26/4).
Besides the trip to Heidelberg, we plan to post the track log from Kurt's bike
Garmin so you can view the actual cycle route.

Planning the JoBurg2C race for Kurt and Grant

Renting a Motorhome so Kurt and Grant will have comfy beds for the Joberg2C
race!