Navigation nightmare in the stormberg

Hi all, apologies for not posting until now...reception issues... What can be said about today!!?? First 50km were the most difficult if ever ridden...less than10km/h average!! with over 4000m vertical ascent of which much of this saw the bike catching a lift on my shoulders! Then from the ntsikeni support station, my plan was to cover the next 100km in the afternoon and evening...NOT!!! About 10km out I took a turn too soon and ended up in completely the wrong valley. This 28km section of the route was supposed to take me about 3 hours, instead...

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Freedom challenge .... Eventually!

And so it started.... eventually... After all the months of training, setting up bikes and bags, shopping for the right gear, and lately serious carbo loading! When the Pietermaritzburg town hall bell chimed at 6 this morning,  the 5 riders of today's batch took off... No starting gun, no banners, no coffee cart, no ra ra girls.... Just the riders, a handful of supporters and dave... Oh and the clock...  Charles started in a batch with...

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The night before

I can't believe we are here! Tomorrow these wheels start turning... ...

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Freedom Challenge 2013 rig

Finally completed my Freedom Challenge rig. This is the machine and back pack that will hopefully be carrying me over 2350km from Pietermaritzburg to Paarl. Total bike weight including full water bottles, fully packed saddle bad and top tube pouch is 15 kilos. Complete back pack and map pouch including 2,5 litres of water inside comes to 9 kilos. Two weeks to launch date, the butterfly's inside have grown into the size of rock pigeons and have totally...

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Freedom Challenge food preparations...

So the days are getting less and the support boxes needs to be packed. Fruit cake baked and ready for cutting and wrapping.... The big question is... To brandy or not to brand...

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testing testing 123...

Today the eastern freestate has thrown its best at me with pouring rain, deep slimy slippery mud, howling wind and icy single digit temperature....perfect chance to put some of my Freedom Challenge gear to the test....outcome...great success! Even although I only spent 3 hours out there, I got back home nice'n dry & cozy. Yes the Freedom trail will definitely throw much more at me, but with just the few items I was wearing, nice to know that I'm on the right track. Roll on June 15...

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Freedom Challenge taster

Found this on Glenn Harrison's blogspot. Some interesting facts comparing Freedom Challenge to other well known biking events. Read these and shed a little tear for me.... Riding 2300k’s in 26 days sounds quite achievable to your average road cyclist but to ride / hike-a-bike, this distance on footpaths, tracks and trails in the middle of winter whilst climbing a cumulative altitude of 47000 metres is a remarkable accomplishment and one realized by the 28 riders who competed in the 2010 Freedom Challenge Race across South Africa. Only 16 finished!                        ...

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Navigation giggles

Hi Everyone! As I've mentioned in my description of the freedom challenge, one of the biggest issues, especially for first time riders (rookies) like myself, is navigating the route correctly and dealing with many unforeseen 'surprise' obstacles along the way. Well tonight we received an email from race office regarding numerous issues in our preparation for the event. Just had to share one of the sections that was included in the mail...might just give you a small insight into what we may have to deal with on route.  Have a read: "13. Access There...

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Bumping up the training intensity

So base training is nearing the end at last...yeeeehaaa!!! Now at least I get to start doing some of the fun stuff again, some lung bursting and technical climbs along with all sorts of hair raising descents. Getting a good feel for the back pack that I'll be using on Freedom Challenge...sits really well and doesn't bother me too much. One of the big positives getting out to these remote places in training are the stunning views you get treated...

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Wind & Wine!

Well folks, afraid there aren't any great fotos to share this week, had a couple of encounters with the standard "puffadder on the trail" stuff but unfortunately nothing worth capturing on camera. Slightly better than average week managing to top 18 hours on the bike. Today's ride was however the best sesion, spending about 5h30 on the bike with at least 60km of brutal head wind, combined with getting lost in the flatlands of the eastern freestate. Anyway, once my orientation skills came together and I could find my way through to Adelaid farm...

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Attakwas!!!

Well, that's the Attakwas extreme done. My first training race in preparation for Freedom Challenge 2013.... As much as it was a suffer fest of note, I'm really happy with current state of fitness...at this stage I'm just doing long slow base training without any high intensity 'pain' threshold training and I still managed to finish in same time as last year when I was well advanced in training for Epic...so all good. The route resembled much of what I will be facing at FC so really chuffed to be able to stress myself out in these conditions. I...

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Attakwas 2013

Charles getting ready for his first training race in preparation of the freedom challenge. Oudtshoorn to Groot Brak, 130 km later.......

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Introduction - Rhino Challenge

Dear Family and Friends This is my first post, hopefully of many, on what’s happening in 2013. As you will have noticed, I have just recently launched a blog site and facebook page that will be covering my Freedom Challenge training/preparation and then the event itself. There are still sections on the blog page that need to be completed, such as sponsorship process etc. these details should all be available shortly. In November last year my application to participate in the 2013 Freedom Challenge was accepted. More information on the Freedom Challenge...

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Charles's mountainbiking story:

After school and university, I got wrapped up in the business world and really let my state of physical health slip into the doldrums. Absolutely no excercising discipline existed which went completely against everything I stood for. Following desperate attempts to try and turn my state of health around, even leaving Johannesburg for Cape Town, conditions worsened. My lowest moment came when I got onto one of those non-digital, rotating dial scales that only measured to 125 kilograms....confusion turned to disbelief and then shock when the...

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