an update from the website the 'Estelles group that were joking at breakfast after arriving at 1 at night' were the people i cycled with from rhodes. They are a most excellent group of riders, 2 of them from gauteng (i might bring them to D&D if their wives will allow any cycling after this ordeal) and 2 of them are from capetown.
A quick Chat [image: PDF]<http://www.freedomchallenge.org.za/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=497> [image: Print]<http://www.freedomchallenge.org.za/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=497&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=263> [image: E-mail]<http://www.freedomchallenge.org.za/index2.php?option=com_content&task=emailform&id=497&itemid=263> Written by Allen Sharp Thursday, 25 June 2009 I was fortunate to have a chat to Tim this morning, He pushed through Bucklands last night, arriving at 18h45 and leaving at 19h30 and managed to arrive at Doringrivier by 1am this morning. At 6am he rolled over and went back to sleep for two hours simply because it was raining so hard. It was still raining at 8am but he was on his way, riding was going to be extremely slow because of all the mud, he was non committal as to where he was hoping to get to tonight. His next SS is Cambria about 50km away. The immediate challenge is the Osseberg jeep track especially in this weather. David called earlier from the Baviaans and reported that it was not just raining it was bucketing down. This could be Tim’s second challenge of the morning as he has to cross the Groot Rivier 11 times before reaching the Goede Hoop campsite. With all this rain the Groot Rivier crossings might just be the definitive moment in this year’s race. I’ll try to get an update of the state of the river and then just post it on Twitter. Andrew manage to get to Gamkas Kloof last night, another awesome ride, Johan Rissik reported that the conditions were bitterly cold and windy but no rain. Johan helped Andrew replace his tires (29’ers) that had arrived just in time from Cape Town. He last saw Andrew heading down the pass to Gamkas Kloof at about 16h30 yesterday afternoon and comment that Andrew was looking strong and ready for some big miles. Andrew’s intention was to leave early this morning, check in at Rouxpos and then head off to Anysberg – the way Andrew has been riding it wont surprise me if pushes on to Montague. This is the home stretch and as we have seen in previous years, riders can cover big km’s at this stage of the race. Andre is back in Joburg and is tweaking the spreadsheet to provide a leader board. I’m struggling to get comms from some of the other riders but check out their blogs, Fiona and Mike have been posting regularly. Also managed to speak to Sandra from the Vaalbank Support Station this morning. Our riders did us proud as Sandra was complementary on their warm friendliness and good manners under such dire conditions. Sandra was most impressed with Estelle’s group, after arriving at 1am they were joking and laughing while having breakfast at 7am The support stations have also set up their own network by letting each other know what time groups arrive and leave, what they had for supper and breakfast to avoid duplication. Sandra was in contact with Slaapkrans, Tannie Bettie at Moordenaars Poort and Jenny at Brosterlea. It was evident speaking to Sandra that these people have a genuine concern for the riders even thought she thought they were a little crazy. When the riders arrive Sandra had a huge pot of soup ready with bread, as well as “plaatkoekies and pannekoek” She said that first and foremost on the rider’s minds was to eat something, have a hot shower and to get warm. After the soup she provided food like Skaapboud, artaples, groente en pampoen koekkies or Curry Chops rice and vegetable. There was also always a pudding. Washing and drying of clothes proved to be a challenge as her tumble drier was broken. I can just picture the house: wet clothes hanging over heaters and spread out on the floor In the morning breakfast started with a pot of oats or mielie meel as well as an option of “box “ cereal yogurt and plenty of bread. She took orders on how they wanted their eggs done and served this with wors and toast – all with a constant flow of tea, coffee and juice. When I asked about the weather she responded with words like “snerpent koud” “fieslike wind”,”reen en kapok”. Obviously bitterly cold with lots of fresh snow around. Sandra pointed out that Andre made the trip from Moodernaars Poort to Vaalbank in 2h30 and since the weather has set in nobody has done this in under 4h30. She was especially concerned about Fiona who had a bad cold a few days earlier and also about Derrick who left at 4am this morning. Fortunately her husband checked on Derrick who had made a wrong turn, but he is back on track once again – these are really fantastic people. Sandra also mentioned how nice it was for them to interact with different people from a completely different walk of life, bottom line though she thinks “julle is heeltemal mal” --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DarkAndDirty" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/DarkAndDirty?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
