and more, this time from a non-racing-snake - Derek trained with me and looked after me on the first few days to rhodes. this will give you an idea of the bad weather the guys went thorugh last week. i spoke to him on saturday night - well he did all the talking, actaully - for about 30 minutes he was just talking snow, ice, wind, mountains, portages, more snow ... and the hospitality of the people on the farms where they stay over
this is from his blog, describing days 12 and 13 through the snow. *day 12 - what next* We are definitely not racing snakes like the rest of the field. Wer'e trying to be consistent & are suceeding to the extent that the weather will allow. We are a day behind schedule unfortunately because of the mud, rain, wind, strain & injuries. We also didn't manage our double stage today. Whilst it was gusty this morning, we nonetheless made good progress until we got to the mountains around Cradock. Then the heavens blessed us with - you guessed it - more $€£+# driving rain & howling headwinds. Who ever thought that pedalling your whatsit off downhill would be necessary just to keep the bike moving ! Wev'e nearly been blown right off our bikes several times and pedalling hard in granny gear whislt leaning precariously into a gail on a dead flat muddy district road has become somewhat of an art form. The trick is in the recovery when the gust stops ! The mountains where we were headed to are covered in snow & it was bitterly cold again especially when the wind blows off the peaks down into the low lying area's. Wet icy shoes are not fun either & being exhausted from our lack of sleep we decided to stop at Stuttgart farm. We rolled into Stuttgart farm down a very muddy clay farm road amid a snow flurry ! The pictures are not brilliant because of the phone but the one attached was taken from Amanda's kitchen window. We are headed towards & over the snow covered mountains in the distance / background (10km) tomorrow morning @ 05:30am along a goat track. On a much brighter note the hospitality along the way after Rhodes has been awesome. Whilst our hosts are recompensed, they still go way beyond the call to make us feel comfortable, fed & looked after with clean clothing. Yesterday Stephani of Romansfontein farm helped me out with a pair of K-way winter gloves after my Sealskins mysteriously vanished. Last night Margret of Elandsberg farm waited up (12:15am) for us to arrive, served us hot soup, homemade bread, bobotie, rice, vegies and pud too. Then she woke up before us to sort breakfast for 05:30 am. At every overnight stage stop this has been repeated & one feels quite guilty about all the dining & dashing. It is extemely difficult leaving those wonderful farm kitchens with their warm glowing Aga's, Esse's & incredibly kind farm moms behind to head into the biting cold, wind, rain, mud & snow. So to all those farthers, mothers, daughters & sons of the stage support stations who have made our race more bearable - Kudo's to you all for showing the way in generosity, kindness & care. We thank you, one and all. PS - I'm going to be trading recipies with those ladies, believe me ! *days 13 - snow patrol* Today was a cold snow day. We tackled the mountain portage @ around 07:30am after leaving Stuttgart farm @ 6am. The freezing conditions made riding easier because all the mud & slush from the previous days bad weather was frozen. The portage involved crossing a snowed up mountain - basically pushing the bikes up & over, although some of the decent was ridable. Conditions were cold & wet with gusty winds right @ the top. Our decision not to continue on yesterday to do this section was correct because the fellow that tried turned back & slept over @ a farm at the foot of the mountain. Unfortunately we are still a day behind schedule & Fiona & Doug caught up with us at DeDoorns this evening. They certainly are charging along. Nonetheless we made DeDoorns at around 16:00pm today after taking an easy day. This gave us much needed time to clean & maintain the bikes especially after all the mud ! The vista's & scenery are spectacular around here. I would never have guessed that the Karoo region was quite so beautiful. Tomorrow we hope to get to Toekomst covering two stages of around 120km in total. I just hope the weather plays nice so we can ride ahead strongly instead of mucking around like we have been ! PS: Annie Jane you would have loved the decent off the mountain in the snow today. A serious adrenalin rush with a sheer drop off just a metre or so away from the edge ! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
