Hi Doug and Aileen,
I’ve enjoyed following your travails on the blog – much easier than trying to ride along! I must say, your crazy trip looks like a fantastic adventure. Hiking in broken cycling shoes, however, seems a bad idea.
I trust the finish will be enjoyable, and that the trails have been worth the trials. Enjoy the post-ride celebrations.
- Mitch
Written by Aileen
I spoke with Doug last night – they got into Rouxpos at 20:30 – 14.25 hour day and 138 kms. He was absolutely exhausted and energy-less. It was a long flat day but he was just so tired. He did not want to eat which is a bad sign of exhaustions for him.
If they still want to finish on Sunday night they need to do a triple day today (Friday) or tomorrow. On one of the days they need to cover 250kms. They have approximately 380kms to cover and the last day is a set day in that they have an approximate 8 hours of climbing and they must have passed Touthaven between 22H00 and 08:00 otherwise they are not allowed to continue as it is too treacherous to do a section in the dark.
Send lots of strength and positive thoughts to Doug and Fi and sms’s are always good.
This entry is written by Aileen – my Doug was too tired last night to write.
They left Willowvale yesterday morning and set off for Prince Albert some 170kms away – the same distance as the day before. The route was absolutely flat and fast.
They averaged 18km per hour for the 1st 100kms or so and just cruised.
Lunch was at a farm called Rondavel.
The bum and legs took strain. Doug listened to his audio book – I think this is the 1st time he has been able to do this – I guess you have to concentrate too hard on technical stuff. When they thought they had about 40kms to go they came across Johann Rissik. Apparently he is famous for popping up all over to help riders, he had set up a coffee/tea spot under the trees. Soft chairs and tea and coffee were the order.
Doug and Fi rode the last 30km or so very content and with good strength and arrived at the Dennehof B&B.
Doug called me in the early evening and was soaking in a hot bath – he loves his bathes and this was the 1st one on this trip. I am sure it soothed his tired legs.
Vasbyt my love – 4 more days left. Kayla and I are sooooo excited (well she is always excited by life so when she sees her Daddy again I think she will go into overdrive!)
Yea my shoes arrived.
What a long day. We started from Cambria at 4:45 this morning. As we left the, the mountains rose up to meet us. Within the first 20km we had already done a 400m climb. This was the scene up until lunch time at Dam se Drif at about 80 km. We opted to skip that support station and push on to Willomore.
We eventually arrived at 21:00 this evening after having done 175km and 2500m ascent. Both of us were buggered but the arrival of my new shoes made up for that. Thank you my darling wife for all your organisation
Note from Aileen – I spoke with Doug on Tuesday night – they were both exhausted and in need to good rest. He remains in great spirits.
Shame these shoes have really had it. The new shoes will be with Doug on Tuesday night.
Fantastic weather today. We left at 6:30 today but for the first 90 minutes we rode in very heavy mist. Today was a day of up's and down's with a total ascent of 2150m over 110km. The toughest was a 9km hike up the old 'Ossewa Trail'. It is hard to believe they used to drag of wagons over this mountain. At the top of this is the most spectacular view. You can see the sea near Jeffreys Bay from the one side and the Biviasns Kloof from the otherside. Photos just don't do it justice.
We then rode down the Biviaans kloof reserve. This is some of the most technical downhill riding I have ever done. It was about 4 km of downhill... Awesome!!!!
We estimate that we must have walked almost 15 km today. In spite of that we won the 'immunity challenge' by coming in first again.
Tomorrow is going to be a long day as we are going to try a double again.
Sleeping in Cambria tonight
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