The advantage of having done the Pioneer a couple of times, is that I know whats coming each day. Im not so sure Jeremy is keen to hear running commentary as we ride and I point to the top of a mountain and tell him, thats where we are going! Today was an easier day, covering 107km from Prince Albert to De Rust. As Im lying here in my b&b bed writing, I hear Paul Valstar over the PA,welcoming a straggler home. Thats rough! 8 hours in the saddle. The first 40km are pretty straightforward along a district road heading East. No free kms though as the road has a slight incline and you have to pedal. Its critical to find a bunch and tuck in to avoid being exposed to the wind hitting us from the side. After doing some pulling at the front, with nobody willing to share the work, I kept the cadence high and went in search of adventure further up the road. Jeremy and I have a routine. We start together and then I scoot off for a bit and wait somewhere along the route. We ride together and then I scoot off again.....I take some pics and see where we are in the field. Like a scout. Water point 1 was on a farm in the middle of nowhere.Lush ,green grass next to a dam, surrounded by Karoo scrub. I think it was called Sleutelfontein? Bottles filled and munching on something, we headed for the hills, literally. Ahead lay and rocky, technical climb to the top of a koppie, from where I knew we would have an awesome view back down over the plains we had just crossed. The climb was tough, but I managed to ride it out. A challenge I had set myself for today. I parked the bike and walked back down to help Jeremy. He was moaning a bit and talking about not riding tomorrow. But, Im a seasoned whinger (ask my wife!) so I told him the next water point was close (all downhill😬) and he could see how he felt there. The descent was pretty tricky and rocky and Jeremy punctured higher up as I waited, wondering where he was. Hole plugged, we set off again and after stopping to plug the hole one more time, we hit water point 2. We filled up and soldiered on. A short spell on tar, followed by a looong district road drag into the wind. Not fun, but we got to water point 3 and I filled up on ostrich filet. The last part of the route is the best. Turning off the road on to a single track, we climbed up a hill into a valley higher up the flank of the mountain. Old cow paths doubled as single track as we flew along towards the Meiringspoort tar road. We came across one rider that fell hard and had a red imprint of his handlebar on his chest! Eina! It looked sore. He made it home. Well done Team Wilde Fruit Juice. On the final run into De Rust we joined up in a group to get through the Meiringspoort as quickly as possible.Jeremy had found his second wind and was eagerly hitting the front and pulling us along. On the final sprint for the line, he came from behind and took line honours. Tomorrow we head for George, most likely in the rain. We all know why their number plates start CAW: Cold and Wet!
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 14:05:03 +0000
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