Freedom Challenge hots up in second week

Monday, 28 June 2010 10:54

Freedom Challenge hots up in second week

With the 2,400km Freedom Challenge Race Across South Africa entering its second week there have been a number of big moves by the race front runners as they entered the Baviaanskloof section of the race. Adventure racers Trevor Ball and Ugene Nel have continued to elude Polar Adventurer Alex Harris.

Trevor and Ugene were amongst the first group of mountain bikers that left Pietermaritzburg on Saturday June 12. Since then the adventure racing twosome have led the field and ridden 1,419km without anyone in front of them. Crossing the Camdeboo Plains they received news that Alex Harris, who started three days after them, was hot on their trail.

On Wednesday 23 June they made a serious push. Riding from the Toekomst support station, located on the banks of the Darlington Dam section of the Addo Elephant National Park, they crossed the Steytlerville Flats, stopped briefly at the Bucklands support station on the banks of the Groot Rivier and then proceeded over the Perdeberg to the northern foothills of the Baviaanskloof Mountains. With their way illuminated by the full moon they continued through the Groot Rivier Poort before dropping into the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area on the Osseberg jeep track. After taking on the 11 river crossings on this section of the trail they finally arrived at the next support station in the village of Cambria at 7:30am. By the time they stopped the two had been continuously on the move for 26 hours.

After a very brief nap Trevor and Ugene departed Cambria at 9:30am, anxious to push through the Baviaanskloof and consolidate their newly gained advantage. However, slowed by their momentous efforts of the previous night the two were unable to push all the way through to Willowmore and stopped for the day at the Damsedrif support station in the Voorkloof section of the Baviaanskloof. On Friday morning they were headed through Willowmore and on to Prince Albert in another big day of riding. Stopping in the late morning in Willowmore, Ball was heard to remark "If they're not broken by the time they get to the Kloof then the Kloof will break them..." With Alex chasing them down they are planning at least one more 24+ hour ride. "Alex must keep chasing, we don’t intend on making it easy for him" says Ugene.

Behind them, adventurer Alex Harris departed on 15 June. With due regard for the the initial navigational difficulties and challenging winter weather through to Rhodes, Harris started the race relatively conservatively. He then slowly started building an advantage by pushing through support stations when others elected to stop. Entering the Camdeboo section of the trail he started to push harder. On Thursday he then matched the big move of Ugene and Trevor and rode the 228km from Toekomst to Cambria. Making better time than the adventure racers he arrived in Cambria shortly after midnight, was able to rest well and is now headed up the Baviaanskloof towards Willowmore.

Starting from Pietermaritzburg in the same group as Alex was Giant Single Speed rider Glen Harrison. Riding a rigid fork Giant 29er single speed, Harrison managed to overcome some initial difficulties and has picked up the pace as the trail has opened out into the Karoo. Eight days into the race and Harrison was only four hours behind Harris. Despite being slowed by a number of punctures he was able to push through Toekomst and on to Bucklands where he stopped for the night. On Friday afternoon he rode through to Cambria with Gawie du Plessis, Stott James and Ray Farrenkothen who had started out from Pietermaritzburg three days before them.

In addition to the race playing itself out at the front of the field, the race for the overall lead is developing into a neck-and-neck affair. After a monumental effort that saw them ascending 1,000m up the Drakensberg escarpment on the snow-covered Lehana’s Pass at night, Freedom Challenge veteran “Commander” Carl Crous, Marnitz “sponsored by PG Glass and Riding for Miles for Smiles” Nienaber and young recruit August “Boskind” Carstens were ahead of the pace of the rest of the field passing through the village of Rhodes. On Tuesday in a relatively easy day of riding they rode through to the Slaapkranz support station in the Vaalhoekspruit.

On Wednesday the trio looked set for another big push. However, descending off the Bonthoek mountain in the Southern Drakensberg the swing arm on the rear suspension of Crous’s bike broke. He stopped at the Rossouw police station and effected a bloudraad repair. They were then able to ride on along the route followed by General Jan Smuts and his commando through the Stormberg, stopping briefly at the Vaalbank support station and continuing through to Brosterlea, in the Molteno District. On Wednesday the trio then rode on through the site of the Battle of Stormberg, before dropping off the Drakensberg escarpment on the Aasvoelsberg descent into the Great Karoo. However, to the surprise of many, they stopped in the early evening at the town of Hofmeyer rather than taking adventage of the easy riding, full moon and good weather to continue to the Elandburg support station. On Friday, Crous, Nienaber and Carstens rode over the Elandsburg, across the Fish River, up the Garslandskloof and on to the De Doorns support station in the Swaershoek Mountains arriving shortly after sunset. Again, they elected not to take advantage of the good weather and full moon and stopped for the night. Now at the half way stage of the race their lapsed time matches that of Alex Harris to that point.

It now must be seen whether this latter day commando are able to match the big days that Harris has started to put in.

Meanwhile the race to complete the 2010 Freedom Challenge Race Across South Africa continues for a number of other participants. Chris Morris and school principal David Bell, both of whom are struggling with injuries are now headed for the Baviaanskloof; female rider Bec Caskie and fellow Australian Tim James are making steady progress and on Friday reached the Elandsberg support station in the Fish River basin, where they were joined by Capetonian Blackie Swart; faced with the withdrawal of her riding companion, female rider Gerda Gruner is now riding alone and on Friday arrived at Brosterlea. Extreme Triathletes Leon van der Nest and Keith Little left Rhodes on Friday morning in the company of Jannie Gerber and Nicole du Toit and seem likely to sweep along the course picking up the stragglers from the groups that started in the days before them.

It is anticipated that the first riders in the 2010 Freedom Challenge Race Across South Africa will reach the finish at Diemersfontein Wine Estate outside Cape Town by Tuesday 29 June.