Stage 4

Ladismith – Barrydale
Distance: 120km
Time: 5h 48min
Climbing 1 300m

Before I get into it, we have just witnessed the funniest scene see on tour to date!
Picture this (sorry ladies still no camera!!) it is 40 degrees in the shade you have just ridden for 7hrs and you are covered in mud, from head to toe and all you want is to be clean and passed out in the shade! A shower trailer follows the camp around which caters for about 30 people at a time, when 1000 riders all want a shower a roughly the same time a short queue quickly develops!

As always a Boer maak ‘n plan!?

Off with the kit and into the sprinklers! The next-door field was being watered by a serious sprinkler system! 20 over excited adults (hard to believe) running around in their baby suits (not sure where they found the energy) screaming as they fired the power hoses at one another!! All the ladies in the camp had their cameras out in a flash while the rest of the guys were rolling around with laughter!


Quotes for the day:

Chris: Are we going up?
(The heat was clearly getting to us by this stage! We were riding along a rocky track and Chris didn’t know if we were going up, down or flat!)

Rich: I hope the next hill is steep enough to walk!
(Clearly Rich wasn’t going to strong at this stage!)

Fellow rider: I think I’m taking up road riding! Chris: I think your brain will fall asleep!
(There is little, which keeps you more focused on a bike than flying down a rocky mountain pass, any slight miss judgment, and over you go! Ask Chris he will let you know all about it!)

Chris: “We have just climbed Everest!”
(We have climbed the equivalent height of Everest!)

Our rest day! NOT! 120km in 30degree heat through a desert is no rest no matter who you are! Arguably the hardest staged mountain bike race in the world is not letting its reputation slide!

The day begins with a 4:45am wake up call, one of the trucks sounds its horn, waking up who ever might still be resting, in the quiet little town of Ladysmith... and anyone else within a 100km radius!

We departed at 7am... as per usual, but there was definitely an eminent chill in the Ladysmith air this morning, the first 40 km’s to water station number one we were quite relaxed for team LPG Sport, we saved as much energy as possible and then capitalized when the track got more technical putting a bit more effort in through the sandy and rocky sections which has become the general trend for us. Let everyone push hard on the flats and take them on the technical sections! Sorry we aren’t here to race!

The day saw us heading through a hot dry karoo and trees were few and far between so it was a pleasant relief to get out of the sun in under six hours!

Most days we pass through a number of tiny little villages and the local communities come out in force to support the riders. All the kids are let out of the classrooms and wave the various flags of the countries competing that they have drawn in art class. Everyone cheers ecstatically and tries to give you high fives as you zoot past, one little kid had to jump up to get to reach us! The farm workers are all let off work and sit on the banks next to the road to shout and cheer the cyclists on. The atmosphere all along the route is electric day in and day out and is a great deal of what makes this race such an amazing experience!

The toll on our bodies

As we have mentioned before... this race is definitely not for sissies!! Our bodies have been taking a beating... as is to be expected!

The real deal:
Both our knees are taking serious strain! A couple of anti-inflammatory pills (little pink beauty’s) later all is back under control!

There I was cruising through the desert landscape thinking this race wasn’t too bad. We had survived the first three days without too much trouble and were even beginning to get a little cheeky, thinking that the Epic was a walk in the park, ok maybe it was just me! The next thing I turned round expecting to see Chris right behind me. He was a little further back reaching for some anti-inflammatory tables! “Rich I think my right knees is giving in!” We slowed a tab and took the rest of the climb a little easier.

Less than 2min later my right knee suddenly went as well! Direct pain shot through my knee cap making every stroke agonizingly painful! “Chris I think I need a couple of those bad boys as well!” The next 15min were seriously painful and it suddenly dawned on me that just finishing this race is going to be an achievement! It was during this time that I said: “I hope the next hill is steep enough to walk!” I never thought I would be saying that but honestly a walk was all that I was wanting at the time! Unfortunately it wasn’t too be! Fortunately those little pink pills definitely worked!

I’m now sitting with some ice on my knee while Julia prepares a little bandage to hold it together! Looking over one of the most beautiful valleys in the country! Life isn’t too bad!

We are only half way!!