Day 4 of the race

Today was one of the toughest days I have had on a mountain bike. At 122km the distance was long, and there were some killer hills and bone jarring downhills but the more technical nature of the course suited us over the many riders who may be at the same fitness level but are less confident when the trails get technical. As a result, we came in 18th today vs 27th and 28th the other 2 race days. That said we are absolutely buggered and our bodies took a major hammering.

The race started off fast once again and we managed to stay with the front group for quite a while before they broke off. On the first technical descent, one of my bottles went flying out of the bottle cage and rolling down the mountain.....not a good start on a long, hilly, sunny day. :-(

About 40km into the race, we were crossing a wet rocky river section and the guys in front of us got off to walk across. Minter got the moer in (threw his toys) and tried to charge across in anger.....slipping, falling, and hurting his arm and cutting his thumb. Luckily the nerve endings between his pain centre and his brain are somewhat slow so we carried on as if nothing had happened. Then about 80km into the race my i must have gone over a thorn and my rear tyre went flat, meaning we had to stop and reinflate it. fortunately the sealant worked and it stayed hard.

The single track and the views were amazing coming down from the escarpment, but what has burnt into my mind was the climb up to Spioenkop which had an average gradient of 22 percent, made all the more difficult by the fact that neither of our bikes was changing into granny gear on the rear cassette.

It is difficult to describe how good the trails were today, and the only thing that would have made it better would have been if there were only 80 km of them!!

The race villages and the local communities, food, etc etc are phenomenal and we are really enjoying the overall experience.