Mad? Brave?
Adventurous? Which ever way you look at it, it’s a huge
challenge. Glenn Harrison, a devout TREAD reader from Mpumalanga,
started the 2010 Freedom Challenge this week. The Freedom Challenge, an
annual 2300km non-stop mountain bike race from Pietermaritzburg to
Paarl, is regarded as the toughest mountain bike race in the country. It
takes the competitors through wild river valleys, up huge mountains and
along dessert plains – all during the middle of winter! Depending on
many factors, it takes anything from 14-35 days to complete.What
makes Glenn’s participation in this event worthy of blog status on the
TREAD site? Well, in a time when mountain bikes are being fitted with 30
gears, Glenn has opted to complete the Freedom Challenge with one gear!
What’s even more ridiculous is that he’s going further against the
grain and using a rigid fork as opposed to a suspension fork! Yep, we
also reckon he’s a bit, well, different. Life is hard as it is, who
would want to make the toughest race in the country even harder? Anyway,
Glenn and his singlespeed,
rigid-fork Giant XTC 29-er are moving along well despite the vicious
cold weather sweeping through the country. He’s aiming to break the
22-day singlespeed record and will be sending updates as often as
possible here...
WEDNESDAY 30 JUNE 2010 – DAY 16
Kasra to Diemersfontein
145km/17hours
The final day, starting from Kasra at 3:30am, the initial jeep track portage in the dark went slowly when my left shoe started falling apart. Duct tape and cable ties kept it together but I had to stop often to fiddle with it. Once on the bike, I had to plug a stubborn puncture but as the sun came up, I got into a better rhythm and raced across to Trouthaven. Once there, I had a quick meal and refuel and got going towards the dam wall to start the final Stettynkloof portage. The kloof is about 8km long and spectacularly beautiful and I was lucky to have good weather too. I started down the path at midday and got to the halfway mark in about 2 hours but then slowed a bit when my shoe start falling apart again. The new firebreak at the back of the valley was a welcome sight as it meant an easier passage along the second half of the kloof, although the final climb out is still as steep as ever! Topping out of the kloof at 17h30, I had some daylight to spare but got a puncture within the first 50m and after another plug fix, the light was almost gone. The last stretch includes some steep cement tracks that I had to push up and a long uphill on tar to get up the Du Toit's Kloof Pass. I had a snack break on the way up and then also got a bit lost dropping down through the forests, thanks to the vague route narrative! But at 20h20, I finally rolled across the finish line at Diemersfontein, tired after another long day in the saddle but elated and happy to finally be there. A small group welcomed me in and after some food in front of fireplace, David Waddilove, the race founder and organiser, presented me with the finisher's blanket and congratulated me on the new singlespeed record: 15days14hours20min
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