So the BMX has just been fitted with a new set of knobbly tyres which should hopefully go someway to making the 55 km of technical off road riding on a single speed BMX a little easier. I had, until this point, the same tyres on the bike that rode all the way from CT to Joburg with me – those bad boys are slicker than ever; I have been getting punctures on almost every ride lately and I just want to send out so many kinds of gratitude to BMX Direct for hooking me up. They have also supplied a new set of slicks for the 95 km road ride I will be doing on the 17th of November!

I also need to chuck out a massive thank you to Kevin from Cycle Fusion who just serviced the bike for me…guess I have no more excuses – the bike is riding like a dream, new tyres and all shiny, it’s only me that can now screw this up!  It’s going to be fine! eeeeeeeeeeek.

Cycle Fusion

You must also check out Cycle Fusion’s Project 44One – amazeballingstuff!  - http://44oneracing.co.za/

A selection of my favorite images taken by Doug From Trigger Monkey during the One Gear Challenge:

All strapped in

All fun and games before the test

Up close and personal

All cow for the Expresso Show Shoot

Mad Cows

It is good looking out here...and I am not just talking about the flowers

The start of the hill: Bain's Kloof Pass

Shame, how good looking is that

what's with the dorky smile

Big Skies as they say

Did I tell you the Skies were big out here?

Check how that road goes on forever

Gat

It was nipple

Lots of nothing

The wreck of which I spoke

That will break the monotony

This oke can take some pics hey

Up close and personal

The Karoo, the magical Karoo

A few more K's to go

How does he get a road to look so good

No Go!

I call it Anthill with hole in it

The dust of which I just spoke

A drum...in a field

Starting early these days

Nice hey, and also nice hay

Go team

Not so flat anymore

Perfect riding conditions

Reckon I might make it

Made it! too surreal

Cow bike - super aerodynamic

Very quick cow

Hey it's Doug taking a picture

So many udders

A selection of pictures from stage 10 taken by Trigger Monkey Photography:

Crack of sparrows

Monkey taking photo, monkey riding bike

Horse

Didn't see a car the entire day...until this truck covered us in dust

The dust of which I just spoke

A drum of which I did not speak

Neither had we, but that is what has stood out for me on this adventure so far; going to places you would not normally and having the chance to meet amazing people you would never have given yourself the opportunity to. We rode from Loxton to stay with Wilma at her guest house “Victoria Wes Guesthouse”. Hers is the building that is blue and white, where all the others are green and white (this is how we were told to find her). It was the promise of a swimming pool there that had me riding the last 20 km into Victoria Wes like I was on a time trial bike. It was one of my best and most refreshing swims in memory. It is also one of the most memorable Guest Houses I have ever stayed in. If you ever find yourself in this part of the world you HAVE to stay there and let Wilma entertain you and let her place envelop you in comfort and character – a true Karoo gem!

Check out the details of the ride to Victoria Wes below (shhhhhh – did you know that you can push play and watch the ride like you were there with us?? You can even control the cyclist and check out the speeds for different parts of the ride).

Oh oh, also…the Physiology Lab have supplied me with a heart rate monitor for the One Gear Challenge. With the V02 Max test results from earlier this year they have determined my optimal heart rate riding zones that I need to remain in during each stage to allow for optimal recovery. In a single day event, recovery is not key and you can push your heart rate into the higher zones in order to do a quicker time but having to ride on consecutive days it is vital for us to recover well. I was advised to spend as much time as possible in Zone 2 but as you can see I let the flat roads and possibility of maintaining an average speed of 23km/h get the best of me on this ride and I spent most the ride in Zone 3! Sometimes the boy in me takes over – Sorry guys! Guess I will feel that in the morning!

Stage 7 Heart Rate Results

The long flat roads of which I spoke:

Long and flat (yes I am talking about the road)

A selection of pictures taken by Trigger Monkey Photography during stage 7:

Long and flat (yes I am talking about the road)

This oke can take some pics hey

Except he didn't get this one in focus

Up close and personal

We made a friend

Slipstream

The Karoo, the magical Karoo

A selection of pictures taken by Triger Monkey Photography on Stage 05:

No serious...how did this get here

Water in the Karoo - document that with a picture

So little in the big Karoo

Which way?

I could see the glint in Russel’s eye as he realised that this was his last chance to go to work on my legs! I have mentioned before his sadistic ways; well he said we would take it easy today and he would just do some “releases”. Ooooh ah ah!

He carried on shooting the breeze and chatting about daily stuff expecting answers while he worked on my quads with his elbow. How he expected conversational responses from me I have no idea – I spent the entire time biting the pillow (literally) in order to limit girly screams falling out of my mouth.

For all my whining though I have to say that my knee feels so solid after all that- he definitely knows what he is doing (and really enjoys doing it).

Dude – big thank you for all your hard work and help in fixing my knee! And thanks for the strapping advice – will definitely be in touch during the ride for more advice!

BioDynamics

I keep saying the word “last”! We leave for Cape Town on Monday and suddenly this is all becoming very real. I am off to go see Russel in about 30 minutes time and it will be our last session. He is going to help me with strapping and teach me the right method to support my knee.

Russel has been incredible and given me Biokinetic sessions twice a week for about 6 months now. I cant tell you how effective the rehab to my knee has been and how much stronger my tiny pins are now. My gammy knee conking out was probably the biggest threat to me not finishing the One Gear Challenge and I can say now with more confidence than ever that I am going to complete the 1500km ride!

BioDynamics

So Russel (Biodynamics) has told me that I need to start tapering from next week so I went out for one last big ride this morning. I got in 80km which is about 10km more than what we will need to average on a daily basis! Holy crap, as I wrote that with my tired pins aching below the table, it has just dawned on me what lies ahead.

Anhoooo, let’s ignore any anxiety for now and focus on the fact that the 80km went well. I had a little bit of an ITB niggle at the end but I will ask Russel to work his magic this week in my last 2 sessions with him – all will be Golden! I have said the word “last” more than once in this post; I can’t believe that this is all coming to a head and that we leave for Cape Town in just over a weeks time. It is amazing though how it all comes together and how all our partners have really pulled through for us.

I collected all our USN stuff yesterday – they have gone nuts on providing us with everything we are going to need (nutritionally speaking)! I have protein bars,  protein drinks, recovery stuff, bottles… everything – it is actually mad! I used some of it on my ride this morning and there is no doubt it made a difference. Our biggest challenge is going to be to recover each day before setting out again on the bike. The recovery products from USN are incredible in that way and I am going to be smashing those in my beak with vengeance after each stage!

Check out the deets of my ride this morning below: