06 May A surfer’s tale.
First time surfing in Mexico I hated it. Swore I would never do it again, ever. Caught in washing-machine waves, smashed in head with surfboard and eating the sandy ocean floor. Party on. But, looking...
Author: Melanie Chambers
04 May “I don’t even know where Canada is on the map.” A village tale in South Africa
It's just outside South Africa's third largest city, but visiting the Valley of 1000 Hills near Durban feels unbelievably removed from the modern world. Villages delineated by rivers and mountains, as they were many years...
01 May Day Eight, and the glorious ocean finish
"You have the strongest legs I've ever seen on a woman," says Malan, the rider I mentioned who is recovering from lung cancer. Indeed, hills are my forte. One look at my thighs and it's...
28 Apr Day Seven: race family
Every time I ride past a team that has a flat or a mechanical problem my heart drops a little. That could be Paul or I. It's not like you'd be stuck with no help (sweeper...
26 Apr Day Six: believe in yourself
It was a whopper of a day. It began with the steepest, and toughest two kilometre climb of the week ('handlebars to nose' kind of steep that had us walking it--well most of us, Paul nailed...
25 Apr Day Five: one massive climb and one massive dessert table
Paul's time to post! People around here have been buzzing about the incredibly tough days 5 and 6 of the race. The climbs, the rough roads, the heat and the length all combine to make for a...
24 Apr Day Four: let the brakes go and fly!
Painted on a rock: “Buckle up!” I was just about to launch into a stream of berms and jumps, on a descent so fast; all I could do was hold on for the ride. Careening around...
23 Apr Day three Joberg2c. LONG……
Longest day (122 k ms), with the toughest climb, oddly enough called, Mount Paul. But, it was also a day of varied terrain (a meandering singletrack alongside a river in the forest, jolting over bumpy...
22 Apr Day two: getting our legs back
Ok, after dinner last night (steaks - to which they asked, 'how would you like it done?') and a half hour massage (I asked my masseuse if I could sleep on the massage table all...
21 Apr Day one of Joberg2c!
It's hard to write when all you want to do is lay down -- anywhere - and sleep. Paul and I, with 800 other riders, mountain biked about 116 kms through track cut through farmers' fields,...