Riding Alone - March 23

Although I got up really early again this morning I didn’t really do anything for a while – just sat around. By the time I had actually eaten breakfast lots of people had already left and I was the last person to take my tent down and get packed away. I didn’t really mind though as today was meant to be an off road day – and meant to get worse. I like to leave last and catch people up when we are on dirt. So I am not too worried. I hop on my bike and start riding and catch Dennis just down the road – we ride together and then join Luke who does a long pull at the front for me. Really good!!

However we are realizing the road is still the same smooth gravel- a few pot holes maybe – but definitely not bad. Still possible to ride as a peloton and gain some advantages that way. I hadn’t thought today was going to be like that so my hopes of catching up on dirt are quickly dashed. The main group is way ahead and eventually I am left to ride on alone to try and chase them. I ride pretty well – the scenery is very cool – thick bush on either side of the road and loads of villagers on bikes! Rather confusing at first when I kept thinking I could see the other group up ahead! But by now I had accepted I was not going to catch them – they will be able to ride much faster as a group than I can alone. However I am riding quite well and when I get to lunch Kendra tells me they are only about 10 minutes ahead of me – about the same amount of time I left after them this morning. So I ate lunch really quickly and got back on the bike – the bread is not great at the moment which makes eating sandwiches more difficult (especially at 9 am) The afternoon ride also went well – and I felt quite good. It was 113 km – quite long for an off road day – which although was overall quite smooth did have a few sandy patches – also some good downhills! I arrived at camp feeling fairly strong – just as the trucks arrived. Scott had won the day – he had been with Paul, Jorg and Mike – and then in the afternoon had managed to get away with Mike and so gained a good win! He said it was tough! I was pleased I had managed my day well – although I had ridden hard I had managed to preserve energy and for a change I did not need a long recovery when I got to camp.

It was difficult to try to find a good tent spot at camp – on what was basically a ploughed field. People ended up on terraces and the driveway. There was suddenly talk of taking over one of the empty Ranger’s stations – we are again staying at a Game Post. So we managed to sort out a deal where for about $7 we took over one of the empty buildings – sounds pretty good!! Very basic – a couple of rooms and a concrete floor – myself, Sebastiaan, Mike, Tori, Kendra and Kari all agreed! We are just going to throw our mats on the floor. So we open all the doors and windows to allow some air to flow through and freshen it up a little. Great – no tent to worry about in the morning – especially good given as how slow I was this morning!! The Rangers even cooked some chips and sold us some beer and Fanta!! We all relaxed and hung out on the terrace. The sun came out and it was a glorious afternoon – I even managed to dry my tent through thoroughly. Dinner wasn’t so good for me – a very spicy pasta with lots of weird vegetables – I did manage most of the pasta but eventually went to bed still feeling hungry and only able to find one energy bar for my midnight snack!!!