July - 2021

2021 RASA | RTR | RTP Race report #23 | Mike Roy

Jul 27, 2021
5 min

2021 RASA | RTR | RTP Race report #23 | Mike Roy

Final wrap-up. The 2021 Freedom Challenge season is finished (although there is talk of a 2021 Spring Ride to Rhodes). This serves as the final wrap-up report. Statistics, observations, thanks and forthcoming attractions. No post offices or other similar flighty topics whatsoever. In spite of trying conditions (COVID in particular) the 2021 winter season was a resounding success and bodes well for the future of the Freedom Challenge. Numbers are strong (both in terms of entra

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Chris Fisher

Jul 22, 2021
1 min

2021 RTP Results

Anthony Avidion 2d 18h27 Stefan Nel 4d 12h07 Josh Hayman 4d 12h24 Sally Hayman 4d 12h24 Peter Roux DNF Jerome O'Regan DNF Ralph Buddle DNF Aryna Edwards DNF Carien Visser DNF Rebecca Sands DNF Sean Brown DNF

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Chris Fisher

Jul 22, 2021
1 min

2021 RTR Results

Ingrid Avidon 3d 10h06 Phillip Fullaway 4d 09h52 Justin Dowdle 4d 11h44 Bruce Mckinlay 4d 11h44 Mark Cowley 4d 13h35 Johann Lombard 5d 08h10 Mick Joyce 5d 08h10 Nick Rizzato 5d 08h44 Simon Marlin 5d 08h44 Trevor White 5d 08h44 Andrew Holmes 5d 08h44 Brian Kruger 5d 08h57 Leon Kruger 5d 08h57 Mike Glover 5d 09h05 Michelle Glover 5d 09h05 John Exley 5d 09h05 Andrew Walker 5d 10h23 Arn de Haas 5d 10h23 Nicholas Brouckaert 5d 10h23 Richmond MacIntyre 5d 14h50

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Chris Fisher

Jul 22, 2021
1 min

2021 RASA Results

Fjord Jordaan 13d 13h26 Axel Poser 14d 06h27 Gavin Horton 14d 09h25 Kemsley Wood 16d 09h45 Derrick Bingham 16d 12h42 Kevin Meier 16d 12h42 Carlo Gonzaga 17d 08h32 Casper Venter 17d 08h32 Charl Van Der Spuy 17d 09h23 Nigel Payne 17d 13h26 Adrian Payne 17d 13h26 RG Du Toit 17d 14h29 Jason Wesson 18d 13h26 Sandy Inglis 19d 10h25 Merak Greaves 19d 10h25 Oliver Greaves 19d 10h25 Greg Fisher 19d 10h25 Martin Victor 20d 11h07 Andrew Green 20d 13h21 Gary Scoular

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Mike Roy

Jul 18, 2021
5 min

2021 RASA | RTP Race report #22 | Mike Roy

Ride to Agadir (Prince Albert) | 18 July | 20h30 The race has moved way down the trail and is fast coming to a close. In two or three days it will all be over. The small matter of Stettynskloof for the last riders. A large collage of eleven riders will start from Trouthaven early tomorrow. Jan van der Putte, Greg Philps, Scott Danoher and Martin Victor are looking to claim their blankets. Aryna Edwards, Carien Visser, Jerome O’Reagen, Ralph Buddle, Rebecca Sands, Stefan Nel a

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Fiona Coward

Jul 18, 2021
2 min

The day the Buffalo Herders needed some herding | Fiona Coward

Buffalo Herder John the Geologist in a race against time to herd the 13:00 bus from Cambria Buffalo Herding is just one branch of a complex family tree. Let me explain. This observation came about when the herders needed herding. Theoretically, there is a a fair amount of downtime in which the herders, can go and ride their bikes. The tracking page is checked, riders positions noted, times estimated and off they go. Only, the riders didn't know this was the script. Fifteen ki

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Fiona Coward

Jul 18, 2021
1 min

Observations of a rookie Buffalo Herder | Part 3 | Fiona Coward

RASA Riders are inherently interesting. Everyone has a story. As a herder, it's like being in an elevator. The doors open, a rider steps in, rides a floor or two with us and steps out. Yet, unlike a real elevator, those few moments are deeply insightful. By the time, riders get to Cambria, their guard has been eroded by the trail and the intensity of their experiences. The outer world doesn't exist. The reality is the here and now. There is no need for a façade or to pretend

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Leon Erasmus

Jul 17, 2021
3 min

2021 RASA | RTP Race Report #21 | Leon Erasmus

• Snot & Trane • Elation • Achievement Pretty soon I will put down my two fingers (I use to type) and move back to my neglected day job. But I am privilaged… no, blessed to write, or is it right… about the scenes that played out this evening at Diemersfontein. It was one of love and respect. Merak and son Oliver Greaves received their blankets from Race Director Chris Fisher. This was enough to make even David’s heart melt. So much appreciation for their collective achievemen

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Mike Woolnough

Jul 16, 2021
4 min

2021 RASA | RTP Race Report #20 | Mike Woolnough

It’s just a blanket | Friday 16th July 19h00 Richard Cole and Greg Perrett have just arrived in Diemersfontein. Each of them will just have been wrapped in their second blanket. We’ve seen lots of blankets dished over the last few days with another dozen pending. Over the years I’ve been asked many times what the prize money is for the Freedom Challenge Race Across South Africa. When I reply the typical response is “Just a blanket?” Just a blanket. Tell that to Gavin Horton

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Leon Erasmus

Jul 16, 2021
3 min

2021 RASA | RTP Race Report #19 | Leon Erasmus

Thursday 2300 • Rock – Paper – Scissors • Cross provincial travel • Time Warp For the past day or so I was outside proper contact with the world wide web. Not that being away from the chaos that is playing out is a problem, but I missed the proverbial last move… Rock – Fjord took a gamble in Slaapkrans, which cost him dearly as he battled on with sleep monsters all the way to his mistake at Hadley, that cost him his early lead. Paper – Gavin took a gamble to go into Mordor wh

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Gill Graaf

Jul 16, 2021
5 min

Becoming a dot | Illusions shattered | Gill Graaf

Ladies size bikes are not made for bike packing. John is 6’3; he can fit his whole wardrobe and a bike workshop under his saddle. I am 5’4 and have short legs. There is about a 23cm gap between my saddle and the wheel before I even sit on it. I can maybe fit my toothbrush and a small power bank back there without anything touching. There is only space for one bottle cage in the frame. We could now open a small bike packing shop with all the kit we ended up buying and trying a

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Fiona Coward

Jul 16, 2021
1 min

Observations of a rookie Buffalo Herder | Part 2 | Fiona Coward

Buffalo Herding is a vortex. It sweeps us up into a maelstrom of memories, sights, sounds and smells to the point where we occupy a parallel universe. A universe where we still identify as riders of the freedom trail but temporarily own a separate slice of it in the wilderness of the Baviaanskloof. Here in Kudu Kaya, riders arrive with shattered dreams or elation at their successful navigation of the mythical Osseberg. As the riders recount their experiences, remove thorns, f

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Gill Graaf

Jul 15, 2021
5 min

Becoming a dot | Part One | Gill Graaf

I started this journey a bit late in life. I was never very sporty at school and my twenties were caught up with other life dramas. One day that path changed and I found myself, quite unexpectedly, amongst a group of friends who did do all these crazy things. Eventually I got tired of being the super second on the sidelines, while they had all the fun, and decided that “to hell with that” I’m joining in. I started with the paddling, met John, paddled some Dusi’s, bought a bik

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Mike Woolnough

Jul 14, 2021
3 min

2021 RASA Race Report #18 | Mike Woolnough

Wed 14th 20h30 Today the weather has been a lot kinder on the riders. It’s still bitterly cold but the tormenting headwind and icy rain have relented for now. Today saw the start of the second batch of RTP. The Race to Paarl ranks have been decimated by the Gauteng Covid lockdown, the rise of cases countrywide as well as the disturbances happening in KZN. These unfortunate events occurring at the same time have resulted in a full RTP field being whittled down substantially. E

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Steven Burnett

Jul 13, 2021
4 min

2021 RASA Race Report #17 | Steven Burnett

13 July 19h00 The beast we know today as the Freedom Challenge wasn’t initially called that. Its origins go back to founder David Waddilove and Mari Ballot running from the finish of the Two Oceans marathon to the start of the Comrades marathon, and they dubbed it “the Transkaroo challenge”. For some reason this proved to be a tough sell as an annual event, so instead the Freedom Challenge extreme triathlon was tried the next year, linking the Comrades finish to the start of

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Leon Erasmus

Jul 12, 2021
3 min

2021 RASA Race Report #16 | Leon Erasmus

12 July 18h00 • Doctors • Posers • Lovers • Fighters With the number of doctors riding this year’s Freedom, it’s no wonder we need Cuban help to sustain the stability of the health care systems of South Africa. One of them, Carper Venter, has also been pulled flat, like ‘n Kudu in hunting season, by the infamous stomach bug that usually gets a few of us during the event. The other one has shown signs that he is not a Poser after all. Axel has taken the lead by putting the ham

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Mike Woolnough

Jul 11, 2021
5 min

2021 RASA Race Report #15 | Mike Woolnough

Sunday 11th 18h00 Kemsley Wood crossed the finishing line today a little before 15h40 to be the first rider home RASA 2021. Still covered in trail dust seconds before Chris Fisher inducted him into the tribe of blanket wearers Kemsley said, “I wanted to test myself, I never really have. I always wanted to see what I’m capable of doing.” For someone who by their own admission hadn’t to this point put themself to the test his achievement over the last few weeks are remarkable.

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Leon Erasmus

Jul 10, 2021
3 min

2021 RASA Race Report #14 | Leon Erasmus

The three nipples: • Lehanas • Osseberg • Stettynskloof We had quite a few first-time riders in this year’s rendition of the Freedom Challenge. Most would have done some intelligence gathering before they attempted the RASA. Some even spent buckets to do reconnaissance missions of portions of the route. It was apparent that this might have not been money well spent… But if you were to contact a multiple blanket wearer, they would be more than willing to spill the beans. The c

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Leon Erasmus

Jul 9, 2021
5 min

2021 RASA Race Report #13 | Leon Erasmus

Friday 9 July | 23h00 Sitting in Osseberg with tears running done his face it dawned on him that he was not going to make the 1300 gate. He was alone, the kind of alone you experience when you realize all the effort, pain and fighting to stay awake might have been for nothing… This was Leon Erasmus in 2017, but this story can wait for another report. I am not superstitious, in fact I believe things happen with a reason, always! That reason might, at that point and time, not s

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Mike Roy

Jul 9, 2021
6 min

Straws upon a camel’s back | Buffalo vignettes | Mike Roy

Gill Graaf (Freedom Circuit 400km 2021) is the most recent addition to the ever expanding clutch of Freedom Writers. Gill and her husband John (also FC Circuit 400km 2021 (a tough one to abbreviate)) happened to be spending a few days up at Tenahead Resort whilst RASA and RTR were going through, a week back. Aside from coming to say hello to me down at Alpine Swift, which was very much appreciated, Gill spent some time in the library up at Tenahead and came across this gem, c

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