Human 'Rides' Day 21st March

After a few hard rides in the early mornings last week (05:00 to 06:30) it was nice to have a few days off the bike to recover and increase the shares on the home front. Monday was a holiday in South Africa so me an Greg had an extra day to go and see what damage the recent rain had done to our weekend route.

We did a 50km ride that was very muddy, we came back a few shades darker than we left and our bikes were seriously caked in mud. Below are photos of the bidge that we usually cross that was covered in water (the pallisade fense bearing under the strain) and the road that was completely flooded - looks more like a dam then a road (no we didn't attempt it this time round).

Dunblane MTB outride

Greg and me took the opportunity to ride most of the 60km route that was done the previous weekend's MTB race. It was one of the best rides I have ever been on. I felt strong and the weather and conditions were simply fantastic (only one horse fly bite - urgh!!). We went a very fast pace, a lot faster then some of the shorter rides we have done before, in total we rode for 73km and averaged 22km per hour. We rode past a few MTB riders doing a similar route and I realise just how far I have come in the last 6 months (it must be the 7kgs I have recently lost that makes me a little faster...). This ride made me realise how lucky we are to be living in Africa and to have easy access to great outrides.

I made a short video of the ride to remember the fantastic open space of the great 'beautiful' outdoors, the lyrics of the song are to emphasise this (and my of course my beautiful wife) - there are no Broke Back Mountain connotations here.

Dunblane March Hare MTB race

The evolution of Richard was taken to a higher level when my two girls (Jenna and Erin) entered their first MTB race. As a father I was so proud to see them at the start of the race and then to see them complete the race (well up the field I may add). It is a moment I will cherish for a very long time and I know they will enter and complete many more races through the years and hopefully will love mountain biking as much as I do.

Erin at the finish

Jen giving it all till the end