Day 13 - Traveling light

Rain. Snow. The team had to battle the elements in the last two days. In the midst of the cold front, Albert struggled with yesterday's climb in the Snow. The extreme cold is yet another thing he could not train for in Bloem. Luckily he is a strong rider and catches up quickly when he is on the bike, and the bike is not on him. The pictures below show Albert carrying his bike through the snow, and John's bike full of mud.

Along the route, they join up with Tim James, former Freedom Challenge champion. They also teamed up with Craig and Joan. Having some company makes the hardship easier to endure. It’s not just the conversation- the team had to call on medical assistance and spare parts from fellow riders before.

For those of you that read John's Kit List on the blog site, note that his bike seems a lot lighter. That is because he removed the back and front carriers and reduced the number of items he has to carry up those mountains. Sounds like it was quite an easy decision to throw away the well-planned supplies and spares to travel a bit lighter.

They weren't able to cover additional ground yesterday, and kept to schedule to complete the race in a total of 26 days. The weather started clearing this afternoon and the cold front seems to be moving on. Let's hope that for their part it stays fair for the next couple of days as they make their way to Cape Town. Just 1000km to go.