Day 16 - All downhill from here, till tomorrow

The FNB Home Loans Team had to navigate some really technical downhill sections to reach Cambria this afternoon. At 101km it was certainly not an easy day.

"Today the tour headed back into the mountains to the Baviaans. Its sort of like our version of the Tour de France heading into the Pyrenees, except without drugs."

John seemed to be a bit slower on the straights, but catch up quickly with the rough stuff. Eleven river crossings later, he was leading the pack.

They are still stuck with intermittent cellphone reception, and John's MTN phone could not send through his photos of the day. Hope to receive and post them tomorrow.

"Yesterday's ride took us past our first shop since Hofmeyr"

Albert, on Vodacom, took a picture of August Carstens as he came speeding by. He doubled up and left them at the support station. Craig and Joan phone them from a couple of kilometers back. They will not make the Support Station by nightfall and decided to camp out in the bush tonight.

The plan for tomorrow is to push through to Willowmore, doubling up on pace to finish a couple of days earlier. Cold weather and strong North Westerly winds could slow them down.

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.