The start official chirped Breyton Paulse on the start line that he was going to have to pull D batch the whole way. “Why not?” he said. As it was he didn’t, a little group of riders that I think were seeded higher and had a late start came sprinting...
As I promised myself in the ongoing internal conversation that occupied many hours of difficult riding on the 2024 Munga, I gave myself a celebratory tattoo. I have drunk deep at the desert windmill that pumps the Munga cool-aid and so the artwork inked onto my right forearm by Marc...
Strava recently announced that it was changing the terms of service for the API that third party services like Training Peaks and my favourite Intervals.icu use to fetch training data into their platforms. Although it is not fully clear just how tight the controls and conditions imposed on the use...
The Munga is more than a bike race. To me it seems a container for a spiritual journey. The route is explicitly designed to take a rider on an inner sojourn as well as an outer pilgrimage across the most beautiful, harsh and ancient places of our land. The race...
The Munga is 6 days away. 1130km with a 120 hour cutoff from Bloemfontein to Wellington cross country on farm and dirt roads. The organizer sent a questionnaire looking for general biographical information and included the questions “Why are you doing this?” “Stretching the body to make room for the...
I knew it was going to be a long ride in the dark setting out because my partner, who is usually a stronger rider than I am, was spectacularly undertrained. Predictably we made excellent time to the first climb and then we didn’t anymore. I will say this for my...
Being humbled in the face of the hugeness of life, opens empathy and understanding for others. In the spirit of gonzo reporting here’s an account of an abortive attempt at the Munga Grit Tankwa 2024. I withdrew at race village one – after 17 hours and 219 of the hardest...
Training for an ultra-endurance mountain bike event takes a lot of time. Here’s two video montages from a recent training ride with a friend and from the Eroica Nova gravel bike event in lovely Montagu in the Western Cape. And here’s the one from the Eroica Nova
The Tour du Cap is a 5-stage road race held in the week before the Cape Town Cycle Tour. 2024 is my third year riding this event. Here’s a blow-by-blow account of the 2024 ride. Stage 1 Monday 4 March YR.no had predicted biblical levels of rain suggesting a canoe...
I have been riding a 2022 Trek Top Fuel 7 trail bike and I love it. I’ve ridden most of the western cape MTB trails on it as well as quite a few 100-mile gravel grinds, a Trans Baviaans and a couple of 36one rides. The bike is stable and...
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