infinte lion

I run the infinite lion

chasing the sun (only to come up behind you again), the lick of mist, switchback,

Disappearing in white cloud

Chasing my tail

Slab Route B Rifberg Jonkershoek

Head onto the Contour Path from the gate side (I climbed up from the White Bridge but this looses too much altitude). You will see the obvious orange overhanging wall to the right of the grassy slabs. head onto the ridge leading up to this. A vague path can be found on the crest. ascend up to the base of the rock. There is a larger tree and bivy spot just above a waterfall which is dry in late summer. traverse left on a grassy ledge onto easy scramble terrain. scramble for about 100m picking the easiest line. You will reach a narrow ridge which looks down into the gully to the left.
A huge grass slope stretches up from here. Follow this all the way to past where is bends to the right and to the summit ridge.

I traversed to the summit and towards Bergrivier Nek from here.

looking down grass gully

 

view across to the Pieke

looking across to Table Mountain




looking across at the rest of the Peninsula

King George

You can still see the words and the crown written on the road. Even in the dark light of pre dawn reps. All across the road. Taunting. All of us. I wonder if he ever sees the white writing now and thinks back to the time where he put time into everybody else.

We look back now, disk wheel and all and ask the question. We will look back at them all now and ask. The reality is that we are not like them and never will be. We live in the real world and not them. We are the true heroes with our work deadlines, affordable bikes and non matching kit.

Arabella Trail Challenge

Martinis (shaken not stirred) await us as we exit our Aston Martin Pig Rocket. The parking is obviously taken care of by someone in a penguin outfit whom we tip handsomely. Mission number one is at the Dinner Buffet. Ladies in backless evening dresses and guys with bowties makes it easy for us to blend in. There are some heavies hanging around. They are obvious with their lack of neck and distinct bulge in the their armpit. We mingle and get vital intel. We have not identified our target yet but the clues are adding up! After a significant tip to one of the gorgeous bar staff we get some clues.
Only a few hours later just after first light we exit under cover to chase the Karwyder on our road steeds. Pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. Returning just in time to check in with the breakfast staff and refuel our tired bodies. We need to familiarise ourselves with our surroundings so we take a walk. Team Blue is getting the 101 on the golf course. They are still at the first green when we check back hours later. We make mental notes of the grounds and possible escape routes. At this point in the story though the hero and the girl head out to some exotic location so we follow the script and drive into town, look around the market and buy gelato. We blend in by buying local curious and listening to the marimba band, never keeping our prey far out of sight.

Fast forward to the main event: the chase scene. We gather in a large field not far away the next day. As soon as you arrive you see there is class all over this event. Massage tables, showers, refreshments on sale and a very refreshing announcer. I have to keep an eye out for the real villains as I can’t let them get too far out of my sight. We set off on the superbly marked route. We follow a dirt road and then a jeep track up the incline up a hill. Just that angle where you are running hard and you can’t afford to walk without showing your weakness. At one point a see a vague cairn and a single track leading off. I want to be there I think, but not today. I tag with one of the Vivo boys and the local favourite. The top comes not a moment too soon and we hit some down. The Vivo guy blows out the back so I can relax for a little and hopefully build a buffer before the final few flat km’s.

The descent is not too steep but it does have enough stones to hurt anybody with too minimal shoes. I am loving the switchbacks and this is real trail running. Tight turns on single track.

I can hear the local hero gaining on me and as we hit jeep track again he is with me. I put on a surge just before we hit the last short single track. I know it is time for the final push and as I hit the left turn to see my femme fatale and punch for home. The local hero drops off the pace and I can relax just a little to cruise into 8^th!

At the finish we are greeted by cold refreshments of every description. Really well organised, well marked, great facilities available at the start/finish. This event certainly fits the African Pride very well!

As is fitting at the end of this movie we cruise off into the sunset stopping to watch the odd whale with huge smiles on our faces. Thanks Arabella for a great weekend away and a fantastic Challenge.

We will return in the next episode……

I can not fault this event in any way. Yes it is not the most dificult around but then it was never meant to be! It is just great fun brunning out on a new trail with superb organisation. The route was well thought out and made logical sense and did not feel contrived in any way.

Arabella Challlenge on the horizon

So now the next challenge is the winter trail season.

First up is the Arabella Challenge. I will be doing the long (17km) run and M is in for the shorter (11km) option on the 28th of April. Great way to get the legs moving again and get into the hills.
I am psyched for this new event and am keen to see what the organisers have to offer. Maybe we will even take the bikes out there and go for a spin. Who knows right now.

Good thing to have a goal after IMSA to get going again. The route is certainly not steep by trail standards but is going to be a bit of a shock for the legs after the pancake flat IMSA run course. (If you were there watching on the lonely stretch behind the university then you would have seen me walk quite a lot, face in a grimace) I hope that I will put up a better performance in 10 days time!

Full disclosure:
As a great treat we have been  promised a stay at the Arabella for the night. Awesome hey! Who needs to be a pro with treats like this?




 

The Hunger Games Return

My mind is still tired

I can't think
All I can do is eat
And regroup
Slowly the body and mind will rebuild and repair and the aching limbs will pulse again with strength.
Until we feed the rat
Again
And again
With more and more

Rather than getting fatter it gets skinnier and more drawn with each meal We crave each challenge

 Something new

Unless you grow, you die

The mind grows and the body follows

Keeping focus is hard and it left me for a few crucial hours only to come back and make me notice that  suffering for 35 min is not so tough after all. Hmm. Lesson learnt. But will I be able to push harder next time?

Who knows

I would like to think so

Taper Blues

I steal into the wind still, pre dawn, night. Cold creeps into my wrists and up my arms, fingers already too cold to notice. Pedal hard. By now I know the right pace.

Serviced bike runs smoothly, perfect. At every lamp post my shadow overtakes me. My only rhythmic, silent companion. My body, mind and bike bear the scars of the last few weeks of hard training. But I feel suddenly fragile like nothing must go wrong now. No time left to make little adjustments. This is getting real.

I remind myself that less is more now as that exhausted sleep from constant exertion is replaced by fitful rest. And we wait.