The Bull of Africa
No rest for the wicked
Jen Segger / 08.08.2008
She\'s joining South African team Cyanosis (new team-mates Nicolas, Eugene and Clinton) to embark on the 550 km race.
Here are her impressions upon arriving in South Africa, and preparing to set out.
For more about Jen, visit: www.challengebychoice.ca
Tuesday August 5th. I crashed HARD last night. After 10hrs of solid sleep, I awoke feeling like I could still use another 10. I have never felt the effects of jet lag and time zones like this before. I guess it\'s to be expected when you fly all the way around the world. Ha!
Another sunny day here in Jo-Berg. We went and got race food this morning and then Nic, Clinton and I headed out for a mountain bike ride. SO GREAT to get the legs moving and get rid of my cankles! However, even at the cruisy pace that we were riding, I noticed an extremely high HR. As we were 3/4 of the way through the ride, Clinton asked me how I felt considering the altitude that we were riding at. Oh ya, we aren\'t at sea level! Jo-berg sits at 1585m. A little different than Squamish, British Columbia. Forgot that part. Well, that explains why I was feeling like the most unfit athlete on the planet right now. Things got easier as we toured around. They took me all through the Botanical Gardens which were very African beautiful! It was a great way to see the outskirts of the big city.
This evening has been all about packing. We just finished taping up bike boxes, food prepping and going through gear lists. Tomorrow morning is a 6am departure out to the coast to East London (check out a map of South Africa.) Will be a long ride but for me, a great way to see more of this amazing country! Race check in is on Thursday.
Goeie Nag (good night in Africans)
Friday August 8th. Its been a busy few days here out near East London as we have been VERY busy preparing for the start of the race. After a 12 hr drive down from Jo-berg, the team arrived safely to the Baulha Inn on the coast! Stunning drive. Well actually, every time I turn my head there is some gorgeous site to see (amazing red sunsets, giraffes next to ropes testing section, huge surf below the hotel.) I have really been enjoying every second of being here! We attended a Wed night social with the other teams and then yesterday was the race briefing and opening ceremonies. It turned out to be a later night than expected and so today was jam packet with all the last minute race details. Nic has been working hard on the maps and trying to keep us all in the loop as to what to expect in terms of terrain where and the distances between all the CP\'s. The course is going to be awesome and he has a pretty good \"locals knowledge.\"
Tomorrow morning, we board a bus at 3am and have a 3hr journey to the race start. It will be along day but I am eager to get this going. I\'m looking forward to some of the epic trekking legs and the coasteering leg that comes near the end of the race. Apparently, there is one bike leg where we have to watch for the rhino\'s if we come blasting through at night (Hano\'s words were \"don\'t piss off the rhino\'s) and we have a TA near a lion breeding center (instructions here were not to climb the fence.)
Well, this is the last blog until I complete the 550km before me! Enjoy following us. We have a lot of great teams on the start line so its sure to be a tough race! See you soon!
SleepMonsters
