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Friday, June 18, 2010

Day 4: Masakala to Tinana Mission






20:35pm: 95km/11 hours. Lot's of singletrack and slightly warmer weather made for a great day out on the bike. I got away a bit late (07h20) and very nearly detoured into Matatiele to find a new chain but managed to shorten and retension it which worked ok, although it misbehaved a few more times during the day. Got to Malekholonjane at 13h30 but only made a quick pitstop, grabbing some vetkoek and refilling drinks. Out the door 10 min later thanks to the pit crew of Ntlantla, Duma and Nomsa. The vetkoek worked like rocket fuel (need to get that recipe!) and kept me going for the rest of the day. The new approach to Black Fountain definately added more time so it meant a race to get through the singletrack along the ridge before dark to get a peek at the descent off the ridge to Tinana Mission. Just made it and then had some moonlight to help me down. Arriving after dark, I found the house of Gogo Zibi and her daughter Lucian (who was a few quarts into her Friday night) and they've been taking good care of me. They tell me I'm not the first one to make use of this emergency stop and are very proud hosts. Working my way through a huge plate of spinach and pap and the kettle's boiling for more tea. Happiness...

3 comments:

  1. :-)

    Thanks for the pictures. Reposted to facebook.

    ReplyDelete
  2. that vetkoek is the bomb. keep up the blogging and pics, really appreciated!

    ReplyDelete