Tour de Kruger - Day 1, 87km – graded dirt road to start, dirt track for the majority

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Up at 04:30, we can hear the whooping of Hyena’s in the distance, hope they’re not waiting for us! Breakfast at 05:00 and bags packed onto the support trucks by 05:15. At 06:00 we’re on our way to the Giriyondo Border Post.

At this point we must explain that the Tour de Kruger is a bit of a misnomer as we did not do any cycling in the Kruger National Park itself, this is because permission could not be obtained from the authorities due to the risks involved with there being such high levels of wildlife. Most of our cycling was done in the Great Limpopo National Park of Mozambique, which has almost no wildlife due to the high levels of human habitation and all the problems associated with balancing human habitation and nature conservation. We did not see a single wild animal on the Mozambican leg of the trip, although there was quite a bit of evidence to indicate elephant were in the area.

There was quite a queue to get through the border post, it’s possible that more people passed through there on that day than the whole previous month together.

09:00 and we’re in our groups ready to hit the road. We’re in group 9 (Beginners), with only group 10 behind us. 09:15 and we’re off! 09:30 we find ourselves alone on a dirt road unable to keep up with our group, sounds of group 10 coming up behind us. 10:00 and we’re alone again with only the sweeper vehicle behind us. We’re maintaining an average speed of about 14kph, which should get us to the end by sunset.

26km and Laura’s crank arm falls off her bike (that’s the bit the pedal is attached to) whilst she’s trying to negotiate her way down a steep rocky hill! Phil puts it back on, but within 5 minutes it’s off again, we tried once more, to no avail, and decided it is too dangerous for Laura to continue with the bike. We loaded Laura and the bike on the sweeper truck and Phil sets off at pace to try to make up some time. We’ve radioed ahead to the brunch stop and requested that the mechanic wait around to help us sort Laura’s bike out, but by the time Phil gets there he’s already left.

Ilene, one of the girls in Group 9, was not feeling well and decided to call it a day. She kindly offered her bike to Laura, a quick drop of the saddle and we’re back in business. Laura’s missed about 20km. The afternoon session is narrow dirt track with a few dry riverbed crossings, we’ve slowed down a bit as this is terrain we’re not used to and a lot tougher than the London to Brighton!

Laura turns down several offers of a ride on the sweeper Landy and we ride into Camp 1 just as the sun sets to scattered applause and plenty of words of encouragement. Laura is a hit with Doc Edie and his wife Leonie who’ve followed us in the No. 9 support Landy for the last 40kms marveling at her determination. The end of a tough day and a bit of an eye opener for us both - 9 hours on the road.

We managed to find an empty tent in the dark, get the bikes washed, get the mechanic to fix Laura’s bike and have a luke-warm bush shower. The food is done by Mango Catering (they also cater for film sets) and is yet again plentiful and fantastic.

One rider has broken his leg badly and has been driven back to Giriyondo then flown by helicopter to Nelspruit. He’s broken his tibia, fibia and his knee. Nelspruit are not equipped to deal with it so he’s flown to Jo’burg for extensive surgery.

Bed by 22:00, another early start tomorrow

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Photos

Group 9 ready to set off
A smiling, unsuspecting Group 9 at the Giriyondo Border post before the pain starts!

Riding into Camp 1 as the sun sets
Laura giving it her all as we head into Camp 1 at the end of a very long day.