Tour de Kruger - day 2, 74km rocks to start with sand to the end

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Up at 04:45, bags packed onto the truck by 05:15, breakfast at 05:30. We’re only setting off at 07:30 but the baggage trucks need to leave before the first riders set off to avoid having to pass them on the road.

07:30 and we’re off, the first touch of the saddle is less than comfortable but that’s the least of our issues today. Pretty soon we hit the rocks - literally! The road ahead is a path of stones some the size of footballs and the ascent is steep. We cycle when we can, but walk most of the way, after 2 hours we’ve not gone far at all and we find ourselves bringing up the rear again.

Laura has a nasty fall and bangs both her elbows on the rocks - this is her low point of the ride. No amount of training in the UK could have prepared us for this terrain and we are beginning to wonder what we’ve got ourselves into. Before we came out here, we were asked several times what the terrain would be like and our flippant answer was it couldn’t be too bad because a Land Rover support vehicle would have to go wherever we went. Well we both now have a new found appreciation and resoect for the ability of the trusty old Land Rover 4x4! This is tough and it’s not getting any easier!

Phil has a puncture in one of his supposedly tubeless tyres and is unable to fix it. Laura volunteers her bike and gets on the Landy. Laura’s bike is none too comfortable with its ladies saddle and severely shortened saddle post but Phil manages to make up a bit of time getting to the brunch break. Again no sign of the mechanic we requested to stay behind and help fix the tyre.

We’ve done 44kms since 07:30 and it’s now 14:00! Phil manages to borrow a bike from Sean in group 9 as he’s had enough for the day. He only found out on the weekend that he was doing the trip and is attempting it with no training - needless to say he’s finding it tough.

Laura now has her bike back and the terrain is a little easier. We’re making good progress and on target to get into camp by sunset thinking that the route is 67km for the day. If there were one criticism that we could level at the organization of the trip, it would be the inconsistency of the information given to us about the route ahead, with regards to both distance and terrain!

At 60km we hit sand, deep sand, which brings us to an unceremonious halt followed by a tumble if you’re not quick enough to get your feet out of the cleats. We soldier on, cycling when we can and pushing when we can’t. It’s getting late and progress is slow when we get to the 62km mark thinking we only have a few kms to go - we can handle that. One of the Landy drivers tells us different though and informs us that there’s 12 kms to go and it’s all sand. Our hearts sink, we’re shattered and not sure who to believe when it comes to how far it is to the end.

Sunset is rapidly approaching and we’re forced to admit defeat for the day with 9kms to go, the organizers don’t want us out after dark so we clambered on to the Landy’s (literally - Phil travelled on the roof holding his bike with one hand and holding a beer in the other!) and arrived into camp 2 after dark.

More scratching around trying to find empty tents. We only find one so are forced to put ourselves and all of our kit into what is essentially a 1 man tent. It’s a tight squeeze but we’re too tired to care. Another luke-warm shower, the mechanics discover a tube in Phil’s tubeless tyre, much to his embarrassment! Fed and watered we collapse into a fatigue-induced coma - what a day!

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