cycling

Clarens Gravalist Series 500 – The Tarts' official Race Report The Gravalist 500km ultra-bikepacking challenge is an unsupported endurance ride that pushes riders to their limits. Each route is uniquely crafted, offering a mix of rugged terrain, hazards, and breathtaking landscapes. Riders receive a GPX file two weeks before the event. The challenge can be completed in 24 hours for the bold or within three days to make the cut-off. Participants can compete solo to beat the r

Race2Paarl a Freedom Challenge event. 620 km. A lot of ascent. Yoh. What a race. Sarah van Heerden , you are a splendid tart. It was a Roller-coaster of emotions. Day1: 220km, Willowmore to De Hel (via Prince Albert). 20 hours. The race day started at 6 AM In Willowmore. As usual the ride to Prince Albert was muddy and windy and our progress was slower than hoped. It was hard to leave the luxuries of Prince Albert, but we pushed on into the night. We arrived at De Hel at a

Wow! This Cape Epic was a beast to conquer. Ann Elizabeth Harrison was a fantastic partner: kind, patient and so strong! Thank you my friend! We surprised ourselves by finishing 3rd in the Grand Masters category. On occasion we even dabbled with second position. Podium girls! In my wildest dreams I could never have imagined standing on a podium at the Cape Epic. Getting older ain't so bad! If this is life after menopause, then sign me up! Thank you Absa South Africa and #sheu

Two tarts on a bike. Racing to Rhodes. Freedom Dot-Watchers https://www.facebook.com/FreedomChallengeSA?mibextid=ZbWKwL As any woman would know:"2 inches to the right makes all the difference" It was a fantastic adventure with Sarah van Heerden. We rode hard. We had a goal. It was to finish in 2 .5 days. It was all going well until.....the flood plains of Queens Mercy, near Matatiele. This is a a tricky navigational section, especially at night. And I was navigating! But, I

Many years ago, David Waddilove set the Freedom Challenge Extreme Triathlon in motion. After running from Cape Town to Durban, he turned West and ran the Comrades Marathon from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. The very next day he began a mountain bike ride and portage over mountains, through farms, along cattle tracks and gravel roads across South Africa back to Paarl, and then he paddled along the Berg River to finish his return journey in Velddrif, on the West Coast. I hope to

Yes, I have written a book, If the Cleat Fits.... It tells the real-life story of my crazy adventures while participating in an extreme, non-stop, self-navigational mountain bike race from Pietermaritzburg to Rhodes (Eastern Cape). Fondly known as the Race to Rhodes. A journey of 500 km across some remote, but spectacular areas of South Africa. The escapades described in the book are based on real-life situations that occurred over two separate Race to Rhodes mountain biking

I was asked to give some advice to women about preparing for the Race Across South Africa (RASA), a 2200km, non-stop, self supported, self navigated (no GPS), extreme mountain bike race from Pietermaritzburg to Paarl. As a woman, riding the Freedom Challenge has taught me many lessons. I will share one of them with you: the contents of the 2 litre ice cream tubs. I rode my first RASA in 2010. I was forty years old. Naturally my mother was concerned about my safety, health

I wrote this post after the Freedom Challenge Circuit 700km in April 2021. There is no such thing as bad weather... only inappropriate clothing. Very sensible advice indeed; and certainly worth remembering when you decide to ride the Freedom Circuit knowing that inclement weather is on the way. But the words: sensible, Freedom Circuit and Ingrid are as in-congruent as 'slightly pregnant' or 'Mike Woolnough is an ordinary cyclist'. As you have probably guessed I was inadequat

Written after the Race to Cradock (R2C) October 2020. A race done with Anthony. It was big adventure. This year we rode with the least kit ever. No change of clothes, and only an extra pair of socks, a rain jacket and leggings. No toiletries or hairbrush. We didn't shower during the ride. As you can imagine I didn't look great, and I would have been so embarrassed if, by any chance, I bumped into Bradley Cooper or Ryan Reynolds. But then the odds of that happening in Hofmeyer

My Race to Cradock (R2C) March 2019. This was a race that didn't go according to plan. A race plagued by mechanical mishaps and navigational errors. I wrote this blog on a cold, wet night while trying to sleep next to a fence on the Schurfteberg near Cradock. My heart was broken. Dear Freedom Trail, We really need to talk about some stuff. Call me insecure, or even needy, but I get the sense that your feelings for me have changed and that I am about to get dumped. I really t