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full sus
Sept 2015, Vol 27
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full stride Kate’s back on the bike Page 16
Bike Review Page 18
Find Full Stride
#Trailrunning inside
Saddle Review Page 32
9 P EAKS Challenge for Qhubeka W
ith the 9 Peaks Challenge on my own bucket list, my daughter Bianca and I sat down one night, over a Guinness, and worked on ways to make the challenge into a real adventure. Bear in mind that we were not born long distance athletes, so after settling on the idea of cycling between the hikes non-stop in a six week period, we had some decisions to make. Rather than make the trip ridiculously difficult by doing it on a unicycle we decided to make the trip truly worthwhile and do it for a good cause. We settled on riding Qhubeka Buffalo Bikes (Solid steel, single speed, no suspension and only a back-pedal rear brake, weighing in at a mammoth 28kg) and the aim would be to raise funds for the Qhubeka charity along the way. To add authenticity we also resolved to go “back to basics” in terms of nutrition and hydration. This meant that during the riding and hiking we would not use any over-processed and plastic
packaged food or drink. So there would be no Coke, bottled water, energy drinks, gels or bars. No sweets, chocolates or muesli bars. No stopping for coffee and a muffin. And no supplements or vitamin pills. Just hard work, mental stamina and true grit. For kit we stuck to the “back to basics” theme and went with a strict no Lycra approach. We did all our riding and hiking in a home-sewn African shirt, Mr Price baggies and when the weather turned nasty we had hi-vis Johnson Workwear yellow rain jackets to pull on. I rode in takkies, with old fashioned toe clips, and whenever possible we camped – only resorting to guesthouses when the elements truly conspired against us. And to top it off we did all our navigation ourselves, with maps, a compass and an odometer – we had no guides, porters, GPS’s or Strava on our 9 Peaks Challenge.
The Route
The plan was to start in Limpopo
Heavy Metal Bikes FS
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF COLIN COOPER
The 9 Peaks Challenge is a bucket list target for local hikers and climbers – summiting the highest peak in every province of South Africa. Most people do it in stages, driving from trail head to trail head, but not Colin and Bianca Cooper. This is their story as told by Colin.
Potberg & De Hoop MTB Page 24
Bianca and Colin battling freezing weather, -1 deg, on the long road down to Murch Point from the Berg.
and climb Iron Crown in August 2014 and finish in September 2014 by climbing Seweweekspoort in Western Cape, 3 000km and 42 days later. It sounds so simple when you distil it down to those basics.
The 9 Peaks
A Small(ish) Setback
A week before we are due to leave my wife, Maggie and I were victims of a horrendous Farm attack which left me in a coma and ICU for a month with massive head and face injuries along with a smashed hand/wrist and ankle/feet injuries. Superb work by the Doctors and Nursing staff at Millpark Hospital meant I survived and was back on a stationary bike within a week of
leaving hospital. Initially I could only manage 5 minutes on the bike, and had to tie my wrist to the handlebar to stop me falling off. A long month later and I was back on the bone-jarringly rigid Buffalo Bike and could join Bianca on training rides, though I trailed far in her wake and needed baby-sitting. Three months after the attack I finish a 100km ride on the Buffalo and by January 2015 I reach my short-term target of three 100km rides in three successive days. The 9 Peaks challenge was back on! Our new departure date was March 14th 2015.
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