Well, I’m back in South Africa and a lot has changed since the last update.

If you remember, I crashed heavily on the Tankwa Trek and had to retire from the race. This was the start of a difficult time for me as well…
Back home I went straight to the doctor who said I should take some time off the bike before resuming training! This did not sit well with me but I held it together and stayed away from the bike. For the first week I didn’t do anything, but became twitchy and irritable… so on the Sunday a first attempt to ride. …. It worked well, all good, no pain!

The injury was a skin flap without damage to the tissue underneath but it was important that the wound closed. On Monday, the doctor wanted to remove the stitches but after he had taken two out, he stopped and left the others in place. In fact, it actually opened up again and I couldn’t do much because of this.

Now I was getting impatient… I WANTED to be on my bike, I WANTED to ride, I WANTED to train. The Cape Epic was nearly upon us, Jennie and I had big plans as overall winners of our category in 2017. Although I was able to train to an extent, the healing process was slow.

Then last Saturday, the call from Jennie. She had a bad fall in another race and was doubtful about being able to start the Cape Epic.

To say I was shocked would be an understatement and the news had taken away all my motivation to overcome my injury and train. Monday brought the confirmation that Jennie would not be able to race at all. Her injury would take some time to heal.

 

So, not riding the Cape Epic in 2018
But… riding…
So…..riding… but who with…?

 

The search for a suitable partner was on. The world ranking riders was checked… They were already in a team or it wouldn’t work with their schedules. It’s not easy to fit in an unplanned 8 day stage race based on another continent at the drop of a hat.

Finally on Thursday the uncertainty cleared and it was confirmed that I would ride with Angelika Tazreiter from Austria. This has gone right to the wire but I was able to fly on the Thursday evening knowing that I would be in the race. Some sense of normality restored.

 

So I’m back to the heat and I have already rocked the first trails today. It was a lot of fun and I’m waiting to be joined by Angelika!! I’m looking forward to the challenge, making the most of it and seeing what we can achieve.

The Cape Epic competition has never been as big as this year, neither has it been that so many riders changed in the last minute… I’m very curious how it will all go….

How we get on, well, you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

For now I’m sending some warm sunbeams home and I wish you all a nice weekend.

Greetings from South Africa