Graham McLean - Enduro Africa

Saturday

2008-10-12T02:15:00.000-07:00

I have made it to the end. Today has been the last day’s riding so it was all about taking it easy and keeping myself and bike in one piece…well not that easy, not really my style. Today has been hot hot hot. The morning consisted of dirt tracks interspersed with valley crossings. One valley was described as ‘tricky’ and the more faint hearted were convinced to take the high route, ie on the road and the long way round. For the rest of us it was down a near vertical hill through thick undergrowth, which was very slow progress with the engine killed, in 1st gear and using the clutch to control the back wheel. It must have taken us an hour to get down by which time we were all over heating. In particular I started to suffer and had it not been for us getting to the river I have no doubt I would have had a heat stroke.
The rest of the day was a little easier and we covered a total of 200km to our destination in Port Edward and the Strand Hotel and a grand welcoming party and an evening of traditional South African entertainment. We partied hard and all managed to stay up beyond 10:00!!

Friday 10th

2008-10-10T12:44:00.001-07:00

Friday morning and we are all still suffering the after effects from Thursday’s epic ride. Today was split into two parts, the first ‘half’ was more of the same grueling pace and technical difficulty with a combination of fast dirt tracks, open countryside, through remote villages, steep hill climbs and river crossings. We departed at 8:00 am and did not stop for a break (save petrol refill, regroup and smoke break for the many smokers amongst us) until 2:00. Many of us were fearing the worst that this marked the half way point and we had another 6 hours to go! Fortunately not, the afternoon saw us heading much more into civilization with even some tarmac road and really quite a gentle ride through forests into our lodge at Mbatyi River. The end is looming with a hard ride planned for the Saturday morning then the final run into Durban. I have mixed feelings, on the one hand I do not want this to end, on the other my body is telling me it has to stop soon.
Keep checking for new blogs and the previous updates as I will add more photos as and when I can.

Thursday

2008-10-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

We are currently in the wild coast at The Hole in the Wall. Today we have been travelling along the extremely treacherous coastal path and when we dared to look out to sea we were lucky enough to spy some whales!

Enroute we became lost and tested ourselves to the limit bringing our bikes up an impossibly steep cliff. I'm sooo tired!

Wednesday - Gojella Junior School

2008-10-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

Today was our day off bikes. We were lucky enough to visit Gojella Junior School, where we set about doing various tasks including the delivery and installation of whiteboards, the replacement of damaged solar panels and also installed water filters which will provide clean water for the next two years.

We met the pupils and some of their parents and were entertained by the school choir.

Tuesday

2008-10-08T01:49:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was the hardest day by far. I now know what the term 'technical' in Enduro speak means. Distance wise it was short, only 78km (compared to 300+ on the other days) but it was all up and down deep ravines and through tricky forests. By far this has been the best day's biking I have ever had..and probably will be the best I will ever have. (I can hear Julie saying "rest assured it is!").

Green team had a good day overall with the exception of Stephen who had to stop after the first two hours with heat exhaustion that was very close to being a heat stroke. The pressure was kept on us by our guide Dave to get to the top of the last ravine by 4:00 latest so the pace was quick and the breaks short, even the puncture repair was done in minutes.

The route kept us very remote and through villages where the only utility service was a single tap to serve the who village with water that still requires filtration before save to consume.

The last ravine was a monster, I was having a sense of humour failure and gasping for water. During Tuesday I drank 4 liters of water...and it all came out as sweat not the other!(photos to follow when I can get faster Internet connection)

We arrived at Kob Hotel by 5:30 and just before a torrential storm and darkness. Unfortunately all the other teams were still in the ravine where the path up became a river. I thought I was having a sense of humour failure but this was nothing compared to the others who were out in the lightening storm for the best part of 2 hours. Meanwhile we were sitting comfortable and being smug in the bar!

Today (Wednesday) is day off and we will be visiting a school that is benefiting from your donations, so look out for the next update.

Monday

2008-10-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

Today was a long long day in the saddle. 11 hours door to door and I reckon 10 of those were riding time, circa 350km which included a great variety of torrain, climate and unexpected incidents such as the petrol station en route was dry thus a 40km detour and Green team losing two members for a few hours (they missed the turn and charged off at great speed in the wrong direction) and finished with a night ride into Morgan Bay.

Sadly another day with tales of accidents, the worst of which was poor Helen who hit a cow that charged across the path and ended up lying on top of her. Helen is now in hospital but all should be OK...less so for the cow that suffered a broken leg.

Stunning scenery

2008-10-06T13:25:00.001-07:00

Meeting the locals

2008-10-06T13:19:00.001-07:00

Some wild life we have seen so far

2008-10-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

The Grand Departure

2008-10-06T13:07:00.001-07:00

Sunday

2008-10-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

We are now 2 days into the adventure and it just gets better and better.

We left Port Elizabeth on Saturday morning to a rapturous send off by the locals and a police escorted parade out of town. It was not long before we left the tarmac road and hit the first un-made 'road'. This would normally be straight forward riding but for the dust created by 120 motor cycles. At time we could hardly see the handle bars. We soon learned to spread out and leave time for the dust to settle.

The riding has got progressively more technical as we have left civilisation and headed into the mountains, and after two days there are many aching limbs, and bruised egos.

I have been assigned to the Green team and we all seem to be of similar ability so well done to Enduro Africa.

The first night we stayed in a game reserve and home was a marquee. Let me assure there was no luxury here, and it was b***** cold at night.

Yesterday was a harder ride and sadly for 3 riders their trip is over, two with broken bones and one suffering with very high blood pressure.

Today gets even harder so I am told. I had better go and prepare myself and my bike.

Thanks to the GM of Katberg Hotel for the use of his computer. Sadly we were unable to get photos uploaded, so I will try again later when we arrive in East London.

2008-10-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

Bikes Bikes Bikes

2008-10-03T21:35:00.001-07:00

Then we were updated on the great work teh charities out here are doing, briefed on today's ride and introduced to our own bike.

2008-10-03T21:31:00.001-07:00

The next thing was to freshen up. Most chose a shower, for which photos are not required!...one brave soul chose this. I am assured it was refreshing

At last we are ready to go

2008-10-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

It was great relief to arrive and to see that the kit had arrived because replacing this lot locally would be a challenge

Friday 3rd

2008-10-02T23:49:00.000-07:00

Not too much to report so far as we are still in transit. It seems we are doing the route in the opposite direction to what I have been saying, ie we are going from Port Elizabeth to Durban....it makes no difference to me.

There are 84 riders in this group, they are very easy to spot as they are either in biking gear or have extremely large bags. I chose the latter approach as MX boots are not the most comfortable foot ware for flying. No sign of royalty as yet.

We are now in Johannesburg with 4 hours to kill till the flight to Port Elizabeth where we will be briefed and collect our bikes.

I cannot wait for tomorrow when we set off for real.

Clearly the traveling and waiting around is taking it's toll.

Training For Enduro trip

2008-09-29T06:49:00.000-07:00

In order to prepare for my Africa adventure it was clear to me (and many others...thanks for the “kind words of encouragement”) that I really did need to do something about my fitness level before my 10 day grueling excursion.

This was very much highlighted when Antony Doran from NTL arranged for me to join him on an Enduro training day in Hampshire last April. The day involved a variety of exercises such as tight circuits through trees, near vertical climbs up and down banks, fast gravel tracks and sand. I will never forget the sand and I am just hoping there is none, or at least very little on our route. 30 minutes of riding on deep sand finished me off. Knackered does not come close to describing my condition. You would think it is the bike doing the work but I tell you it did not feel like it one little bit. That day taught me that I had to be fitter.

So taking the advice of former Enduro champ Paul Rusby, also of NTL, I purchased a rowing machine, stuck it in front of the TV and started on a regular regime of rowing. I have been doing 30 minutes 4/5 times per week for the last 3 months. The table below shows the progress I have made on a rowing machine which does seem to give a good workout for legs, upper body, arms and is aerobic. 30 minutes is my boredom threshold not my physical limit!

week 1 - 120 mins - 10.84km - 28.3 strokes/min
week 2 - 120 mins - 11.79km - 30.9 strokes/min
week 3 - 120 mins - 12.50km - 32.8 strokes/min
week 4 - 120 mins - 12.81km - 33,6 strokes/min
week 5 - 150 mins - 15.94km - 33.4 strokes/min
week 6 - 150 mins - 16.23km - 33.7 strokes/min
week 7 - 150 mins - 16.30km - 34.2 strokes/min
week 8 - holiday
week 9 - 150 mins - 16.05km - 33.8 strokes/min
week 10 -150 mins - 16.2 km - 34.2 strokes/min
week 11 - 150 mins - 16.48km - 34.6 strokes/min
week 12 - 150 mins - 17.55km - 36.7 strokes/min

I am no Zac Purchase as you will see from the before and after pictures, but this must be doing me some good….no pain no gain.

In addition to the rowing I have managed some squash, golf and cycling...all in a good cause, not for my personal gain you understand. I am confident that all will be well and the training will help me to enjoy the ride more. I’ll soon see.

Sponsorship

2008-09-12T05:14:00.000-07:00

I now have less than 3 weeks to go before I fly out. The trip is now changing from an adventure somewhere in the future to a reality. Whilst I am really excited I have to admit to some nervousness and trepidation. I have not yet met any of the people I will be riding with. I will meet for the first time at Heathrow airport 2 weeks on Thursday. Being fellow bikers I have no doubt we will get on well. In addition I am reliant on my self preservation instincts not to get carried away and do myself or my Honda motorbike any lasting damage especially in the early stages. No danger there then!

Many thanks to all the individuals and corporate who have sponsored me, I have had a truly fantastic response and great encouragement from all of you. As of today I am at £6,610 of sponsorship of which I have collected £5,920. For those who have sponsored me and not yet paid please feel free to settle via this web site when you are ready. This will gross up to £7,256 when I including the government top up via gift aid for the portion of the sponsorship that will qualify for gift aid.

I still have a number of verbal promises that are not included in the numbers above. I will of course be sending SUBLTE reminders to this list of friends! In addition there have been articles in the local press in Oxford where I work and Gloucestershire where I live. So hopefully some support will come from these; £10,000 is still my target.

One of the real bonuses of doing this trip has been the excuse to contact many people from my past whom I had lost contact with. By going through my old address books, Friends Reunited, Linked-in, suppliers, customers… I have ended up with so many replies that ended up with fascinating dialogues and the chance to catch up.

Thanks to all of you.

Itinerary

2008-09-11T00:54:00.001-07:00

In October 2008 I am taking part in an adventure of a life time in aid of 3 three very worthy charities, Unicef, Sentebale and Nelson Mandela’s Trust. I have signed up to motorcycle 2000 miles off-road along the wild coast of South Africa, where I will see first hand some of the poverty and AIDS stricken villages we are trying to help. The trip will take 10 days and is something of a marathon ride for the likes of me!

The itinerary is as follows:

Thursday 2nd OctDepart from Heathrow for Johannesburg SA.

Friday 3rd OctArrive in Johannesburg and catch connecting flight to the coastal city of Durban. The team will meet up and transfer to the Hotel. In the evening I attend do the introduction speeches and meet my trusty Honda CTX that will be my much loved companion for the next 8 Days.

Saturday 4th Oct
Depart Durban and ride into the famous 'Valley of a 1000 hills'. The route is a gentle introduction to what is about to follow.

Sunday 5th OctThe adventure really starts to unfold. We enter the Wild Coast and experience the mighty Mtentu River, Mkambati Gorge and finally after a long day in the saddle arrive at Port St John's nestled on the banks of the mighty Umzimvubu River.

Monday 6th OctThe Wild Wild side awaits and the Low Road vs the High Road is my decision…(Ive decided on the high road already!). The destination is the coastal village of Coffee Bay and the Ocean View Hotel. The days ride sees us hug the rugged coastline past the holiday villages of Mpande and Presley Bay. A day that will challenge my riding ability with rocky river crossings, muddy forest sections and the fast grass banks next to the beach... an awesome day I am assured.

Tuesday 7th Oct
The famous section that includes The Hole in The wall, The Haven Nature Reserve and the Mighty Bashee river….just a few of the riding delicacy's that I will enjoy en route to Kob Inn Hotel. The hotel has a pub that is nestled on the rocks with the crashing surf setting the scene…I already cannot wait for this point!

Wednesday 8th Oct
A well deserved rest day and the team together with the riders help us to change oils and give the hard working CTX's a once over. The rest of the day is spent at leisure on the beach.

Thursday 9th Oct
The mighty Gorge across the Qora river and the low road for everyone. This route takes us along the coast past the wreck of the famous Jacaranda which is one of many vessels that has been sunk by this stretch of coastline, Waves us to 30 metres have been reported by wide eyed captains on this stretch and the scenery is amazing. A great technical days riding with a WOW factor as we cross the mighty Kei river by motorised ferry and arrive at The Morgans Bay Hotel and surrounding cottages.
Friday 10th OctA big day as we head inland and pass through the port City of East London on our way to the Halyards Hotel situated on the banks of the Cowie River in Port Alfred. It's a 300km plus day and the comforts of the Halyards will be well received.
Saturday 11th October
Homeward bound to Port Elizabeth through the Big 5 Reserves of Kariega. A wonderful day that offers an enormous variety from Sand Dunes to tar. The final ride into Port Elizabeth is surrounded by police sirens, waving crowds and arrival at our Beachfront Hotel is emotional to say the least. The plan is to celebrate our achievement and party hard with a closing function of note.
Sunday 12 October
Breakfast, fond farewell and a short bus trip to Port Elizabeth Airport. Johannesburg awaits me for the connecting flight to London...

Monday 12 OctoberArrive home, and life will never be quite the same again.

I am trying to raise £10,000 in total, so far I am at £6,250, all support will be gratefully received. More details, and on line donating, can be found at http://www.graham-mclean.co.uk/ .

I will keep you informed of my progress leading up to the event, hopefully (communications willing) during the trip, and of course a full report on my return.

Graham McLean