Fi Ramsden

After a feast of eggs on toast a la barbeque, Stuart and I set off on the tandem leaving Mark and Beth to struggle with the washing up and the pop-up tents and to stock up on essentials. We pedaled along merrily congratulating ourselves on the dent we had already made in the 120km journey blissfully unaware of the disaster about to unfold.

Early departure

At around 2pm I was granted permission by captain Block to stop stoking in order that I might find a suitable hedge/treestump to hide behind. Seeing a small cafe/fruit stall over the road we crossed over. Just as we rested our bikes against the fence we heard the beeping of horns and screeching of tyres only to witness an accident involving the Landrover and a combi van which resulted in poor Beth and Mark being rolled over, narrowly missing a tree. The truck was on its side and the windscreen was shattered so we couldn’t see in.  As I sprinted over the road and started pulling at the windscreen a number of worse-case ATLS scenarios were whizzing through my mind, most of which were going to require more than tubigrips and a couple of bandaids.  Thankfully Mark, Beth and all of the Combi passengers walked away unscathed. Contained in the back had been my bike which, apart from a slightly bent wheel and a coating of smashed eggs, got off pretty lightly also.

A few cups of tea and a couple of police reports later we found ourselves at the roadside with a 2 bikes and a broken landrover and a ton of gear.  Thankfully help was on its way in the form of Sir Humesy the Gallant, Knight in shining armour, our Northern Irishman in his shiny pea-green Kia.

As luck would have it Humesy, who was making his way towards Mokopane from Johannesburg airport,  was only half an hour away from us when the crash happened.  We piled all our valuables in to the Kia. Mark went with the tow truck to Mokopane.    From the passenger seat of the Kia Beth sprang in to action, calling in favours left right and centre from her blackberry contacts, trying to get hold of a support vehicle to continue onwards through SA and in to Botswana.  They continues towards Mokopane to find a base for us to sleep, regroup and make a plan.

Minor setback!

Stu and I carried on pedalling, both feeling  a little overwhelmed I think, unsure as to how the journey was going to continue from here,  but breathing a sigh of relief that no one was seriously hurt.  So we took our minds off things by discussing the basics of Life support and first aid.

About 25k out of Mokopane we saw the little green car coming back towards us.  Accommodation was sorted for us up ahead, and all kit from the truck had been reassembled. Beth and I swapped over so she could at least get some cycling in.  I completed the journey with Richard (Humesy) in the Kia, trying to ensure that my conversation was lively enough to stop him falling asleep (after all this was not what he’d envisaged for his first day in South Africa having taken the Red-eye London that morning).

The pedalling was meant to help Beth take her mind off the shocker of a day she’d had, but of course as a multi-tasking pro, she had was able to pedal and email her vast network of contacts simultaneously from the back of the tandem. Plans for a rescue operation were already beginning to take shape as they rolled in to the hostel in Mokopane.

Beth and Stuart set off from Irene B&B

Stuart and Beth set off on the tandem whilst Mark and I did a bit of faffing and ironed out some bike issues. I succeeded in making it to Day 3 before becoming affectionately (?) known as “Faff Fi” (ok, ok, point taken, skiing buddies)

Pit-stop

We caught up with them about 50km from Bela-Bela and I was able to continue the journey on my newly fixed bike.

Wing mirror action

Checking out the local bike shop in Bela bela

The South Africans don’t just outstrip the Brits at barbeques. They also know how to camp in style. I was fully expecting to spend most of this trip sleeping in tents at the roadside, babywiping, and peeing in the bushes. Instead we slept in a campsite whose bathroom facilities rivalled those at the Ritz (not that I’ve ever stayed at the Ritz…).  So after a relaxing bath in a marble bathroom we cooked up a feast of tuna mush and got stuck in to the local beer.

Camp

Beer

Well, sorry that the updates have been thus-far non-existent.  Internet access has been hard to come by to say the least, but let me tell you the story so far…..I do hope you are sitting comfortably

Days 0-2: After a relaxing flight in business class courtesy of an oversubscribed service and a marginally tardy check-in on the part of yours truly, I was greeted by Stuart, Mark and Old Cranleighan Steve Braham.  Steve and Sal, with their daughters Tori and Emma and son Jamie, were to be our hosts for the first two nights in Johannesburg. I was absolutely blown away by their kindness and generosity.  Needless to say we stayed up far too late prior to our departure to Pretoria, enjoying a Brai of beef fillet before getting stuck-in at Steve’s bar.

Fresh-faced with Sal, Tori and Emma

Also in Johannesburg we had the pleasure of dinner at home with Nobantu Mbeki, grand-daughter of Thabo. Nobantu is an Economics lecturer at the University of Witswatersrand, with an interest in the project. Stuart was able to ply Nobantu’s husband, Rusanor, with enough booze at dinner to convince him to stoke the tandem from Johannesburg to Pretoria. This was an impressive effort for a man who’d never ridden a bike before!

Stu and Rusanor on the tandem

Me...full of beans...before my bike broke

We were also joined in Joburg by old friend of Stu’s, Beth Passey, aka “Pap”, “Paparazzi”, aka “the Organiser”, (all will be revealed)

So off we set. The group for leg 1 had expanded to include members of the Pirates Rugby Club and some lycra-clad, mountain-biking, south african work colleagues of Beth’s who were able to show us the back-routes to Pretoria. Support vehicles included members of both the Braham and Mbeki clans. Sal came to my rescue when my chain came off, shearing off a spoke and breaking my spirit temporarily until lunch arrived at Irene farm. My derailleur must have been knocked slightly in transit from London. Thankfully the guys at Epic Cycles in Irene were able to save my Biltong by realigning my derailleur and sorting me out with some new spokes.

We had another fantastic brai that evening at Thinus and M Thinus is a surgical registar in Pretoria and an old friend of Stu’s. We slept in a luxurious B&B in Irene run by Sue’s friend Sal. The cold night was no match for the warm blankets and hotties that’s she’d provided for us in our comfy beds when we arrived back form dinner.

On the balcony with Sue at her B&B in Irene (just outside Pretoria)