Bliksem! 101km 2300m. Our plan was to ride at 70% or our normalised Power (NP) and do as little damage as possible on this very tough stage. It was all going to plan up to water point 2. What was to come, was a mini unravelling of a long history of bad football knees.

It was an extremely hot day nearing the high thirties and the terrain is never visible on the advertised profile. My word, the Haarkappers Roete definitely dished out some short, back and sides! In fact, for many, it felt like a skinhead haircut. I have had 2 ACL knee replacements and I dislike walking up a mountain path immensely. With the amount of traffic that was weaving its way up the mountain, Shaun and I had to dismount a number of times and in the end succumb to the fact that we were pushing our bikes up. I always end up cramping like crazy and today was no different.

I have no doubt that a few riders would have struggled on the Land Rover technical terrain descend because it was rocky with lots of loose sand. We had to stay as sharp as razor to see our way to the bottom. I learnt a valuable lesson today that I feel I need to share with fellow riders. When the heat gets to the higher thirties your tyre pressure increases dramatically. I took a dive on a downhill sweeping corner where my front wheel washed and I hit the deck like Cristiano Ronaldo after an ankle tap.

Fortunately, scrapes and bruises and ego were the casualties.
Shaun nursed me home as I limped in over the last 20km of tough up and downs to a pleasing final result. Tomorrow I’ll have to find out how much damage was done to the legs, but at this stage of the race, a training ride tomorrow is on the cards.

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