Blog written by Morris “Ta’Mora” Zack and Chanelle Houston
Day 3 ended with our arrival at Fouriesburg Country Inn
A throw back to a colonial era where life was simpler and men drank brandy in the local hotel’s ladies bar. Yes, the Fouriesburg Country Inn has a ladies bar! Where traditionally ladies weren’t allowed….
Thankfully things have moved on, and ladies are even allowed to cycle now 😐
After the evening’s festivities, a tired bunch of cyclists retired, having no clue what was in store for them on day 4.
Firstly, we were woken up by roosters crowing at 3am followed by a very loud car alarm at 4am
To keep Morris company, there were huge mozzies in his room, buzzing around his head.
Chan was obviously overheating as her shower only had cold water..
The longest cycling day of the ride began early when Dirty Chains joined us at breakfast driving from JHB at 2am to make it in time for our early 7am start.
Excitement always exudes around day 4. It’s officially known as ‘’Pinky Day’’, and this year is the 6th Pinky Day of the 1965Ride. The day is sponsored by Houston and Associates, owned and operated by our very own Chanelle, who’s corporate colours are pink and black and are reflected in the striking kit sponsored by them and worn with pride by both our female and male riders!
After a nice hearty breakfast around the communal table with much banter and reunions amongst old friends, and previous participants of the 1965 ride, we set off to a cool fresh start to the day with a crisp 9 degrees.
The ride out of Fouriesburg takes us past some the best scenery that the Free State has to offer with hills and mountains covered by gigantic boulders left behind by glaciers that rolled over these prairies hundreds of thousands of years ago. Reminding us that while we focus on the road ahead, we must look up and around at the beauty that surrounds us.
The 35 kms flew by as we travelled in anticipation of the cosmos on the now familiar undulating hilly roads. We made really good time travelling at around 24km/h.
Unfortunately, what we think is due to the lack of rain, there were not many flowers when we reached the now famous 1965 Pinky Day, cosmos field.
While not as impressive as some prior years, we still had a lot of fun posing for the mandatory cosmos field pictures. This year was even more exciting as we posed for the drone shots, for which we all eagerly await.
After the usual tea stop – graciously supplemented by a huge snack platter brought by the Dirty Chains gang – Dean, Neil and our new friend, the drone, left us…
The peloton started up in full force for the traditional stop at the Cherry padstal, a mere 50kms away. Some of us were left bitterly disappointed as there was only a regrouping stop and no tea stop in between…
Our hungry stomachs caused us to race ahead reaching our lunchtime destination at a speed of around 26kms per hour!! We arrived earlier than ever before at 11am!!
After the delicious cherry pancakes, and some of us enjoying complimentary cherry liqueurs, it was full steam ahead to the long awaited and much needed massages at Cranberry Lodge in Ladybrand.
Supper did NOT include the usual malva pudding, but we still had fines by Lord Lunga Dunga and of course, stats with Ta’Morra as we affectionally call him. He keeps us honest and up to date with our accomplishments especially our pedal strokes and how many calories we burned that day!!
According to our beloved statistician, today was the fastest day EVER on the 1965ride with an average speed of 26.2kms per hours!!!
Now almost half way through the tour, we have cycled 411kms and have spent 18 hours and 27 minutes on the bike. Our bums are numb, our hearts are happy knowing that while we are not only having immense fun on the bicycle, making new friends who feel like family, we are helping deserving children get a better start in life.
