Blog written by Jen Wilson and Tony Frost:
A DAY TO REMEMBER.
An exhibition of power lifting by the diminutive 2m tall Lungisa Tshele started the day. He managed to pick up the Trek bikes which are always a pleasure to lift but struggled with the incredibly heavy Specialised Creo!! To put this in context, there has been an ongoing battle between the 7 Treks and the 4 Specialised bikes. This battle continued up the notorious Ladybrand hill with the 2 Specialised ebikes going down first. It was the Trek team to the rescue and soon the Specialised were up and running again. It was little surprise that the next bike to suffer the indignity of an involuntary stop was one of our Tour Leaders, Manelisi Ntayiya, on his bling orange Specialised. All the result of unexpected punchers!
We have some wonderful longstanding traditions on the 1965Ride, one of which is to stop at the summit of the famous hill where we usually look back at the long road travelled but this year it was not possible because the rain which started around 2am continued unabated with a thick bank of low cloud cover. So, there was no looking back this year. We were, however, able to take our traditional arms-raised photograph in triumph at having conquered the challenging and very slow and very wet climb.
Another involuntary stoppage occurred when Buhle pushed a bit too hard and did not only break his derailer but totally destroyed it beyond repair. Hectic international diplomacy took place resulting in an amicable negotiated settlement which the 1965Ride leadership are considering selling their consulting services to the Middle East characters who seem unable to find an equitable settlement of the conflicts. It was thus resolved that Sigqibo would once again steal Tony’s bike, a Trek Madone known as the Black Mamba and Sigqibo would lend his Green Mamba to Buhle with all owners praying for their safe return!!
These incidents meant that we only managed a measly first 11km in a painful 90 mins. 😊
This wonderful 2026 Parlotone is, if nothing else, brave and fearless. So, it was onwards and upwards.
After the fabulous 8km downward sweep we turned left on to the route to Hobhouse. We called this a route because the next 20km cannot under any circumstances and even with a vivid imagination, be called a road. It was a muddy stretch not in anyway designed to be fun, exciting, or enjoyable for cyclists on road bicycles. Apart from the wet, this stretch could only be enjoyed by ducks, pigs and rhinos wanting to wallow in a mud bath.
Added to the misery of this section were poor Manelisi and Yonela who both suffered punchers. Manelisi’s were serious enough to replace tube and tyre. All these unexpected repairs had to be performed in a persistent drizzle and very cold conditions. A small glimmer of hope happened when Oom Willem (owner of Lord Fraser and our hosts for the night) passed us shouting encouragement. Shortly thereafter, the muddy, potholey road ended abruptly, to be replaced by a solid well-built stretch of tar which left us wondering how the 2 sections of the road could be so different though built by the same people.
One of the wonderful mood-lifting visions along the side of the road was the abundance of cosmos with the amazing landscapes of the Eastern Freestate which never fail to fill you with a sense of wonder.
We have now discovered that its not compulsory for qualified lawyers to read and understand road signs 😊. It was only once again for the compassionate kindness and concern for a fellow team member that resulted in Yanga being turned around and pointed in the right direction.
The evening saw us enjoying another sumptuous Lord Fraser for which the Swanepoels have become famous with the entire global 1965Ride family.
506km done, in an astonishingly quick average speed of over 21km/h. About 333km to go to Komani.
It’s a special kind of relationship that’s formed when sharing the road especially in such difficult and demanding conditions.
Today was a day that we had to dig very deep with laser-focused clear vision of what we are doing. It was the camaraderie and team spirit got us through.
