Bad night's sleep - sharing room with Kevin, a very nice bloke from Newark but who snores terribly - so difficult to stay asleep for long finally giving up at 4.30 am when I decided to get up and start preparing my kit for the big off. Kit preparation is clearly going to become a very important part of this venture - Camelbak for water with plenty of rehydration sachets, body armour, knee and lower leg armour, waterproof (sealskin) socks, boots with four very difficult to close buckles on each boot, gloves,neck bandana, helmet with helmet cam, Orange Team tee-shirt, energy bars, goggles, sunglasses, normal spectacles, waterproof digital camera, money in waterproof plastic bag, mobile phone also in waterproof plastic bag in case I get lost (apparently it has happened), complete set of waterproofs, Fist Aid kit, Leatherman, goggles, spectacles and sunglasses wipes and last but by no means least a small rucksack to contain everything I won't be wearing ! We are going to be staying in a different place every night, so must pay attention to putting everything in the right place and not forget any of the above.
Early, very good and very large breakfast and out to forecourt of hotel to do maintenance checks on my Honda CRF 230 off-road bike - this also to become a very important part of each day as the bike is going to become either my best friend if properly looked after or my worst enemy if not.
Depart hotel at 8.00 am to a fanfare of African dancers and musicians as well as a Police escort with lights flashing and sirens blaring. 60 participants leaving Port Elizabeth - I wonder how may are going to arrive at our final destination in Port Edward ?
Spent the first hour or so on the coast road and was just beginning to wonder when the real off-raod stuff was going to begin when we suddenly left the road and started riding a switchback track down the side of a railway line to then suddenly veer of and find that we are in the middle of nowhere with what looked like and almost vertical ascent up a very high hill - this was clearly the shape of things to come and the result was absolute carnage with most riders falling off some way up the hill or several of those who made it crashing into the parked motorcycles over the brow at the top of the hill ! These are called "technical sections" and it appears that we are going to be doing a lot of them over the next 9 days. The first big ascent was followed shortly after by a steep descent over slippery and loose shale which felt like riding on ball bearings - the font wheel was all over the place and the sweat was now flowing copiously. The next ascent was over the same surface and resulted in my first fall - i was soon to learn how difficult it is to remount and restart a motorcycle on a steep and slippery slope and actually make it move again !
The reward of this tough beginning was lunch at the Scotia Game Reserve where we were shown (in very close proximity) a pride of lions, wildebeeste, crocodiles, Kudu, Rhinos, giraffes and followed by a delicious kudu stew for lunch.
Another hard ride in the afternoon through various game reserves and dirt tracks with loads of potholes, bumps and dust flying ( a lot of which went into my eyes as I discovered that wearing goggle over glasses is not a good idea as the fogging up makes it quite difficult to see where you are going !)
Arrive at Bushman Sand Hotel in early evening after 203 km and about 9 hours on the bike - about 5 hours of which was standing up - these are not bikes on which you spend a lot of time sitting in the saddle as they are more stable and easier to control in the standing position.
Dinner and debriefing by Mike Glover (the organiser) and bed at 11.00pm. We are all a bit nervous after today's riding which was a lot harder than expected and the briefing for tomorrow's leg made reference to "treats" and "stings in the tail". The Enduro Team are notorious liars and wind-up merchants so we are not guaranteed a worry free and peaceful nights' sleep!
A Huge Thank You to all my Family and Friends who donated so much !
Thank you all so much for your contributions. Your generosity has made a lot of very poor and needy children in South Africa so happy. My blog is now almost finished and I hope that you were able to read about some of my exploits on Enduro Africa. I am already thinking about my next trip !
I'm Home and have survived !!
I got home last week and, apart from a broken rib, a couple of strains and bruises, am fine and well and already treasuring the memories of an unbelievable trip to South Africa. I did things I would never have believed I was capable of and met some wonderful people on the way. I am currently updating my daily blog, so come back again and read about all my exploits.
Welcome!
Hi, I am Stuart Redcliffe. I am 54 , grey haired, a tad overweight and unfit but this October I am taking part in EnduroAfrica 2010 and will be riding a trials bike, mainly off-road, for 1,500 kilometres from Port Elizabeth to Port Edward along the Wild Coast of South Africa. My aim is to survive in one piece and raise a lot of money for four amazing charities which do incredible work in South Africa. UNICEF, Sentebale, Nelson Mandela Children’s Charity and Touch Africa work tirelessly to provide health care, education, clean water, care and support for children, families and orphans and much, much more. Most of the work is done by dedicated volunteers and they never have enough money to tackle all the problems they face in this poor and underdeveloped region of South Africa.
Taking part in Enduro Africa could be simply be viewed as the latest episode in my ongoing mid-life crisis but I prefer to see it as a huge and potentially life changing challenge that will raise money for very worthwhile causes in return for a few saddle sores.
Each participant in Enduro Africa aims to raise a minimum of £5,000 for the named charities but many raise much more and continue their fund-raising long after the bike ride is over. The trials bikes we use for the trip all stay in South Africa after the event and are donated to provide volunteers and health care workers with much needed transport in areas with few roads and poor transport links. The Enduro Africa bikes make a real difference to local communities so I will try to make sure I get mine to Port Edward in good shape!
I signed up for Enduro last year and thought I had loads of time to get fit, remember how to ride a bike and raise money. Now it is May and I only have five months to do all the above! I have started with trying to get fit. For the first time in years I have joined a gym here in Marrakech, where I live, and I am sweating away on the treadmill almost every day. I’m also trying to shed a few pounds but not too many – I might need the padding when I fall off my bike! I bought my Yamaha trials bike 20 years ago but never got round to riding it much because life was just too busy. The bike has come along with me as we moved from England to France, then to Switzerland. It finally came home to England last May and when I took it to the local dealer for a service they were amazed to see a 1989 Yamaha in showroom condition with only 3000 miles on the clock. I also discovered I needed a new helmet because my old one was cracked and the visor had been broken off. Ah yes, now I remember why I stopped riding my bike! I am planning to take an off-road course during the summer to learn how to deal with the difficult terrain and many obstacles I will face in South Africa.
However, the biggest challenge will be getting people to sponsor me. So many fund raising events, so many good causes. Why should you give your money to me and Enduro Africa? Please, please look at the websites for each of the four charities supported by Enduro to see just what they do. From AIDS education to orphanages, their work is impressive, far reaching and very humbling.
When I first heard that my application to join Enduro Africa 2010 had been accepted I was wildly excited about the adventure to come. Then I sat down and viewed the DVD that came with the information pack and felt a bit sick. It was the most gruelling off road biking I’d ever seen – and I was expected to be able to do that! For sure, the landscapes were amazing, the people along the way were inspirational and the riders were a great bunch but all I saw was how many times people fell off their bikes in river beds or on steep narrow tracks. I had a moment of doubt that maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew and my Enduro experience might come to swift end on the first bit of rough terrain. Now I have had a chance to calm down and realise that plenty of other participants are almost novices and even the most hardened bikers are feeling a bit apprehensive. Spending up to 10 hours a day in the saddle is bad enough on good roads but Enduro doesn’t use roads at all!
Take a look at the Enduro Africa website for the full itinerary, movies, photos, testimonials and details about how the money will be spent. The event is now in its fourth year and has gone from strength to strength. Princes William and Harry have both completed Enduro, spurred on by the wonderful work their mother did in South Africa. They are big supporters of Sentebale - a charity linked to the Princes Trust which focuses on helping children and orphanages in the Lesotho region. This year the response to Enduro has been so great the organisers have had to set up two trips to accommodate the growing numbers of participants.
The first group departs on 2 October and returns on 13 October and I will be among their number!
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