79 days to go !!!!

Yep thats right 79 days to go to the start of the 2012 RASA for Tim and I . Tim has been off training down in Sabie on Thor and I have been training the sofa due to a tennis elbow operation, but back on the bike today. The Freedom Challenge web site came back on line and then got hacked, so its off line again. The new riders must be getting frustrated with not being able to get information on the race, if there is any riders with questions contact some of the guys that have ridden the race before, or use the Freedom Challenge Facebook page to get your questions out. The race office is just as frustrated, but due to some w**k*r we are all battling for information.

Tim has his pack weight down to 4.5 Kgs without water, one needs to put this into perspective, during the first race in 2009 his pack was about 12 Kgs and he did not have enough room in a 35 Ltr pack, now he has a 22 Ltr back pack, just goes to show age and experience help !!! Either that or he has forgotten stuff due to his age !!!

There are several races coming up before RASA, such as the ASG 24 hour in Pretoria, the Karkloof Marathon, my favorite, and the Lion Man up in a game reserve near Warmbaths, so we can have some fun before the serious stuff starts. We will be joined this year in our starting batch by Peter and John from Port Elizabeth (THE WINDY CITY) It will be their first RASA. Peter followed the blog last year and appears to be mentally insane enough to take on the challenge, we wish them the best of luck and I hope they remember that as the junior members of the team its protocol to carry the senior members back packs for the first 6 days !!

In answering some of Peters questions during the past weeks, one answer that I gave him has struck me as maybe the most important for a stage race such as the Freedom Challenge. The question was "What would you consider being the most important things to have right before the start of the race" The answer I gave was that your emotional state must be in balance, its right to be fit and prepared and have the correct equipment but unless you are RIGHT IN THE HEAD you can not sustain the day in and day out stress of the race. Not having the pressures of normal life can sometimes leave a vacuum in your mind that lets it wander around, you need to focus each day and make sure that all is happy back home so that you can stand a chance of completing this race. Some may disagree with me, but those people may have their HEAD RIGHT !!!!!