![\"ccs-62657-0-29394600-1465483173.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-29394600-1465483173.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Non-Stop Dusi Canoe Marathon paddling icon Eric Bothma (background) is relishing returning to the Valley of a Thousand Hills this weekend when he and his Subaru Smurf Ballies team mate, Mark Christie (front) tackle the 2016 BSi Steel dusi2c from Camps Drift in Pietermaritzburg, through the Valley of a Thousand Hills, to Durban’s Blue Lagoon. Jetline Action Photo\/ Gameplan Media<\/span><\/p>\nThe 49 year-old adventure fundi is best known for his remarkable record of, until this year\u2019s \u2018Dusi in a day\u2019, completing every edition of the Non-Stop Dusi since its formal inception in 1996.<\/p>\n
Many had expected Bothma to become the first person ever to complete the \u2018Dusi in a day\u2019 twenty times however a hip operation shortly before the race saw him relegated to the side lines and delayed his achievement of 20 Non-Stop Dusi finishes until 2017\u2019s race.<\/p>\n
The iconic paddler is however back in action and being a keen mountain biker as well, is raring to return to the Valley he loves for this weekend\u2019s dusi2c journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a bit disappointing to miss out on this year\u2019s Non-Stop Dusi but it was definitely the right decision for me and I was completely at peace with my decision,\u201d explains Bothma.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had quite a long layoff from paddling after my hip operation but I was back on the bike pretty quickly in order to prepare for sani2c, which I did with my daughter, and now I\u2019m really looking forward to this weekend\u2019s adventure in the Valley!\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
While having found peace with his decision to sit this year\u2019s Non-Stop Dusi out, Bothma admits he is looking forward to returning to the paths of the Valley that he knows so well and taking in the vastly different Valley experience the dusi2c offers to his paddling adventures.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though the dusi2c is along a very similar route to the Dusi and Non-Stop Dusi, paddling through the Valley and cycling through Valley are hugely different experiences!<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you paddle, you don\u2019t actually experience the whole valley; on a bike you get to go to places you don\u2019t normally see when you\u2019re paddling.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really is just so pretty down in the Valley, and it\u2019s right on our doorstep! We travel all over the country \u2013 to Jo\u2019burg, Cape Town, etc. \u2013 just to do stage races and yet we\u2019ve got such a brilliant race right here on our doorstep!\u201d<\/p>\n The dusi2c\u2019s unique mountain biking atmosphere is another element of the two day event that Bothma relishes being part of year after year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe dusi2c is a proper mountain bike race \u2013 there are natural paths, rocks, falling, the works!<\/p>\n \u201cThe vibe is also just so great as well though.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is really nice and chilled, everyone is so laid back as they enjoy some quarts at the end of the first day \u2013 it\u2019s brilliant!<\/p>\n \u201cAlso, I\u2019m at the stage of my paddling career that I don\u2019t stay at the overnight stops of Dusi anymore. Now, with the dusi2c and the Mfula Store overnight stop though, we get to enjoy that element of things all over again.<\/p>\n \u201cThe dusi2c really, really is such a special race!\u201d<\/p>\n Bothma is all set to team up for the third time with old family friend and long-time supporter of race organiser Famer Glen Haw\u2019s events, Subaru Pietermaritzburg\u2019s Mark Christie, an occasion the pair look forward to annually.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Christie family and my family are as good as family; we\u2019re that close.<\/p>\n \u201cMark and I have done two dusi2cs together before and three in the same riding group when we\u2019ve ridden with the kids, etc.<\/p>\n \u201cI really enjoy doing dusi2c with Mark and I cannot wait to ride it with him again at this year\u2019s race.\u201d<\/p>\n Bothma is certainly not the only member of the paddling fraternity set to enjoy the Valley from the saddle this weekend though.<\/p>\n<\/a>Dusi paddlers Andrew Houston (front) and Bianca Haw (background) know the rivers and paths of the Valley of a Thousand Hills like the back of their hands and will now look to enjoy the region’s beauty from the saddle of their mountain bikes as they take on the 2016 BSi Steel dusi2c from Camps Drift in Pietermaritzburg to Durban’s Blue Lagoon this weekend. Anthony Grote\/ Gameplan Media<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Having paddled across Inanda Dam during his more familiar Dusi efforts, Owen Gandar – together with his BSi Steel dusi2c 1 team mate, girlfriend and fellow paddling enthusiast, Tamika Haw – will now cycle around the Valley of a Thousand Hills body of water during the 2016 BSi Steel dusi2c from Camps Drift in Pietermaritzburg to Durban’s Blue Lagoon this weekend. Anthony Grote\/ Gameplan Media<\/span><\/p>\n