![\"10527706_986636881352216_4059681352786878733_n.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-2-0-00451200-1411323593.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto: Cherie Vale \/ Lesotho Sky<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Photo: Cherie Vale \/ Lesotho Sky<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Photo: Cherie Vale \/ Lesotho Sky<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Starting in reverse number order we were all set for our 10:28 start time. Ahead of us is rally driving ace Gugu Zulu. Behind us some Swiss nationals and one crazy singlespeeder, rigid fork and all.<\/p>\n Mission of the day: Don’t get caught by the singlespeeder. Surely with gears and shocks he won’t catch us?!<\/p>\n The prologue starts and we shoot up a steep tar road towards Parliament. And just like that the tar ends and we’re thrown into a rocky trail that\u2019s possibly more suited to goats than mountain bikes. Welcome to Lesotho mountain biking. We had been advised at dinner the night before that this was \u201creal mountain biking\u201d. If the first 3km were anything to go by we were in for a challenging, but incredible week.<\/p>\n The course took us on a tour of the Mountain Kingdom\u2019s capital. Mazes of roads through houses, rocky divergent single track and dongas for Africa left us wishing we\u2019d taken the chance to recce the route beforehand.<\/p>\n Although overshooting a few turns here and there we were moving along well. Up ahead I could see the winding climbs in between houses perched on the hillside. Time to start reeling in a few of our minute (and a half) men. While not long, the climbs we were presented with were loose, twisty and rocky. At times opting to carry was not a question of willpower, leg power or skill, but the only viable option.<\/p>\n With just 4km and a little climbing to go our mission for the day had fallen apart. The singlespeeder had caught us. Not only that, but he was making the technical rocky trails look easy while he pulled ahead.<\/p>\n The last few kilometers took us through some more flowy trails and some short sharp descents. A final sharp climb brought us to the top of the hill and into a short section of singletrack before the finish.<\/p>\n Crossing the line in 01:26:12 we ended up 16th overall and 8th in the open category. Not too shabby considering we didn\u2019t go \u201cfull gas\u201d. Singlespeeders aside being in the top half is good for us, now to maintain and improve on that.<\/p>\n Photo: Cherie Vale \/ Lesotho Sky<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nDay 1 – The TOTAL Time trial<\/h2>\n
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