Travel Day.....

Plenty like this coming up!

There is something about checking in at the airport with a bike that kicks off the feeling of adventure. I have checked in the bike, my bag as well as nearly 20kg's of gels, protein bar's, recovery drinks, and other assorted "ride" food for both me and Buzz,  as we were told not to rely on getting it in South Africa.   I must admit, it was a little tricky getting nearly 52kg's of baggage checked in without copping any excess baggage.

All the hard work is done and I've kicked back in the lounge, having a nice cold James Boag's (carbo loading) waiting for my flight to be called.  I enjoy this part of the trip, the anticipation of what lies ahead with 8 hard days of riding. Buzz and I are both ready, although I must admit being a bit nervous as the race starts to loom onto the horizon. It was 2 years ago when Buzz and I agreed to do this. 2 years of planning is almost now a reality. One to be ticked off the 'bucket list".  The last full-on Mountain bike race I did was back in 2009, when I had a pretty hard fall which ended up with me breaking 3 ribs and my shoulder in 4 places.  Hopefully all that is in the past and we get a trouble free ride for the 8 stages ahead at the Epic.

Did my last training ride this morning with a few of the KMD boys. We did the Manly 5.30am Church point ride with 6 of us continuing  up McCarrs Creek road and back to Manly through Frenchs Forest. I must be feeling good as on Strava my ride (following Alex and Jordan) up McCarrs was the fastest I have ever done it putting me 3rd on the leader board out of 640, so all the training has come together well.  It is always hard getting yourself to "peak" at the right point when you build your program.

Will be there in 22 hours time. Hope the bike travels well and we have all the bags there to meet me in Cape Town.