Enduro Africa 2008 videos

A number of videos I took during the event.

Enduro videos

Final thoughts

What an amazing experience and one I would repeat tomorrow if I had the chance. Eight days of continuous off-road riding through varied and sometimes extremely tough terrain with 88 like minded bikers. The presence of Princes William and Harry just added an extra element to the event to make it even more memorable.
Three great charities have benefited from our efforts and I would like to thank everyone that has so generously sponsored me.
In addition, we supported another charity, Touch Africa, while there by helping at a creche during our rest day. We painted the creche, repaired furniture and built some swings. Only little things, but they were appericated and hopefully will benefit the children for many years to come. Future Enduro riders will return and make further improvements.
The last day was quite emotional for everyone, from saying goodbye to the organisers at the hotel to parting from our members of our teams at Heathrow airport. Many friends have been made along the way and hopefully we will keep in touch and share memories from time to time.

Day 8 - Mansfield to Port Elizabeth - 131 mile

A quick blast on tarmac this morning before turning back on the mud roads and heading into the Kariega Game Reserve. The riders enjoyed a short tour of the reserve followed by lunch including Warthog stew!
All that remained, we thought, was a tarmac ride into Port Elizabeth so people began to relax, but the organisers had other ideas. The riders regrouped on the outskirts of PE and were escorted by the police, and a convoy of paparazi, into the outskirts of the city. After quite a distance, we were told that the hotel was just a couple of miles away, but what they did not tell us was that the last few miles would all be on sand.
For those that have not ridden on sand, it is extremely difficult. If you ride slowly and cautiously, the back wheel digs in and the steering just does not work! You have to ride fast and basically skim the surface of the sand hwile not really feeling like you have any control where you are going. Those few miles proved hard work, but everyone made it through eventually.
Arrival at the hotel was greeted with relief and jubilation. Of the 89 riders that set of, 86 rode into Port Elizabeth., an amazing feat considering some of the participants had no off road experience 10 days ago!

Day 7 - Katberg to Mansfield Reserve - 172 miles

The first 10 miles this morning were up the rocky and rutted Katberg Pass and with the previous days fatigue setting in proved quite tough. It was worth it for the breathtaking view though. Today was a fast riding day mostly on mud roads. At the end of the day we came to a motorcross track and despite our lack of experience decided to have a go. A few cautious laps later and everyone had huge grins on there faces. The stories of big jumps and getting some air grew in relation to the number of beers consumed during the evening.
The accomodation was in the middle of a game reserve, although fenced off from the animals thankfully and for me consisted of a high level platform over looking the reserve.

Day 6 - Morgans Bay to Katberg - 181 miles

The day marked a huge change in the scenary. We have left the Transkei and moved into the Easatern Cape. Gone are all the mud huts and groups of people hanging around, replaced by larger towns with nice houses and a proper infrastructure.
The first part of the morning was a brilliant blast through a forest, weaving through the trees on a muddy and sometimes rocky car-wide track. Emerging from the forest, the terrain now looks like the Peak District, all rolling hills and peaks with very few trees and views for miles with no sign of any inhabitants. A lunch stop at Thomas River saw Malik decide that he could not contine with the yellow team as he was suffering with the stomach bug.
The afternoon sees more forest tracks attacked, but the overnight rain had made the rutted tracks extremely difficult and slippery. Half way through the afternoon, Owain is feeling so unwell he has to stop and be sick! Unfortunately he is 8 Km from the nearest road and assistance and so has to come down a steep, muddy track on the back of the doctors bike. We meet up with the ambulance and he is whisked away. At this point we picked up several waifs and strays from other teams tht were not feeling so well and it slowed us down considerably. To make matters worse, I picked up a puncture, but luckily our Sweep had some tyreweld and I was soon on my way again. Five Kms down the road and my tyre had gone flat again! I had to ride sat on the tank as far forward as possible to get as much weight off the back as possible for around 10 Km. Not very comfortable or easy. By luck, at the next road junction, a Honda sales rep just happened to be passing, so my bike was quickly put on the back of his pickup. The rider feeling most under the weather went with the rep and I rode his bike. We set off again, but by now it was getting dark, so Dave suggested another of his infamous shortcuts. We ended up riding off road for around an hour in the pitch black. It was certainly an experience. A few nerves and tempers were frayed, but a few beers later in the bar and all was well.

Day 5 - Rest day

Although billed as a rest day, we still had plenty to do. Each rider was responsible for servicing his own bike, ensuring that the oil was changed, the air filter removed, washed and re-oiled and the chain oiled. The Princes were queueing with everyone else and getting their hands dirty. In fact I think they really enjoyed it.
The remainder of the morning was spent helping one of the supported charities, Touch Africa. We rode into the local village where a very basic creche has been setup. The riders (and Princes) all mucked in to redecorate the inside of the hall, repair some chairs and build some swings for the children.
In the afternoon, the riders played a football match against the local team and lost 6 - 2. An enjoyable day despite no riding and nice to be able to do some work during the trip.

Day 4 - Mzazappa Bay to Morgans Bay - 52 miles

Having been awake most of the night, I was not really feeling up to riding and considered taking the easy route or not riding at all. However, having come all this way I did not want to miss out on anything and so decided to ride. A good decision.

The ride was all on narrow tracks with very few roads and began with a fantastic blast through dense woodland, negotiating fallen trees and rocky descents. The day also saw us cross about 17 rivers, some of which were quick blasts across shallow streams and others involved wading across metres of unseen rocks up to your thighs in water. This led to some amusing incidents with bikes looking more like submarines. But despite swallowing half the river, simply putting the bike vertical on its back wheel to drain the water and cleaning out the air filter, the little Hondas would always fire back into life. Amazing!
The last river crossing was beyond even the Hondas capabilities and we hopped on to a rather rickerty ferry.
A relatively early finish today saw those not suffering from sickness make the most of fact that the next day was a rest day and celebrated surviving the most demanding part of Enduro Africa.

Day 3 - Hole in the Wall to Mzazappa Bay - 145 miles

Today was another long day and would provide extremely challenging and demanding terrain. There were many steep descents and climbs and around 9 river crossings.
The morning went without any major problems and everyone enjoying the challenge. However, in the afternoon, we got news of a silver team member having taken a bad fall and needing the doctor, who was currently with us. It took a while to establish his exact location, so the yellow team was getting behind again.
We set off again, back into more technical sections and had the first yellow team incident. Coming up a bumpy and rutted, muddy climb, two of the team collided and ended in a heap on the floor. Unfortunately, Paul needed the doctors attention. Luckily Doc Hennie had returned from dealing with the silver team incident and quickly diagnosed broken ribs. With the help of pain killing injections, Paul managed to get back on and ride to the fuel stop. Here we were joined by a very unwell looking Prince Harry, who was suffering with a stomach bug. Paul and Harry decided to go by 4X4 to the overnight stop, while the rest of the groups continued on to the final challenge of the day.
Our final challenge of the day was the "Gorge", a steep rocky, bumpy and muddy descent to a short river crossing followed by a long, steep boulder strewn climb out the other side. Only the experts made it up without stopping and the rest of us needed many helping hands to get all the way up.
After reaching the top, I walked back down to help the rest of the group. What a mistake! By the time I had walked back up again I could barely breath. We reached the hotel in darkness.
I was extremely tired and to make matters worse came down with the stomach bug that was by now sweeping through the riders.

Day 2 - Mboyti Lodge to Hole in the Wall - 136 miles

Two choices of road today, high road route all on tarmac and a low road option taking in many technical sections and a few river crossings. I opted for the low road option which involvd some steep climbs as we travelled through Port St John and Poenkop. By now, we were deep in the Transkei region with stunning scenary.

The technical sections were mainly linked by mud roads, which have a light dusting of gravel. This makes for tricky riding, as on the straighter parts 60mph was easily reached but with the many dips, blind crests and bends it was easy to go into a bend way too fast. This led to a number of incidents during the day. The yellow team was making good progress until we came round a sharp down hill S-bend. One of the blue team was waving us down and as we came round the last bend, there was poor Michael on the floor and his bike in the hedge! People gathered to offer assistance and see if he was all right heard him ask the doc for his rucksack. Asuming that he had some medication we grabbed his bag and started rumaging about, but Michael stopped us and said he wanted his camera so someone could capture the moment! We later found he had broken his collarbone and Michael was given the Spirit of the day award at the evening gathering.
Later that day, the yellow team managed to get split in two with the majority attaching themselves to the blue group and a splinter group of 8 including me and the team leader actually going the wrong way! Following an hour trying to track down the rest of the group, we eventually got moving again, but way behind the rest. Big Dave, the yellow team leader said he knew a short cut with a small river crossing if we felt OK doing it. We all agreed and set off. The drop down to the river crossing was tight twisty and steep and should have prepared us for what was to come! Not the river crossing, that was small as Dave had said, but the near vertical rock face we had to ride up to get back out again! It took a huge effort from the whole group to get everyone up but we managed it and made our way along mud roads to the overnight stop.

The evening awards saw one of the Royal party awarded the Dick of the Day trophy. Arthur decided that it would be a great idea to put as much of his gear as possible on the luggage truck until that was, he was stood next to his bike in flip flops and no body armour! Doh!!

Day 1 - Leisure Bay to Mboyti - 122 miles

Following an arrival party the night before, with briefings from the Enduro Africa team and presentations from the charities, the slightly nervous teams assembled for an 8am departure. Thanks to our special guests, our leaving attracted a little more attention than would be normal!

We all headed off for a photo shoot at a local beauty spot to keep the paparazi happy . Unfortunately, on the way, there was a bit of confusion and two of the Royal group had a coming together. No injuries, just bruised pride and damaged kit and everyone carried on!

Press satisfied, we set off. After a few miles of tarmac, we turned on to our first mud track of the trip with just a little trepidation. The riding consisted of a large number of difficult technical sections linked by bumpy mud roads and tarmac. Most people spent the day getting used to the bike and remembering how to ride off road. The first serious climb before the rest stop proved very tricky and our group leader elected to take a slightly easier (so he said) route around. If this was the easier route, I am glad we skipped the more difficult section. The afternoon continued in the same vein and we arrived at our hotel tired and relieved. No serious incidents or injuries and most headed straight for the bar on arrival at our digs for the night, exhausted!

Departure day

Finally, departure day has arrived. Eighty plus riders arrived at Heathrow for overnight flights to Johannesburg in various states of dress. Thanks to a strictly enforced baggage weight limit, motorcross boots and body armour was hastily unpacked and worn to avoid heavy excess baggage charges. There were some odds looks as we went through security!

A mad dash ensued at Johannesburg to catch a connecting flight to Durban and eventually we started the last part of our journey by coach. Unfortunately this only lasted 5 mins, as the bus decided to overheat. An hour later, standing on the side of the road, a replacement bus arrived and we eventually made it to the first night hotel.





We were greated by the sight of 100 shiny Hondas Enduro bikes and a Zulu welcome.


Every one was eager to get on their bike, but also a little tired from the past 24 hours of travelling.





With little time to get settled in, we were told to report to reception in our Enduro gear in an hours time! Our first ride was only a quick blatt to the petrol station, but I think it calmed a lot of peoples nerves.

Enduro Training

I spent Friday 10th Oct blatting around Salisbury Plain trying to learn how to ride an enduro bike off road. I survived with just a few aches and bruises, but learnt a great deal and now realise what I have let myself in for. If I can walk unaided on my return, I will be quite pleased!

Nearly time to go!!

Well, my departure date for Enduro Africa is getting very close now. Only 11 days to go!!

Starting to get all my gear together, went out and bought a new helmet today.

I hope to keep this Blog up to date while I am in South Africa, but it will depend on Internet access.

I have heard back from some people on the first part of the ride and their first night is being spent camping in a wildlife reserve. Hopefully they won't get any nasty surprises during the night, of the furry kind with lots of teeth!