Kwanda & Lance at Tops Needle Rapid

With no sufficient rain since Christmas, there was an exciting buzz at the start of the Inanda Dam to Durban (3^rd day of Dusi) Canoe race that took place yesterday because of the planned water release. However paddlers were disappointed as they put in to a low Umgeni River, after portaging over the Dam wall.

The first rapid - Tops Needle Rapid was a compulsory portage. The bun fight at the put-in was great entertainment for spectators as 5 boats tried to put in where there was only place for 2.

200m downstream Ant Stott and Michael Mbanjwa were the first swimmers of the day. Lack of concentration saw them clip a rock and over they went. A shallow river saw them make a speedy recovery and by Umzimyathi they were back in the lead.

             Thobani and Skhumbuso carefully negotiate Side Shute down the left. 

With the absence of the other big hitters like Len Jenkins and Hank McGregor, the Dusi lacks a story line regarding the frontrunners, it’s a one horse race for line honours. The exciting part will be the battle for the other 9 gold medal positions. 

All my ‘Change a Life’ crews did the race but there were no results. They disqualified themselves. Let me explain. It was compulsory to paddle around Burma Hill in this race, however because the ‘Change a Life’ boys will all run over Burma Hill come Dusi, they wanted to take this opportunity to do exactly that – run over Burma Hill. Also, with the river low, chances of boat damage paddling around were high. So for breaking the race rules and not to upset the race organisers they got out just short of crossing the finish line. My only crew to finish legally were the newly formed combination of Thobani and Skhumbuso. It was necessary for them to race in order to get a placing for Dusi seeding.

Plett - Sabrina Charity Challenge - Olympians Mish Erray, Natalie Du Toit, Chad Ho 

Lucas kept the ‘Change a Life’ team on the straight and narrow training path whilst I disappeared for two weeks to the Transkei Coast & Natures Valley in the Eastern Cape. Instead of putting in some big training sessions on the water, I replaced my boat and paddle for my bicycle. Next goal - Cape Epic Cycle. Exploring the never ending up and down backroads of the Transkei made me think I was back in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. The long group rides with my Epic cycling partner Albe Geldenhuys on the infamous “Petrus se Brand”, “Homtini”, and Garden of Eden routes was priceless. And together with the road biking to Storms River and back and riding with Kevan Evans, kept things honest. On one particular ride we pushed to our limits, only to hear Kevin chirp at the end “this is my easy ride for the week”.

                       Self portrait at Hella Hella bridge. 

As with tackling any huge endurance event, it is always wise to redefine your limits in training. I came close on the weekend when I mountain biked from Home (close to Nagle Dam), through Maritzburg, Richmond and across the mighty Mkomaas River at Hella Hella bridge and up the other side to the Mackenzie Country Club (Sani2c day one finish). It was not the distance, but the rookie mistake of not taking enough juice, under-estimating the heat, that made the journey challenging. The ‘old turn-off the discomfort switch’ in the brain had to be applied.

  Halfway up pass, Hella Hella bridge below - not so fun any more, but good for the soul.

I have been putting alot of thought into some new prospects of Development in the Valley of a Thousand Hills.

Because I have relocated to KZN and spend so much time in the ‘Valley’, I need something bigger and more challenging. Having got the ‘green light’ from Computershare Ceo - Stan Lorge and support from the Marketing Director Ursula Du Plooy, I am over the moon with what ‘could be’ going forward.

 I know, when you start saying something its unfair to stop telling, but until all my ducks are in a row I’m afraid I can’t spill the beans. 

This entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 1:53 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.