First solo adventure

By this time most of our friends have heard about the bad news of Arné breaking her ankle on Monday and for those who did not, go read all about it here!  So on this public holiday I decided to sleep late and then go for a ride later during the day when it has warmed up a bit.

Knowing that this will be a solo adventure and that I will miss my riding partner more than I could imagine, I decided to change the odds a bit.  I said to myself that I will make it as hard as possible with no creature comforts such as a hydration pack, water bottle, spare tubes, something to eat or anything that could help me in times of need. Drink from the river, eat from the trees. I decided to go "cave man".

With my 1x10 hardtail and my mobile phone (to be used as a strava device and camera) I headed for the hills.  It was a cold brisk morning with an icy chill in the air.  I got going and soon my legs were spinning.  On my way to Jonkershoek I already started to feel lonely, missing the turn of my head to make sure Arné is still safely behind me, but alas, she was nowhere to be seen.  I was on my own.

Some snow on the Jonkershoek and Hottentots holland Mountains cheered me up and explained the icy cold wind blowing in my face.  This got me somewhat excited and I changed my route to go as high as I can to snap some photos of it.  Pedaling the 1x10 up some serious steep hills took some hard work and I had to dig deep to keep it up.

Flowing down the single track was pretty nice, I got some traffic but they were kind enough to get out of the way for me.  This was by far the best run I had down The Neverending story up to date.  My bike felt smooth with no rattles thanks to the clutch derailleur.  I was having some good fun and it felt like old school times with new school gear!

Heading to Firetrail was very scenic with snow on the peaks and it felt like riding in the Alps or somewhere in Europe.  Firetrail was good as always, with Bennet building there it never lets you down.  You could feel spring is in the air:  the soil is tacky and grippy, the air is fresh and the birds are out.  The fun was over for the day, just one pedal back home.

I survived my first solo adventure, despite thinking of Arné back home in her cast and how she would have loved this ride. I felt grateful in a way, grateful that I am blessed with such a great girl, such a fighter, strong and at the same time loving and caring and more often than not cute and very pretty. Sometimes you appreciate things more once you don't have it, so while you have it, cling on to it for dear life and appreciate every single moment of it!