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00:04I was always told that I could be anything when I grew up. You can be a doctor, a lawyer,
00:09a
00:09mathematician, you can be anything that a man can be. Yet my male family were never given a personal
00:14arm just to walk at night, never told to wear more clothes because you don't know who will be out
00:18there. They were never taught to map their lives around caution because somewhere along the way
00:23anything came with conditions. Be ambitious but not reckless, be independent but not alone,
00:27be free but not too far. And for a long time I guess I listened. Just saw a sign that
00:36was like
00:36don't go in ones, go in groups. They were like you can't go, like we don't give you permission.
00:41I saw like a group of guys in a car. But somewhere caution began to feel like my cage and
00:49I started to wonder what would happen if I stepped beyond it.
00:52And so on this episode of you can be anything you want to be when you grow up I decided
00:56that I would be
01:04I didn't realise you've got free will and like I could just piss like here, right?
01:26Basically all this week I've been trying so hard to pull this trip off. I had like no gear but
01:33I really
01:34wanted to go bikepacking. Welcome to bikepacking in South Africa.
01:42Good afternoon sports fans. Welcome to, what day is today? Friday? It's a good Friday. It's Friday the
01:483rd of April. We are en route from Cape Town to Sedgefield on la bus. We're leaving my bike box
01:55there
01:55because I had to put my bike in a bike box to get on the bus. Sorting out my setup
01:58and then setting off
01:58tomorrow morning on a little adventure. And so queue, adventure.
02:09So after having spent a few months in Cape Town, escaping the British winter,
02:13I was craving seeing other parts of South Africa. And so with a route constructed using YouTube and
02:17the insights of my local friends, I'd be setting off on a 500km adventure through the municipality
02:23of the garden route. I would start at the lush coastline of the classic road trip highway.
02:27Okay, so the first section is a bit of highway. And then we go up into the montanias. Okay,
02:32we turned off the motorway. Just saw a sign that was like, don't go in ones, go in groups. So,
02:38be fine, be fine. Over the Utaniqua mountain range.
02:42Yo! To drop into the vast dry landscape of the Clankaroo. I'd then climb a second time over the
02:48steep and rugged Swartburg mountains, where I'd then loop back around south to climb and descend
02:53those very ranges again. But I guess what I hadn't quite calculated was that would total almost 8,000
02:58meters of climbing with a loaded bike. Oh, and I only had six days.
03:06If you keep going, you'd get onto the seven passes way, which is like the big gravel route down like
03:14the coast. And so as I turned off the highway, only 20 kilometers in, this would be the first time
03:17of
03:18many that my DIY route was giving a DIY. I feel like I've kind of got nothing to lose by
03:24seeing
03:24if it really is closed. Unless like the road's completely like gone, like surely I can get through,
03:30you know. I think I found the construction. Just half of a road. Your sign. Your sign to ignore signs.
03:46So about halfway in, I stopped near a little town called George. I got some food because I knew
03:51that that would be the last time I could do it for a while. This is where we're going. Montague.
03:59400 meters of climbing. 4Ks.
04:04We may be going on a hike. We've got five hours of daylight. My heart rate's at like
04:12over 180. And it's going to get harder. So I found a lot of this route from an awesome
04:18middle-aged African man with a few interested subscribers on YouTube. And so I knew this part
04:22was going to be a bit tricky. I guess I just wasn't expecting to basically have to walk the entire
04:27thing.
04:27Roads are only closed if you let them be. This is the old Montague Pass, which has actually been
04:32closed for about three years due to flooding and water damage, completely ruined on the surface.
04:36I've always got it in my head that I'm like, oh, I need to like get there. I need to
04:39like get to a
04:40place because I'm almost like stressed that I won't like make it or like it'll get dark, which
04:44if you watch my other videos, you know, it sometimes happens. I don't really want to be on my own
04:47in South Africa in the dark. I feel like I've just gotten so used to walking now
04:52and I probably could ride it, but like, I'm just in this like walking flow.
04:57They are apparently going to restore it soon. But for the meantime, it was pretty much unrideable
05:02due to massive rocks and a pretty constant ditch in the middle of the road, especially with a gravel
05:06bike. Like, I don't want to orgasm too quickly, but look at this.
05:15This could be the end of it. So next time, maybe a mountain bike would be a better idea.
05:23Right. Let's go find somewhere to sleep. 25 Ks to the campsite. Although to be fair,
05:32I think I could potentially take a shortcut, but I think it's on like a main road. So.
05:37So because of safety concerns in South Africa, my friends had told me not to
05:41wild camp on this trip. Just hit a tarmac. This must be Harold, I guess. This highway seems alright.
05:48So I show you cows. I show you dirt. I show you hills. I show you clouds.
05:57But this area is incredibly rural. And so I was pretty lucky that I found a campsite on Strava
06:02and messaged them on WhatsApp to tell them I was coming. I think given that I had loads of energy
06:06on day one, I was pretty comfortable being uncomfortable on this day. But it turns out that
06:10this would be the easiest day of the whole trip. Good morning.
06:16I still think you're crazy.
06:41Good morning, friends. Welcome to the tent.
06:45And I'm really tired. I can't say that the ground is a comfortable mattress.
06:56Yeah, that's all I've got to say on that front. Make a cup of tea is what I want to
06:59do.
07:00Oh, there's a lovely big beetle in my bag. Oh, fuck off.
07:03Great. And also I had a bit of a bad stomach. I'm not sure if the wrap that I saved
07:09for dinner
07:09was like a good idea. But like, so I'm feeling a little bit skinny today. But I've got some cereal
07:14bars. I've got electrolytes and I've got open fuel. So I'll be fine. I hope the first town's like
07:1930, 40 k's away. So I'm gonna get there, have a nice coffee. And then basically the rest of the
07:23day,
07:24it's like climbing for like, I want to say like 70 k's. How hard can it be? Good morning, sports
07:35fans.
07:37Welcome to day two. What a road. So the first 40 to 50 kilometers of day two was the straight,
07:43long gravel roads of the Clankaroo, which is translated to the little desert.
07:53I thought that was a flat tie for a second. Okay, well at least it's not flat, but oh no.
07:59Let's see how this goes. And it is the sparse area between the two mountain ranges. And when you go
08:04over the Swartbag mountains, which is what I do later in the trip, you leave the Garden Route
08:08municipality and you enter the Karoo itself, i.e. the big desert. But the Clankaroo is known for its
08:13ostrich farming. Let's do the ostriches. I do not know how I feel about you, sir.
08:18Is it the Doctor Who episode where there's like scary ostriches? We've just hit the tarmac.
08:24And the main town in the area is Udsrun, which is where I had my first stop of the day.
08:30I found the homeland. Yeah, I don't really like this place. I'm just getting bad vibes.
08:38I don't know. We're just people looking at me and not being very friendly. It's all right though.
08:44I'm going to get a coffee and then I'll be happy. It's slightly unfortunate that they've only got
08:49one thing left. So I think I'm going to have to have this quick and then, yeah, get on the
08:59road and
08:59then try and find somewhere for like lunch and have like a proper sandwich because this is not enough
09:03to fuel me. Like I've got a carb mix but I don't really want to eat carb mix all day.
09:09So as I left Udsrun with four espressos and a cheesecake in my belly and started the 60km uphill.
09:15It's hot but it's lovely. Increasingly, I realised that there was a distinct lack of places to get
09:21food and water. And since I was riding in South African Autumn, the sunset would be around 6.30pm.
09:27And given the pace that I was able to set whilst in Zone 4, I feel like we're actually a
09:32little bit
09:32close to tears, I won't lie. That'll be wasting water. I was starting to worry of the man from the
09:36farm.
09:37Like it's only 30km but it's like 900m. I was going to be right. Even 6% is hard. I
09:49guess like
09:50maybe just like a bit like scared and like I know that there is a literal mountain in the way
09:58of
10:00getting too early to go. So I think this is the first time that I really got scared on the
10:05trip.
10:06Not because anything had happened. There were just a lot of people walking on the side of these roads
10:09and as I was climbing so slowly, all I could think was if someone wanted to push me off my
10:14bike and
10:15steal things from me, it would be really, really easy right now. Looks like something at least.
10:20And it was then that the universe rooped in to show me that I wasn't on my own.
10:28See you there. See you there. I might make a group chat just to make it more official.
10:32You will find it because you just walk into the, it's the closest house to the beach.
10:36No, no, I'm just saying for like making it official. Like once I get an invite list or like a
10:41group chat,
10:41that's when it becomes a plan. Perfect. Right. Don't crash on your way home. Please.
10:47Thank you. You're wearing a helmet? Yeah. Okay, good.
10:52We need to do, we need to do an update but um, it's been a bit of a crazy hour.
10:57Basically like
10:58was having very sad tears coming up this hill. See this like face. End up stopping here. Met some like
11:05lovely people and now I'm staying here for the night for like very little money um and
11:13I basically smashed it. At this farm I met a guy who invited me to host a party at his
11:18place in
11:18London though. I met the owners and they both advised me not to go over Swartburg with only a
11:23few hours of daylight left and the next day I would understand exactly why they said that.
11:31Good. Morning. Happy. Monday. It's going to be a hot day. It's not cloudy. Look, you're going to be
11:42the perfect morning to do this pass because I don't know if anyone's awake yet. It's like
11:48basically I'm just going to go to Prince Albert today. It's like 30 k's. It's just over the pass
11:53place because I've already got a place booked there um which was my supposedly like nice accommodation
11:58place but now I've got two nice accommodation places. And then tomorrow I'm going to try and do
12:04I think a big edge day. Let me see. I need to figure out my route because actually like it's
12:09further
12:09than I thought. Um anyway. I'm just yapping. I'm going to sort my stuff. I'm going to progress.
12:22We're very back heavy. The tail fin is very full. I'm a little bit worried about her. Yeah,
12:27it's not much I can really do. I think like basically today because it's that really steep
12:32climb I just had to take as much weight off my back as possible because like my back was just
12:36getting
12:37so sore. Good morning Swartz fans and welcome to the latest episode of Laura Kyrus her entire life
12:43over a fucking mountain. So the original route that I found on YouTube actually didn't go
12:49anywhere near Swartburg. This guy did 315 kilometers with 4500 meters of elevation in six days
12:55also with added rest days. I'm sure it does it justice quite how steep this is. It's like between
13:0410 and 20 percent so averaging it like 14 and it's like stop just to get my camera out.
13:15I'd heard that Swartburg was a must-visit place. I guess just hadn't quite clocked that. Welcome to
13:20bikepacking in South Africa. It was adding 200k's and over 3000 meters of elevation and so I was just
13:26praying that when I came down the other side it was all going to be worth it. I think this
13:32might be
13:32the top and initially it really wasn't.
13:42Okay there was one more climb. One more little baby climb. But lucky like I don't know how I feel
13:49about this. Like this gravel is fucking shit. It's rocks. Like this is way more mountain bike.
14:03But yeah we are. We are here. We are here. Guys we've reached Sackalabra.
14:13Well let's hope if this is like nice gravel we are in for a treat. If it is not we
14:20are in for some
14:22sore hands. Descend. And so here I found myself my second ever gravel trek descending through Swartburg
14:30on what was initially some pretty gnarly gravel. Flip me. Ow. That's very steep.
14:36But then my god. What was it? I've never been anywhere like this. Beautiful. Flip me.
15:00This is worth it. This is worth it. This is worth it. Geeesh.
15:08I think we may have a tailwind my friends. I'm like not even doing anything and going like 40
15:13kilometers an hour. Ah sleigh. Interesting. Very like spread out.
15:26Wow. It's huge. Another day. Another sleigh.
15:37Welcome to my bedroom. Welcome to my patio. Welcome to my grass. Welcome to the space where
15:48I entertain all of my guests. Ah hello friends. Good evening. Good afternoon. What a day. What a day.
15:57I'm actually so glad that I didn't do that yesterday. Like I think A I would have been so stressed
16:03about
16:03trying to make it. B I probably would have been cycling in the dark. C I wouldn't have like had
16:08the
16:08chance to stop and get content. Yeah it does mean that I think the next few days might be a
16:12little
16:13bit intense but um I guess we'll see. The one thing that I've spoke a lot about on Instagram but
16:18not
16:18really on YouTube is how I actually like left my job to do content full time because I was very
16:24much
16:24not in a position to be doing content full time. Like I had 10,000 followers on Instagram. I had
16:29like 500 subscribers on YouTube and I basically saved up enough money for kind of like a year's
16:34runway from my consulting job and the first company that ever looked at my content and kind of believed
16:40in me was a company called Lacquer. They are a bike insurance company and one that I was using
16:47well before they started sponsoring me after I had like a bad experience in my previous company
16:51and I've always just been absolutely blown away with how quickly they resolve my claims and just
16:57how much they actually cover. They cover against theft when you are at home or on the go. You can
17:02also cover against crashes and accidental damage or if you're taking part in any sort of licensed
17:07racing or going abroad with your bike they also have an add-on for that. And it's not just your
17:12bike
17:12you can cover. You can cover your kit, your gear, your accessories. Think lights, saddlebag, helmet, jersey,
17:19sunglasses. And they are also just lovely lovely people so I am super excited that they are
17:24sponsoring this adventure and they also very kindly cover my insurance for my adventures. So if you have
17:30been delaying covering your bikes or you want to switch to a company that really have your back
17:34you can use code LDS at lacquer.co which will get you 30 days free insurance if you are a
17:40new customer
17:40for that means a couple. So you can always drive with ultimate peace of mind. This is this is lacquer.
17:47So yeah thank you to lacquer thank you to I don't know my parents. I feel like I need to
17:52make some
17:53sort of like Oscar speech now but um now I should probably just make some food and uh chill out
17:59and
17:59go to bed. So we're basically I can't decide what I'm going to do it's currently like 8 30 um
18:11basically I've got two options today. Either I can cycle to De Roost which is like 70 or 80 kms
18:18away or I can go all the way to this place called Eagle Falls which is a cool camp spot
18:22that I found.
18:23But to get there it's 140 kilometers and I don't know I think I'm just going to see how the
18:28body
18:28feels like I'm going to have like try to have a good breakfast like I actually managed to have three
18:32meals yesterday which um yeah I always just struggle to like eat when I'm bikepacking and like
18:37finding like good food and stuff is a bit difficult. Basically another option is if I can't get back
18:41in time which I need to get. So I think the more concise way of saying this is that I
18:45had three
18:45days left of cycling before I had to be back in Sedgefield because someone needed my bike at the
18:49weekend for a race and so if I didn't manage to get to Eagle Falls I would have to cut
18:54the trip short and
18:55miss out on one of the really cool passes which is one of the whole reasons that I did this
18:59trip.
18:59Okay this is what car is just saying also yes it's calling 914 I haven't left. It doesn't look too
19:05bad
19:05like the biggest climb is like 200 there's two basically two 200 meter climbs but then quite a few
19:11like 100 meter ones so good morning sports fans I'm just like constantly in my head like I'm doing
19:2520k's an hour 140k takes seven hours which is like fun. So the route profile for day four was a
19:36whole lot
19:36of climbing at the beginning and then what looked like this long downhill section before I'd then
19:41turn off onto a bunch of rolling gravel and so I had an inkling that after I suffered through the
19:46first bit I could be able to pick up some speed but this was a road that none of the
19:50locals that
19:50I'd spoken to really had a strong idea of and so I kind of thought that it would be a
19:55road of nothingness.
19:57Feeling so much better like a bit of downhill is good. I think the feelings just made a
20:03massive difference which obviously. Wow look at this. This is definitely not a road of nothingness.
20:18This is crazy.
20:30Interesting. Yeah like the road feels quite maybe like Caribbean. I don't know why I feel the need
20:37to like compare everything to everything but yeah. So as I arrived in Daroost in the early afternoon
20:42and managed to get a full belly I decided that I would try and do the full 140k. Except just
20:48as I was
20:48about to turn onto the gravel section back in the Klein Karoo I encountered my first real problem of
20:54the day. I just turned around because like I don't know I saw like a group of guys in a
20:59car
21:00like kind of on the road that I need to go on and now I'm just like a bit scared
21:05but I don't even know
21:06what to do about it. I did not account for this. Like I can go but I'm like will it
21:13be fine?
21:14I'm just gonna try and eat it I think. Like this is the thing it's like is it in my
21:19head? Is it not in my head?
21:21Like you just you just don't know. My heart rate is so high. I'm just like on edge now.
21:30This is it like it's hard to trust your gut instinct sometimes because like your gut instincts are also
21:36like formed by like your biases rather than your experiences. Oh god. The gravel's just like
21:46so corrugated so it's just like so bumpy. So I basically saw five guys in a straight line
21:53across the road earlier. 150 meters of a cent to go and 25k. It is slow.
22:02Bike packing gravel is slow. And I thought that I'd seen them get out of a car before forming that
22:06line
22:07and so I ended up just waiting it out and then eating it past like 10 minutes later. So I
22:11was already
22:12really on edge and stressed when I hit this section. 27% which I think the guy on youtube gave
22:19himself
22:19a full day to do. I don't understand how there's 230 meters of elevation left. Like where?
22:25My gradient just plugged in at 32 percent. I need to wake up and remember who the fuck I am.
22:37reframe my mind. So as the sun was setting and I'd only seen one car for the past three hours.
22:43I'm so scared it's gonna like not exist or like be closed or something.
22:49I don't have any phone service.
22:53And the camp spot wasn't where I thought it was.
22:57It's supposed to be here.
22:57I guess I realised how vulnerable I was out here on my own.
23:09Three kilometers? Are you fucking kidding me?
23:25It's fine.
23:27It's fine.
23:29It's something I like to eat. I'm just like so scared that it's like closed or something.
23:36The girl said she wanted an adventure. An adventure is what she's going. Or just like calling fatigued and around
23:43me.
23:50My head may be sore. My legs may be cooked. But at least I'm not sitting at a desk.
23:56So I made my way up and down probably the longest three kilometers of my life.
24:01Not even knowing if at the end of it I'd even have anywhere to eat and sleep.
24:14Oh you're so cute. You little thing. How old is he or she?
24:22His name is Sokis. Sokis?
24:28It sounds like so cute.
24:29Yeah. So cute.
24:31I'll come that way with you all.
24:34Is there anyone else camping? Are there other people camping here?
24:37Oh okay. Just me.
24:40Another day. Another potentially very cheap cabin.
24:46What you get for rocking up and being tired and yeah asking what the price difference is.
24:54Look at this little thing.
24:57Aha, electricity.
25:00As the morning by the pool felt like a distant memory and I had seven hours of cycling and a
25:05whole
25:05bunch of cortisol in my veins. But I was the only guest at this tiny spot in rural South Africa.
25:11I realised how the best experiences come to those who decide when they grow up they're going to be
25:17brave.
25:30I'm sorry but I think you might have fleas and I also...
25:38Maybe they're mosquitoes but I did have mosquito spray on.
25:44What a beautiful place to wake up.
25:47Yeah, I had a big sleep last night. I think I'm at like 27% from Koros.
25:53Let's have a little look this morning.
25:55We are at training load 1125.
26:00Training status excessive.
26:03Recovery 28%.
26:04Sleep 716 fair.
26:07Daily stress is alright.
26:08HRV is normal you know.
26:09HRV is at 61.
26:10That's fine.
26:11That's normal for me.
26:12Which maybe I'm actually okay.
26:16Like this trip like it's going so quickly like I've only got two more days of running.
26:21I think it's going to take me quite a long time to like process it all.
26:23A lot of the time when I go on Instagram I think like the things that I do are so
26:28not impressive.
26:29I think it's because I follow like all these amazing, especially women,
26:33amazing adventurers who like travel to like insane places.
26:36They do it on their own.
26:37They're like so fucking rad and I'm like oh I'm just here like doing my little thing and like
26:44yeah I just need to remember that the point isn't about comparison.
26:49It's about like what's a personal challenge for me.
26:54And like this has definitely been and is still like a challenge for me.
26:58I think like especially being on my own.
27:00I've done a lot of solo traveling which I think like has put me in really good stead.
27:05I didn't quite expect it to be this like hard or for me to feel this like kind of uncomfortable.
27:10I think people were like oh you're going around the garden route like it's fine.
27:14And I kind of expected it to be like super built up, super like I don't know like fancy.
27:20And like it's not.
27:22I guess there is also so much to bikepacking alone.
27:25Even if I wasn't in South Africa, being in rural places I'm sometimes eating and I wonder
27:30what would happen if I was allergic to something.
27:32Or I'm out in the dark and I think something's going to come out and grab me.
27:35So much of what we fear is in our minds and the only way to combat that and figure out
27:40what is real fear and what isn't real fear is to actually go out and experience things.
27:45It's unfortunately to put yourself in potential danger.
27:48And yeah, that might not be for everyone.
27:50I'm not going to sit here and recommend it.
27:52But at least for me, as someone who used to be terrified of emails and meetings, that danger is...
27:57Oh I'm going to cry but I think it's because I'm tired.
28:01I think I'd be able to just like quite deeply pardon myself.
28:07100% worth it.
28:09I'm sorry but you need to go.
28:12Bye.
28:13You can't follow me.
28:17He's going to follow me.
28:31I've had a slight change of plan.
28:33I'm going back on myself for like 3km on the hunt for smooth tarmac.
28:38I know that the next gravel bit when I get to the end of that road could be like a
28:43little
28:44bit bumpy and a bit technical.
28:46So yeah, I'm going to be just like sit in zone 2 and enjoy myself.
28:59Tarmac is so close.
29:00You can't see that.
29:04Tell you what, sex is good but tarmac.
29:09Tarmac is better.
29:14Just slugging.
29:23Like in a hole, in a place.
29:26Oh look at this, lovely.
29:28Found, I had a few little, like had a little gas station stop.
29:31Got some water thankfully because it's bloody hot today.
29:35Found this cute little farm stand stop.
29:38I'm going to stop for a second, just like regroup.
29:41I've basically got like 15k of climbing.
29:45And then it's all downhill.
29:48But yeah, it's just taking me forever.
29:51I think partly because I don't have
29:57partly because I don't have enough sugar in me probably.
30:01And also, yeah, it's just hot and I'm tired.
30:07So it'd be like that.
30:08And it is just very uphill.
30:10Like there has not been much like respite on downhills.
30:15Okay, I mean like 15k climbing should take me what, like an hour?
30:19And I think we're about to turn off onto the Prince Alfred Way.
30:27The Prince Alfred Pass was one of the main reasons I did this route.
30:30I hadn't done much research other than being told that it was really beautiful.
30:34And as I slogged my way to the top, I was a little bit confused at why I still had
30:39one climb to go.
30:40I don't remember.
30:41Maybe it doesn't exist.
30:49Oh, I think it's right at the end.
30:51Oh, that's where it is.
30:53Oh, amazing.
30:55Now we're descending then.
30:59Welcome to bike packing in South Africa.
31:05Another wacky day.
31:06Um, sorry, I can't remember when I last spoke to you.
31:10I think it was like 75k.
31:14But over like 60 of the k's, maybe like 55, was like 1200 meters of elevation.
31:20And it was rough.
31:21I feel like I probably didn't speak much today because it was just like,
31:24yeah, honestly, I really struggled and like really struggled to like film anything.
31:28So the Prince Alfred Pass is this super long, almost 70k road that stretches over two mountain ranges.
31:36And in the middle of those two ranges, there is a valley with a little town called De Fleur.
31:40And that would be where I was staying on my final night of the trip.
31:43And so as I was descending into that town, if you ask for sunset, seeing these magical views,
31:47I was honestly just so excited to get some food, have an early night, recover from some bumpy gravel.
31:53And of course, that did not happen.
31:55So yeah, so then I rocked up to the town, De Fleur.
32:00And there's like a little shop thing, which I'm like, oh, it looks like a shop.
32:03So I kind of like roll past it.
32:04And then I reached, um, another little like restaurant on the left.
32:08And then I realized that's the end of the town.
32:10Like that is it, like that is De Fleur.
32:12I was like, right, okay.
32:14Um, so I went into this like restaurant thing, like said best pub in town.
32:19I was like, great, like beer, whatever.
32:32Oh, hello.
32:34How are you doing?
32:35Hi.
32:36What's their name?
32:37His name is Ranger.
32:38Ranger.
32:39Ranger, it's not good to bite.
32:44Are you open for food?
32:46My kitchen is closed unfortunately, so I need to come back to the place.
32:49Okay, no worries.
32:50Do you know what else I can get food about yet?
32:52Have you tried the shop at the place?
32:54Yeah, I just put food aside.
32:55I haven't, this looked nicer, so.
32:56Sorry?
32:57This place looked nicer, so I haven't heard.
32:59All right, and they've also got burgers and chips and pine chips.
33:01Okay, nice.
33:02Okay, I'll do that then.
33:04Cool.
33:05Oh, it's a nice spot.
33:06Beautiful.
33:07Hi.
33:09Are you open for food?
33:11Are you open for food?
33:13No, I'm open for food because it's closed already.
33:16Oh, no worries.
33:17I'm using bath on the shelf, but the kitchen is closed.
33:20Okay, no stress.
33:21Do you know if there's any other options for food other than here and the place down the road?
33:26I'm going to be waiting now.
33:28I'm going to be waiting now.
33:28I'm going to be waiting.
33:29No, you're going to be waiting.
33:30Um, nice thing is that any other options of food other than here and down the road,
33:34because that one's also closed.
33:36No.
33:36Okay, that's all right.
33:38I guess it's shop.
33:39What are you sleeping tonight?
33:40Just down the road, but they don't have food.
33:43It's like self catering.
33:44I can do you two pies.
33:46Yeah.
33:46I've got chicken and baboiti and kudu.
33:49Chicken pie would be incredible.
33:51Okay, I'll give you two because they're only just there.
33:53Yeah, two chicken pies and I'll get some stuff on the shop as well.
33:56I'll be fine.
33:58Come and walk through the kitchen.
33:59Sweet.
34:01The dinner of champions, hey?
34:04Chicken pies.
34:07Not helping my food situation at all.
34:10But that's fine.
34:12And I can also have some beer.
34:14Calories.
34:15So there's then a big gap in my footage where I got chatting to the guy in the pub who
34:19you
34:19saw the legs of earlier and he gave me a bunch of drinks, a bunch of bread.
34:24We had a really nice conversation and he had this very interesting story about how he'd ended up
34:28there by foot.
34:29But I didn't realise how dark it was getting.
34:31And so by the time I left, it meant that that climb that I had not found earlier in the
34:34day was done
34:35with the good old-fashioned iPhone torch.
34:37And I also rocked up to the accommodation and their electricity wasn't working which
34:41would normally be fine but there was also no phone service.
34:44I didn't know at the time but at this point people would start to worry about me.
34:48I had a lot of people tracking my location and just looking out for me.
34:50The next morning pretty much every local I ran into in the town, which was, yeah, like three,
34:56was telling me that someone was looking for me and they wanted to know that I was okay.
34:59And I guess it made me A really guilty that people were stressing about me.
35:03But B I guess really lucky and really grateful that with the power of some nice strangers
35:07and people just looking out for you, you're actually a lot less alone than you think.
35:14Oh, good morning, friends.
35:20I slept okay last night. I mean, I fell asleep at like 10 to 9 and then it was like
35:25really hot
35:26and it was actually hot. Like I checked on chorus, it was actually like 20 something degrees. So
35:30it was actually hot outside. And yes, then I woke up at like midnight and then I had to like
35:36take
35:37all my layers off because it's just so warm.
35:39I do actually feel like I need to go in some cold water.
35:43Also, I don't know if I searched yesterday, I lost my bikini bottoms somewhere on the road.
35:52I'm just going to go in with my underwear.
35:57And so here we were on the final day of the trip, waking up to yet another campsite to myself,
36:02the sound of the birds to myself, the mountains to myself, this entire pool to myself.
36:11It's so crazy. So like the swimming pool, it's like from the mountain.
36:15I don't know where is the swimming pool. It's like the birds, but I'm ill.
36:19It's from the mountain, it comes in and then it drains over at this like shower thing
36:26and it's actually the same level of the swimming pool. So cool. Welcome to my campsite.
36:38Oh, okay. I feel a lot better now.
36:41Something that didn't hit me until this final morning where I woke up in my literal paradise
36:45and was just thinking how much I would give to stay here forever was how it is so great to
36:50be scared
36:51and out of your comfort zone because of how much you grow as a person.
36:54I think something I really struggled with in hindsight was how to appreciate the moment
36:58and appreciate the beauty of this trip while simultaneously constantly feeling on edge.
37:03Good morning, friends. So this is De Fleur and this is where I came in.
37:11This is restaurant slash shop number one.
37:15Restaurant shop number two is over there.
37:19Yeah, that's it.
37:31There's eight climbs and 1.2km elevation. Let's go. Nothing like this and a bit of ABBA.
37:41Climb one, complete. 24 minutes. Wind is pumping.
37:48Okay, here is where we go. We're not going to go that way, which goes to Naisenam.
37:52We're going to go around through like the forest. 30Ks. 30Ks to food.
38:01Fourth climb. Honestly, I love the forest, but like I'm quite pissed off right now.
38:08You're saying it's flat at the same time you're saying it's 21%. Like that's not how it works.
38:39So it's just 35 kilometers to go. I, of course, still face everything that challenged me on this trip.
38:44Being alone in the middle of nowhere. The steep climbs. The treacherous descents.
38:48The constant fear that something would happen or I wouldn't get there in time.
38:52That my body would fail me. Or worse still, my mind.
38:56And so, as I emerged from the forest and reached the highway where I started this loop,
39:00I guess I was always told that I could be anything when I grew up.
39:04I could be a doctor, a lawyer, a mathematician. I could be anything that a man can be.
39:09But someone on the way that anything came with conditions. Be ambitious, but not reckless.
39:15Be independent, but not alone. Be free, but not too far.
39:19And although, yes, that is something I've been told my entire life by the people around me,
39:24I guess I also realized I was also speaking to myself.
39:28Climb eight of eight and welcome to Sedgefield.
39:34This isn't about women versus men. It isn't about gender or patriarchy or society at all.
39:39It's about how we are, what we do. We become what we believe. And we believe in what we become.
39:44We all have barriers, some vastly more than others. And you will always have people telling you that you
39:48can't. But the more that we don't, the more that cycle continues. And so if there's one thing I learned
39:53from this trip, it's that sometimes you have to listen to those around you, but then ignore them
40:00and let your garage break the cycle for others to come.
40:06Just saw a sign that was like, don't go in ones, go in groups.
40:10They were like, you can't go. Let me don't give you permission.
40:12I saw like a group of guys in a car. I had like no gear, but I really wanted to
40:16go bike packing.
40:18There.
40:22So awesome.
40:22Plus, guys are competing...
40:22But you want to have fun looking forward.
40:22I'm over there.
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