The Lead up: 

We got to told about the banks 2 bush cycling event in febuary already after riding to Cape Town got cancelled. At first when I heard we were riding from Witbank to Hoedspruit I got really excited because I love Hoedspruit. I’ve grown up going to Hoedspruit for the bush my whole life. Simon briefed us on Banks 2 Bushs and what it entails and he said it was 421km in 5 days with over 8000m of elevation. When I first heard this I was really excited but at the the same time 8000m of elevation is alot of climbing. 

From then until Banks 2 Bush which was on the 20th May we did alot of training. We did longer saturday rides and trained more at our normal conditioning traning hours, We even did alot more hills including going up heart rate hill at the reserve a few times. Some of those training sessions were intense but also really fun. I must say leading up to B2B it was great because there was such a nice vibe amongst us all. Everyone really took the training well and the idea of we doing this and we all getting over the line together. And I can say that this really helped me and enouraged me to do my part and getting training because others took the training so well. Especially people who dont really train. For the first time doing a cycling event like this i was very confident in my nutrition. I knew my nutrition was great because I tested it alot and Matt did alot to help me and teach me. So leading up to B2B I was very excited!!

Bank 2 Bush     

Wow! Overall B2B was amazing! It was a epic trip. 

We started on the Monday the 20th May with a 100Km ride. It was a very chilled ride with lots of stops. But I really enjoyed our lunch stop that day, we stopped just outside of Dullstroom by a quarry which was really nice the water was really blue and it was a awesome stop. The rest of that ride went well it felt long but good. I felt really strong throughout the ride and after finishing I was really chuffed and excited for the days ahead. One of my favourite times on this cycling adventure was the fellowship around the camp when we got to camp we all sat around the campfire and chatted about the rides of each day and we did this really cool thing for the first time where we did appreciation moments. You got to nominate someone for a marshmallow for something they did that day that you really appreciated. It really had a awesome effect on the group, and it brought such a nice vibe amongst the group. Unfortunately I got a Marshmallow for something I did which was “Get the sheep lost” Ps John nominated me in this and everyone laughed. It was a funny moment because on day 3 We were riding up a big hill and I was in the front and i just kept on going but what I needed to take a left turn and long story short I didn’t turn and I went ahead and got lost and a few others followed me. 

Banks 2 Bush was really such an awesome trip I loved everything about it. The food was great, the fellowship and comradity was top notch and it was really awesome to see how everyone had such a good time. For me the cycling was really fun at first going into the trip I really thought that I would get bored with a slow cycling on the trip but that wasnt the case at all, in fact I really enjoyed it more because it was nice to come along side the others and help them where needed. 421Km done and over 6000m elevation done it was a true test of character and I would definitely do it again to go away with your friends and cycle for a week was really awesome. Another highlight for me was seeing how well everyone rode and seeing how people really pushed themselves that was awesome to see and it really emncouraged me to see how people werent just quitting and giving up but actually they were really pushing themselves which was great to see.