'Survivor Botswana' - 320 kilometers in one day

Question; You've just raced 170 kilometers on rough, hot tarmac across the endless, flat Botswana Savannah. Upon conclusion of the strength zapping ride, you arrive quite literally, in the middle of nowhere. Your support crew supplies you with 2 small bottles of water, an apple, and an orange, then leaves. So there you are, suddenly finding yourself forced to ration your meager supplies. The mid days sun is hot, searing. Shade is in short supply, and what there is is covered in thorns. Thorn trees, thorns on the ground. The situation is grim, nearly intolerable.

What do you do??

Our support trucks, our lifeline, laden with food, supplies, and all our personal gear, are nowhere to be seen. TDA support staff have no idea when or if the trucks will arrive. We could literally sit around for hours,waiting, and even then, have no assurance the trucks will show up. They are stuck back in Nata, the last town, 170 kilometers away, with mechanical breakdown issues.

We hunker down, take stock of our supplies, and begin the waiting game.
In a flash, things closely resemble a scene out of 'Survivor.'

Options are weighed;
A) Stay put, wait it out, leaving your destiny and comfort completely out of your control, or
B) A radical plan, get back on the bike, and ride a further 150 kilometers to the next town, there by putting control of your future back in your hands. You would be assured a warm meal, a warm shower, shelter and a nice bed.

The only thing holding us back was the lack of food and water. Time was ticking on. Soon it would be impossible to reach town before dark.

So there you are... Do you go for it, or stay put???

For us, the answer came with the arrival of the lunch truck, and accompanying food and water.
Quickly four racers (Joss Kaal, Bernd Prorok, Ed Din, and myself) re hydrated, grabbed some energy bars, and headed back out on the road, our fate now firmly in our hands.

Much to our dismay, the famed Botswana tailwinds failed to materialize. Each rider took his turn at the front, taking a pull for 2-3 kilometers. We averaged approx 35kph, and stopped only twice. Once at 70 kilometers for a 5 min 1/2 way break, and once at a police checkpoint.

The endless Botswana Savannah rolled by. All four riders worked as one, united by a common goal. We were riding the 'Elephant highway', but the only animals we encountered were cows, goats, sheep & donkeys. We played cowboy while dodging herds of cattle crossing the road.

At long last, four weary riders pulled into the town of Maun, 320 kilometers under their tired legs. The food & drink never tasted better. We tucked into round after round of a scrumptious buffet dinner at a nice hotel. While we were freshly showered, we were still clad in our cycling attire. We toasted our successful ride, certain we had made the right decision.

Sleep came fast as our weary bodies were finally able to rest. we now have 2 full rest days ahead of us before heading back out on the road. Tomorrow we will explore the wonders of the Okavango delta. But that's another story...

# of us set personal total mileage records for a one day ride.. It's amazing what the human body an do..it's certainly possible to ride further in a day, but bear inmind the road surface was rough, potholed,there were little or no tailwinds, and we sat around for well over an hour in the heat, waiting for any of the TDA trucks. Chris Wille in Maun, Botswana




























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