From one great place to another, we are now in the Haven Hotel right on the sea, after our second day in the saddle. Today was stunning. Africa has it all!

We started today in a time trial format where the winners yesterday went first and so on. We started 11’’ behind Subaru Team 2. The plan was to close the 11’’ deficit as quickly as possibly, but before we knew it Subaru Team 2 were taking short cuts and were extending their margin. It was a nightmare, with our lack of local knowledge really killing us. On the legs front Dan and I had good form and rode well, which is positive. I did ask the locals for directions – I don’t think they have ever encountered an Irishman before!

You can never get bored in this race. You are always thinking about what way you should ride and there’s obstacles of all sorts littered everywhere. It’s by far the most fun event I have ever done. It’s also the most beautiful.

There were many funny, tough and entertaining moments all mixed together. I suppose on wake up at 5am my fellow housemates enjoyed some Irish Spirit …. The Fields Of Athenry and Danny Boy were playing hard from my laptop, just for the craic – the Africans were highly entertained!!!! I even sang some Frank Sinatra, without the influence!!

Out on the course, first this little s**t of a dog chased us, I told him to p**s off, but I don’t think he understood “Irish English”. He eventually gave up! Then there was the river crossing, where the sharks can be. I got caught by the current and felt at one point like I was going to end up in Antarctica! I keep telling the African’s that I am not worried about the sharks …. There’s none in Ireland because they are afraid of us. I am confident they’ll eat Dan first!!!!! Every night there’s a movie with the days highlights and I have no doubt my river crossing episode will be shown for all to see!

I am tall, but when we hit Rhino territory, the bloody grass was so high. It was a maze and this is where we lost time. We could not find the Rhino tracks which lead us through … thankfully we did not see The Rhino’s either, but there were big pieces of Rhino S***t and footprints!! Trust me their piles of s**t are way bigger than that of any bull I have seen back home in Ireland! Good thing we did not meet face to face!

We ride well on the beach, where the one ‘tri pro’ (Dan) and the one ‘has been” (me!!) hit the big ring and grind out the watts. At the river crossing we had Subaru Team Two literally meters in front of us (they had just crossed as we started to cross), but once again they disappeared on some short cut. It was irritating! We also hit “The Mothers” as they are called, meaning a mother “f*****r of a climb, but not a climb you can bike. Yes you have guessed it. The bikes are on our backs! That was hard.

The Stumpjumper has been flawless. My back sometimes gets tight, but on the Stumpjumper it’s such a comfortable smooth ride, I have zero problems.

Who knows, but it would be nice to fight for second position tomorrow. They now have about 4 minutes on us, but it’s possible to make amends, once we don’t get lost!