The Rynfield couple took on the challenging Old Mutual joBerg2c race adventure from Friday, April 25, to Saturday, May 3.
The race started in the south of Johannesburg and finished nine days later in Scottburgh, on the KwaZulu-Natal coast.
Part race part adventure, the Old Mutual joBerg2c, takes competitors through the country via spectacular mountain passes.
The Grannums rode for the Apricot Tree, a special needs school based in Northmead, and raised about R35 000 through their sponsors, Metskill, MF Autobody, friends, family and fellow cyclists, among others.
According to Jessica, the race is all off-road, with some proper technical riding, such as the descent down the escarpment.
It also had a 400m floating bridge — the longest in the world — across the Vaal River, on day one.
To make their already daunting adventure a little more exciting, the Benonians decided to take on the race on single speed bikes without gears.
“We had loads of fun and did relatively well, coming 12th in the mixed team category out of 45 teams and 120th overall out of about 305 teams,” said Jessica.
She is also the first woman to finish the joBerg2c on a single speed bike.
“We trained a lot for this race, which was challenging, because we have two little boys,” she added.
On day five of the race, the couple experienced a major scare when they were going down a mountain pass on a gravel district road at about 40km/h.
The rider behind Jessica panicked, made a mistake and rode into her handlebars.
“I fell at a speed and landed solidly on my head, cracking my helmet in six places,” she said.
“If it was not for my helmet I would not have survived.”
The race doctor told her that she was lucky to survive and incredibly lucky not to break a bone or sustain a head injury.
Jessica tore cartilage in her jaw, had whiplash and a massive headache.
She also lost skin on her left leg, arm, shoulder and side of her back, as well as a haematoma on her thigh and hip.
“We still had 40km left of day five, which I insisted on finishing,” she added.
Following the incident, Jessica was determined to finish the race and managed to complete the remaining four days with her husband.
“The race is truly an amazing journey and a huge emotional experience,” she said.
“It was great to ride with my husband and was just awesome.
“We rode the beloved country.”
For more information on the race visit www.joberg2C.co.za.
