THEY did it! Upper Highway women, Carryn Tennent, Kathy Morgan and Tracy Leah completed their Charity Cycle Challenge in Vietnam and raised R216,589 for Makaphutu Children’s Village in Botha’s Hill.
Physically and mentally drained and suffering from severe saddle sores, aches and pains, the three unlikely adventurers returned triumphant having conquered 600km, ascending 8985m in total hill climbs over eight days on borrowed bikes in very testing conditions.
“It was tough in the heat with humidity and death defying hills, but there were also spectacular waterfalls and breathtaking scenery, ” said Carryn about their unique experience.
Other unexpected and hair raising moments came in the form of local traffic where trucks, mopeds, animals and children all haphazardly frequent the roads with no signs of rules as to who has right of way.
“We were launched unceremoniously into the rural traffic of Vietnam where there appears to be absolutely no rules and even those that do exist don’t appear to be observed by anyone or anything, including trucks, hundreds of mopeds, chickens, water buffalo, cows, dogs and wildly excited children,” explained Tracy.
Kathy shouts over the noise “I didn’t sign up for this’, she also glared at Carryn and said “you told me they couldn’t kill me!” Carryn said “No, I said killing you would be bad for their tour business – not same same! ” (quote from their Blog)
Another issue was the lack of decent ablution facilities which often saw the trio having to use a bucket or ask the locals for use of their facilities only to find an outbuilding with a hole in the ground!
The severity of what they were undertaking hit home on day two when one of their tour mates – they were riding in a group with seven other foreigners and a tour guide – had to be taken to the local hospital for dehydration. At that stage Kathy said flippantly “Well all I want is to simply survive Vietnam” to which Carryn laughed and said “Buddy it’s not looking good”.
Nausea, light headedness, severe saddle sores, aches and pains and falls by Kathy and Tracy on day six left the group seriously doubting they would be able to conquer the severe terrain. It was thanks to the encouragement of their fellow team mates, especially Irishman, Tom Hughes, that kept them going and pushing deep when they thought there was no hope.
For Kathy one of the biggest achievements of the trip was when she conquered Co Noi hill (a 6km killer hill) on day 3. When she hit a low point, she dug deep and with the words of Tom ringing in her ears, “You can’t give up – the reputation of South Africa relies on you,” she carried on, reaching the summit on a day that saw them travelling 120kms in total.
“I have now named it Rowan’s hill, after my husband. It was midday heat and a hell of an undertaking. After that I knew I could tackle any hill. With the pressure of Tom cheering me on and my husband’s words don’t give up, I couldn’t stop no matter how much I wanted to. But it felt so empowering to have battled through it,” said Kathy.
Some of the worst moments of the trip for Carryn were the physical challenges, especially the severe chaffing and saddle sores on day 6 and 7 and for Kathy there were many challenging moments.
“Being air sick on the way to Vietnam and knowing I had hours to go; crying uncontrollably over the phone to my husband about how hard it was and how long and steep the ascents were. I was broken after day three and just couldn’t keep it all in.”
The final day saw them ascend Heavens Gate – a 20km climb – which took them 5 hours to ascend the 1948m hill and reach the finishing point.
We could see our team mates standing waiting for us – a welcomed sight. And as they started to cheer those that were not standing on the corner at the time came running down to welcome us over the line. There are no words to express how much that meant and how special this team is to us as a group – amazing people. As we crossed the line and got off our bikes we were surrounded by the team with hugs and words of congratulations all round. Everyone hugged and has the bikes were whipped away from us (oh what a relief), the three of us came together in a group hug with tears flowing. Kathy said ‘Are we ever going to do this again?’ And in unison all three said NO! (Quote from the Blog)
Carryn said, “The highlight of the trip, without a doubt for me was making it to the top of Heavens Gate on the last day. Not in our wildest dreams did we believe we could manage that sort of scale of riding under those conditions – but we did it! We officially ascended 8985m, smashing Kilimanjaro (at approx. 5800m) and exceeding the height of Everest which is 8848m from sea level.”
“What started out as a good cause has become so much more. We are very proud of what we have achieved together as the three Unlikely Adventurers as well as our own personal achievements. We have well and truly been challenged physically, mentally and emotionally – which is what we set out to do! Thank you all for your support you cannot know how much it contributed to us getting here. It is now safe to say we survived!”
To read more about their adventures check out their Blog, https://makaphutucharitycycle.wordpress.com/
Photo: provided.
Photo: provided.
Photo; Provided.
