Adventures on a Silverback in Lesotho

By TemarahOctober 02, 20190 comments

ADVENTURES ON A SILVERBACK IN LESOTHO

Fourie Rossouw is riding the 8^th edition of the Lesotho Sky for the third time and he says every year he is retold how Lesotho’s trail is a mountain biker’s dreams.

“Thank you, Silverback, for hooking me up with a proper bike to take on the gnarly Lesotho trails,” he started.

It was a rough this year, “long days included some very sketchy sections that tested my skills and the bike’s geometry to the max. At times I wished I was on the SESTA going up and on the Surface going down, “he explains.

Fourie wrote a journal every day of the Adventures on a Silverback in Lesotho.

Adventures On A Silverback In Lesotho – Day 1

MY BIKE

“THIS YEAR, I’M ON A SILVERBACK SESTA PRO WITH THE SRAM EAGLE GROUPSET. JEEZ, WHAT A DIFFERENCE! ON THESE TRAILS, 140 MM TRAVEL AND SOME FATTER TIRES WOULD ALSO HAVE BEEN A GOOD CHOICE, BUT THE SHEER AMOUNT OF CLIMBING MAKES THIS BIKE PERFECT.”

THE RIDE

“Our race was one of two halves. The first 30 km was a mixture of finding our lungs in the thin Lesotho air, soaking in the stoke and having a jol at the water points.”

silverback bike in the lesotho mountains mtb — Fourie Rossouw enjoying his Silverback

ADVENTURES ON A SILVERBACK IN LESOTHO – DAY 2

THE RIDE

“The first 30km was a gift.”

FALLING, A LOT

“Luckily we get to ride it again on Thursday, hopefully, I’ll keep the rubber side down and my Silverback flying.

mountains heat silverback gear — Lesotho views

ADVENTURES ON A SILVERBACK IN LESOTHO – DAY 3

NAVIGATION

“On a day like today, if you are not keeping your eye on the GPS, you are bound to make a wrong turn. “

silverback wrong turn hot — The wrong turn

ADVENTURES ON A SILVERBACK IN LESOTHO – DAY 4

A FRANTIC START

“Usually at a UCI mountain bike stage race, the elite riders and the rest of the bunch don’t really mingle at the starting line. “

downhill silverback — The downhill on the SESTA PRO

ADVENTURES ON A SILVERBACK IN LESOTHO – DAY 5

THE SILENT TREK TO ROMA

“When they start off, it’s usually in chatter, but as the road gets longer and the climbs steeper, your bike takes you beyond the noise to a still place inside yourself.”