Gareth Brauteseth

Before the Cold

The Cadiz freedom swim was a great success. Plenty swimmers, no deaths, very very very cold water and unfortunately for me an unsuccessful swim.

As the old adage states, if you fail to prepare you should prepare to fail.

This was the exact circumstance that lead to me being hauled out of the water with 1km to go with pretty hectic hypothermia.

1 month is not enough to do that swim especially at 85kg with very little fat reserves. I need more water time, more cold water time, more fat and I need to be stronger to make it happen.

I will be hitting the pool soon for a well thought out approach to crossing from Robben Island. I must admit that there is nothing like failure to motivate one to get back into the water. You cannot let the island beat you.

V&A Amphitheatre- EPIC expo

As my PR drive skids into the finish line this week I decided to take some time and appreciate the city which is Cape Town, and while I was at it, see what was going on down at the Waterfront for the Absa Cape Epic.(www.cape-epic.com)

There is a very cool carnival atmosphere down at the waterfront as sponsors, riders, teams, crew and presenters all get ready for one of the worlds toughest races-8 days, 1200 cyclists and 722km.

Port Shepstones very own Burry Stander will be flying the flag as one of SA’s strongest contenders and many other mates will be giving the course a good crack.

Looking at the website though it looks like the course will be doing the cracking with some insane terrain and some unforgiving sections of trail.

Burry, Raoul, Guy, Nick and all the other lads that are taking on the path, best of luck.

Out

G

Hey man,

It is on days like this that I thank the Lord for putting me on this earth to experience the absolute beauty of this place.
Cape Town today, my good people, is tapping on the door of perfection. My day has been that incredible that when I sit on an aeroplane to fly to JHB for the weekend I might just cry. Yes even me, I might shed a tear leaving this place.

But anyway, if you looking for a holiday give me a shout, I need to share this city with some good people.

Next week I am taking some mates from the USA for a spin around the Cape Town block with visits to the Greenpoint stadium, a few sips of wine in the winelands and a trot up the mountain to just stand in awe of the beauty of the fairest cape of them all.

Before I fly though, I must go for a swim. Clifton here we come.

Out

G

The kids down at Rustenburg, Bishops and Westerford are playing out of their boots. The little rockstars.
I went down to take part in the BRIC initiative at the V&A Waterfront last week to hand out a few BarOnes.
THe Cause- Habitat For Humanity
The Vehicle- Bicycles-
The Tone- Insanity-
The Time- 25hours-
The Atmosphere- elctric.
Yes these kids cycled for 25hours through the night at the V&A Waterfront.
When not cycling these guys were selling “BRICS” to raise funds to build houses in the CapeTown townships. In time for winter for more families to have rooves over their heads.
It is kids like these that are doing there little bit to overwhelm the world
Well done Skye and team.

Out
G