“THE GUYS WERE
THERE ALREADY,
BEERS AND BRANDY
FLOWING FAST
CROWD GOES BALLISTIC AS CHRIS BIRCH FIST-
PUMPS HIS VICTORY AT THE FINISH LINE
CHRIS BIRCH LEADS JADE GUZEIT UP ONE
OF THE EXTREMELY TECHNICAL PASSES
CHRIS BIRCH AND JADE GUTZEIT ALL SMILES AFTER
FINISHING THE ‘MOTHER OF HARD ENDUROS’
“Day two was a marathon. Eight hours of
rocks, mountains and adventure. I started off
first, put the hammer down and never saw
another bike the whole day. It was such an
adventure, we were in huge mountains, riding
on the edge of cliffs, up valleys and along
never ending goat paths. It was the best
adventure I had ever had on a bike. I won
the day by 45 minutes.
“The last day was another seven hours
on the bike and another huge physical
challenge. I knew I had the pace, I just
needed to not make any mistakes and
for my body to hold out.
“Towards the end of the day it was a
struggle to keep the focus. Years before
I had set myself the goal of winning an
international race and I was getting so close
to achieving it. First I had to deal with the
worst helicopter pilot in the world. This guy
was following me in a massive military
chopper and was paying no attention to
his wash. He blew me over twice and I was
waving my arms and my middle finger
trying to get him to leave me alone.
“I got to a check point and screamed at
the marshal to ‘radio that jerk in the chopper
and tell him to piss off!’ The guy looked at me
sheepishly and said: ‘I am very sorry sir, but that is
the King of Lesotho and he does what he wants!’
“With only a few kilometres left to go, I
had a big crash in fourth gear. I bashed my
elbow and bent the bars, but there was no
way I wasn’t going to get to that finish line.
I was completely exhausted, emotional
and happier than I had ever been crossing
that line.
“The guys were there already, beers
and brandy flowing fast and together the
‘drinking team with a riding habit’ and I
won the Roof of Africa. Mark was in tears
and, to be honest, so was I.
“It was the best race ever. Also best after
party ever...”
32 KIWI RIDER