Adventurer Alex Harris was one of the first South Africans to climb the seven summits, the highest peaks on each of the continents of the world. The Freedom Challenge Race Across South Africa, what must surely be one of the toughest mountain bike races in the world, Harris broke the race record by more than a day.

Harris, arrived at the race finish at Diemersfontein Wine Estate outside Cape Town on Tuesday night 28 June, after riding for 12 days 15 hours and 30 minutes in this 2300 km non-stop, unsupported expedition mountain bike race on a route that started in Pietermaritzburg, together with third time finisher Ugene Nel.

"It was the most difficult bike race I have ever done", he said.

This years Freedom Challenge was particularly harsh in the sense that the wet weather was relentless! It was one of the wettest winters the Cape has had in a long while. And while this on its own is no big deal, the wet conditions combined with sub-zero mornings made the race a suffer fest from start to finish! I raced with the same kit combo that proved to be very effective last year.

Survival also depends on wearing the correct gear. Kitted out in CAPESTORM gear, Harris had the following comments. "As a base layer and cycling top, I raced with a converted 'Furnace'. Over this I had an Activee tee. I raced with these two layers pretty much 70 percent of the time, the exception being during the rainy periods, or early in the morning when it was super cold that I needed a third layer. Then I put on the Vantage jacket and nothing got through those three layers. It surprised me how many people had four or five layers which I think was over kill. The trick was to not get too warm and start sweating. This meant often I would be cold for the first 15 or 20 minutes, but once warmed up, the layers kept me just right. The FC is a tough race as conditions change all the time and you are limited with options. However, those three CAPESTORM products kept me strong in the most insane riding conditions I have ever encountered!"