Kim van Kets Article on FEAT-SA

Kim van Kets to circumnavigate SAadmin | January 7, 2011 | Comments (0)In just less that two months, Kim van Kets – wife of transAtlantic rower Peter van Kets – sets off on her expedition, ‘Tri the Beloved Country‘. Kim will circumnavigate South Africa by bike (2500km), kayak (600km) and on foot (3000km). Although other people have circumnavigated South Africa (Kyle Meenehan and ‘Barefoot Jaco’ – both walking), this is certainly the first expedition to combine all three disciplines and, as a result, could prove the fastest human-powered circumnavigation of South Africa. This journey is expected to take Kim four to five months to complete.
Kim’s route begins on foot, from East Londong on 1 March 2011. She’ll run around 42km (marathon distance) each day, resting one day in seven. This will take her from East London to the Mocambique border. She’ll then mountain bike the inland borders to just below the Augrabies Falls, covering around 100km per day – also taking one day each week to rest. From the SA/Namibia border at Onseepkans, on the Orange River, Kim will kayak –  a 600km distance to Oranjemund.  And then she’s back on foot, running via Cape Town to East London. Kim’s expedition is supported – she’ll have Pete, her young daughter, Hannah and a gap-year student as her support crew. They will follow her, when the terrain allows, in a motor home. ”I won’t see the support crew every day,” Kim says. “There are times when I will have to be totally self supporting – like sections through the Wild Coast, Northern Natal, along the Orange River and down the West Coast. At other times I will have easy access to them. My plan is to always have enough water, food and kit to keep me going for at least 24 hours.”Preparation and conditioning for an expedition of this nature is substantial. “I have been training for this inadvertantly for most of my life,” she explains. “But have definitely upped my mileage  the last six months, with additional focus on cycling, paddling and core strength.  My main aim is to remain injury free and to have fun so I need to move at a pace that is sustainable but also have sufficient recovery time!  The real challenge, as always, is the mental aspect – I will have to take it one step, one kilometre and one day at a time.”Kim’s preparations and the expedition can be followed through her Facebook page – Tri the Beloved Country.