Ok so a few weeks ago I got to the office and realised that I needed to think about the logistics around Sani2C. For those hearing about Sani2C for the first time, its simply one of the best multi stage mountain bike races around. http://www.sani2c.co.za/ for more info.
Since I live in Cape Town, and the race is about 1800km up country, driving makes very little sense. So first step was to book a plane ticket. I shopped around for a good budget flight and found a return flight to King Shaka Int Airport (Durban) and back to Cape Town for a reasonable R1600, including an extra 10kg luggage allowance to ensure that I don't have to pay in extra for my bike with check in.
Accomodation was a bit trickier. The race starts in Underberg on the foot of the Drakensberg, just before the Lesotho border, and come Sani2C finding a bed is expensive. I got lucky with a booking at Pile Inn. Upon enquiry I was told that it is right across the road from the start venue, but the cost was quite steep at R1900 for 2 nights, as during busy times like these, they don't have a single room rate. At least the rate included breakfast on the 2 mornings and pasta dinner the night before the race. I wondered about the wisdom to be in Underberg 2 days before the start, and had to remind myself what the consequences would be if a flight was delayed, my bike didn't arive with my other luggage or any of the usual Airport desasters.
Now I needed to figure out how to get from Durban to Underberg. Google is you friend, and she duly supplied me with the details of a shuttle service from Durban to Underberg. I enquired, only to find out that my Monday afternoon flight needed to be a Monday morning flight as the shuttle departs promptly at 1pm. So I had to pay an additional R600 to change from the afternoon flight to the morning flight. So finally the shuttle was sorted out.
The race is a fully catered event that runs 2 start groups on 2 consecutive days, the Adventure starts on 18 May and the Race starts on 19 May. Having entered the non-competitive adventure meant that we would have the benefit of riding the prestine single track first, getting the best Sani2C has to offer. We would arive at Scottburgh on Friday, 20 May for a well earned rest.
My wife is unfortunately not able to take the whole week off to come and support me, but she had put in leave for Friday, and will fly in on Thursday afternoon, so at least she will be there at the finish.
I've booked for the weekend at Ocean View Resort in Umkomaas. I look forward to go to one of the supporters points on the Saturday to see how the pro's do on their final stage.
Cost to date for this event:
Flights (for me and my wife) R4200
Race entry R3990
Accommodation Underberg R1900
Shuttle service R350
Ocean View Resort R900
Total R11340
I hope to keep the total expenditure for the whole trip to under R14000.
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