With the Trans Baviaans 24 hour challenge only 7 weeks away time is running out to get some good base km's in. The key with these events are time in the saddle or T.I.T.S.
This weekend I was invited to Montagu for a ride to Warmwaterberg over the Ouberg Pass. The ride takes you from Montagu onto the back roads past remote farms past smaller game reserves like Mont Eco to the foot of the Ouberg Pass. The recent rains turned the roads into a huge mud slide. 15 km's into the ride we started with the Pass and already chainsuck was very much the norm. We topped out at 24 km's and stopped to lube the chains and remove our rain jackets as the steady drizzle we encountered at Montagu was a thing of the past. 900 meters in 24 km's was made tougher by the mud grabbing onto our back tyres all the way to the top. From here we had small undulations to the entrance of Sanbonani Game Farm where we had game rangers escorting us to the Eastern gate. The 22kms though the reserve yielded a herd of Springbok, 2 Zebras and what looked like a Gemsbok in the distance. Once through the reserve we had another 16 km to our overnight stop at Warmwaterberg. The 97 km's sped by in under 5 hours . The ride back to Montagu will be just as spectacular to end off a successful weekend of training.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Seriously Strong Stage 3: Seriously fast
The day started off at La Paradiso Guest House, just after the Harkerville trail entrance, so no guesses to what the day's racing would entail.
After a short neutral zone on the N2, we turned off at the Sasol filling station to access the Harkerville trails (those of you who had to use the "escape route" on Harkerville before, would know this stretch). The riding was hard and fast, even after 2 days of racing and we were looking good for a top 20 at this early stage. We made our way along the service roads for about 15km's and entered upward single track section on the backward loop on the traditional red route. Just before entering the single track we spotted the race leaders with tyre issues. Hard luck to Timo and Jacques, but it seemed like they did enough on day 1 and 2 to pull this one off, even after finishing about 25 minutes behind stage winners on day 3. It just goes to show that its never over until its over.
The legs were burning as we hit the upward climb on the single track and by now the races within the race was evolving nicely. Going up single track is not my strong point, but I gave it horns to ensure that we had a clean run going down the rooted, stepped part of the trail.
We arrived at water point 1 with 2 or 3 teams hot on our heels. We kept it tidy with a quick lube and fill and a potato in the mouth, but 2 teams beat us out of the water point and was attacking hard. We kept our nerve and roped them in one by one. With some fast steep downhills we could reverse the situation and we attacked without mercy up to the second single track section. Here we caught the second team that jumped us at the water point and went hell for leather to drop them too.
Now half way in we rode the service routes beyond the regular trails and made our way to sections of the trail that is used with the Knysna Oyster Festival routes. The climbs were hard, but all middle blade stuff and we seemed to have knocked off the chasers at this stage.
The second water point approached and we cut our stopping time down to less than 2 minutes. We were leaving before the chasers made it to the stop and rode hard to maintain our lead. By now fatigue was setting in and small mistakes were creeping in and we took it down a notch to ensure that we kept it together on the fast rutted downhill sections. As we were climbing another hill the second ladies team caught us. We held on and opened the gap again on the next down hill section and had to ride hard on the last series of climbs before you hit the bumpy downhill sections just east of Knysna.
The highlight was surely riding the very technical section of single track as on all previous Knysna Oyster Festival races I was forced to walk this section with 50km riders all over the trail. I made a small mistake and had too much weight on my back wheel just before the hairpin turn and lost the back wheel. Fortunately the slip wasn't serious and I got straight onto riding the rest of the trail with my partner capturing the moment on his GoPro camera. Guess I'll have to put this on YouTube now...
We hit the streets and progressed quickly to George Rex Drive where we were on the cobble stone path to Thesen Island. I was being dragged along by my partner who rode another monster stage and we crossed the finish line in 19th place. With some teams ahead of us not completing all 3 stages, this would probably end up being about 15th or 16th.
After a short neutral zone on the N2, we turned off at the Sasol filling station to access the Harkerville trails (those of you who had to use the "escape route" on Harkerville before, would know this stretch). The riding was hard and fast, even after 2 days of racing and we were looking good for a top 20 at this early stage. We made our way along the service roads for about 15km's and entered upward single track section on the backward loop on the traditional red route. Just before entering the single track we spotted the race leaders with tyre issues. Hard luck to Timo and Jacques, but it seemed like they did enough on day 1 and 2 to pull this one off, even after finishing about 25 minutes behind stage winners on day 3. It just goes to show that its never over until its over.
The legs were burning as we hit the upward climb on the single track and by now the races within the race was evolving nicely. Going up single track is not my strong point, but I gave it horns to ensure that we had a clean run going down the rooted, stepped part of the trail.
We arrived at water point 1 with 2 or 3 teams hot on our heels. We kept it tidy with a quick lube and fill and a potato in the mouth, but 2 teams beat us out of the water point and was attacking hard. We kept our nerve and roped them in one by one. With some fast steep downhills we could reverse the situation and we attacked without mercy up to the second single track section. Here we caught the second team that jumped us at the water point and went hell for leather to drop them too.
Now half way in we rode the service routes beyond the regular trails and made our way to sections of the trail that is used with the Knysna Oyster Festival routes. The climbs were hard, but all middle blade stuff and we seemed to have knocked off the chasers at this stage.
The second water point approached and we cut our stopping time down to less than 2 minutes. We were leaving before the chasers made it to the stop and rode hard to maintain our lead. By now fatigue was setting in and small mistakes were creeping in and we took it down a notch to ensure that we kept it together on the fast rutted downhill sections. As we were climbing another hill the second ladies team caught us. We held on and opened the gap again on the next down hill section and had to ride hard on the last series of climbs before you hit the bumpy downhill sections just east of Knysna.
The highlight was surely riding the very technical section of single track as on all previous Knysna Oyster Festival races I was forced to walk this section with 50km riders all over the trail. I made a small mistake and had too much weight on my back wheel just before the hairpin turn and lost the back wheel. Fortunately the slip wasn't serious and I got straight onto riding the rest of the trail with my partner capturing the moment on his GoPro camera. Guess I'll have to put this on YouTube now...
We hit the streets and progressed quickly to George Rex Drive where we were on the cobble stone path to Thesen Island. I was being dragged along by my partner who rode another monster stage and we crossed the finish line in 19th place. With some teams ahead of us not completing all 3 stages, this would probably end up being about 15th or 16th.
Seriously Strong Stage 2: Seriously tough
The day started off just outside Totti's eatery on the Reenendal road, south-west of Knysna. The clear skies meant a drop in temperature and with riding the trails around Millwood before, I knew that there would be climbing from the gun. We started behind a pace vehicle and as we entered the Goudveld forest gates the leading teams dropped us like a bad habit. I was finding my legs, but about half way up the climb I needed a respite from the 18% gradient and wanted to drop onto my small blade to spin the legs out. I lost the small blade before even starting the day. I tried in vain to ride the steep gradient on the middle ring, but had to dismount and put the chain over manually, loosing time and momentum. This was going to be a long day, but this was not the time to feel sorry for yourself.
At the Daleen Mathee memorial we entered a hiking trail. By now we were at least 15 teams down on where we ended yesterday, so we had to be content to wait behind less confident riders in the single track. It soon turned into a mud bath and we were forced to walk the remaining 3 kms of the single track. The next 13 km's were ups and more ups. Gradients varied from 9% to 28% and I was getting increasingly frustrated by not having a full suite of gears to do the work in. By now I was becoming quite good at unclipping my right foot and tapping the chain over onto the small blade while pedalling with the left.
At 17 km's we reached the first water point. I was in no mood to hang around, so after filling the water bottles and shoving a potato in my mouth, we were off again. We were probably about 20 places down by now, but we kept on grinding. At 20 km's we were cresting jubilee creek. The views were simply breath taking (or was that the climbing). At the top we caught up the first team, then there was a second team in our sights. We were on a steep, rutted descent and used the opportunity to haul in a few more teams as this is where we could exploit the fairer sex riders' built in caution sensors. We were approaching the old mining town of Millwood and caught a few more teams. With the climb tht followed my legs were feeling strong for the first time today and we picked up the pace to haul in a few more teams. Soon we were on the Homtini Trails. Every one that go to Knysna to simply do Harkerville 4 or 5 times in a week need to go and explore this paradise of indigenous trees and bird life. With a few fast single track sections there is enough to keep the baggypantbrigade happy and get a very good work out too. The second water point stop was even quicker than the first. With my newly found legs my partner wanted us to keep moving to ensure that we don't loose rhythem. As we left the Homtini Trails we encountered a particularly muddy patch that had us pedaling hard on the drier sections to carry us through the wet patches. Another team were in our sights and then another.
Soon we were on the Reenendal road and onto the Phantom Pass. I dropped my chain on the outside of the big ring and had to stop to unhook it on the rear derreullier before we could get moving again. We crossed underneath the N2 on the Brenton-on-Sea road and had a short portage up the stairs. We continued on the lagoon side of the N2 and had another team in our sights. They were blissfully unaware of the chase from behind and we shot past with a huge burst to ensure that they would not wheelsuck to the end. A few km's to go and we were keeping a weary eye on the chasers. We turned into the Knysna water front for some urban assault through the shops and headed off to Thesen Island for the finish. 21'st for today's stage, and hopefully not too many places lost on the GC.
At the Daleen Mathee memorial we entered a hiking trail. By now we were at least 15 teams down on where we ended yesterday, so we had to be content to wait behind less confident riders in the single track. It soon turned into a mud bath and we were forced to walk the remaining 3 kms of the single track. The next 13 km's were ups and more ups. Gradients varied from 9% to 28% and I was getting increasingly frustrated by not having a full suite of gears to do the work in. By now I was becoming quite good at unclipping my right foot and tapping the chain over onto the small blade while pedalling with the left.
At 17 km's we reached the first water point. I was in no mood to hang around, so after filling the water bottles and shoving a potato in my mouth, we were off again. We were probably about 20 places down by now, but we kept on grinding. At 20 km's we were cresting jubilee creek. The views were simply breath taking (or was that the climbing). At the top we caught up the first team, then there was a second team in our sights. We were on a steep, rutted descent and used the opportunity to haul in a few more teams as this is where we could exploit the fairer sex riders' built in caution sensors. We were approaching the old mining town of Millwood and caught a few more teams. With the climb tht followed my legs were feeling strong for the first time today and we picked up the pace to haul in a few more teams. Soon we were on the Homtini Trails. Every one that go to Knysna to simply do Harkerville 4 or 5 times in a week need to go and explore this paradise of indigenous trees and bird life. With a few fast single track sections there is enough to keep the baggypantbrigade happy and get a very good work out too. The second water point stop was even quicker than the first. With my newly found legs my partner wanted us to keep moving to ensure that we don't loose rhythem. As we left the Homtini Trails we encountered a particularly muddy patch that had us pedaling hard on the drier sections to carry us through the wet patches. Another team were in our sights and then another.
Soon we were on the Reenendal road and onto the Phantom Pass. I dropped my chain on the outside of the big ring and had to stop to unhook it on the rear derreullier before we could get moving again. We crossed underneath the N2 on the Brenton-on-Sea road and had a short portage up the stairs. We continued on the lagoon side of the N2 and had another team in our sights. They were blissfully unaware of the chase from behind and we shot past with a huge burst to ensure that they would not wheelsuck to the end. A few km's to go and we were keeping a weary eye on the chasers. We turned into the Knysna water front for some urban assault through the shops and headed off to Thesen Island for the finish. 21'st for today's stage, and hopefully not too many places lost on the GC.
Knysna Seriously Strong 200 Stage 1
Stage 1: Serously Wet and Muddy
All indications were that this was going to be a really wet one. With Knysna getting over 100mm of rain in the 4 days prior to the event, we were prepping for mud and lots of it. The start of stage 1 was at the Elephant park just before Plett. We were treated to sighting of these majestic beasts about 3 km into the race. As we left the elephant park, we got the first wake-up of the day with some very rutted and muddy riding conditions on our way to the forrest roads. At about 15km we started the first of the 3 major climbs of the day. At 25 km's we got a brief respite. By now we were truly in the indigenous forests navigating our way waist deep through what was little streams a week ago. Today they were strong rivers. We had to assist some of the lady riders around us as they couldn't manage to port their bikes without being washed away. The roads were rivers too. We were switching sides every 50 meters or so in an attempt to find a line that was not too muddy. Every mud puddle was like playing Russian roulette. After being stuck behind some indecisive riders for a while we decided to do the brave thing and take the lead. Some were barely 10 cm deep, others our hubs and BB's were submerged with water. Mental note: call William to book a BB, headset and hub service next week.
At 30 km we stopped at the first water point. It had fruit, energy drinks and water. We lubes our chains, filled the bottles and were off with the rest of our group. We were climbing some steep single track sections when I had temporarily lost my small blade. I got off and jogged the ups and rode the downs for a few km's until we hit the dirt roads again. Thankfully my small blade came too again and we were merrily reunited for sections on the second monster climb from 35 to 40km's. My legs were burning and my partner was steadily pulling away, an occurrence that became familiar over the last few months, but this time I could respond and stick with him.
The last big climb tested our resolve, but we managed to put some time in on the chasing bunch. The mood was less friendly than 20 km's ago, so when we pulled into the second water point at 55km, we kept it tidy and were off soon on a fast downhill section where we opened the gap again. We were off onto a nice section of single track with a deep ditch on the one side and a sheer drop on the other. At this point my partner started to cramp up and was running his bike next to me while I was riding. Another few undulations took us to another technical rutted downhill section. We used this to our advantage and soon we were on the tarred roads in Knysna working our way to Thesen Island for the finish. We kept the pace up, was mindful of not going full gas as tomorrow would be similarly challenging. We finished the day 16'th overall, to our surprise. With some big names on the startling we probably punched above our weight today, so let's hope that the penalty is not too severe tomorrow.
All indications were that this was going to be a really wet one. With Knysna getting over 100mm of rain in the 4 days prior to the event, we were prepping for mud and lots of it. The start of stage 1 was at the Elephant park just before Plett. We were treated to sighting of these majestic beasts about 3 km into the race. As we left the elephant park, we got the first wake-up of the day with some very rutted and muddy riding conditions on our way to the forrest roads. At about 15km we started the first of the 3 major climbs of the day. At 25 km's we got a brief respite. By now we were truly in the indigenous forests navigating our way waist deep through what was little streams a week ago. Today they were strong rivers. We had to assist some of the lady riders around us as they couldn't manage to port their bikes without being washed away. The roads were rivers too. We were switching sides every 50 meters or so in an attempt to find a line that was not too muddy. Every mud puddle was like playing Russian roulette. After being stuck behind some indecisive riders for a while we decided to do the brave thing and take the lead. Some were barely 10 cm deep, others our hubs and BB's were submerged with water. Mental note: call William to book a BB, headset and hub service next week.
At 30 km we stopped at the first water point. It had fruit, energy drinks and water. We lubes our chains, filled the bottles and were off with the rest of our group. We were climbing some steep single track sections when I had temporarily lost my small blade. I got off and jogged the ups and rode the downs for a few km's until we hit the dirt roads again. Thankfully my small blade came too again and we were merrily reunited for sections on the second monster climb from 35 to 40km's. My legs were burning and my partner was steadily pulling away, an occurrence that became familiar over the last few months, but this time I could respond and stick with him.
The last big climb tested our resolve, but we managed to put some time in on the chasing bunch. The mood was less friendly than 20 km's ago, so when we pulled into the second water point at 55km, we kept it tidy and were off soon on a fast downhill section where we opened the gap again. We were off onto a nice section of single track with a deep ditch on the one side and a sheer drop on the other. At this point my partner started to cramp up and was running his bike next to me while I was riding. Another few undulations took us to another technical rutted downhill section. We used this to our advantage and soon we were on the tarred roads in Knysna working our way to Thesen Island for the finish. We kept the pace up, was mindful of not going full gas as tomorrow would be similarly challenging. We finished the day 16'th overall, to our surprise. With some big names on the startling we probably punched above our weight today, so let's hope that the penalty is not too severe tomorrow.
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