Tragic times

So today I took my bike to work to do some training over lunch.  Got to work, parked the car in our buildings basement ( technopark stellenbosch) and locked my bike with a cable lock too the bike rack.

Then around lunch I go down to get my things in the car and guess what, my bike is gone. MY BIKE IS STOLEN. At first thought maybe someone is pranking me but then realized I locked it so no.

I ask around and the laundry people saw a bakkie with tinted windows and two suspect guys. Went to police to make a case, and email insurance, so will wait and see what happen. I really hope they find it cause there are no trek fuel ex in stock in sa and secondhand is almost impossible to find in the correct size.

With this my aiming for a sub 4 on karoo2coast in september is gone as my training is not going to happen.
If anyone see my bike please let me know. Is not a common bike so if you see one please enquire.

Bastille MTB mud fest

Last wednesday I felt like my cold is 90% gone and decide to enter for the Bastille MTB race 40km held in Franschhoek.

Sunday morning I get up and get ready to go pickup Sune and I realized it will be a cold race with a little drizzle from the sky.

Driving down Franschhoek main road you could see there was a big party at the Bastille festival saturday night. Parking was just next to the road in small fields. Registration was a easy, maybe partly as we where early. Got our numbers and went back to the car to get ready. Few minutes later they announce that  start is delay by 15min.

After almost turning into an ice cube the race started. First 8km was flat on a combination of gravel, tar and paved roads so the field can spread out. This went by really fast but was followed by climb on tar before we finally drop into nature. Next few km's was rocky jeep track with water streams coming down the track at times. After this bit I was soak from my toes to my lower back water and mud. It was 40min in and still freezing. My body was just not building up enough heat to counter the cold fully.

Now 11km in is where things went wrong and about 1/3 of the group, of which was the front bunch, went wrong and did not even know it. We where suppose to turn left but kept straight. The first sign that we went wrong was when we saw a signboard on the wrong side of the fence. Not knowing where we went wrong a group of us, maybe about 10-20, hop over the fence. Turns out that we cut out about 10km part of the route, which they say was the best part  of the route. This was only found out at the end.

After hoping the fence we continue on the route. After a few km's I realized something was wrong as we had done 20km and and not even 200m of climb where we must do 1200 in the 40km. Soon after this we start a climb. A non stop climb of 276m in 4.03km. I just keep telling myself what goes up must come down. But the down was bit of a downer. There was loads of clay and it was so slippery that I had no choice but to take it carefully down.

At the bottom we start doing small ups and downs thought the farms towards the end but thick dark mud with very little to zero traction. I few times I was peddling but stayed in the same place. Just had to get off and try to walk.

Close to the end I aimed for every water puddle i saw just to rinse me and the bike little.

I think one the reason for people getting lost was they used white powder chalk at some places and being wet and many riders going over it, chances are it might disappear.

Because so many got the route wrong and was so much earlier in, they did the lucky draw much earlier, and the people doing the full route and no chance for the lucky draw.

My overall impression of the event is not great. I can't say it was one thing but maybe a combination of everything. The main bad points for me was at the start/finish there you had to stand or sit on the soaking wet grass and the route could have been beter marked. Also the spirit was not great. I got the feeling everyone just want to get out of there.

BC Bike Race entry time!

Sunday...6pm...BC Bike Race entry time rolls around.
I invited Werner around for supper so that we can enter together when the entries open. At exactly 6pm the magic green button appears and we type like its the Olympic Typewriting finals. I fill in the details, check the boxes for the meal upgrades, check the disclaimer boxes. It feels like a Economics 244 paper that I'm writing. Eventually I get to "submit" and hit the button and the computer say "No" Transaction declined. Cr@p. I start over and get a call from Standard Bank's fraud dept.
"Did you just logged a transaction for a payment to a company in Canada?"
"Yes! Yes! I need to pay now!"
"Ok, sorry about the inconvenience"
Werner also has authorization issues and we go through the process again. This time the price jumped from the $1499 early bird to $1699. $200 because the bank wanted to check the transaction? Oh well, lets worry about that later.
Finally the payments went through and we are well on our way! This is going to be amazing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfYbtYJtxGs

Gansbaai MTB 45km ride report

On Friday Werner and I headed out to Gansbaai for the annual Gansbaai MTB Sterktrap. Werner is a regular at the event and suggested that I miss the 60km race and enter for the 45km. He promised me a tough ride, some of the most amazing scenery and a great trail. I got all of that and more.

The race registration went smoothly with the orginisers making it as easy as possible for entrants to register. Our disclaimer forms were already completed for us and we merely had to get sign the forms and take our number boards to complete the process.

The race snakes started on the 60km race at 9am and we followed 10 minutes later. This is one of the few races where the middle routes gets the biggest number of riders. I soon understood why this was the case. We left the start venue and headed straight for the hills. Soon we were climbing some jeep track laced with single track (about 25% of the single track seemed to be virgin trail for this year's event and Werner assured me that every year there are more single track being added). Going down was a heap of fun with technical jeep track and single track keeping us honest and providing some entertainment as well. I had a close call after the first major climb with the bolts on my stem loosening somehow and leaving me with a handlebar that was sliding from side to side. I decided to stop just off the singletrack to tighten the bolts.

Soon Werner and I was on the second big climb of the day. Werner was battling to shake the flu bug for a few weeks and I had a leisurly ride to the beacon on the second climb where I waited for him to catch up. We took the time to take a few snaps as well and I assured him that we could take it "easy" if he was not feeling great.

We stopped for a quick bite and water at the first water point. By this time we were warmed up nicely.
Werner is a bit of a singletrack junkie with technical skills that surpasses my own by a long distance, so while I was pulling away on the ups, he came shuttling past on the downs. He also had the distinction of being one of 3 riders that rode across a 30 cm wide weir. I didn't have the balls to attempt it and stood on while he made it look easy. I'll post the gopro footage once I've processed it.

The second water point was at the start of a 5km circular loop to the highest point in the Overberg. The views from the top was obscured by the clouds and rain, but this ride up was really rewarding. We made our way back to the water point and took on the final assult to the finish with us digging deep to keep the speed up to the finish.

With fantastic prizes up for grabs the registration hall wa packed afterwards. Riders all had smug faces and wide grins after a fantastic day on the trails. I would really have liked another go at this trail. I'm hoping that the volunteers that are cutting the trails and putting the event up would open it up to the public in the near future. It would be fantastic to add Gansbaai to the already growing list of trails in the Western Cape.

This rates as one of the best "small" races I've done in ages. It is so refreshing to see that you don't need a big budget to host an event like this. I loved the hand painted sign boards, the way the locals got behind the event with voluntering and sponsorship of prizes and how the riders in the Western Cape have embraced the event. A real success story so far...

PS: Corrie, if you are reading this, its not just a subtle hint. We would really like to come and bed in your single track over weekends :)