Saturday morning started with breakfast and a drive to the drop-off at Potberg for the day's riding. The day would unfortunately be overshadowed by the burning down of the restaurant at De Hoop where we had the lovely dinner the night before.
The trail started off with some fun sections through Potberg. Singletrack sections were stitched together by bits of jeep track for the first 20 km. We got to Malgas and worked our way through some fast rolling dirt roads and farm trails to the water point. Sijnn Wines was on duty with some of their Cellar's best on offer, but I politely declined as there would inevitably be a lung-busting climb after a wine feeding stop en-route.
The anticipated climb did not disappoint, nor did the gnarly descent that followed. The marshall at the top of the climb gave me fair warning, so I dropped the seatpost with the flick of the switch on my handlebar and whizzed my way down the descent passing a few riders who lost their nerve and was cautiously porting their way down the hill. The proteas were standing tall in the veld and it was hard not to stare at the lovely blooms for too long.
The trail moderated towards the bottom and I was able to pick the speed up for the rest of the descent that brought us onto the district roads. This was a training weekend after all and I have managed to keep to training pace up to now. For once I did not mind the undulating hills that took us back towards Potberg and at 58km we got to the Hammer nutrition water point. A fill and a lube and off I went uphill for some more singletrack through the wattle plantations, bringing us back to the district roads.
We passed the start of the day and I anticipated a nice undulating ride on the district road back to De Hoop, but Patrick and his team had other ideas. Instead we made our way through grassland, ploughed fields and a lamb nursery. My behind was being eaten alive by the time I got to the final water point. Again I filled up, lubed my chain and set off for the last stint. The rolling hills took us ever-closer to De Hoop and soon the entrance of the reserve was beckoning, but not before we had a steep climb to end it all off with. The descent took us right into the last bit of jeep track and back to De Hoop Collection.
The staff at De Hoop Collection and management of Garden Route events need a mention. After the devastating fire they still managed to put up a lovely Al Fresco lunch under the trees and also managed to supply a lovely dinner at the conference hall. I can only imagine the endless calls to source and cook food for about 200 hungry cyclists, arranging backup power, setting up the conference facility, dealing with fire marshals, Cape Nature management and making sure that the riders all have an enjoyable time as well.
I opted not to ride the Sunday due to a persistent cold that seemed to get worse over the weekend. From what I gather the route was amazing and I promised myself to go back next year for another dash around De Hoop Reserve.
