After a turbulent time at the office (things aways seems to be turbulent!) the last weekend of April could not come soon enough. Put a couple of mountain bikers in a car on the way to Knysna and you get a recipe for awesome!
Destination: Knysna
Crew: Braam Gericke, Brandon Smook and myself
Mission: Garden Route 300
The car and trailer was packed to the hilt with our kit, bikes, 30 boxes of wine and wine tasting accessories as Braam and Brandon was on official company business for Wildekrans Wine Estate who was one of the main sponsors for the event.
The digs was Tyrone (who owns a local bike shop in Knysna)'s place. Tyrone and Faren were the perfect hosts. Their beautiful cottage have amazing views of the lagoon and Heads and it's homey feel made us all feel at home from the onset.
Friday's stage 1 started at the Knysna Yaught Club with a neutral zone up to the start of the climb to Simola. The day's riding took us on a 75km loop with just under 1300m of climbing.
Conditions made it tough as temperatures peaked at 38 degrees celcius and it was a fine balance for Braam and I between getting to know each others riding capabilities, riding fast, looking after the legs and not being exposed to the heat for too long. A time of 5h12 was respectable and with day 1 in the bag, we capped it off with SMOG pizzas from Chatters. Wow! Rob from Chatters can make a mean Pizza, so put this on your must-do dining spots in Knysna please.
Day 2 was at the Garden Route Trail Park. With a recent weekend spent at the park, We knew what to
expect. A shorter day, but with no respite as trail park riding gets quite physical. Mountain mania was a gas and was also the only proper enduro staage on the 3 days. Day 1 and 3 was more like king of the mountain followed by dirt road downhill, but we'll let the orginisers work on the Enduro element of the event for next year.
Another 38 degrees day meant that Braam and I. were doing damage control in the last 15 kms. We had a good day out and came in with a time of 3:26. Brandon was relieved from sponsorship duties for the day and joined in on the short route for the day.
A good fillet on the braai, great wine, excellent company... the off-the-bike moments often make weekends like this. We laughed, we laughed a lot! There were almost 3 new bikes coming home after the weekend, but Tyrone gave us the head shake as there may have been some wine speaking too. The bike in question is the latest Trek Top Fuel 9.8 with a 2 x 11 group set (I'm a little old fashioned when it comes to gearing, particularly for stage races). Its a beautiful machine. Black on black if anyone out there is sponsoring 😉🤘🏻.
Day 3 started at Simola with a neutral zone to Phantom Pass. My legs were struggling on day 3, but Braam was a machine all day long. A ride through Homtini, Millwood and the dreaded Hydro climb, back to Kom se Pad and up Simola to the finish was a 69km ride with 1450m of climbing in another 36 degree scorcher was done in 4:06.
With new friends made, memories that will last a lifetime and tired bodies the drive back was a time for relaxed conversations, good music and reflection.
Roll on Greyton in June. Its going to be Epic 😏
