At the time my training was going reasonably well and I managed to lose some excess weight as well. I entered, but with work pressure, some personal and family matters and life happening the training was not enough and I picked up some of the weight I lost as well.
The object was to enjoy the 2018 given my limited training, to ride within myself and to try and enjoy the experience.
My long time race partner and I headed to Oudtshoorn for registration on Friday.
Registration was done quickly and we headed to our accommodation for the weekend in Groot Brakrivier. We got some Pizzas from Pollock’s Pizza Cafe on the way and had an early night, as we had a 4am start on Saturday.
Early start, car dropped off in Oudtshoorn, a 6.5 km cycle to the start, seeing some familiar faces, start chute butterflies, and we were off.
It was a relatively cool morning for Oudtshoorn standards and while Werner and I were not going to ride together, we were both on a similar strategy and kept each other company during the starting kms. We kept our heart rates down and resisted the temptation to go with the faster groups. The route to water point 1 takes you through typical Klein Karoo landscapes. You are exposed to the elements and the terrain is tough going. A small head wind can slow you down and you cannot relax as the trail is loose and sketchy.
We made it to waterpoint 1 without much fuss. The waterpoints were well stocked and no small detail was missed. Proper bike rails to park your bike (even though there will always be a chop who thinks that its ok to visit the feeding station with his bike, essentially blocking others from getting to the fare), cold water, Biogen and coke, ice, someone cleaning your glasses, people lubing your chain, koeksusters, banana bread, sarmies, droe wors, energy bars, gels, the kitchen sink!
The ride to waterpoint 2 was more of the same. The wind picked up, the temperature climbed, countless climbs and drops, passing riders who later pass you again... the key is to not lose concentration. A quick stop and we were on our way again.
By now the abrasive terrain starts to eat the hands, feet, shoulders and back (not to mention the butt). This is the point where my heart rate monitor decides to die on me. I usually ride on my heart rate and losing such a key piece of equipment relatively early on in the day was a bit of a setback. Werner kept me from overcooking it by quietly telling me every time he hit 160 beats per minute, i.e. we need to take it down a click or 2. Some tough steep climbs forced me to dismount while Werner rode these with apparent ease. I told him to push on as I was slowing him down at this point, but he flatly refused (and for which I was silently relieved). As we crested the King of the Mountain point the drizzle became driving rain. The smell of the recent fires was mixed with the fresh scent of water on dry soil. The wind made it hard to get our gilets on and the temprature went from mid 30’s to below 20 in seconds. On one of the descents Werner got a pinch flat on his front wheel. We inspected the damage and plugged the tyre. Our prayers were answered and the plug worked.
The weather kept switching from hot and humid to cold and humid, the wind was gusting and the trail was quite sandy. By now the medics on their quad bikes were working on everyone’s nerves. The sickening smell of petrol fumes and having to dodge flying rocks while grinding up a climb followed by tricky overtaking much slower and wider vehicles on very tricky descents was becoming tiresome. While these services are essential on such an event I was thinking that there must be a more sensibleway to provide support for such an event.
Waterpoint 3 is always a bit of a milestone. It marks the end of the hard Klein Karoo section, but means that the big clims are about to start. After a longer stop we head off into the headwind. Some big climbs took us into the forest section where it was wet and muddy. By now I was deep in the pain cave. The going was slow, but Werner was assuring me that he was also on his limit, so we forged ahead to Waterpoint 4 and 5 respectively. Those last few climbs on eithe side of Waterpoint 5 nearly broke me. I made a deal with my legs. I’ll give them a good sports massage and a week’s break from all riding if they will just get me through to the finish.
Suddenly we saw the 4km to go sign. The mood lifted and a sense of accomplishment overtakes your psyche. You cross the finish line and take it all in. Number 4 done and Werner’s first. It seemed like we carried each other 121km and now we’ve done it!
I must give a big shout out to my wife. Being 1 week from her due date with our second son, she had no hesitation to send me off on this weekend. I must also thank each and every friend and family member that had us in their thoughts and prayers. I kept reminding myself that with so many people willing us on we could not fail.
Will we be back for 2019? Watch this space...
