Attakwas 2018

The 2017 Attakwas resulted in some serious FOMO for me. I recalled the pain and suffering from my 3 Atta’s from 2009 to 2011, but also remembered the profound sense of accomplishment when I crossed the finish line on those occasions and decided that it was time for number 4.

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... 

Buco Origin of Trails 2017

Balancing family life and your cycling interests can be tricky. Weekends are packed with so many activities and it is just not always possible to cycle all weekend. With this in mind I entered the short route for the Buco Origin of Trails. With a good training block behind me and getting my weight back down again after falling off the banting wagon a bit, I would probably have coped very well with the long route, but spending time with the family is a priority that I don't want to shift, particularly after an eventful and challenging year for us.

Doing the short route afforded me the opportunity to go at it really hard. Usually with the longer stages the thinking (with me at least) is to ride within myself, look after the body and come out to fight another day tomorrow. The mind-shift was refreshing. I pushed hard both days and I am feeling surprisingly fresh.

As far as short routes go, the Orgin of Trails routes are some of the best around. Day 1 saw us going from Coertzenburg to Jonkershoek via some of the private wine farms dropping us into the second contour. The long route split up to go to saaltjie and we continued on the second contour to the red trail that took us to the first water point. The long route continued to the Fire Hut while we had some respite on the tar road back to Ride-In to the second water point and a short section of single track. We crossed the Eerste River again at the suspension bridge and enjoyed some of the XC course before rolling into the finish line at Coertzenburg.
1h53m and 20th overall was a hard, but good day out.

Day 2 saw an increase in the short route numbers with the medium route riders (who did the long on day 1 and short on day 2) joining the short route. We made our way to Eden where we enjoyed the single track and climbed our way out to Mostertsdrift again where we moved over to Uniepark and onto the big climb of the day. We climbed up to Banhoek where we got the water point for the day. Some more climbing took us over into the Banhoek valley where the short and long routes split. Some of the most fun single track followed and if you ignore the few service roads we crossed, we had some uniterrupted fun for around 7km. The traffic was not too bad and I used the time to recover somewhat before we made our way back to Coerzenburg, with a nasty little bite at the end of the race, and some of the XC course to finish off with.
2h03m and 19 overall GC was a solid enough ride.

Here is my evaluation of the event:
Route: 5/5. It was interesting and challenging, but for those that are not that fit or technically minded most would still be ridable, even if only at a slow pace. The beauty of it is that most of the route is available outside of the event as either part of the STF network that is accessible with no charge (I would encourage a donation to the STF if you ride the routes), Jonkershoek and the Banhoek Trails.
Route Markings and Marshals 4/5. A few riders got confused with some of the signage and ended up doing some extra riding. There were also riders on both days cutting sections out of the course where it was clear that the course was looping back and crossing. Usually this sort of thing would not bother me, but as I was in racing mode for once, it annoyed me to no end. A few marshals recording race numbers where riders did not complete the course or a timing station at the far end of these loops would sort this sort of thing out.
Venue 5/5. It is a huge improvement on the start at the Old Collage in the centre of town and Blaauklippen with more than enough parking and ample space for sponsors and vendors in the race village.
Value proposition 5/5. The entry fee on face value seems on the expensive side, but a good quality T shirt, a cap after stage one, some free photos from the Under Armor crowd, free coffee and some really nice lucky draw prizes all added to the value proposition.

I am however dismayed to hear about bikes being stolen (again!) at a cycling event. This is becoming the norm these days and is probably one of the biggest threats to these events going forward. People will not stay to be entertained after events if security is not addressed. While the bike park seemed secure and riders were encouraged to make use of this facility, one would expect that bikes locked onto the back of cars would be safe. It aparently takes a good bike thief less than 30 seconds to cut a lock and remove a bike from the rack, so clearly we need to re-think our strategy around securing our bikes.

Well done to all that tackled this year's Origin of Trails and I hope to see you all again next year.

Lormar Endurance Farm Trail

It was time for Werner (a.k.a. the Ginga Ninja) and I to team up again for a relatively unknown event in the "Bo-Karoo". The Lormar Endurance Farm Trail 3 day stage race.

With a relatively good website, some good sponsors and some exposure on Super Cycling last year it seemed like it would be a worth-while event to enter. With a relatively "affordable" (I say that with caution) price tag and a sold out event, we were eagerly anticipating what the event organisers and local community can produce.

The adventure started on Friday morning at 6am when we took the road to Fairview Farm (not to be confused with Fairview outside of Paarl!) around 65km from Richmond (not to be confused with Richmond in KZN!).

A quick stop at Matjiesfontein for Breakfast and singing a few songs with the local historian, barman, pianist and all round good oke (Johnny, who's mom was the "Grootbaas se hot chocolate" and who is now the "Grootbaas se cuppachino" and we were off again.

8 hours after leaving Somerset West we arrived at the race venue. The village was neatly laid out and had good visible signage.

Registration started an hour late due to some technical issues, and took quite a while to get the 250 riders registered. We queued for almost 90 minutes to get our boards and race packs and it seemed like people were a bit disorganised. We took the time to sample some of the craft beer on offer and was watching the cricket in the background.

With the last riders registering at 17:30, we were ready for the running of the horses and start of the first stage, a 23km nigh ride.

The wind was pumping (a theme throughout all 3 stages) and we started a bit too far back in the self seeded start, so we quickly realised that we would have to get through traffic to get some relatively open track.

Night riding in the Karoo is just special, even with the wind howling, fox holes appearing after irrigation bumps on the jeep track out of nowhere, and sand almost magically appears and disappears without warning.

Karoo lamb on the spit, garden saland, potatoes and bread with many beers made for a good supper and koeksusters and melktertjies for dessert was awesome.

The wind kept on howling through the night and had me worried about stage 2, as it was coming from the general direction of Nieu-Bethesda, our destination for stage 2.

Stage 2 started with a much lighter southerly wind and took us through the grazing camps of the wild horses that we saw running for our benefit the night before. The horses were in a playful mood and were galloping next to the batches of riders, and weaving their way ahead of the field. A magnificent sight... pure unrestricted motion with every tiny well developed muscle flexing and relaxing as they made their way ahead.

Next up a herd of Gemsbok crossed the trail ahead of us at such a speed that we were expecting a lion or 3 to be chasing them. Fortunately no lions appeared and we made our way encircling Kompasberg on our way to Nieu-Bethesda.

The bulk of the climbing was done by the second water point with not too much of the dreaded wind to speak of. We were looking forward to the fast rolling tracks from the second water point to the finish, but the wind made an appearance again. We were fortunate to get a good pace line going with another team and finished the stage strong in 3h16 minutes for the 62km route.

Upon arrival at the finish we were informed that the luggage truck had a flat tyre and was only expected later. Fortunately Werner had cash on him so we could get a cold beer and sort our bikes out in the meantime. Once the luggage arrived it was a mad scramble for the showers. There was no hot water and with only 2 showers for the ladies and around 8 showers for the men (open showers) it was a bit of a challenge to get everyone cleaned up. We were fortunate to only wait around 20 minutes for a shower, but some of the ladies had to wait over an hour.


Nieu-Bethesda is a gem of a little town and well worth the visit. The brewery in town is top notch, and was the venue for the 3pm brewery ride. We opted for a walk instead to the brewery and had a wonderful afternoon under the trees with some fellow cyclists.

Bad Peter Band was performing after 3pm and with beers flowing, a lovely spread of fresh artisan bread, cold cuts, cheese, preserves and pickles it was quite hard to leave for the race village.

Dinner was due to be served at 6pm, but it was clear that we were not going to eat before 8pm, so we opted for another stroll through the town to kill some time.

The Karan Beef steaks went down well and dessert were lemon tarts and date fingers.

Sleep was a bit hard to come by with a wedding reception that were partying until around 2am in town, so getting up for stage 3 was a bit of a struggle.

The stage started with a climb and a headwind, and 40km later we were still climbing and battling the same headwind.

Riders bunched up and battled the gusting wind throughout the day, at times Werner and I looked back at the train of riders following us hoping that some would share the pace making. A few riders came to the front only to break away after sitting on for almost and hour. Poor form chaps! They ended up missing a marker and got lost, finishing a fair bit after us ...KARMA...

We rode with a lady rider and managed to help her move up from 5th in the ladies to a podium. It felt good to have helped her along as we had many short chats and having company helped to make a boring and gruelling stage more bearable.

At the finish line the luggage truck was still missing in action, so we loaded our bikes, had our Kerrie Vetkoek lunch and waited around for the luggage to arrive.

We got a nice hot private shower in the suite that our lady riding companion and her husband booked before the event as part of the luxury upgrade and it felt good not to have to queue for a shower for once.

The long road home felt quite short with the knowledge that we met some cool people over the weekend and had some great memories to share.

My overall impression of the event was that there were not enough facilities for the number of riders. Queuing for registration, showers, toilets, food and drinks spoiled what could have been a much more smoothly run event. On Saturday afternoon some teams could not get tents, and extra tents had to be put up for them, also a bit of a slip.

Things like trucks breaking can happen, but having a few beers / cooldrinks available at the finish would have helped a lot to lighten the mood of tired and dirty riders waiting for their luggage so that they can clean up.

The routes on days 1 and 2 were pleasant and although there were no real single track on the routes, riding jeeptrack for long sections made things interesting and surprisingly tough. The route for day 3 felt long and tedious. I am sure that the wind played a role, but investing in building even a few short sections of single track could make a dull route a bit more interesting.

The positives were a good timing system, good communication via sms, for those of us who got reception at Fairview and Nieu-Bethesda and good food, all be it that it was not always ready on time.

While we met some amazing people and had a good time in general I will not be returning next year for the event. If facilities were sufficient and execution by the organisers were better I would have been much more tempted to return.

Some of the photos, courtesy of the Ginga Ninja.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNuG5osbHRI-45GlBaUPG4AHoGPG1azMUqvIv5DlM9Qudkns_HSd_CAxXaNTM0cZA?key=T2hyN0puTFRlbUcxSTlCZ0RiVC1EX1p4U3pjWVl3

Thanks for reading! Keep the rubber side on the dirt.

Time out with the boys

So a few weekends ago a couple of mates got together to ride bikes, drink beer and talk crap for a weekend. Or as we like to call it "Mannenaweek".

The crew: Coenie, who I met for the first time on this weekend, but going by the Whatsapp banter the weeks leading up to the weekend, was going to keep us on our toes, Philip, batchelor turned husband and recently father, who's company I've come to enjoy more and more, Shaun, who I've spent time with at the GRTP a few months ago, who is not only a great bike handler, but a stand-up bloke to boot, Werner, a.k.a. The Ginger Ninja, as he manages to do things with a mere 120mm travel and no dropper post that most of us mere mortals can only dream of and who I've made many a journey with  and will be my first pick as a wingman, should I need to go to war anytime soon, as he will always have your back. And of course me, who jumped to an extremely good deal on a new 2017 Trek Topfuel 2 days before the weekend, after crashing my beloved Stumpy into A replacement frame due to damage on impact to the frame.

The destination: Greyton. In rencent years Greyton became a haven for me. Once I take the turn-off from the N2 to Greyton and Genadendal its like a mist of calm and well-being descends on me. With some fun and not-too-challenging trails as well we were guaranteed to get some good riding in as well, and still be fresh enough to enjoy some of Greyton's other attractions.

Once we arrived in Gteyton and worked out the sleeping arrangements, we were set for a short ride up Rocky Horror and down Luislang. The riding on the new bike was different. Going from a plush 140mm bike to a snappy 100mm racing machine not only requires a change in technique, but perhaps a change in approach as well. You have to be switched on and the margin for error is so much smaller, but there are massive gains as well. Some finer tweaks for Saturday's ride was made amd after a braai and a few beers we retired for the evening.

Saturday's ride took us up Bakenskop and I was pleasantly surprised at how well I managed the 20% plus gradients with the 32-42 gearing on the bike. I am still under no illusions that a 30T up front is a better choice for me and will be shopping for an Absolute Black 30T oval chainring very soon, but for now at least I can get up the steep stuff, all be it at a bit of a grind.

The single track down had me much more focussed than on my Stumpy and it started to feel much more comfortable. The market was well supported by the manne, slome banter and laughter afterwards and a visit to Vanilla Cafe to watch the last round of the 2017 DH world cup, another awesome evening with a few beers, some of Coenie's mushroom sauce and Werner's very potent Mampoer, and the rest will have to stay in Greyton, I'm afraid...

Sunday ended up in a longer than planned loop around to Bereaville to hit Davey's Sprocket and then through Voorstekraal to hit Rocky Horror and Luislang once again before heading back home again.

All too soon we were saying our good-byes and heading home. The weekend was a tonic for what can only be described as 6 months of dirty board room maneuvers and seeing the worst of people. Again I am grateful and humbled by how only a few days with genuine friends can restore your faith in humanity.

Dankie manne!

And a big shout out to the ladies in our lives who willingly and lovingly sends us off on these precious weekend. Know that we appreciate your love and understanding way more than what we can ever express.

Demo Derby!

I had the misfortune to have crashed on my bike at the end of July. Besides a few very tender ribs, I also managed to hit a rock square on with my Stumpjumper frame, essentially wrecking the frame. A few weeks off the bike to heal and go on a much needed break was perhaps not all a bad thing, and as I returned to SA I now have the unpleasant and time consuming matter of dealing with the insurance on my damaged bike. The most likely scenario is that the insurance will replace the frame only, as Specialized still has a 2015 Stumpy frame in my size to which my components can be built to without much fuss, but if the insurance decides to write off the entire bike, I have been toying with the thought of a more XC orientated bike going forward. The next year sees me doing the Eselfontein 3 day race, the Lormar 3 day race, Attakwas, possibly the Cross Cape Cycle Route and Joberg2C. A trail bike poses a rather large penalty on the longer days and I would like to think that my riding has evolved to the point where I would be able to enjoy most of the technical sections on our races with 100mm of travel .

The first bike that I have demo'd is the Giant Anthem 29er 2. The 2018 model is sporting a Shimano SLX group set with a 32 T crank and a 11-46 T cassette. The stock bike is fitted with a 780mm handle bar and combined with a relatively short stem, the bike felt very stable and solid while I put it through its paces today at Meerendal. The stock saddle was also not unbearable, but will probably be replaced by my trusty Specialized Phenom or Power saddle, which took me years to settle on.

Now what is important to note with this bike is that from a price point, it is 50% cheaper than my current bike, so a like-for-like comparison cannot be made. I have also not recently had any XC bikes in my stable, so my frame of reference needed to be updated as well.

The bike is well specced and not much will have to be changed from purchase to the first ride. Some frame protection on the down tube, crank protectors, front mud guard (the Marsh Guard type), a reliable bottle cage and the Specialized Enduro lock on grips would probably be the extras that I would put on along with a new pair of Shimano pedals.

After setting the bike up I took the bike through its paces and was pleasantly surprised by the Maestro suspension that seemed very compliant in descent mode and very efficient in lock out mode. Combined with the Fox 32 Float up front, the boost hubs and the wide handle bars the bike had a more "light trail" feel than a pure XC / marathon feel.

The SLX groupset was also crisp and responsive and the gear ratio was more than sufficient for what Meerendal was throwing at me. On a multi stage race I might be tempted to drop down to a 30T chain ring up front as the difference between the 37T and the 46T cog at the back is quite a huge jump. I found myself not wanting to ride in the 46 that often because of the jump in range, but perhaps this is something that I need to get used to.

The bike seems well designed with good cable routing and a clean cockpit. The only design question I have for Giant is why the Seat Tube / Top Tube joint is not yet reinforced as this is seemingly where previous frame versions had a very noticeable weakness. Furthermore a 30.9mm seat post would just give the bike a much more solid stance and gives much more options to those who want to fit a dropper post to their ride. The 27,2mm seat post is therefore for me a bit of a let-down.

In terms of pricing, the bike offers an excellent value proposition at under R40K list price. If R40K was my budget, I would be hard-pressed to find a better value proposition.

Overall the bike scores a 4/5 from me. I was seriously impressed and have added this to my short list of bikes to consider.

Just a final word of thanks to Williams Bike Shop in Somerset West for the use of one of your Demo Bikes. Being able to take a bike out for a weekend and to go and ride my usual trails with it just adds to visualising yourself on the bike, and I have come to realise that there are still some very capable bikes in the under R40K range out there.

GR 300 2017

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 😏

Absa Cape Epic 2017 - a non-rider's perspective on what it takes.

With quite a few friends participating again this year, I was not only following the professionals progress, but many of the mid-packers as well (and a few back-markers, if there is such a thing in a race as tough as this one).

One thing was clear, whether pro or not: There are a few very basic ingredients to be successful at this event that I have picked up on from friends who have been successful.
- Focus
This is required not only for the training, but for all other aspects of your life when you prepare for a race like this. For the non-pro's this is even more important, as you have to apply focus to your job, the demands of daily life, your health and training. All these areas requires focus for a successful Epic.
- Discipline
Now while this may sound like focus, its not. Discipline is your mind overriding your heart when you need to make a decision. Am I going to bed at 9, so that I can have a focussed training session at 5 tomorrow morning, or do I stay up and watch TV until 10:30? Do I grab a second beer after my race on Saturday or is 1 my limit? Learning to say "no" is a very good quality to have if you need to be focussed
- Support system
Many underestimate the value of good support, until it is absent. Preparing for something like an Epic is just much more manageable if you have buy-in and support from your employer, family, friends (and perhaps your banker) as there will be areas where others may need to pick up slack that you simply cannot get to.
- Flexibility
Now this is not the opposite of focus, but a complementary quality to work on. Things don't always work out as planned, and one needs to be able to adapt from time to time. A last minute meeting may can your evening gym session, but tomorrow during lunch you can make up the session.
- Mental strength
With most endurance events, your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Being in a good mental space during the whole race will be impossible, and you will have to find ways to get yourself out of those deep dark holes your mind can throw you into from time to time to make it through.
- The right team mate
Now this is different things to different people. I have done events with fantastic team mates and less fantastic team mates. Now regardless of their own preparation, the team dynamic is very important. Simply getting along is not enough, but understanding when your partner is suffering, when they are feeling strong, when to let them take care of you, or when you take care of them... it boils down to an almost instinctive understanding of what makes them tick to make a success out of such an event. Like-minded goals (are you in it to finish, or are you going for a top-200?) and being able to complement each other all helps to get along.

I often wonder how my 2009 Epic would have turned out if I did not dislocate my shoulder and broke a few ribs less than 2 months before the big day. I do know that I had no idea back then about many of the characteristics mentioned above, so perhaps it was a blessing in disguise.

Maybe one day I will be able to test myself in what must surely be the ultimate test of focus, discipline, my support system, flexibility, mental strength and a team mate -to-be.

To all those who have that finisher's medal. Well done and know that you inspire and motivate so many around you to become better.

PE>>Plett Day 4

Last day... it is always bitter-sweet. On the one side you know you will miss the quiet, the crunch of rubber on stones, pine needles, sand and sometimes a little tar, and on the other you miss your family, pets and the comfort of your own bed.

With these thoughts I set off on day 4 of PE>>Plett and decided to try and hang with the race snakes on the tar section leading out of Tsitsikama. Surprisingly I continued to hang with the front group for 12 km, where we all took a wrong turn (it seems to happen to the front guys often), but quickly we realised our mistake and doubled back to the route. By this time the second bunch passed, and in a flash my racing ambitions for the day evaporated.

I took it down a notch or 2 and rode a comfortable pace to the first water point at Storms River Village. I have happy thoughts of Storms River with the Storms River Traverse a few years back, and remembered the short, steep climb out of Storms River on the Western end. On this climb I encountered Ian Van Wyk who was in peril with a rather nasty puncture, and tyre that was somehow stuck to his rim. I opened my Camelbak and with the help of 3 tyre levers, Ian and his riding partner, we managed to get the tyre unseated from the rim to insert a tube, and pop the tyre back on. At this point they were ok to inflate the tyre on their own and I continued with my race.

We rode mostly Cape Pine Plantations, but the highlight was surely riding the old Bloukrans Pass, and with the King of the Mountain out of the pass on the Natures Valley side. At the top of the Pass we had our second water point, where Ian and his partner passed me with a wave and a thanks for the help earlier (I was glad that they managed to get going again, as it really sucks to put your bike on the bakkie).

With about 7km to go we encountered a portage section, that is part of the Otter Trail down onto the sandy beach of Natures Valley. A short ride along the lagoon, back on the tar and into Tsitsikama Resort for the finale.
And just like that, the race was done. A very cool finisher's sweater, medal, hot shower and a few handshakes with the MC, race orginiser and some of the crew that helped to make this a special memory for many of us.
Thanks Red Cherry events. The week was magic.

PE >> Plett Day 3

Day 3 from Assegaaibos to Tsitsikama promised to be a fair bit quicker than day 2. 50km and only 900m climbing would see most of us home by 12pm. The bulk of the climbing was in the first 15km of the race, which for once suited me. I rode tempo all day and managed a 3rd position in the solo mens category. Today consisted mostly of Pine Forest Plantations, a few dairy farms and a spectacular protea farm.
Today's weather was perfect. It was overcast for most of the ride with a very slight South Westerly wind keeping us cool allmmorning.
The landscape changed accordingly and the terrain became much more forgiving, all making for fast riding. All the training hours, disciplined eating, focussing on getting sufficient sleep and better stress management all seems to be coming together nicely.
Tonight I am sleeping at Tsitsikama Lodge. I already made use of the Jacuzzi and will be trying out the bed shortly after my recovery massage at 1:30pm.

PE >> Plett Day 2

There is nothing like a night in a tent to get you to appreciate the small comforts in life. As nights in tents go, mine was reasonable. I managed to get 5 hours sleep in which wasn't too bad.
The early start of 6:30am was quite welcome. The climbing started early on and I decided to not burn all my matches early on. The route consisted mostly of Jeep track through the hilly countryside, and combined with a near-gale force wind made for some interesting and challenging riding. The climbs kept coming, and the wind picked up further, I was stuck in no-mans land for most of the day, so there was no protection from the wind with working together in a bunch. The dry landscape reminded me of the Little Karoo, and at times it felt like I was somewhere in the Attakwas kloof grinding away. The descents were technical, meaning that there was nomrelqxing or recovering inbetween climbs. I made good use of all 3 water points today and managed to do the stage in 6h32, which turned out a very respectable time. 1650m climbing felt like 3000m.
Assegaaibos appeared after 73km. Tonight I am sleepng on a real bed, have a flush toioet and my own shower. The units are well kept with all the basics available. Also another note to visit again with the family in the future.

Day 3 promises to be a fair bit easier on the body. Now time to rest and relax before dinner and race briefing.

PE >> Plett Day 1

Opening my blog feels kind of strange. After an absence of almost 3 years it feels like that good friend you haven't calledmin ages, and hopefully after the first few awkward minutes things feel like the good old days.
Somon that note I'm changing tact to srage 1 of the PE >> Plett 4 day race. I opted for the 'light' version opposed to the extreme one. The 'quote' on light or extreme is merely to indicate that it was not all that light today. 'Awesome' would more aptly describe today's riding. After I had a slightly delayed start (trying to sort out access for my gardener at home) and missing marshalls who thought that the field all passed through, and subsequently taking a wrong turn, I had some catching up to do. I started catching riders in the first single track, and kept passing riders throughout the 3 rivers trails. Now I've made a mental note to come back to spend more time on the local trails here. They were quite magnificent!
More about those trails here.
http://3riverstrails.co.za/
We tracked the railway line for the first half of the race. Narrow gauge steel bridges, gentle gradients and amazing scenery would have made an amazing train journey decades ago. Now we were dong it on our bikes. Intle Game lodge offered some beautiful vistas of the veld rolling into the ocean. Another place to come back to...
http://www.intlegamelodge.com/
The second half of the race provided most of the climbing. The day was getting hotter and the tough route race snakes were coming through at regular intervals. A quick stop at the second water point and off again.
More climbing, and dropping 25 kg's since September and putting in hard time on the bike training all seemed to come together very nicely. Enjoying the climbs is maybe a bit far fetched, but at least I wasn't hating it like before.
64 km, 800m ascent l, 3 or 4 steel bridges, some light hearted banter, a rather deep river crossing later and Zuurbron opened up before our eyes. The race village is comfortable with a hearty lunch, free (yes, FREE!) Windhoeks and cooldrinks, a hot shower and a good sportsmassage done, and guys and girls exchanging war stories in the chill zone.
Tomorrow the start will be 6:30 to combat the mid 30's tempratures expected. Hopefully it equates to an earlier finish too.

Potberg & De Hoop Mtb weekend

Another weekend of firsts. We decided to take on the De Hoop and Potberg Mtb weekend on 9 and 10 August. The car was packed and we left Cape Town for the Overberg. After registration and check in a lovely dinner was served at the on-site restaurant followed by a race briefing and an early night. 

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. 

Keurfontein - Willowmore

The time drew near for our long awaited trip to Uniondale to join the Trek of about 5000 cyclists from Uniondale to Knysna in what is known as the Karoo2Coast. I was unfortunately still down with a persistent flu and decided to rather rest up for some of the riding thereafter.

We stayed at Keurfontein Guest Farm about 30km outside of Uniondale on the way to Willowmore. We used the venue before for Trans Baviaans and as we enjoyed the serene atmosphere and comfortable lodgings we decided to not venture into Uniondale with 4999 other cyclists for the race. 

After picking up the race numbers we went to the farm to check in and was welcomed by a very energetic crew that was lead by the chef who showed us our rooms, ensured that our dinner arrangements were still good and confirmed our breakfast arrangements for the next morning. 

Our rooms were situated just below the manor house in a small separate annex. It was beautifully done and very spacious and we decided to relax a bit before dinner. The flat-screen TV was linked up to two channels and we watched the rugby while chatting about the riding that was to follow. 

Dinner was a lovely farm style buffet with leg of lamb, chicken, Kassler chops, salads, vegetables, mashed potatoes, soup, home made bread and a lovely baked dessert to name just a few of the items for consumption. 

We were treated to a lovely local Pinotage by the fire before dinner and was chatting to the other guests that were from Bloemfontein and after dinner the home made Boerekoffie went down very well. 

We retired for the evening and went straight to bed to rise on Sunday to a lovely Karoo sunrise for breakfast. Breakfast was ready by 5:30am and we were treated to a nice hot and cold selection that was fit for a king. 

2 of our company were not able to get hot water in the morning, which seemed to be related to the water being brought down from the rain water tanks some distance away on a very chilly morning. 

The price of R850 per room per night, for bed and breakfast and R120 for dinner separately was very reasonable and we will definitely visit Keurfontein again.

visit their website at www.keurfontein.co.za for directions and details. 

BCBR Day 7 Whistler

Whistler has been a Mountain Biker's dream ride for as long as I have been riding. A local described it as a little Alpine Village without 500 years of history. The facilities are all modern and world class as the Winter Olympics were held here in 2010.

The short stage promised to be quick and hard. Just under 800m ascent in 25 km on tired legs meant climbing from the onset. We climbed up a slalom type track for 5 km and took another 4km slalom down. I approached the doubles and table tops with moderation as I was unfamiliar with the track and a mistake on a 130mm travel bike is not was easily corrected as on a 150 or 160mm bike. We climbed up a gravel  stretch and got to Mid Station with ski lifts passing overhead. Some with bikes on and I was temped to take the ski lift up after the ride for another down run.

We had a mix of singleteack, jeeptrack and typical North Shore woodwork to negotiate, both up and down and finally got to the day's Enduro. It was a lengthy 3 km run with just about everything thrown into it. I ground the steep ups over roots, rock beds and loose gravel and I whipped my bike around the switchbacks down. After the Enduro I was spent, but still had 6 km of short ups and downs to ride. The finish line appeared and suddenly 7 days of pure mountain biking was at an end. 

Suffering, heat, many falls, mistakes and technicals were counter balanced by elation, the thrill of the down runs, adrenalin on the start line and the rush of the Enduros. The one thing that will stay with me is the spirit of mountain biking that was evident where we went. Minimal littering on the trails, everyone asking if you needed a hand with fixing a technical and a willingness to let the faster guys come through on the trails are things that South Africans are not quite accustomed to. I hope to share this spirit back home. 

BCBR Day 6 Squamish

Squamish is the outdoor capital of Canada. Anything outdoor goes here, so 550 mountainbikers fitted in perfectly. 

The day started with a tar road climb for about 4 km. we dropped straight into the single track and immediately we had backed up traffic. It was one of the few hold up in the week, but with so much good single track a bit of walking was never an issue.

We climbed about 800m in the first 24 km and then we hit Half Nelson. Wow! Perfectly bermed corners, fast doubles, inside out turns, it was all there and we were nailing it all the way.

Another climb got us to Pseudo Tsuga. The first Enduro that was fast and flowing with some pretty steep descents inbetween. By now I've mastered the dropper seatpost and hitting these sections with agression and precision. We left the Enduro grinning.

Another climb to Aid 1 with a quick fill and off to tackle another monster climb to get us to Enduro 2. A combination of walkers and a bad fall had me lose my nerve, so I walked the first half until the trail was more manageable. 

We hit another steep climb, fortunately on a good jeep track. The forest, the rivers, the mountains all just took my breath away (along with the climb of course). We dropped into Hoods in the Woods with good fast flowing buffed up singletrack for most of the 6km section. 

At Aid 2 the mood was cheerful with everyone having a good time. Some more climbing and doing Far side (down singletrack) S&M Connector (up singletrack) and 7 stitches (up and down singletrack) to weave together about 10km of the sweet stuff to get us to Squamish. 

A combination of back streets and Urban Assault style riding got us back to the Recreation Centre to finish off probably my best day on a mountain bike... EVER!

Tonight we head to Whistler for tomorrow's short 27km stage and the banquet afterwards. 

BCBR Day 5 Sechelt to Langdale

Another night in a comfortable bed. A short taxi ride to the start. An early start. Off the line we started with a climb through a quarry. The legs were tired, but I soldiered on. About 10km of good, but steep roads was easier on the body and afforded us the opportunity to take it relatively easy. 

Then the grind started. Again lots of singletrack and again it seemed we were riding up most of it. Aid Station 1 was 15 km in and after a quick stop I got moving again. The brown ribbon through the green forest kept snaking over rocks and roots, but by now I was used to it and I am actually learning a lot about riding in these conditions. There wont be much at home to intimidate me, so I guess I'll have to start looking for more advanced riding soon. 

Half way between Aid 1 and 2 I lost the front end on an off camber corner and put the bike down hard. I ended up bending my hanger (not a problem as I had a spare) as well as shearing off the limiter screw on the derreulier ( a big problem) I was stuck in either 32x 24 or 22 x 24 for the uphill singletrack grind  for the next 10 km. I was surprisingly content with my fate and took the porting sections as an opportunity to look at the beautiful surroundings.  

Aid station 2 finally came into view and fortunately the shimano tech guys managed to get 4 gears out of my busted SRAM derreulier. I didn't have my lighest 3 or the heaviest 3 gears, but I was still riding. 

Enduro 1 dropped us straight into HWY 102 with some tight, twisty corners and short steep climbs which I was grinding with my limited gears. We swept through over the bridges and skinnies at breakneck speed trying to keep as much momentum as possible for the short climbs. We left the Enduro timing mats and immediately dropped into Sidewinder. 

Enduro 2 almost started immediately after Enduro 1 and it was just simply out of this world Steep sweeping berms, fast flowing sections, wider bridges and fun wall rides and table tops had me forget all about my hurting legs. I was pumping it over the jumps and ripping through the corners all the way down the mountain with some very precarious drop offs on my right. We left the timong mats and I moderated the rest of the descent to the finish line in the Langdale Ferry Terminal

A wet wipe bath, a roll with pork shavings and cole slaw and clean clothes had me feeling semi decent again. We boarded the Horse Shoe Bay ferry at 3:10 and it seems like I may actually get an early night tonight. 

BCBR Day 4 Saltery Bay to Sechelt

Yet another big travel day. We woke from a wonderful night sleep thanks to a R1500 hotel and took a taxi to the race village to drop our bags and go for breakfast. After breakfast Werner and I were of the lucky ones to take a sea taxi. It is a little commuter boat that seats 12 people and takes you across at double the speed of the ferry. The rest of the race had to make use of the ferry.

The ferry was late (it seems like they have inherited some Metrorail management) and the race start was moved back from 11am to 12 pm. Day 4 was always going to be the queen stage of the race. Our first point to point stage is also the longest stage with the most climbing. 
The start was a mass start from the ferry terminal. I took it relatively easy for as long as I was able and tried to conserve my legs. We went up and up along the power lines for about 10 km combining single track with gravel road. On one of the singletrack sections I was riding up a skinny (thin planked bridge) and lost my balance as I reached the top. I took a tumble and landed on my back. I was winded and stunned for a moment. Lucky to be alive and even luckier that I had my Camelbak on. My back was in pain, but nothing was broken, so I made my way to Aid Station1.

The next section was mostly single track and mostly up. By now my legs were shot and like the rest of the riders around me we walk a lot of the singletrack. Rocks, roots and risers all just became too much effort. When the track would smooth out a bit or level slightly we would mount our bikes and ride for no longer than a few 100 meters before dismounting again.

The second aid station was a welcome sight. I was in that zone where you become as efficient as possible, say little and just do what must be done. I did take a moment to pose with our pet gorilla at the aid station.

The first Enduro was tough and technical and I managed to stay on top of my bike throughout, all be it with little grace or style.

Another zigzag slog up singletrack got us to Enduro 2 about 6 km later. It started in true BC style with some steep descents over rocky drop offs with near impossible turns. Half way at a road crossing I caught up with the team that dropped into the Enduro 2 minutes ahead of me. They slickly moved off for me to continue my run, but by now I felt like I was riding a wild buffalo. I had little or no control over the bike, my fore arms were aching from braking and my legs were cramping from the prolonged standing position I adopted with my seatpost dropped. The Enduro ended after what felt like an eternity and we were on a combination of gravel and jeeptrack for the ride home. 

7h20 minutes in the saddle and it rates as one of my hardest days on a bike ever. Another night in a guest house instead of camping (its a survival decision) 

Lets see what tomorrow brings. 

BCBR Day 3 Powell River

Another big travel day. 60 minutes by bus, 2 hours by ferry and a 20 minute walk to the start. All the logistics meant a 1:40pm start. 

My batch rolled off by 2pm. It was hot and humid again, so I again took it easy over the first 15 km of gravel, logging and fire roads. Some signature BC singletrack got us to Aid Station 1 and from there on it was hard work riding up rooty and rocky singletrack. It felt like hours to get through the next 5 km. the first Enduro was off the charts. The sound of cow bells and people yelping and whistling combined with a dropped seatpost and some clear track made me do things I would usually only dream about. About 2/3rds in I caught traffic. I gave them a 2 minute lead before the start of the enduro, so I must have been flying. My legs were hurting, heart pounding and arms felt like breaking off at the shoulders,so I was grateful for the little respite and drop in speed. 

The next 10 km was more hard work. With roots and tight turns followed immediately by short steep risers breaking my momentum I ended up dismounting for quite a few of the ridable sections. My butt was being eaten alive by the roots and rocks. Each bump in the trail took a nibble at my sensitive bits. I've decided to name my bibshort of today after my Boerboel at home, Joey, as Joey likes to nibble at my butt when we play catch at home. 

Aid station 2 was like an oasis in a dessert of lush green rooted, rocky trails. I was just too thankful for a break and after a handful of pretzels and a few pieces of banana I was riding again. 

I decided that I had enough and simply put the hammer down for the next 10km. The Enduro was fun, but my body was tired,so I couldn't go FullGas even if I wanted to.  The last 5 km went by in a blur with a close call on the exit of the last singletrack. The rider ahead of me hit a cut off tree stump at handle bar height and went tumbling down a 3 meter drop. The marshall panicked and  ran straight up the trail right onto my line. I had to avoid marshall and tree stump and clipped the tree with my left hand. Somehow I managed to stay on top and after a few choice Afrikaans 'complements' And checking on the fallen rider ( he landed in some shrubs, so all was good)  I put the hammer down to the finish. 

We finished on the beach where we started earlier and tonight Rochelle and I was sleeping in a hotel. After dinner we took a taxi to our little Paradise for the night. A hot bath, a shave, repacking and finally sleep in an air conditioned room and a comfortable matress. Bliss, but at a price of about $150. Worth every penny though. 

BCBR Day 2 - Campbell River

We woke up at Cumberland, packed our bags, had breakfast and took the 60 minute bus ride to the start of the second stage just outside Campbell river. With day one very much on my mind and in my body I approached the day as a survival stage. 

The long steady gravel downhill was kind on the legs and the gradual climb on the gravel did wonders to get the mind focussed for the day. After about 9km we were in the forrest and soon we hit some very technical single-track. While technically within my scope, I opted to port the more physically demanding sections to preserve my upper body for the flowing peddally sections that were to follow. The rain of the previous week was only visible in a few places and the going was good. With so e short steep single-track climbs we were again in the red zone. I resolved to do much more riding up good single-track back home as this could be where you can really shuttle up the field in a race like this.  

I took my time at the water point to refill, lube my chain and get some food in. The next section of single track is the stuff you see on promotional footage of heaven(I hope heaven look like this one day!). It is buffed up, fast, flowing, super exciting and with not too much traffic the switchbacks and stream crossings were simply just awesome. The climbing was more moderate and allowed recovery to get you good and ready for the next section. The first Enduro was a fast pedal pedal section and I absolutely nailed it. All the while we were riding BC's best with the second water point approaching fast. I again took my time and hit the next section with fresh resolve. The second Enduro was even better than the first. The narrow cut trail with many twists didn't give you the opportunity to scout ahead too far and it was a challenge to see how short your reaction time could be for the roots or rocks after a quick turn.

At 40 km we were out of the forrest and riding through Campbell River town to the last fast section of single track for the day. 5 hours felt like only a few minutes and by some miracle my body was feeling better than it was 5 hours ago. 

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up, getting our tents ready, eating, hydrating, massages, eating, hydrating and a nice long walk (with Rochelle who has been working tirelessly with the timing manager all day) to the beach for a ice cream just before sunset, which was at about 9:50pm. There was the most amazing driftwood carvings on the beach that was carved as part of the Canada day celebrations. I'll post some pics in due course. Back at the race village we had a quick shower and fell asleep with the Canada Day fireworks popping in the background. 

BCBR Day 1 Cumberland

The day started at a much more leisurely pace than what I am used to for a stage race. With the whole day yesterday spent shipping 550 riders, about 100 crew, kit, equipment etc to Cumberland on the Island we had very little to do before the 9:30 start. The race started and we made good time on some gravel roads to the trail head. The first section had quite a few roots and we had to wait for a few over optimistic riders to move over. Once every one was rearranged the riding flowed much better and I was actually starting to have some fun. We had to negotiate a few drop offs, some roots and had to clear the odd log. The big climb was mostly at the very moderate gradient of about 5% and I took care to not go too hard. 

We reached the first water point (here it is called an Aid Station) and I was still feeling fresh. A quick splash and dash and I was off again at my diesel engine pace. Riders were all friendly, the volunteers and marshals were ringing their cow bells. It was hotting up on the climbs and with no breeze the humidity was starting to be a factor. I kept hydrated as best I could and kept grinding away.

The first enduro section greeted us with all her fury. I had very little time to drop my seatpost and soon I was simply holding on for dear life. Verticals, roots as thick as my upper leg, rocky stepped drops, seemingly impossible turns, other riders, tree branches... I have never done riding like this before and I was pouring all my focus and energy into my run. I mistook a large piece of bedrock for hardpack and was OTB looking for a safe place to land. On such short notice Air Traffic Control could only allocate a landing spot half on the lower lip of the offending bedrock and some undergrowth. I took it with the grace of a Rhino learning the Ballet. Fortunately I was able to walk away with a few minor bruises and a twisted shoulder. Bike ok. Kit ok. Reposition helmet and put away dirty sunglasses. Two riders passing and me hot on their wheels to finish the section. The single track climbs that took us to the second aid station felt like it took for ever. My shoulder was hurting and I was sweating profusely in the 35 degree heat combined with 80% humidity. 

I was in survival mode and the rooty trails with her steep steps and twisty turns was getting the better of me. I started to walk sections that was ridable a mere 2 hours ago and the distance just never seemed to get shorter. I was grinding away until we got to the second Enduro section. After spending a minute to compose myself I went for it. It took a lot of effort and one unscheduled recovery stop to get me through all 2km of the Enduro section. 

The last few kilometers dragged past and the short steep climbs on the single track took every last drop of energy I had left. The Cumberland fields eventually opened up before me and I limped across the timing mats in 5H45m and position 465 out of 550. 

A massage and dinner and coffee at the Wandering Moose got me in just the right mood to write about today's adventure. The sun is due to set in about 90 minutes and I am sure that the camp site will be considerably more quiet than last night. 

Results are available on http://bcbikerace.com/news-and-media/results