Gravel Travel 2011 Marathon

The Gravel Travel has somehow become a bit of an institution with me and my racing partner over the last 3 years.  We have seen Welvanpas (or Bain’s MTB Trails) evolve from a few roughly cut trails to arguably one of the best mountain biking spots in the Western Cape and every year the event seems to grow and improve on the previous year. So much so that it caught the attention of the National MTB series sponsored by MTN and Nissan.

We wisely decided to downgrade from the Ultra marathon to the marathon as we had our doubts about making the cut off at 70kms in the allocated time. The decision paid dividends as we were treated to a very tough, but rewarding race at the Boland’s finest.

At the start the UCI (I am starting to get a serious dislike in this institution) ordered that all GoPro cameras be removed from the bikes. I was not sure why, but not wanting to cause a scene, I removed my camera and placed it in my Camelback for the day, so I’m afraid my ride report will have to suffice.

The start / finish layout was improved from previous years with a long straight exit around the farm dam at Diemersfontein. Soon we were going up. After about 8km of climbing we got onto the first section of single track. The section was cleaned up from previous years and with a bit of rain earlier in the week the riding was very fast.

Traffic was not so much of an issue this year and soon we made our way to the Welvanpas trail start. Soon we were climbing out of the valley again and suddenly we were in the heart of Welvanpas single track. I love the fast flowing trails and soon me and my partner closed the gap to the group riding ahead of us. Once we arrived at Doolhof, we had a quick stop to fill the bottles and take on something to eat. The next section took us to the back of Groenberg for more of the famous Welvanpas single track. Like most good sections of single track, we had to work first before we could rip it up.

We made our way to Welbedacht for the second water point. The route changed here and instead of going straight onto a good gravel climb, we were diverted back to Groenberg and climbed our way to the top again. Some more single track sections brought us closer to Bainskloof Pass. We made our way to the next water point for a quick stop and soon we were off again to approach Diemersfontein via another monster climb. In previous years we encountered the back markers on the 40km route at this point. It was great to be able to focus on our own race rather than to try and dodge riders that were less confident on some of the off camber turns in the vineyards.  The last bit of the route was altered to stretch it out a bit, but fortunately we kept a bit in the tank and were able to finish strongly.

After a double Spur Burger and a Sterri Stumpy we loaded our bikes and were on our way back home with firm resolutions to come and do a lot more riding at Welvanpas before the Cape Pioneer Trek in October.

Transbaviaans – the team supporters view:

As I was sidelined for this event due to illness I decided to use the opportunity to see what our support team goes through when we do these races.

The night beforehand I was free to drink the brandy and cokes and I was also not burdonned with the knowledge that the alternative route for this year’s race was going to be extra tough. I was consulted on what to put in the various boxes, what spares and tools were to be carried on the ride, which lights were to be put on the bike, and at what point the other lights may be needed. At least the riders were able to select their own clothing for the ride.

We went to the race briefing, but left for our brandy and coke soon after arriving as it was impossible to hear anything at the briefing as the briefing zone was way too small to accommodate all the riders, their support teams and extended families that ended up being at the race briefing. After the tradional brandy and coke at the hotel in Willowmore we headed back to our guest house for supper.

The guest house is situated 17km from Willowmore and is owned and operated by Peppi and his daughter, El-Anne. They also own the coffee shop, take away and guest house in Willowmore. This is their latest project and as construction goes, it seemed like they were well behind schedule. Fortunately they managed to have 2 rooms and bathrooms ready for us. I love old buildings and restoration projects and was looking throughout the house on what they were busy with as we waited for supper to be warmed up for us. Supper was chicken, lasagne, farm bread, veg, rice and desert was farm style malva pudding. We ate our fill and was off to bed by about 10pm.

At 6:30 am we woke and had a breakfast buffet. For once I ate with a light heart knowing that bacon and eggs are not going to slow me down today. There was a light drizzle and a biting wind from the mountains that confirmed by decision to rather stay off the bike for this one. Once in Willowmore we unloaded the bikes and the riders were opening up the carefully packed boxes to get wind jackets, long gloves, leg warmers and the like out as the temprature was around 2˚C with a nasty cold wind biting through all the warm gear.

Me and my co-pilot wondered around trying to find the support crew briefing and eventually spotted a bakkie with speakers on. The briefing started, but it was rather short and to the point:
“No unauthorised vehicles enroute, the directions to CP4 is in the book and so is the directions to CP5, the rest stays the same as last year”. I was very glad that my co-pilot was experienced in these matters and she assured me that if I can programme the GPS, she’ll get us there on time.

The riders were lining up and we headed off to Jeffreys Bay.  The drive through was scening and relaxing. Once in Jeffreys we were in familiar territory as we used the guest house for our previous Trans Baviaans. We unloaded, relaxed a bit and got the support vehicle ready for the evening. The wind was blowing when we left Jeffreys and my mind kept going back to the riders havng to negotiate a very tough route in these challenging conditions.

We arrived at Checkpoint 4 as the top 10 teams were coming in and tried to get a spot as close to the check in point as possible. We ended up on the side of the narrow dirt road and unpacked our chairs, cooking stove, the spares and tools to ensure that no one tried to squeeze in behind us. Space was already tight and promised to get even tighter as the evening progressed. We went to check in. At the check in counter the lady hardly looked up and simply said that we can get our sticker when we check out. I started to reply that the rule book said that we were to be acknowledged when we arrive at the checkpoint, but the lady was already talking to another gentleman so I decided to rather get back to the vehicle.

As it was getting dark it was nearly impossible to try and identify riders coming in with 1000lumens of light shining in your eyes so we reverted to loud encouragement with the hope that our riders would recognise our voices when they arrived. As we waited we started to worry. Our riders were supposed to phone us at checkpoint 3, but we assumed that they didn’t have celphone signal at that point, so we waited. I counted the teams and with about 70 teams crawling past us we got the call. It was a huge relief to know that they were ok and we started preparing the pasta and coffee.  We spotted them as they passed us and with a loud shout they said that they’re checking in and then returning for food and a rest.

As they came back from the checkpoint, we got the report back on the route. It was tough and riders were all taking strain. One of the lights was giving problems, so I changed it for a new one. We lubed the bikes, got the batteries changed, ensured that the bottles were filled and that they were warm enough for the next leg. My co-pilot went to check out and I packed the bakkie and we were on our way to Zuurbraak to meet up with our riders after Never Ender.

Zuurbraak was a huge improvement on the previous year and the support vehicles had enough space to park, the check in / check out zone as better placed and there was good light to work in and prepare for the riders. This was to be a quick stop and we packed the bakkie again, checked out and was on our way to Kabbeljous in Jeffreys to check in for the last time and wait for our riders to arrive.

Once the riders came through we had a drink and our Spur burgers and were off to bed. I will for ever be grateful to have a good support team with me when I do my next race. Its a lot of hard work and is such an essential part of a successful and enjoyable race.

T.I.T.S

With the Trans Baviaans 24 hour challenge only 7 weeks away time is running out to get some good base km's in. The key with these events are time in the saddle or T.I.T.S.

This weekend I was invited to Montagu for a ride to Warmwaterberg over the Ouberg Pass. The ride takes you from Montagu onto the back roads past remote farms past smaller game reserves like Mont Eco to the foot of the Ouberg Pass. The recent rains turned the roads into a huge mud slide. 15 km's into the ride we started with the Pass and already chainsuck was very much the norm. We topped out at 24 km's and stopped to lube the chains and  remove our rain jackets as the steady drizzle we encountered at Montagu was a thing of the past. 900 meters in 24 km's was made tougher by the mud grabbing onto our back tyres all the way to the top. From here we had small undulations to the entrance of Sanbonani Game Farm where we had game rangers escorting us to the Eastern gate. The 22kms though the reserve yielded a herd of Springbok, 2 Zebras and what looked like a Gemsbok in the distance. Once through the reserve we had another 16 km to our overnight stop at Warmwaterberg. The 97 km's sped by  in under 5 hours . The ride back to Montagu will be just as spectacular to end off a successful weekend of training.

Seriously Strong Stage 3: Seriously fast

The day started off at La Paradiso Guest House, just after the Harkerville trail entrance, so no guesses to what the day's racing would entail.
After a short neutral zone on the N2, we turned off at the Sasol filling station to access the Harkerville trails (those of you who had to use the "escape route" on Harkerville before, would know this stretch). The riding was hard and fast, even after 2 days of racing and we were looking good for a top 20 at this early stage. We made our way along the service roads for about 15km's and entered upward single track section on the backward loop on the traditional red route. Just before entering the single track we spotted the race leaders with tyre issues. Hard luck to Timo and Jacques, but it seemed like they did enough on day 1 and 2 to pull this one off, even after finishing about 25 minutes behind stage winners on day 3. It just goes to show that its never over until its over.
The legs were burning as we hit the upward climb on the single track and by now the races within the race was evolving nicely. Going up single track is not my strong point, but I gave it horns to ensure that we had a clean run going down the rooted, stepped part of the trail.
We arrived at water point 1 with 2 or 3 teams hot on our heels. We kept it tidy with a quick lube and fill and a potato in the mouth, but 2 teams beat us out of the water point and was attacking hard. We kept our nerve and roped them in one by one. With some fast steep downhills we could reverse the situation and we attacked without mercy up to the second single track section. Here we caught the second team that jumped us at the water point and went hell for leather to drop them too.
Now half way in we rode the service routes beyond the regular trails and made our way to sections of the trail that is used with the Knysna Oyster Festival routes. The climbs were hard, but all middle blade stuff and we seemed to have knocked off the chasers at this stage.
The second water point approached and we cut our stopping time down to less than 2 minutes. We were leaving before the chasers made it to the stop and rode hard to maintain our lead. By now fatigue was setting in and small mistakes were creeping in and we took it down a notch to ensure that we kept it together on the fast rutted downhill sections. As we were climbing another hill the second ladies team caught us. We held on and opened the gap again on the next down hill section and had to ride hard on the last series of climbs before you hit the bumpy downhill sections just east of Knysna.
The highlight was surely riding the very technical section of single track as on all previous Knysna Oyster Festival races I was forced to walk this section with 50km riders all over the trail. I made a small mistake and had too much weight on my back wheel just before the hairpin turn and lost the back wheel. Fortunately the slip wasn't serious and I got straight onto riding the rest of the trail with my partner capturing the moment on his GoPro camera. Guess I'll have to put this on YouTube now...
We hit the streets and progressed quickly to George Rex Drive where we were on the cobble stone path to Thesen Island. I was being dragged along by my partner who rode another monster stage and we crossed the finish line in 19th place. With some teams ahead of us not completing all 3 stages, this would probably end up being about 15th or 16th.

Seriously Strong Stage 2: Seriously tough

The day started off just outside Totti's eatery on the Reenendal road, south-west of Knysna. The clear skies meant a drop in temperature and with riding the trails around Millwood before, I knew that there would be climbing from the gun. We started behind a pace vehicle and as we entered the Goudveld forest gates the leading teams dropped us like a bad habit. I was finding my legs, but about half way up the climb I needed a respite from the 18% gradient and wanted to drop onto my small blade to spin the legs out. I lost the small blade before even starting the day. I tried in vain to ride the steep gradient on the middle ring, but had to dismount and put the chain over manually, loosing time and momentum. This was going to be a long day, but this was not the time to feel sorry for yourself.
At the Daleen Mathee memorial we entered a hiking trail. By now we were at least 15 teams down on where we ended yesterday, so we had to be content to wait behind less confident riders in the single track. It soon turned into a mud bath and we were forced to walk the remaining 3 kms of the single track. The next 13 km's were ups and more ups. Gradients varied from 9% to 28% and I was getting increasingly frustrated by not having a full suite of gears to do the work in. By now I was becoming quite good at unclipping my right foot and tapping the chain over onto the small blade while pedalling with the left.
At 17 km's we reached the first water point. I was in no mood to hang around, so after filling the water bottles and shoving a potato in my mouth, we were off again. We were probably about 20 places down by now, but we kept on grinding. At 20 km's we were cresting jubilee creek. The views were simply breath taking (or was that the climbing). At the top we caught up the first team, then there was a second team in our sights. We were on a steep, rutted descent and used the opportunity to haul in a few more teams as this is where we could exploit the fairer sex riders' built in caution sensors. We were approaching the old mining town of Millwood and caught a few more teams. With the climb tht followed my legs were feeling strong for the first time today and we picked up the pace to haul in a few more teams. Soon we were on the Homtini Trails. Every one that go to Knysna to simply do Harkerville 4 or 5 times in a week need to go and explore this paradise of indigenous trees and bird life. With a few fast single track sections there is enough to keep the baggypantbrigade happy and get a very good work out too. The second water point stop was even quicker than the first. With my newly found legs my partner wanted us to keep moving to ensure that we don't loose rhythem. As we left the Homtini Trails we encountered a particularly muddy patch that had us pedaling hard on the drier sections to carry us through the wet patches. Another team were in our sights and then another.
Soon we were on the Reenendal road and onto the Phantom Pass. I dropped my chain on the outside of the big ring and had to stop to unhook it on the rear derreullier before we could get moving again. We crossed underneath the N2 on the Brenton-on-Sea road and had a short portage up the stairs. We continued on the lagoon side of the N2 and had another team in our sights. They were blissfully unaware of the chase from behind and we shot past with a huge burst to ensure that they would not wheelsuck to the end. A few km's to go and we were keeping a weary eye on the chasers. We turned into the Knysna water front for some urban assault through the shops and headed off to Thesen Island for the finish. 21'st for today's stage, and hopefully not too many places lost on the GC.

Knysna Seriously Strong 200 Stage 1

Stage 1: Serously Wet and Muddy
All indications were that this was going to be a really wet one. With Knysna getting over 100mm of rain in the 4 days prior to the event, we were prepping for mud and lots of it. The start of stage 1 was at the Elephant park just before Plett. We were treated to sighting of these majestic beasts about 3 km into the race. As we left the elephant park, we got the first wake-up of the day with some very rutted and muddy riding conditions on our way to the forrest roads. At about 15km we started the first of the 3 major climbs of the day. At 25 km's we got a brief respite. By now we were truly in the indigenous forests navigating our way waist deep through what was little streams a week ago. Today they were strong rivers. We had to assist some of the lady riders around us as they couldn't manage to port their bikes without being washed away. The roads were rivers too. We were switching sides every 50 meters or so in an attempt to find a line that was not too muddy. Every mud puddle was like playing Russian roulette. After being stuck behind some indecisive riders for a while we decided to do the brave thing and take the lead. Some were barely 10 cm deep, others our hubs and BB's were submerged with water. Mental note: call William to book a BB, headset and hub service next week.
At 30 km we stopped at the first water point. It had fruit, energy drinks and water. We lubes our chains, filled the bottles and were off with the rest of our group. We were climbing some steep single track sections when I had temporarily lost my small blade. I got off and jogged the ups and rode the downs for a few km's until we hit the dirt roads again. Thankfully my small blade came too again and we were merrily reunited for sections on the second monster climb from 35 to 40km's. My legs were burning and my partner was steadily pulling away, an occurrence that became familiar over the last few months, but this time I could respond and stick with him.
The last big climb tested our resolve, but we managed to put some time in on the chasing bunch. The mood was less friendly than 20 km's ago, so when we pulled into the second water point at 55km, we kept it tidy and were off soon on a fast downhill section where we opened the gap again. We were off onto a nice section of single track with a deep ditch on the one side and a sheer drop on the other. At this point my partner started to cramp up and was running his bike next to me while I was riding. Another few undulations took us to another technical rutted downhill section. We used this to our advantage and soon we were on the tarred roads in Knysna working our way to Thesen Island for the finish. We kept the pace up, was mindful of not going full gas as tomorrow would be similarly challenging. We finished the day 16'th overall, to our surprise. With some big names on the startling we probably punched above our weight today, so let's hope that the penalty is not too severe tomorrow.

Day 3 Race report - Blink and you've missed it.

The day started off at an even more leisurely pace than the day before. Another 'F' seeding and an additional 30 minutes meant we had more than enough time to get ready and pack our boxes. It seemed that the black box picked up eight overnight as it felt substantially heavier than the day before.

We were off on a down hill with some tricky off camber corners through the sugar cane fields and soon we were in some forest single track. We made quick work of 'work to be done' and got to the first water point for a splash and dash. Some more single track with dirt roads through the sugar cane fields got us to 'baby heart rate hill' and ultimately 'heart rate hill'. The second water point was also a quick stop and we rode a fast but yet comfortable pace through more cane fields and sections of single track. All too soon we crossed underneath the N2 and we were onto Scottburgh beach. My team mate dropped the pace and while I was pondering this, I saw the last nagging hill taking us up to Scottburgh High School. A new section of single track was cut right next to the school to give us a small reminder of the amazing trails we conquered over the last 3 days.

Another amazing day's riding and the operative phrase from everyone at the finish was 'next year we are going to...'. I now understand why this race is the most oversubscribed mountain biking even on the calendar. Everyone simply HAVE to come back to see how the organizers improved on what must be the ultimate mountain biking adventure.

Seen you all next year!*

* disclaimer: provided I get a sports pass from my wife for this and have sufficient leave at the office.