Stage 1: Oudtshoorn to Calitzdorp

The first stage started at Oudtshoorn High School. We left the town at 7:30 and rode in a neutral zone along the R62 for about 10 kms. Thereafter the pace remained civil for another 10 kms. The undulating hills were familiar territory from the 3 Oudtshoorn marathons done in years past. The pace was quick and the legs felt strong, so 2 hours later we rolled into the first water point feeling fresh. A tidy stop saw us on our way soon afterwards. Rietfontein held pleasant memories as this is a regular lunch stop for us whenever we are in Oudtshoorn. Simply great Lasagne and devine Bobotie...
Back to the race, soon after water point 1 we were tested with a long tough technical climb reaching grdients in excess of 30% in places. Disembarking and porting the bikes was very much the order of the day. Soon we were on our way to the Red Stone Hills around the Kruis River area. Water point 2 was a welcome sight and after another quick stop we left the gravel again for more low range 4x4 territory. The next 20 kms dragged out and it also started to heat up. It was a constant battle to keep riding. Elzaan and Theresa from the First Ascent ladies team cought up after we lost them after the neutral zone and we took turns riding on the front. They would out-climb us and we would pass them on the technical descents. Water point 3 was a welcome sight. We took a little longer here to simply get to grips with the next section to the finish. Katot gave me the assurance that the climbs were now done. He is a liar. The gravel climb was managable and soon we had Calitzdorp in our sights. In true Katot style we took the road less travelled, turning away from the R62 that would have taken us to Calitzdorp in 5 minutes on a round-the-mountain loop. Here on another crazy descent I cut my tyre and had to repair it. My partner didnt see me stop and I jogged up to the rise to make sure that I could stop him from continuing. I bombed the tyre with no success and thereafter I tried a foam product that was meant to set in the tube, much like the old perma-tubes we had as kids, but it failed as well. I was abou,t to stick a tube in when my partner produced a plugging kit. I successfully plugged my tyre for the very first time. Definately an item on my shopping list. A plug set.

The last 7 km into Calitzdorp was done with a fair amount of caution. I had images of the plug dislodging and having to either tube the tyre or walk the last few kms to Calitzdorp. The climb up to the school felt very long. A time of just over 7 hours was a job well done.

The race village buzz is great. The race is much more intemate than the bigger races on the calandar. With approximately 150 teams and a contingent of Solo riders, it feels like everybody knows everybody by now.

Time for supoer and race briefing, and a monster stage lurking tomorrow.

P.P.S.

With 5 days to go, suddenly the reality of what we are about to embark on is dawning on me. 6 Days of really tough mountain biking... making it to the start line in itself deserves a medal. Being in the middle of selling our house, buying a new one, juggling training and work commitments, finishing up with projects before the event, major IT upgrades and my wife's birthday not only made the last few weeks speed by, it also ate into valuable training time. The reality is that mountain biking only forms a small part of our lives (well for most of us non-pro's with families and work commitments anyway).

Now with 5 days to go I find myself suffering from P.P.S (Pre Pioneer Stress). It actually started last weekend when suddenly I shot up and started packing.
Drawers being opened and closed as I started to organise all my cycling kit. It seems that since my last stage race these items magically migrated throughout the house. Every drawer and cupboard seemed to be stashing cycling gear.

Once everything was piled up in the middle of the spare room, the packing started. Everything into its own ziplock bag and the ziplock bags into a plastic container. Labelling machine out to label the containers and the bags.

A list was generated for items I must still go out and buy. Sunblock, lip balm, contact lenses, new water bottles, ear plugs...

Bike being serviced on the small items that I can attend to. New brake pads, new chain rings, new rotors... oops the Hope rotors knocks against the brake calipher, so back on the old ones go... check the wheel... hmmm the back wheel has a lot of play in it! Guessing its bearings. This was where I re asssembled the bike and decided to let my bike shop fix her up for me. Complicated moving parts like hubs needs specialist attention. Especially before a big race. And now someone can go over my work to correct mistakes that I may have made.

Monday comes. I get to work and can't focus on the items that needs to be done before Friday. I get into the car and the bike goes to the shop and the shopping gets done for the last items. Back at work I can once more focus on the important tasks that needs to be done before Friday.

Tuesday is no better. Lunchtime I amble through the new Chris Willemse Cycle Shop near Willowbridge with a purpose. Armed with my list I walk up and down the shop trying to find any more items that I may need. Nothing. My Garmin! I sent it off for repairs a few weeks ago and the store didn't phone me to tell me when it will be back. I phone them and doing my best to stay calm, I remind the attendant that I did tell them that it needs to be back in Cape Town by Thursday 13 October. He follows up with Garmin and tells me that the unit is not being repaired, it's being replaced and should be here by Thursday...phew!

Now with my bags packed and every conceivable base covered I lie awake at night waiting for Monday to come...

This was my first K2C as I opted in previous years to do the Oudtshoorn marathon that usually was one week before the K2C. I have trained on this route in 2008 when I was training for the 209 Epic, $$$so it was not entirely new to me. The Wapad was a breeze from start group 2. On my previous visit it was much more overgrown and technical, or maybe my skills improved since 2008 and my Zula just gobbled up the rocks and ruts better than what my Merida D3000 FLX did.

I lost about 10 minutes fixing my rear tyre and lost my usual riding partner in the process, so once fixed I suppressed the urge to go fullgas in an attempt to catch my partner. It was after all simply a long ride as part of my Cape Pioneer Trek training, rather than a full out race for me. The climbing as you enter the Prins Alfred Pass is deceiving as you tend to forget about the 200m of climbing in 5kms that takes you to the big descend into De Vlugt. Being built like a stone paid dividends here and I used the descent to good effect. A rider passing me overcooked a turn and slid into the rock wall barrier. I ended up going over the rider’s rear wheel and heard the “clang” of spokes popping. As I turned the next corner I slowed down to assess any damage to my bike and to turn around to assist the rider that went down, but saw the rider was on his feet with other riders assisting him, so I was off again. Luckily my bike came off unscathed. If only my Go Pro was running at the time I could have upped my view count on YouTube. People love this type of thing.

36km into the race we were at De Vlugt and the big climbing started. The heat was also building and it seemed that riders were passing me at a steady rate, but I kept going at my own pace and very soon we were at what must have been the 3^rd or 4^th water point. After a splash and dash I was onto the second big climb before you hit Kom-se-pad.

As I approached the water point at the forestry housing compound, an ER vehicle came past me with sirens blaring and lights flashing. The water point at about 55km offered the usual water, coke, energade and fruit, but also had some potatoes, wine gums and most importantly chain lube. The dust was a menace and the squirt guys and girls were my main reason for stopping, followed closely by the lure of a half potato and a few wine gums. The announcer asked us to keep left when we heard the ER car coming back as he was attending to a “code red” case, ie. that this was a very serious case that was potentially life threatening.

The rollers on Kom-se-pad was not nearly as hard as what I recalled from my last visit, so I picked up my tempo and started overhauling the riders that sped past me earlier in the day. The humidity took over from where the heat of the Klein Karoo left us, so I made sure that I was well hydrated and that I was eating regularly. I assisted a few riders who was struggling with cramps (mostly cute female riders by the way) by handing out a supplement that I carry on me for this eventuality.

I enjoyed the descend before the Simola climb and even Simola was not nearly as bad as I recalled. The knowledge that the last 7km home was downhill also helped to get me over the last bump. The vibe at the finish was great, and the cold showers were the perfect tonic to cool me down and rid myself of most of the dust and sweat before making my way back to Cape Town.

I came in at 5:17 with a minor technical (wire pierced my back tyre after the wapad, removed the wire and Stans did the rest with the help of a CO2 canister). I took it relatively easy for most of the ride (ave about 158 and max of about 169).

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.