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.
D day... Zero hour... or like a good friend would say, time to Shake and Bake. We had a week to get rid of jet-lag, see the sites and try to switch off from work and everything else happening at home. Common sense prevailed and we decided to book a taxi to get the bike boxes and 4 large bags to the drop off. The Iranian taxi driver managed to get me to the drop off in 15 minutes with Rochelle and Werner following suite with the bikes.
The race briefing was comprehensive and fun. It soon became very apparent that these guys understands the concept of "gees" (afrikaans for spirit or being able to create a good vibe). After the briefing we were loaded onto yellow school buses and transported to the ferry terminal. I am now writing my pre-race report in the air conditioned ferry lounge on deck number 5. 90 minutes of ferry and another 90 minutes per bus will get us to Cumberland where we will relax and get familiar with the racers and organizers before the racing starts tomorrow morning. I really can't wait to get going!
4 days to go. It is hard to believe that just over a year ago Werner and I were eagerly waiting for the entries to open for BCBikeRace with our credit cards in the one hand and our hand on the keyboard ready to submit on the other.
The journey has been a good one: Training rides at Eselfontein and other places, early morning commutes, local races, weekends in Greyton, long touring rides with friends... These are all the positives.
We have also reflect on the negatives: A stolen bike, injury and illness, work pressure, those long mornings on the Indoor Trainer / Spin bike at the gym and way too much money being spent on this trip.
It is all culminating in what promise to be an experience of a lifetime and I can't think of 2 better suited people to share the journey with me. I know Werner will enjoy the riding and the exploring and I hope that my wife gets to enjoy the experience of volunteering at the event and the hustle and bustle of New York afterwards.
For now we are packing bit by bit and working long days while we try to stay healthy and injury-free. Follow us on our blog to get updates on each day's riding as we will probably be off line for most of the trip.
Twice in 3 weeks? Perfect weather in the middle of May? Tracks I've never ridden before?
Only a few highlights. The real highlight is spending time with like minded people that are all so very different. A few faces that were familiar and some that I've met for the first time this weekend. We made our acquaintances around the fire and after a few glasses of wine we were chatting like old friends.
Saturday morning at dawn we started grouping into the various rides for the day. I opted for a mini-enduro challenge with a few of my good friends whereby we stitched together sandy start, the first forest, dark forest, redbull descent, getting steep, pipeline and Shapiro's drop.
Each stretch of trail required a different approach and each tested some unique skill-set in a unique sequence. It was reminiscent of a musician playing a complicated piece by Mozart. I was in much more esteemed company than what I would rate myself and soon forgot about the enduro and simply focussed on execution of my own instrument in the symphony we were creating.
As the day went on, the music got louder and the tempo got faster. We all brushed over the small mistakes expertly and I was playing pieces I've never tried before. The trails opened up before me like sheet music and I felt much more capable than ever before.
The crescendo was the pipeline track and as an encore we did Shapiro's drop at a more leisurely pace.
Pieter lost his sunglasses in the first forest earlier in the day and at the junction back to the forest the rest of the group went with him to try and find it. I decided to take an easy ride back to the huts to digest the day's riding when it happened: Just before the water crossing after the junction I went OTB. An unspectacular fall out of nowhere left me with bruised ribs and another story to tell. Its a good thing that I managed to record the incident as I had to watch it to see how senseless and silly it really was.
A night ride and a short ride on Sunday topped off a near perfect weekend. I will have a few scratches and bruises for a week or two, but fortunately the good memories and new friendships will last much longer.
With BC Bike race creeping closer and closer, I have started to realize that I'm not sure what my body will do with hard riding day after day. So I decided that the Houw Hoek Tour would be a great chance to push my limits.
This was my first Houw Hoek Tour but I have done Wines2Whales before. Parking was easy mostly, expect for the selfish (pick your own words here) people that feel the need to park where they reduce the path just because they dont want to walk little. I id hear of incident where one special person cursed the parking marshal after he was ask nicely not to park there. Registration was a breeze with some free coffee and rusks on near table.
Day1
The event use a self seeding system so could start where I want. They call the first group the "racers" and I did not think I should be there. I started in second group at the front. As we start I was cycling not full speed yet as want to warm up first, but loosing the group I started in already. This was a new experience for me. I forgot about everything and everyone and just focus on my legs, pushing on but not too hard. It was not long before I started catching the back markers of the front group. Clearly they should not have start there. Working my self through the traffic and was not long before we got some short steep climbs. They really short maybe 20-30m and already got people pushing up it, but they nicely made space for people riding, at the time there 3 of us.
The first few km's was up and down jeep tracks. The first single track was at thandi. Here was some traffic, although slower than what I would want to go not to horrible bad. In fact the the slower speeds the trail flow a little beter than the pace I would normal do it. Not far in a slow rider pull over to let us pass, just for me to get a pedal strike on tree stump that I did not see. It was an instant OTB. It happened so fast the was not even time for a oh crap thought to happen. Lucky for me this did not happen at high speed. In the fall my shifter and my right leg connected that it and my brake lever was point bit up. It was not bad so I jumped on the bike and continue just to finish the single track, then I will adjust things back. The GoPro was also hang skew. Trying to get the gopro back in place dit not work well as the tape around the handler for protection got ripped and crumpled. Short after it was the first water point. I stop to get my mind cleared, drink some coke and eat a banana.
Ready to go again. Up Thandi, through oak valley in reverse direction lot of it being single track. Going over to Paul Cluver heading to the amphitheater where the second water point is. The new feature the call the barrel run was just moment after the waterpoint. It is an bridge build out of wines barrel slates. It was pity is was wet, believe it will be loads of fun when dry.
Snaking through the forest on narrow cut track, that was bit slippery, meant a little bit of caution was needed. Working our way though single tracks and jeep tracks we where slowly progressing closer towards Houw Hoek Inn. At around the 40km mark I look down to find only a snapped of gopro bracket and no gopro any more. Realising it could be anywhere in the previous 10-15km back, turning around and trying to find it would take very long, rather hope someone find it and return it. 5km's from the end was a split board where you could pick "technical" which would be a switchback single track or "non-technical" which just go through the orchards. Obviously I took single track. What they did not say it is a nasty little climb up before the decent. Going down I did have a slow rider but I was so tired of riding hard all day that I did not care to much.
Result for day ones was beter than expected. Distance 50.1km
Elevation 923m Moving Time0 2:44:59 Elapsed Time 02:48:06 Max Speed 47.9km/h Avg Speed 18.2km/h
Day2
Begin of day is where I would go into new personally testing. Have never before ridden very hard to flat out on a multi day event, as to make sure I reach the end. I could feel my legs worked hard the day before and it was a really cold morning. I decide to start in the first group as I want to try and avoid going through back markers of a group again. Started in middel of the group gave me plenty traffic in the first few km's which was a decent down the old pass. I could not start as hard as I would have like with people taking lot of caution and braking for even water puddles. Taking the rough lines that most people seem to be scared of help me pass some and by the end of the pass I got bit of open spot. The traffic may have given me bit slower start than I would have done if alone but maybe it was good as it gave bit more time for the legs to warm up.
Passing Botrivier was going along the outside road where as the W2W going into school but that is where the water point was. Shortly after the town Ryan caught up with me and I decide to try and keep up with him. After the town we had some gravel road bits which later entered in to the single track taking us all the way to the old steel bridge on karwyderskraal road. At times it got really tight for us that preferred wide bars.
Over the bridge we cruize along the tar for short piece to get the next gate. Time for a gradual climb with short bits of single track here and there to get us to the first water point. On this climb was the first place I could start to see the effects of the day before. Power was little lacking but able to keep an steady pace. Quick stop at the water I had some banana and coke or 2 and off we went. Last bit of climbing to get over the hill was a little loose jeep track through some fynbos, sandy tracks and the single tracks. Sending us out on the karwyderskraal dirt road leading towards hermanus. Here Ryan had more more legs for the open open and I could not keep up. Some rolling hills later get us to the Hemel en Aarde valley road. Ups and downs we work through the vineyards to the second water point. Again banana and coke for me but also need to stretch the gluts and my lower back started to hurt.
Ahead lies the longer climb for the day. Al the way to the top of hermanus rotary drive where you are greated with stunning views over hermunus. But all the climb meant down hill is coming in the form of the Mineshaft. It is a nice fun decent where to need to be awake as with erosion here and there, get the line wrong could have unwanted results. It is follow by few short nasty hills to burnt he legs one last time. The last few km's is a really fun flowing single track along the Hemel en Aarde road but it does require some pedalling. I caught two riders on it but my power levels was so down I decide just to follow them as they were go at ok pace. Also last time I really rode that section hard I clip my handle bar with spectacular results.
Across the finish line I was tired and happy. I could have maybe squeezed bit harder but hindsight is 20/20.
It was really fun route and would do it again next year. I also learn and experience the benefit of being strong and fit enough to be much more forward in the field. Traffic and congestion is very little of a problem. I never had to wait once over the 2 days, at worst I had to slow down till I could past a slower rider.
Day2 result
Distance 48.9km Elevation 846m Moving Time 02:32:13 Elapsed Time 02:35:00 Max Speed 57.2km/h Avg Speed 19.3km/h
During last week I managed to get a late entry for the Houw Hoek Tour from a club member who fell ill and was unable to participate. Having done the tour before and being in the area just a week prior I knew exactly what to expect.
The route on Day 1 was changed slightly from the year before to take out the Lebanon section as this was very early in the ride and caused huge bottlenecks last year. We had a few short steep climbs to warm up the legs and to sort out the men from the boys. Once again the self-seeding system failed spectacularly as just about everyone considered themselves fast riders. Even though this was not a race, some consideration for faster riders would have been much appreciated. I hear the trail etiquette in Canada is beyond reproach and I'm sure that at BCBR there will be better skills all around. The few hold ups did not detract from a very pleasant ride.
Day 2 had a very chilly start. I cheated and started just after the racing group to avoid major traffic jams. My strategy worked well and once through Botrivier I slacked off to a more leisurely pace. Day 2 of the tour did not disappoint and fun non-technical single track kept us entertained all the way to the celebration table 8km from the finish. This table is a tradition that was started a few years ago and takes the form of a wine tasting with a magnificent view of the bay from Kleinmond to Gansbaai. The only finer detail to negotiate after a few glasses of Pinot Noir is what is known as the mine shaft. I let the group I was in pass through and waited a minute or so to drop into the single track with a clear run. Unfortunately a lady rider fell on a technical section. After a brief enquiry to her health, I proceeded to catch the back end of the group again and sat on the back all the way to Hermanuspietersfontein (thats a mouth full...) to end what was another great 2 days of riding.
The weekends are rolling by almost too quickly. Rochelle booked a weekend away at Kolkol just outside Botriver some months ago and we both needed the R&R after a pressure filled week. The accommodation consists of a few log cabins that the owner of the farm built. The basics are provided for in style and with a hot tub on the deck and a fire going in the evenings it was pure bliss. Botriver is also conveniently situated close to Thandi trails (14km), Lebanon (18km) and Oak Valley (24km). Our hosts were friendly and helpful with me enquiring about the possibility to link up any of the farm trails to Groenlandberg, but it seemed like that would not be possible.
Saturday morning I took the opportunity to cycle to Thandi Trails (22km from Kolkol) and decided to do the full loop. My Garmin unfortunately decided to stop working half way through the ride, but lately I've been less concerned about the numbers and focussing on enjoying the ride.
Thandi trails consists of fun filled singletrack sections broken up by some short and steep climbs. Tight turns, some good switchbacks and twisty single track sections makes the 25 odd kms quite tough. I played around with the Command seatpost that the Stumpy was specced with and was trying to work out how best to use the equipment in race conditions. I also managed to spot some funky mushrooms.
At Blossom Restaurant where you buy and return your bike board I chatted with some of the other riders who where out on the trail. We shared a coke and some stories and headed off in our own directions afterwards. The ride back to Botrivier ended at the Hotel where I had the best Burger for a whole R35! Rochelle and I both had a Burger and I finished the ride off with an ice cold beer too. You've got to love small towns.
Back at Kolkol we enjoyed the peace and quiet and opted for an early night.
Sunday's ride turned out to be such a wonderful surprise. We were quite a large group (about 20 riders) and headed from Botrivier to Greyton. I expected to simply take the back roads, but we ended up doing a 30km stretch of jeep track that was simply amazing. It followed the Railway line from Botrivier inland and we made our way up the climb each at our own pace. I opted to take it easy and had a really nice time catching up with some friends.
20km in to the ride the rider in-front of me hit a rut badly and went down. I knew that it was going to be bad by the way she fell and the bike was flung from her cleated feet while she was hitting the ground. I had enough time to pick a line past rider and bike without hitting any of the other riders taking evasive action. Fortunately Michelle got up and after doing a full check of bike and rider we continued. I did realise that her tyres were pumped at about 3bar each which probably contributed to the accident and took it down to a more manageable pressure.
The second 30km flew by and very soon we found ourselves at Searles in Greyton having lunch. The poor waitress and rest of the restaurant staff never knew what hit them. 20 hungry cyclists all demanding food and drink simultaneously sent them into shock. I suspect that they still have not fully recovered from the ordeal. Werner and some of the others were brave enough to cycle back to Greyton, some opted to arrange with family to meet them in Greyton. I opted for the latter and was quite grateful for the ride back.
