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.