Penny Pinchers Classic MTB Series - Timer for a bit of climbing!

I think it's fair to say that the winter season is fast approaching and as the weather starts to change for either better or the worse, depending on what your flavour is during the riding year. With that comes the tapering of the season, well for only for a short time, considering there is still one or two big ones happening slap bang in the middle of the year. 

But there is a series which starts on the 7th April 2013, and is something of a different series, not in the sense that the series is different to any other series, but more in the sense that, the first race of the 3 races is considered to be arguably the toughest climbing race in South Africa.

When I heard this, I was quite intrigued, as I wonder what the organisers base this on? The elevation as per the photo below, shows steep climbing, not doubting this for a minute, but again what are they comparing this to. Well looking around, and doing a bit of research and after seeing the other races in this kind of category, that being the 45-50Km races, this does seem considerably different.

One can see why they say its arguably the toughest!

From the above profile, one can see this race starts off straight away into a 500m climb and it does not seem to end, even at then it seems to end on a climbing. So what can this tell us, well pretty much the fact that the Penny Pinchers Classic MTB Series Race # 1 is about climbing and that's what is all about. However, this is all speculation at this point. I can say that looking at the profile, 2 things are for certain, climbing and spectacular views, which is 9 times out of 10 what makes the race worth it. 

The Easter Weekend brought on a little bit of training for climbing and saddle time, as the last time I was on the bike was the Lighthouse Challenge (unfortunately I missed The Vines race) so it was a good weekend for riding, to get the legs working and to start getting use to the winter weather which is def around the corner. 

Picture courtesy of my trail running girl Vix!

Vix taking some awesome shots of Easter Riding

Breathtaking views on in Cape Town

Weekend Riding Anyone?

Following the first race will be the Race #2 - Hottentots-Holland Classic on the 12 May which will be 42Km and Race #3 The Greyton Classic (also has a nice Trail run, so hope to see you runners out too) on 15-16Km which will also be 45Km. The profiles are similar but compared to the first race, these seem a lot less climbing, which means the good news is the toughest one is over first.

Hottentots-Holland 2012

 

Greyton Classic 2012

Overall, I think this will be a great series and more importantly a great training and build up tot eh Knysna MTB, which finally I have entered and looking forward to competing in the 2013 race, and have some fun!

As always play in the mud and stay dirty!

Following the light - The Lighthouse to Lighthouse Challenge 2013

So the big day has arrived....

The so called preparation that I had done for the lighthouse to lighthouse challenge was going to be put to the test now, and wow was it put to the test.

The Silver Weapon!

CL's Weapon of choice

Myself and CL, left on the Friday, around 3, thinking we would have e ought time to get a bite to eat, register and setup for the night, well typical traffic had a different plan for us, and there we sat. This is of course did not help the mental game of what was ahead of us as we had no idea what we were in for. Doing different research looking another people's stories of the challenge; some saying it is a challenge but good fun and moderately easy, while others saying it is pure hell....what did we know...nothing, which I must say is actually good thing looking back because one become more cautious before dropping the hammer and deciding to go out and smash it, but the challenge thinks differently.

Eventually arriving at Gansbaai, later than we intended, we registered and go going on setting u for the next day. Making sure our bikes were good, we had our 'special race fuel' snacks ready and double checking everything. This sounds like we were prepared however, doing our first multi-stage race we were kinda of winging it, but it also doesn't hurt having a guy like CL who is the guru when it come to endurance food...thank goodness!

This better be the right stuff CL?

Rise and shine! After a decent sleep we woke to hustle bustle of other riders getting ready, talking about what to expect, how long is it etc. the nerves starting to set in now, as I started to see the more experienced riders talking about pacing and everyone saying please don't let the wind come up, which at this stage it was as calm as a sleeping newborn (this of course was to change). On a side note, I saw a guy take out some baby bum cream, and my original thought was, shame newbie on his bike, who needs that, later on we will see why that is one thing I will never forget again on a multi stage.

CL and myself were now ready, we were pumped up, nerves kicking in, excitement all around, it was overall a real good energy and people were feeling really optimistic especially as the wind had not picked up. Could it be, the dream day that everyone wanted, the day where wind I'd not play a factor...HA Ha..um No! It's the coast people, of course there is going to be wind.

Ready as we will ever be!

The early bird catches the worm!

Bang, gun goes off and all you hear is "woohoo, come on guys" and we all set off for a long day in the saddle, 91Km long to be exact. In beginning we started off nicely with everyone, all of us bunched together, the experienced and top riders already making the break for it and separating themselves from the field. CL and myself were going along nicely, riding side by side or slip streaming and overall having a good ride, then came the uphill, which was not too bad, but of course then what made it bad was our friend the wind....he was not a friend he was just a plain dick, pardon my wording but you would use a lot worse if you met him on the day, and coming head on, there was nothing nice about it. But we dealt with it, and slip streaming each other made a world of difference. My advice if you are going to do this your first time, have a rider who you can stay with...

 As we hit the half way mark, CL and i stopped off at the water point for a stretch, some special fuel and catching up, we looked back and had seen we had done about 50km about in a good 3:30 maybe a little more, which was awesome as we thought ok, another 30km and we would be done, again assuming this was the big mistake once again! As we set off for the "last leg" of day 1, we were feeling good and strong, and most off all in good spirits, but and it's a big but, the whole time thinking where is this beach and sand everyone talks about? Where?....WHERE? Oh hello there you are! Enter the nature reserve everyone had talked about in past reviews, also known as the soft sand. As we entered the nature reserve, we just looked ahead and thought, how do we do this, every pedal stroke sapping more energy out of our legs than the previous one, eventually we hear behind us, go off the trail to the right, and all of a sudden, an overgrown, but single trail was seen, and no more soft sand...for now. To give you an idea it tools us about an hour to do 10km maybe even more. Eventually leaving the reserve and thinking we left the soft sand behind, and CL making the statement "oh well at least it can't get worse" - wrong statement CL, as we're about to find out, it was about to.

Half Way!

STRETCHHHHHH!

The last section of day 1, was in a word just plain "torture". Not so much that it was because we were tired and that we wanted to finish, but it was that every pedal stroke on the beach became harder and harder, and drained more and more energy. The last 3 Km took forever as we were straight into the wind and the end just never seemed to arrive, actually the damn lighthouse never seem to arrive, but finally it did, and just like that we were done, Day 1 over. 91 Km down....time for a bit of R&R and mental preperation for the next day!

Rest Time!

Day 2 of the Lighthouse Challenge...

And here we go!

After an OK nights sleep, besides the fact that there was a gale force wind blowing throughout the night, which was causing out tent to cave in; we woke up and started to prepare for another long day. A 120 Km long day to be precise. As CL and I were getting ready, the whole time we were thinking, please let the wind actually stay with us and give us help today unlike the previous day. I know this sounds strange, who actually asks for wind right? well that day if the wind was to stay in the same direction as the day before, it was going to be a massive help.

As we lined up at the start, all you heard were the groans from what was to come, and why groans, well, it turns out on the second day, you start of course where you finished and that meant, starting in the super quick sand as well as the "fantastic" (place for a sarcasm button right here) nature reserve. The positive side was that it would be over and done with and then off to the more flat route.

As the gun, went off, we all started off, knowing in a way what was waiting for us. CL and myself started together and were together for about 3 Km until he put the hammer down and off he went. Myself on the other hand was not loving the start, and all I can say is from now on, any, I mean any, multi-stage race, it will require Vaseline or anti-chaff, and that's that.

Once past the reserve things started to ease up a bit and I started to get into a good rhythm  however, where was our friend the wind, the guy who was suppose to be by our back the whole race? Well the bastard had decided to up and leave that day, and so without any wind, the day was calm, sounds great right, not so much, as my legs were still recovering from the previous day. But I trucked on, and on, and as the Km's started to drop and drop, you started to get a feeling like, wow I am actually doing this, and all of a sudden a wave of enjoyment passes over and you find yourself looking over some of the most beautiful views in our country has to offer. I must admit that wave flowed over quite quickly, as we approached the big hill, and by this I mean that over every little crest, the hill kept on going up and up, oh and guess who decided to come back right then and there, our friend Mr. Wind, he was not there long but he made sure he was going to show his face during that time.

After passing the half way mark and having the big hill behind us (it was not a big hill in all fairness but after 50 Km or so, any hill becomes big and tough) We rode through the little town of Elam and you started to realize that the finish was not that far away, and say to yourself, he I can do this. And that is exactly what we did. We put the hammer down, as the pro's say, and went for it. Struggling here and there, and thankfully I partnered up with a guy who was around my strength and we ended up doing every last Km together, and this was a massive help, as from a motivational factor, it is probably the one thing that helps you the most and keeps your mind off the race the whole time. I can clearly see why multi-stage races are done in pairs.

As we got down to the last 5 Km, we could see the Lighthouse, where we started the day before and thought, this is it, the last bit, finally the agony, the pain, the chaff! was all about to end. Finally we crossed the line, and after a long two days, I could say that I completed the Lighthouse 2 Light house challenge. This is a tough race, no doubt, but I can promise you that the reward of completing it, is fantastic and there is something, deep down inside that says "See you next year!"

The End...finally!

As always, play in the dirt and Stay Dirty!

Continuing the Path....

Continuing the path to the long one....

From the previous weekend's race of only 42Km, it was time to take on a little bit more of a challenge, the Franschoek Lions/Porcupine MTB Challenge. Having no idea what I was getting myself into and wondering how it was going to be, all I had heard about this race thus far was (a) It's much more climbing (b) It's always hot in the valley. Well I can say if this a was multiple choice test I wish there was a (c) option because points (a) and (b) were exactly true, except everyone seem to have missed the point of the up hills which was just crazy climbing and the wind, which never....never changed direction to be in our favour.

The profile from the previous year, but fairly similar!

The race started out pretty flat and then started taking you up the Franschoek valley, and from there you kind of knew it was going to be a long day in the saddle. There were a few climbs here and there and even some really nice single track, but what was a highlight was riding through the different wine farms which one normally doesn't have the opportunity to do so. 

After enjoying the wind, and NOT enjoying the wind one bit, I looked up and all I saw was the hill whihc people mentioned before, but then I heard someone also say "see the mast, that's where we going"...all of a sudden the world got a little smaller for me and Gluteus Maximus said....@#$%. But I went for it and wow did it take me by surprise, it was not so much that it was climbing but it was the loose rocks and gravel whihc made the climbing extremely tough, and lets not forget about our friend Mr. Wind who was on us like white on rice!

Finally getting over the "4km" climb, sounds little...ya right! It was straight down, and full force and putting the hammer down was the only way to go for it, which was awesome. Chris and myself had a little duel on the downhill, and after both of us almost seeing our lives flash before our eyes, we both agreed it was a "what were we thinking moment" but fun as always.

Finally the last 4Km was a little bit of a drag but we pushed forward, saw the end and crossed the finish. Overall it was a tough race and I would tackle it again, but Mr. Wind, please from the bottom of heart, stay away!

Till the next one...The Long One...Stay Dirty!

The path to the long one!

It's gettting closer and closer to a weekend of pain and gain, to building up, smashing down and building up all over again. What am I talking about? The Lighthouse 2 Lighthouse challenge that's what and the races over the last few weeks to hopefully be semi ready for the endurance race.

The build up to the lighthouse , literally only started about 3 weeks ago, with the first longish race of the year that I took part in, the Paarl Rotary Club Bouckert-Soenen Paarl League and MTB Race on the 27th January 2013. 

After having a good break after new years I have decided that this year will be the year for big races and new adventures, and what better way to start off with a 42KM "fun" ride in Paarl. It was a chance I was taking, to take part as I was away on a business trip in freezing Europe, no really freezing, and had no idea how I was going to fair, but what I did say to myself was that I would ride this for me; at this stage you asking youself surely you do that all the time, and yes you are correct, but this time, I didnt care about time, didn't care about the other riders just cared about finishing and having a good ride, and that is exactly what I did, and the result....awesome!

The race started at about 8:30 as the 49KM guys went off first, why didn't I do the 49KM, well I will tell you just now, but for now lets look at the 42KM. As we started off, we all rode through the "neurtal zone" as the race officials called it, not quite sure that is fair cause it was a good 4Km to start off, which is not bad as it gets the legs going and sets a nice pace, but neutral mmm, OK lets just go with it. Once out of the neutral zone, the climb started, and WOW did the climb start, and all it did was start and kept on going. The climb are predominately the 1st 10Km of the race and one would think, once you hit the top, that's it, but no,  after a small but much needed decent, the climbing started again and all of a sudden one looks to his left and right there is Paarl Rock. I must admit, I have never been up to Paarl rock before, and seeing it for the first time from this perspective, makes one stop and stare and just smile, you look around and you realise for a second that you are in one of the most amazing places in the world and is truly a site to see. And back to the racing we go. After hitting Paarl rock, the long decent did come, which was a much needed reward, or let me rather say, it would have been if it was not for the wind, which by now had picked up good and proper and made going downhill feel like it was climbing again. 

As the Km's started to decrease and I could sense the finish was coming up and maybe about 10Km from the end, BOOM! cramps set it, I stopped, dropped and rolled as they say, however not in a rescue sense but more in a pain sense. After getting back to my feet and dusting off, I sucked it up, and decided to walk it off, as a well known female scottish warrior told me once. Off again, and into some nice little single track, I was very pleased about this part especially seeing as I lost places when the cramp sent it, but managed to pull them back during the single track section. With the marker of 5Km to go, I said go for it, dropped the hammer and off I went. Finally I finished and after a tough but a very enjoyable ride, I bumped into Iron-woman, Jane Holdcroft, remember I said I would get back to the 49Km, well the reason not doing is that Iron-woman, who is basically the avengers all in one, explained to me that even she was hurting and had a climb of "carry-your-bike-cause-it-is-crazy-steep" angle for the extra 7Km, so to be honest I was pretty happy I skipped that part, however it did make me nervous as I realised that, the Long One is going to be Twice this in one day and even more the next....

Stay Dirty

To Be Continued...

RIP Burry Stander - Not only a cyclist but a true hero to all!

Last week, on Thursday 3rd January 2013, the cycling world came to stand still and heard the horrific news about one of cycling up and coming stars, Burry Stander.

The professional 25 year old mountain biker, from Kwa-Zulu Natal, was tragically killed when a taxi collided with him on Thursday during a training ride.

To read the full article please follow the link: http://www.sport24.co.za/OtherSport/Cycling/SA-cyclist-Burry-Stander-dies-20130103

Since then there have been many memorial rides and huge amounts of support. My condolences go out to the Stander family.

RIP Burry Stander - Cyclist, Hero, Gentleman!

Where the Trail Ends!

If you want to see what free riding is all about. See this - There is no better way to see riding from a different view. These guys are insane and in every way different to any other action sports out there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZUsc1ewgUQ

Do you believe in magic?

Trail - Majik Forest, Durbanville - Cape Town, South Africa

Distances - 3Km - 15Km

Toughness - 3.5

Do you believe in magic? A question which every young child asks and every young-at-heart person still asks. When riding through Majik Forest, this question will come to mind often during your first ride here.

Majik Forest is a different and unusual ride as one is not quite sure what to expect. When arriving at the entrance of the trail, the view is straight up towards the vineyards of the Cape winelands, while behind you is the normal hustle and bustle of the commuters whom watch you getting ready to take your break from the working day and to enjoy the outdoors. When starting your ride, you approach a moderately steady uphill climb; for the beginners, this is not the most appealing factor on which to start, but if you stick it out, it will definitely become rewarding, which I will get to soon.

After a slightly uncomfortable start, where you are saying, "why, oh why do I do this all the time?", you take a left and the path leads to a nice level section, to let the rider catch their breath and relax the legs, before taking on the next climb, not as tiring as the first one, but that is most probably because your legs are upset with you and are going with the motion. Once you reach the top of the second climb, your view of the trail starts to take a different turn....

(PHOTO)

At the crest of the climb, one starts to get a feeling how the rest of the trail is going to be....FUN! There are two options, the straight boring down the hill option, which is actually more there for the return trip, and the second option, the switch back single track! This is of course the number one choice for all riders. The single track is not tough, yet it is still fun, and for the beginner to intermediate rider, that is what Majik Forest is all about. After this first single track section, there is a another climb, and not the last unfortunately, but the reward is worth it. At the top of the climb, one makes a U-turn and straight away into the next single track, a little more challenging and more rigorous on the wrists; but one must remember this is all gearing you up for the final "Majik" run as they call it.

After the climbs and the single-tracks, you are placed at the first crest where one starts to get that nervous, but good feeling, in their stomachs and knowing deep down that now is the time for the "Majik" to begin. From the start, the single track, which takes you off the normal "boring" route, forces the rider to awake and start paying attention, as the berms and the little whoops can through you off. After a zig-zag single track, the rider enters the forest, where you can choose 3 different routes, all will join up but they are all different ranging from easy and soft, to the more hard-core drop-off sections, where one just let's loose.

Weaving in and out of the corners, throwing the bike into the best positions is most of the fun, all a while, you are thinking “I Believe in Majik” as every corner is different but just as much fun as the last. Each single track through the forest, allows for different riding styles, either very aggressive or more cautious. Riders will come across wooden bridges, some big drop offs and even a nice "little" table top jump for the more adventurous rider. 

Once through the forest, you will experience a very nice peaceful end to your journey along the river bank and finally find yourself back where you started and looking back up to the mountain, and 9 times out of 10, saying "Let's do it again!".

Overall Majik Forest might not be a long ride, or even a tough ride. It will take the super-fit rider about 50-minutes and the not-so-fit just under 2 hours, but it gives every rider the chance to have fun, break away from the concrete jungle and believe in Majik just one more time!