Only in its 3rd year the Tankwa Trek was sold out
after so many rave reviews and I was looking forward to being part of the race
for the first time and sharing another stage race experience with Rob. A few days beforehand I lost my partner
Nizaam and decided to race solo.
With Trans Hajar still making my legs feel pretty heavy in the run up to
Tankwa racing solo at least meant the pressure was off to hang onto a fit team
mate!!
Arriving at the race village at Kaleo Guest Farm outside
Ceres we found the camp set out in a way the tents were nicely in the shade and
everything was within easy walking distance… a thing of high importance after a
few days of racing!!! With a
delicious dinner laid on and video of the next few days ahead there was
definitely an excited feel amongst everyone as we headed to our tents in preparation
for the early start.
Stage One
Witzenberg Valley 83km
I don’t think I will ever get used to how early stage races
start in South Africa. The alarm
sounded around camp at 4.30 and in the pitch black, people started wandering to
the warmth of the tent for hot oats, homemade cereals, Fairview yogurt, a full
fried breakfast, and lots of tea and coffee. There was certainly enough choice for everyone and enough
fuel to get every rider to the end!
At 6.30 we were off racing
down the gravel road. TransHajar
was certainly still in the legs and I had no speed to stay high up so I didn’t
kill myself and instead slowed down and settled into a nice moving group with
the likes of Farmer Glen from Sani2c and Cherie Vale whom I rode with a lot of
the day. The single track was
great, technical but ride able though with a lack of off road training through
the English winter my nerves where with me and I chickened out of a few drops
much to my annoyance!! It was very
obvious lots of the trails were designed by top mountain bikers; Hannes and
Sakkie Hanekom. The scenery was
spectacular and while Cherie and I rode hard on an open road section we also
had a good look around at the clouds rolling off the red mountains.
Once the single track opened up to some jeep track climbs
our group spit up and I passed a lot of riders before the sweeping descent
round to the finish coming in 1st solo woman with Cherie in 2nd
and Christine in 3rd
Stage Two
Ceres Valley 89km
Rob was up and away before I even got to breakfast having
got the job of setting up the first water point. We were warned today’s stage was the tough but rewarding one
one and we weren’t to be disappointed.
There was one long single-track descent next to the Gydo pass with steep
switchbacks that should have been a lot of fun but there was a lot of traffic
and we literally queued and waited on every turn. Following that I rode in a group including Yolandi de Villiers
and her young partner Bianca before the climbs started and I again spent most
of the second half catching riders in front. There was a lot of grinding climbs but also some fast
sweeping descents and soon we arrived at the Merino Monster whose name was very
appropriate. The night before we
were warned the climb was similar in length and height gained as Alpe d’Huez
only this was on an unmade road and would take a lot longer! I enjoyed the climb with its steep switchbacks
and amazing views along the way and while it was nice pacing myself up it I
really missed a line to follow on the descent. I had a bit of a sugar low and battled with a few rocks in
the way (!) and following that we had 10km to the finish. That was a hard section and seemed to
go on forever, my own fault as I’d presumed from the top it would be 20km of
downhill to the line so didn’t take on any food or drink and paid for it
later. I came in 1st
solo again and, apart from the last 10km, was pleased with how I felt. That afternoon was so enjoyable laid around the lounge area
chatting and drinking smoothies, eating ice cream and chewing biltong.
Stage Three
Koue Bokkevel 61km plus 26km neural
The weather had been kind to us this year, last year riders
climbed The Monster in 40 degrees, this year is was more like mid 20s. The downside to this was this morning
was bitter cold and with a neutral start at 6.30 for 24km it was a chilly first
hour. I was glad for the social
ride in more ways than one. It was
a chance to actually get my legs functioning better for the fast starts, but I
was more thankful for it when I heard something hitting my spokes and looked
down to see the Specialized Brain hanging into the wheel. The screw had come out but was luckily
still there so all I had to do was tighten it back up, it could have been a lot
worse if I’d have been flying along on a fast descent. Once at the official start Dryland had
sorted out a food table, tea, coffee and portaloos before the official start
around 8.30am. With a tail wind,
an open, slight down hill road and single track coming up I was flat out and
you could spot anyone riding a 1x11 as we had to do around 120rpm just to keep
on the wheels. I started better
and had little congestion into the single track and was all alone after the
next climb into the next long section of single track through incredible rock
formations. This zigzagged along
this high plateau and a number of times we caught sight of riders looping
round. I did finally find some company
once the trails opened out. The
pace felt high all day with fast moving smooth tracks and was again a really
enjoyable ride. The finish was
down the back of camp again like Day One through these spectacular sandstone
rock formations and I was much happier how much better I rode down than the
first day. I came in 1st;
with a total ride time of 11 hours 16.
Cherie came in 2nd at 11.47 and took back 2nd on
GC to Christine at 11.53.
Thank you Dryland… it was my first Tankwa Trek but hopefully
not my last. This race will no
doubt be another Sani2C with a Race, Adventure and Ride before long. Rob had a blast lubing chains at the feed stations… he got to
also eat fudge and kooksisters without having to ride his bike there! Huge thanks to Johan and Mindi from
Dryland for your kind hospitality, real bed and tour of Oudtshoorn. Thankyou to Deon at Cyclefunatic of
Durbanville for my Specialized Epic Expert 29er, Asrin and Nizaam; though I missed
my partner’s line on those descents I did enjoy my longer than usual stops for
all the feed stop delights!! Next stop:
Gr300 in 2 weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment