Out of all the races I missed last year Joberg2C was the
biggest. Having won here twice and
2nd once I have so many fond memories and not only because I've had
good results. The atmosphere
is way more relaxed than most races, most riders are here just to finish and
waiting at each race venue are hundreds of eager school kids, happy to clean
your bike, give you water and clean up after you’ve demolished one excellent
meal after another. Dinner is
served by woman from the community and they are all equally happy to help. Each night we are treated with the
comedy trio of Glen, Gary and Craig as they recap the day and tell us what’s in
store the next as well as speeches from sponsors, those benefitting from the
race coming through and war stories and photos from the day.
The riding itself is through such vast open landscapes of
the Free State to the groomed famous Sani2c trails and varies each day until
the sea at Scottsbrough finally is in sight. Yes, I sound like I’m making an advert for the race but
maybe I am as to me it is a race close to my heart and each year at the end I
always hope I’ll be back in 12 months time. Here is my blog of the first four
days so far:
Day One
Karan Beef near Heidelberg to Frankfort
116km
Always a non race day it suits me that everyone gets the
same time as my record of feeling rubbish on the first day meant I could suffer
without it mattering! Leaving Heidelberg
we soon had one of few climbs and straight away I lost Yolande de Villiers sight
of the Sasol train, my fellow team mates for the race: Yolande de Villiers; my
partner and Johan Labuschagne and Leana de Jager, riding mixed. Luckily at the top the route splits and
while most riders headed to the left I went right and soon got Yolande’s wheel
back. Day One is a hard one to
ride; you still must get through over 100km of pretty flat but sometimes
grueling going while trying not to expend much energy. Staying in a group helps a lot but the
one we were with was shifting along too fast so I dropped off with Leana
forcing Yolande and Johan to also drop back. We got a nicer steadier group and I had a good natter to
friends and friends to be over the kms.
The Dragon boats had been replaced by a floating bridge which while
pretty unique wasn’t quite the same as all sitting in the boats and rowing
across. The route was very muddy
all day thanks to an overnight downpour and the terrain was hard going but soon
we were at the third water point and we stopped to have some Karoo meat and
marshmallow dipped in condensed milk, a very sweet combination!! At the finish
the race took a short detour through the infant school where all the kids were
there cheering us on and making us feel like super stars, before finishing at the
High School. Riding for
Sasol we have our own campervan and mechanic which is a real bonus for recovery
and trusting your bike is 100% when you get on it in the morning for me makes a
massive difference to how I ride.
Day Two
Frankfort School to Reitz Showgrounds
93km
The real race begun in earnest and the start I must say I
struggled with for the first 30 minutes.
We rode fast along a jeep track and I seemed to find every big puddle,
rut and ‘black’ mud, the kind that sucks you in and doesn’t let go!! I saw Yolande, Johan and Leana in one
line keeping out of trouble and the more I tried to catch them, the more
mistakes I made. I caught back
with a big effort once on the open road and after that I was fine. The pace was fast and our group was a nice
size. Johan sat at the front and a
few guys also helped keep the pace up and the km’s flew by. The 10km of single track near the end
followed by passing Larry’s ever expanding wolf sanctuary was the best bit of
the day and all four of us came in the finish together, me and Yolande winning
the woman’s category, Johan and Leana winning the mixed.
Day Three
Reitz to Sterkfontein Dam
This morning the Free State gave us a clear sky and with it
much colder weather than we’ve had so far and I appreciated a bowl of oats for
breakfast. By 7am we were off in
the bight sunshine. We weren’t
cold for long as we were in for another gallop as soon as we hit the dirt road
out of town. I could tell straight away Yolande wasn’t comfortable and she said
she had one of those days where neither leg wants to work. That was fine as it was a pretty flat
day until Mount Paul and we sat in a slightly slower group where I was able to
take in the landscape a little: huge vast open spaces, the feeling of been in
the middle of no where, massive corn fields and distant mountains as we neared
the dam. The 4km dam wall provided
a strong tail wind thankfully and soon enough we arrived at my favorite camp
venue. Nice and compact, baths so
I could have a hot and cold recovery bath and a long table full of sweet treats
which has enabled me to write up this blog so far without need of a nap or 2nd
coffee!!!
Day Four
Sterkfontein Dam to Winterton
121km
We had a foggy start this morning as we prepared to move
from the Free State into KwaZulu-Natal and we stayed in the camper van as long
as possible before venturing out.
The start was soon onto a rough newly laid road full of big stones
making it difficult to ride in a big group with so many riders around. The rolling hills and fast pace split
the groups up quickly which was a good things as we climbed up the escarpment
and onto Great Wall My China, now in Berg n Bush territory in small
groups. The single track of
Sollie’s Folly down is one of my favorites and by the bottom we formed a nice
group with Leana and Johan and all was going well until Leana hit a huge ant
hill with her pedal on a fast downhill and flew at least 10 meters through the
air. She was crying out and as I
got back to her she wasn’t moving and I feared the very least a broken bone. Someone had a phone to ring the medics
and with little else to do Yolande and me left her with Johan and got to the
next set of medics to inform them.
We were both very down after that but grateful that some of the group we
were with hung back just for some other conversation. The route had changed a lot since 2 years ago and instead of
the steep concrete climb up Spioenkop we climbed round the edge and still got
the fantastic single-track descent off it. After the last feed we had Puff Adder climb and then it was
all down hill. Apart from Yolande
taking a brief dip in the river a few kms out we finished without any issues
and 12th team in overall.
The best bit of the day was seeing Leana and Johan ride in only 15
minutes or so later. Bruised and
very sore but with no broken bones and they even held onto their 1st
place on GC!
Stage 5
Winterton to Clifton Prep School
112km
Leana managed to start the day but soon had to pull out with
pain in her arm and chest but was slightly consolidated with a ride in the
chopper. We started strong and
hung onto the lead group for a fair while. Once it split we found ourselves with familiar faces. That’s one of the nice things about
this race, every day you end up riding with the same riders until they become
friends and you see who is going through good and bad patches. Today was full
of long but not too taxing climbs on open roads and views of central
Drakensberg we appreciated more because we’d worked for them. We finished without incident at a new
venue at Clifton School. I’ve never seen kids so polite and helpful and they
left cookies in the tents and had drawn pictures of bikes dotted all over the
smart new hall. After lunch and a
whole hours massage I relaxed outside on the green lawns with a Seattle coffee
and my third piece of lemon cake and caught up with some Australian friends;
Meg and Nick. I’d first met Meg
back in Trans Alps and then in America and she has some amazing stories from other
stage races.
Stage 6
Clifton to Glencairn Farm
98km
To top off a very hospitable venue we were led out of the
school grounds by a few kids on their horses. The mist was thick and the organisers decided to control the
start until we were out of it. We
then had a second start up a hill so we went from freezing cold to flat out
sprint up hill! The pace felt very
hard on the road and I prayed the long climb would come quickly so we could
back off and ride a bit slower. I
was off the group sooner than that though with a flat tire on a fast decent and
alone as Yolande was in front of me. The camera man pulled up as I found my bomb but it wouldn’t
seal. I tried with my other bomb
and a plug at the ready but could see no hole and it went flat again. By then loads of riders had passed and
thankfully Paris, a Avis rider who was sick as a dog that day came to the
rescue and put my tube in and bombed it in a matter of minutes. I lost lots of time but it did mean we
climbed past loads of riders on the pass and that always makes you feel
good!! We kept the pace ‘steady’
(our word of the week we say to each other a lot when we switch turns at the front
which is quite ironic as we’ve been riding as hard as could go most days!) With 40km to go the real work started
with a huge climb then lots more ups and downs. The last 10km was the hardest finish to the race so far and
took forever. I also fell in a
river and while it was nice and cooling down my back I hit my elbow and knee,
which wasn’t too pleasant and my last bit of energy in the form of a fruit cake turned into a soggy mess!! Finally
the finish was in sight, a new venue to be used in Sani2c with great views from
the dining marquee.
Day 7
Glencairn Farm to MacKenzie Club
79km
Known as the rest day in Joberg2c but with 6 long days in everyone’s
legs a rest day would involve no more than lounging on the sofa for the
day! I battled with the start and
went backwards on the first climb.
I dug deep to stay on the wheels, blew on the first uphill single track
and dug even deeper to hang onto wheels once back out in the open. Yolande was super strong thankfully and
paced us along until my legs finally clicked into action and we worked our way
back up to familiar faces. Neither
of us wanted to ride flat out so we sat in a group and was able to really enjoy
the groomed flowing single-track sections amongst the trees and the famous
floating bridge. We
travelled through an indigenous forest and for the 4th year saw no
sign of the endangered Cape parrot.
I downed two cups of coke at the last feed before Bowman’s climb;
neither of us had managed much more than a quarter of our bottles so it was
much needed! The finish was
through a new farm and though still a climb to the finish was a much better end
than seeing the road drag up in front of you as was the old route. The marquee had a great chill area
inside where I spent most of the afternoon lounging on sofas, eating banana
bread and talking nonsense.
Day 8
MacKenzie Club to Jolivet
99km
The last ‘big’’ day of Joberg2c and in preparation for a
long outing for many riders the first batch was let loose at 6.30. I wasn’t impressed with having to set
my alarm that bit earlier, I have got to the stage where the hardest and most unpleasant
part of the day isn’t the first few climbs with dead heavy legs but dragging
yourself from a warm sleeping back at 5am and pulling on cold lycra! At least breakfast has been good the
whole race with every village making big pots of porridge and hardly any
queues. As the sun came up we set
off for the coldest start so far.
Everyone wanted to get to the single track down the Umkomaas Valley
first so it was flat out from the go.
We were positioned fine until about 10 of us went the wrong way, only a
few hundred meters wrong but we lost a lot of places and started the descent
behind a long line of riders. It was a pretty slow descent because of the light
which was so blinding you had to just hope you didn’t hit a rock in certain
patches. To do this single track
in the middle of the day, with baggies on and with a few mates around to stop a
few times and look at the views would really be one of the best descents in
South Africa.
Once down and past the first water point the tough riding
began though the building of bridges the last few years has made the crossings
a whole lot easier and amongst a group including the two top masters teams we
gradually made our way to ‘Push of a climb’ where Yolande tasted the sausage
she had devoured just beforehand a number of times! The steep climbs where you must concentrate are the ones I
enjoy and luckily my legs felt a whole lot better than yesterday. Yolande was also having a good day and
together we pushed on. The single
tracks back down towards the finish were smooth and felt fast in and out of the
trees and with around 10km, on my request we eased up. In a few weeks time we both knew we’d
be racing flat out so for now it was a chance to appreciate the areas we were
going through. Farmer Gary had
done a great job sorting out the finish down Charlie’s Catwalk. We’d been warned about having to go
down the road (which though easier on the legs was a bit dodgy with taxis) as
the catwalk was a mess but since early that morning Gary had got a group of
workers on the job and the finish was safe and fun.
Much later that afternoon the commentator got a whole group
of riders out on the finish straight to bring home the last tandem to a hero’s
welcome. What a story that was;
blind Kenyan stoker Douglas and his 19 year old pilot John had crashed and John
had broken his collarbone. While
he couldn’t carry on another rider, Darryl Gove from New Zealand brought
Douglas back. His first time on a
tandem they eventually finished and Darryl was emotionally broken. Stories that these make Joberg2c the
special race it really is. The next day Darryl had offered the two Kenyan's an entry into his race, the Kiwi Crusade in New Zealand and Old Mutual offered to sponsor the flights!!
Day 9
Jolivet to Scottsburgh
84km
My memories of the last day in previous years are of been pretty sick with a
stomach bug which had spread like wild fire round the camp. If you didn’t have the bug you had a
cough and the place looked and sounded like a hospital! This year however with the thanks to
hand sanitizers all over the place at every camp there very few cases of
sickness and this morning was a general excited feel amongst the riders. The changed route made the day one of
steep lactic acid climbs, loose corners and long sections of downhill with some
great sections of single-track inbetween. We sat on wheels all day and let some of our usual
riding buddies fly off. Neither of
us had saved anything the last 8 days so there was no way we were going to be
able to race flat out to the sea.
It was still a tough and intense day but soon the sea was in sight
topped off with the excitement of the floating bridge all the way to the line. As the bridge is in the sea it does
move from side to side and feels like you are riding drunk. Falling in wouldn’t have been too bad
though as it was a lovely warm day and, once finished we had a swim in there
anyway! We were both super happy with our victory and I was so pleased at how we had rode the whole race but also had a heavy heart that it was over and that our other team mates, Leana and Johan hadn't been able to finish as a team.
Old Mutual Joberg2c stays top of my list of stage races and I can not thank Glen, Gary and Craig as well as their wives and everyone else working on the event enough for enriching my life with 9 days of pure bliss. The ride, the people, the scenery, the journey and the challenge make this one unforgettable.
Massive thanks to our ace mechanics Gerhard and Dennis from
The Bicycle Company, to Johan and Sasol for the ride and for speaking English
(apart from when it was about me!!) and to Yolande de Villiers for been such a
consistently strong, fun and all round nice partner to have.
No comments:
Post a Comment