9th – 11th October
5 days after Hero Himalaya finished and 28 travelling hours
later I wasn’t expecting to feel overly sprightly in the three day Berg and
Bush but I also wasn’t expecting a highly competitive race. Berg and Bush has always been a race I
fancied doing but it has often been on the same time at the Cape Pioneer or has
been very close to. I was racing
mixed with Johan Labuschagne and was looking forward to racing with one of the
best riders in the mixed category.
We registered at Winterton the night before and drove out to
accommodation with Yolande, Michael and Melt. Winterton isn’t a big place by any means but Yolande managed
to book us within 4 km of the start, a pretty rustic self catering house but
perfect for us as we warmed up a cottage pie in the oven she had brought and
sat outside chatting with tea and rusks.
By 8pm we were all in bed and I felt like I’d had a full night sleep by
the time the alarms went off at 4.30.
Stage One
96km
At 6.20 we were on the start line at the Border Post on top
of the Drakensberg Mountains and I was feeling very nervous about how my legs
would respond having done nothing but a 30 minute spin since finishing last
Sunday in India. As it was I had
every right to be nervous as what followed was 4 hours of pure pain! Setting off I felt fine for the 2 km
descent but once on the flat it felt like I was sprinting but going no where. I couldn’t hang on wheels, had massive
lactic pains in my legs and was breathing like crazy. Johan sat behind me thankfully and pushed me to help hang on
wheels. I knew it was bad when I
had the thought that at least if I crashed I could lie down and not have to
pedal any more! It’s a bad sign
when you think crashing is a less painful option!!! Soon we started the climb onto the escarpment and I had no
option but to find my easiest gear and try to spin out some of the pain. If it hadn’t been for Johan I would
have gone into ‘limp home’ mode but I felt bad him taking the weekend away from
home and having to ride so slowly so I kept my head down and gave myself a
stern telling off, had my earliest ever gel before 7.30am and pressed on. Luckily I have ridden the escarpment
many times before in Joberg2c as I was too busy chewing my bars to take in the
views but I did make sure that I enjoyed the descent. Flowing single track via Solly’s Folly and the new
Drakensberg Drop, nothing too steep and with the gel now in my system I perked
up and found it great following Johan’s wheel. We caught up to Yolande and Mike and rode with them for a
while until Yolande got something caught in her mech and had to stop. We lost sight of them then and later
heard that they had taken a wrong turn at some point that cost them a few
minutes no doubt. The rest of the
ride had some tough drags and smooth descents with a nice section of single
track at the end along the river but already it’s a blur as I was in a world of
pain and suffering and at one point told Johan I felt like an asthmatic
snail. In hindsight with all the
travelling, the stage race last week and the lack of fast racing I should have
expected it to hurt but not that bad!!!
We crossed the line at the Em’seni Camp 2nd mixed behind
Candise and Darren, and a minute or so in front of Yolande and Mike and Jeannie
and Martin. 4 mixed teams in within 5 minutes ensuring another few hard days
would follow!
That evening was the Spioenkop Sprint, a 1.somthing km climb
up Spioenkop Mountain for both woman and men. I could think of nothing worse having spent the day either
lying down or cramping up but maybe once I set off I would feel suddenly
better. I was of course wrong; within
100m of the climb I was creeping and did the sensible thing of getting up the
hill as easy as possible. I was
gutted not to be up there in the mix, it was my kind of steep climb, the crowds
were out lining the road, the prize money was high and had I not found Theresa
with me to share the last half of suffering, I would have been in a dark place.
As it was, I think my body was on
the verge of rebelling and giving up completely so not racing up was probably
the best thing I could have done (well, listening to advice and not entering
the climb would have been the best thing but not in my nature!!)
Day two
66km
I slept solid and was awake before the alarm went off so had
plenty of time for cereal and fruit and tea before the 6.30 flag off. A shorter day with less climbing meant
for another fast start but from the very off I knew my legs were going to play
ball and I found some nice gaps to sneak through before we hit the first and
main climb of the day up Ox Wagon Hill.
I felt better and kept the lead mixed team within sight. Johan helped a lot especially near the
top as I tried to hang onto a small group of men. I know in mixed racing how much faster it is to hang on
wheels so your partner can rather sit behind and help as apposed to having to
sit pace in front. Eventually we
dropped off and rode alone for the middle section of the race and the Puff
Adder Pass descent. Johan stopped and got coke and lied that there was nothing
that nice at the feeds that was worth me stopping for (I later heard there was
not only my favorite Kooksisters but someone also said there was soft scoop ice
cream; I will never know if that was true or not!!) With 10km to go we turned
round and saw a fast approaching pair of Jeannie and Martin so Johan had to
switch into time trial mode on the open road back towards camp. He was that strong that even in a head
wind I was spinning out on his wheel in my biggest gear and we just held them off
to come in 2nd again. Candise
and Darren were flying and way off in front and Yolande and Mike had lost a few
more minutes so we still had a friendly battle lying ahead with Jeannie and
Martin. They are such a great team and have had so much success at some amazing
endurance adventures together as well as having a family in tow and I have a
massive amount of respect for them.
Having finished day two by 9.30am and with a heat wave I
spent the rest of the day between the pool, the chill zone with its chocolate
milk and delicious ‘health’ bars and the river. The massage Johan had booked for us was working wonders for
my legs and along with the cool water in the pool and the sugar from the bars I
was feeling much more sociable and energized.
Day Three
60km
Another short, fast ride was in store for us today so much
so they moved the start in case the first men were back before the last batch
set off! The race quickly split up
along the flat trails and we sat with the lead mixed team for a while before I
found myself at the wrong end of the group into some single track and while
Johan paced the group at the front, I was jo jo ing at the back and eventually
as the group splintered, Candise and Darren disappeared off the front as Johan
made he way back and collected me!
We pulled back a few teams as the trails went through some sand then
dragged up towards Spioenkop Mountain.
That climb was the only one of the day and once over that and seeing no
sign of the next mixed team, I took a bit more care descending down the long,
famous 13km fun and easy single track and we finished without issues, done and
dusty just after 8.30am into camp holding on to 2nd on GC. It had been an intense and hard three
days of racing but for a change from last week had been very few racing hours
and hopefully just what I needed before the Pioneer starts next week.
Thankyou to the Berg and Bush Team for putting on a great
three days of racing with lots of feel good single track and rewarding climbs
and a race village that not only had a pool and river to cool of in, but also
chocolate milk on tap and the tastiest health bars and salad variations ever
along with recipe book so I can attempt it all back home.
Thanks to Johan for all the pushes, and sheltering and for
the BEST and most needed bottle of coke ever on Day One that got us onto the
podium. Without the help I may
still be half way along stage ones route!!
Thankyou to Sasol, Squirt Lube, and Rubena/Mitas for the
support and products.
No comments:
Post a Comment