15th March – Jowetts Super Classic (40km)

Two weeks from the end of Sani – and after multiple physio appointments for completely broken legs (crashing and stage racing are a bad combination apparently) – it was time for my first Super Classic of the season. Jowetts is one of my favourite super classics as its on home turf and has some of the most awesome singletrack in the province. Credit must go to Chris Brand who organises the singletrack laden course almost single handedly – no small feat.

I continued the crashing and injury theme of my early season the day before the race while warming up on one of the singletracks. I just go far to fast on my new full suspension Specialized Epic. The bike gives me a new level of confidence over rough terrain and rocky sections – evidently way more confidence than I should have. I planted my upper leg on a rather large tree stump adding ITB woes to my already shot legs. Nevertheless, after some serious stretching I made it to the start line the next morning.

The start again made me consider giving up the sport, but once I recovered I had an awesome days riding. I caught back up to and overtook David Lieman and Andrew Hill in the first extended singletrack, making a bit of a gap. David came back past and put 30 seconds into me on the first big hill, a time gap which stayed pretty much constant for the rest of the race. The course was sublime – flowing singletrack interspersed the hills and the flat grinds, helping you forget all the hard sections.

After 1:38, which felt like a sprint race after my early season diet of ultra-marathons and stage races, I came to the finish under a minute behind David. Andrew Hill was 2 minutes back in third. Mike had an awesome race, sprinting it out with Jedson Tombs and unfortunately coming off second best in 5^th place, a further minute behind Andrew.

Riding some of the flowing singletrack

Dicing it out with a 10km rider

Recovering after the race

26th – 28th February – Sani2C (204km)

Sani seemed to sneak up on us this year and it seems like no time has passed since December base training and the race has come and gone. My Dad, Mum, Mike and I left for Underberg just after lunch, and the usual pre-race rush to get everything packed and ready (I usually manage to escape all the hard work though!). After sorting out registration we spent the first evening in an awesome little cottage on the Drak Garden’s Road, carbo-loading (dutifully – I always find it tough work to eat a lot of food) for the long three days ahead. I really enjoyed my warm-up ride on the Drak Road – I felt like I was back on home turf, the site of some of my December training.

Day 1 started early at 6, which meant a 2.30 start and eating breakfast in bed – seriously unpleasant. All the competition was out in force on the start line (DCM Chrome x2, Specialized, MTN Energade x2, Garmin x2, Fullimput, Cyclelab/Toyota, etc – it was huge) and the pace slowly wound up on the opening stretch of district road. I was popped off the back on one of the rolling climbs and alone in no-mans-land, suffering. I knew then it was going to be a long day. Thankfully, Mike and Craig Stone caught me and we worked together to get back into the group. A crash in the main bunch brought us back, but unfortunately Ben Melt Swanepoel (DCM) ended his race with a broken elbow.

I was completely blown in the first singletrack from my redline effort on the open roads and was going backwards. Fortunately, Craig was a brilliant partner and let me pace myself and ride back into the race. By the arching floating bridge, which was epic fun, we had worked our way back into about 5^th position. We formed a group with Andrew Maclean, Shan Wilson, Burry Stander and Conrad Stoltz for the middle section of the course and Craig was very patient of my general slow pace. We managed to shake the group by the end of the day and I was incredibly relieved to reach the crest of the hill (where my life felt at about its end) at Mackenzie Club for the Day 1 finish. I was pretty surprised and pleased to finish in 6^th after what had felt like a really bad day.

Mackenzie was a bit muddy, but awesome as usual, my favourite of the overnight stops. War stories were traded and vast amounts of banana bread (Ixopo trademarked, and of unlimited supply) was consumed and coffee drunk.

Day 2 started at sunrise (5.35am) which meant another ludicrously early breakfast at 3.00. Murry’s Menander (a trail cut into an almost vertical slope above the Umkomaas Valley – Nick’s new engineering feat) was unreal with the sun rising in front of us. The track to the bottom of the Valley was treacherous and Craig and I (mostly me, actually) managed to make it a serious effort, getting lost and stuck in heavy mud. At the bottom we found ourselves in 7^th place and rode at a steady tempo out of the valley to the compulsory halfway stop. I was relieved to find I had far better legs than the day before, especially as the 2^nd is the hardest day of the three at 100km with over 2000 vertical meters of ascent.

At the compulsory 10 minute halfway stop we gathered ourselves and were happy to find ourselves in 5^th. Unfortunately, Brandon Stewart and Max Knox (DCM) had to pull out due to illness and Renay Goustra and Arno Viljoen (GT) suffered a puncture. We set off on the last 40km of flatter more open road with Francios Theron and Philip Buys (Garmin) 2 minutes ahead of us and Burry and Conrad (Specialized) were 5 minutes behind us, and coming back fast. Craig battled like a hero on the second half of the day, suffering with cramp but hanging in there and maintaining a pretty high pace. We ended another day very relieved at Jolivet Farm, holding onto 5^th (1 minute or so ahead of Burry and Conrad) and moving into 5^th overall for the race.

At the overnight stop we went through the usual routine – tents, boxes, shower, massage, 1.2 litres of yogi sip, vast quantities of food and a doze under a tree. There was some stress in the darkness after supper fixing a tire, but then it was lights out after a long day. Mercifully day 3 started a little later, at 7, so we had a relaxed and lovely sleep in till 4.30! Then it was queuing for the toilets as per usual (all cyclists stomachs work precisely 30 minutes before the start of a race), and off to the start line.

Day 3 has always been my nemesis and nightmare, a roadie and power cyclists stage of flats and downhill (the hills were recovery for me! no lie). I was very nervous for the false flat district road start where I popped last year, but thankfully the pace was a bit more relaxed this year and I managed to stay in the group. I also felt strong on the first climb and Craig and I found ourselves just behind the main group riding in a bunch with Francios and Philip (Garmin) and Burry and Conrad (Specialized). For me the racing consisted on suffering and focussing on Burry or Philip’s wheel on the flats, and trying to recover on the hills. I started feeling strong as we approached a steep technical climb in Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve and the front group came into sight about 40sec up the road.

Then disaster struck and I hit the deck hard after getting stuck in a rut on a rocky downhill, taking down Francios as well. I spent about a minute trying to recover myself, and entered a cursing fit after finding an oval shaped front wheel, bent handlebar and generally sore left side of my body (cheek to shin). Craig was a legend as usual and was very philosophical, even laughing at my small hissie fit. After a bit of running repairs (straightening my off centre stem) it was an unpleasant ride for the last 35km, the downhills were pretty sketchy on a wobbly front wheel. The last hill was my limit again and I ended in an untalkative pile on the finish line.

After a post mortem we found that the crash had cost us two places – we went down to 7^th, 30 seconds behind 6^th (GT – Renay and Arno) and 1.09 behind fifth (Specialized – Burry and Conrad). We consoled ourselves on stage 4 at the after-party following the prizing giving in the marquee at Scotbrugh High, and despite the disappointment of the last stage, we ended another memorable Sani2C week. The effort Glen, Mandy, Nick, Sloth and Max put into the course, accommodation and organisation put it in its own league – no other mainstream race comes anywhere close in terms of the quality of experience.

The new arching floating bridge

Day 2 always starts super early, but the sunrise over the Umkomaas Valley makes it absolutely worth it.

Craig leading me just out of the Umkomaas Valley

Trying to catch a wheel on Day 3, before the drama.

Rather unhappy after my crash and slowing down to tighten a loose skewer on my wobbly front wheel

21st February 2009 – Sabie Classic (100km)

Craig, Carl Calverly and I had a long drive up to Sabie on Friday 20^th, and after a quick warm up ride, we were off to my aunt and uncles house near Hazyview. Fortunately Marilyn, my super-aunt, had left all the necessary food ready for us (they were at the Drak Canoe Race in Underberg) so we had a restful evening.

The race got going at 7.00am the next morning and as usual the field split up on the 1^st short climb. I settled into a comfortable pace as it was going to be a long day – 100km in the rocky mountains around Sabie. I was pleased with my form, especially given my lay off from my shin injury, and was riding in about 7^th place at the 40km mark. Then a rear wheel puncture struck (inevitable on the ultra rocky downhills exposed by lots of rain), and the hole refused to seal after one bomb. It turned out to be a long mission tire change of about 20 minutes when the tubeless valve seized on the rim.

Eventually I got going again and joined Craig and Ben Melt Swanepoel who had had similar tire issues. The day turned even longer when I got another puncture and had to wait for another friendly cyclist with spares (mine, Craig and Melt’s were all out), and I was very relieved to get to the end after some 5 odd hours and a very long day.

Despite the mechanical difficulties I loved riding my new bike, the Specialized S-Works Epic. Weighing in at about 10kg it was awesome on the uphills, and simply unreal on the rocky flats and downhills. Bumps just aren’t an issue and I could aim to make up time whenever it got rough. After racing a full suspension for the first time, I never want to go back to a hardtail!