Pete Smith - Team Jeep South Africa: 26th – 28th February

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.