30th January - Barberton Ultra-Marathon

Craig, Brendon, Carl Calverly, Ryan Ellis up and I drove up to Barberton on the 29th of January for our first race of the season. We found our accommodation just outside Barberton at about midday and went off for a ride to loosen up our legs. For the rest of the day carbo-loaded commenced, and we ate huge quantities of food, always a bonus of doing 120kms the next day. The absence of any mothers or girlfriends was felt though, as Carl and I managed to grill the premade lasagne, making it a mix of plastic lasagne container and mince. We managed to salvage what we could, and topped up on anything else we could find.

For the first time Barberton wasn’t the opening round of the MTN National Marathon season, with the Attakwas in Oudtshourn being held 2 weeks earlier. Nevertheless, the race still seemed to have all the pressure and competition it’s had in previous years. All the big teams were present, and MTN and DCM’s numbers were even boosted by some of their best road riders. We were off at 7am at the usual furious pace ultra-marathons start at – always tough to hang in when you know you’ve got over a 100kms of hills to come! Craig and I managed to start the first hill (which is a mammoth 15km-1000m ascent bleed) with the front group, but were out the back about 200 meters up! With about 7 guys up front, we rode a steady pace up the hill.

Up the hill, our group’s numbers swelled as we caught some stragglers from the front group and other joined from behind. After what seemed like endless climbing, we hit the 15km technical downhill that took us to the 75km mark and feed zone. Craig decided to put the pressure on down the hill, making full use of his full suspension Epic. I followed him as best as I could, relying heavily on my full-sus, which gave me a competitive advantage, and a bit of misplaced bravery! Craig and I came through the feedzone with Rourke Crouser and Paul Cordes, and I think the four of us filled positions 6-10. Unfortunately we had arrived a bit earlier than expected, missing Ryan and Brendon whose race had just finished, who had planned to give us more juice and water.

Ride through the backroads of Barberton to the final 45kms, Craig popped of the group, closely followed by me. The murderous 15km hill (which really doesn’t end!) then finished us off, both of us hitting the wall. About 2 minutes in front of Craig, I just limited the damage, trying to find a steady tempo. On the hill the compo streamed past, and I was very relieved when I finally reached the summit. On the last undulating 30kms, every little drag seemed like a mountain, and it good to reach the finish line after 5h36 minutes. After the blow up on the climb on the final loop, Craig and I ended in 16th and 17th. Carl was just back in 18th, finishing strong. Upfront, Max Know destroyed the field, finishing 7 minutes ahead of Burry, who edged in front of Kevin in the final sprint.