As part of our training and prep for Expedition Africa, Theresa and I decided to do the 360one half. We figured that 180km would be a good enough ride and there was no need to kill ourselves or risk injury doing the full 360km.
The day before the race was one of those Karoo days that you try and avoid at all costs. One of those fluid sapping, skin shrivelling, just plain ridiculously hot days! Jip, the mercury peaked at somewhere around 39 degrees!
After some fabulous braaing and kuiering at our little Karoo camp site in the middle of Oudtshoorn town (this could only be achieved by reknowned Oudtshoorn outdoor Legend Katot Meyer and his wife), we rested up for what was going to be along, hot day in the saddle.
Fellow rider (who as a team of 4 did the relay option...on singlespeeds!....their team name being rather apt....'Special kind of Idtio!') Christo dropped us off at the start of the 180km, officially the halfway point of the full ride.
The second half according to the profile is definietly the harder half, with not alot of flat ground (no...the Karoo is not flat!)
After riding the first hour in the dark, we were treated to a spectacular Karoo sunrise. The cool crisp air started to show hints of dissipating, to be replaced by that heavy hot air of the day before. Luckily for us, the clouds didnt burn off till much later in the day, so that temperature stayed within managable parameters.
After the very very very (did I say very?) long and slow climb up the beautiful Rooiberg pass, we were treated to an equally long and fast descent towards Calitzdorp. Here we filled up and headed off towards the mighty Swartberg. The clouds had now burnt off and the little streams we rode over periodically started to look more and more inviting. Eventually we succumbed. It was bliss! But sadly, we couldnt lie around all day tanning, so it was back on the bike for more dust and heat! A rather close encounter with a very large but beautiful Cape Cobra saw a much needed spike to the adrenaline!
This section of the ride was truly beautiful and it wasnt long before we hit the last waterpoint and the knowledge that we only had about 20km to go. Now with a nice headwind to add insult to already tired legs, we soldiered on, and crossed the finish line in just on 11hrs45min...still smiling!
Thanks Trixie, it was a blast! I'll go play with you again anytime!
Thank you to Squirt for keeping us lubricated!
'Is anyone else wondering why the hell they are doing this?' came a soft little voice out of the freezing cold. 'ME'...came an equally soft little reply!
The time was sometime around midnight, the location....on a forestry plantation road somewhere behind Knsyna, and the activity.....riding our bicycles into a freezing cold biting wind. The reason for this? An Expedition Africa Training camp organised by Graham Bird of the Merrell Adventure Addicts.
There is no better prep for an adventure race, than an all night adventure where all the skills needed for an adventure race, are tested to the max. It gives teams a chance to brush up on their nav, test gear, test each other and iron out any issues or unknowns such as food etc.
Our adventure started long before the actual adventure was due to start. A curved ball in the form of a melted bicycle tyre was thrown into the court late on Friday evening when Margaret discovered that during the long drive from East London, her exhaust (not hers personally, but that of her car) had melted her bicycle tyre. But after some frantic messaging with the local bike shop in Knysna, a replacement and repair was arranged for early the next morning.
Disaster sidestepped, it was time for a glass of wine, a good meal, some gear sorting and sleep!
Once the maps were handed out and the fact that none of us actually read all of Grahams notes was pointed out by him, we all gathered on the front tee (yes, we began on a golf course) for a pic and then headed off....some faster than others. But one thing I have learnt in my short foray into Adventure Racing is: the hare doesn't always cross the finish line first! Some interesting route choices were apparent from the very start (no names will be mentioned!) and after a nice little wander through and along some spectacular ridges, it was time for the holiday to end and the hard work to begin. The idea was to bundu bash down a rather overgrown and steep hillside to the Knysna River below. Anyone who has ever experienced thick fynbos will know that path-finding ones wasy through head high spikey fynbos is not an overly pleasant activity! Once at the bottom, some pretty sharp compass work was required to ensure that we didnt wander too far off our intended course during our next lot of bundu bashing/tree clambouring/crawling/scaling! Eventually we emerged at the river bank, cut, scratched, bruised, but still smiling!
From there, we made our way along what was once a jeep track along the banks of the Knysna River, to the start of the farm land, where we collected our kayaks.
The paddle...it took a while to get into a good rhythm and steering was definitey an issue. We did rather resemble a drunk weaving all over the road! Thankfully our paddle was cut short and we hopped out at the take out for the long steep climb out to the trailers, and up to the hotel to collect our bicycles.
Once on our bikes, we skirted along the top of Knysna and into the plantations to the East of the town. Living and working in plantations probably gives me a bit of an upper hand when it comes to navigating in them, as I have a bit more of a basic understanding of how the road systems work. One thing that I have learnt is.....dont rely too much on the roads on the maps being accurate. Roads come and go as they are needed or become obsolete! It wasnt long and we were heading out of the plantation and into the Indigenous Knysna Forest and along the Coffee Pot as it is still known (this is a Jeep track which follows the original narrow guage train line) into the forest.
Once out on the 'diepwalle road' as we all call it, we stopped at the Picnic site near the Diepwalle turnoff. From here we headed out on foot through the indigenous forest. The forest has a totally different feel at night and one almost expects to see an elephant pop out at any minute, or see one of the elusive leopards slink past in the dark!
Check points collected, we hopped back onto the bicycles for what was a very very chilly ride. Doing a big loop up past Buffelsnek and then all way back towards Rondebossie ( a hut on the Outeniqua Hiking Trail). Arriving at Rondebossie, we filled up our water and only as we were about to leave, discovered the hut to actually be occupied (apologies to the hikers who probably thought that the grand invation was happening!)
We cycled in to the next transition, cold, tired and hungry! After a cup of hot tea, we were back on foot for some interesting trekking. There were tons of route choices. With an ever increasingly tired brain, I made a stupid error and didnt see an obvious route until a fair amount of time was wasted on what I adamently thought to be the route.....which it might have been about 10 yrs ago! :) Eventually back on track and making faster headway, we made for the highest point of the weekend. The lookout. It was a long lung popping climb to the top, but we were treated with an absolutely magnificent sunrise!
Arriving back at our bikes, it was a short, but hard hop and a skip back to Simola through the infamous Gouna River pass!
Arriving back at Simola, we all fell onto the food at the Breakfast buffet like starving savages. Some had had the forethough to pack clean clothes and atowel, sadly I was not one of them, and drew some rather critical raised eyebrows as I traipsed through the Hotel dirty smelly and with my dodgey looking taped up feet!
Thanks to Graham for his effort, Simola for hosting us and putting up with us, and to all the other people and companies who opened up their land for us to play in!
And last but most certainly not least, thank you team (and our adopted Team Atlas boys) for once again making it an entertaining and enjoyable weekend!
Thank you Adidas for helping us look pretty (even through the dirt and grime!) and Squirt lube for keeping us well lubricated!
