MTB Ghost Stories

Awe

A mate in my church, let's call him Bos, so that those who know him can know exactly who he is, posted this on thehub today. Now I didn’t change a thing (even the photo’s are his,) and this is all a true story. Read his story after my story.

To those who night ride regularly, I don’t know wether you’ve felt scared while riding before in a dark forest before. It has happened to me once and only once, on this old farm near Ceres called Eselfontein on a piece of trail called The Dark Forest (no jokes,) a piece of trail that I’m usually playing around on and love, except for that night. Whereas I usually ride in front, that night for the second run of the trail I rode behind Werner, now I’m not afraid of the dark, but that night I felt so freakin scared and aware of something in that trail that I hugged Werner’s wheel like a scared four year old hugs his mom in a shopping mall. I wanted out to get out of that forest. Fast .

We got out safely, and nothing jumped us or ate me, and i don’t know wether it was my imagination or a spirit or if it was a wild animal, but that night I prayed so fast that I must have sounded like a machine gun. And I haven’t ridden that section in the dark since. So with that in my memory I can really relate to Bos’s story

But ya, rather read Bos’s Knysna story below me, it is way more interesting, and the man know’s how to write a lekker story. And after reading Toorbos some people might agree that there are strange things in that forest.

Enjoy

-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: 17 August 2012 04:11 PM
To:
Subject:

Your story reminded me of a ride I did with one of my school mates who now works at Ultimate cycling (morne) We started riding at 8pm.. and rode up the surrounding hills and out into the plantations..

We  got completely and utterly lost after 25 minutes of riding through dongas and shack singletrack..

So the suspence starts building as we ride through a quiet stinkwood plantation.. imagine rows of trees fading into the distance as you ride through a narrow avenue of jeeptrack between the trees. The jeeptrack is flooded 6 inches deep and the only sound you can hear is our wheels riding through the water and some branches cracking as the night time animals prowl around in the plantations around us..To make it worse, the jeeptrack is tightly lined with thorney berry bushes.. so much that one would be unable to get off that road if something came from the front.. which was very unlikely, but It had that Nightmare on Elm street feel...

Now put yourself in my shoes, As you were talking about the YETI and the Knysna Elephant.. Its scary out there.. Not so much the Yeti and the ellies but the people that live deep in that forest freaks me out most!

So the next thing we are going downhill.. the road gets narrower (by now gravel not wet jeeptrack) the bushes and plants on the side of the trail has overgrown the trail somewhat and I have to really concentrate not to get dropped by my mate (Im not even ashamed to say, I was soo scared and wanted my mommy haha)

Ok, So flying down this downhill ( I didnt even know we went up a hill ok) getting darker and deeper into this nightmare forrest and SUDDENLY..my nightmare comes allive.. In my peripheral view I notice something is running next to me in the forrest...no bull***t..middle of the blare witch forrest something is rinning next to me and this at 50km/h... think OH my FAAARK!!!!!

Now Im trying not to get dropped screaming down this overgrown twisty path/road so I can not really look around to see what it is but I can see bleddie well enough that these things are not only keeping up they are as tall as humans they are black and there are a few of them..Now my dear friend you have not understood the kind of trauma and plain bekakking myself and "not staying calm" I was going through.. these effing things were chasing us! keeping up, Because ones mind can not Identify or comprehend what this would be.. YETI see pictures below..

Now I know you are thinking this can not get worse.. wait for this..

As all of this is going through my very small feeling heart the unthinkable.. With a big skid and "OH FARK" 10m in front of me Morne comes to a stop but Im not focussing on Morne, Im focussing on what is standing 2.5m tall on 2 feet in front of him.. Holy crap this is it we are about to become the product of all our sins and going to pay for not believing in monsters.. This is reality and Its gone bad...

I'll give you time to read...

Images like the above drove fear into my mind that night.. but seriously, have you ever came across something that runs that fast through bush.. Is black (no not bushmen  ) lives deep in knysna forrest and then stands 2.5m tall on 2 legs?!

I was in disbelief I tell you..

So I had to dramatise that last bit but ones mind is incredibly fast and thoughts fly around in split seconds.. So the thing was a horse.. there was a pack of wild horses running next to us in the forest and then up ahead one of them lay dead, dont know why.. and the other horses standing around the dead horse obviously got the fright of their lives when we came flying down and locking our brakes which also masked the sound of the horses which might have given it away.. further Morne's lights only shone on the body of the horse and the head was kind of out of the beam shot..

You get the Idea, but It was by far the most scared I had ever been In my Life..

Edited by Bos, Today, 11:27.

Time for a change

After a pretty rough month I can finally write about what was going on in my life.

For the last month I have been looking for a new job. It was a myriad of reasons that helped me make the decision, but it had to be made.

I sent applications to a lot of places,everywhere from BAT to a motor parts company. 

My friend Heino told me to send my cv to his boss at WSquared cycling, and I duly did this.

Shortly afterwards Johann from WSquared replied saying he'd like to meet me when he get's back from Germany and will make contact with me. Great. In the meantime I went for more interviews, sent more applications and even progressed to a second round interview at a company that sells brakes and clutches for cars and trucks. I had a bit of interest shown in me by recruiters, but not a lot of fireworks. It was a nervous time. Faith building stuff.

So the day dawned for the interview with Johann. I was pretty nervous, but also had a church camp that I was organising with Alicia and another interview later that day on my mind. but in all honesty, the interview went pretty well. We talked about his plans for his business, the industry, where he saw me fit in with his business and what he needed. And we drank decent coffee. Bonus! I was really excited when I got to Alicia afterwards. 

Then it was church camp time. Epic weekend. In between amazing devotionals and a lot of good food we had time for a leisurely siesta in my hammock, watching the Stormers semi final heartbreak and even raided a neighbouring dorm room with crackers, pillows and some flour. At 2AM. good clean fun. All the while with thoughts in the back of my head that I wanted to work for WSquared cycling. 

But by sunday night I was paced. Tired to say the least. At one point in the evening church service I just told the Lord that I can't take the stress anymore. That He knew my heart, where I wanted to be and where He would have me in His calling and that I would submit and go wherever He wanted me to. And I left it there.

Directly after the service I got a sms from Johann saying that he is sending me an offer. Alicia and I freaked out. so we laughed, cried, prayed, phoned my parents and freaked out some more.

A bit later the offer came through. And it was the amount that I had in my head, and trusted the Lord for. I freaked out some more

The monday morning I accepted the offer. From 1 September I'll be a Business Developer at WSquared Cycling. WSquared imports BMC, Ellsworth, Catlike and Tune. 

So this has been a really blessed ending to a rough time. The Lord really pulled through, and I can't wait to embark on this journey.

In all this my parents and my girlfriend has been really amazing. Very supportive and I really want to honour them for that. Thanks guys. I love all of you.

Best of it all is not that I'll be working in the cycling industry, in a direction that really intrigues me. No, I'll swap that one time to ensure that my relationship with the Lord does not waver to below where it is at right now. You really grow faith when you trust the Lord for something crucial, and I had to walk on water a couple of times. But I am glad that I did.

See you on the trails everyone, my friend Werner just got himself a very pretty Ibis Mojo, the decent thing to do would be to join him for a ride.And who am I to disappoint a friend like him.

Peace love and understanding.

Philip

Gans Baai MTB race

This past weekend was a biggie.

It was the Gans Baai MTB race, one of my favourites and one of the harder 45km races on the calender.

This is also a special event for me as we have a beach house there, and I do a lot of training in the summer holiday in this area.

So Alicia and I headed out to Goosebay the friday after work. Luckily for me my parents were also there and started the fire so long. I love going to races with my dad. he is the best support crew anyone can wish for. And I got to bond with him while Alicia and my mom went to the Festival of the Geese (don't ask.)

I had a really rough week at work, so the frustration was high. Perfect race fuel. The knee fellt good, so I wanted to pound the hills into oblivion.

Riding over the weir.

Race briefing was very chilled, with Corrie warning us about the weir. I rode it last year and planned to do it again. Aapparently five guys rode it last year. And one dude didn't make it. The weir is basically a piece of wall with rocks on the one side, and water on the other side. With two bends thrown in for good measure.

The race set off at a frenetic pace. I joined the front group for a couple of minutes before deciding to let them go. Watching as four guys rode away into the wind. I knew it would still be a long day with lots of climbing having done the race last year as well.I got caught by John on the first climb so we rode a bit together. He wasn't having the greatest day and losing both waterbottles didn't help. After some tough climbs,sweet singletrack, amazing views and a very fast descent  we reached the first water point at 15kms. on the descent i zoomed past the leading lady singing while racing past her, only to have her pass me while  I was having a picnic at the WP. I never saw her again...

I felt strong, was having a good time and filled my bottle and hydration pack thinking that I won't stop again.

 My dad was parked off to one side and John grabbed a bottle from the collection in my bakkie. for the next 15km after the waterpoint I rode with John or just slightly behind him. we cruised the middle section, I rode over the weir trying my best to smile for the camera man while focusing on the narrow wall. Apparently I was the first to ride over, and only three of us tried it (one of the other two is Werner, my Sani partner.)
On the next long climb John pulled away again and I tried my best to keep him in sight, but the elastic snapped on the last climb. I just couldn't keep up. I started suffering like a dog. the new climb up to the mast (I hear it is the highest point reachable by MTB in the Overberg) sucked. steep, loose and at the end of a long climb. Offside. I pushd up. like a girl. And got caught here by another girl. I promptly dropped her on the descent, only to have har pass me (again) while I was puking my lungs out by the side of the road. this was when I realised that I was in trouble. he last time this happened was in the Argus in 2008 when I rode with flu (not smart.) I was spent. But I chugged the last of my juice to replace what I left behind. and lo and behold, one always feels better after puking. I had legs again. And a downhill. Booyah! I never caught the second lady again, but the downhill was super fun. My Merida tracked like a missile, the terrain was nicely moist and very grippy and I klapped it down there like a redheaded stepchild. I felt in control again. Right up until the last 5kms. After battling not to cramp down the long downhill section the bottom false flat hurt like hell. It was right into the wind. And had little rolling hills in it that stinged. I had to stop for another chunder session. this time I didn't feel too lekker afterwards. luckily it was only another 2kms before we turned back downwind for the last stretch home. with the wind behind me and knowing the finish line was very close I clocked 45km/h to the finish. Where were these legs when I needed them, like going uphill, or into the wind? Nevertheless I rolled over the finish line to see my great rent-a-crowd with very worried faces. Apparently I looked like a zombie. Alicia got me some coke while I got closer acquainted with the ground. My race time was 3h26min to end in13th place. I'll claim that thank you very much. It was a hard day on the bike.

After regaining some life in my body I went for a shower, ate all the remaining pancakes, a cheeseburger, drank two cokes and a fanta, and even charmed the food lady to make me a chicken salad. So healthy!

Afterwards I chilled a bit with John, Ewan, Naomi and Gabri. Gabri won the 30km, and walked away with 4 shark cage diving trips. Not bad a bad prize for an ex fish sales rep. The rest of the afternoon entailed a decent siesta, watching the Stormers game, and braaing (yes, it is a verb, okay!) with Grant and Werner. 

This race really is a highlight. It doesn't have the crowds that races like Die Burger and Argus or even Lourensford have, but the route and the vibe is a lot better. As in a lot. Corrie and Aalwyn went out of their way to make the 45km route fun, but still a challenge. and the route marking was done well. Corrie is also the type of guy who stands at the finish line until the last rider gets home, no matter if the prize giving has started. The level pf involvement by the local community is also amazing. there was so many volunteers, everything went off smoothly, and the locals really sponsor some cool prizes.

This race is a must do. I will be back next year with out a doubt. and you really should do it as well.

So for me that is my important races all wrapped up. I might do Karoo2COast, and will look at some summer races. But in the meantime I want to drop some weight, regain upper body strength, rehabilitate my leg's muscle imbalances, get fit with trail running again and a church camp to organise. And there are some big changes in my personal life as well, but more on that later.

Through all this I will definitely still ride though.

Go play outside.

Peace
Phlip

Injury niggles

Ouch.

I finally went to the physio after the knee pain I picked up at Sani failed to disappear. I was hoping rest might sort it out, but alas, it didn’t.

 

It turns out that I have a muscle imbalance in my legs. My quads are stronger than my hamstrings and my glutes leading to bad biomechanics and unwanted friction in my knee. Long story short: I need to sort out my body. A weak core and muscles at the back of my legs couldn’t cope with the stresses that my quads are pushing through my knee. The bad form lead to friction on the bursa (small sac filled with fluid that my knee cap rests on) and that is now inflamed. read: very uncomfortable. Even dancing with Alicia in her living room last night irritated my knee again.

 

All those rides where I forced myself to push bigger gears to get stronger didn’t help at all. I built stronger quads, but at the detriment to the rest of my legs.

 

So now I am on anti-inflammatory pills, have a bunch of stretches and exercises to do, and I’m off the bike and off running until next weekend. Then I can ride in Eselfontein (yes please!) as planned, rest the week, and then race in Gans Baai. Obviously I’m not doing any of the hill training I wanted to do for the Gans Baai race, and I might not improve on my time of last year, and I might have a very uncomfortable knee. But I will  still klap it something silly on the race and try to kill myself.

Then we will re evaluate the knee, if it still hurts, I might need to get an injection and more time off the bike. But I’d rather do this and sort out the root of the problem than struggle with more injuries later. I don’t get paid to ride, so it needs to be fun.

 

The focus going forward will be to rehabilitate my knee, build up my core strength, and while I’m at it my upper body as well. Start working for a six pack  in winter and I might just have a flat tummy in summer.

 

I plan to combine running with a bit off cross training off the bike with some fun MTB rides to keep me motivated during the winter and to rebuild my body.

 

Lesson learned: overall strength and a balanced body is more important than strong legs. And don’t push through mechanical pain in your knees.

 

My next post will probably only be after Eselfontein, with lots of cool stories and nothing about my knee or crashes. But to be honest, gammy knee or not, I’m really looking forward to the weekend away.

 

Keep the rubber side down, and look after your bodies.

 

Peace, Love and Understanding

Philip

 

 

 

Post Sani blues

So it is a couple of weeks after Sani and things have quieted down a bit.  Well sort of. I do miss the riding, and I miss the people. But I am also glad to be home again. And I’ve been keeping busy.

Work started with a bang. And is still going strong. Luckily a couple of late nighters and early mornings in the office never killed anyone.

I seem to have picked up a bit of a knee issue at Sani. The last day I had a bit of pain, but pressed through it. Apparently I might have done a bit of damage. Nevertheless, I know a couple of good physios, so will sort it out with  rehab and rest.

After Sani we went to Hermanus for the weekend with my church small group. Hermanus is a cool place. The trails in the Hemel en Aarde Valley is really nice. Go ride it. This is the first time I rode with Kobus and man was it fun! He recently acquired a Giant Trance, and he knows how to ride it like it is stolen. Riding with him is fun. And I really look forward to jamming it with him.

Alicia and I did moonlightmass on Sunday, but this was a bit bigger than we thought. Moonlightmass started as a social experiment on twitter, and is an awareness ride styled on the critical mass movement that takes place every month on full moon. Basically you cruise from under the Green Point circle to the waterfront, down the promenade, back along the fanwalk, up Long Street, down Loop and then end in Greenmarket square for a beer and pizza. Well we skipped the beer and pizza. But it was pretty fun. There was about 900people (guesstimate) of all shapes and sizes and walks of life. Even Helen Zille joined in. This was the first time Alicia rode a bike since school, and to be honest I don’t think it was the right place to get started, but nevertheless, she persevered like a champ. People were pretty much riding all over the show and weaving like crazy (think Argus at the back) so Alicia was pretty nervous almost the whole time. But I am proud of her. Maybe we’ll try it again if she is more confident on the bike, and preferably not on my jumpbike.

I did a Tablemountain ride last weekend, and for the joke I did most of the ride in one gear. Turns out it is doable on one gear ratio, and pretty fun at that too. So now I don’t have an excuse to not finish building my single speeder. I need to work on the Merida anyway, and I have time on Saturday, so I reckon I’ll be finishing most of it on Saturday.

I started jogging again, but uphill it is more like fast walking. Anyway... last night I went for a little run in Tablemountain (I really love this mountain) and halfway up Kloofnek (cycling up is a lot easier than jogging it up) I realised it is getting dark. Oops. Luckily I’m not afraid of the dark and bargained that the lack of lights in the mountain will aid my night vision. It worked. The light rain that started falling just added to the ambience. It was glorious! Trail running is fun. Trail running in the night with rain is amazing. At the furthest point on the run  I stopped to look out over the city. With the slight rain in the air, all the lights seemed softer. It was beautiful. Later on last night we caught a bunch of guys breaking into a car. I chased after the one, but he got away. Too much running for one night. Luckily we caught his mate inside the car still and he got arrested.

Looking forward I have a Eselfontein weekend with Werner and a couple of downhillers coming up. Should be interesting, and the weekend after that it is the Gans Baai race. This is one of my favourite races and I am really looking forward to this. If I can sort out the knee and do enough hill training in the meantime I should have a decent pair of legs for this race. Bring on the race face! To top it off we are getting a lekker crew together for the weekend, so it is looking good.

But in the meantime, I think a Tokai ride is in order. With half of the local MTB’ers off to Robertson for the Wacky Wine race, I reckon we might have the trails to ourselves.

Cheers all

Hopefully I’ll see some of you on the mountain.

Philip

Race report continued

After finishing the stage we started with our post race admin, not keen on washing the bikes or carrying our boxes, but really looking forward to a shower and (late) lunch. Luckily some porters helped us with our boxes, and as usual the showers were piping hot. They use huge water tanks that they make fire underneath for the hot water. Like a "donkey" on the old farms. Luxury.

Showers and lunch sped by in a tired blur, and we didn't have time for a siesta, so we finished up and headed back toward the food tent for dinner and the nights festivities. Dinner was steak. Luuks! Apparently they had a bakkie load of meat to braai, but they handled it with aplomb. We were entertained by a new MC who had some kind of an issue with Cape Town, must be a Durban boy, and we watched more videos of the day's action. Bigshot Media really did great with the videos, made me want to ride, no matter how sore I was.

Even with all the snoring and farting and ladies chatter in the tents around us, I fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.

The next morning it was less cold, but still rather inconvenient to get up. Until we handed in our boxes and filled up our camelbaks, that had us raring to go and had me like a racehorse chomping at the bit to bring some pain. I felt strong, stronger than any of the previous days, Alicia reckons I need to get tired before I start showing form, she might have a point. We set off down the road after the mayor of Jolivet cancelled another clay pigeon with his shotgun (apparently he has never missed a shot on any of the Sani events, I don't want to date his daughter...) I set off at the front of the pack, and pretty soon Werner had to remind me to fall back a bit with our code word "Hoss." He at one stage asked me if I'm wearing my racing snake underpants (I don't wear jocks when riding.) Pretty soon we got into a lekker rhythm, with me breaking the wind and Werner sitting slip, and talking crap on the flat sections. This day was fast, with lots of cane road descents (think: very smooth gravel road.) We reached the Vernon Crookes game reserve and remembered that Cherie Vale (friendly photographer lady) warned us that there was a big technical climb. Once again we put our pride before common sense and soldiered on into the technical climb! It looked like a war zone with all the people getting off and pushing (well in my head at least.) We made it up the climb and then promptly stopped for a rest (obviously, climbing like that is hard work) and a chat. Resuming the descent we saw a team that fell. I stopped, but they quickly told us that they were fine (I guess relatively) and that the chopper was on it's way. I chatted to the guy's teammate later, he broke his collarbone. That sent chills down my spine, one mishap and it could all be over. But nevertheless we sped on, and in the next singletrack it was my turn. We were chasing through a forest going like the clappers, and I looked down to check my speedo and saw that we were doing 45km/h, and then overshot the next corner because I was going in way too fast, followed into the bush by Werner. Werner had another incident a little bit further on when a dude fell in front of him and he also went down, but luckily both escaped unscathed. More downhill followed by flat roads and then we hit the last climbs. Little Heartrate and Heartrate. Both not too long, but long enough to remind you that it is day 3 and some work has been done. At the top of Heartrate at the waterpoint we saw the sea. And when the marshall told us that there was only a little hill left and the all downhill to the finish we set off at a blistering pace, climbing with new found legs (could have been the donut overdose) and slamming it down on the downhill. More fast cane roads and gravel roads followed until we reached the bottom of the hills and the flat roads. Here I couldn't wait anymore and told Werner to sit in my slip and hang on. We put the hammer down, passing quite a bit of teams until we reached the last forested bit of singletrack that spat us out on the beach. We cruised over the pallets and scaffolding bridge over the lagoon, and then realized that we still had to go up to the school on the hill. Oh joy!
We ate some cement and hardened up and went up the hill, passing the last couple of teams for good measure (by this stage Werner didn't have a lot of gears left to play with, so he took it like a man and cranked it up.) This hill sucked, it was seriously inconvenient.
When we reached the school and crossed the line we couldn't believe it. We had done it. And it was over. Melancholy.
So we did what all touristy types should do and snapped some pics, even got one with Farmer Glen (lekker oke) who by that time had a serious tan going after posing with everyone. We went from about 326th team overall to finishing day 3 134th position. Pretty good day I'd say. Rest of the afternoon was spent finishing up the race admin (got our Sani2C jerseys sorted out,) taking a cold shower and just lazing around.

While waiting at our shuttle we met Ben and Righard, two really cool dudes who were also on our shuttle. Man I laughed like mad at these two. The bus trip back was long and cramped, but laughing and chatting in the bus helped. The loo break next to the road also helped. Maybe I shouldn't have had that Black Label, but Sani2C without brown Fanta is just not the same.

Righard and Ben eventually also stayed the might at the same backpackers as we were after deciding just outside of Underberg that they didn't feel like driving that night. We didn't complain at all.

The next morning after breakfast when we eventually greeted each other and left I realized that the people I met was as much of a highlight on the trip as the riding itself.

Driving home was a long and tiresome process. We stayed the night on Grahamstown, but to get there we had to go through the Transkei. Lovely beautiful area, but crappy roads and even worse drivers. We made it in one piece. Just as Ben phoned me to make sure we were safe, they passed the scene of the accident where 2Sani2C trail riders died in a collision. Sobering thought.

We spent the night in luxury at my Aunt and Uncle, eating like kings and sleeping in real beds and using real fluffy towels (not our quick drying chamois jobs) and sleeping on a pillow that I didn't inflate it myself. Like I said, luxury.

Saturday morning we hit the road again, but this time it went a lot quicker. Open N2 magic. We stopped for lunch in Heidelberg at Alicia's parentals. Tannie Eliza makes a mean mac and cheese, and spoilt us with some lemon meringue as well. I really should marry her daughter soon. Lovely family that.

We reached Somerset West at about 6pm. It was a long trip, and I was glad to be home. To top it off Alicia came and surprised me at my parents. Troumateriaal.

It was a great week. It was awesome sharing it with Werner, such a cool dude, the riding was brilliant, the views breathtaking, and the people we met on the way were amazing.

All in all I'd do it all in a heartbeat. Maybe just drive up in something other than my tiny Corsa bakkie (although she handled everything we threw at her, comfort was not a big factor.)

Photo's to follow when I get to a real internet connection and not a crackberry.

Last but not least, the bike is still in Somerset West for a wash and lube at the LBS. I was just too lazy. But this weekend we're heading to Hermanus, and if I do recall correctly the singletrack in the Hemel en Aarde Valley needs to be tamed.

Happy trails everyone

Peace
Philip
Maak jou oë toe en jou hart oop

Sani2C Report

Okay, so I'm home. back from a 3000km road trip, and a 280km MTB trip that changed my life and my view of riding.

Saturday-sunday
So the story started a week ago when Werner and I hit the road at 9'o'clock saturday night heading to Underberg (about 1400km,) the drive was cra
p. From getting the police to wake up sleeping petrol attendants to watching the sun rise somewhere near Molteno to eating breakfast at KFC in Maclear to dealing with taxi's in the Transkei.

We arrived in Underberg at about lunchtime, checked in at the backpackers (Under-the-Berg backpackers, lekker place,) and passed out. Had a monster afternoon nap, found a coffee place that had pizza, smashed two pizzas super fast and went back and slept some more.

Monday.
We woke up to the realization that it is REALLY cold in Underberg. We had to layer up to near polar bear levels, only to shed all of it as the day progressed. Registration was quick as we went early and then we repacked everything we needed for the next 3days into the boxes provided by the organizers. These would be shipped to the race villages for us, while we cruised  on our trusty steeds to the beach. Lekker man. How hard could it be? We trained and had enough horse steroids to power the Durban July.
That night the rain started...


Tuesday. Day 1 Underberg to Mackenzie

It was cold. Really cold. So we layered up again. This time we swapped the trusty corsa for our MTB's and headed off to the start line. Armed to the teeth with camelbak, Gu's, energy bars, biltong and even some banana bread (thanks Alicia) we were ready.



The route is everything people said it is. We had super sweet singletrack, rivalling some of the best sections I've done in the Western Cape. and there was dual singletrack, so we switched between left and right a couple of times to pass the slower people in singletrack nd generally whizzing through the mud and slippery roads, not knowing that we were going out a bit too fast (cocky over confidence) but we were having fun. whooping like school kids and shouting at each other in the singletrack.
Pretty soon we reached the dam with the floating bridge. While Werner changed the card on his GoPro a helicopter landed next to us. I couldn't resist the temptation to walk under the rotor blades and warm my hands at it's exhaust (did I mention it was cold?) with the camera man. he filmed me doing his (apparently I was on TV, really should convince my dad to invest in a PVR...) Hands warmed up and gopro rolling we hit the bridge, with the cheering crowd there I naturally wheelied my way down the bank onto the bridge. there I quickly put the wheel down, not taking too much unnecessary chances. The bridge was easy but lank fun. we soon reached the water point at Pevensey. This immediately humbled me, as we were served by mentally disabled people, and they helped us with smiles and all the warmth their hearts could give. I'm writing this with tears in my eyes as I remember the old lady coming up to me, asking me if she could clean my glasses. putting her hands under the cold water to make sure she could get all the dirt off. We have so much to be thankful of.We were served donuts, bananas, oranges, Powerade, coke and even potatoes. this would set the bar for all the water points of the race, and none beat the feeling off love and welcoming we were received with here at Pevensey. I'll do this race again just to pass by that water point again. The rest of the day's riding hurt. we had started out o fast and nailed ourselves in the singletrack and the mud wasn't making for easy going, and now we were paying for it.I remember praying that we didn't cramp, and by grace we didn't, even though we were both experiencing muscle twitches by the end. We dragged ourselves over the finish line in about 5hrs. after finishing we washed our bikes and parked them in the bike pound. the rest of the afternoon is a blur of shower (lots of naked men, but at least it was warm) lunch and siesta. That evening we were treated to an amazing dinner (I gained weight, the food was that good and that many) and an inspiring video of the next day's riding. Here we also met Stewart and Emma, a couple from Cape Town who kicked our asses. Luckily they are pretty cool and we'll ride with them in the Cape Colony again, so I might save some face on the singletrack.

Tuesday Day2 Mckenzie-Jolivet
This was the monster day.100km and 1700km of climbing, with us dropping into the legendary Umkomaas Valley. We've been hearing legendary stories about this day's riding. it all proved to be true. Wow. Minstrels should be writing stories and singing sonnets in ode of this trail.
We dropped back in our seeding and pretty soon got stuck behind some slower people in the singletrack. our strategy for this day was not to push it ad try to pass people. thus we saved alot of energy over the 40km singletrack that was mostly downhill, we actually enjoyed the views (I'm left speechless at that view, nuff said) and not focus on the next corner and 5metres in front of my wheel. I also spent most of the time fooling around on my back and front wheels and generally showing off in front of Werner who was recording the entire descent down the Umkomaas Valley. 40km's later we got sat out at the bottom of the valley and reached WP1. More donuts and lubing off chains (trail was still very muddy) later and we started climbing. it felt like forever, but we slowly made our way up the other side of the valley. we got told that all the water crossings were ride able, so we smashed into most of them splashing ourselves, and drenching the bikes, some of the crossings were rather deep, so I'll have to strip the bike this week, and service EVERYTHING. a lot of climbing later we reached WP2, but only after suffering a bit of a sense of humour failure after seeing countless Nando's boards, and false summits, but eventually we made. pretty shattered. after wolfing down 2 Nando's and countless donuts again we set out again, dropping into a very fast rough downhill and passing countless people again (open plea to the slower guys, I promise to train harder and get stronger, if you promise to do a bit more technical riding in your training. Deal?) after this downhill we reached Push of a climb, and we decided to see how far we could go up before dismounting to push. we actually made it up all the way, but only because we were stubborn, and the people who were pushing their bikes made way for us giving us the choice lines going up and encouraging us to keep going. the camaraderie between the riders is unmatched. some more climbing and flat roads followed before we reached the Sappi plantation and the legendary singletrack. This wasn't dual track, but we decided to gun it anyway and pass people where we could. This was also a very cool stretch, rivalling Oak Valley in terms of fun. after a blast of singletrack and fast flat roads we reached the last waterpoint at Highflats Church, knowing that most of the climbing is over. some more donutty goodness followed before we set off again. We reached more rough downhill, where we promptly passed everyone on the left (I really hope the footage looks as cool as it does in my head,) and they then passed us on the climbs. this cat and mouse game continued until a couple of km's before the end, until we reached Charlies Cat Walk. Here we knew we were almost home, and here I told Werner to just sit in my slip while I ground it out till the end at about a 11 on the 1-10pain scale. I couldn't care less. we were almost home, and we knew that the worst was over, so I gunned it in the red. There is something glorious in gunning it past the point where it feels like your eyes are bleeding and your lungs are clapping hands, but you don't show any pain and just sit and WORK. I love that feeling, and the sense of accomplishment when it is done and you know you gave it everything. That is how I felt when e crossed the line. 7hrs and 22mins. I don't care how slow that is, I loved day 2!
Rest of report on next post.

Sani2C countdown.

Right now it is only three nights before Werner and I leave for Underberg and our Sani2C trip.

 

Most of the preparations are done, we pretty much only need to pack the bakkie and leave.

 

But in the meantime there is a wedding to attend to.

On Saturday morning Alicia and I will shoot through to Tulbagh for a wedding. We'll join the festivities, celebrate like champions and then head back to Somerset West.

 

Here I'll pick up Werner, and then our journey begins. We'll head out Saturday evening and drive through the night so that we don't have to drive through the Transkei in die dark.

 

Our route is up via N1 to Graaff Reinett, and then via Country roads skirting below Lesotho to Underberg. This will be rough, as we'll sleep Friday evening, and then take turns to nap in my bakkie (Corsa-tiny inside) and only catch a dos on Sunday again.

 

We do this so that we have a chance to rest and explore underberg on Monday and get everything in oder for the race that starts on Tuesday. Tuesday to Thursday we'll be zipping through forests, valleys, sugar cane fields, riding over water (minus the Peter aspect, they build bridges) and generally do what mountainbikers love most. Ride. When we reach the sea at Scottsburgh we'll cycle along the beach to get the beach effect, and then we'll go up to the local high school and into the history books as legends (well in my head anyway.)

 

We then catch a lift back to Underberg where we spend another night in the backpackers before going home.

 

Coming back we'll cruise through the Transkei. Sleep in Grahamstown, cruise home again on the N2, maybe stop in Harkerville for more trails, and then zip home via Heidelberg (and hopefully some of Alicia's mom's amazing food.)

 

I'll do most of the packing tonight, and then recheck and repack everything on Friday again. I'm only taking one box and one large duffel bag for my baggage. That means I'll need to pack creatively to get everything in. but I don't really need half the stuff that I usually pack, so I should be fine. Werner sorted himself out with some ammo boxes (engineer.) I'll remove the bike rack and sail and just put the bikes upright and our baggage in the middle like we did when I just got the bakkie. Fuel consumption is a bit of a pain with the bikes on the rack, and on a 3000km every bit helps.

 

I might update the blog while on the trip, but to be honest I think a decent story  afterwards will be better. Maybe I'll post something on the vleisbroek or twatter along the way, but the best bet is probably to callor msg me if you want to stay in the loop (don't worry mom and Alicia, I'll call you.)  Werner acquired a Gopro video camera that we'll take along, so there will be footage, and if we feel creative we might just put a lekker video together afterwards.

 

I honestly can't explain how excited I am.

 

Only three more sleeps...

Maak jou oë toe en jou hart oop

Traveling light

For the trip to Heidelberg this weekend we decided to take Alica's car instead of taking my bakkie as we usually do. This meant a rethink of what I take along as her Clio really is tiny. With no useful boot space whatsoever.

As you can imagine I refused to leave the MTB at home, so I had to persuade Alicia that I'll make a plan.
With it being a hatchback I reckoned just pop the back seat down and put everything inside.

With it being a french car it took a while to figure out ho to get the back flat enough, but when that was done, it all came together. Put in all the bags (luckily Alicia travels really light when she wants to) and then remove the wheels and seat and put the MTB on top.

With the ease of getting everything inside, and the time I saved packing by not taking useless stuff along, I realised that I really take too much unnecessary stuff when I go away. Everything I needed for the weekend fit into my epic togbag. Easy as that. For our december road trip we filled the back of my bakkie between Alicia and myself, and packing and unpacking was a drag. None of that anymore.

We've already decided to ditch the bike rack when Werner and I drive up to Natal in May, so the long weekend at the end of April will be an opportunity to test ways of packing bikes and luggage as effectively and fuel efficient as possible.

With the bikes in the load bay and not on top, it will mean that I can't take the kitchen sink along again. Should make packing and unpacking a breeze. I can't wait.

Enjoy the short week.

Peace

Philip

Just riding along....jpg

Relief.life

Hi
This week I chatted with someone who used to be in our church about a NGO that he is working on. Relief.life.
Relief.life is a disaster relief group that started out with a mission that was sent to japan after the tsunami. They have also helped out in Sudan and Somalia, and locally they help in the townships after floods or fires.

In short he asked me whether we might want to ride Sani in Relief.life clothing in a way of increasing exposure for the organization. I would really like to have this happen. Using my love of cycling to help the group help other, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

For a closer look on Relief.life and their projects, go to www.relieflife.org or check out the video for their winter project: http://youtu.be/Y6WB3EXA3NU

I read a cool quote of George Clooney recently: "my heroes anyone who runs towards danger, not away from it. Not only military and firemen, but aid workers and journalists. Relief.life are these aid workers. They are the people who responded and helped out in langa after fires razed down shacks, taking peoples livelihood with it.


In the meantime I'm in Heidelberg with the lovely Alicia at her parents. I'm packing in the miles on the gravel roads around town. This morning I did a 2,5hr ride that included a monster climb up to the town dam. This climb took me 30mins to go up, 4mins to go down, and I maxed out at 83km/h. Needless to say that was super fun. Rest of the ride was very hilly. Heidelberg has like no flat roads. Tomorrow I'll skip the morning ride to go watch the Stormers game over breakfast in Witsand. I'm eating like a king, so will have to go jogging with Alicia to keep the weight in check. Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels going up a mountain. Well the running and some vomit intervals will help.

Enjoy the long weekend.

Peace
Philip

The Natal Adventure

Okay so it is official.
I am riding The Sani2C Trail with Werner Hattingh.

I am like a kid in a candy store right now.

On my MTB bucket lists Sani2C is one of the races I wanted to tick off the most. Remaining Multi days are the Cape Pioneer Trek in the Karoo and the Wine2Whales from Somerset West to Hermanus. And now I have a chance to tick this one off.

So when Werner asked me if I want to join him as a replacement after his original partner Pieter broke his wrist I jumped at the opportunity. Literally. The people in the office already think I’m weird, but the email from Werner saying I’m in is one of the best emails I’ve ever read.

We will be driving up, so the adventure already starts the Sunday before the race. Shooting through to Natal in one push. We will spend two nights in Underberg, having a rest/registration day before we start.

For three days we will be cycling from Underberg near Sani Pass (and the border with Lesotho) to Scottsburgh which is at the sea (hence Sani2C, race organisers just love to put 2destinations in their event names) about 40km from Durban.
Day 1 is 87km from Underberg to Eastwold
Day 2 is 96km from Eastwold to Jolivet
Day 3 is 78km from Jolivet to Scottburgh

This is all I know for sure. The whole ride part we still have lots to find out about. We’ll chat to someone who has done it before and learn as much as we can from them. We can never over prepare for something like this. I do know we will be spending quite a bit of time in the saddle, not as much as on the Epic, but I reckon we will be having more fun. Less suffer, more fun. (well that is what my heart is telling my head.) Epic was lots of fast open roads, with lots of monster climbs and very little singletrack. Apparently Sani2C is more singletrack, less monster climbs and more rolling hills (they still hurt) and the stories that I heard about the route is that it blows you mind. Singletrack through forest, sugar plantations, next to rivers and even parts where two singletracks are built next two each other so that congestions are less. (in the Overberg we treat rough jeep track like singletrack, so I will be loving this. I’ve seen photos of bridges built from pontoons for the rides to ride over rivers and apparently the trails are pretty well groomed and the route designer has a warrant out for any rocks on the route. So I’m already imagining fast swooping singletrack.

I am looking forward to balmy weather (by that time it will almost be winter in Cape Town,) swimming in the sea at Scottburgh, and hopefully I’ll see Jannik at the finish somewhere (he is like the Yeti, only more stylishly dressed, but way more frightening when angry.)

Then me and Werner will bum a lift back to Underberg to go pick up the Corsa, spend the night there and drive back to the Cape Colony. Luckily this will be a drive over two days, probably spending the night in Grahamstown at my mother’s sister, and then vamoos down through the Garden route to Cape Town.

So in the space of a week we’ll go through the Karoo, the Free state, skirt around Lesotho, cycle through Natal, and come back through the Transkei and the Garden Route. I can’t wait for this adventure to begin..

Exciting Times

So I'm in the middle of a pretty exciting week.

Last saturday we did a lekker group ride in the Bainskloof mountains in Wellington. Today it was Tokai and this weekend it will be Gansbaai. So much of mountain biking. Joy!

Welvanpas in Bainskloof area is host to some of the sweetest trails in the Western Cape. I haven't ridden there in more than a year so decided to call a ride for saturday past, announce it everywhere and see who pitches up.

Saturday morning I woke up late. An hour late. Not a good start to the day. Chased through to Wellington in record time and ended up eating my oats somewhere between Kloof Nek rd and Durbanville. Aai.

The trails there are so sweet! We had a lekker group, and I rode with Harry, Hilke and Gabri for the first time in ages. I'm sorry, but the best way to ride trails is with friends. So we had a blast. The first loop we did consisted of a lot of single track, both up and down. The sort of single track that has you whooping like a surfer who just got barreled, only this isn't a wave lasting a couple of seconds, but sublime single track that has you flinging yourselves and your bike from corner to corner for a couple of kilometers, interspersed with climbs giving you amazing views over plantations, down the valley and down the mountain. We went down fast swoopy single track, entered forests at speed, chased each other down rocky descents and even had a few high speed gravel roads to get back to the farm to complete the first loop of 20something kms. We had a jol, there where thrills, only one crash, a couple of near crashes, but a lot of smiles and banter on the trail.
Back at the farm we smashed a couple of pancakes and a roosterkoek before me and Harry and Werner set off on the second loop together.

The second loop is tougher, climbs a lot. Basically going over Bains kloof climbing up through the plantations before dropping down to the farm again. The climbing hurt this time round. Harry looked like he was out on an ice cream stroll while Werner and I were taking shots. We were pretty thankful to reach the top, and after stopping the admire the view (and catch our breath) we dropped into the singetrack. The ST on this is mind blowing. Words just doesn't do it justice. I had moments where I was sliding into corners drifting both wheels, some where it was so steep I was laying over the back of the bike with my bum above the back wheel and my stomach over the saddle going down chutes and over rocks. At one stage when I could afford to glance at my computer I was doing 38km/h, in single track, between trees, with rocks everywhere. It was glorious.

I was having one of those days where everything just clicked, where my legs felt strong, where the bike felt like an extension of myself and I could seamlessly flick it left and right at whim. I love these rides.

We did about 38km'sand climbed about 1300m. It was a big ride.
Riding it with Gabri, Harry, Hilke, Grant and Werner made it even more special. Experiences like these need to be shared.

On monday I did a couple of hill sessions going home from work. Molteno rd in Cape Town will never be easy, but pushing it up there activates a world of hurt. Train hard to race easy...

Wednesday was a public holiday, so Werner and I decided to go to Tokai for some more trails and hard time in the saddle. Once again I had breakfast in the bakkie. Bad habit.

We went up to the top single track in the forest, and from there cruised through on the contour path to the Silvermine Reserve. I love doing this route, the views are breathtaking over Tokai and the Cape flats and you can see all the way to the Hottentots Holland Mountains.
From here we missioned back to Tokai, and then up to the Mast. This is one of the hardest climbs I've done, and we were going up it pretty strongly. I was amazed at how much we had left in the tank at the end of the climb, as usually I faded over the last bit. Not so this time. All the after-work vomit intervals are paying off. The views from the mast are even more incredible. Next time I'll take a camera with. As trying to describe it is pointless.

From here we descended down the Bridal Path, a single track trail down the mountain with crazy many switchbacks one after the other. Bliss. And hard work. After bridal path we went back up the mountain again for more single track, doing boulders both ways (fun in both directions) followed by Mamba, Boomslang and the DH section home. The trails in Tokai are named after snakes. I don't know why, I do know that I love riding down them, and that a trip to tokai needs to get done more regularly.

Once again we did about 40km's in three hours, with 1000m of climbing. Pretty decent. Needless to say I'm sleeping in compression socks again tonight.

The reason for all this riding is that I might be riding Sani2C with Werner. But more on that when it is official.

The rest of the week is looking promising. Rock climbing in Higgovale Quarry on thursday arvie, driving to Gansbaai on friday with my sidekick Alicia (best roadtrip partner ever) for a lekker chilled weekend with my parents, I hope to do about 6-7hours of riding over the weekend, with a bit of paddling, or at least a surfie if there is swell.

Pretty exciting times...

Awe, that's been a mouthfull. Enjoy the moutains and the forests and nature everybody.

Peace
Philip

Having fun on your bike.

Having fun on a bike is easy.

 

Fun does not discriminate against:

 

What bike you ride,

What wheelsize you run,

 

How much you weigh,

Wether you have leg hair,

Or what you wear.

 

Where you ride,

Why you ride,

How far you ride,

Or even where you ride.

 

What speed you go,

Or who is riding along with you.

 

So just get on your bike and go have some fun

24uur refleksie

Die 24hrs of Oak Valley begin.

My eerste 24hr was einde 2003. Toe het ek met ‘n duiklig op die handlebar en ‘n 4AA padfiets lig op my helmet gery.

Die jaar daarna het ek geupgrade en met ‘n Petzl koplampie gery. ek kon net sowel ‘n kers in ‘n konfyt blk gedruk het.

Nou ry ons met ligte wat my bakkie skaam maak en word die Petzl in die

Kamp gebruik.

 

In 2006 het ek gery met ‘n drivetrain wat shot was, dit het op my laaste lap die gees gegee en ek het die baan gehardloop.

 

2jaar terug het ek dit gery met ‘n fiets wat die aand voor die tyd eers opgebou is. Dit was ‘n stressvolle week. En ‘n goeie manier om ‘n nuwe fiets te leer ken.

 

Venue het gewissel van Malmesbury, Wiesenhof en nou is dit Oak Valley

Ons kamp het verander van die Mavericks Cycles bussie waar ek onder die sterre geslaap het, tot my pa se bakkie met ‘n gazebo waarvan ons die pale met harke se stele gelas het, tot die Falcon Sports span se compound met vrieskaste en krag tot nou waar ons so gekonfyt is dat als wat ons nodig het in een bakkie pas, en dit goed soos hangmatte, gazebo’s, gas stowe en kamp ligte insluit.

 

Een ding wat konstant was oor die jare is die pret, die uitdaging, die feit dat jy deur jou eie denkbeeldige fisiese grense moet stoot en die ongelooflike kamaraderie onder die mense, ondersteuners en ryers ingesluit.

 

Ek is gepak, my batterye is gelaai, fiets is perfek, my bene voel goed en vanaand eet ek ekstra pizza en gaan slaap vroeg.

 

Dit gaan ‘n lang naweek wees, maar ek sien vreeslik uit!

 

Vrede

Phlip

Totalsports Terra Firma Challenge 2012

The Totalsports Challenge has for the last three years been my first event for the season. this year was no different.

I always do the mountain bike leg for the Sportsmans Warehouse team. 25km that I ride with the aim of killing myself and passing out just after the line. Luckily it is a relay and I can pass he baton onto someone else for the beach run.

Me and my dad at the start of the MTB leg.

For this year I had a great support team behind me. My dad took me to the start at Arabella where I got ready and the two of us bonded as we waited (ridiculously early as usual.) pretty soon we were joined by my mom and the lovely Alicia.

As the athletes stated rolling in I got angsty and really hated waiting for my turn.

The moment Jacques pulled in from the run and gave me the wristband and sent me off. the adrenaline started pumping immediately and I chased out of the transition area like a scalded cat.

About 800m later we entered into the first piece of singletrack. In this singletrack  I just started praying. Asking the Lord to protect me, to bless me, and to give me great legs and to join me, effectively turning the whole ride into a worship session. I prayed, sang the only worship song I know by heart (Awesome God by Michael W Smith) and just chatted to the Lord about stuff, about how i felt on the ride and just worshipped him. He in turn blessed me amazingly. Everything just clicked and worked smoothly, I ate at the right times, drank when necessary, chose perfect lines in the technical sessions and had absolutely no mechanical issues, flat tyres, cramps or falls. Everything went brilliant and smooth. Truly a blessed ride.

As we left Arabella we turned onto the Highlands road. a couple of km's later we turned left into the plantations. the first 15km was climbing, and then in the plantations we had a couple of flat roads with rolling hills. I climbed strongly and still had a lot left in the tank when we hit the plantation and promptly turned up the pace substantially. it felt amazing racing along in the big gears on top of the mountain and not feeling knackered  and slightly out of control in the technical stuff. The fires in Kleinmond last year raveaged parts of the courses, and the rocky tecnical sections became rocky technical sessions with lots of loose sand. It was rough, fast, loose and hard. I loved it!

With most of the technical stuff out of the way I realised I only had one short, but steep  climb left. Last year this climb hurt me a lot, and I had to push the last bit. This year it was totally different. I motored up the climb, and went over the top strongly. I loved it!

Almost done.

on the other side you could see Kleinmond and the sea and I put the hammer on, reaching 60km/h on the descent and averaging above 30km/h on the last gravel roads into town. Racing into town like this hurt, and I was sucking in air through my mouth, nose, eyes, ears and even my gills. Anything to get enough oxygen into the muscles in my legs to keep up with the effort I was demanding of them. it burned, it hurt, it almost led to cramp, but I loved every painful moment of it. the sadomasochist in me reared his ugly head and made me hammer myself the last 5km's. just before the transition zone I spotted my dad, Alicia and my mom, Alicia snapped a piccy of me and I almost fell right in front of them. Real classy.

At the transition area I handed over to Ryan and nearly collapsed right there. luckily there was Coke to get some suga back into my bloodstream, and James Willis our HR manager and team coordinator showed up to help me out of the transition. I was spent. broken. felt sick, dizzy and wanted to puke. But at he same time I felt great. I rode about 1h19mins,  slicing about 5mins off last years time. the next half an hour is a bit of a blur. I remember sitting down, chatting to a couple of people I know, drinking Rehidrat and taking a cold shower.


All in all it was an epic day. Our unofficial time is 4h28, and I have no idea where that places us, but it does mean the other guys in my team did great times.

Thanks to Alicia and my parents for supporting me, thanks to Sportsmans Warehouse for entering us, thanks to James for organising everything for us, and lastly, thanks to the Lord for blessing me with so much on this day.

Next week it is the 24hr at Oak Valley again. I will have the same support crew, with more friends joining and camping with us. And with the Lord blessing me on the bike so much lately I honestly can't wait.

Peace


Philip