Old Mutual Double Century 2025
Pure Savage Project 25 Race Report
The Old Mutual Double Century is never just a race. It is a tradition, a pilgrimage, a questionable life choice, and one of the best days on a bike every single year. For our crew, this was Double Century number fourteen. Fourteen years of pain and dropping mates, which meant Project 25 was never going to be a quiet affair.
This year we made a real effort to bring back the pre pandemic vibes. The lekker training rides out in Paarl. The Tuesday hammer sessions that make you question your friendships. The one tonner that always promises joy but delivers mostly suffering. It felt like the old days again.
Kit was handed over to Jack Alexander who moved from Jozi to Cape Town and spent three years trying to get into the Southern suburbs clique. This was the year he finally got the nod. He was keen to ride for Savage but made it very clear that he refused to wear kit that looked like it had been designed by an auditor in Excel.
The drama started early when David Jenkins told Brendon that he was out and that he was riding for another team. This betrayal earned him the nickname Judas across the board. Then the other team collapsed and Judas crawled back, bringing Emil with him in a late season transfer. To try remove the Judas tag from his contact details on everyones phone, David arrived all in with the vibes. He brought Active Hobo on board to produce our kit launch video and he even orchestrated races from the Active Hobo with ECC and LPC. A proper redemption arc.
Our core Savage crew of Sean and Ben and Brendon and Matt and Klyde dipped into our Pure Average talent pool and recruited Andrew and Cam. They arrived with watts and enthusiasm and a frightening knowledge of indoor trainers.
Then at a coffee stop one morning, Sean told Brendon about a short oke on an S works who always sits on at the sharp end of a Chappies ride. Brendon had never seen this individual because he has not dipped under twelve minutes on Chappies since the X was still called Twitter. One day Corbin punctured and Brendon actually caught up to him and managed to ask if he had plans for November. Recruitment complete.
Our last draft pick came after Matt had a quieter patch on the bike. Brendon started harassing Waldo on Instagram to come join the suffering after he spent the previous year as official drafting police at the Double Century. The thought of inflicting cramps and pain on Brendon again was too tempting for Waldo to ignore. He signed immediately. We were twelve.
Leading up to race week we held a training camp to Bot River. Things got out of hand very quickly. We drilled it into a headwind to Hermanus so hard that one rider threw up at the side of the road, bought a red ambulance, and then walked straight into the closed door of the Shoprite. A braai and some red wine fixed everything. The next morning that same rider was tapping neatly up Franschhoek Pass like nothing had happened.
Our one tonner was another story. David arrived demanding everyone move to tubeless because everything else was pointless. Within minutes his rear wheel exploded slime all over Ben and Brendon. This was not a once off problem as we would later find out. Emil also suffered multiple tube failures that day. We had to stop four times, which turned the one tonner into a lonely but memorable day on the bike. A theme for what was coming.
Race day arrived. We were seeded behind the other KOTAS teams. The theory was simple. If the rear team caught the teams ahead, it would be easier for the back teams to sit on and game the system. Only five teams started behind us which meant the day was going to be spicy.
We stuck to our PDF that Matt had drawn up. Our mole must have died because it never leaked. Sadly, David’s rear wheel had not learned any lessons. It punctured on the N2 and that was the last we saw of the King of Forth for the rest of the day.
Tradouw arrived quickly. Someone set the pace at their FTP. It certainly was not Andrew or Jack because those boys were sitting like a Golf Mk One in a McDonalds parking lot bouncing the rev limiter. Andrew gave one last heroic three minute pull before the climb and then he and Jack tapped off. We are still waiting for Jacks final pull.
Nine riders hit Op Tradouw. Waldo refused to let that number drop. Brendon was carted over the top and the group regrouped with a few hangers oners for the run into Montagu. The clock stopped at three hours. A good first sector.
The VIP zone hosted by Food Lovers was a treat. Iced towels. Shade. That is honestly all any of us remember because our souls were not yet back in our bodies. It beat sitting on a cooler box on the tar with warm coke.
Once we rolled out of the feed zone the Stevens brothers became unhitched. When the maths was done and the number seven appeared, the group carried on. As we rounded the Robertson circle every rider in the event realised the party was over and it was time to suffer.
Internal negotiations began. Deals with the universe. Deals with quads. Deals with calves. Everyone was bargaining with themselves to make it to the Bonnievale stop.
Our VIP stop was unfortunately right next to the timing mats which is not great when you can barely see your Garmin through the cramps, the reader picked us up as we entered the feed zone. We had thirty minutes added to our time. Many kindly messaged us to let us know on instagram that our time was over 6 hours.
When the Stevens brothers finally rejoined, a small resurrection began. Some of the final six candidates on the PDF had cooked themselves in sector two. It was survival mode.
Sector three was chaos and beauty. Everyone who had a match left burned it over the two opening rollers. We kept the momentum on the downhills and stayed safe as we passed riders on the left.
Entering the Valley of Death we were down to seven. This meant the dads began hearing the voices of their kids asking the inevitable question. Dad were you six or seven. Six seven.
The crosswind down the valley was strong but from behind. With smart riding the group of seven held together and managed to keep Waldo attached on the front.
Corbin suddenly cramped for the first time in his life. Brendon, an expert in cramping and already two hours deep into personal agony, offered some world class advice while trying not to smirk. Corbin gritted his teeth and sat in.
Brendon had bigger problems. According to the PDF he was number eight. With David gone, simple maths moved him to number seven. Unfortunately Cameron was number six. Although by this point Cameron looked like Italy playing the Springboks in the seventy fourth minute. He was a little worse for wear. He rode into every cat eye as he was so deep in the hurt locker that fine motor control had left the building.
Brendon argued that Cameron had avoided mince pies for two months and weighed far less. Logic said he should finish in the six. Sadly the suffering in sector two had broken Cameron. After the first sister he launched a perfect ninja bomb. He dodged Waldo’s helping hand and waved goodbye with one middle finger.
This left a certain PDF number eight inside the top six and very far from his comfort zone.
Fueled by pure rage towards runners on Chappies and that one guy on Strava, Sean was having the ride of his life. From the nail to the jack hammer, he was unstoppable. He and Emil ensured Brendon never dipped below maximum heart rate in the last fifteen kilometres. Brendon's Di2 even took pity on him and dropped the chain twice to help stop the suffering.
There are rumours that someone placed a hand on Ben’s back up the final sister. No one knows if it was a push or a pull. Corbin, being small enough, may have simply climbed into Waldo’s back pocket to get over the climbs.
In a final burst of enthusiasm everyone took turns pulling far above what was sensible at that stage. We crossed the line in five hours thirty one minutes and took twentieth overall.
If you have read this far, yes we came 3rd in KOTAS, but it was a Jol. Think the photo of Jarryd crowning Jasper on the podium is pretty Epic. Was great racing with our nemesis out there and even having a coffee with them and learning they have names. Will we change anything for next, maybe our seeding but nothing else. What a viab ridding with 90% of the team on Tuesday chappies debrief.
A proper performance on a brutally tough day. The Strava flyby showed zero riding with other teams which means it was a true team time trial. A mega day out with an incredible team.
Bring on Double Century twenty twenty six. We cannot wait.
Big thanks to Active Hobo, Foodlovers Market, Netto Invest for making the project so awesome.
