Stephan

Other MTB races?

So the date changed from 8 July to 12 August, which suits me fine. I was going to be away on the 8th, but now I can do this race. 🙂

My eyes. 🙂 Drove past on Saturday (Wolseley side).

Currently closed.

If you want to go light and don't carry supper, then my personal favorite route option is: Start at Kunje Guest Farm (call them and pre-arrange parking, they are very nice). Day 1 - Kunje > Citrusdal > into the berg over Nieuwoudts Pass > sleep at Jamaka (the shop has more than enough food and beer, so you dont need to carry anything). Day 2 - Jamaka > up Uitkyk Pass > rest stop at Sanddrift wines / Kromriver / Oasis > sleep at Mount Ceder. Day 3 - Mount Ceder back to Kunje (if you want to, call the owner of Houdenbek Farm and ask his permission to take the shortcut through his farm to connect back to the R303 where the shoulder starts). Alternatively, if you want to follow the whole route, then start in Citrusdal, go all the way down to Clanwilliam and come back up the dirt road, sleep at Jamaka. Day 2 is the same, but day 3 is a very long one and you have to do Middelberg Pass at the end of three days with tired legs.

Your accommodation options once you get into the Cederberg are the following: Jamaka Organic Farm (well stocked farm shop where you can get snacks, drinks, etc.) Cape Nature Algeria camp (very poorly stocked shop at reception, basically they sell ice and a few cooldrinks if you are lucky) Driehoek (limited supply of snacks and general supplies that people need when they camp there, but to get to Driehoek you have to detour off the main road) Sanddrift (decent supply of snacks, ships, nuts, etc. and drinks at their small shop) Kromriver (fully stocked shop and restaurant - your best option) Oasis (restaurant and bar - second best option) Nuwerus (just a place to sleep, no food) Mount Ceder (excellent restaurant and limited supply of some snacks and drinks - my personal preference in terms of overnight stop on night 2 of the circuit) Next stop heading south from Mount Ceder is the shops at Op-Die-Berg.

Well done Matt. That is an amazing result considering he had just over a week to get used to the time zone difference, the competition and conditions. Oh, and the puncture (or whatever went wrong with his wheel).

Matt 18th? Nice one!

Oh no 😯

Pro men started 0550 local time, so 1250 SA time. Haven't been able to find the tracking for them yet.

This sucks. Sorry to hear. Where you going under the railway track at Newlands rugby stadium? What time was this?

Benky is doing the XL version (350 miles) and Matt the 200 mile version. 200 miler elite start list here: https://velo.outsideonline.com/news/gravel/unbound-gravel-2023-elite-start-lists/ Trying to follow Benky on the tracking website here: https://trackleaders.com/unboundxl23f.php and https://trackleaders.com/unboundxl23i.php?name=Kevin_Benkenstein (looks like his tracker stopped working though)

Love this grid view of the tour profiles. Apart from the TT, stages 15, 17 and 20 are going to be on 🔥

At the rate they're stealing bikes in Skelmbosch, it seems like a good place to do testing. Keep us posted on progress.

This thread is for 2022 event. Entries for 2023 event is here: https://www.entryninja.com/events/78550-dbx-2023

Entry Ninja says event is closed, so entries closed already?

Credit where it's due. I did the 59km (Strava says just over 56km) and felt that JK and team planned a perfect route that showcased the best of LF. All in all, a magnificent race and day with perfect weather.

Chris, the !Kwattu section is arguably the most technical, which compares to Bloemies in my opinion.

Great race. Great vibe. I'll be there again. This race is suitable for everyone, not technical at all. Friendly reminder: make very sure your sealant is topped up before the race. If not, expect trouble.

Watched it a couple of times as well. Looks like he landed about 1m away from a steel dropper/peg in the ground (used to attach banner tape)? If he landed on that steel peg....eish. Thankfully he missed it. It was an exciting finish sprint to watch though. Very well done to Matt and Chris. Superb ride! Never gave up. You make your own luck, and they certainly deserve the win. As for ladies race, my heart breaks for Candice and Amy. They deserved the win, but wow their graciousness in loss is so admirable. Big respect.

At start today Candice/Amy were 13m53s in front. By end of today they lost 39min. Looks like the broken rim cost them 20min? Then they lost further 19min after it was fixed? Or was the tech zone at km54, and once fixed they lost 5min? Time split between same two teams: 34km / All together 41km / 20min behind 54km / 34m48s behind 64km / 37m48s behind 69km / 38m13s behind Finish / 39m06s behind

All over for SCR boys. They wont pull back time to take the lead (assuming Scott and Spez don't have mechanicals either). BUT, with Scott starting to lose time be sure that Matt and Chris will riding like crazy to win tomorrow. Exciting race. As for woman's race, such bad luck for Candice and Amy. Damn!

P#ssy-whipped? 😉

Matt didn't get your memo 🙂 Dropping big watt bombs to pull them back. Last time check now shows 2min30sec gap to chasing group.

Speed Company guys have two settings: off and full gas. Makes for an exciting race.