I had a cold that showed up early the morning Wednesday before the race. Went to the doctor and she gave me a three day course antibiotics and was advised not to ride. Friday morning I started to take a turn in the right direction, and with only mild symptoms above the chest and a low resting heart rate, I decided to pack my bike and kit as if we were going to ride. On route to Willowmore our spirits were high and the evening before the race I knew I was going to start.
Race morning my vitals were OK and we started at 7:10. The light rain, mud and very strong icy cold wind had us fighting for every kilometer for the first 2-3 hours only averaging 14km/h. We could not bunch up or even sit in your partners slip as it was not worth getting all that mud in your face. At checkpoint 1 the spirits were low and you can see everyone around us had a very tough time getting there as well as it was still a very light rain falling and icy cold.
Between checkpoint 1 and 2 I started to really suffer with my heart rate not recovering at all. HR was staying between 75% and 80% at a very easy pace. At checkpoint 2 it was still raining and I almost pulled the plug. We were wet, cold and covered in mud. Our bikes looked like someone submerged it in a bath full of flowing mud. It was everywhere and in between everything. We waited in the que for 15min to pressure wash all the mud of our drivetrains, had a something to eat and decided to try and push for CP 3.
The rain stopped shortly after CP 2, and I could feel my body slowly but surely starting to recover. Started making jokes again and we had a lekker very easy ride to CP 3. At CP 3 you could see the people around us starting to enjoy the ride and life again for what was a terrible ride thus far.
Between CP 3 and 4 the weather was cold but no real wind or rain. Fangs and MAC was tough as always, but managed to ride it out at a very very slow pace. We had the last of the hot dogs at Bergplaas, had a full kit change, put on our lights and off we went. First time descending MAC in daylight. WOW it was fun! We flew down there and had a moerse jol and by now we could ride a decent pace and my body was getting better and better.
It was easy miles between CP 4 and 5 until the start of Neverender. The clay mud sticking to everything was incredibly tough. Stopping every now and again to scrape the mud of our tires with rocks just to get it turning again. The last 52km was brutal and was not expecting this kind of clay mud and wet roads. It was a battle even greater than the start of this event.
Finished in 16:50 and was TB number 6 for me. By far the toughest one of them all, finishing 3 hours behind the worst time we thought we were going to ride. Well done to all who finished or even tried to take on this event in such conditions. 💪