The Bull Shark

It is piss poorly organised. Anybody who looked at the weather forecast 2 days ago and knew just a little bit about mountain biking in the Western Cape knew it was going to be bad. Especially Paarlberg which is extremely exposed to the sun on the western slopes and northern slopes. Just refer to some of the earlier comments here on this forum from a few days ago.

Loved the one I did. Will check it out. One of the best MTB events I ever took part in.

Corporate beancounters. They do not care for the canon fodder so long as all the entries is sold out within minutes. Then it is all about just doing the basics at the lowest cost.

Just walked outside into the gardens of the Capitec office here in Technopark. There is a wind that came up from the ocean's side to cool things off a wee bit. But it might be too late for many already dehidrated riders. EDIT: This wind hopefully makes it to Paarl.

Still going to be a really hard day on the 2-wheeled office. Reckon Paarl Mediclinic will overflow this evening and some of those will have to go to Stellenbosch Mediclinic.

Hou moed boet! The better part of the Epic starts tomorrow morning. Just survive today.

Probably still have tire tracks on his back...

Probably the best strategy for today will be to gooi mielies to finish early so as to get out of the sun before the serious heat for the day sets in. They will need as much moisture in their bodies as possible for tomorrow. You do not want to be out there on the road too long in the afternoon heat of today.

So the "King of Gravel" had a reality check and is nowhere near "King of South African Gravel". We might find his bike on the bottom of the dam at the top of Paarlberg by the end of the day tomorrow.

Welvergenoegd seemed aptly named for yesterday's ride. I am sure some of the riders had a private smile amongst the pain, sweat and dust on their mugs.

Wednesday's attrition rate will be very high unless they shorten the day. I suspect the Mediclinic in Paarl will get quite a lot of new patients by the end of the evening. Riding those hills west of Paarl in 40 degrees will be brutal as there is not much shade to hide away in from the blazing sun.

Wednesday will be the killer. I stayed in Paarl for 4 years. Paarl 40 degrees is different to Strand 40 degrees. Went for a trap on a hot day on Jan Phillips many years ago before I could do proper MTBing and I emptied my stomach on Hoof straat.

BTW, I see some rain predicted for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

I just checked the route. Guess going for a ride at Helderberg Farm is out for Sunday then. Most of the route at the later end of the week is around our town. Might even poach some time from my office at Technopark to go check some racing at G-Spot.

To show off their company sponsored kit.

Paarl is much tougher than you think. Some of the toughest rides I did was at Rhebokskloof. It is the heat and the dust, plus the short steep hills that kills all your energy. Then we have not mentioned the amount of devil thorns in that area. I had to walk back down as I had so many thorns in my tyres that the sludge had no chance.

Had a horrible day in the saddle despite the great weather. Stopped at the water point before the turn off to Misty Cliffs. I was super nauseous and had a mild head ache. Got some Coke and I started feeling better for a while then it returned. Really had to dig in deep to finish my 11th. Just over 5 and a half hours. My usual time is around 4h30 with a 4h12 PB. I think the age thing is catching up on me. Also the first one I did with my wife from start to finish.

We had to struggle to find a vendor that sells actual cycling parts and tubes. Most of the vendors were meh. Think next time they must just mail me the number. There were almost no vibe like in the olden days at the Good Hope Centre.

Yes. I know I am gonna rub a few people up wrongly with that statement. And everybody are entitled to their opinions. I have lots of respect for Burry. Visited his home at Port Shepstone and his memorial, and my 2 sons rode the MTB track at his home. For me there is no real or not real MTBer. If you rocket up at Jonkers with an old 26er and ride a few trails there I will respect you just as any other person that pulls off a new Spez Epic from the bike rack on his Porche. We cannot start making little cliques to classify MTBers. We all love riding our bikes on trails.

So a poor person can thus never be a real mountain biker? I have all sorts of problems with the above statement by Burry. Maybe he never knew how the entrance fees and equipment prices would spiral out of control, and thus out of reach for the average person. That statement might have held water then, but not anymore.

It is all about money now. As soon as the pro ladies finishes they land those helis because they get billed heavy for flight time I think.

I have already invested in some land at G-Spot. A few square meters after the big jump just after the road gap jump.

For those that never heard of the G-Spot trail, and those that does on how to ride it.

Just saw on the pictures now it seems my son's riding buddy at school, Callum, was part of the Toyota Specialized 91 support team.

Glad they finished at Coetzenberg. Just way more accessible. Also more symbolic of our sport heritage compared to Val De Vie.