Skubarra

We went out on the tar road for about 20km(?) and turned left towards Laingsburg, the Magrieta Prinsloo road hits a dead-end at the Gamkapoort dam afaik.

Cycled that route in a group in 2019 (from PA to Laingsburg). Back then at least the whole route was publicly accessible, just a number of farmgates to open and close. Everything was rideable, no hike-a-bike. On route there is a guest farm called Rammetjieskraal a bit after Floriskraal dam(not on google maps, try facebook) which could be an option for a lunch stop if you organise ahead of time. For the rest not much civilization other than a few farm houses and no cell reception for most of the route so make sure you are self sufficient for the distance.

I also heard its not happening this year, maybe next year again

From my experience of the trails in that general area it would likely be possible on a gravel bike but unlikely to be fun on a gravel bike

Someone can give you the exact numbers, but basically the 1st 5km until the turn-off before the farmstall. Then 30kms in there is roughly a 20km section on the Hermon-Porterville road and then about 2/3rds in there is another 5km. So my guestimate roughly 30km of tar.

I can see how it sometimes come across like that, but as someone who works in insurance I can tell you it doesn't need to work like that. As an insurer you expect to pay claims, and if you run your business correctly you charge the right premiums, pay legit claims and still make profit. If you have to screw over your customers on legit claims to turn a profit then you have a pretty bad business model and will eventually run out of customers or come up short against competitors who don't do that.

Rode that section a week ago, in a bit better condition than last year but still more rutted than one would like. Rest of the route looks to be in a fairly good condition, will be a fast race as usual. Edit - just to add, got a reminder last week that the route was tougher than I recalled it to be, those rollers in the second half really do add up!

Can't say I heard anyone complain about the race finishing at Heavens View and not the mast, Heavens View is a lekker spot to finish the event. A 550m climb to finish the ride is still a proper challenge!

thank you!! 🙏

Anyone knows where/when one can see the results for Saturday?

Not to get into specifics as we all use different ratios, but I would say in principle make sure you have enough at the bottom-end to spin up MAC, its a big climb with some sections steep & with broken cement tracks + you hit it after 120km(?) so it helps if you can do it at a high cadence. If you are fit you possibly won't lose that much time on MAC on the wrong gear ratios but you are going to burn a bucket load of matches you likely going to miss on Neverender and the rest of the last 50km. Also the first 100km may be easy going, flat & fast but for the most part the roads are not that good & there are rutted sections, so a massive chain ring is going to be off less help than you might imagine looking at the route profile, I would go for something mid-range and just find a nice bunch to slip in.

As opposed to ripping off the insurer on claiming for something you did not own, nor paid premiums for? ie I don't think it is a bad thing that you were honest.

I cannot see why the insurer wouldn't pay at least something unless there is a specific exclusion in your policy, but it your bike was underinsured they could possibly only pay a pro-rata part your claim (even if your claim is under the insured amount) - depending on how sharp the claims assessor is.

Is the route the same as last year - the Strava uploads I see are 120km but the website says 110km? Not super concerned about the distance, just want to know if I can use last year's uploads as gpx for my Garmin

with some bigger climbs excluded a bit surprised to see Arangieskop there Very few people have attempted that climb, I only knew about it because of a hub post

I see on Strava there are still a few peeps riding up there, wonder if they are rogue riders or people who knew who to ask? 🤷‍♂️

Would Nick not been able to help - since the landowners were in contact with him...

I see now - yes that 60km one is exactly what I suggested. And again, just before you turn back there is a decent halfway cyclist friendly coffee stop.

My opinion - the most scenic/smooth gravel in the area is north of Wellington to Hermon/Riebeeck Kasteel. Park at a mall in Wellington, take the Old Hermon road north. Have coffee/breakfast at the Hermon farm stall or in Riebeek Kasteel if you want to go out slightly further. Then take the Porseleinberg gravel road back to Wellington. If you want to extend the ride loads of options north of Riebeek Kasteel or even to the Malmesbury side. Paarl/Durbanville have options but it would include lots of tar, more corrugations and roads are generally more busy.

Slightly off-topic but weird that they say no road handlebars, but gravel bikes are allowed? Certainly last year they didn't have any issues with road handlebars at the event.

I slightly disagree... I think some stress is in order, despite the loads of tar its still a very tough route overall. Close to 3K of climbing not trivial. But I agree with the advice, 1st 90km's are easy going, easy to get sucked into racing mode and burn too many matches staying with riders you have no business riding with. Then after De Rust the rolling hills and climbing starts and if you don't have enough in the tank your race can go sour before you even hit the Swartberg climb. ie very important to know the limits of your fitness and pace yourself correctly

Not quite following your reasoning here. But the issue is usually people trespassing before & after the race to ride the same route they have access to on raceday. Not much an organisor can do about that other than asking participants nicely, and then not giving gpx files help avoid people doing route recces before the race. A small gesture but it got us over the line with some difficult owners at the local Durbanville race. You might think people have enough access to trails not to have the need to trespass, but it is quite common to have entitled cyclists trespassing on farms with no trails or access and then verbally abusing farmers when confronted.

I know sometimes landowners are sensitive about people plotting GPX files across their property (yes I know once the race has gone over it, the routes would be publicly available anyway from Strava), but thats the type of hoops organisers sometimes have to jump through to get access...

Was a lekker ride, not a tough route pace was brutal if you tried to hang on with the sharp end of the field. 🥵 Haven't suffered this much in a long time Think there is another one nearby in August (and of cause Ronde van Riebeek in May!)

Just a random comment - noticed quite a few people missed turn-offs and some got completely lost on-route Saturday. Must admit I was never a fan of people requesting gpx files of the route from race organisers, thought it was overkill. But rode with the route on my garmin and it takes a lot of stress off you if you don't have to worry about missing a sign & turn-off and landing on the wrong road.