All this climbing can be tough on the drive train – as can the many kms of dust. The water crossings will give your chain a good wash… The undoing of your drivetrain begins early, in little bits at a time. Chain suck by the Baviaans Back, will have your derailleur in the spokes, and your knee on the stem. Lube…lots. THE START: The race starts a bit hot/excited as people leave town, and then onto a jeep & single track, and then onto the kloof. But this is actually a well-controlled, measured effort over 230km!The actual kloof starts at about 7km… You’ll turn off the single track… and the game is on. Now tell yourself you’re gonna ride 100km to the start of the race. THE ROOF:This is the first climb, (but you’re already 7km in!). It’s a long drag, but it’s very gradual. The aim here is to ride at that HR where you know you can ride all day. Don’t get caught up trying to chase this early on! Your first climb is up to the 11km mark. You can see it what it’s going to be like…. Not hectic. Make conversation – and it’s the first drag is over!Don’t’ forget to hydrate/fuel, (roof ends at 30, CP1 is at about 50) cos the excitement of the descent later may leave you with the perception of being refreshed, while you’re not necessarily fuelled. Any gains you make on other riders so quickly undone when we all catch each other up at the water crossings on the way down. You need the discipline to stick to the pace you know, within the HR you know. The general feel is that it’s flat… incline, flat…incline. You climb gently to 11k – get a break and go fast…for 2km, then you climb another 4-5km, Then, generally go flat/down for 7km, before a 3.5km climb to the top… and a very fast descent shortly after… (The first sharp turn right catches people off guard!) Check the map… Then it’s “flat” for ages. The profile shows “down”…. But consider it flat. So the climb isn’t too bad:A gap of 500m made on another rider/team is eaten up at the next checkpoint/ water crossing, etc. So, unless you’re actually racing – don’t get caught up on that. You’ll pass and get passed all day.The cruise to CP1 from the roof is great, lots of water crossings… don’t be an ass and splash everybody wet…. But get over it - your feet will get wet. (your toes will like pink little prunes – and stay like that for the rest of the ride). Embrace it. BAVIAANS BACK You are now in the Widerness area and the road is more rugged. You’ve been bracing for this climb all race.This climb comes soon after CP2 (first box), and you’re re-fuelled. It is a long climb and it must be ridden with focus. It’s less than 4km, and it’s an elevation of about 230m. On any MTB race, a climb like this wouldn’t’ undo anybody, but it’s after 109km into the race. You want no leg trouble/ lactic build up this early. Do your thing and get up with plenty to spare! The water points are close to each other at this point, so the sense of getting somewhere is greater. And you’ll be rewarded with a very long nice break afterwards. The best view of the Kloof is actually at the top of this. Just after the waterpoint – before the decent, there’s a little path to the right. You’ll get a perception of the massive downhill to follow from there. All Baviaanskloof holidays / by 4x4s & bikes end up with that photo shot. To a lot of people – this looks and feels like the top of the Baviaanskloof! () FANGS Very short. Very steep. So steep – if you lose balance, it’s hard to get going again. You’ll need momentum and good spinning to get up. Watch the oke in front whose winding left left/right to a stall. Nice short downhill, and a bit of momentum before the next fang. Same story. Cars without diff lock spin their wheels to get up here. And this of course has an effect on the surface… making it steep, and also bumpy and in some places, soft/slippery to your back wheel. But - very short. MAC It’s hard to say exactly when it’s started. You’ll be riding, and eventually you’ll say… “this must be it… I’ve been riding up for a while, and it ain’t going down.” It’s long enough to make you impatient to finish it fast later on as you think you’re almost done. You might get gatvol and just want to get the hell out. MOST IMPORTATNTLY, when it levels out, your still quite some way from the checkpoint. i.e. when the left-right winding is over – the road straightens… but it actually still goes up – and you’ll ride Quite a long ride (4-5km to the actual checkpoint).So, don’t think “at the top is a checkpoint – I’ll eat there!” The calories you’ll spend on MAC are enough to warrant chowing a snack. It’s actually not terribly steep. It’s just a long drag, for a long time. The switchbacks increase in gradient…and it may level slightly after as you climb, but the average is not hard. Depending on the how the weather has been since the last road works – the road can either be rugged – or OK. Definitely take a mo to look down and pity the riders behind/below you. Defineately stock up well at the checkpoint (Bergplaas). Last year was very wet but there there was no more water until after CP5. Avoid getting to cosy with the fires…. Get on with the business of an awesome descent, and fast cruise to CP5. If you’re really struggling at this point…. DON’T let the MAC break you. It’s such an easy ride to CP 5. If you have a team mate that’s looking like it’s over – get them some food, and a jersey and just get them to CP5. Quitting at Bergplaas there will destroy your soul. I blew at the top of the MAC. By CP4, I had severe doff-ness of the brain, felt some cramps coming on… couldn’t put my shoes on in a standard 10min timeframe…. We chilled for a good long break, got going again, and we still finished at 1h30 that night – feeling strong! NEVER ENDER It’s can feel long, and morale breaking. It’s slow. You need good spirit. After crossing the river (after CP5), there’s a short steep hill. Descend that, and the Never ender starts. Check your kms at the bottom of that, and add 12km (if you can still add). Remember that No. That is the number of freedom. Ride to it. The gravel road is OK. (not rough) but you’ll be making slow gains in distance for a while now. Sit down and just know you’ll be working on this hill for a while now. Over 6.5km you’ll climb 132m…. then a short break of a downhill… then again…1.5km is uphill … 300m is downhill…. 1.5km up… short down. So, you think you’re done, and the climbing resumes, and it repeats. (If you look on the route profile – you can actually count how many times this will happen) At that magical 12km mark – you’ll get a 1.5km downhill, and one more 1km climb. After this… you’re kind of good to go! Basically fast cruising, no more hills for 10km, after which you’ll kind of get your last hill… 1.5km/2km…100m. [at about 199km mark] After that, it’s flat & downhill (with undulations) home. (of course, you’re not gonna freewheel home… but you if you’re cramping – 1% feels like a hill. If you’re motivated you’ll say “hah – that was nothing compared to what we’ve done today” With 30 to go you should start looking out for the town lights of J-Bay… You’ll get there fast!
