Roneblack46

Part 2: RV1 (Van Der Kloof) to RV2 (Britstown): Oren and I were joined by Simon, and we headed off into the Rolfontein nature reserve. It was damp on the trail and the wind swirled – when it was blowing from the front it was brutal. The nature reserve was hilly with some steep inclines and declines. Once again, my 2.6 Ikon on the front was sure footed. Passing Petrusville – the town was like a ghost town – that went pass in a blur. I then headed out of town and turned right on the gravel road heading to WP3 at 308km. I had pulled ahead of Oren and Simon a bit and enjoyed the relatively smooth gravel road. This went on for km after km. Overhead it was cloudy and the smell of rain was in the air. Not a good sign. I had hoped that I would pass it. Not to be. It started spitting ever so slightly and then a little harder as each minute passed. I had my windproof jacket on but that was started to get soaked. I stopped and pulled out the black refuse bag I had brought with. I bit some holes in it for my arms and head. I also brought a light peak cap along and put that on to extend the cover over my face to keep the rain off. That worked so well. It started raining more steadily and in no time, it was properly pouring. The road slowly developed small streams of water and the jeep track became very soggy and slippery. A few times my rear wheel tried to come past me, but I powered on and corrected it. Time flew by as I was concentrating so much on keeping upright. Soon the rain stopped but the underfoot conditions were tricky. Mud quickly started accumulating on my frame. It was everywhere. The horizon started to lighten up and the first sunrise of my Munga was spectacular. Rolling into WP3 I saw a few bikes against the wall. Some riders were taking a quick break. I spotted a windmill and a hosepipe. So, first course of action was to wash down my bike. I reckon I washed off at least 1-2kg of mud from the bike. Once done I headed in and had some breakfast. Not long thereafter Oren and Simon arrived. It was good to share our experiences over a boerie roll and a Super M chocolate milkshake. On to the next section to WP4. I don’t remember much of this section as it was not very stimulating. Endless corrugated gravel roads. The wind started to pick up and the thermometer started rising steadily. I felt good though and it was not long into this section when I passed 361km. My longest ride to date. I took a moment to take that in. Now I was in completely unknown territory – physically and mentally. That was scary. I tried not to think to much about it. **** what would 600km and even 800km feel like. I smiled and looked forward to that feeling. The kms rolled on and Oren and I kept up a steady pace. WP4 came and went. It was proper hot now and the wind started to blow that much harder. The last stretch of gravel road just before the Britstown tar road into town would not end. It was now blistering hot, but we kept a steady pace. As we reached the tar road we had to concentrate as there was a short detour section along the railway line. Soon we were rolling into Britstown proper and pulled into the RV2 at around noon. On target. 24 hours was my goal and I arrived feeling good but tired. 24 hours and 408km. I had booked a 30min massage here - the thought was that I could kill two birds with one stone. Remove lactic acid from my muscles and also get some sleep. After a quick shower and a meal I had my massage and decided to sleep for 2 hours. The plan was to leave at 4pm. Sleep did not come easily. It was hot and the small fan in the room did nothing to cool me down. My mind was wired, and I was thinking of the next sections and what my timing goals were to be. On the Munga you are constantly calculating and recalculating distance and time. When I started out from Bloemfontein the day before I made a conscious decision I was not going to check or monitor my heart rate and would just ride on feel. Km: 408 Time: 23:58 RV2 (Britstown) to RV3 (Loxton): My alarm went off at 15:30 and I was relieved to be going again. In hindsight if I reflect on what was to come, I should have headed out after my massage earlier. Oren and I met downstairs and we headed out of town onto WP5 around 16:30. To our right was a spectacular Karoo thunderstorm brewing and it was super hot. Probably in the low 40s. The terrain was quite stimulating with rolling sections and some inclines. As we rode on the storm to our right came closer and the rolling thunder became louder and louder. It started spitting around me and I just thought – its very hot so even if I get wet I would not get cold. I kept riding with the ever-threatening storm only slightly wetting me. I was experiencing one of those Karoo phenomenoms where it will rain on one farm and the neighbouring farm gets nothing. I was on the cusp of that storm. Just as the sun was setting for the second time on this ride, I saw a flickering light in the distance. I was catching the rider fast. They must be in trouble. Riding alongside I saw it was Jacques. He was suffering with nausea and was not in a good space. He was just trying to get to the next waterpoint. Till now I had been feeling great. I had good legs and had no niggles. Seeing Jacques like this the reality struck me – you can take nothing for granted. Even the seasoned and experienced riders can be struck with nausea or injury at any time. Nothing is a given. Up to now I was riding solo with Oren just a way off behind me. His knee was playing up and he was pushing through the pain barrier. WP5 came a few minutes after the sun had set. I filled my bottles, had a few snacky things to eat and once Oren was ready to go, we left. This next section was mind numbing. It was a long stretch to Pampoenspoort and I quickly started struggling. I think the greyness of the road in my head light and the slight uphill incline was boring. My mind struggled to focus and I quickly felt sleepy. This is where Oren really pulled me through. We tried to keep the conversation going to stay focused. We even resorted to pushing our bikes for short distances to stay awake. After what felt like an eternity, I saw a row of lights slowly catching us from behind. Ok how long can I stay ahead of them. Anything to stave off the numbness I was feeling. Not long I am afraid. The group of NIKA riders flew by us and were soon off into the distance. Seeing their lights disappear into the distance I tried to figure out the trail ahead –it looked like uphill all the way. Head down I soldiered on. As we got to a right turn, I heard a beep from my Garmin GPS. Battery low – ****. That cannot be. I was using a 10 000mah power bank that had done duty at SaniNonStop and after that 17 hours was still showing ¾ full. Based on that I was only going to charge on the next night. I stopped and checked if the cable had not popped off. No, all good. I changed cables and still no power. Lesson learnt - for a race like Munga get a new power bank for the start and don’t rely on an older one that was faithful till now. Oren to the rescue. He borrowed me his power bank to charge up. I was so stressed that I will lose my ride – you know if it’s not on Strava it did not happen. I had just clocked over 500km and did not want any issues. WP6 came eventually. Pampoenspoort. It was around 01:00 and I was sleepy. I plugged in my light battery and power bank to charge. I decided to sleep for one hour. Oren set his alarm and I tried to get some sleep. For those that have not done Munga this is what the typical water point sleep set up is like – usually a section under roof is set aside with mattresses and blankets to use. You arrive – find an empty mattress – sleep for a bit and then head off. Like a hot bed set up in a sweat shop. If you are a light sleeper, like me, you don’t really get sleep as there is a constant movement of people arriving and leaving, alarms going off etc. In what felt like a blink of an eye Oren was waking me up. Time to head out. I grabbed my light battery, power bank and packed my bike. Grabbed some bits to eat and we headed out. Next stop would be Loxton, RV3. But an uphill battle lay ahead. When you crest a hill – instead of a downhill you see another crest up ahead (this would become the norm over the coming days. All uphill). The road seemed to go on and on forever and soon the first rays of dawn was teasing the horizon. My second sunrise on the Munga was again an experience to see. How many more would I see crossed my mind. It was too early to tell. I was hoping for 4 in total but did not want to jinx myself. As I reached the turn onto the tar road into Loxton I had to focus. There was a detour coming up and I could not miss that. It’s a 6 hour penalty if you do. Oren and I had ridden well till then. Once off the tar the trail was literally a sheep track between some really small and scratchy bushes. Thick sand in patches also made the going hard and eventually we made it to the tar road to just be put back through another farm. Alex Harris really knows how to keep us on our toes. Riding through this sheep farm I saw the carcass of a lamb lying next to the side of the road. Freshly killed and its internal organs removed by some hungry jackal during the night no doubt. Again, onto the tar road and after a short climb I started my descent into Loxton. Through Loxton and onto a very corrugated section of road with some steep inclines. All that was on my mind was to reach RV3 and sleep. Over the last few kms I thought back as to why I struggled the night before. I came to the conclusion that at RV2 I ate first, then had a massage and sleep and then headed out without really eating anything substantial before heading out. So RV 3 will be different – get a bed, shower, sleep for 2 hours, kit up, have a huge meal and then set off. Km ridden: 615 Time: 43:18

My Munga journey 2022 Part 1: The lead up to Munga: So, I have had time to reflect after Munga 2022 and seeing other participants providing their experiences I have decided to do the same. I have always had an inclination to do the Munga. Just watching from the side lines my interest grew year on year as the event took off. Then in 2021 I had a friend who did the Munga and the bug bit to do it in 2022. I was inspired by what it takes to complete the Munga, and the conditions of 2021 and hearing rider stories of their experience sold me. I won’t add that I turned 50 in 2022 and as many other riders this seems to be a turning fifty mission. So, in early January 2022 I committed to the Munga and paid my entrance fee. I read up all about the Munga, googled every article, forum thread, YouTube video as a start. I got into the bikepacking/racing mode and researched all that I could. I set myself some goals: Only 3 races in 2022: 1) SaniNonStop n June 2) Cradle Munga Grit October 3) Munga November From January to June my aim was to get my bike set up correct. What made it slightly more challenging was that I was going to do this event on my trusty Single Speed. Having been riding a single speed over the last 8 years and having competed various events/stage races and some longer ones on it – made sense, it is my go to bike after all. The steel hardtail frame was suitable to these longer distance races. Having enough space to attach bags and extra water bottles it was a good base to begin with. Bikepacking websites gave me ideas as to what type of bags to look at and I became obsessed with looking at previous bike packing races rider rigs. What they carried and where it was put on the bike. I was very cognisant that the more bags I have the more I will carry and that I had to balance the need versus the risk. Also having only 1 gear there is no bailout options when the legs are tired and the terrain is pointing up, so weight was imperative. Goal 1 came very quickly. SaniNonStop. Having done some long rides in preparation for it I felt good and the team format of the event meant I could enjoy the ride with some good friends. However, I knew that after this event the next few months were going to be focused on much longer rides and mostly solo. The Munga is a long event and there will be times when riding solo is part of it. Best I get my mind around that. (In the actual Munga I probably rode about 400+ km on my own). My next goal was Cradle Munga Grit and that did not happen due to work travel. I was hoping to do the Grit as it would mean at least 2 consecutive nights out on the bike and that is valuable experience needed for a first time Munga participant. Up till that stage my longest ride was SaniNonStop at 253km and in training I managed to do a few 200km plus rides over consecutive big days. But that through consecutive nights experience eluded me. Then I decided to do a big solo ride to simulate the Munga conditions – the plan was to start a ride at midday and do about 180km and then rest/sleep for about 4 hours and head out again for another 180 -200km. It was all planned for early October and then I got Covid. To my knowledge I have managed to evade catching Covid and now 2.5 years later I get it at the peak of my endurance training for Munga. Luckily, I only had a sore throat for 4 days. I waited another 7 days of being symptom free and embarked on my big solo ride. Ended up doing 361km over a 27 hour period and 6 weeks out from Munga. During November I again read every article, blog and forum post on the Munga and it finally dawned on me that this race is HUGE. I started to get nervous. Till now I was comfortable with the 34/18 gear ratio I had decided to use for Munga and was training on that gear for months now. In the weeks leading up to the Munga I had many silent discussions in my head as to is that the right ratio – I was leaning to thinking it may be to hard. But sense prevailed and I stuck with it. Start in Bloemfontein to RV1 (Van Der Kloof) Fast forwarded to November 28 – driving to Bloemfontein I was nervous. I had plenty of thoughts going through my head as to the magnitude of the task that lays ahead. Arriving at Sun Mill Casino in Bloemfontein – I was alive – my head was buzzing and seeing the whole start line was amazing. Registration was smooth and having number 111 in my hand I realized this just got real. I drove down with a good friend, Oren, who was doing his second Munga. “021 was his first and he finished in around 116 hours. He was back for more. Wednesday morning came and I tried to sleep as late as possible to bank some sleep. I had all these plans worked out in my head as to my race strategy – how to deal with various scenarios that may arise. In the end I decided that my first priority was to go 24 hours before trying to get some sleep. That should put me in at Britstown RV2. The morning of the race I checked the weather App which I normally use and checked each point on the route for the possibility of rain over the coming days. Only Van der Kloof Dam showed heavy rain that evening to pass by 10pm I was going to arrive there at midnight so should miss it, or so I thought. I made the decision I will ditch my two rain jackets and only take my windproof jacket. I packed a black refuse bag just in case of rain. A decision that saved me from getting very wet and cold in the early hours of the next morning. Standing on the start line with a few minutes to go I could not fathom the distance I am about to ride. 1130km is massive. What am I doing here? **** that’s far. All I had in my mind was to just keep going forward. Failure to finish was not an option. All too soon and I find myself spinning like a hamster trying to stay with a group fairly near the front. And all the gravel road was either flat or downhill. Soon I found myself being passed by many riders - I just kept telling myself that this is a long haul. Day 3 is what matters - just keep pedalling. WP1 came and went – I was very efficient – probably like 3-4min in and out. Here I met a young man – Oli – who was on a Specialized gravel bike with very skinny tyres. We would have paths cross until Tankwa Padstal. I was happy for my 2.6 front and 2.4 back as I could see him been bounced around quite a bit on that skinny steed. Where it was flat and fast, he would pull away but as soon as the terrain became a bit more uneven and bumpy, I would catch up. I passed him again a short while later and he looked in bad shape. He had just gotten back on his bike after stopping to eject the contents of his stomach at the side of the road. At around KM93 I saw a bike in the road and a person laying next to the bike. He said he was ok – just resting. About 2 km later there was another rider sitting on the side of the road – shirt zipped down and someone was pouring water over his head. The heat of the afternoon was making riders suffer and they probably were also suffering the consequences of going out to hard. An informal farmer waterpoint was set up just before the police station turn. A stopped and refilled my bottles. One thing I learnt from reading Mike Woolnough’s blogs is to fill up with water at every opportunity. Do not pass by EVER without filling your bottles. Finally, at around 140km the first inkling of a decent uphill came about. I was so relieved. It was flat and fast till then. Not ideally suited to fresh legs and the gearing I had chosen to do this race. Just before passing over the steel bridge over the Riet River I came across a camper van and the guys had put out a small table and an impromptu water point - refill again. As I climbed out over the Riet River I was passed very hastily by two riders. They were going like the clappers and I thought that’s a bit intense for this early in the race. I passed them about 10km later – one was clearly blown and the other limping along as well. Not a good sign so early in the race. I saw them finish on day 5 just a few hours before cutoff. The Joggie waterpoint at 145km was reached just as the last suns rays were greeting the day. The brandy and coke did look inviting though. But it was just plain coke that was consumed. Lights on and off to waterpoint 2. In the distance the weather gods were putting on an ominous display. A lightning storm on the horizon was spectacular. I was praying my weather app was correct and that it would have passed by the time I got to Van der Kloof. Rolling into waterpoint 2 there were a mass of bikes on the lawn. Some riders look very tired already while others had nervous looks on their faces as the infamous Aardvark section lies ahead. In the past this section has put an end to a few riders Munga aspirations. A quick stop and off I went eager for some different scenery other than endless gravel road. The terrain suited my gearing and those that ride single speed know that feeling of nirvana when the terrain and gearing syncs – I was flying. My front light gave me a good spread of light and coupled with my helmet light gave me excellent vision of the trail, and I quickly started picking off riders one by one – I was definitely less cautious than those riders I was catching and passing, but still felt I was not taking unnecessary risks. Aardvark holes popped up all over the place and I quickly identified an easy way to spot them – at the entrance of each hole there would be a small heap of sand and almost always that heap of sand would be laying in the jeep track. So small heap of sand = adjacent to an Aardvark hole. Easy – and it worked so well. About 20km outside of Van der Kloof the terrain changed again – hilly, rocky and muddy. The aftermath of the ominous storm I witnessed was clear to be seen. I was in my element – I probably passed 20 riders in this section as I relished some technical trail. It was wet on the trail and my 2.6 Ikon on the front was sure footed. I bombed the rocky downhills feeling very confident. The hill up to RV1 just over the dam wall was pretty steep and I did not want to burn matches so early in the ride – so third gear it was – hike a bike. Just as I got to RV1 I felt the wind swirl and turn around a bit and it brought the rain back over RV1 – and it poured. I arrived at 23:52. On target. I had ridden most of this first section on my own – There were short sections where I enjoyed the company of other riders. Average speed till now was around 22km/h. I decided to wait it out and while I was having something to eat at the race village the storm passed over. Riders were prepping for the next leg and incoming riders were soaked as they came into the race village. I was glad I missed that. I shared some war stories at the eating table. Oren was there already having arrived a few minutes before me. We decided to leave together once the storm had stopped. 45 min later it had stopped raining and we were ready to head out on the next leg. Km: 228 Time 11:52

Upgraded (ie. lighter) from a suspension fork to a new Rapide carbon rigid blade. The 38T direct mount chainring fits perfectly. Running 38/18 ratio - nice a quick on the flats for some fast gravel riding. Eyeing the Cradle Grit in September.

Thank you for the replies. 38T it will be.

Would it be possible to fit a 38T direct mount chain ring to the STR Gen 2 frame. Has anyone tried this?

My first Munga. Preparation has been good with decent training rides and recovery (with a forced break 7 weeks ago due to Covid) over the past 6 months. My rig: Momsen STR 2nd Gen frame Rockshox Reba suspension fork Rapide 30mm internal wheelset with an Ikon 29x2.6 (1 bar) front and Ardent Race 2.35 (1.5bar) rear. SS ratio 34 x 18 Profile design aero bars on 50mm risers Fizik Aliante Kium saddle Restrap 4.5L saddle bag Topeak 1L top tube bag Quiver tree 1L feed bag Running 4 bottles, 3 in the triangle - using Wolftooth B-RAD double bottle adaptor and 1 bottle on the downtube. Wolftooth roll top bag 0.6L for tools mounted in between bottle cages on downtube Lighting - 10 800mah battery with single led light - should give me 40hours. Hlemet light 750 Lumen with AAA batteries. Navigation - Garmin Edge 520 with 10 000mah powerbank, Garmin etrex 30 with AA batteries as backup. Strategy: Just keep on riding and get to the finish line. Looking at 18-20 hour days in the saddle. Weather forecast is showing temps in the mid to high 30s, strong winds with gusts up to 50km/h on the first couple of days. Slim chance of rain. Not sure where my first sleep will be? Will try to push through to Thursday night at least and see from there. This is my first venture beyond the distances of Cullinan2Tonteldoos and SaniNonStop. I have had a training ride of 361km which is about 1/3 the Munga distance. Unknown challenges to me will be the many kms and hours of (possible) solitude through the Karoo. How high will the highs be and how low will the lows be? What will I feel like with sleep deprivation over the days? How will I handle the heat and relentless headwinds? I have read every thread of Munga on BikeHub, all the blogs that pevious competitors have posted online, watched all the Youtube videos available on Munga and other ultra endurance bikepacking races worldwide. I have had great support from my family and riding groups I ride with. Bring on the adventure and the start line 30 November at 12:00.

If you are used to 34/18 go for it. The flats will be super fast so you will be spinning faaast(also depends on your seeding). If you can I would suggest a 34/17 - flats will be faster and climbs harder. That is also dependent on your goal for the race and fitness/strength.

http://joberg2c.co.za/2018-rider-list/

One year on and my SS needed an upgrade. So added - Rockshox Reba 100mm, Marvel Carbon Wheelset with Hope pro4 Hubs, Schwalbe tyres. Doing Joberg2C in this configuration. Bike comes in at 9kg with pedals and bottle cages. Absolutely loving the bike. It is a CS-057.

This thread is too slow... Right so lets see which Hubbers are riding and what are your numbers? Rider list available on the Joberg2C website. I will start - Roneblack46 - 363A

Heidelberg - 9/22 Partly cloudy to sunny - looking good so far for a nice country ride...

Just some changes from last year and latest correspondence received...

Day 1-4,7 - 34Oval/16 (maybe a 17 for D4?) Day 5,6,8,9 - 34Oval/17 (If the legs are still good)

Second year riding this, first was 2017. Single Speed again. It is going to be awesome. I have a sneaky feeling the weather is not going to play nice. a bit wet me thinks... You Cape Town guys will enjoy...

Thank you

Admin Please double check - cannot find Jolanda Neff and Maja Wloszczowska as an option on the woman's list?

Spruit portion of Route: if it is the same as last year - out of Marks Park then left up to top end of Botanical Gardens - clockwise along Botanical Gardens out the gate near Emmerentia Bridge - down to under Tana Road Bridge - along Eskom Grid line to Trail Head- under the 2 bridges then along spruit to William Nicol, under bridge, spruit trail to Bryanston road then right through urban section... (apologies if I have some names wrong). So riding the Spruit from Trail Head to Marks Park may be a challenge.

On my steel SS - 720mm Aluminium bar and on the carbon SS - 720mm carbon bar.

Nope. BB30 frame. Using a Wheels Manufacturing Eccentric BB. Runs a shimano 24mm crank. Gives me 12mm of adjustability to tension at the BB. So most likely I can get 2 cog sizes per chain. May have to adjust saddle height and distance from stem length ever so slightly. Luckily I ride mostly in Gauteng so will keep the 34/17 most of the time.

Finally my carbon SS... Chinese CS057 frame and carbon fork Rapide 25mm internals wheel set XT brakes, SLX crank, XT pedals Wheels Manufacturing EBB Absolute Black 34 Oval / 17T cog Maxxis Ikon 2.35 front and back Weight: 8.8kg

Perfect conditions for bringing the Single Speed....

Ran my Ikons, tubeless ready and sealant over any terrain you can think of for more than a year and no seepage through any sidewalls. These Ardent Races will do the same.

Only saw this post now. Purchased at Solomons Woodmead R599. They specially arranged for me and I purchased 2 of the 4 they got in. I think the other 2 have been sold. Maybe call them and speak to Irfaan. He did a brilliant job to arrange these for me.

Just picked these up today. Maxis Ardent Race 29x2.35. It's going to replace the 2.2 Ikon I am running up front. Needed a more aggressive tyre up front for the loose over hard and small marble terrain on the trails I ride. So new combo will be ardent race 2.35 front and ikon 2.2 rear.

Max Knox's time is up on Strava now. 2:26:14.