Rouxenator

1600m climbing on sports-tracker : http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/rouxenator/59b614c6c3d639467eb314f0 1770m on strava : https://www.strava.com/activities/1175364905 It certainly was a lot.

Lovely day, splendid trails. Next time I'll try doing it with more than 4 hours sleep. Pity so many people were litterbugs. Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

That's early! I guess I'll get up at 6am in Dwarskersbos then for the 63km

Sadly I have to agree with you. I love this ride but if it does happen next year it will need at least 200 riders to keep it going. Not sure if that will happen, it did attract those numbers back in the early years...

The only thing I would change for a down ride on this route is a water point at the top of that kloof climb towards the end. Much like they have a water-only point at the bottom of Ouberg pass on an up ride. I did hold back a bit because I only carried two water bottles and it needed to last the distance. Quite stoked to see I made place 5th out of 55 finishers. I was not racing, just trying to get to the finish so I could start the braai en enjoy that nice IPA :

I spoke to some of the PPA folks after the ride, there was just under 100 entrants and due to sponsorship issues they did not break even on this event. So more riders than last year, but if it is going to happen again we will need at least 200 riders. They plan to move it to May, which will be much colder I think. We started in -4'C on Saturday. the April date has been taken up by the Cederberg 100 miler.

Thank you Gary, Rob and the rest of the PPA team for making this a very well organised and executed Transkaroo. Everything was simply perfect

Across the Karoo https://www.strava.com/activities/1164805459 Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

Lovely ride and the long route is not difficult at all. https://www.strava.com/activities/724157961

In 48 hours we will be going down Ouberg pass ! I trust everyone else is as excited as I am ?

Goeie nuuus! Blikkies ! Nou jeuk my gat. Wag, laat ek eers met my 6de Transkaroo afreken dan is ek terug..

Beautiful pics, and most of all - a REAL bike!

Those who know a bit more about my track record will recall I have had terrible luck with frames. None of them seems to last more than a year ( https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/129957-oops-i-did-it-again-cracked-frame-and-again/ ) But I can now safely say I think the spell has been broken on this 2014 Silverback Sola that I bought used a year ago for less than R10k and then proceeded to put more than 10,000km on it - using the same front tyre nogals! Super happy today, always though it was me that was the problem

I'm sure of that. Last year I rode from Dwarskersbos up to that radar base at the top of the mountain and though to myself "It sure would be nice if there were some MTB trails up here". And so it was.

You all got the email from Gary about the registration? Please do attend. I will try to be there, wearing an orange TransKaroo t-shirt so please ask me if you have questions. Most questions I will try to answer here before hand. Route profile : Total Climb : 2532mTotal Descent : 3012m Route : I have the GPX of last years up-ride which will be the reverse of what we are doing this year : http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=65257382887514883470

In for my 1st time, doing the long route.

Yep, last year on the same route I only recorded with Sports Tracker running on a Lumia 720 and imported the GPX to Strava, both apps reporting 1100-ish ascent.

1185m on Sports-Tracker : http://www.sports-tracker.com/workout/rouxenator/598ed180c3d639467efddaea 1379m on Strava : https://www.strava.com/activities/1129351953 Both recorded on the same phone, Moto G3.

Is this a controlled clearing fire?

Yes there are marking, but not a lot of turns, less than 10 over the entire 247km. Definitely give Porterhouse Eleven a try then.

Kaleo is an awesome place to stay provided you can find accomodation. Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

A beautiful day it was indeed. Thanks Gayle and everyone involved for 10/10 event. I will be back next year for my 8th one.

That was 2013, did not work out too well. In 2014 it was just as wet and they had a cable across the waterfall to help support riders through the water. I doubt that the loop situation will ever happen again.

You're welcome. The first time I rode this in 2011 was when the middle route (42km at time) also went up there. I had a fun time navigating that bit of track on my 26er with v-brakes but sure enough I was back for the long route the next year.

The most technical part is leaving Suurvalk and going to the Waterfall. Not too technical, if you can navigate jeep track with loose rocks you should be fine.