Bub Marley

Skinsuit, aero helmet, aero bars and we good to go. No rules in gravel right?

The MTB Challenge Off-road racing at its very best, the MTB Challenge hits the Cape Winelands on Saturday, 8 July 2023 and offers 15km, 30km and 60km options. The event was previously held prior to Covid-19 Lockdown in 2020 and we are excited to have the MTB Challenge back on the calendar with new routes and a new venue. The MTB Challenge will take place at the beautiful Arauna Farm in Wellington. The MTB Challenge will also be the third event in the Western Province XCM series for 2023. The event is open to PPA members as well as non-members and targets both existing cyclists, newcomers to the sport, the average participant, as well as the elite sportswoman. E-Bikes are welcome to join. NEW VENUE: Arauna Farm is situated on the Slangrivier Road in Wellington. Nestled amongst the foothills of Groenberg Mountain, lies a Boland oasis, Arauna farm. Emerald green lawns and verdant oak trees, bordering a sparkling vlei offers a respite for those weary of the daily hustle and bustle. We love to have others indulge in the rich natural scenery of the farm and celebrate life in all its vivid colours. Situated three minutes from Wellington and 45 minutes from Cape Town, Expérience d’ Arauna offers true Boland hospitality. Did you know? Arauna farm is the bubbly bottler for the Bahrain Grand Prix since its debut in 2004. The info tent will be able to answer any last-minute questions or to purchase replacement MTB board. Coffee on sale for your caffeine fix with varies stalls which include pancakes, food, wine, beer, cooldrinks, biltong, farmers market and lots more! Then you can sit back, relax and enjoy all that the venue has to offer! A kids area will allow the kids to have a fun time whilst mom and dad enjoy the live entertainment on offer. Included in your entry fee will be timing, finishers medal, beautiful on route experience, fully stocked waterpoints, post-race village which includes a farmers market, live music and lucky draw. Pricing varies from R150 to R450 depending on PPA membership and distance. Online Entries: 15km: R150 PPA Member and R200 Non Member 30km: R300 PPA Member and R350 Non Member 60km: R400 PPA Member and R450 Non Member Start times and age categories for XCM riders: 15km (S) – start time from 09h30. Minimum age – 8yrs on 31 December 2023. Nippers (8-10): Boys and Girls Sprogs (11-12): Boys and Girls 30km (M) – start time from 09h00. Minimum age – 13yrs on 31 December 2023. Sub Junior (13-14): Boys and Girls Grand Master Women (60+) 60km (L) – start time from 08h30. Minimum age – 15yrs on 31 December 2023. Youth (15-16): Boys and Girls Junior (17-18): Boys and Girls Senior (19-29): Men and Women Sub Vet (30-39): Men and Women Vet (40-49): Men and Women Master (50-59): Men and Women Grand Master (60+): Men * All riders who take part as part of the Western Province XCM series must have a valid CSA License and must enter into the correct distance. * Ensure you are ready at least 30 minutes before your start to get into the chutes. * The start groups. Note you will only get your start group after entries have closed! Timing: Timing will be done with a permanent RaceTec MTB Board. Please note that the timing Chip is embedded in your permanent RaceTec MTB Board. If you already own a Permanent RaceTec MTB Board, please remember to bring your MTB board to the event. You will issued with a event sticker at registration which you will need to apply across the top of the MTB Board. Please note that you will not be able to start the event without your RaceTec MTB Board and the event sticker placed across the top of the board. Race pack collection: In order to collect your race pack at registration you need to bring either the email or SMS containing your name and race number which will be sent to you by 5 July 2023. We urge you to collect your race pack before the event day to avoid unnecessary queues. Thursday, 6 July 2023: 12h00 – 18h00 at Rondebosch Sportsmans Warehouse: 34 Klipfontein Rd, Rondebosch Friday, 7 July 2023: 12h00 – 18h00 at Tygervalley Sportsmans Warehouse: 1 Bill Bezuidenhout Ave, Bellville Park Saturday, 8 July 2023: From 07h30 at the venue, Linton Park Wines, Slangrivier Farm, Wellington. Route Information: 60km Route: 1492m Total Elevation. Start time from 08h30. Like the 30km, fast and open road riding up to WP#1. After WP#1 the climbing starts on single-track on the southern slopes of Groenberg, with a fast and flowing single-track downhill. Open road climbing to WP#2, followed by the Luislang single-track climb, to be rewarded with the Happy Hog downhill section. After Happy Hog, riders will enjoy the Wild Boar Trails White Route single-tracks towards Oaklands for 8km to WP#3. From WP#3 it will be fast, open riding to Welvanpas Farm where the next climb starts, taking riders to the top of Golden Mile and down the famous, flowing trail. Rollercoaster takes riders to the finish. The route is well-balanced with quite long sections of single-track and easy open-road riding in-between. There are 4 waterpoints on the 60km route. There will be some fruit and sweets to keep the energy levels high. Stay hydrated with Coke and water. Waterpoint 1 will be activated by the ladies from Dirt Addict, a community focused brand that was started with the intention to connect and inspire women through various active lifestyle options. Largely serving the beginner to intermediate cyclist, they provide a safe space where women can learn and grow in skill and confidence. They stand for courage, pride, strength, and unity. Waterpoint 2 will be activated by the team from Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages, the official hydration partner of PPA. Waterpoint 3 will be activated by the team from PPA. Waterpoint 4 will be activated by our Stay Wider of the Rider team. The mission is to raise awareness of cycling’s role as a key and sustainable mode of transport and to make it safe for everyone to cycle. The campaign launched in 2014 and has been instrumental in creating awareness amongst motorists especially when passing cyclists. Cyclists are vulnerable road users and should be given space of at least one metre on our roads. 30km Route: 561m Total Elevation. Start time from 09h00. Fast start on open gravel road up to WP#1. Climbing from WP#1 to WP#2 mostly on district gravel road and jeep track. From WP#2 mostly downhill with short section of single-track. This route is not technical at all and suitable for all types of riders. There are 2 waterpoints on the 30km route. There will be some fruit and sweets to keep the energy levels high. Stay hydrated with Coke and water. There will also be some music to keep the spirits high. Waterpoint 1 will be activated by the ladies from Dirt Addict, a community focused brand that was started with the intention to connect and inspire women through various active lifestyle options. Largely serving the beginner to intermediate cyclist, they provide a safe space where women can learn and grow in skill and confidence. They stand for courage, pride, strength, and unity. Waterpoint 2 will be activated by the team from Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages, the official hydration partner of PPA. 15km Route: 354m Total Elevation. Start time from 09h30. Starts off with open gravel road, followed by mainly vineyard riding. About 5km into the route, a fun pump track section will be an enjoyable feature for everyone. Highest point in the route is at about 9km, followed by a nice single-track section, and easy riding to the finish. There is 1 waterpoint on the 15km route. There will be some fruit and sweets to keep the energy levels high. Stay hydrated with Coke and water. There will also be some music to keep the spirits high.

Thanks guys for all your suggestions. I’ll have a look around and see what is available around here and take it from there. While doing some researching myself yesterday, I came across these: https://www.vittoria.com/ww/en/tyres/mtb-xc/terreno Anyone tried these out before?

Not really racing to win tbh. Definitely midpack as well. Do I need to upgrade? No. But i just thought not why not? I have a bit of blowing money on unnecessary cycling stuff 😂

Pirelli’s are great. They’re pretty fast rolling as well but they’re still essentially an XC tyre. Had a look at the aspens. They also seem very XC based. Not really sure if it’s worthwhile upgrading. I’m looking for something less aggressive. The Boland Gravel monster is an event im looking at doing. It’s got 65km of tar though so I’m definitely looking for something that can help me a bit on the smoother sections.

Any recommendations for gravel friendly mtb tyres? I don’t have space for an additional bike so trying to make do with what i have. A Currently using Pirelli Scorpion 2.4 RC Lite. Any particular tyre you can recommend that would have better rolling resistance for gravel type events? Any other tips to make the bike roll a bit faster would be appreciated.

Agree. Let’s wait till Friday please 😂 I think constructive criticism is good as it allows the organisers to take on board and get better. Wrt the ambulance, I always say communication is key. I think if the situation was explained properly on the day, people on the day would have had a lot more understanding. However, it seemed like the organisers forgot to arrange an ambulance and that gave the impression that they were completely unorganised. If it was told to us that there was an ambulance arranged, but that ambulance decided not to pitch then i think more sympathy would’ve been shown. But we were basically waiting there freezing our bollocks off in 6 degree weather and the only thing we’re hearing is it wont be much longer now.

Almeida looked like he was really hurting. Could be just the way he rides but i guess we’ll see how it plays out. I think the time trial being uphill, gives him much more of a chance that if it was just a standard uphill. G looks like he’s in amazing shape. If I’m a betting man, I’m probably leaning to G for the overall.

Unfortunately not haha. I felt a bit sorry for him at the same time being extremely pissed off. He first announced the free entries after around an 30 min delay i think. Then they said it wont be longer than a couple more minutes wait. Another hour passed by and the poor oke was so embarrassed. He then announced the free beers and then literally 30 seconds later the ambulance rocks up. Shame man.

As someone that did the 50miler, I can confirm that person who announced free entries and free beer was definitely the race organiser. I would also like to see if they are going to honour that free entry because that’s a lot of dough to throw away.

Perhaps it was different then in the 160km race where you have much stronger cyclists around you and obviously with a higher skill level. In the 50 miler though, i thought my main real disadvantage was gearing where I would spin out. Would I have been faster though on a gravel bike? I think that’s probably a better question and also a difficult one to answer given that I’ve never ridden one so actually have no idea how it even rides. I can say though in the 50 miler the split was definitely more 50/50 i would say in terms of gravel vs mountain bikes. So perhaps the trend is leaning towards gravel but for now, it’s definitely with your stronger riders.

I would say your biggest risk is actually the post office. Unfortunately the courier charge is so much more expensive which is a real pity so we’re almost forced to use the post office and I’m not sure I would trust them to deliver.

So I did my first gravel race this weekend on my hardtail. Honestly didn’t feel that much slower than the guys on pure gravel bikes. Unless the terrain is super smooth I don’t think there’s that much in it. On the tar, I definitely felt slower but the moment I tucked in a bit on the Farr bar it minimised the disadvantage. This disadvantage can also be reduced by fitting less aggressive tyres. I also felt the last stretch of the race with more narrower paths and more unevenness, I was way faster. I could literally fly through those sections compared to some people on drop bars. I have to say the Farr aero bolt on bars actually helped a bit. You can’t use it for very long at a time but if the terrain is nice it helps a lot just with a different hand position. And it’s definitely faster even if it’s not very long stints on it. I immediately dropped anyone on my tail the moment I tucked in. Compared to SQ innerbarends. I haven’t used this one but I think with those you can definitely use it much more because your hand is right over the brakes so you kinda in a drop par position. But the Farr aero is definitely faster just because you’re more tucked in. I think either one helps and would recommend it for anyone on a mtb doing gravel races.

Race report as requested: Positives: An absolutely fantastic route. Gravel bike heaven I have to say even if I was not on a gravel bike. I did the 50 miler and the whole route was gravel bike friendly not much corrugations at all tbh and there was nice stretches of really smooth hard pack gravel. The turnout for this event was crazy. 1000 entries for the very first event is fantastic so kudos to all involved. Negatives: I’m not exactly sure what happened but honestly to delay a start for 1h40m was so frustrating. They kept talking about waiting for an ambulance. Did they not know you need an ambulance for CSA event? And how were the 100 milers allowed to start? Maybe someone else can provide more clarity? Other than that I have no complaints. I’m glad the route made up for that delay because my word there were angry people. I think this also translates into that fast start. Seems like everyone just needed to release that pent up frustration. I had a great race but I do think the delay messed with my nutrition. I should have eaten while waiting but also didn’t want to eat my food up and then suffer on the ride. Next year I will hopefully do the full 100 miler.

I opted for the Farr aero bolt on. Went for a small tester today and I’m quite happy with it. Will definitely come handy on long flat sections. Is ridiculously expensive for such a small part but what can you do.

Yellow

I normally run them around 22psi.

Trying to figure out why they would do this? Surely less stages, over a weekend will equal more demand. No chance I can take 5 days off work.

Any suggestions wrt tyre pressure on a hardtail XC bike? Should I pump them up a bit harder vs regular XC use?

This has basically spoilt the whole Giro for me now. I’m interested in whether all those riders are actually sick or if they have been sent home just because they’re positive. I also think the teams are worried about spreading so it could be that they’re positive but not sick but they dont want to risk it spreading further. However, in saying that surely if they’re on the same team, the likelihood of everyone contracting is pretty high. Either way its just a mess and Covid does its best to mess everything up yet again. I hope this means Remco does the Tour now.

Looks like perfect weather on Saturday.

I entered the 50 miler. Don’t think my fitness is up to scratch for 100 miles anyway. At 87km this will be the longest off road race I’d have done. So a good start and then hopefully build for a proper 100 miler later in the year.

This looks like an awesome event. Will maybe try and do it next year I think. Gonna need a proper GPS it seems and dont have the cash for this now. Also waiting for the new garmins.

Dogma looks way better imo. Although I am biased to Pina. This design looks a bit bland to me.