I was one of the lucky riders who participated in the Greyt Escape the past weekend. As a regular visitor to Greyton I was in two minds to pay for a race on trails that I have access to throughout the year as an annual permit holder, but as racing is not just about the route, but the vibe, competing with fellow riders, some awesome goodies etc. I thought that I would give it a go. Day 1 was a fast, very cold (-4 C on my GPS) start along the old Wreck route, working our way to Water point 1. We crossed the tar road and soon we were doing the UFO climb, which was actually quite pleasant, given that most of it is paved for the service vehicles that need to get to the UFO shaped antenna structure on the hill. The single track that followed was a very pleasant delight. I have not done the climb or the single track on previous visits, so already I was getting some real value for money. The rest of the morning went by in a whirl of more single track, some district roads and an interesting spin on the Boesmanskloof climb back to the finish. The vibe at the finish was awesome. It is always better to have the race village so close to where most of the riders are staying. It makes popping back to the village easier for prize giving, race briefings, massages, etc. Day 2 started with about 2mm of rain at The Oaks. The start was a little wet and cold, but the mood was upbeat and the pace not too hot as we all got ourselves going. The Oewerzight single track was one of the unexpected highlights of the day, and the final 5 km single track after the sweat zone was one of the weekend highlights. The first water point was 35km into the stage, which was perhaps a bit of an oversight (it took me over 2 hours to get there), but apart from this little mishap, the rest of the stage rolled by quickly and without much drama. It dried out nicely after the initial bit of rain and the trails were all very ride-able throughout the day. I preferred the finish in Greyton opposed to at The Oaks. Once I left The Oaks after lunch I was not going to go back for race village for race briefings etc. Day 3 was again a cold start with Maermanskloof to warm up the legs. I was looking forward to the single track on the back of Maermanskloof, but unfortunately we were directed down the Jeep track to the much milder flowy sigle track next to the district road. We seemed to have missed most of the fun in the forest single track too, but I guess for the sake of race flow and to avoid confusion we were directed on a more-or-less straight line through the forest. Bakenskop was the second big climb of the day and it did not disappoint. The sharp switchbacks curving up the Kop had the legs burning and for 2 of the countless switchbacks I had to admit defeat and push the bike for a few metres before riding again. Single track and jeep track took us to the only water point for the day. The district road to Bereaville rolled by quickly and soon we were climbing to the next big section of single track. Fast and flowing... another climb up Rocky Horror and one of my favorite sections of trail to finish up with took us back to the Start in Greyton. The weekend was enjoyed thoroughly in our favourite little village. On the race, I rate it as follow: 1. Organisation 8/10. A few small hiccups like needing to bust open the trailer with the goodie bags on the first morning was dealt with adequately. 2. Timing 10/10. This is either full marks or zero. You either get it right, or you don't. 3. Route 9/10. I consider myself more or less a local in Greyton, so I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of "new" trail I got to ride. I am already getting my mind around getting access to some of the sections done during the race, so getting in touch with the locals to see if they have any pearls of wisdom regarding this is on my agenda. 4. Goodie bag 8/10. All very usable items. Good quality long sleeve runner's shirt (which worked very well as a second skin on the cold mornings) will come in handy going forward 5. Communication 7/10. I received my finish time daily per sms, but some more updates like time of prize givings, my position GC and category etc. could easily be incorporated in the communication plan going forward. 6. Race Village 8/10. This would have been a 10 if all days were in Greyton opposed to The Oaks on day 2. The massages, bike was, food marques etc. was all top notch.
