Mamil

Just realised I can't ride this one because of an inescapable parenting commitment. Not sure if I can sell my 82 km entry? Probably a good thing because it's a Funky Fynbos the next day.

Excited and nervous for it - doing the 46k. Are there many sandy spots? Hate sandy spots.

3 months of trouble free riding on my reverb external routing 125mm travel dropper. Kicked my riding up a notch and made me feel a whole lot more confident on corners and descents. I had been forced to have my saddle very high as I have long legs and my centre of gravity always felt too high and the saddle in the way of moving around on the bike. Worth every penny and hoping it lasts as the review suggests.

Me pusha big hills!! Thor - I tell ya if I walked those distances I'm going to give up MTB and take up trail running 'cos I'll be a competitor there!

No - I walked in the really steep bits. IT was only the speedy sprogs from the L group who were riding up and overtaking us when I was toiling away on foot.

102 kg of matured za beef on a merida hoofing it up to the top of helshoogte

I may have lifted my eyes briefly from the convoy of walkers to see your boy go whizzing by. I don't think he was out of breath.

Dorstberg has done wonders for my ability to push a bike up technical climbs - I'm way better at that these days. Some of my friends didn't even ride the race - not mentioning any Nordic thunder gods ....

There were also several points on the route where the trail branched and I looked at what the route wasn't taking and thought "Thank the maker we're not going up there" They could have made it a lot harder I think

I had heard so many frightening stories about the hills on the 42 before the event I went into the first 24k of the ride expecting I was going to be riding up the north face of the Eiger. The result was that I kept waiting for them to get worse. I'm still daydreaming about those descents though - what an absolute blast.

What a lekker race! Bit of a wait at the start but non stop fun interspersed with a fair amount of pain. My walking is coming on nicely!

We are all gonna look like we've been for extrnded mud pack spa treatments. Mudguard essential, carry extra water to clean drivetrain ....

And sunny today, rain tomorrow (Thursday) and then no rain Friday, Saturday or Sunday -

Looks like fun - hoping for a nice sunny day.

Ah yes. My mistake. I misread the table. Reckon i can beat that 30k cutoff. Thanks HenryS

If one starts the 42k at 9.40 that means you have 1 hour 45 mins to het to the cutoff at 22k advertised at 11.25. Can a back marker like me really ride 22k comprising the bulk of the race's 1000m of ascent at an average speed of 13k an hour? I will find that quite tough!

An update on my agonizing about this event: I have decided that it was Mr J Daniels who signed me up for the 60 after all and, while standing halfway up Dorstberg yesterday trying to bring my heart rate under control, I resolved two things. 1. I am downgrading to the 42. 2. I'm going to eat less. Overall I think its a smart choice. I'll do the 60 next year when there's less of me to haul up the mountains.

I'd love to see you super heroes do that jump

The brain is an incredible organ - in lots of ways fantastical but also in some senses just good enough. Today mine would not let me clip in and ride down a section of trail where I fell off giving me a huge purple sunset of a bruise on my hip last time I rode it. I've ridden more difficult sections before and since but no matter how hard I willed myself to let go and ride down the rocky piece of trail I just couldn't do it. Walked it in the end but I'll try again next time.

I am very good at ignoring advice. And I could tell already that what Brandan78 may regard as a quick funride designed for roadies may be an epic struggle of life and death for me. I have done a 60 before - I finished third last in the Paarl Bestmed race last year so I am initiated into this level of pain. The thing is Sir B78 - I already know it's going to be excruciating, the decision is to go knowing that it's going to be hell!

And dragging my backside up 650m in 13k today I think it might have been Jack D who signed me up for the 60 and I may over-rule his well intentioned enthusiasm and join the 50k fun ride for intermediate riders .... As I told myself as I took the chicken run on that huge rocky drop off on the double red at Lebanon today - know thy limitations. But then again - what's 5 hours of pain and you're only youngish once.

I've signed up for the 60km - hope I don't die too painfully. I promise not to walk on the singletrack unless it's gradient exceeds 18 percent up.

Also shouldn't have ridden with my headcold. Bees didn't bother me but a crash into a hive could be bad! Had to laugh at the MC's freudian slip "So good to have women in our sport and there are lots here today.... A really great turn off". He meant turn out of course. Or did he? A few other misogynistic chirps made at the start suggest perhaps not. Fantastic scenery. i would love to go back with my camera and spend some hours.

I'm still going to decide on the day if I'm doing the 70 or the half.

Thanks for that lerouc .... Hmmm... 3 hours or 5 and a half maybe 6 ?