Mamil

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 -

Good job Jaco. Sign up at Tygerberg MTB - it opens up all the surrounding trails and access to members corridors to move between them. I've been a member for a few months now and still haven't ridden them all. Thor threatened to show me Hoogekraal but some of us are tied to work.

Well I left a link for Mr Mostert to this thread on his Strava comments so lets see if he deleted the ride or has the courage to apologise.

Listen ... I'm not sure I like all this anti slow sentiment here. Jaco may be an ass but not everyone who walks up that hill is a tjop so go easy on us back markers.

Not cool

The para gliding instructor chirped me for walking up that last section. Of course he got up there in a 4x4. The audacity!

Jislaaik

Looks like fun - hoping for a nice sunny day.

Did a little loop at Meerendal today - got to the top of Dorstberg and saw the trail closed sign and turned around and headed back the way I came. I did mutter a curse. On the way down, two riders, one a kid one a youngster of about 20 hopped onto the trail coming down and started riding it. I caught them at the spot where it crosses over the uphill jeep track and confronted them. Neither had a Tygerberg MTB board, the older kid had a sticker from the club from 2013. Neither had a temp permit, they mentioned the honesty box but hadn't put anything in it. I lectured them, told them the reasons for the trail closure (very evident that Meerendal had recently put a lot of effort into the trail) and let them go after they promised they were going straight back to the car park. I'm new to the Tygerbeg MTB club - loving the trails - what a privilege to ride these beautiful places - but it felt pretty cr@p having to play policeman. Looking at the other riders I saw on the trails there were at least 6 people I passed (or who passed me, an all too frequent occurrence) who had no club boards and who knows if they had dropped something in the honesty box. What's the protocol here - should I have taken photo's of these two criminals who looked at me like I was making a big deal out of nothing and sent them off to the club? Should I have taken their numbers and names and passed them on to the club bosses? Thoughts? Do other club members ask people who don't have the boards for their temp permits? It's a no brainer on the member's corridors where it is explicitly known it is members only but on the far more public trails like Meerendal?

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.

Also My SOS works - although no live chat.

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.

Only one point where I wasn't sure but for the rest the signage is pretty good. My mate and I tend to ride straight past signs, he's chatting and I'm suffering, and we managed fine.

Just rode Lebanon red route. New trails add greatly to the ride and will just get better the more they get ridden. Well worth the suffering of the climb in the first 13k because once that's done there's great fun on the homeward leg of the loop. Thanks to the trailbuilders!

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.

Good job Lerouc on going. I wonder if it might be possible to send you out on a marathon with a portable blood pressure machine and ecg attached? Maybe get one of those dischem ones?