1hill@aTime Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 beautiful piece of our country, have family there....
Mikesa9 Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 I must say that I found the 45km insanely tough and was not prepared for it mentally. It is, in my view, the toughest by far of the Nissan MTN series. I sincerely believed that after the first 16km climb that the rest was a cruise! I am sure that I am not alone on this, as the faces that I saw at the end of the event were utterely exhausted and the number of people that did not finish was huge. Nevertheless, its nice to tick that one off.
DIRT EATER KZN Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 i thought there might be something up with the batch starts because i know that only one guy from batch D passed me but when i saw the results its was like i must have been riding with my eyes closed any way it was a great race i loved it and the scenery was stunning.
DIRT EATER KZN Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 TOUGH!!!!! man that climb was epic and the heat !! ... i swore more in one ride than the whole of last year put together.. Man was i glad when i finished.. i thought it was great i was doing alot of 100k and 120k rides in the zululand humidity 30 deg plus thinking barberton was going to be super hot but it was really cool on top of the mountain and the shady bits the mountainlands stretch got a bit warm
Zook Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 The climb was great, but I didn't keep enough in the tank and the second half broke me with the short and steep up-downs. Eish, I was happy to finish Those 100km+ route riders are monsters. I couldn't believe the pace at which they blew past us. Hats off.
pezulu Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 There is a reason they say "start the year off with a bang..." The bang they are referring to is the valves of your heart banging through the top of your helmet. Standing at the finish line it was good to see so many people finishing a really tough race.Having inspected the route the day before, I could see that there might be a few that would have to push their bikes in a few places. Hats off to the route developers, Fritz, Tim and all that helped to put on such a good event.
Li Mu Bai Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 great event as usual, but my hardtail punished me on those loose rocky decents. Next time its back to my Dual susp.
PaulTCR Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 Just a comment as no-one else has mentioned it. Having all the races on the same day, I found the general atmosphere a lot better than last year. Me and the missus also managed to do both our respective races without having to travel to Barberton twice.
philip.maree Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 Just a pity that in the whole 75km covered in the Baberton Marathon they couldn't find one piece of singletrack other than the 'voetpadjie' in the last kilometer. That would have made the torturous first 35km worth it.
IdeJongh Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 Posted this in my Epic training thread as well, but worth a mention here I reckon. To illustrate the scale of these climbs, see how they compare to the Magalies Monster ... (And well done to all the casual riders taking on the half-marathon, that climb is brutal no matter how u look at it!) Managed my Ultra finish in 8h34, thanks Tim+guys for an awesome event!
kosmonooit Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 (edited) Yes its a beeg climb but its also about terrain - its a smooth ride up there, you can just get a lekka pace going and keep at it. And how are all those views going up? !!! c.f. to the MM - very rocky techinical climb at times which really makes it tricky and hard work Edited January 30, 2012 by kosmonooit
nochain Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 Yes its a beeg climb but its also about terrain - its a smooth ride up there, you can just get a lekka pace going and keep at it. And how are all those views going up? !!! c.f. to the MM - very rocky techinical climb at times which really makes it tricky and hard work Kosmonooit, I found that second climb on the Ultra not all that "smooth”, maybe I was just getting very tired but on the hardtail the second climb was a lot harder to keep a good pace and line. Anyway’ s this was my first Ultra..have never done anything above 75km in a race and I must say it was hard as hell for me.I really struggled during the last 45 km and had almost no power left. Lost both my water bottles so I spend loads of time at the water points refuelling and resting!! First 70 to 75km I did in like 3 hours 50 I think (where was that first checkpoint that they have on the results??) and I took it as easy as possible in those mountains..the last 45 km then had me out there for another 3 hours 50!!!Crazy!! But all and all I loved the race!!Not every day you get an opportunity to climb mountains like that and the scenery was amazing!! Learned a lot about ultra-riding and I have loads of respect for the guys that race stuff like that full gas....not sure how they do it!! Will be there next year that’s for sure!!
kosmonooit Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 I did the marathon so cant really comment on that second climb on the ultra route, I was referring to the 1st big one, which I must say I enjoyed, all factors considered. Well done all Ultras, it was a big field this year. Many came flying past me on their 2nd loop, last year I saw about 1 only.
nochain Posted January 30, 2012 Posted January 30, 2012 I did the marathon so cant really comment on that second climb on the ultra route, I was referring to the 1st big one, which I must say I enjoyed, all factors considered. Well done all Ultras, it was a big field this year. Many came flying past me on their 2nd loop, last year I saw about 1 only. Yes the first climb was one of the best I have ever done....the smooth riding makes it a bit easier to enjoy the climb and the scenery. Think it does however take a lot out of you still because climbing for more than an hour nonstop hurts the legs even if you try and take it easy. Compared to some of the climbs we did at sabiexperience in December these climbs did feel a lot harder to me...
Tim_Fair Posted January 30, 2012 Author Posted January 30, 2012 Race Report - Oliver Munnik... MTN National MTB Series #1 Barberton Driven by NISSAN - http://www.bicycling.co.za/articles/ultra-marathons-off-the-hook
Tim_Fair Posted January 30, 2012 Author Posted January 30, 2012 Race Report - Renay Groustra... MTN National MTB Series #1 Barberton Driven by NISSAN - http://renayg.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/barbeton-national-xcm-and-wp-provincial/
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