Headshot Posted June 25, 2013 Share Getting there: We left Friday evening in light rain. The N1 traffic was bad until just before the 1 Stop. We stayed at a guesthouse in Wellington. Stunning spot, designer room, warm accomodating hosts - Sauvignon country lodge. I had already fitted a Hans Dampf Super Gravity 2.35 to the front of my bike and was looking forward to testing it and the Purgatory 2.3 at the back. Both these tyres pumped up tubeless as if they had tubes in them. Lovely Day 1 - "finding my feet slowly" It dawned cloudy but dry and soon cleared up as predicted. Welvanpas's lower slopes were damp and we rode up to the start of the white route based first stage through a few mud holes. After a longish warm up ride we sat and waited for ages while Mr Botha sorted his tag system. The stages flowed fast after this and there was nothing especially technically demanding. Those that know Welvanpas will know exactly what I mean. Its an amazing trail system that beginners and pro's can enjoy - up the speed and it gets more exciting, slow it down and a beginner can handle most of it. It took me the whole session to start finding some speed. My tyres were bomb proof and I could not unsettle the front tyre at all. For some reason I did not take this as my cue to ride faster and my times showed this. Day 1 also had a few fast women entrants who showed the guys up nicely and did their best to dispel any stereotypes by klapping many of the male contingent stage after stage. Only injury I heard about was a collar bone around stage 2 or so. The last stage was the best for me - a bit drier, some rocks and steep drops into rivers with slippery bridges to negotiate. I didnt set the track on fire but at times found good speed and enjoyed the trail hugely. As a top rider told me the next day, "ïts all about a clean run" he forgot to add - ...frikkin fast... and thats the rub and what makes Enduro so much fun. Its short and sharp and requires strength fitness and concentration unlike any other form of the sport bar DH. Tagging in and out is also an art and a skill to work on - the leaders were separated by only a few second and I added around 5-10 secs to one stage time after another rider stopped dead at the tag point right in front of me... Nightrider and I got a bit of a race going which he won on day 1. This is what its all about - finding your buddies and racing eachother for fun, which it is and something I find missing from fun rides and marathons. Day 2 - "this is what its all about" Better weather, drier trails and north facing sunny slopes above Bains Kloof pass. The climb to stage 6 was reminiscent of the hek to saaltjie climb at Jonkers - around 6 km but well worth it because this was the best stage of the day. Swoopy forest singletrack cut into the slopes with fast steep corners, flat out runs with your bars cm from the mountainside and drops into road gaps (no jumps unfortnately). Simply superb fun I found some speed and managed a 3m31 which was fast for me but still 34 secs off the winning time. To win at this, your riding has to be perfect - take each straight flat out, brake, corner and accelerate and that has to happen 100% of the time... Stage 7 was also a blast - different again - fynbos slopes, a few more rocks and equally fast swoopy corners. I managed my second 20th place of the day. My bike was handling well and the front tyre was amazing - it wasnt phased by late braking in corners and felt bomb proof on the rocky stuff. A fra cry from those wobbly Nobby Nics the bike came with... On stage 8 I dropped some time on some of the guys I'd been ahead of on the previous 2 stages. I didnt have a clean run - miseed a turn and got bogged in the wrong gear. I was also getting tired. Note to self - work on some fitness even though its winter. Stage 9 promised to be shortish and easy but it was here that my wheels fell off. After a nice break at the farm, I took the plunge and started up the 4x4 track climb. I stopped to use my phone and took off my right glove. I forgot to pick it up - bad move 1. I noticed this only 400m further on and decided to fetch my glove later - bad move 2. After some energy bar I tagged out and accelerated down stage 9s tweespoor start straight. I only got 100 m before I was flung off my bike. i am still not sure what happened - one second I was riding the next it felt as if something yanked my steering and I was off. I think a fynbos branch caught my bars. I flew and rolled onto some hard rocky jeeptrack. i can still hear the sound of my Urge helmet hitting the rocks as I rolled onto my back. My right hand was bloody (no glove), my glasses were off and one arm missing and I had some aches and pain developing elsewhere. I realised I could ride on but missed the turn into the singletrack and decided to cruise to the finish via the up route. My glove was waiting for me where I left it, my ribs were now very sore but although there were a few scrapes, very little blood bar my hand. I can say with certainty that my Camelbk MULE, knee pads, dh shirt, URGE Enduromatic and left glove all helped me avoid more serious injury. The helmet has some rock dents at the rear and most certainly saved me from some head trauma. I was pissed to have missed a decent time on the last stage, but despite the crash the weekend and race was absloutely stunning. I headed home after a boerie roll and beer in a bit of pain but beaming from ear to ear. Gary Barnard won both days (on his Morewood sixer, yeah) with some competition from Harry Orr, Dan Dobinson and Mark Hopkins. Nico Pfitz.... he of Epic fame came and raced day two in the top ten. What a blast. Edited June 25, 2013 by Headshot Capricorn, niterider, RockCoach and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJR Posted June 25, 2013 Share Nice write-up headshot The Search 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanceB Posted June 25, 2013 Share Concise and detailed summary. Kudos to Headshot for providing these insights. Forgive my ignorance, but the track on day two, was that a new addition to the Walvanpas trail system or something Enduro specific that is not usually ridden in Bains? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headshot Posted June 25, 2013 Share Lance, all the stages are part of the Welvanpas trail system - some newer than others - all brand new to me. Local knowledge does help.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR ◣◢ Posted June 25, 2013 Share Nice write-up. Thanks PICS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niterider Posted June 25, 2013 Share Nice write-up Headshot. Sorry to hear about your fall, that was a rocky spot to come off. Glad that you're ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G00SE Posted June 25, 2013 Share Gary Barnard won both days (on his Morewood sixer, yeah) Glad to see someone on an enduro bike, finally won an enduro event RockCoach and Flowta 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockCoach Posted June 25, 2013 Share Glad to see someone on an enduro bike, finally won an enduro event Enduros will hopefully slowly become more technical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR ◣◢ Posted June 25, 2013 Share Enduros will hopefully slowly become more technical. popular and recognised. Fixed it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dob Posted June 25, 2013 Share Nice to have a good write up to give people an idea of the race format. Sorry to hear of your crash-must have been a biggie because everyone was sprinting down that start! Very glad to hear that it was only your sunglasses arm that you lost and not your actual arm . It would have been a Protea bush that caused it. I hit it too... Pity that there aren't any decent photos of the ride. I have a few on my instagram account but basically it's just too much fun to take photos! Someone must have gopro footage? Anyway thanks for the writeup! Headshot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockCoach Posted June 25, 2013 Share Fixed it for you. I mean that once it has become popular it will become more technical so that we can try catch up with the rest of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deviate Posted June 27, 2013 Share hey Headshot!! awesome RR , only have some pics of when I stopped and whipped out the I-fin surprised there wasn't even one photographer there! we need publicity and aggressive online media to get the ball rolling in SA ! October I think im going to try and take more pics! maybe some video too!! http://a248.e.akamai.net/origin-cdn.volusion.com/athos.azxuv/v/vspfiles/photos/005001-2.jpg?1359105279 case and wide angle for ifin5 http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1044851_10151434337431447_1978912551_n.jpgSS5 start http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1008768_10151434337146447_412978195_o.jpghttp://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/1011176_10151434337166447_1461642320_n.jpghttp://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/1010645_10151434337436447_84339944_n.jpgstage 9 climb http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/p206x206/1048294_10151434337161447_1706043023_o.jpg MAN!! day 1 was not my cup of tea! but DAY TWO!!! man o man..... my experience in mud riding is non existent so day 1 could just al well have been on desert sand!! wasn't impressed with the trails on day one at all 1-4 looks like no maintenance had been done for atleast 1.5 years ... the concrete reinforcements on some of the stages had channels on either side from erosion and all I could think of was pity for the poor bastard that gets his wheel stuck in that! for October I need to do some actual training ... my list... 1. off camber turns2. mud and loose stuff3. DROPPER POST4. better brake control into corners I kind of feel like there should be an intermediate to advanced skills clinic sometime in the year! Capricorn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dman2 Posted June 27, 2013 Share I kind of feel like there should be an intermediate to advanced skills clinic sometime in the year! Speak to Pottie (when not oversea) or Chris Nixon. I believe they both do intermediate to advanced skills course.Speak to the guys at http://wpdownhill.co.za to get their contact details. deviate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headshot Posted June 27, 2013 Share Great Pics there Mr GT. I agree on the trail maintenance - they need some - but those ruts and erosion - which was pretty minor really, did add a bit to the challenge. The course at Welvanpas is not exactly world standard enduro - waay too smooth and for the most part not steep enough. I'd like to see us having to find lines and manage boulder gardens periodically - ie a bit more like Tokai and Jonkers, maybe without the bigger jumps...That said I can't wait to hit Welvanpas for another ride. Read books for skills too - you can't beat Lee McComacks book on bike skills - check out leelikesbikes.com for how to buy it and some online info. deviate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capricorn Posted June 27, 2013 Share i wish the organizers would put more effort into capturing the event and taking it out to the public that missed out. One thing would be nice for everyone, is a bit about bike + rider. Doesn't have to be everyone, just a few random riders.. and imean random, not just the big names. I personally will dodge that lens like mad, but kef for everyone else Hairy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Deon) Posted June 27, 2013 Share Speak to Pottie (when not oversea) or Chris Nixon. I believe they both do intermediate to advanced skills course.Speak to the guys at http://wpdownhill.co.za to get their contact details. Good idea on the intermediate skills clinic, contact Chris here 'chris at chrisnixon.co.za' - Pottie will be racing for a while longer deviate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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