[Event] NISSAN TRAILSEEKER #3 Van Gaalens

[jcza]

Great event, despite the numbers didn't see any queues. I lost plenty time walking/falling/crawling down the off-camber, rocky steep descent. Rode with divernick for most of the race until I crashed on the river on the run home. Wasn't concentrating but no damage done (nobody saw me).

 

Missed out on beers, had to go to work. Legs were ok today. Did the double - VG and Race 4 Victory.

 

Note to self: Ride more tech stuff

 

Well done rattlesnake & swift and all the other finishers

[River Rat]

 

 

Aaaaaaah, the famous rail track. Had the same experience last year with similar conditions and thought processes. Also looked for the gap, tried to take it, bike found rail and kept on going straight. I went totally over the handlebars, started an air run midway through my Superman impersonation and landed on my feet. Kept on running because of the momentum and ended up 15 m from my bike in the tall grass. Luckily no injuries and by the sound of it also not in your case.

 

Glad it turned out well for you. That rail track did not feature on the marathon this year (or did I miss it in my state of "what the hell did you get yourself into?").

 

It was on the half marathon and reading this I"m sort of regretting not doing the marathon, sort of....

[WrightJnr]

High season for LBS tomorrow!?

 

I for one need to take in a out-of-true front rim in for some special attention. Got knocked hard on the descent's embryo mountain structures.

 

Rode past won guy with two broken spokes making a nice clickaty-clackity sound.

 

Any other hubbers with some notable hardware damage?

 

Two broken spokes on the back wheel and a smashed poploc lever after a short stint over the bars....

[MTB4EVER]

This was an awesome event and a good start to spring for me:-) I have to say the climbs were tough but rideable although my pulse rate graph would not agree with that at all. I gave that descent a fair go and got about a third done before I lost my gusto after watching the scend guy fall in front of me so walked the rest of the way. I must admit though the 3 arrows were there so it was your decision to ride or walk.

 

That being said the downhills must have been good as my upper body was pumping more lactic acid than my legs!

 

The batches were absolutely perfect started Marathoin in Batch D and never had any traffic issues finishing in 5h on the dot. The extra 4KM was very very sneaky...

 

Thanks to all for a great day out.

[kingalton]

Started in B bunch and caught most of the ladies A and a lot of A bunch riders - I fealt super strong till just after that hectic rocky downhill before the floating bridge - where I got a real wheel puncture. I stopped 3 times to bomb it and then eventually had to stop to put a tube in, that luckily held and I could carry on.. I kept going but then with 10km to go those rocks killed me, I had no more power, my kidneys were killing me with the bumps.

I still managed to finish in under 4hr, so pretty happy with my ride..

 

When I cleaned my bike today, the rear wheel could hardly spin... I had put wheel in skew after putting the tube in and the disk was stopping on the brake...

 

But so we learn.. Still had a great time out there.. Well not the last 10 km :-)

[rattlesnake]

 

Well done rattlesnake & swift and all the other finishers

 

Thanks JC- was my first VG too, wow toughest 70km race I've done. I had no back brakes down that satellite descent! Had to walk one or two sections..... Was a proper challenge indeed. If I do it again it will be on a soft tail..... Was thrown around like a rag doll on HT! My only complaint was that long grassy section before satellite ...... Sense of humor failure there !

[VicanZA]

Hey u can all go back for the cradle quest, I did it with about 80 other unfortunate guys...has been the hardest day at the office ever... 70mm of rain the lead bike couldn't finish the race...good times.

[madvics]

Had a decent day out , no technicals , enjoyed the technical stuff with no dismounts, still can't get to the top of that concrete strip without walking. I would love to be on the top some day just to see the faces of the a batch riders as they reach the peak.

[divernick]

I posted the same time as last year, given that this year it was 3.5km longer (to the organisers: how do you ALWAYS manage to publish the distance wrong??????????????????)

 

I rode a harder gear (32x18 vs 32x19) than last year.

 

I had a not so pleasant over-the-bars experience on the satellite descent, which is normally my strong suit (probably got cocky). I was lucky to escape with a few grazes and a sore hand. I thank the flat rock I landed on, as opposed to the thousands of sharp rocks all around.

 

Well done to Eric and the Advendurance team for a great route and event organisation. All other Trailseeker races should be modeled on this one.

 

Jou Bliksem brought rule #5 into play again. Let's face it, that section will always be nasty and never be nice or fun or fast or flowing or cool.

 

All in all, another tough but rewarding edition of this race. Well done to all those that finished and condolences to those that didn't.

 

Thanks for sharing the beers at the end, especially Mike, Sean, Karma and the Ignite boys.

[schizo]

Would anyone be so kind as to "borrow" me there GPX file from the 1/2 Marathon, I finished around the 2:30 mark and my phone didn't record a thing..

[rouxtjie]

Had a blast....despite a mech or two...good job Advendurance...as per usual the VG trailseeker delivers

[Guest Karma]

Had a blast....despite a mech or two...good job Advendurance...as per usual the VG trailseeker delivers

 

al daai Glen uitgesweet teen die strips?

[D Vader]

Great race, I really enjoyed the tech stuff.

Tanked after the 50km waterpoint, Jules just took off, on rigid SS with pretty hard gear, I have same fork and similar frame, you must wear gum guards!!

Water and shade at the end of the race would have been nice, otherwise, fantastic!!

Edited September 16, 2013 by D Vader

[rouxtjie]

al daai Glen uitgesweet teen die strips?

mnr, ek wou n apie bou, maar toe die gif uit is toe ry ek soos die wind. Maar toe kom my blerrie headset los...en jy, Joublixem bly maar n blixem....gordon het mooi gery, 36ste ek dink.

[MONS]

Spotted you in the D batch, waved from the front but you were chatting up the guys next to you

 

Big ups for finishing the race, it was a proper tough one.

Why didnt I see you? You OBVIOUSLY didnt wave big enough! Hehehehe! Think I was too stressed to chat up anyone... longest half marathon this year for me by a good hour! LOL! Back to the grindstone! Well done to!! Next time maybe a hello n beer after! (and thanks!)

[Guest Karma]

mnr, ek wou n apie bou, maar toe die gif uit is toe ry ek soos die wind. Maar toe kom my blerrie headset los...en jy, Joublixem bly maar n blixem....gordon het mooi gery, 36ste ek dink.

 

Gords was all smiles and happy na die tyd, ek wou die draft machine aanval en uit die tap drink...good job op die SS ne.

Edited September 16, 2013 by Karma