Berg and Bush 2013

[BarHugger]

The people I feel for are the marshalls standing out on the track holding a flag, often without sufficient water themselves, for 10 hours in the searing heat (42 degrees on day one at 11am according to my garmin).

 

 

Looks like the weather is going to be the opposite this coming weekend - cool/cold and wet?? (yr.no weather website).

[Edgar]

 

eish, what is it with you souties and spioenkop he?

 

PS saw edgarathlete and his girl did flippen well, took overall in the mixed....Well done Stu!

 

Thanks Rouxtjie, it was a tough dice with my old paddling nemesis. The missus was super strong. Attacked hard with 15 to go on day 3 and almost left me behind. She rode the Pyga Zero 650 C for the race and I have never seen her descend like that before.

[nigelhicks]

@ Barhugger - not as far as windguru is predicting

Edited October 14, 2013 by nigelhicks

[rouxtjie]

This Soutie made it up there no problems...

 

Ya they had a great ride..very strong

You must have a long distant boere cousin...better check your family tree Mike

[rouxtjie]

Thanks Rouxtjie, it was a tough dice with my old paddling nemesis. The missus was super strong. Attacked hard with 15 to go on day 3 and almost left me behind. She rode the Pyga Zero 650 C for the race and I have never seen her descend like that before.

Nice dude, your missus's form of late has been super impressive...she almost always contends at the mtn and nissan races. Big up on your overall win, you might need bigger trophy cabinet soon.

[Ratty]

I LOVE this race!! Some of the most awesome singletrack and scenery in the country.

 

Yes, it was exceptionally tough, lot harder than the Great Trek last year even though I was fitter and stronger, but I still had a blast and I proved that I am mentally stronger than I thought.

 

What impressed me is that even in 40 +, the water points on day 1 ALL had cold water and ice! We were allowed to fill camelbaks and water bottles with loads of ice. 2 other big races (Knysna MTB and Argus MTB) when faced with extreme temps ran out of water which is extremely dangerous.

 

Those criticising people for not being fit enough / prepared, that's not fair. It was over 40 at 11:00am already. By 1pm, in certain sections my garmin registered 48.1! We took a lot longer as we were cycling from shade to shade to try keep our bodies from overheating. Health is more important than what time we finished.

 

My only criticism is that they should have organised water before the top of Spionkop on day 2. Those who started late, were in the heat from the start and once at the top of the singlespeed course, we into a very strong and dry headwind. A few of us eventually stopped at one of the villages and the guy let us fill our bottles from the JoJo tank which was a lifesaver.

 

Not sure if it was due to the heat, but there seemed to be a lot more bad crashes this year? I know of 2 people with broken ribs, saw the guy with his whole arm in a cast and loads of people with nasty looking roasties.

 

 

I woke up this morning and the first thing I thought is that I have to do this race again!

[amoryns]

the one guy who stayed next to us in the tented village ended up in a thorn tree. his partner had to pull him out...wish i could have seen that one

[davetapson]

the one guy who stayed next to us in the tented village ended up in a thorn tree. his partner had to pull him out...wish i could have seen that one

 

Yep, true story. Fell on the green route at Spoen's S-bend - bounced off some rocks and upside down into a tree. Took two guys to get him out. He rode the third day too which is pretty good with dented ribs and gashes in his arm.

 

Me, I had a great race. I reckon probably three of the best days I've had on the bike...

[Ratty]

Yep, true story. Fell on the green route at Spoen's S-bend - bounced off some rocks and upside down into a tree. Took two guys to get him out. He rode the third day too which is pretty good with dented ribs and gashes in his arm.

 

Me, I had a great race. I reckon probably three of the best days I've had on the bike...

 

We saw a guy fall badly on day 1 when exiting the bridge under the road. He decided to take the more direct exit and rode straight off the cement bit into the water. Reckon there was some glass or something as he was cut quite badly. Medic car picked him up shortly afterwards.

[madmarc]

This was our 2nd stage race. I bled from the eyes on day 1 from the 65km mark, the heat was just to intense for me, thank goodness for the well stocked water tables, or I think I would have recorded a DNF. Day 2 I thought would be a walk in the park after they shortened the route, hahaha how wrong I was when I started bleeding again at just under 20km mark because of the heat. Thanks to the rural village with the big green JoJo tank just before the red Bull stop at the gate to Spion Kop, I sat there drinking water refusing to leave. I do believe it was wrong to have only 1 water stop on day 2, I know it sounds stupid but some bodies simply de-hydrate faster than others. But the best moment was, even with all the bleeding, heat dehydration, sense of humour loss, refusing to ride any further, we conquered Spion Kop for the coveted flag.

Day 3 was awesome and made you forget all the pain from the previous 2 days.

 

Best of all Team Plumblink finished all 3 stages, and ticked this one off our bucket list.

 

One thing I can say, having a mentally and physically strong partner is very important on these races. When you think you've given your all and ready to quit, they show you how much you really have left to get you to the finish, I think if I was riding Solo the results would have been different.

 

Well done Berg & Bush for an awesome event.

[Francois Pienaar]

I was worried about the heat to start and my worries came to life just after the 52km water table. At 60km, I just couldn't go anymore and had to top for a breather. I managed (barely) to make it to the 70km water table where I literally lay in the water troph (kit and all) just to get my core body temp down.

 

After 25min of chilling, my partner and I headed out and we pushed on to complete day 1 in 5h33m. Totally one of the toughest single day rides I have ever done, not because of terrain (or climbing) simply because of the relentless heat.

 

The rest of the ride was spectacular, but I have to admit that if day 2 was 67km I probably would have struggled a bit also. Day 2 was still hot, but day 3 was lovely and cool and we totally smashed it.

 

Man, the single track, what an EPIC ride, and I'll FOR SURE be back...

[madmarc]

We saw a guy fall badly on day 1 when exiting the bridge under the road. He decided to take the more direct exit and rode straight off the cement bit into the water. Reckon there was some glass or something as he was cut quite badly. Medic car picked him up shortly afterwards.

 

Were you guys the Ratty & Dad Team ?

[Stretch]

Yep, true story. Fell on the green route at Spoen's S-bend - bounced off some rocks and upside down into a tree. Took two guys to get him out. He rode the third day too which is pretty good with dented ribs and gashes in his arm.

 

Me, I had a great race. I reckon probably three of the best days I've had on the bike...

 

was for me, when I did it last year..I had a smile the entire time.

[ichnusa]

I saw my buddy's Garmin

 

He started at 7.40 and it shows for about three hours in some parts it was 38C to 43C. I was shocked to see this. He told me it was his worst day on a bike. Should the race not be called off? No

 

I told that over 100 did not finish the first day and day two was reduced to 38km due to the heat and a bit of wind. I also told that there 60 suffering from heat stock. A bit of wind? It was hectic! So do you want the race to be called of due to the heat or do you want the race to continue as scheduled with howling winds over a massive dam with multiple ski boats to-and-fro?

 

Is this fun a MTB ing? Yes, one of the best races of my life. Can any one shed light on this. Done

 

My suggestion , first group start at the crack of dawn, making the middle and and back groups rinding at a reasonable time of day. Start of the race is not at the race village, but an hour away, in the Free State, on top of the escarpment. Will be a logistical nightmare to start at crack of dawn.

 

Are you serious? It hurt no-one more than the organizers to cut out part of day 2. They spend weeks preparing trails and then have to divert the route to try keep everyone safe.

 

I see too many "racers" out there on their 29er, 10 kg hardtails, finishing at the tail-end of the pack with no more than 2 water bottles... IMO: know your limits, get a trailbike, prepare to spend the day (camelback), ride rustig up the hill with your mates, eat and drink as much as you can at the watering tables and chase downhill. Finish day with a beer in hand... have a great race ride!

[Ratty]

Were you guys the Ratty & Dad Team ?

 

That's us :-)

 

So now you know who we were, who were you?

 

Reading further up you were at the same Jojo tank as us. Really think the organisers need to go top up their water supply!

[madmarc]

Haha heard the commentator mentioning your team name at the finish on day 2, and thought "I wonder if that is Ratty from TheHub. We were Team Plumblink, rode in their kit on day 1 & 3 and Berg & Bush kit on day 2

 

That JoJo tank saved a lot of riders, I think there would have been more DNF's on the day if it hadn't been there. We even saw riders venturing into some of those filthy dams to try the water, that's how desperate it got for some.

 

i'm sure the old Medhalla sittng on the plastic chair watching all the riders use his water, was not aware of how many asses he saved that day!!