Jewbacca Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Oak Valley is sneaky ... I have had trees jump out in the middle of the trail before and knock me off the bike head first into nice rocks ... helmet did not look as bad as yours, but was a wright off. haha... I experienced that! I swear my bars got wider during the night... Managed to catch the ends on the same tree twice in 2 laps that I swear wasn't there earlier.. never underestimate their sneakiness Hairy 1
Cassie Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 haha... I experienced that! I swear my bars got wider during the night... Managed to catch the ends on the same tree twice in 2 laps that I swear wasn't there earlier.. never underestimate their sneakiness Well, I just had a ditch/ravine appear out of nowhere right in front of me...those sneaky bloody trail traps!! Hairy 1
BlinkFan Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 First time doing this event. So much fun and can't believe I haven't done it before. The graveyard shift was pretty hard though. We were in a team of 5 and I never had to do more than one lap in a row so could punch it every time! Will plan a bit better next year so as to get more sleep and less time waiting around for no reason. Also, invite a bigger support team to braai for you. Also, get more gazebos. Also, make a potjie. I was amazed at how confident I became on the downhill. I'm not a good descender, but surprised myself. Learned the track and really enjoyed giving it a go everytime. That tree in the forest that "hides" behind another one got me everytime I took that right-hander. Still don't know how to do it at speed. "La die da se ma" was probably the toughest part of the course for me. Deceptively steep and feels sandy through those vines even though it's not, and a boiler room during the day. To my surprise my fastest downhill time at night was less than a minute slower than my fastest downhill time during the day. Night-riding is fun :-)
LazyTrailRider Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Dude, I did not ride last year...I rode 2 years ago! Weird, my memory fails me then (the thread got killed with the 2013 database meltdown). I'm getting old!
DJR Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 ..........HUGE respect to men's winner and ladies' winners. Pieter Erwee did 33 laps and Tracey Lentin did 21 laps. That's roughly 390 km and 6,270 m ascent, and 248 km and 3,990 m ascent, respectively (if my Polar's correct). That's a massive feat of endurance. :clap:......... Wow, that would leave me clinically dead
flymango Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Wow, that would leave me clinically dead I wish more people could read this thread to comprehend the scale of achievement. Actually, I salute all riders who did anything above 12 laps, never mind 33 laps!! Cassie 1
flymango Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 SNIPI had a blast...until I came VERY short (at 5:45 AM...on my last of the double laps) and landed in that stream (after hitting the tree trunk lyuing over it) where the ticker tape indicate the bridge...SNIP Cassie - eina!! Do you mean where the trees narrowed on the downhill next to the stream just before the bridge on the little incline? That incline was a little killer for me.
DJR Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 I wish more people could read this thread to comprehend the scale of achievement. Actually, I salute all riders who did anything above 12 laps, never mind 33 laps!! Sani2C is about 270km and W2W about 230km with definitely a lot less than 6200m of climbing...........over 3 days. To do 390 km and climb from sea level past Everest Base Camp (5200m) in one gulp, is just insane. He should have gone on for the 8800m ascent (Everest Summit) Hairy and flymango 2
Cassie Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 I wish more people could read this thread to comprehend the scale of achievement. Actually, I salute all riders who did anything above 12 laps, never mind 33 laps!! I have to agree...it's a monumental achievement!!And add the total lack of sleep to that...+ the difficulty of the single track descend (one had to keep focus all the time)... Then this rates as being up there with some of the best & toughest races!! flymango 1
Cassie Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Cassie - eina!! Do you mean where the trees narrowed on the downhill next to the stream just before the bridge on the little incline? That incline was a little killer for me. yip, there where the candy tape was....
Cassie Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 First time doing this event. So much fun and can't believe I haven't done it before. The graveyard shift was pretty hard though. We were in a team of 5 and I never had to do more than one lap in a row so could punch it every time! Will plan a bit better next year so as to get more sleep and less time waiting around for no reason. Also, invite a bigger support team to braai for you. Also, get more gazebos. Also, make a potjie. I was amazed at how confident I became on the downhill. I'm not a good descender, but surprised myself. Learned the track and really enjoyed giving it a go everytime. That tree in the forest that "hides" behind another one got me everytime I took that right-hander. Still don't know how to do it at speed. "La die da se ma" was probably the toughest part of the course for me. Deceptively steep and feels sandy through those vines even though it's not, and a boiler room during the day. To my surprise my fastest downhill time at night was less than a minute slower than my fastest downhill time during the day. Night-riding is fun :-) "die Bastard" got me everytime...that flippen hill killed me over and over...I started walking up it when I realised I'm climbing at walking speed...
Jewbacca Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 "die Bastard" got me everytime...that flippen hill killed me over and over...I started walking up it when I realised I'm climbing at walking speed... haha... ALL you geared folk climb at walking speed, what do you mean 'started'?
Cassie Posted February 4, 2014 Posted February 4, 2014 (edited) haha... ALL you geared folk climb at walking speed, what do you mean 'started'? Nooo...not me!! I attacck the bastard in high gear...then gear down till no more gears left...then "ag fuggit"...let's walk and stretch the muscles!! :clap: Edited February 4, 2014 by Cassie
BlinkFan Posted February 4, 2014 Posted February 4, 2014 "die Bastard" got me everytime...that flippen hill killed me over and over...I started walking up it when I realised I'm climbing at walking speed... Which one was "die Bastard"? The steep climb on the gravel road where you duck into the singletrack, do the hairpin, and then back on the gravel up to the tag point?
Velouria Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 My race report http://www.velotales.com/2014/02/oak-valley-24hr-2014.html A disappointing performance at a fantastic event. It's great to see that real mountain biking is alive and well in the Western Cape. Well done Dirtopia.
Jewbacca Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 My race report http://www.velotales...-24hr-2014.html A disappointing performance at a fantastic event. It's great to see that real mountain biking is alive and well in the Western Cape. Well done Dirtopia. You should have brought the single speed! We could have dashed it out between grinds and beer stops....
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