99er 35km MTB Challenge

[Journosergio]

Anyone else found this race a little tougher than expected?

 

I hit my wall a bit too early and found it difficult getting back to the finish line in one piece

[Eugee]

Anyone else found this race a little tougher than expected?

 

I hit my wall a bit too early and found it difficult getting back to the finish line in one piece

 

Didnt do the race this year but have done it the three previous years and with the stairway to heaven and meerendal hill thrown in there it is a really tough race. In my books it compares with a lot of other 45km races. The biggest problem for me though is the popularity and amount of single track.

 

Dont get me wrong. Loads of single track is great and races that is well supported even better but you do tend to spend a lot of time walking behind other riders.

 

Having said that still one of the nicer events out there. Vibe is always good and the staff super friendly.

[Journosergio]

Last year's route was a cakewalk in comparison, even though it had like 100% rainfall at the time ha ha.

 

This year we traversed altydgedacht and bloemendal, coming up the back of hillcrest and climbing to the radio masts.

 

From there we did the full contermanskloof circuit, taking the downhill section first to the lower carpark and climbing around the side and making our way back to the radio masts and down and around the vineyards on the way home.

 

Was probably more that I was unfit than anything, but had a couple of other fit friend riders doing the race too and even they struggled, with a bit of bike pushing in some areas.

 

Apparently this year's route was rated as being harder than any single stage of the epic and had an elevation gain of 1074 metres.

 

EDIT: Scenery from the top was definitely worth the pain though! And yeah, I had to "get in line" on some of the downhill single track unfortunately. Some of the guys in front of me were a little weary of the rocks.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Journosergio

[Shebeen]

Last year's route was a cakewalk in comparison, even though it had like 100% rainfall at the time ha ha.

 

This year we traversed altydgedacht and bloemendal, coming up the back of hillcrest and climbing to the radio masts.

 

From there we did the full contermanskloof circuit, taking the downhill section first to the lower carpark and climbing around the side and making our way back to the radio masts and down and around the vineyards on the way home.

 

Was probably more that I was unfit than anything, but had a couple of other fit friend riders doing the race too and even they struggled, with a bit of bike pushing in some areas.

 

Apparently this year's route was rated as being harder than any single stage of the epic and had an elevation gain of 1074 metres.

apparently it's harder than the tour de France too(that'sa lot of climbing, but not unprecedented)

[georgedup]

For a first time Race I found it pretty tough as I Started in the DM group...Those climbs were killer!!!!

 

But I had a lot of fun and finished with some of the BM and AM Guys.2 of my friends were seeded in die AM groep and they said I did pretty well as I rode a 02:18 on the 35km.I am new to the sport and so stoked!!!

 

The vibe was awesome and to cycle with a great bunch of guys and girls is just awesome.Hats off to some of the women who just tore past and klapped those climbs what looked like no effort at all...need to get a bit more fit.

 

Thanks to the organizers and staff along the route as well!!!

[Musketeer]

This was my first race since relocating from Pretoria and I have to to say I found it extremely challenging. Bunch of riders went down hard on the steep declines and the climbing had me hitting the wall 10km from the finish.

[georgedup]

The beers at the end was worth the effort

[Journosergio]

I was fortunate enough to avoid any crashing and my dropper post allowed me to tackle the steep sections and downhills with speed.

 

My personal opinion is that, after making our way all the way back to the radio masts after finishing contermanskloof, we should have been given a straight ride home following the downhill into bloemendal.

 

All the extra ups and downs around the vineyards was a bit overkill considering the amount of climbing and work already put into the race.

 

I think they're trying to make the route a little more "pro-friendly" lol

[georgedup]

I must be honest..the last bit in the vinyards was frustrating for me...

[Pooyan]

Great race

I had lots of fun!

a Lot of climbing for a 35km race- but if you did you research- you would know that beforehand.

Is a dropper post really necessary for this race??

[georgedup]

Are there any pics of the 35km somewhere that we can can check out??