Slowbee Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 Awesome race. That monster on day 2 is no fun on a single speed. In fact it is more of s push than a ride but the rest is brilliant. Great fun.common, you guys know how this works - give us a decent ride report, break it down for us, make us jealous that we did not ride it ..
nathrix Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Another great event done and dusted. Unfortunately not enough toilets and showers, had a chat with Dryland and they are thinking of splitting it up into two events in the same week because of the popularity and also limit the entries to 400 (riders/individuals) and not 600 e.g. event 1 Tue, Wed, Thu and event 2 Fri, Sat, Sun. The food, vibe, water points, medics and everything else was fantastic. I must admit, the majority of riders at the event are stokkies, a very few not so much, but they all can flipping ride a bike, that's for sure! Stage 1: Unfortunately a DNF for me. Rider behind me at 25 kms in on one of the drop offs somehow lost his concentration and crashed into me from behind and almost wrote off my rear wheel and derailleur. My derailleur was stuck between my spokes. I managed to bend the derailleur back into position but the wheel was so badly damaged and touched the frame. It would've been ok if just the derailleur was damaged as I could always slog it out on the ss, but the wheel was wobbling so bad I was concerned I would damage it beyond repair if I continued. Decided to turn back to hopefully sort out the damage. Friendly race supporter stopped next to me and dropped me off near the camp. Managed to fix the wheel so that it's ride-able but it's got a dent in the loop and it needs to be replace,......again after I had it replaced and rebuild a week before the event! Stage 2: Had fresh legs. The Tankwa drop is something to see to believe, It's a moerse drop, after which we had a few bumps to ride over and then up the old wagon trail (many riders thought this was the marino monster ) before you get to the Marino Monster. Stopped twice up the climb to rest a bit and take in the scenery. That climb is brutal, I think it's like over 800m climb in less than 7kms. Downhill section was not pleasant, rocky, sandy, muddy, rutted, but when I reached the road at the bottom after the monster it felt like I was in heaven. The Ritchey carbon rigid fork and p-29er felt much more forgiving compared to my Niner carbon rigid fork and Niner MCR I rode on last year. Stage 3: Easy riding and taking in some of the beautiful rock formations, stopping to take some pics and then the little bump before the finished named heartbreak hill to keep you honest and a little Tankwa Trek reminder farewell present.
Slowbee Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Nathrix for the win ! Now that it is a ride report.
Skubarra Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Nice report Nathrix, bad luck on day 1, I guess these things happen but it still sucks... Was entered for this one but had to miss out due to circumstances, will definitely do it next year or the year after (if one can still get an entry...)
Desi Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 ... Friendly race supporter stopped next to me and dropped me off near the camp. ... That was me. Was glad to see you back in the field on Day 2.
whistler Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Awesome event. Enjoyed every minute. Long climbs and raw earth trails. No manicured stuff. Rock and sand and mud and all other good things. A short summary: Day 1 was a good day. Old trail into the valley was and and then some very nice bits along the mountainside. Big-ish climb to the ridge. The views on that mountain ridge in witzenberg valley with tulbagh on right and witzenberg on left was awesome. Great riding all in all with a good amount of singletrack. Day two was also a good day. That drop was nice but had a bit of traffic so waited along the way for gaps to form. Over a few bumps then wp1. we almost had a major problem. Wife's Seat clamp broke, after some fiddling by a good-willing dryland guy. Luckily the tech zone had one. No harm done. Up old theronsberg pass went well. Merino went well. Some special views from up there!! Really enjoyed that rough downhill from the top. Makes the climb worth it. Helped a medic get his quad out of a mud hole after slipping off a pallet into the water. Ride home from there had a few surprises but a good day had on a bike. Day three was nice. Neutral zone a bit boring and due to drinking coffee and not paying attention we missed the actual start. Lol!! Some great trails through the rocks. Great fun. Some long gravel stretches but fine in the end. Glad we did part of the rocky bits at the end around kaleo again. Food was excellent. Beer was cold. Really great event and met some very nice people. More showers would have been even better. Anyway. Would definitely do it again. [emoji106]
geomark Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Some more photos, Day 1 on the ridge top, Day 2 bottom and top of the Merino Monster
nathrix Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 That was me. Was glad to see you back in the field on Day 2. Thank you very much for your help, without the lift back to camp I would not have been able to have the wheel and derailleur repaired in time.
Gazzan Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Thanks for the photos guys - I was af kaking to much to get my camera phone out. Outstanding event! My Suunto tells me I need 120-hrs recovery, I think that's understated.
geomark Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Day 2 route profile - The Merino Monster.Amazing how much pain hides in an innocent looking picture like that!
nathrix Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Who saw this guy on his fat bike, can flippin trap that thing!
Gazzan Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Who saw this guy on his fat bike, can flippin trap that thing! An all round beast!
XYZ Posted February 16, 2015 Posted February 16, 2015 Agree with the other reports about the route. Bloody fantastic. Tough and enough technical stuff to keep it interesting. The area is beautiful. A real privilege to ride there. On the constructive feedback side ; I think there were 8 showers for 600 people. Not nearly enough. Toilet cues were also long. Food was just ok. Not nearly as good as Sani or W2W. They also had this system of marking your meal card when you were served. No seconds. First time I have experienced that at an event and it felt a bit low budget. They also ran out of some dishes. Cues were also really, really long. At 5am the breakfast line extended 100m outside the tent. So scrap the meal ticket marking and get more serving stations. It's a special event. Organisation is not up there (yet) with Sani or W2W but the route and area is spectacular.
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