Karoo to Coast

[Robbie Stewart]

I got passed by a couple on e-bikes last year at the false top on that looong drag up to Diepwalle. I was properly poked at that stage, but they came past as if they had just started. For a split second I was miffed, then the realization dawned on me that neither they, nor I,was going to win this thing, and that made me shrug my shoulders and focus on my own pain. Ride what you want. Who cares, really?

[gemmerbal]

How many people started and how many people finished? That was proper tough, snuck in just under 6h. That hailstorm got me just as i crested Simola and i also thought i smelled burning hair when that last thunderbolt struck. ????

Edited September 24, 2019 by gemmerbal

[LuckyLuke]

There between 50 to 60km the road was so bad and the wind just killed our little bunch blowing us apart...was digging super deep there. Thought that was the worst just for the heavens to pour down on us for the last 25km. Just had the top 5 gears on my casette, derailer was stuck there, did not want to go down, first thought it was my fingers that could not shift as I could not feel anything. Stopped to get it fixed but couldnt. Went down simola on the tar in the hail storm, felt like someone was shooting at me...haha..stopped and just laid on my handlebars waiting for it to pass...ended up doing 4:26

[MTB Cruiser]

I think it is fair to say that this year was an incredibly hard ride! That wind and rain was perishing and stopping at a water point only made it worse to get going again. 

 

Started the race on a beautiful clean bike and finished on what resembled a muddy diesel tractor. Horrible hearing the gears just grinding away. Gave them a rinse at two water points but that only helped for a few hundred meters.

 

If the guy on Wapad with the stripped pedal reads this, I am still waiting on your call so I can get my uni tool back. Sounds strange but it has sentimental value as it was a gift from my brother before he emigrated.

[gogo@]

There between 50 to 60km the road was so bad and the wind just killed our little bunch blowing us apart...was digging super deep there. Thought that was the worst just for the heavens to pour down on us for the last 25km. Just had the top 5 gears on my casette, derailer was stuck there, did not want to go down, first thought it was my fingers that could not shift as I could not feel anything. Stopped to get it fixed but couldnt. Went down simola on the tar in the hail storm, felt like someone was shooting at me...haha..stopped and just laid on my handlebars waiting for it to pass...ended up doing 4:26

Awesome, well done!!

[gogo@]

Never seen so many bits of shoe along the way... ????

[MudLark]

Bits of shoe... ??

[Patchelicious]

Seeing that conditions were so tough, maybe he meant “sjoe”.

['Dale]

A hard earned finisher medal.

Well done, all.

[hubbernero]

Ja i agree. Must have sucked bigtime on a gravel bike. I rode it on a hardtail and i kakked off properly on the decents.

Other than the Old Wa Pad desent which is a little loose, I don't see where you would have struggled anywhere in that race on a hardtail?

[gogo@]

Seeing that conditions were so tough, maybe he meant “sjoe”.

Ja nee...

But actually whole pieces of cycling shoe(s). Like even the back bit with studs in, and then various sections of tread. 

Yes I was looking at the ground rather a lot!

[gogo@]

Other than the Old Wa Pad desent which is a little loose, I don't see where you would have struggled anywhere in that race on a hardtail?

I don't get why people struggle so much on that descent... do people not ride much on mountain bikes the rest of the year?

Seriously... it was painfully slow where I was even on the long downhill after the Wapad descent and the track this year was pretty good in my view. Plus oom and tannie side-by-side chilling along, means no way to pass and a large group behind them, which leads to some crazy overtaking maneuvers.

I'm curious, not complaining. It is what it is. But I see people sitting on their brakes and wonder.

[MORNE]

I don't get why people struggle so much on that descent... do people not ride much on mountain bikes the rest of the year?

Seriously... it was painfully slow where I was even on the long downhill after the Wapad descent and the track this year was pretty good in my view. Plus oom and tannie side-by-side chilling along, means no way to pass and a large group behind them, which leads to some crazy overtaking maneuvers.

I'm curious, not complaining. It is what it is. But I see people sitting on their brakes and wonder.

I rode it on a fully rigid mtb and passed many dual’sussers going precariously slow down most of the descents   Sure there were many mavericks on Enduro rigs who rocketed down at break neck speeds and made me look silly...only to push their bikes up the hills again later lol

[Skubarra]

I don't get why people struggle so much on that descent... do people not ride much on mountain bikes the rest of the year?

Seriously... it was painfully slow where I was even on the long downhill after the Wapad descent and the track this year was pretty good in my view. Plus oom and tannie side-by-side chilling along, means no way to pass and a large group behind them, which leads to some crazy overtaking maneuvers.

I'm curious, not complaining. It is what it is. But I see people sitting on their brakes and wonder.

 

Maybe some cyclists are just more risk averse than you? If you are not aiming for a sub-whatever then risking a broken collarbone to gain a few seconds on a tricky downhill is not an attractive idea for the average mid-bunch rider.

[Skubarra]

Other than the Old Wa Pad desent which is a little loose, I don't see where you would have struggled anywhere in that race on a hardtail?

 

imo your body still take a beating on the route  even though it's "district roads", you have to be a bit fitter when taking on the k2c on a hardtail. Last year a few people passed me on the fast sections the few km's before Simola, not because it's downhills that's above my ability, I was just too damn tired to keep up with my hardtail bumping on the corrugations.

[Kranswurm]

Maybe some cyclists are just more risk averse than you? If you are not aiming for a sub-whatever then risking a broken collarbone to gain a few seconds on a tricky downhill is not an attractive idea for the average mid-bunch rider.

It is called mountain biking you know.