[Event] Trans Baviaans Race

[LuckyLuke]

I am sure everybody is very exited about all the war stories of the past weekend..haha...firstly congrats to all the finishers, the conditions were perfect..hopefully we get the same for the repeat. Any advice for the road conditions and the perfect line through langwater...haha

[bullet77]

Just expect bad road conditions, then you're prepared for the worst, keep left at langwater.

[robsc]

Agree Pierre , I kept left , just be prepared for the concrete step-up out of the water . ps Langwater isnt as deep as it was last year 

Edited August 12, 2019 by robsc

[JohanDiv]

Agree Pierre , I kept left , just be prepared for the concrete step-up out of the water . ps Langwater isnt as deep as it was last year

Is Langwater the one just after CP3? We got off our bikes and carried them overhead. That was a proper knee deep water crossing

[LuckyLuke]

JohanDiv..yes langwater is the deepest one just after a waterpoint, knee deep, rocky with the cement at the end. I went swimming last year

[Firozfx]

How was the corrugations compared to last year. Last year wasn't bad

[Cacey]

Use all the water crossings after CP3 as cleaning stations (at speed not walking) when riding through as this will help to clean off some of the mud and dust off the first 110km's. The section after Baviaans reserve gate is a bit muddy.

[Stiggy]

Hi all.

 

It was our first Transbaviaans and my partners first real race. He basically starting training consistently from around March this year. So the strategy was always for him to do as little work as possible. 

The corrugation is horrible till CP 3, so we hid in groups as much as possible. Also the tail wind was a massive help.

We blasted up the hills, riding more to heart rate than speed. The Neverender definitely lived up to it's expectation, as it just went on and on! So don't lose patience there, we found a good rhythm and slowly worked our way up, also the wind had changed, so had to pace ourselves into the head wind. 

In hindsight we probably stayed a little too long at the CPs, but who won't wanna chat to those lovely americans at CP4, and then regale our day's events to our supporters at CP5 and CP7.

A fantastic race and a well measured effort saw us coming in stopping the clock at 12:29!

To the guys doing the Repeat, enjoy the day and remember your smiles! 

[vulgar]

Hi All

I have done it 8 years back to back...Its the worst road surface yet to date...the rivers also had more water than usual. Besides the corrugation and water it was dusty as hell and never been this hot....

 

From 40km to first climb at 104km  the surface playes havoc, take your dentures out and fasten your bra straps....

Like the organizer said: They have a brand new grader parked on one of the farms, but the driver never pitched....the farmer then said to one of his workers to do the work, just to find out he ploughed  the road instead of grading it....

 

Langwater is very deep, rather walk across, rest of the road twrds finish is fine. 

 

At Bergplaas I must admit it took me a while to click that the helpers were all 27ens...Bwhahaha must have been the dust clogged in my hearing.

 

Repeat riders, enjoy it!! 

Its an awsome event.

[DPLot]

Hi All

 

Anyone heading down for the repeat on Friday and back on Sunday? 

 

My lift cancelled so I'm a bit stuck.

 

Don't mind carpooling driving down alone is just to expensive.

 

Send me a PM should you be able to help. 

[fabes]

Hi All

 

Anyone heading down for the repeat on Friday and back on Sunday?

 

My lift cancelled so I'm a bit stuck.

 

Don't mind carpooling driving down alone is just to expensive.

 

Send me a PM should you be able to help.

PM Vetseun he is also looking for a driver

[M Hickley]

Tough but awesome event, just a pity they run out of Powerbar electrolyte drink with half the field still on the trail.

Started cramping at 104km,but recovered after bergplaas and managed a 14:15

[RobertWhitehead]

They mentioned at the prize giving that the road surface will be sorted by this weekend. Yes, it was great weather, I rode with a shirt, arm warmers and a skillet up to CP5 before putting on some warmer kit. 

 

Logistics remains an absolute nightmare - it is probably the single biggest reason I'm always hesitant to enter it again. 

 

Was a great experience and we finished strong. 

[JohanDiv]

I'm definitely doing this one next year.

 

@JohanDiv please let us know how it went for you. Good luck with training I'm sure you'll smash it

 

What a great event!! I'm definitely coming back next year! I only got a entry 3 weeks ago, so my training was not nearly enough in the months leading up to the race. I only met my 3 team mates two weeks before the race.

 

Our initial aim was to finish in 14-16 hours, but I was feeling confident that we can make it in 14 hours with 12h30min moving time and 90mins total stoppage at checkpoints. I ended up doing just over 12hours moving time, but 5 hours + of stopping!!

 

The weaker rider in our team already started cracking at 80kms, and pushed every uphill onwards from CP2. It took some motivating from the rest of the team to convince him not to pull out of the race. On top of Baviaans Back, waited 30mins for him. On top of second Fang another 30mins.. at CP3 we took a bit more time for him to try and recover. We decided to start MAC together as a team, and he gave us permission to pedal to the top and wait for him at Bergplaas. We gladly took the time penalty at Bergplaas for arriving one team mate short. There we waited over an hour for him to arrive, plus another 45mins for him to recover. He was adamant that he already decided while walking up MAC that he is pulling out at Bergplaas. We convinced him it is downhill from Bergplaas to CP5 where his wife will be waiting, so he might as well continue instead of calling it quits. From Bergplaas we decided there is no point for us to pedal out in front and wait 30min for him every now and then, and from that point forward this will be a support ride from us to stay with him and making sure we get him to the end. At CP5 after seeing his wife and refueling his spirits improved a bit and we got him convinced that Neverender isn't so bad and he'll see his wife again at CP7. He still fell behind a bit on Neverender and Mini Mac, but we tried to keep the gaps smaller than 10mins and wait at the top of every climb to regroup. We finally went over the finish line at 03:20 in the morning. 17h20mins later!! Through all of this there was no tantrums thrown, no moaning, and the sense of humor never left our team. I think that was the key to get all 4 of us over the line together.

 

At least I never had to get off my bike to push, climbed MAC in 30mins, and finished still feeling quite strong with an average 40kmh tempo ride from Mini Mac to the singletrack section.

 

I have a bit of an unfinished business feeling hanging over me knowing that we still had something left in the tank when we crossed the line and missing our target by that much. So we'll just have to come back next year!

[GAP]

Maybe it's just me or is it, but I enjoyed riding in the Reserve with the testing road conditions. It kept you on your toes and made the ride more interesting. I still mentioned to my partner this is what I enjoy. I found the long dust roads a bit boring...but ya that's the Trans and I love it. Will be going back this weekend for more....

Edited August 13, 2019 by GAP

[Tandemonium 2]

231 Team Tandemonium , 2 single bikes and a tandem ready to rock and roll for my 4th.