[Event] The MTB Challenge

[JohanDiv]

This wind should cool us down a bit [emoji15]

It didn't.

[dev null]

It was hot. As we rode back we saw a few dejected riders bailing on the long route.

[LeoKnight]

Another VERY well organise event by PPA, did the 30km and all went well till I got a sidewall cut 3 km from the end, so was a bit of a bummr, but still give it to the organisers. 

 

The route markers were really top notch, tables looked well stocked, and parking was a breeze.

[JohanDiv]

I had a horrible day in the saddle. Pedalstriked a rock not even 5km in, pedal broke, couldn't clip in my left foot for the rest of the race(Yes, should've listened to Rouxtjie)..compensated with right leg and felt the strain later in my lower back. Tried new Hammer Nutrition peanutbutter gels today(rookie mistake testing new nutrition on race day!), puked at waterpoint 3, had to run to the toilet at waterpoint 4, and started cramping up badly from 48km to the end. Ended up doing 3h50ish..

 

Regarding route technicality that I was a bit worried about: turns out they changed the route slightly from the one they advertised and cut out the more technical stuff..it was still a pretty fun route with a bit of everything.

[love2fly]

Does anyone have an accurate altitude gain as measured?

Organisers said around 1,880m I think but my Garmin measured 1,000 odd (usually ride in Joburg so might have had to calibrate for Cape Town?).

 

Cheers

[JohanDiv]

Does anyone have an accurate altitude gain as measured?

Organisers said around 1,880m I think but my Garmin measured 1,000 odd (usually ride in Joburg so might have had to calibrate for Cape Town?).

 

Cheers

It was more like 1400m-1500m.

[dev null]

My son said about 1350m. Which he was happy about since lots of it was at the end, because the heat, dust and rocks did not make it easy. But he said route wise it was one of the best he has done to date.

Edited February 29, 2020 by Moridin

[love2fly]

Thanks. Appreciate thefeedback

[Mamil]

Nice ride - not as tough both in terms of heat and route as the trailseeker 2 weeks ago which was a relief. Took a spill after pedal strike at about 20km and ended on my back down the steep embankment to the left of the trail. Fortunately only scrapes and a busted dropper post lever - which gave me a sinking feeling on some of the climbs until more by luck than skill I managed to bodge it so that it sort of worked again - really was luck because without my glasses anything up close is a soft focus blur ...

 

Met my child outside her res in Stellenbosch to take her for lunch and only when I looked at myself in the mirror did I see that I looked like a lemur with a dirty face - pale around the eyes where my shades kept the dust off, the rest of the visage covered in brown powder.

 

Nice event but no bogroll in the portaloos --- aaaaarrrrgghghghgh.

[Rouxenator]

There was plenty of white gold in the portaloos when I took a pre-ride dump just before 7am. 

 

This was good, it was demanding and I expected it to be. Perhaps I was convincing myself it was harder than it actually was because I finished feeling pretty good. Did dial it back a bit and came in a nudge over 4 hours. 

 

A proper MTB Challenge I'd say - good job PPA. 

 

 

 

 

[dev null]

There was plenty of white gold in the portaloos when I took a pre-ride dump just before 7am. 

 

This was good, it was demanding and I expected it to be. Perhaps I was convincing myself it was harder than it actually was because I finished feeling pretty good. Did dial it back a bit and came in a nudge over 4 hours. 

 

A proper MTB Challenge I'd say - good job PPA. 

 

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IMG_20200229_070311.jpg

 

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IMG_20200229_100425.jpg

 

Nice pics. You came in just in front of my boy. This was his first 60, and he is not as fit as he used to be at school, but working on it this year. He took a break last year. Some of the riders I saw that came in from the 60 looked proper broken.

[DieselnDust]

There was plenty of white gold in the portaloos when I took a pre-ride dump just before 7am. 

 

This was good, it was demanding and I expected it to be. Perhaps I was convincing myself it was harder than it actually was because I finished feeling pretty good. Did dial it back a bit and came in a nudge over 4 hours. 

 

A proper MTB Challenge I'd say - good job PPA. 

 

IMG_20200229_070049_stitch.jpg

 

IMG_20200229_070311.jpg

 

IMG_20200229_093725.jpg

 

IMG_20200229_100425.jpg

 

 

I had to read your post thrice to make sure you weren't still talking about your dump.......!! LOL

 

Great pics

 

Jislike that was hard.

 

A batch started at 7am. We were directed out of the start chte and some okes thought the race started! When we arrived at the start line there was brake lock aplenty. There was a neutral car and we were instructed to follow it till it peeled off.

Did I tell the joke about the Neutral car? <Drum roll...>]

there wasn't one <boom dish.................laughter  applause>

Ja the gun went and the speed went up and up and up and I thought well that neutral car was a k&k idea. I used Gerhard "Keite" Dirks as my pace machine and that proved to be  a great tactic till I thought maybe I should drop him...that was the ego talking.

I don;t seem to recall any downhilll in the first 25km...? Just a lot of steep lose stoney climbs This course comes at like Mohammed Ali - you think you;re floating like a butterfly but it stings like a bee.

 

The rest is a blur. Eskom initiated some loadsheeding somewhere in the middle but a few gels, a banana and a far bar sorted my out and the power was back on but too late.

3h25 after that manic start. felt flat today. don;t think I ate enough in the first 2hrs.

 

on the matter of tyres, I'm super impressed with the Kenda Booster Pro 2.4 SCT... Highly hghly recommended. I think the Pirelli Scorpion still has the edge in terms of feedback and immediate coonfidence it inspires but at the price the Booster Pro is hard to beat, very hard

[Chingy182]

Ja, this was not an easy ride. Also does  not help if you haven't done much riding in the last 4-6 weeks.

 

Early morning I was a bit worried about the fires in the back with the smoke hanging over us, but turned out to be okay. Got my first skrik of the day when none of the loos had any toilet paper just before 7am.

 

Special shout out goes to the complete box who tried to overtake a bunch of us, being slightly held up on the sharp downhill switchbacks by an older gentleman who wasnt too comfortable on these sections.

He tried on 3 occasions to take me on the inside on the switchbacks and eventually got passed and caused an accident of the older gentleman as he went past him too on a corner, causing a 4  bike pile-up in the process. No apologies, just kept on riding.

 

If I had the energy left in my legs to chase him down, I really wanted to go moer him.

[DieselnDust]

when do we get to talk about the e-bikes.....

[JohanDiv]

when do we get to talk about the e-bikes.....

How can I love this comment? A "like" is not enough!

[aquaratza]

@Chingy182: Was there anything identifying about him? What did he look like? Branding? Just curious.

 

@JohanDiv: yeah... there were some interesting titbits on that front.

 

The event was very dusty, I can't remember the last time I was that dirty. The views were beautiful. The trails never seemed to stop climbing and they were deceptive in their gradients, it was a psychological challenge.

 

I was a bit saddened by the lack of baby potatoes (as ridiculous as that sounds). I try and avoid high-GI carbs (sugar, bread, normal coke, etc.), so I generally stick to bananas and potatoes during events... fortunately I had some nuts with me so that was my food haha.

 

The tunnel was SUPER COOL, man that was such fun. The little coast down the old road was also awesome, such fun.

 

I was a bit disturbed by the one section that had a steep descent into a valley on one side (pic attached). It was cool but it was scary, a friend told me someone fell shortly after I rode through there. Everyone had come to a stop when I got to that part of the trail, so it was a bit hike-a-bike.

 

You can see the inversion layer in some of those pics.

Edited March 1, 2020 by aquaratza