2020 360 one

[Skubarra]

You might want to clarify this with the organizers.  To me it looks like the gravel bike option is only available for the half, not the full.  

 

“We are very excited about the increased focus on the gravel bike category. This market is growing at an astonishing rate and The Half offers some of the best roads and scenery for this,” said Rademeyer.

 

Entry categories also only offer Gravel Entry as an option for the Half.

Thanks for clarifying

[Wayne pudding Mol]

I see the half runs during daylight hours which is great because I can barely navigate in the sun never mind the dark.

This looks like a great target for me, relatively close by and 71kms further than I have ever ridden a bicycle.

When people say gravel rideable, does that mean comfortably for non chuck norris types?

Are there enough riders that I can do this without getting lost? - you might think this ridiculous but I got lost during the Sani (3x and with a garmin)

[hboli4]

I see the half runs during daylight hours which is great because I can barely navigate in the sun never mind the dark.

This looks like a great target for me, relatively close by and 71kms further than I have ever ridden a bicycle.

When people say gravel rideable, does that mean comfortably for non chuck norris types?

Are there enough riders that I can do this without getting lost? - you might think this ridiculous but I got lost during the Sani (3x and with a garmin)

The route is pretty straight forward and well marked, no navigation necessary.

 

A gravel bike is probably do-able but not my idea of fun. The route is rough in sections and I can't see the descent of Rooiberg being easy or enjoyable on a gravelbike, it is VERY rough and loose in places.

[Wayne pudding Mol]

The route is pretty straight forward and well marked, no navigation necessary.

 

A gravel bike is probably do-able but not my idea of fun. The route is rough in sections and I can't see the descent of Rooiberg being easy or enjoyable on a gravelbike, it is VERY rough and loose in places.

brilliant thanks, I'm soft will use something else if I do it.  Do able is not my idea of fun for 180km.  I'd rather be on the right bike.  Even though it's only the half, quite a challenge for me

[hboli4]

brilliant thanks, I'm soft will use something else if I do it.  Do able is not my idea of fun for 180km.  I'd rather be on the right bike.  Even though it's only the half, quite a challenge for me

 

Forgot to add, you will most likely always have riders in sight or fairly close by if doing the half, you will start catching and passing the full guys at some point as well. At least the ones as slow as me...

[MORNE]

Congrats. So if my maths is correct you had a good start to the year, then a few months later it just went downhill. Can't have been easy dealing with a pregnant partner during all this. 

Thanks!

yea. I've actually been going a bit harder on the bike since the end of last year with the idea of doing one of these longer events this year. I just really started enjoying cruising all the rural roads around for kms on end after that silly Bains Kloof Rush organised by woodstock cycles guys last year. That was 200km over 2 days with some camping and lots of beer overnight.  

The wife and I both did it...and thoroughly enjoyed it. Was so cool just cruising along and chatting as we went.

We got the news around feb this year. I was at a good level(for me) just before CTCT. Since she wasn't going ride CTCT with me anymore, I could just focus on myself from then on. I was at my leanest lol...197cm 75kg haha.

Then lockdown happened and yes...I did go riding when we were allowed to again, but with no IDT and trying to do more than 50km in a 5km radius was.....tedious, especially in town. So I got a bit demotivated.   

Regarding dealing with the partner...it has actually been a joy to be honest. She is having a really easy one. The only crap bit was not being able to accompany her on scan visits for the first few months. I have since been, but they still ask nicely that you don't. We still need to be careful, if any of us test positive...i'm not allowed to join her on the day. 

[MORNE]

ps...i would have said after that absolutely horrendous Karoo to Coast in 2019, I would have gotten this idea of doing longer marathon events out of my head for good.

 

....but alas.

[Skubarra]

ps...i would have said after that absolutely horrendous Karoo to Coast in 2019, I would have gotten this idea of doing longer marathon events out of my head for good.

 

....but alas.

 

Vetseun is expecting heat in November - he really shouldn't bet his house on it 

 

November in the cape can be anything from heat to rain and mud to windstorms to snow (I seem to recall a Nov Hell & Back few years ago where riders got caught out by snow

[MORNE]

Vetseun is expecting heat in November - he really shouldn't bet his house on it 

 

November in the cape can be anything from heat to rain and mud to windstorms to snow (I seem to recall a Nov Hell & Back few years ago where riders got caught out by snow

i'll take 40*C over that day anyday...especially if you are not prepared for it lol. I remember the two days before the race was like 37* in knysna....and the weather app said it might rain on raceday so i just wore a long sleave tshirt over my cycling top.

I thought: "leka....after this heat it would be great to have a motreentjie all the way back"

FARK was i wrong.... 

The tenseness from shivering alone was causing me to cramp haha.

[Cookie88]

I know preference of clothing is usually very personal, but would guys recommend a fully waterproof jacket for this - not wanting to make an unnecessary emotionally driven purchase on the off chance it does rain? At this point I am kitted out with something water resistant but nothing fully waterproof. November seems to be a tricky month weather wise...

[Lynnae]

Does anyone know have many riders pulled out of this year's event/ percentage that finished? With the hectic temperatures ( 46/47 degrees) and that headwind I saw alot of riders bailing.

 

Glad it's moving back to May next year, not so sure how safe it was riding in those conditions.

[Dogs]

It sounded like a lot withdrew, heard something like 40+ by CP 1.

 

My opinion - apart from Friday's heat and the wind - it was actually a nice time to ride, and being slowerer, Rooiberg was done in daylight.

 

This also took away the need to layer up,  and arm warmers were sufficient.  For me there was no  need for boxes.

 

Stage 1 was one of the toughest rides done and actually ran out of water, but managed to refill along the way.

 

Well done to all that participated and finished - you guys and gals are tough!

[eddy]

 

I can't see the descent of Rooiberg being easy or enjoyable on a gravelbike, it is VERY rough and loose in places.

 

Been there, done that, and I'd rather go back to the dentist for root-canal treatment

[RearWheelDrive]

Well I'll do a bit of a report, doesn't look like many people did this race.

 

I decided in September to do this ride. 947 got cancelled, I was thinking about doing it next year but the dates clashed with Sani (which I moved from this year). So in a moment of temporary insanity I click the "Enter" button and I had 2 months to get ready.

Being a first timer to get tips I only had YouTube videos and I know one other guy who did it, who kind of looked at me like I had an ugly baby and didn't know what to say when I told him I'm doing it. Getting ready I did the Mini Mungas and as much intervals on the indoor as I could. Tried to get long rides in over the weekends but it wasn't always possible.

 

Watching the weather app seeing it was going to be hot I did a few midday rides to get used to the heat. The 3o'clock start time is also something to get used to, hanging around all day makes you feel like you're on death row.

 

The vibe was a little dull because of Covid but I suppose it was to be expected. 

15:00 came and we were off. it was HOT. the app said max 42, my Garmin said 52.8 it was the highest  I saw it, but it hovered around the 48/50 mark for a long time, then it cooled a bit (To the upper 30's) and the wind started. I think we had to survive about 70km in a head wind.

 

Stage 2 was lekker, it cooled down at night but the field was all over. I rode the 100km pretty much alone in the dark. Me, Myself, My bike and my light. But it was the easier stage.

 

Stage 3 was the big one with Rooiberg coming. I got to the base at 6am and could climb it in the light and while still cool. The descent on the other side was hectic. Really steep, lots of lose rocks. I cant believe they don't have an ambulance waiting at the bottom.

 

Stage 4 I underestimated. You think only 80 km to go I can do this. It's supposed to be less climbing than stage 3. Man alive did it go on and on and on. I lost my sense of humour at WP11. I told the Marshall he's lying when he said the climbing is done, because that's what the last guy said. But if they told me the truth I probably would've given up.

 

At the last WP they said 13km to the tar road and 7km into town. I was gatvol, whatever legs i had i used and gunned it as fast as i could back home. I finished in 24:09. It was weird to try and aim for a sub 24.

 

All things considered I wouldn't change much. I am a first timer but I think I prefer a 3pm start. It eliminates the risk of needing a light again for many people. The heat was an issue but not much the organizer can do about it. I put an extra bottle on my back pack. From my perspective we just had to survive the first 100km. It got better, Hard but better. I am not sure surviving a cold karoo night is that pleasant anyway.

 

It's a pity it clashes with Sani next year, I would've liked to consider it again. 

 

What a ride.

[Cookie88]

We had 4 Savages taking part this year, riding with Solo Challenge entries but a gentlemen's agreement to stick together and aim for a Sub 20. Two of our members were previous finishers in 2018, with myself and the one other being 36One 'virgins'.

 

With the heat ramping up on Friday morning we acknowledged that we should revise our goal time to a more realistic 21 hours. On the way to the start the heat was already so intense that one guys front brakes completely locked up leading him to arrive at the start line on the back of an Anaerobic effort in 46 degree gear. 

 

After consultation with some of the mechanics at at the start line mechanics the heat was actually identified as being the problem. Some of those more technically inclined can weigh in here but basically excessive heat can cause brakes to lock up completely. Split second decision on the line and they completely disengaged the front brakes, rather safe than sorry. Needless to say, he wasn't the only one experiencing this same issue as there were several guys with both Shimano & SRAM brakes with the same issue.

 

We kicked off in the blistering heat, heading along a newer tar route out of Oudtshoorn before turning right onto the dirt. The heat during these earlier stages was wild, my Garmin at one point had it at 48 degrees and that was with a slight wind chill from riding along. The idea was to conserve as much as possible during this first stretch so that we could kick into gear later when things cooled down, however with the heat even the slightest increase in power left your HR jumping from Zone 2 to Zone 4 like Mike Powell's world long jump record.

 

If the first 25 odd km was all about the heat, the next 25km was like someone had switched to fan oven mode. At this point a couple of the guys were already battling, and the aim was just to get to the 59km Waterpoint to refill bottles. You know it's been hot when someone comments in the group how much cooler it is around 17:00... even though it's still 34 degrees. 

 

We limped into Waterpoint 1 and although things had cooled down, the wind was really whipping us. We battled through the next 40 odd km and rode into the first Checkpoint. 2 of our guys had fallen off and were a couple of minutes back. By the time they rode in one our strongest guys decided to call it - the heat had really affected him badly.

 

The 3 remaining Savages pushed on. For the first time the weather gods actually played ball and we had a couple of sections either out of the wind or with it slightly behind us. We rode well during Stage 2 however by the time we got to Checkpoint 2 just before 01:00, our third member was feeling man down and decided to team up with another acquaintance with a slightly slower pace. This left just two of us to throw ourselves into Stage 3. 

 

Stage 3 was tough, the Rooiberg is a helluva climb that just keeps on giving. Especially after you have that amount of climbing and distance in the legs already. 

 

We rolled into Calitzdorp at around 07:30. At this point, your mind tricks you, making you think that after doing 280km what's another 80km... on no sleep. Feeling quite positive the two of us set out, but it soon became clear that the time we had made up during Stage 2 & Stage 3 was going to be hard to cling on to. The more moderate nighttime temperatures were dissipating and it heating up, along with that wind. A couple of past finishers had advised to be wary of the the last 80km, and they were right. The climbs just seemed to keep coming although riding in 33 degree heat compared to the 48 from the previous day felt like we had an air-conditioner on. 

 

We rolled into the finish in a time of 20h46m. Way over our goal time of 20h but given the harsh conditions of Stage 1 I couldn't see how we could have ridden harder without risking not making it at all. Kudo's to our third Savage who rolled in in around 24 hours and ended up slogging the majority of the last Stage on his ace!

 

This was my first Dryland Event and I must say it was very slick, from registration, well stocked tables and the smiling and friendly characters at the waterpoints. This really made it a special event in what has been a year to forget.

 

Thanks to everyone involved!

Edited November 17, 2020 by Cookie88

[Cookie88]

Does anyone know have many riders pulled out of this year's event/ percentage that finished? With the hectic temperatures ( 46/47 degrees) and that headwind I saw alot of riders bailing.

 

Glad it's moving back to May next year, not so sure how safe it was riding in those conditions.

 

 

Looking at the results from the full 36One Challenge it seems around 70 DNF's, and about 174 who did finish so that's around 28%...