Trans Baviaans 2021

[Cookie88]

Let's hear some race reports... Keen to hear some stories! ????

[JohanDiv]

8 hours ago, RobertWhitehead said:

I am not seeing a log on Strava for @JohanDiv so I am not sure he rode over the weekend

You are 100% correct. Our 4-man team was reduced to a 2-man team. One of our guys pulled out two months ago, and I pulled out at registration on Friday. I got Covid three weeks ago, very light symtoms, but could feel the after effects when trying to excercise or riding..did a 50km 1500m elevation ride last week for a final leg check before TB, and my HR was more or less 25 bpm higher than usual. I was in denial and kept on thinking I'll fully recover in time for the race, and then last minute realized it was just not going to happen and that I might risk my health if I try and race. We ended up riding our 2nd and 4th strongest riders, both of which have not ridden Trans Baviaans before. So this is a race report from the support vehicle's perspective...

 

We arrived in Willowmore on Friday around 14:30 for registration. Filled out a few Covid forms and moved my name from team rider to support driver. We had a quick chat on the spot about what to pack in the crates and decided to not pack anything in them since the team will get going in the dark and have lights and warm clothes already mounted. 

 

Our Willowmore accommodation was around 55km outside of town in a farmhouse. Excellent hosts that even organized us a few roosterkoeke and wood for our braai. The fire was lit and the first brandy poured by 5PM to warm us up and settle the nerves. We hit the sack early around 10PM since we were planning on driving to town at 5AM for a 6AM start. Temperatures went down to -5 that evening.

 

We got to the startline at 6AM. Did a few final bike checks and our guys took off at 06:08am in -3 degrees temps. They only needed their lights for the first 15mins of the ride. I was able to live track them on Whatsapp for the first 20mins and then they lost signal all the way to CP5 at 170km. In the meantime I made my way with the support vehicle through Uniondale and The Langkloof to J-Bay. Arrived there at 09:30. Booked us in, bought groceries for the evening's braai, and only had around 45mins to spare before making my way to CP5. I thought there would be more time to play with. I arrived there at 13:45.

 

Our team went well from the start to CP1. Caught 8 other guys willing to work together. In and out quickly at CP1 and on to CP2 with the same batch. Our weaker rider started to show signs that the pace was just a bit too hot at an average of around 27km/h at the 70km mark and decided to stop taking turns at the front just to try to recover, but it was too late. At 90km the cramps and lower back pain started for him and they took a proper rest at CP2 losing the group. From CP2 they carried on at their own pace to try and get our weaker rider recovering. Water crossings were minimal and Langwater was only half calf deep and easily rideable. The second Fang required some pushing with lower back pains, and again up MAC as well. Got caught in a rain shower up MAC. At Bergplaas they decided to lie down for just a few minutes to try and get our teammate that suffered a bit to recover before descending. He was struggling to keep down food, but managed to get down some of those milk products at Bergplaas, and he claims that gave him new life! 

 

They finally reached me at CP5 on 170km at 14:30(just under 8 and a half hours race time) looking not too badly beaten up, but lost a crank bolt down the Big Dipper descend, so they lost more time there trying to get a new bolt. Off with the rain jackets and change of dry cloths out of the car, and off they went again 25mins later.

 

I made my way back through Patensie towards CP7 and could live track them again. I could see they made steady but solid progress over the Neverender and the massive tailwind definitely helped. At CP7 people were starting to get reports from J-Bay that a massive storm was busy moving in.. wind picked up even more. They reached me at CP7 around 16:30, two bites of a jaffle, rain jackets on again, and off they went looking even stronger than at CP5. 

 

Mini MAC was the first signs of fatigue to our stronger rider that had a hammy cramp up, but got it sorted out with a bit of high cadence spinning. After mini MAC they had a 4-5km stretch of gravel road with the wind from behind where they could keep the speed up to 47kmh, and then the rain came down for the final few kilometres. Just before they entered the final single track they had to switch on the lights again. Muddy and dark finish in the end.

 

They crossed the finishline just after 18:30. Official race time 12:26, moving time 10:55. Very proud of the way they rode. Both of them agree a sub12 was on the cards if it weren't for the lost crank bolt and the lying down at Bergplaas.. next time Bergplaas will just be a check in/check out point.. they say you can recover while going down Big Dipper.

 

After the race sitting around the fire, we all felt we have a bit of unfinished business now with the Trans Baviaans, all for different reasons..so we'll definitely be back next year fitter and stronger aiming for a Sub 11!

 

FOMO and all for not being able to ride, the Trans Baviaans weekend was still a great experience for me as a support driver this time around..

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by JohanDiv
Spelling

[wessie12]

1 hour ago, JohanDiv said:

You are 100% correct. Our 4-man team was reduced to a 2-man team. One of our guys pulled out two months ago, and I pulled out at registration on Friday. I got Covid three weeks ago, very light symtoms, but could feel the after effects when trying to excercise or riding..did a 50km 1500m elevation ride last week for a final leg check before TB, and my HR was more or less 25 bpm higher than usual. I was in denial and kept on thinking I'll fully recover in time for the race, and then last minute realized it was just not going to happen and that I might risk my health if I try and race. We ended up riding our 2nd and 4th strongest riders, both of which have not ridden Trans Baviaans before. So this is a race report from the support vehicle's perspective...

 

We arrived in Willowmore on Friday around 14:30 for registration. Filled out a few Covid forms and moved my name from team rider to support driver. We had a quick chat on the spot about what to pack in the crates and decided to not pack anything in them since the team will get going in the dark and have lights and warm clothes already mounted. 

 

Our Willowmore accommodation was around 55km outside of town in a farmhouse. Excellent hosts that even organized us a few roosterkoeke and wood for our braai. The fire was lit and the first brandy poured by 5PM to warm us up and settle the nerves. We hit the sack early around 10PM since we were planning on driving to town at 5AM for a 6AM start. Temperatures went down to -5 that evening.

 

We got to the startline at 6AM. Did a few final bike checks and our guys took off at 06:08am in -3 degrees temps. They only needed their lights for the first 15mins of the ride. I was able to live track them on Whatsapp for the first 20mins and then they lost signal all the way to CP5 at 170km. In the meantime I made my way with the support vehicle through Uniondale and The Langkloof to J-Bay. Arrived there at 09:30. Booked us in, bought groceries for the evening's braai, and only had around 45mins to spare before making my way to CP5. I thought there would be more time to play with. I arrived there at 13:45.

 

Our team went well from the start to CP1. Caught 8 other guys willing to work together. In and out quickly at CP1 and on to CP2 with the same batch. Our weaker rider started to show signs that the pace was just a bit too hot at an average of around 27km/h at the 70km mark and decided to stop taking turns at the front just to try to recover, but it was too late. At 90km the cramps and lower back pain started for him and they took a proper rest at CP2 losing the group. From CP2 they carried on at their own pace to try and get our weaker rider recovering. Water crossings were minimal and Langwater was only half calf deep and easily rideable. The second Fang required some pushing with lower back pains, and again up MAC as well. Got caught in a rain shower up MAC. At Bergplaas they decided to lie down for just a few minutes to try and get our teammate that suffered a bit to recover before descending. He was struggling to keep down food, but managed to get down some of those milk products at Bergplaas, and he claims that gave him new life! 

 

They finally reached me at CP5 on 170km at 14:30(just under 8 and a half hours race time) looking not too badly beaten up, but lost a crank bolt down the Big Dipper descend, so they lost more time there trying to get a new bolt. Off with the rain jackets and change of dry cloths out of the car, and off they went again 25mins later.

 

I made my way back through Patensie towards CP7 and could live track them again. I could see they made steady but solid progress over the Neverender and the massive tailwind definitely helped. At CP7 people were starting to get reports from J-Bay that a massive storm was busy moving in.. wind picked up even more. They reached me at CP7 around 16:30, two bites of a jaffle, rain jackets on again, and off they went looking even stronger than at CP5. 

 

Mini MAC was the first signs of fatigue to our stronger rider that had a hammy cramp up, but got it sorted out with a bit of high cadence spinning. After mini MAC they had a 4-5km stretch of gravel road with the wind from behind where they could keep the speed up to 47kmh, and then the rain came down for the final few kilometres. Just before they entered the final single track they had to switch on the lights again. Muddy and dark finish in the end.

 

They crossed the finishline just after 18:30. Official race time 12:26, moving time 10:55. Very proud of the way they rode. Both of them agree a sub12 was on the cards if it weren't for the lost crank bolt and the lying down at Bergplaas.. next time Bergplaas will just be a check in/check out point.. they say you can recover while going down Big Dipper.

 

After the race sitting around the fire, we all felt we have a bit of unfinished business now with the Trans Baviaans, all for different reasons..so we'll definitely be back next year fitter and stronger aiming for a Sub 11!

 

FOMO and all for not being able to ride, the Trans Baviaans weekend was still a great experience for me as a support driver this time around..

 

Well done to them. We managed a 12:27. Was hoping for a sub 12 but 1 rider's derailleur was damaged on the corrigated section and he  only had a couple of gears in the middle of his cassette and his chain then kept on dropping on the downhills. Nevertheless we accepted the setback and nursed him home. The Rolling start definitely made the first 100km more difficult without bunches and neverender is worse during the daylight. The mudfest on the single track at the end is really unnecessary but all in all a great event. Will be back for my 4th 

[RobertWhitehead]

3 hours ago, JohanDiv said:

You are 100% correct. Our 4-man team was reduced to a 2-man team. One of our guys pulled out two months ago, and I pulled out at registration on Friday. I got Covid three weeks ago, very light symtoms, but could feel the after effects when trying to excercise or riding..did a 50km 1500m elevation ride last week for a final leg check before TB, and my HR was more or less 25 bpm higher than usual. I was in denial and kept on thinking I'll fully recover in time for the race, and then last minute realized it was just not going to happen and that I might risk my health if I try and race. We ended up riding our 2nd and 4th strongest riders, both of which have not ridden Trans Baviaans before. So this is a race report from the support vehicle's perspective...

 

We arrived in Willowmore on Friday around 14:30 for registration. Filled out a few Covid forms and moved my name from team rider to support driver. We had a quick chat on the spot about what to pack in the crates and decided to not pack anything in them since the team will get going in the dark and have lights and warm clothes already mounted. 

 

Our Willowmore accommodation was around 55km outside of town in a farmhouse. Excellent hosts that even organized us a few roosterkoeke and wood for our braai. The fire was lit and the first brandy poured by 5PM to warm us up and settle the nerves. We hit the sack early around 10PM since we were planning on driving to town at 5AM for a 6AM start. Temperatures went down to -5 that evening.

 

We got to the startline at 6AM. Did a few final bike checks and our guys took off at 06:08am in -3 degrees temps. They only needed their lights for the first 15mins of the ride. I was able to live track them on Whatsapp for the first 20mins and then they lost signal all the way to CP5 at 170km. In the meantime I made my way with the support vehicle through Uniondale and The Langkloof to J-Bay. Arrived there at 09:30. Booked us in, bought groceries for the evening's braai, and only had around 45mins to spare before making my way to CP5. I thought there would be more time to play with. I arrived there at 13:45.

 

Our team went well from the start to CP1. Caught 8 other guys willing to work together. In and out quickly at CP1 and on to CP2 with the same batch. Our weaker rider started to show signs that the pace was just a bit too hot at an average of around 27km/h at the 70km mark and decided to stop taking turns at the front just to try to recover, but it was too late. At 90km the cramps and lower back pain started for him and they took a proper rest at CP2 losing the group. From CP2 they carried on at their own pace to try and get our weaker rider recovering. Water crossings were minimal and Langwater was only half calf deep and easily rideable. The second Fang required some pushing with lower back pains, and again up MAC as well. Got caught in a rain shower up MAC. At Bergplaas they decided to lie down for just a few minutes to try and get our teammate that suffered a bit to recover before descending. He was struggling to keep down food, but managed to get down some of those milk products at Bergplaas, and he claims that gave him new life! 

 

They finally reached me at CP5 on 170km at 14:30(just under 8 and a half hours race time) looking not too badly beaten up, but lost a crank bolt down the Big Dipper descend, so they lost more time there trying to get a new bolt. Off with the rain jackets and change of dry cloths out of the car, and off they went again 25mins later.

 

I made my way back through Patensie towards CP7 and could live track them again. I could see they made steady but solid progress over the Neverender and the massive tailwind definitely helped. At CP7 people were starting to get reports from J-Bay that a massive storm was busy moving in.. wind picked up even more. They reached me at CP7 around 16:30, two bites of a jaffle, rain jackets on again, and off they went looking even stronger than at CP5. 

 

Mini MAC was the first signs of fatigue to our stronger rider that had a hammy cramp up, but got it sorted out with a bit of high cadence spinning. After mini MAC they had a 4-5km stretch of gravel road with the wind from behind where they could keep the speed up to 47kmh, and then the rain came down for the final few kilometres. Just before they entered the final single track they had to switch on the lights again. Muddy and dark finish in the end.

 

They crossed the finishline just after 18:30. Official race time 12:26, moving time 10:55. Very proud of the way they rode. Both of them agree a sub12 was on the cards if it weren't for the lost crank bolt and the lying down at Bergplaas.. next time Bergplaas will just be a check in/check out point.. they say you can recover while going down Big Dipper.

 

After the race sitting around the fire, we all felt we have a bit of unfinished business now with the Trans Baviaans, all for different reasons..so we'll definitely be back next year fitter and stronger aiming for a Sub 11!

 

FOMO and all for not being able to ride, the Trans Baviaans weekend was still a great experience for me as a support driver this time around..

 

Great write up man, bummed that you didn't get to ride it this year but, it was definitely the right decision. I will see you next year as well ????. But ok, I first need to finish this one ????. 

[RearWheelDrive]

I'll do a pre race report. 

 

You guys with your sub 11 sub 12 talk make me feel like a beginner???? I've done this ride 3 times. 15;30,15:09 (serious mechanical issues) and 14:20. I'd love a 12 hour trans, but the sosaties and jaffels are way too appealing. 

 

This year however my wife decided she wants to try she saw all the guys coming in and had some fomo. Now that we've entered she is questioning her life choices. I've always estimated that we would be about 18 hours but now this whole camp story puts a bit of a damper on things. it will be a very unique experience and I'm sure we will have a blast but the idea is to finish this thing in one go. But any way we are going to pack an overnight bag get the supporter to CP5 and make the best of it.

[_David_]

15 hours ago, JohanDiv said:

I got Covid three weeks ago, very light symtoms, but could feel the after effects when trying to excercise or riding..did a 50km 1500m elevation ride last week for a final leg check before TB, and my HR was more or less 25 bpm higher than usual. I was in denial and kept on thinking I'll fully recover in time for the race, and then last minute realized it was just not going to happen and that I might risk my health if I try and race. We ended up riding our 2nd and 4th strongest riders, both of which have not ridden Trans Baviaans before. So this is a race report from the support vehicle's perspective...

Same thing happen to me I had Covid end of June this year with very light symptoms.

While exercising my HR was higher than usual and I had a hard time bringing it down. Its been about 2 month now and I am only now starting to feel 100% again. It might have sucked but I think you made a pretty good choice by not doing the race. Listen to your body and ease back into exercise, you don't want to do permanent damage to your heart.


https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a33822804/exercise-myocarditis-and-covid-19/
"Being healthy, fit, and strong may help you avoid some of the more severe symptoms of COVID-19 like ARDS, but it doesn’t make you immune from some of the more insidious effects of the disease. And even if you only come down with a mild to moderate case, you are still at risk for myocarditis, inflammation of the middle layer of the heart wall, which can weaken the heart and lead to heart failure, abnormal heartbeat, or even sudden death."

Edited August 31, 2021 by _David_
Grammar

[DogMTB]

Phew was a tough day for me. We started too fast and by Baviaans Back I knew we had problems. Luckily I didn't completely bonk and my teammates helped me up the climbs.

The road conditions before CP3 were wayyyy better this year which was the part that I was dreading. The road inside the reserve did worsen a bit though and was more rocky than I remembered. Water crossings were also less of a problem.

Doing the Neverender in the light was beautiful but man oh man it felt 10x longer. At least in the dark you don't really see how much you have left to go.

The problem with this year is that we were fighting against curfew time. We started at 7AM so that we didn't have to ride with lights but in hindsight we should of started at 6AM and cruised a bit slower.

For those doing The Repeat I wish you all the best!

 

 

[openmind]

Here's a race report of our four-man masters team:

About 30km from Willowmore on Friday at 2pm the outside temp was 2deg and it was snowing. We had booked accommodation in tents at the showgrounds and the mood in the bus was grim. I got on the phone and called the Willowmore accommodation wrangler Billie-Jean to see if there were last-minute cancellations and she managed to squeeze us into a B&B across the road from registration! Frostbite averted, spirits lifted and we started to look forward to the ride. It even stopped raining!

We started at 8am with the elites and other racing cats to be in contention for the maters category but even then it was sub-zero on the start line. I don't know how the 5am starters did it. After a fast start trying to hang on to the leading bunch but giving that up in short order we settled into a good pace with an icy headwind blowing directly off some snow-capped koppies in the distance. It was incredibly beautiful. 

Things got a lot better when the sun came out and we dropped down into the kloof with a wonderful tail wind. This is one of the best parts of the ride, fast and twisty through magnificent rock formations. You have to see this section of the kloof at least once in your life.

Checkpoints 1-3 passed in quick succession with the tailwind and freshly scraped roads. We stopped at each CP and sampled the cuisine - very good sosaties and wors at CP3!! ("Sosaties, wors, innnie blink potte!!" was the refrain that still echoed in our ears long after the Langwater crossing.) 

The climbs were mostly ok except for the MAC. The steepness just gets to you at some point and you need to grit your teeth and grind it out. CP4's soup and change of clothes was very welcome. It was still damn cold, so we dressed up like polar explorers again and hit the long downhill for some freewheeling recovery. Back along the river the pace was fast and steady, with our team doing the through-and-off nicely. CP5 popped up and we sampled and ditched the chip rolls like everyone else (organisers: they're terrible - try something else!!). As we left this checkpoint the cold set in again and the magnitude of what we were doing became very real. A long way to go yet, dusk approaching and very dark clouds on the horizon.

Luckily the Neverender was not too bad, we hooked up with a few other riders and tapped out a steady pace. By CP7 was realised we were nearly home. Jaffle-fueled we set off with a bit more enthusiasm. This was killed off completely in the last few k's when we hit the mud-fest of a trail next to the railway line. Those dark clouds had done their bit and soaked that trail a short while before we got there! The finish was a relief in many ways. 

12 hours on the nose. A bit longer than we hoped for but we were all together in good spirits. Good ride all round in the end. 

Good luck to all doing it this weekend! 

[ChrisF]

Best wishes to the Teams doing it this weekend 

 

Friends left Cape EARLY this morning for the drive up there.  Two teams, plus their drivers to get the vehicle and goodies to the other side.

[Player23]

Sad to say that our 3rd race container was stolen (lost bib, cycle shirt, jacket and exterme light) - luckily we could still finish in the light - but did sour the experience a bit.

Otherwise what a ride - really tests your mental and physical abilities - will be back for my 5th next year.

Edited September 6, 2021 by Player23

[RobertWhitehead]

My thyroid bombed completely but I enjoyed the experience. We improved our 2019 time but I really took some serious strain. I will be back in 2022 because its an amazing event and I love everything about it.

[pedal menace]

33 minutes ago, Player23 said:

Sad to say that our 3rd race container was stolen (lost bib, cycle shirt, jacket and exterme light) - luckily we could still finish in the light - but did sour the experience a bit.

Otherwise what a ride - really tests your mental and physical abilities - will be back for my 5th next year.

Yikes! Like in stolen from the truck transporting it? That would be a first! 

[Velouria]

The 2021 Trans Baviaans finally happened, and The Prancing Thunder Pixies were there for another misdaventure. Expectations were high for us to write another chapter in the how-not-to-ride Baviaans story. Read about it here:

https://www.velotales.com/2021/09/trans-baviaans-2021.html

(yoh - it's been yonks since I was last on The Hub!!)

[Stefan Cremer]

In response to one of the queries to race reports, here are some pictures we took during the event. Not really a race, unless you're going for a placing in the overall or any of the age group categories...

I've done many of the awesome events around SA, but somehow haven't gotten around to taking in the naturescapes of the Baviaanskloof. What an absolute blessing to ride in such majestic mountains!

I'll leave the text on the event to others who have the time to put pen to paper and let the pictures do the talking in this post... Enjoy.

 

[RearWheelDrive]

Here is the port ride report.

Well the short of it is we managed to officially finish in 16:53. Had to camp over but we planned on doing that anyway. considering we had 16:30 to complete the whole thing it was the right call. 

My wife's first TB, she waited for me to come in all these years and decided she wants to try. She said it was tough but she knew it would be. we were doing quite well (all the way in fact) but especially until CP3. the ride in the Nuwekloof was amazing, vibe was good even the Baviaans back was manageable. We got to CP3 just after 1pm thinking maybe we can make it. 16km to Bergplaas, if we could leave there just after 3 we will give it a go. WOW those 16km took over 2 hours first the fangs and then the MAC, we only reached Bergplaas at 15:30, rested, had the most amazing soup and left again at 4. It's the first time I did that drop in daylight and looking at the edges I was wondering what have we been thinking all these years flying down that thing in the dark. We got to CP 5 at 17:35 and decided straight away not to carry on, didn't want to get caught out. 

Camping was a different experience coldish showers but a lekker vibe. we had some coffee, Prego rolls and were in bed by 8. It was a bit of a rush in the morning to leave at 4:30, got late very quickly but once we were on the go it was fine. Saw a beautiful sunrise on the never ender and those Jaffels are even better for breakfast. Riding from CP5 in the morning was also a different experience, they moved CP7 so it was a bit weird in the day and that single track bit they could've left. I sort of recognized it because we usually used to come out of something like that. And then Mini Mac in the day had some nice views and you see most of it from the bottom

Flying in Jbay was awesome as always, Railway single-track was Meh as always after 200 km but the mall was a welcome sight. No burger and beer though  (and I don't even like beer, but that one was always refreshing)

 

I think the organizers did a stunning job, volunteers were friendly, food was good. Covid is still like a dark cloud waiting for the storm to start, and everyone knows it. It is not easy, they did the best they could. It's really like trying to get a ride in before it starts to rain.

Some people mentioned it is not a true trans if you slept over. To those I say, We would have done it in one shot if we could, we probably needed 18hrs got 16.5. The organizers did all they could to get everyone to the finish, If you want to race join the elites and race. To everyone else just get there enjoy the ride. We live in a magical country.

Choc-o-lit plees (we all have a choc-o-lit we're looking for)

[extremelights]

On 9/6/2021 at 8:54 AM, Player23 said:

Sad to say that our 3rd race container was stolen (lost bib, cycle shirt, jacket and exterme light) - luckily we could still finish in the light - but did sour the experience a bit.

Otherwise what a ride - really tests your mental and physical abilities - will be back for my 5th next year.

Hi Player23.
Sorry to hear about your Extreme Light that got stolen along with your other belongings.

Will send you a DM to sort you out.