Karoo to Coast

[Help.Me.]

10 hours ago, Bernard Horn said:

See you on the wa pad.Very under prepared.The sweeper truck might be an option

Please let us know your time.........i have come across many riders claiming zero fitness and preparation and then they do a PB on race day. It always boggles my mind how the frikkedel .......

[MORNE]

3 hours ago, JohanDiv said:

Simola is mos downhill according to their website route profile haha

 

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO K2C:

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, Help.Me. said:

Please let us know your time.........i have come across many riders claiming zero fitness and preparation and then they do a PB on race day. It always boggles my mind how the frikkedel .......

 

From a rookie ....

 

Few years back I rocked up for a MTB ride ... "well prepared", and super confident.  Went out hard !!  And cramped up very quickly ....

 

June I did Trans Augrabies, following a fair bit of preparation.  BUT, 20 days before the event I was down for a week ...  Ended up doing core exercises in the last two weeks, with only one off 30km ride before heading up to Augrabies.  Knowing this I went out slow, and picked up speed along the route.  Set various PB's.

 

Earlier this month I did Viens&Views.  Well prepared.  Started out gently, picked up speed, and ended up spending 3 hours in Zone 4.  Glad I did not cramp up, came close ...  Somehow my race plan went for a ball and I was going way too hard for way too long .....

 

 

My "mental game" and "race plan" certainly needs as much practice as my legs are getting ....

 

 

I sit in awe of the guys that have figured out how to red-line when needed, and then manage to catch their breath without loosing too much speed .....

[Bernard Horn]

Lekker in Uniondale

[JohanDiv]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:23 AM, JohanDiv said:

This is by far my favorite downhill race - I'm 10kg heavier than in 2019, so technically gravity is on my side this year and I should be able to better my 2019 time!

Gravity worked well.. half an hour faster than 2019😁👌

[Mike Nel]

Being my first K2C, I had a certain time in mind. Starting in E group I adjusted it by a few minutes. 
Getting to Ou Wapad I added more time and by the 60km mark I threw the watch away🤣.

Helluva lot of climbing within the first 60kms. A lot more than what I anticipated. And when you hit Simola, you are just plain GATVOL. 

I feel sorry for the people that went in under prepared and also for the people that sustained injuries along the route.

Lets do it again next year…..weather permitting 

Edited September 26, 2022 by Mike Nel

[mrcg]

As with everything, being underprepared is an enormously vague assertion meaning a whole lotta different things to different people.

As in my case, having done much less riding this year than ever over the last 10 years, but my overall physique of having been sporty all my life, fairly competitive (despite advanced age lol), I am able to better manage my prep and race/ride output. Hence managed to equal my "well prepared" time of 5 years ago. Very happy with that, especially since I also managed better to take in views and "enjoy"

[JohanDiv]

24 minutes ago, mrcg said:

As with everything, being underprepared is an enormously vague assertion meaning a whole lotta different things to different people.

As in my case, having done much less riding this year than ever over the last 10 years, but my overall physique of having been sporty all my life, fairly competitive (despite advanced age lol), I am able to better manage my prep and race/ride output. Hence managed to equal my "well prepared" time of 5 years ago. Very happy with that, especially since I also managed better to take in views and "enjoy"

 

This is very true.. three years ago I thought I was well prepared, fit, and in shape when I did the K2C.. This year felt underprepared at 95kg, Covid in May, and did not train consistently since then through the winter, still ended up 30mins quicker when I thought I'd have trouble just to match my 2019 time.

I see I finished only 2minutes behind you (7 minutes race time since you started a batch behind me).. We probably rode together at certain points yesterday haha, you couldn't miss me - the fat guy in the black and pink kit flying on the downhills..

I have an idea - how about you prepare next year, and I go on a diet, then we get that Sub 4 train going!! We were so close yet so far this year..

 

  

[mrcg]

1 hour ago, JohanDiv said:

 

This is very true.. three years ago I thought I was well prepared, fit, and in shape when I did the K2C.. This year felt underprepared at 95kg, Covid in May, and did not train consistently since then through the winter, still ended up 30mins quicker when I thought I'd have trouble just to match my 2019 time.

I see I finished only 2minutes behind you (7 minutes race time since you started a batch behind me).. We probably rode together at certain points yesterday haha, you couldn't miss me - the fat guy in the black and pink kit flying on the downhills..

I have an idea - how about you prepare next year, and I go on a diet, then we get that Sub 4 train going!! We were so close yet so far this year..

 

  

Haha, you will have to excuse me I wasn't paying too much attention to my fellow sufferers. But the pink part does ring a bell. I shared the main descent with a fellow who was also flying - we crushed our train. But I think he has pink/red socks. Not sure. Otherwise, it was you who started to cramp and launched a late "attack" on the 2nd last downhill?

Anyway, not sure K2C will necessarily be on the agenda again, save to really ride it with my lady. But you never know......never say never

[GLuvsMtb]

It looks like you all had a great time. I opted for the RideTheKaroo 3 day race near Middelburg in the Karoo. Race report to follow 

[JohanDiv]

39 minutes ago, mrcg said:

Otherwise, it was you who started to cramp and launched a late "attack" on the 2nd last downhill?

Lol, yes that one!

[Chingy182]

Hi guys

Hoping to jump onto the K2C thread here and ask an honest question here about attempting to do this year on my gravel bike, seeing as they're now allowed.

The comments above did not seem to be too convinced about the prospects of racing on a Gravel bike and I'd like some input on Pro vs Cons or just why you would advise against it altogether.

I've done K2C on 2 previous occasions on a mtb, however, my current mtb is more of an Enduro bike and I'm obviously looking to complete the race in a faster PB time.

The obvious pitfalls I can think of would be Ou Wapad descent, as well as the looong descent from about 18km to 25km at extreme speed. Finally, maybe a couple of potholes around Knysna forest area.

I have done a couple of Tokai mast descents and it is notably more scary on a gravel bike vs mtb, so I do understand I'd need to take it a bit more rustig on the descending parts.

Hoping for some good feedback.

[eddy]

I did it rigid, SS some years ago, the worst for me was the death by a thousand cuts as you went into the forest after the climb at 58km. At speed every small imperfection, and there are lots,  stones, dips, ruts, roots, etc. were much worse than the wapad or the long descent and just sitting and putting down some power whiles trying to hang onto the bars took a lot.

[Robbie Stewart]

22 minutes ago, eddy said:

I did it rigid, SS some years ago, the worst for me was the death by a thousand cuts as you went into the forest after the climb at 58km. At speed every small imperfection, and there are lots,  stones, dips, ruts, roots, etc. were much worse than the wapad or the long descent and just sitting and putting down some power whiles trying to hang onto the bars took a lot.

and then when entering Kom se Pad, the last thing I'd want on that rocky, rutty, rooty trail are wheels not up to the task at hand (not sure, but a gravel bike does not strike me as something I'd trust on a techy bit of trail - I stand to be corrected). I've ridden K2C on both HT and full suspension, and I won't be doing it on a HT again should I opt to enter again at some point.

Comfort is king on that road. To me at least.

[Skubarra]

1 hour ago, Chingy182 said:

Hi guys

Hoping to jump onto the K2C thread here and ask an honest question here about attempting to do this year on my gravel bike, seeing as they're now allowed.

The comments above did not seem to be too convinced about the prospects of racing on a Gravel bike and I'd like some input on Pro vs Cons or just why you would advise against it altogether.

I've done K2C on 2 previous occasions on a mtb, however, my current mtb is more of an Enduro bike and I'm obviously looking to complete the race in a faster PB time.

The obvious pitfalls I can think of would be Ou Wapad descent, as well as the looong descent from about 18km to 25km at extreme speed. Finally, maybe a couple of potholes around Knysna forest area.

I have done a couple of Tokai mast descents and it is notably more scary on a gravel bike vs mtb, so I do understand I'd need to take it a bit more rustig on the descending parts.

Hoping for some good feedback.

I guess it depends on what you want to get out of the race? Barring mechanicals the gravel bike will be much faster than your enduro bike, but the body is going to take much more punishment & some sections will be sketchy. If you are worried maybe go for wider tyres on the gravel bike which should help somewhat?

[JohanDiv]

 

1 hour ago, Chingy182 said:

Hi guys

Hoping to jump onto the K2C thread here and ask an honest question here about attempting to do this year on my gravel bike, seeing as they're now allowed.

The comments above did not seem to be too convinced about the prospects of racing on a Gravel bike and I'd like some input on Pro vs Cons or just why you would advise against it altogether.

I've done K2C on 2 previous occasions on a mtb, however, my current mtb is more of an Enduro bike and I'm obviously looking to complete the race in a faster PB time.

The obvious pitfalls I can think of would be Ou Wapad descent, as well as the looong descent from about 18km to 25km at extreme speed. Finally, maybe a couple of potholes around Knysna forest area.

I have done a couple of Tokai mast descents and it is notably more scary on a gravel bike vs mtb, so I do understand I'd need to take it a bit more rustig on the descending parts.

Hoping for some good feedback.

I started in Batch A last year on a MTB surrounded by a bunch of gravel bikes. I finished in just over 4 hours.. the only place where I overtook gravelbikes was down Ou Wapad (I think 4 or 5 of them that punctured down there).. they never caught up again. The rest of them finished well ahead of me, so I assume they didn't have any serious issues the rest of the way.. comfort is a different story