Clarens Route

[117]

8 hours ago, Chadvdw67 said:

I did big mountain in 2021, so the longer climb, I walked a lot of it 🤣🤣 this year sounds a bit "better" being 4km shorter and on a concrete paved path....

Meh... we all sukkled!

Have a good race none the les

[Theunissa]

12 hours ago, Chadvdw67 said:

I entered big mountain, changed to small mountain, and now I am having serious fomo thoughts because of the EPIC descent on day 2 🤔🤔🤔

I'm suspecting a wet one. Lokkoar all the races that got bad rain and mud this year. Buffelsdrift., epic. Etc. that and the fact that it's my first. Stage  and I only started really riding in Jan. But I have improved 800% over 6 months according to Strava. But did 8 hours training with a coach aswell 

[Chadvdw67]

Hi guys, I have a bit of a desperate plea, took a little tumble today, managed to break my shifter, so just want to check if by any slight chance someone from the hub is also in Clarens this weekend and maybe has a Sram Eagle shifter that I might be able to buy from you, I know it is unlikely, but just giving it a shot.

[Chadvdw67]

Managed to fix my shifter, happy days.

[Long Wheel Base]

How did everyone go?

Anyone here from Saturday A batch for small mountain? Did you also miss the first turn and do 6km less and get a 32min penalty?

Was still a lekker ride, pity I missed 6km of trails on day 1.

I enjoyed day 1 a lot more than day 2. I really suffered yesterday, my HT and body didn't enjoy those bumpy farm roads and my Dad made me bleed yesterday.

Pity about all the timing issues and getting the results sorted. The team results are all still pending and there was no podium presentation. It looks like they have pretty much got it right now.

[thebob]

First of all, thanks for the travel route suggestions. N3 to Warden then Bethlehem was a pleasure!

Rode C batch on Saturday and had an absolute blast. The route was really good with some proper climbing and descending. I clocked 47km with 1140m of climbing, so a proper day out.

Day 2 I was moved to B batch. The slog out to the second water point was not great but was worth it to get to the No 02 climb and the singletrack back down into Clarens. The climb is an absolute killer, but I managed to pedal the whole thing, except for a small section near the top. After that it was singletrack smiles all the way back down to the village, then an unexpected kick in the pants before the finish. 63km and 1093m of climbing for day 2. 

Think I might make the trip again next year

[Chadvdw67]

1 hour ago, thebob said:

First of all, thanks for the travel route suggestions. N3 to Warden then Bethlehem was a pleasure!

Rode C batch on Saturday and had an absolute blast. The route was really good with some proper climbing and descending. I clocked 47km with 1140m of climbing, so a proper day out.

Day 2 I was moved to B batch. The slog out to the second water point was not great but was worth it to get to the No 02 climb and the singletrack back down into Clarens. The climb is an absolute killer, but I managed to pedal the whole thing, except for a small section near the top. After that it was singletrack smiles all the way back down to the village, then an unexpected kick in the pants before the finish. 63km and 1093m of climbing for day 2. 

Think I might make the trip again next year

I though you never want to do it again 🤣🤣

[thebob]

14 minutes ago, Chadvdw67 said:

I though you never want to do it again 🤣🤣

I've already forgotten the suffering 😖

[Chadvdw67]

My weekend was a bit of a mixed bag of emotions. 

Day 1 I had a fall at about the 13km which bent my shifter lever, so I couldnt change to easier gears, my pedal also attacked my shin so I have a nice little hole in my leg, tried to fix the shifter trailside, but couldn't, put all the parts in my pocket and started walking, thinking my weekend was done, after a bit of walking I brainstormed, and decided to be a bush mechanic, McGyvered the bike so I could run on the 2 big cogs on the back by shifting with the barrel adjuster, lets just say things got SKETCHY trying to change gears while riding with half a hand on the bar and the other 1 and half hands turning the barrel adjuster to shift 🤣🤣 anyways, rode the next 33ish km like that, with a whopping top speed of 9km/h on the bits that were flatter. But I finished, and then to add insult to injury, when I got back to the village, I went to the bike shop guys to see if they maybe had a shifter, when I got there I couldnt unclip properly and bliksemed off the bike infront of everyone 🫣 and the pedal klapped my shin again, making the cut even bigger.

 

Anyway, after finding out the only shifter they had there was a XO1 for R2700, I limped home once again thinking my weekend was done, but my buddies, prompted by and including mr @thebob, offered to chip in to help me buy the shifter, thank you very much for the offer oom, jy is n yster, luckily I am stubborn old mule, and decided to youtube how to rebuild the shifter, and thankfully I didnt lose any parts, so after much frustration, I got my shifter sorted 🥳

 

Sunday morning I headed back to the bike shop because in the fall the matchmaker nut broke, they had one for me, so we fitted the shifter and a new inner cable and a sloppy indexing job because I was in a major rush to get to the start, and managed to get into my group with just 1 minute to spare.

 

The first 40km on day 2 are extremely boring IMO, just bumpy district roads, and with all the mist there was not even any nice scenery to look at, but, after the 40km mark, that bastard climb no02 began, not going to lie, I walked probably 50% of it, it is a proper beast, then the fun single track started, that made it all worth it, even though I was spent, it was still a massive jol, then when that ended, they turned us right to go around the locations, at anout that moment I lost my sense of humor, it just felt like they added it in just to get more distance, and then even worse, people I passed on the singletrack finished before me, because I "missed" the time cut off, so they got diverted to a short cut through Clarens square, but any, at least I finished the entire route, very pleased with myself.

 

Overall, it was a very lekker weekend of riding bikes, the "bad" parts just add to the adventure.

Edited May 29, 2023 by Chadvdw67

[Bertie N]

Heading to Clarens for the Amohela Classic in 3 weeks, very excited for the weekend.

Does anyone know the current road conditions from Sasolburg, Heilbron, Reitz, Bethlehem and Clarens.

Any information will be highly appreciated.

[Pieter-za]

I did it a while ago, and it was ok.  

Just a note FWIW, the Frankfort - Reitz road is practically rebuilt,  so N3 - FF - Reitz - Bhm - Clarens is also an option of you are coming from Jhb / Pra etc side.

[Bertie N]

Thanks Pieter.

We are driving from Krugersdorp, so was thinking going thru Sasolburg, Heilbron, Reitz.

I'm not sure of the condition of the road from Sasolburg to Heilbron and then Reitz.

Thanks

 

[Graham W]

Did this beginning of the month road to Heilbron was OK they are working on the side of the road but traveling at 120kph no issues, once past Heilbron the road is in good shape new tar surface and no potholes.  Before Bethlehem it's a **** show and will always be once past Bethlehem all good