[Event] Old Hermon Gravel Ride

[Bub Marley]

Difficult to actually give a race report but I’ll try. I mean the conditions were pretty horrible. I rocked up at the start venue and the car guard tells me to park in this one spot. I look at the spot and tell him, if i park there i ain’t getting out. He tells me not to worry, they have a tractor there to pull any cars out that stuck in the mud. I thought that was pretty hilarious. That tractor was really put to work though. Literally pulling so many cars out all day.

 

Anyway, as for the race. As bad as the conditions were, the entire course was rideable. Yes there was loads of mud but it definitely wasn’t that unbound level of mud. I think it was more just the accumulation of mud pretty much the entire route. There was not much dry sections anywhere bar the few km’s of tar. Bear in mind I rode a 29er hardtail, so maybe it was different for others but i could ride through/dodge everything mud related. The only 2 times I dismounted was for 2 streams which we had to cross. I did see plenty of people dismount though but for me personally it was all rideable.

 

I was hesitant last night to ride it, but I’m glad I did. The first 60km I thoroughly enjoyed despite the mud but I went into the red the last 15 or so km’s and then it was pretty miserable and by then I was just fed up with the mud. I think the accumalation of constant mud took its toll today. My heart rate did not want to drop at all for some reason. I did have the flu earlier in the week so could be that but I also think we just had to work harder today through everything. There were no free miles at all today and because the ground was always wet, you’re constantly pushing harder than what you normally would do on dry gravel where the bike just rolls faster. Those last 15km were torture. Just constant rollers but I suppose that’s kinda expected in that region.

 

[Bub Marley]

Can I also just say that I am now over this Cape Town winter. I get that the rain was needed and everything but Im done with this now. Can summer just please come already. 

[cadenceblur]

Sounds like I maybe  dodged a bullet by not riding, spoke to some people who noted that today was a day for a MTB as well
Hopefully next year these events won’t be muddy 🤞

[babse]

3 hours ago, Bub Marley said:

Can I also just say that I am now over this Cape Town winter. I get that the rain was needed and everything but Im done with this now. Can summer just please come already. 

My thoughts in the beginning of July already 🥲

[Jbr]

expensive weekend… the jockey wheels aren’t too pricy and seem easy to replace, the fork though… I thought I heard a bad noise when my front wheel went deep into a puddle and stopped studdenly. I actually stopped to feel if something in the headset broke (steerer tube, bearing ?), but it felt solid so carried on... Seems it's the fork that suffered a "hairline fracture"... an OTB would’ve been cheaper… let’s see how good silverback’s warranty is

Edited August 27, 2023 by Jbr

[Bub Marley]

Just finished cleaning my bike now. Everything seems okay. Will probably need a second wash as well as there still  mud stuck in some areas but I couldn’t be bothered anymore after 2 hours cleaning. 
 

Bearings will probably need replacing but will probably do it after the Boland Gravel monster race as that’s the last off road before focus on the DC. 

[ChrisF]

3 hours ago, Jbr said:

expensive weekend… the jockey wheels aren’t too pricy and seem easy to replace, the fork though… I thought I heard a bad noise when my front wheel went deep into a puddle and stopped studdenly. I actually stopped to feel if something in the headset broke (steerer tube, bearing ?), but it felt solid so carried on... Seems it's the fork that suffered a "hairline fracture"... an OTB would’ve been cheaper… let’s see how good silverback’s warranty is

 

Reach out to @KB280DT

 

He has used the Silverback warrantee process a couple of times.  He has the contact numbers.

 

 

I think he said CWC/CL has taken over as agents for Silverback.

 

 

Depending on your insurance, it may be quicker to claim from your short term .... my cover from Santam cover accident damage, even during a race (if not a pro racer)

[Jbr]

1 hour ago, ChrisF said:

 

Reach out to @KB280DT

 

He has used the Silverback warrantee process a couple of times.  He has the contact numbers.

 

 

I think he said CWC/CL has taken over as agents for Silverback.

 

 

Depending on your insurance, it may be quicker to claim from your short term .... my cover from Santam cover accident damage, even during a race (if not a pro racer)

Thanks, I was going to go ask at CWC this week see what they say ! But interested if anyone has experience with silverback

[Prince Albert Cycles]

Had excellent service from Silverback on a customers bike . Daniel Amos at CWC .

[Sid the Sloth]

On 8/26/2023 at 5:26 PM, Jbr said:

Dan who entertained me a couple of times with some spectacular stunts ☺️ before he disappeared in the distance

Yoh I bailed hard so hard. Still hurting. 

[Shebeen]

20 hours ago, Jbr said:

expensive weekend… the jockey wheels aren’t too pricy and seem easy to replace, 

fork that. i do wonder if jockey wheels could be done better - bearings get so easily exposed. they seem to be a very lazy engineering solution compared to the rest of how bikes are put together. but maybe it's not such an issue.

[Jbr]

25 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

fork that. i do wonder if jockey wheels could be done better - bearings get so easily exposed. they seem to be a very lazy engineering solution compared to the rest of how bikes are put together. but maybe it's not such an issue.

Honestly, after taking them appart I can say they did 0 effort in protecting those bearings, the plates above the seals move even when tightened to torque, the seals don't seem too bad, but once I removed them, the bearing had 0 grease in them, only dirt. I cleaned them with WD40 and stuffed them with WB grease, but no luck, I think all the balls in the bearing are seized, I'll replace them, not that expensive, looks like it's a consumable. Not so sure how old that derailleur is, but it has a lot of mileage, not that many hectic rides like saturday though (lots of mud and riding through river crossings to drown the bearings).

Headset is rough but wheel bearings and BB seem to still be good though.

[Bub Marley]

So anyone entered for this event?

 

Hopefully better conditions this year after the mud fest last year. Forecast looks decent for now the next 10 days but it can change quickly. This event was pretty well attended last year despite the horrid conditions so hopefully we get a similar turnout again. I am surprised at the lack of promotion for some of these events. Bar 1 facebook post, there’s nothing else about it. 

[Anthem24]

Agreed -- odd that it's not on EntryNinja

https://oldhermon.co.za/

[Skubarra]

6 minutes ago, Anthem24 said:

Agreed -- odd that it's not on EntryNinja

https://oldhermon.co.za/

Organised by the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust - so they would use the Racetec entry portal

[BuffsVintageBikes]

I'm keen to enter but with the weather being so unpredictable I'm a little unsure whether I should use my hardtail or the gravel bike. I see the entry portal wants you to specify whether you're entering as an "Individual" or a "Gravel bike". That a rather an unusual option to have to chose from and doesn't leave you with much wiggle room on the day 🙄 Guess it won't matter much either way for a mid packer.