TransBaviaans 2025

[DavidOWright]

Hey everyone

Anyone know the status of the river crossings - lots of water - not much water? etc...

 

[mrcg]

Good luck to all riders. Will be mild start and reckon it will warm up very nicely with an awesome tailwind to boot. There was a lot of rain recently so expect there will be a decent amount of water around. 

[HdB]

Good luck all. Weather looks pretty good

[JJDT]

This was my first attempt. Tough day out but enjoyed the ride. Not everything went according to plan. The road conditions were tough and on the very first decent like so many others lost my one water bottle, stopped and walked back to gather it. Just after the climb from CP1 it felt that my chain was stuck somewhere while trouble shooting found the culprit and the rear triangle suspension pivot bolt came loose and the only thing that kept the bolt somewhat in the frame was the chain that was in the way. Just tightened it by hand and seeing that I was riding with my son and he was in front of the little bunch he did not see that I stopped.

Burnt a few matches trying to play catchup, and after 3 km's found him next to the road waiting for me. Stopped and tightened the bolt with the multitool, the opposite bolt was also loose to tightened that as well. Lost some valuable time and we decided to make up some time, because we really wanted to be on the top of Bergplaas by sunset. Burnt matches again and the Baviaans Back climb took the last good remaining energy. Recovered somewhat and then it was Fangs as to which I only managed halfway before walking. MAC was the same only managed the first part but when the climb really started I was walking again. We entered Bergplaas just as the sun set.

Spend some time there resting and then it was the decent, as to which one rider nearly crashed which would've been nasty as he really gunning it and just managed to hold before the one corner. 

Neverender was not that bad, but had a mental challenge to it especially at night. As you look up you see just a string of red lights on another climb which seemed as the name suggest never ends. Quick bite at "Jaffels" and then we were on the home straight but with a few twists in the end for a really tired guy...those little small climbs in the last 2km...

Managed a riding time of 12H03 and overall time of 14H09.

[HdB]

I did my second, my dad his first. Given two health scares for him since I entered us last year, two months ago I was not even sure he'd be cleared to train, nevermind be fit enough. He was quite fit at the start of the year, and trained well since June, so it was on. 

The goal was simply to finish safely, with a hopeful "get to Bergplaas descent before sunset" - my dad is not the most confident descender. We spent a bit too much time at the checkpoints though, and he had to walk the second Fang and most of MAC, so the latter goal was gone, but at least we saw a beautiful moonrise. 

On the big descents, especially from Bergplaas, I kept it nice and slow so he could see my line and I could warn of any tricky bits. 

This year Neverender really felt neverending, I don't remember it being so mentally tiring last year. 

Overall it was a great day, nice and warm to start, the water crossings were nothing compared to last year (I was surprised at how many people walked some), no mechanicals and no close calls. We even ran into some family of ours at checkpoint 2, and from there we saw them at every checkpoint and at the finish. 

[MongooseMan]

Race report to come, but let’s just say that those descents on a gravel bike (and the corrugations on the first 100k) left my hands in an uncomfortable place by the time we got to Bergplaas 🙈

Edited August 12, 2025 by MongooseMan

[JJDT]

2 hours ago, HdB said:

 

The goal was simply to finish safely, with a hopeful "get to Bergplaas descent before sunset" - my dad is not the most confident descender. We spent a bit too much time at the checkpoints though, and he had to walk the second Fang and most of MAC, so the latter goal was gone, but at least we saw a beautiful moonrise. 

 

This year Neverender really felt neverending, I don't remember it being so mentally tiring last year. 

 

 

Yip that moonrise was nice...wanted to take a pic, but did not do it.

Looks like we share the same experience on neverender, although my first time and everytime I look up and just see red lights in the distance...mentally tiring.

Glad you got to finish with your dad.

[MongooseMan]

Race report (from my perspective)

 

Our goal was sub 12, splits on my bars (noting some issues with the first split)

Fast start, though I immediately realised that the first 100k were not all downhill, and the road surface was pretty rubbish (corrugated and ditches)
At the bottom of one big pass about 20k in my left hip locked up to the extent I couldn’t pedal for about 5mins and couldn’t put any torque down until CP2. Popped two pain pills, which seemed to help.
My two partners (who were on MTBs) were strong at this point.
We hit CP2 (93km) in 3:41, 30mins down on our goal (though I’m starting to suspect my maths was off for that segment)

Came out of CP2 feeling strong, first real climb of the day up Baviaans back and it got properly hot. Strongest partner overheated, and then I got nauseous on the descent. Worst descent of that race for me.
Rolled into CP3 (125k) in 5:40, now 10mins behind (see previous sus maths comment)

300m river ride out of CP3, nice to cool down but I fell over without unclipping and landed hard on my elbow.
First fang was fine, second fang was brutal, nausea was hitting me hard (heat plus stomach not agreeing with aid station Gu electrolytes I think).
Partners still strong at this point.

The Mac (10km, 500m) climb was everything I expected, and worse
Walked about a 3rd of it (at least, my memory is foggy).
Got to 8k up and told the others I was dropping at Bergplaas (CP4 at the top)
Of course they didn’t listen. One partner (who I had pushed plenty in training) gave me some good pushes up the last drag), so there was some nice poetry there.

Got to Bergplaas (143km) in 7:54, 19min down, and got our Dropbox. Big brain move was me packing a can of ginger beer which I downed in a minute. We all did a full change, stuck on our lights, I had a coffee/milo/sugar concoction. 
When I took off my gloves to change them I saw the two massive blisters on my hands 🙈 Put on my thickest gloves, just for some padding.
Then we rolled out into the dark.

Bergplaas descent was my biggest fear coming into this, but it was actually fine. Got to the bottom and realised my light wasn’t actually on, so had to stop and change it. Got dropped by partners in the dark, and had a rant when I caught them again, we agreed to stick together from there.
We rolled hard from there, all feeling pretty good.
Rollers and tar into CP5 (175k) in 9:54, where we all had some hot chips and coke and a sit.

From there it was NeverEnder. Garmin has it as 5k, 200m. Garmin lies. It’s 10km long. Yoh, words were said best not repeated.
Finally got to the top and rolled down to CP7 (205k) in 11:50. Weird loop under a road for no reason, but we rolled in, had another coffee/Milo concoction and a jaffel which went down surprisingly well.
22k (in theory) to go.

Big tailwind for the next 8km, we ate up the miles until Little Mac, which is steep but short, and we all made it without much issue.
Another fast descent and then a detour off the gpx into a farm where we came across some very confused cows in the dark.
Navigated that and then it was onto the last section along the side of the road, where you have no idea how long is left and it just keeps going.
Finally finally saw the finish village and turned down without too much extra out and back.
Rolled across the finish line in 12:50. Not our goal, but we did finish as a team, without hating the race or each other, so we’re taking it as a win.

Beer, burger, BnB, bed, and the try to shut the brain off and go to sleep (mostly unsuccessful)

 

Would I do it again? Not on a gravel bike. Most of the first 100k simply wasn't enjoyable. So maybe on a MTB, but I don't want one of those

[HdB]

24 minutes ago, JJDT said:

Yip that moonrise was nice...wanted to take a pic, but did not do it.

Looks like we share the same experience on neverender, although my first time and everytime I look up and just see red lights in the distance...mentally tiring.

Glad you got to finish with your dad.

Cellphone camera cannot do it justice, sadly.

Edited August 12, 2025 by HdB

[MongooseMan]

1 minute ago, HdB said:

Cellphone camera cannot do it justice, sadly.

[JJDT]

Glad somebody got some cool pics of the moon.

[JJDT]

59 minutes ago, MongooseMan said:

The Mac (10km, 500m) climb was everything I expected, and worse
Walked about a 3rd of it (at least, my memory is foggy).
Got to 8k up and told the others I was dropping at Bergplaas (CP4 at the top)
Of course they didn’t listen. One partner (who I had pushed plenty in training) gave me some good pushes up the last drag), so there was some nice poetry there.

From there it was NeverEnder. Garmin has it as 5k, 200m. Garmin lies. It’s 10km long. Yoh, words were said best not repeated.
Finally got to the top and rolled down to CP7 (205k) in 11:50. Weird loop under a road for no reason, 

Glad they didn't listen and you managed to finish.

Garmin and Neverender...my son told me also that we were almost done as he did the event last year and his words "If I remember correctly we should be done soon" and also as per Garmin.

That loop was really silly...maybe just to increase the distance but as you mention really weird.

[HdB]

31 minutes ago, JJDT said:

That loop was really silly...maybe just to increase the distance but as you mention really weird.

More likely just to avoid needing multiple marshals or even traffic department involved for 18h with crossing a road?

It was a bit better than last year at least - there was an exposed plastic water pipe just as you turned right to go back up, that could easily cause a fall. 

[Skubarra]

7 minutes ago, HdB said:

It was a bit better than last year at least - there was an exposed plastic water pipe just as you turned right to go back up, that could easily cause a fall. 

The last few kilometers to the finish of the Transbaviaans has always been the one big let down of the event for me, (although at least the current finish venue is a big upgrade on the mall)

If the venue can handle the numbers I would have loved the event to finish at the Gamtoos Ferry Hotel nearby (like the Trans Elands), it will cut out the rubbish last few kilometers and still be close to Jeffreys.

[MongooseMan]

33 minutes ago, Skubarra said:

The last few kilometers to the finish of the Transbaviaans has always been the one big let down of the event for me, (although at least the current finish venue is a big upgrade on the mall)

If the venue can handle the numbers I would have loved the event to finish at the Gamtoos Ferry Hotel nearby (like the Trans Elands), it will cut out the rubbish last few kilometers and still be close to Jeffreys.

Agree

Aside from the novelty of the midnight cows, that long stretch after you go under the road just goes on and on, with no concept of how far you have left.

[Elwin]

This is a bit of a long shot, but…
Did anyone ride the TB 2025 and get a Large shirt, and would be willing to swap for a Medium?

My mate and I bought someone else’s entries, but we were too late to change the shirt sizes.