babse Posted January 13 Posted January 13 also (not that I'm considering), but substitution fee at R400? bit much or not milky4130 1
milky4130 Posted January 13 Posted January 13 my advise for the guys that feel A seeding is too ambitious for them, just start in the group but fall back immediately, dont even try sitting with the group in that first 20kms, don't tell yourself you will just sit in their slip, just ride at your own steam and you will have your best finish time ever. I still cant believe it took me 6 attempts to realize that was the secret all along. Zebra, JohanDiv, Skubarra and 4 others 7
babse Posted January 13 Posted January 13 3 minutes ago, milky4130 said: my advise for the guys that feel A seeding is too ambitious for them, just start in the group but fall back immediately, dont even try sitting with the group in that first 20kms, don't tell yourself you will just sit in their slip, just ride at your own steam and you will have your best finish time ever. I still cant believe it took me 6 attempts to realize that was the secret all along. tell me you did 6 attakwas without telling me... CycleGuy10000, milky4130, JohanDiv and 2 others 5
milky4130 Posted January 13 Posted January 13 (edited) 2 minutes ago, babse said: tell me you did 6 attakwas without telling me... 7 😝 ....we did my last one together, the COVID edition. Edited January 13 by milky4130
babse Posted January 13 Posted January 13 45 minutes ago, milky4130 said: 7 😝 ....we did my last one together, the COVID edition. That one didn't count. Charity edition in non extreme conditions Titan Racing Bikes and CycleGuy10000 2
milky4130 Posted January 13 Posted January 13 16 minutes ago, babse said: That one didn't count. Charity edition in non extreme conditions I rode the entire route in a mask 😷surely that counts as extreme? 🤷♂️ CycleGuy10000, 'Kaze Pete, BuffsVintageBikes and 2 others 1 4
Skubarra Posted January 14 Posted January 14 You gotta be kidding me - just when I thought I broke my Atta bad weather streak. What does it take to get normal weather in that area? Groot-Brak predicted weather for Saturday Would still take the rain & mud over 40 degrees plus heat
babse Posted January 15 Posted January 15 11 hours ago, Skubarra said: You gotta be kidding me - just when I thought I broke my Atta bad weather streak. What does it take to get normal weather in that area? Groot-Brak predicted weather for Saturday Would still take the rain & mud over 40 degrees plus heat Nah still looks good in my view. Slight rain with breeze into the finish. Still think the "cool" temps in the kloof is massive win... dewaldsss 1
Skubarra Posted January 15 Posted January 15 32 minutes ago, babse said: Nah still looks good in my view. Slight rain with breeze into the finish. Still think the "cool" temps in the kloof is massive win... Fair point - I'll take rain & mud over the heat everyday.
Robbie Stewart Posted January 15 Posted January 15 17 hours ago, Skubarra said: You gotta be kidding me - just when I thought I broke my Atta bad weather streak. What does it take to get normal weather in that area? Groot-Brak predicted weather for Saturday Would still take the rain & mud over 40 degrees plus heat I grew up in George. Rain on the Groot Brak side does not imply rain on the Atta side. And that part of the world is currently facing a severe drought so any rain that does fall is welcome. Lastly, this is not rain season for Oudtshoorn side so the likelihood of rain is in the single digits. For once I hope I'm wrong, but you will be good for a dry ride. Skubarra and dewaldsss 2
Skubarra Posted January 15 Posted January 15 36 minutes ago, Robbie Stewart said: I grew up in George. Rain on the Groot Brak side does not imply rain on the Atta side. And that part of the world is currently facing a severe drought so any rain that does fall is welcome. Lastly, this is not rain season for Oudtshoorn side so the likelihood of rain is in the single digits. For once I hope I'm wrong, but you will be good for a dry ride. I'm not worried about the Oudtshoorn side.... But I see the predictions are changing, rain moving to Friday night. So might be a bit slippery & muddy but can live with that 🙂 babse and Robbie Stewart 2
babse Posted January 18 Posted January 18 On 1/15/2026 at 4:15 PM, Skubarra said: I'm not worried about the Oudtshoorn side.... But I see the predictions are changing, rain moving to Friday night. So might be a bit slippery & muddy but can live with that 🙂 How'd things go? Some speedy times posted across the groups. Removal of the wall and good conditions play out nicely?
MarcelGriff Posted January 18 Posted January 18 (edited) The weather was as good as you could possibly get. Mid to high 20's ahead of KOM and and on the other side it was cooler with some light rain for a small patch. As for the ride it self it was a different story for me and my brother. We did a slowish start per normal and with the first major climb before the 3rd water point we slowly started to it up increase the pace as we are able to ride the first climb and big parts of the KOM climb. This is our normal tactic and so we pass quite a few of the early gunners who burned to much and are now slowing down. On the first big climb getting in our grove passing quite a few guys already walking, I had to dodge some guys bailing mid track on both sides and forced me to go up the ridge in the middle between them. I managed to pass them but a my brother behind me flicked a rock and it hit his derailleur which then broke the hanger. This was on km +-51. Trying to figure out what and how we are going to deal with this, the plan initially was to get he derailleur of the bike and then get down to WP3 and see if the mechanics could assist in some way. I know you all will say why don't make it a single speed ..... he has an oval chain ring up front so single speed was not an option. As the bolt on the derailleur is a bigger T bolt than what we had on our multi tools we could not get the derailleur from the bike. Loosing trying to make a plan with the derailleur one of the support motorbikes came along and we could cut the cable and put the derailleur and chain in his hydration bag and start the big hike of 15km to WP3. As the terrain was very technical there was not many ways I could assist or support him. Downhills he jumped on the bike and flew down and tried to go as far as he could with momentum, up hill he walked as fast as he could. Eventually getting to Bonniedale hoping for a miracle at he tech station, but there was just no plan that could be made. Nothing could be done. Quit or run. My brother does not quit easily thus we resorted to math. Looking at the time still being before 12pm and doing some math it could still be possible to finish the race in the cutoff. Knowing that I would be able to assist with pulling / pushing on the roads after Bonniedale, as the track was not technical going forward, and in high spirits we decided to give this a go. So on the hills he walked and ran as much as his body allowed him and on the flats and low inclines he held on to my backpack so I could pull him. Some creative track hand Madison slings helped to get him over some of the rollers with momentum and on the flatter roads it was just pure old diesel tow. Slowly but surely we started to believe this ridiculous plan could work. Every few km we looked and saw we are getting closer and we are slowly getting ahead of some time plan made for ourselves. With lots encouragement from fellow riders and good amount of banter and jokes between us keeping our spirits high we managed to run / hop / skip / sling / tow our way to the end before the cutoff. This will surely be something we both wont easily forget. Yesterday I completed my 4th and my brother his 8th and even with the high temps of the previous years and being super proud of being able to complete them, I am the most proud of this finish and that we were able to do it. Huge respect to Johan for his fighting spirit and not wanting to give up, when the odds was highly stacked against him. A big thanks to all the people along the route supporters and riders who encouraged and motivated us. P.S. Oh and by the way I told him to get a normal chain ring Monday morning first thing. Edited January 18 by MarcelGriff HdB, LukeLan, daveno7 and 19 others 15 7
dewaldsss Posted January 19 Posted January 19 My 1st Atta experience... Legs were fresh, the 5km warm-up to the start were a plus. The race, my initial goal was to finish strong and the competitive side i wanted to do a sub 7. A-batch start at the back as the plan was to start slow and keep HR in Z3. the field went out the blocks rather fast but paced myself and eventually caught up with a lekker bunch of guys (and girl) from a batch 15km in that also rode a lekker pace. 1st stop was at the KOM water point to refuel as i thought it was water point 3. nevertheless, I rode my own pace to water-point 4. That 1st climb after Bonniedale... MOER, what a mood killer! , and they kept coming! legs felt good coming out the kloof and I soldiered on. slight cramp on 105km but it was due to putting to much effort into the rolling hills so just spun it out on the last 2 climbs. Finish time was 6hrs 13min so very chuffed with the result. Weather was perfect I but think i will have to go back next year to experience a proper heat fest Blessed to not have any mechanicals or punctures, saw a few UCI men with rim/tyre failures. note to self, do long rides and then go climbing, the last 30km was brutal! gerriemtb, BlinkFan, Spinnaroonie and 10 others 12 1
Skubarra Posted January 19 Posted January 19 17 hours ago, babse said: How'd things go? Some speedy times posted across the groups. Removal of the wall and good conditions play out nicely? First 40km completely different to previous years - much easier, more flowing - an improvement over the previous route imo and probably win you easily 20 minutes over previous years + save the legs a bit for the last 50km Weather was also as perfect as you could ask for in January, around 30 degrees in the Kloof and low 20s on the Groot Brak side with a light breeze & drizzle to cool one down. So overall you should have been about 40 minutes faster Saturday compared to the previous "standard" Attakwas. I finally got my sub 7 despite being undercooked and overweight compared to previous attempts but I'll take it 🤣 milky4130, dewaldsss, Prince Albert Cycles and 2 others 4 1
dewaldsss Posted January 19 Posted January 19 (edited) 34 minutes ago, Skubarra said: First 40km completely different to previous years - much easier, more flowing - an improvement over the previous route imo and probably win you easily 20 minutes over previous years + save the legs a bit for the last 50km Weather was also as perfect as you could ask for in January, around 30 degrees in the Kloof and low 20s on the Groot Brak side with a light breeze & drizzle to cool one down. So overall you should have been about 40 minutes faster Saturday compared to the previous "standard" Attakwas. I finally got my sub 7 despite being undercooked and overweight compared to previous attempts but I'll take it 🤣 Congrats on the sub 7 👌 Taking Alan's time from 2025 vs 2026 he only went 25min faster this year 2025 - 04:50:16 vs 2026 - 04:25:10 I'll take the 25min as a mental note to self Edited January 19 by dewaldsss Skubarra 1
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