Ronde van Swartberg

[Brian Behrens]

Hey guys, I have entered the Ronde van Swartberg, which is this coming weekend. I have not received any email this week confirming my entry and have thus not received the GPX map for the race. Has anyone received the confirmatory email and can share the GPX file with me. 

Hugely appreciate your help 

Edited Friday at 03:41 AM by Brian Behrens

[HubArch]

Hi Brian 

Email sent with all the deets!

 

Cheers 

 

Team RVS

[christovdw]

This weekend is going to be EPIC!! 🦾

[Donovan Le Cok]

Here is a video I took of Swartberg during Gravel Giro last week. The pass is in incredible condition, easily the best I’ve ever ridden it. It’s going to be an epic weekend!

 

[HdB]

Well, that was probably the toughest event I've ever done.

Got a nice small group once the fast people sped off into the distance, but bad luck struck at the water crossing on the Klaarstroom gravel section, thought I took a similar line to the rider ahead but clearly not. I tried to plug it, but it was just too big. Put in a tube, and made it to just before the big climb on the Oude muragie section before that too went flat. 

Thankfully someone (Christo, I owe you a lot) gave me a TPU tube, and after a few tries I got an Enduren gel packet to block the cut from the inside. 

Made it to WP3, along the way something with my left shifter was starting to act up, so getting into the big ring was a lottery. Not that the big ring was ever needed from WP3 to WP5. At WP4 I was considering the sweep vehicle, but an overdose of rennies and some stretching got my legs OK enough to continue. Figured I could wait for the sweep vehicle there or they could find me somewhere up the Swartberg climb. 

What a climb! Stunning view while you inch up at 3km/h, barely faster than the people walking. Managed to avoid cramping, and even stopped about 1.2km from the top to help a chameleon out of the road. Refueled and gilet on at the top, and carefully down the descent. How I missed my dual-sus on this section... 

And the bonus was the bucketing rain as soon as I was off the pass. Big ring was a no go by this point, but some cross chaining was not going to stop me from getting to the finish now. 

Will I do it again? Not sure, at a minimum I need to replace or upgrade a few things on my gravel bike. Or just do it with my dual-sus, maybe with a bigger chainring.