Dirtopia Welvanpas Enduro: The Bad Luck Club

Last week flew by so quickly: Hanco was sick as a dog due to a tummy bug and I spent almost every minute working on my thesis and marking tests. We didn't get to ride much and when Arina posted on Facebook that the Welvanpas Enduro might be cancelled, we were secretly holding thumbs...

But alas, the show must go on. When we heard that the event was still on, we manned up and tried to take it in our stride. We had already organised accommodation for the weekend and slowly but surely we started getting excited about spending some time on our big bikes on trails we hadn't ridden in a while.

Day 1: 

We left Stellenbosch early on Saturday morning, being almost the first to arrive at the event venue. The Dirtopia crew were still setting up and we tried to keep warm while we waited for things to get started. The entrants arrived in drips and draps and there were so many new faces, including about 9 female entrants! Many of these were local riders, and they knew the trails extremely well.

The first day's stages went by very quickly and we were left a bit disapointed. It felt as if we could've managed the trails better if we had brought our 100mm travel hardtails as that would've been the best weapon for the job. The busy week had drained our energy and our big bikes felt heavy and we struggled to keep up on the super pedally stages. The many uphill sections included in the special stages did not really help at all. Hanco had an incident where he followed the wrong arrows and ended up almost missing a tag point. There were also not enough arrows showing riders where to go during the liason stages and wild guesses either pointed you in the right direction or had you riding in circles for a while.

Hanco and I both had our fair share of crashes and mishaps in the first few stages and by the third stage we were just focussing on finishing the race. I did however enjoy all the singletrack that formed part of the liaison stages and made a mental note that we should come to Welvanpas in the near future for a relaxed trail ride.

With all the crashes, almost getting lost and passing riders on the special stages, we really hoped for a better ride the next day. We were also looking forward to riding with our friend, Wes, who were joining only for the last day.

Day 2:

We left the farm we were staying on a bit late on Sunday morning and we arrived just in time for the day's start. Meurant warned us that we would begin the day with a climb of about 6 km. We had previously done this climb so we knew what we were in for, but we weren't aware of the bad luck we would encounter along the way...

We had just crossed over the Bain's Kloof Pass when Hanco got his first puncture. He quickly fixed it and after about what felt like 40 minutes we reached the top of the climb and the first tag point. The first stage of the day was the complete opposite of the previous day's stages: long, flowing and most importantly: descending! I was having fun, but somehow Hanco managed to take a wrong turn in this stage and ended up having to turn around. Obviously after the puncture in the beginning, this was not the best start to the day.

The next liason stage was another big climb with a water point halfway in. We were taking it slowly and trying to conserve our energy for the next stage.

Almost three quarters of the way up, Hanco had his second puncture... By now we had already used our spare tube and I decided to pedal on in the hope of meeting someone along the way who could help us out while Hanco started pushing his bike up. After about 30 minutes of cycling on my own, Herman passed me and gave me a tube to give to Hanco. Thanks Herman! I decided to wait for Hanco at that point and when he passed me, he quickly fixed his puncture and we were off again to the second last stage of the day. The single track leading to the second stage was very rough and rocky at patches and in contrast to the previous day, we were feeling grateful for the suspension on our big bikes. Except for the slippery cement block near the start of the next stage, I really enjoyed it. It was descending and rocky and not too pedally.

Luckily the third stage was only a quick pedal away. This stage was also a lot of fun. Sandy, rocky, flowy and fast! I waited for Hanco at the tagpoint at the finish and got worried when he didn't arrive in a few minutes. Bad luck struck him again and he punctured halfway down the stage. By this time he was so gatvol that he was ready to give up and end the day. We decided that he would wait for a shuttle to pick him up while Wes and I continued to the last stage.

The last liaison  was about 5 kms longer than we expected. By the time we reached the startpoint again we were ready to hop onto the shuttle that was promised for the last stage. We were quickly informed that the shuttle was nonexistant and that everybody and just pedalled up. It took a bit of convincing form my side to get Wes to join me for the last stretch, but soon we were on our way with the last tagpoint on the horizon.

With a few off camber turns and switchbacks along with a number of berms, the last stage was a lot of fun. On my run down, I was so happy to see Hanco making his way up towards the start of the stage. That meant that he managed to fix his last puncture and was ready for some more enduro action.

I waited for him at the tag point at the end of the stage. As if his luck wasn't bad enough already, he met up with another rider on the trail (not an entrant to the event) who refused to let him pass, just greeting him with a "Hello!" when Hanco shouted "rider!" and "track please". This slowed him down a lot and also broke the last of his spirits.

Reaching the coffee shop where the prize giving took place, we just wanted to get home, get cleaned up, eat something and then sleep!!! This was exactly what we did.

Even though the enduro discipline still needs some fine tuning in South Africa, we are really grateful for Meurant for hosting these events and continuing to make it better and better for the riders. Thanks for a fun event! We'll be seeing everyone again at the next one!

Everyone who lent us tubes can collect it there ;)

Mountainbiking in the Karoo

We needed no convincing when our good friend, Jeanette, invited us to go and visit her family in Calitzdorp this past long weekend. We were looking forward to enjoying the peace and quiet that the Karoo had to offer along with all the activities that forms part of being on a farm.

A quick bit of Googling before hand informed us that the dates we were planning our visit on were spot on as the normally quiet town would then be hosting its anual Port Festival. Taking our Googling a few clicks further, we also found out that they were playing host to the Rooiberger mountainbike event that weekend. Our luck was definitely in and we decided to enter the 41 km event on the Saturday as well as the XCO race on the Sunday afternoon.

With our bags packed and bikes on the bike rack, we headed through the tunnel late on Friday afternoon. The drive was much longer that I had anticipated and we only arrived on the farm after dark. Here we were treated to delicious snacks and hot tea by Jeanette's mother. This special treatment continued throughout the whole weekend and we were reminded about how hospitable and friendly most farm people are.

After a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit salad with yoghurt, we set out in the direction of the Calitzdorp Spa - the venue for the day's race. Arriving early, we had time to warm up a bit and fiddle with our bikes. We were also excited when we saw a massive ramp that was built especially for the race. We already imagined speeding off the ramp during the race. Those thoughts were quickly crushed when we learnt that the ramp was built for riding up on... The reality of it being a long distance race and not a downhill race set in.

The amount of riders was refreshingly less than at the races closer to home and we only had about 40 riders who joined us for the 41km distance. After the braver souls doing the 93km race sped off, we were called to the finish line where we waited to start. The gun went off and we spent the first few kilometres riding on a tar road. After about 4 kilometres on this road, we realised that we had somehow missed a turn off (being waved in the wrong direction by a marshal) and everyone had to turn around again. The rest of the course consisted of a mix of straight, flat farm roads, very rocky river beds and two rocky and somewhat technical climbs. I really enjoyed the Karoo scenery and spent most of the ride on my own. The amount of riders was so little that I couldn't see anyone in front of me or behind me for kilometres.

Soon after reaching the finish line, I was surprised to hear that I came third for the ladies! Hanco had already finished before me and he placed sixth in the men's category. We waited for Jeanette to finish the race and then we all relaxed on the grass until it was time for prizegiving. I received a beautiful trophy in the form of a mini windmill - something that is very common in the Karoo. My luck was also in during the luckydraw where I won a beach umbrella sponsored by Clover. The day was almost over when we headed home. We ended the day with a nice big family braai.

Sunday was Fathersday and Hanco and I decided to give the family space to celebrate this special day while we headed back to the race venue to get ready for the afternoon’s XCO race. This was my first XCO race ever and I was quite nervous. We both entered in the fun category, partly because the entry fee was cheaper and also because we weren’t feeling up to doing the 5 or 6 laps around the course required for the Elite class, but most importantly because we were there to have FUN!

We took a slow ride along the course to check it out. There were two off camber rocky sections that worried me a bit but I soon realized that the faster you go over it, the less of an obstacle it becomes. It is a very fun and beginner friendly course with a fair mix of fast jeep track, a few climbs, technical single track and rocky descents. After two practice laps we waited in the sunshine for the race briefing.

Photos by MP Heyns

The fun category started along with the junior classes and we pedaled to get ahead of the kids as we didn’t want to get stuck behind them on the single track. This worked out very well for Hanco as he finished ahead of everyone in that group. I got stuck behind two kids only managing to pass the last one near the end of my final lap. I am very proud of Hanco and I who both finished first in our respective categories. We headed home close to sunset where we were again treated to a delicious supper.

Monday marked the last day of our visit and we decided to give the Port festival a visit. It was a very chilly morning with frost clearly visible on the grass and ground. The port and wine tasting however took the worst sting away from the cold. Heading back to the farm, we took a ride on the motorbike and Hanco tried his hand at clay pigeon shooting. Not being very fond of guns, I opted to support him from the sideline!

The day was over far too quickly and soon it was time for us to pack our bags and bikes and head home. The ride home was far less exciting as we were all tired from a weekend well spent. Thank you again to the Barry’s from the Vredelus farm for their hospitality this weekend! We would sure love to come visit again!

Tea and hail, all in a day.

Today we decided to have a short ride next to the river and have a cup of tea and a biscuit since it was cold and rainy.  The rain stopped and we headed for the hills, riding to a nice spot next to the river and enjoying the sound of the water streaming down from the Jonkershoek valley.

Crossing the river might have been a bit more daunting than we first imagined so we went for the chicken run....the bridge.  I was in a way very glad we decided on the bridge after crossing it and spotting a massive  tree being swept away by the current.

As we made our way up and around the mountain we heard some thunder rolling in.  As we well know that thunder in the Cape is coupled with rain and hail we headed home with the shortest route.  We could see the dark clouds being blown in by a strong wind.

At about 2km from home the rain started coming down, and not light rain, it bucketed down on us.  Not just rain but hail too.  Strong winds were blowing us all over the footpath we followed home.

Lucky for us we got home all in one piece, wet yes and a little sore from the freezing hail hitting us in the face, arms and legs.  Still a good fun ride on our two wheeled machines.

Sunny Jonkershoek afternoon ride.

With the southern hemisphere just a few days away from the Winter Solstice (20 June) we are left with very short days and therefore very short rides.

Today we decided to see how far we can stretch it before the sun goes to bed behind the mountains. At 16:00 we were kitted up and ready to go: our trusty hardtails were the weapon of choice.  Pedaling hard to make the best of our available sunlight we got to the top where we stopped for a quick photo and then moved on to do Never Ending Story.

Posing for a quick photo.

After that we moved to the bottom lower canary and got back to the gate just as the sun dipped behind the mountain.  From there on we only had 20 minutes of light left before we were in complete darkness.  With a 10km pedal back to my house we pedaled like raging bulls.  We got home just in time!

All in a good days work. Nearly 35km done.

Shot at being a hipster

So with all the rain we have been having our riding has been quite dismal as of late.  The lovely sunny afternoons have crept to the northern hemisphere and has left us with cold and short dreary afternoons, most of them filled with buckets of rain and the occasional hale storm.

With all this doomsday weather and darkness covering the trails we decided to try our hand at something different...to bring in some light and bring us back to our 2 wheeled machines. We tried being hipsters! :)

We got on our bikes and rode through town taking instagram pictures of everything odd and drank strong coffee.  Yes we have mastered the art of being a professional photographer with a phone! :)

It was good fun for a day, but making a living out of this does not fit our budget.