Where to begin?
Feedback on the GM 180 degrees Cederberg Mountain Bike Experience:
Thursday:
On Thursday afternoon 26 October, I arrived at the Clanwilliam dam.
There I was welcomed by the site of 350 blue one man tents pitched on the green lawns of the camp site.
At registration I received a water bottle (yippee) a shoe bag (okay) and a quality Cape Storm race T-Shirt.
At about 6.30pm dinner was served. Lekker chicken potjie as well as penne bolognaise. The food was very tasty! There was dedicated vegetarian chow as well.
Friday:
We set off at 08h00. A steep climb out of the campsite and then a neutral zone through town until the Hummer H3 lead vehicle left us at the start of the dirt road about 10km out of town. The very first dirt we hit consisted of sharp and bumpy rocks. In a space of about 300m I came across 2 riders with flats plus myself, two riders who had serious falls for which they required medical assistance and I counted 7 water bottles littering the track.
Yip, we were off to a great start!
Anyway, let’s skip the boring chatter: the 2 major elements of day one were HEAT and SAND and lots of both. Sandy uphills where you could only push. Sandy flats where you had to push and sandy downhills that threw you off your bike if you weren’t good enough to keep your line.
Heat: 41 degrees!
Trees & shade: NONE!
The 65 km felt more like a 100km. The heat only subsided about 6.30pm at Bushman’s Cave deep in the Cederberg.
The highlight of the day: the after dinner talk by Mike Horn, adventurer extraordinaire! See ww.mikehorn.com for more on him.
Saturday:
After yours truly made a point of sharing his opinion with the organisers, the starting time for Saturday (and Sunday) was moved forward to 07h00.
Well at 07h00 on Saturday it was already 28 degrees. Great, I thought, here we go again. Yes there was sand, yes it was once again very hot and I consumed 5 bottles of liquid on the 75km ride. The fact however is that it was actually more pleasant as well as easier than the day before.
The campsite, Biedouw Valley Youth Camp was a great improvement on the pervious day. Great green lawns, pine trees and of course a great dam with ice cold water. We all plunged in there, some with helmet and all.
That afternoon was a real lazy one of swimming, snoozing and consuming ice cold beverages.
Sunday:
Up at 05h30, quick breakfast and off for the last 60km of the experience. The hills were tough and very rocky. Though there was still sand, it was an overcast day and the scenery was out of a fairy tale. Absolutely one of those great days that make you realise why you will never leave this country and its beauty.
The last 16km was all downhill, though very bumpy on the corrugated dirt road.
Very much a soft tail track.
Arriving at the Clanwilliam dam, a cold shower was followed by a great lamb shank potjie.
General comments;
1. The event was very well organised: well done Martin, Oliver, Xavier and the other 180 crew members.
2. The dinners were great. The lunches were okay. Personally the breakfasts did not do it for me.
3. The tents were comfortable.
4. The last day’s route was awesome, the others okay.
5. Overall I enjoyed the experience and believe I got value for money.
6. Will I do it again?: I will wait to hear about the Bushman’s cave overnight venue as well as the route.
The photos above are just some of those taken with my cellphone. Once the 180 crew uploads their photos to the web site, I will place a link on the blog to that gallery of photos taken by professional photographers.
Feedback from Grevile and results of the 180 Cederberg Experience
Just some early feedback and results from the Cederberg Experience 3-day MTB Stage Race. Find the results attached.
Turned out a special experience for the 102 teams [2 riders] and 102 individuals. This race goes through some of the spectacular landscapes of the Cederberg, and the overnight locations are in fairly remote areas. It was HOT! –reaching around 42°C during Stage 1 on Fri. But also some hot riding by Shan Wilson, -he rode individual on this one and showed his great form with a 13-minute final margin over 2nd place, Andre Viljoen, with Leon Erasmus another 9 mins back.
Individual women was won convincingly by Hannele Steyn-Kotze, with Marelize Le Roux nearly an hour behind her and Leanne Brown-Waterson in 3rd.
The men’s team category was won by Heimer Anderson and Jaco Rheeder, one of the strongest pairings in the big MTB endurance races, -they won the 230km Trans Baviaans in Aug. The mixed team pair of Yolande De Villiers and Patric Mosterd won their group by nearly an hour and a half. On individual time, Yolande finished 4th overall out of 306 riders, including some top male riders, and only 13 mins off Shan’s time. On current form, she must be the strongest female MTB rider in the country right now.
The stage location for stage 2 was in the Biedouw Valley and on the banks of the Biedouw River, -great place for the riders to chill, literally, after riding in slightly less hot conditions of around 37°C on Sat. Sun was much cooler riding over Pakhuis Pass back to Clanwilliam, from where the race started.
Cederberg%20Exp%202006%20Final%20Results%201.xls
I survived!
yes, 3 days and 200km of rugged and sandy terrain in 41degree heat!
Tonight I will do a full post with images!
Please come back to read all about it.
till then
All packed and ready to go!
Yip in 2 hrs time I’ll set off to Clanwilliam where we will spend the night and then take off from there for day 1 of the Cederberg Challenge tomorrow.
Am I prepared?: I have the clothes, helmet and gear yes.
Am I ready?: how can you be ready for something you know so little about?
Keen I am definetely and will try to keep the blog updated every day.
If not, I will tell my whole story on the blog next week.
If you will be there as well, make sure to get in touch.
see you in the dirt!
Is short course XC racing dying a slow death?
Okay,I know others have asked and debated this issue before. Checking out the latest WP XC results I was shocked to see how few participants there were.
3 elite women, one woman each in sub vet and vets. 6 sub vet men and 5 vet men.
Sure it is number four in the series, I get that.
But still, which organiser is going to put in the time and effort to organise an event and not at least break even? I understand it is not supposed to just be about money, but seeing that all the people working in MTB are volunteers and those organising the events have to pay their own bills, how long can one sustain a discipline that is seemingly dying?
Attached find the results for both XC and DH.
By the way, we have made posting comments a lot easier. You no longer have to be a registered user to comment. Simply click on the comment button and say your say. I want to hear from you!
WP%20Cross%20Country%204-2006.xlsWP%20Downhill%204-2006.xls
11 days to to the Cederberg Experience!
Ja, that’s it for those who like me who feel that the training should really have started sooner…
Alas, here we are!
Anyway, great was my surprise and excitement when I learnt that the event will now be sponsored by the Hummer people, General Motors.
My dream car: the new H3 that is being manufactured in PE of all places.
So, it all seems to be very exciting and I hope to post daily news, pics, video clips and results to the blog.
If you’re riding, I would love to hear from you.
The Mast Challenge
It was a pleasant morning at the bottom of the Tokai forest on Saturday. Each rider had to climb, bike and all, on a scale to be weighed. Using your weight, age and gender they calculated your handicap according to the anawat formula.
It was ten riders in a batch starting in 3 minute intervals. I must say, it is not pleasant having some-one from one or 2 groups behind you, overtake you on the track!
So, all the way up into the Tokai forest and then the hectic tarred road to the tower at the top of Constantia berg.
The dirt part was the easy bit. Once I hit the tar it got cold, very misty and of course very steep. At one stage my speed dropped to 5km per hour!
Anyway, it is something to do at least once! ( per year??)
The winner was not the one who did it in the shortest time. The shortest time was that of Daren Lill, who yes, believe it, did it in 38 minutes on a ROAD bike.
So, be it.
anyway,attached find the results. All in all a good event.
No drinks at the finish though….Trevor?
AnatomicMastChallenge2006.pdf
