Day 1 – Platberg⛰
We had a lot more Doclings joining us this year at the Swinburne weekend which was fabulous ? It was really great seeing the future XC and Downhill Champions showing off their skills??
On Saturday morning the Doclings were dressed, ready and charged up like Duracell Bunnies ? way before the grown-ups. Platberg Reserve was waiting for the DocFamilies. ⛰I had experienced a little of the Platberg Reserve last year? and I knew the climbing that awaited the DocNinjas. So after a chat to Carl, our local guide, for some not so daunting routes the Doclings and a few chaperones headed off into the unknown.
Carl suggested we try a little single track that headed off just a little way from the entrance. So dodging the Parkrunners our group of XC and Downhill Doclings zoomed off with dust flying?… Let me tell you these youngsters were like little Ninjas. These Free State mountain bikers are mountain goats and Carl’s little single track wasn’t a walking in the park. There were short sharp climbs, rock gardens, soft sand and a few drop offs? and our Doclings held their own. Powering through the 10km ride with 132mt of accent.
We found our way down to the river and the Doclings had a bit of fun playing in the water, skipping stones and chasing frogs ? while us Chaperones caught our breath and rested our legs for the ride back to the car park. Jill had brought a snack pack so we were all refuelled and refreshed as we headed back to the cars. There we found a few Docs that had found their way down from the dizzy heights that help us load up the bikes so our Doclings could head back for a well-deserved lunch and swim.
Day 2 – Little Church ⛪️ Scone Squad
Sunday morning dawned with the Sun ☀️ blazing down and a slight breeze ??… The Racing snakes had left at 7am to tackle Van Reenen’s Pass. The Scone Squad had a much more civilized start at 8am. With Ride Captain Shaun leading the way the Doclings and their support crew headed out onto the Trails. Michelle (Oosthuizen) was sweeping with JP while Jade and Abi were leading the way.For those of the DocFamily who have not been on a Swinburne weekend before the route to the Little Church ⛪️ goes behind the Montrose Petrol Station and follows the N3 highway for around 5km before turning off on a route that was the old Durban road in years gone by. Let me tell you those first 5km are seriously challenging. There are steep rocky downhills and rough, loose rock climbs, with a whole lot of ‘graspolletjies’ to traverse. Even our more experienced Racing Snakes ? have to take care on these sections.
Our youngest Docling, Melissa Oosthuizen, had managed the steep climb up the hill and was eager for a turn in the front of the pack. Unfortunately her 20”inch wheels were no match for the steep downhill?? and she decided that instead of using coward levers to slow her decent she would try out her Stunt-Girl skills and dive head first off her bike??♀️. I’m sure I aged 10 years in that moment! Even my Garmin got a fright at her level of Land grabbing skills and sent off an incident report as I dropped my bike when I went the check the size of her Farm! Luckily Manny was on hand with his First Aid ⛑ kit and Mom, Michelle, was there for a cuddle. Mary Ann was our back up driver so after a chocolate and a coke Melissa decided to keep Kenzie company in the back up vehicle. One very brave little Docling that is now officially an ‘Official’ Mountain Biker with the roasties ? to prove it.
After our eventful start our Scone Squad continued alongside the N3. Just as our rhythm was getting good??♀️??♂️ Disaster struck? Donnalee’s pedal stripped. So she had to somehow climb a rather technical climb trying to balance on just a pin. Finally, at the top of the hill we managed to make a plan and arrange for our Standby technical support Leanne Venter to bring a spare set of pedals to the Little Church.
At this point we were back on the old tar road and it got a lot smoother. But by now the wind was really picking up, and not in a tailwind kind of way?. Every now and then Ride Captain Shaun would grab hold of Jade’s camelback to keep her from being blown off the road? These Doclings then hunkered down, and with a little help from the Support Crew, they put the hammer down?Scones were calling.
We rolled into the Little Church ⛪️ with lots of laughter and smiles to be greeted by our back up teams. Melissa was in good spirits despite the shiner becoming more evident as she enjoyed her milkshake. We all enjoyed the sunshine and scones, especially Shaun. He even had some of the signature blueberry jam on some ice cream ??. Once our tummies were full and we had fixed the broken pedal we were ready to head back to Riverview Lodge. We loaded up the younger Doclings in the support vehicles then with Abi leading the way we started the 15km ride back. Even Jill was pedalling back since there was limited space in the cars?
If we thought the wind was tough going to the Little Church ⛪️ then the ride back was like riding into a wall. The gusts were 35/40km/h with constant wind of over 25km/h. But us DocNinjas are tougherer than the wind??? . The first stretch back was great, then we hit those last 5km?… at that point we had a slight wardrobe malfunction ?Jill’s shoe broke… But again this small challenge wasn’t going to stop us! A bit of duct tape and we were off??♀️??♂️??♀️
Finally, we reached the top of the hill. After checking on Melissa’s Farm we cruise down the hill for a well-deserved ?ice cream at Montrose before a final photo stop. This little Sunday pedal was 25km with 392mt of climbing. No mean feat especially in the crazy head winds. Our Scone Squad had overcome a medical, mechanical and wardrobe malfunction and I’m sure if asked all of them will be back next year to do it all over again??????
All in all a great weekend with the DocFamilies and Awesome ? riding with the future XC and Downhill Champs??♂️??♀️ Doclings
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