by Lisa Strydom
The training was done and the day had arrived. Oh goodness, exciting times were ahead of us and the butterflies confirmed the excitement.
I made my way to oom Gert’s house the Thursday morning. Whoever knows oom Gert knows he likes to come prepared for any situation which meant he wanted to pack everything besides the kitchen sink. ? Mervin met us there and we needed to put oom Gert’s trolley into Mervin’s car – yes you read correctly, a trolley (one thing I’m glad he packed in as it came in handy getting our boxes to the tents at Em’seni).
Then we were on our way. As we got closer to Harrismith we noticed more and more cars with mountain bikes hooked up to them. We stopped for lunch and then headed to registration in the Drakensburg. Luckily there was no sign of rain this year, just perfect riding conditions forecasted and we were thrilled. After that we went to ATKV, unpacked our things made our way back to briefing and dinner. There we found some more familiar faces and sat with Joao, Norman, Lionel and a few other DOCs. Quinton had set up camp with his family at Em’seni and would join us the next morning at the starting line. It was a quiet evening as we prepared ourselves for some great trails and riding over the next three days.
Friday morning we woke up, packed our things and made our way to the start for breakfast. The temperatures were high and the day was extremely windy. Riding those first 10km to get to Great Wall My China is not for the faint hearted and the two guys riding in front of me (unknown) called it quits at the sight of the ambulance at the top of the escarpment. ??♀️ Well that was not my intention, but I did stop to take a pic or two at the top. What a beautiful sight. And so worth that climb. The next bit of excitement came at Sollie’s Folly and this is where the real mountain bikers showed the roadies how it’s done. Quinton’s feedback was he did some bundu bashing on the switch backs to overtake the non-technical riders. ?We were in for a real treat of some fast downhill tracks. Amazing stuff and even better when there are no bottle necks. The rest of the ride was scenic and as I always say “there’s no such thing as a bad day on the bike when you could be stuck at the office”. We all got to Em’seni and had a chilled afternoon next to the river in the chill zone. We swapped stories later on at dinner and the funniest had to be Joao’s little land grab at the pivot irrigation system which we all had the privilege of watching that night at briefing, as the helicopters got footage of it taking place that day. 98km done, and in my opinion, the fun was only starting.
I have to say that the tranquility of sleeping in your tent next to the Tugela river is out of this world. Closing your eyes and listening to the nightlife and frogs was my best every night.
Day two meant the bums were a bit tender at the start. We knew we had to face Mike’s Pass (a climb not many made, but to those who did – we salute you!). The water points were just out of this world and I have to say water point two on day two was my favorite. Another sneaky climb after the second water point, then came Puff Adder Pass!! For those of you who love screaming on the downhills (like myself), this pass was just amazing. We finished off going through the forests and home to camp. Loved, loved, loved day two which was fast and punchy.
Many of us decided to skip the history lesson on top of Spioenkop this time round and opted for a lazy afternoon around camp, having a snooze or chilling at the chill zone with a craft beer or gin in hand. Q and family had an awesome time together learning about the history of this country, and watching Robyn de Groot and Philip Buys win their prize money dashing up that steep section of Spioenkop. Still amazes me how quickly and effortlessly they get up there without breaking a sweat.
So day three is always bitter sweet as you know you’ve got some fun awaiting you, but it’s also home time. As much as day three is my favorite day, I have to say that the climb before Spioenkop works the legs big time. But it’s still an awesome climb and reminds me a bit of the Eye of Africa route. I’d been riding the first two days on my own and met up with oom Gert at the first water point and we rode the rest of the day together. We got to the bottom of the gates at Spioenkop, and took a rest. We both wanted our names on that wall and knew we needed to refuel and recover to make it. Wow, the mind is a very strong thing. That’s what kept me going all the way up. I wanted my name on that wall. And riding up that steep climb I heard oom Gert motivating me up that stretch to the top. We both made it and after that we spent some time taking in the beauty at the top before getting ready for THE BEST 14km of downhill single track you will ever experience in your life. If you don’t go down that section with a grin from ear to ear then I don’t know… ? It’s just magic!! And then you have some serious berms before finishing off back at camp.
Amazing how you put so much effort into training for an event like this, and like that… it’s over. But I know many of us (and more) will be back for 2020. Let’s hope they make it even more special than the others have been. For those looking for a stage race, this is the one to do.
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