2012 Attakwas

Saterdag 14 Januarie en weer tyd vir die Attakwas. My mikpunt was om in onder 8 uur klaar te maak. Om dit reg te kry moet ek 'n gemiddelde speod van 15.5 k.p.u. volgens my Garmin handhaaf oor die 121 km.

Voorbereiding het goed verloop met geen "dratiese" oefen program nie. Al wat 'n bietjie "abnormaal" was, was die 118 km wat ek op Saterdag 7 Januarie afgele het.

Ek, Danie Kotze en my broer is Vrydag middag 13:00 uit die Kaap weg. Ons was net voor 19:00 in Oudtshoorn. Val gou by Pick n Pay in en koop braaigoed vir die aand. Daarna het ons ons nommers by Kleinplasie gaan haal en so teen 19:30 by NA Smit Vaklansieoord ingeboek. Lekker gebraai en was voor 22:00 in die bed.

Saterdagoggend 05:15 opgestaan en teen 06:00 by Chandelier aangekom vir die 06:30 begin. Vanjaar het ons weer in groepe weggespring. Die eerste groep was die vinnige manne, daarna volg 'n groepe wat skynbaar mense is wat al van tevore gery het en dan die res. Ek was in die tweede groep. Die eerste paar kilometer is nie te moeilik nie, behalwe vir die "verkeer". Die meeste ouens het egter 'n redelike pas gehandhaaf en na die eerste uur was my gemiddelde spoed 18 k.p.u. Die Attakwas roete is egter een wat geleidelik begin met die werklike angel in die middel. Alhoewel daar 'n paar lellike bulte op die einde is, kan 'n goeie gemiddelde spoed gehandhaaf word. Die roete bly baie mooi met wisseling van droe Klein Karoo na die fynbos van die Attakwas Kloof en die digter bosse aan die see se kant van die Outeniekwa berge. Die pas wat ek gehandhaaf het was deurgans heel goed. My fiets het geen probleme gegee nie en ek het die meeste tegniese gedeeltes sonder enige moeite aangedurf. Die bult net na die eerste waterpunt was nog altyd moeilik en ek het nog elke jaar die laaste derde gestoot. Vanjaar weer. Van daar tot by die kruising van die Oudtshoorn/Mosselbaai pad het ek 'n goei pas gehandhaaf. Daarna volg die Attakwaskloof met 'n paar erstige klimme en rowwe afdraandes. Hierdie terrein het egter veroorsaak dat my gemiddelde spoed by Bonniedale, na 65 km. geval het na 14.4 k.p.u. Ek moes dus aanvaar dat ek nie 8 ure gaan breek nie, of ek moes baie hard werk oor die laaste 55 km. Om sake nog verder te be moeilik klim ons 222 meter in die volgende 6 km. Nie idiaal om die gemiddelde spoed te laat styg nie! My oog bly op die gemiddelde spoed en die bly onder 15 k.p.u. Daar volg gelukkig 'n paar lekker afdraandes voor die eerste van die laaste twee groot bulte en ek sien dat my gemiddelde stadig begin klim. Halfpad teen die bult trek Gavin Viljoen langs my in met die opmerking "tell me this is the top" en ek antwoord "no chance of such luck" en ek sien hom nie weer nie! Aan die voet van die laaste bult is dit op na 15.3 k.p.u. Daarna is die pad meesal gelyk of met 'n helling waarteen 'n goeie gemiddelde spoed gehandhaaf kan word. My moed styg saam met my gemiddelde spoed wat nou op 15.5 staan. Aan die bopunt van die finale afdraand weet ek dat ek in minder as 8 uur gaan klaar maak. Dit is ook so en my tyd is 7 uur 53 min vir die 121 km. Ek sou later sien dat Gavin Viljoen, wat 5 minute later as ek begin het, my met 7 sekondes klop!

Weereens 'n baie lekker wedren met fantastiese waterpunte, goeie weer en van die mooiste natuurskoon.

Leeuwenboschfontein

Leeuwenboschfontein
Dit is 15 Desember en ons vertrek teen 10:00 Leeuwenboschfontein toe vir 'n naweek van ontspanning en fietsry, weg van selfone af en in die wye vlaktes van die Karoo. My seun en sy gesin vergesel ons vir die naweek. Dit het ons ongeveer 3 uur geneem om die 220 km af te lê. Ons was aangenaam verras met ons aankoms daar. Alles was mooi skoon en ruim met 'n lieflike groot grasperk voor die huis en 'n dam. Die heuwels in die omtrek het dit duidelik gemaak dat die drie dae se ry 'n paar "klimme" gaan insluit. Registrasie is gedurende die middag afgehandel en aangesien ek voor 30 November ingeskryf het, het ek 'n persoonlike nommer gekry. Wegspringtyd is bevestig vir 07:00 om seker te maak dat ons nie te warm kry en probleme met die slange optel nie. Dit is duidelik gemaak dat dit 'n naweek is om te geniet en dat "wen" nie ter sprake is nie.

Dag 1
Vroeg opgestaan en gereed vir 70 km in die Karoo. Daar is ‘n redelike “byt” in die lug! Ons loop ook vir Sieg en Marlise Visser asook Rob Moffat van ons Double Century span daar raak. Ons word ingelig dat daar geen "sand" op die roete is nie. Die eerste 10 km is op 'n goeie distrik pad en ons gemiddelde spoed was in die hoë twintigs. Daarna is ons die veld in en ry op "minder gebruikte" veld paadjies en nie te lank nie of ons tref die sand. Die "Maan mannejies" het dit seker die vorige aand kom strooi! Alhoewel daar 'n hele paar sand kolle was, waar afklim en stoot die voorland was, was die lengtes nie ernstig nie. In sekere gevalle kon ons met goeie momentum deur kom en in ander gevalle het 'n "detour" deur die veld gehelp. Net voor die eerste waterpunt op 30 km was daar 'n redelike klim. Vanaf km 32 word ons verras met 10 km se geleidelike afdraand. Tydens hierdie 10 km handhaaf ons 'n gemiddelde spoed van in die dertigs. Dit word gevolg met 'n soortgelyke klim vir die volgende 6 km. Waterpunt twee volg en daarna is dit 'n redelike gemaklike klim vir die volgende 16 km. Die laaste 5 km het 'n paar ernstige klimme en afdraandes ingesluit en dit was voorwaar aangenaam om oor die laaste bult die eindpunt te sien. Na 69 km en 4 uur en 2 minute bereik ek die einde. Voorwaar 'n baie aangename rit met 'n bietjie van alles om dit interessant en genotvol te maak.
Die res van die dag ontspan ons lekker op die gras, roei op die dam en sluit af met 'n braai. Teen 22:00 slaap almal.

Dag 2
Weer vroeg aan die gang. My seun, Adre, se tweeling maak seker dat almal teen 06:00 wakker is! Ek het dit ook reg gekry om hom te oortuig om sy eerste bergfietswedren aan te durf en aangesien dit in die gene is, besluit hy hy om die lange te probeer! Die begin is redelik gaoties aangesien die hek by die eertse afdraai toe is en daar onsekerheid heers of ons moet afdraai of nie. Gelukkig word dit gou uitgesorteer en daar trek ons, deur die veld op ‘n redelike rowwe veld paadjie, terug oor die groot pad en deur die veld teen die berge uit. Op 11 km begin die klim. Ons kilm 400 meter in die volgende 8 km. Hierna volg ‘n 7 km redelike gelyk rit gevolg deur 12 km se afdraand, waar groot dele redelik “rof” is. Teen die tyd los ek vir Adre en vat die pad einde toe. Die laaste 10 km is lekker glad en eindig met 5 km op die distrikspad. Daar is egter ‘n “angel” in die einde. Die roete gaan verby die afdraai na Leeuwenboschfontein en draai ‘n entjie verder af na die kampterein. Nie ‘n probleem nie, maar dan kom die “verassing”. Na die kampterrein draai ons nie regs met die pad na die eindpunt nie, maar ons gaan reguit bult op! 30 meter se klim in 300 meter. Die afdraand eindpunt toe maak egter die klim die moeite werd! 47 km in 3 uur 6 minute. Adre kom so ‘n kwartier later in.
Saterdagaand is ons deel van ‘n heerlike samekoms van vriende rondom ‘n spit. Die word vooraf gegaan deur ‘n “lucky draw” waar almal wat teenwoordig is, iets kry. Die vleis was “voortreflik” gaar gemaak.

Dag 3
Nog ‘n voortreflike dag met fantastiese weer. Ongelukkig het Sue, my vrou, begin siek word en voel glad nie baie goed nie, met die gevolg dat sy nie veel geslaap het nie. Die dag se roete begin met ‘n rowwe “jeep track” agter die die plaas uit, oor die vliedtuig aanloopbaan terug na die grootpad, deur die kloof waar ons die eerste dag gery het en deur die eerste paar “sand stukkies”. Op 14 km draai ons gelukkig links en volg ‘n beter pad wat baie van dag 1 se sand,‘n paar bulte en daardie lekker afdraand uitsluit. Vanaf kilometer 14 to 30 klim ons 300 meter. Die volgende 18 km is redelik konstant met geleidelike op en af dele en terrain wat wissel van veld paadjies na ‘n deel op ‘n distrikspad. Dit eindig met die afdraai na Kopbeenkloof en die laaste waterpunt op 49 km. Die laaste 11 kilometer sluit ‘n paar “hairy downhills” met groot klippe en en heelwat draaie in. Tydens hierdie stukkie “jaag” ek en Theo mekaar. Ek is sterker teen die bulte, maar hy is ‘n doorn teen die afdraandes. Hy ry onder my uit oor die rowwe afdraandes en dan haal ek hom in teen die bulte. Ons ry saam oor die groot dam se wal en durf die laaste kilomtere kop-aan-kop aan. Dit blyk toe dat ek so ‘n bietjie meer “spoed” op die gelyk pad het en ek klop hom met so ‘n paar sekondes op die eindstreep. Niks ernstig nie, maar baie lekker en opwindend.

So eindig ‘n voortreflike naweek op Leuwenboschfontein. Ons het dit so baie geniet dat ons sommer onmiddelik die huis vir volgende jaar bespreek. Die naweek word afgesluit met ‘n goeie middagete by Die Ou Kombuis in Monatgu.

Double Century

Friday 25 November 12:00. Here I am ready for this year's Double Century. Danie Kotze and Mike Smit should be here by 12:45 and then we are off to Swellendam for tomorrow's big race. Joggie informed us yesterday that he would not make it, so we will only be 11 in our team. We left Cape Town just after 13:00 and arrives in Swellendam at 16:00. We were directed to the camping sites and selected two nice spots close to the river and, what we thought, a reasonable distance from the road. Daniel arrived shortly afterwards. Tents were erected and then we took a stroll to the Spar to buy some additional "goodies" for the race and some things for breakfast and coffee. We tried the local "take away" of lasagne for supper and made our own coffee. Clive and Suretha arrive between 18:00-19:00. Suretha got her tent up, but Clive decided to sleep in his Land Rover at the school, where he hoped it would be quieter. Theuns SMSed at 15:40 that he just finished in Stellenbosch. At 19:10 we got another SMS telling us that he only just left Stellenbosch and at 20:00 he was looking for our GPS co-ordinates! In the end he arrived at the campsite just before 23:00. By that time the rest of us were in dreamland or at least trying to get there! The local noise of people talking, disco music and traffic on the road ensured that our rest was not too piece full.

Movement started in the camping area at 04:05. When I got up at 04:25, I found a SMS on my phone asking me to phone my brother at 04:00, as they are not sure whether their alarm was working. I obliged at 04:25! Just as well, as their alarm did not go off! Everybody was ready by 05:00, ice was collected and the rest of the cooler boxes and supplements for the road, was taken to the backup vehicle. All of us were in our start shoot at 05:25, with the axception of Theuns. He was still at the campsite sorting various things including a car alarm that kept going off! He managed to join us just as we approached the starting line.

We started promptly at 05:42. We had our first puncture within the first 5 kilometers! Theuns and myself helped Clive repair his flat while the rest carried on. We managed to catch up with then just before the Suurbraak turn off. From there the ride was plain sailing. We had the normal split when we hit Tradouw Pass, but we "consolidated" again on the final hill just before Barrydale.

Nico van Zyl found himself in the middle of a bunch and did not see us with the result that he carried on ahead of us. Fortunately he saw our back vehicle at the foot of Op De Tradouw and waited for us there.

Nadat almal weer hulle voorrade aangevul het en van hulle oortollige water ontslae geraak het, het ons Op De Tradouw aangepak. Suretha het beluit om hierdie stop 'n "mis" te gee en aangery. Die was 'n "goeie roep" want toe ons haar in haal was sy al driekwart teen Op De Tradouw uit. Ek het haar toe die laaste entjie gehelp en bo het ons weer by die Coke-tafel gegroepeer. Na 'n hele rukkie se wag was daar egter geen teken van Theuns en Nico nie. Ons skakel hulle toe en word ingelig dat Nico se pedaal gebreek het en hulle probeer om Adre se fiets aan te pas sodat hy daarop kan ry. Ek gaan toe maar 'n entjie terug om vir hulle te wag. By verdere navraag hoor ek dat hulle nog sukkel. Ek skakel toe vir Sieg en laat weet dat hulle moet aan ry. Ons sal hulle by Montagu kry. Toe ek weer vir Theuns skakel laat weet hy dat hulle nie Nico se skoene kon kry om op Adre se fiets te pas nie en dat hy alleen oppad is. Hy sluit toe 'n rukkie later by my aan en ons trap saam verder. Net na die volgende afdraand val my ketting af. Dit het al van te vore gebeur, soos vroeer die oggend ook, en soos gewoonlik werk ek die ketting terug met die ratwissellaars. Skiellik besef ek iets groots is fout en hou stil. Dit blyk toe dat iets verkeerd gegaan het, die voorste klein rat het gebreek, horisontaal gebuig, die ketting gespan wat veroorsaak het dat die agterste deurallier afgebreek het. Ek skakel onmiddelik die opvolg voertuig en laat weet dat ek Adre se fiets nodig het om verder te ry. Hulle daag gou op, ons stel die saal 'n bietjie laer en is weer oppad. Halfpad teen die volgende bult af raak my voorwiel pap! Hou stil, spring af, buiteband af, binneband uit, nuwe bineband in, buiteband op, maak styf met "bommetjie", sit alles terug en daar gaan ons weer. Na 'n rukkie kom daar 'n "vinnige" span verby en Theuns "haak" hulle. Vir die volgende 37 kilometer handhaaf ons 'n gemiddelde spoed van 40 k.p.u. Toe ons in Montugu in kom sien ons hoe die res van die span by die opvolg voertuig stil hou!

Voorrade word weer aangevul en ons val gou weer in die pad. Van Montagu to by die ysterbrug net voor Bonnievale is redelik gelyk en 'n area waar 'n goeie gemiddelde spoed gehandhaaf kan word. Ons voltooi die 58 kilometer tot in Bonnievale in 2 uur 1 minuut, en dit sluit die reg maak van 'n papwiel in! Nie sleg nie.

At Bonnievale we stock up again. Now it is "crunch" time. The last 37 kilometers with a number of "nasty" hills before we finish. Every goes fine up to the last "water point" at Drew. We grab some refreshments, shed water at the portable toilets and get going again. Kobus wants us to carry on and not wait for him. We convince him to stay with us. We say together up to the Swellendam turn off. Now for the last three hills. At the top of the first hill Theuns complain about ITB. Suretha, who is biogeneticus, jump into action and treats his leg. We all agree and can see that the pain that Theuns experience under her thumbs is enough for him not to agree for second treatment! Kobus arrives just as she completes her treatment. Now there are two more hills. We get over both hills with a fair share of "pushing" and "pulling". There is 7 kilometers left and most of it is either downhill or flat. We start "motoring". Kobus loose contact and Rob start cramping and we loose Theuns. Sieg has gone ahead. We keep the pace up, ensuring that Suretha is not left behind. Just before the end we catch up with Sieg, who is waiting for us. Seven of us hit the final hill. I tell Suretha to hang onto my tail and pull her up the last hill. The 7 of us cross the line after 7 hours 38 minutes riding time and a total of 8 hours 45 minutes in the saddle. We waited for Rob, Theuns and Kobus to join us. Rob and Theuns arrive shortly after us. Kobus only rejoins us at the show grounds.

A wonderful experience and a good team effort. Thanks to everybody for the effort and to Leonico and Rina who ably managed the back vehicle for us and who always was at the right place at the right time. Until next year!

SCAS 24 marathon

On Sunday 13 November (may be the 13 was an omen!!) Theuns Pauw, one on our Double Century team members, posted a message to me asking if our DC team would be interested in entering the SCAS 24 hour marathon on spinning bikes at the Neelsie in Stellenbosch, starting on Friday 18 November at 14:00. I decided that it sounded like an interesting challenge and if enough members were interested, we could go for it. One of the conditions was that one of the team members had to be a lady. So the first hurdle was to get the lady on the team. As we have one lady on the team, I gave the guys the option that we will enter if she agrees and secondly provided we get enough interest.

First to come back with a positive answer, was Suretha, the lady on our DC team. Next for a yes was Joggie Prinsloo. I was game and I was sure we could count Theuns in. That gave us 4! Minimum was 6. Later Clive and Kobus also indicated that they would participate, so we had a team. Joggie then came up with two "mates" who would join us, but Theuns decided that he would opt out. That left us with 7 team members. Two had "conditions". Suretha was only available until 09:30 on Saturday morning and Kobus was only available during the night. Well, I felt we can work around those problems and our entry was confirmed!

I was a "bit" disappointed when I herd that there were only 4 teams entered. This disappointment became even bigger when I realised who the competition was! I was hoping for at least 8 teams with "some" reasonable competion, but come as it may, we were now in for it and had to make the best of it.

I got to Stellenbosch at 13:15 and found the "setup" in quite a state of flux. Jan Scannel was still busy setting up the bikes! Clive and Suretha arrived in good time, and the "competition" got underway at 14:30. Our "competition consisted of a SCAS team and 2 teams of "Developement Riders" from Jonkershoek, a senior and a very junior team.

Suretha got us going and we did 18 km in the first 30 minutes. Clive was next up and did 19 km. I followed that up with 20 km. Joggie then also did 20 km. One of his "mates" was next and did a 16 km. This "mate" turned out to be Ferdinand Rabie, the winner of SA's first Big Brother series. His other "mate" (Bjorn) arrived shortly afterwards and did 20 km. Thereafter most people settled on 19-21 km per 30 minute session. That was until hit the saddle again and surprised all of us with a 24 km stint. Even Ferdinand managed 20 km during all his subsequent stunts. During my second shift I really "went" for it, only to be disappointed in only posting a 21 km! I felt that the extra effort would at least have given me 24. I then decided that there is not much point in going harder, because your extra distance is not proportionate the effort!

Teen hierdie tyd het ek begin om 'n tydskedule vir die res van die maraton saam te stel. Hiervoor moes ek in agneem dat niemand meer as 2 uur voor 'n ander spanlid met tyd op die fiets mag wees nie en dat sekere mense na 'n sekere tyd nie meer aanwesig sal wees nie, dat kobus net tussen 24:00 en 08:00 beskikbaar sou wees en dat Ferdinand nie later as 22:00 beskikbaar sou wees nie! Die skedule is saamgestel met Joggie, Suretha en kobus wat die meeste van die trapwerk tussen 22:00 en 09:30 sou doen. Clive, Bjorn en ek sou die laaste 5 uur 30 minute saam deel.

Op hierdie stadium het Bjorn besluit dat hy sterk genoeg voel om 'n dubbel skof te doen en te kyk hoeveel km hy in 60 minute op die meter sit. Ongelukkig het die "paw-paw die fan gestrike" na 50 minute toe hy skielik begin sleg voel het en moes tou opgooi. Om sake te vereger het hy so sleg gevoel dat hy glad nie kans gesien het om enigsins langer te trap nie. Die tydskedule moes gou hersien word, maar die grootse bekommernis was dat Clive en ek die laaste deel alleen sou moes doen!

At this stage we were about 12 km in front of the Jonkershoek "Young Guns". Everybody was keeping to about 20 km per shift. When Kobus arrived, he informed us that he would prefer to do 60 minute shifts. Once again the time schedule had to be adjusted! Not a train smash and things kept rolling on. The atmosphere that prevailed was quite jovial and everybody was having a good time. The Young Guns were checking out our distance on a regular basis and was definitely concerned about the fact that we were ahead. Unbeknown to us, they had a plan and were determined to beat us.

Joggie did his last shift at 06:30, Kobus at 08:00 and Suretha at 09:00. From there on it Clive and myself. We were quite concerned about this would do to our energy levels and when fatigue would start taking its toll! To our surprise, we coped very well and maintain 20 km per 30 minute shift right to the end. While doing my stints I saw that the legs of the Young Guns seemed to be going much faster than mine. I did realise that there is not much I can do about it and just had to keep going, ticking off 20 km at a time.

Teen 10:00 kom ek egter agter dat ons nie meer voor is nie, maar 9 km agter die Young Guns, is! Op navraag bevestig een van die Young Guns dat hy gedurende die laat oggend ure 'n "maraton" sessie van 60 minute ingesit het, waar tydens hulle ons verby gesteek het.

Clive and myself kept the rhythm going and continued through to the end. We were rewarded for our efforts with the knowledge that we kept going and were ready for next Saturday's Double Century.

It was a good team building exercise for myself, Clive, Suretha, Joggie and Kobus. The rest of the team did join us at some or other time during the previous two months for some training rides down the Cape Peninsula and as a team I feel we are ready for enjoyable DC 2011!

Eselfontein

Saturday 22 October and time for the Eselfontein MTB in Ceres. The course was part of the 2010 Absa Cape Epic and as a number of people have commented about the superb single tracks at this venue, it was a race I really was looking forward to. I left Cape Town at 06:00 to ensure that I arrive in good time for the registration, which opened at 07:30. It took me 1 hour 40 minutes to cover the 160 km via Malmesbury. I arrived with Kootjie Viljoen, my son-in-law's brother, who also had Corne Krige and his family in their Merecdes Vito bus. Corne was fortune enough to "test ride" a new trek full suspension 29er! Registration went without a hitch and I had about an hour to kill! I used this time to "explore" the farms facilities. There are 6 Echo Huts in a planation about 3 km away from the farmstead, as well as a self catering house about 1 km away. The race got away promptly at 09:00. Initially the going was fairly easy with some moderate climbs. Most of the tracks were purpose built single tracks with lots of turns, a little bit of soft sand, a number of rocky areas and some stream crossings. After 15 km we entered a local blue gum planation with the most awesum single tracks. It felt as though this went on for hours, but it was only about 2 km. I must say the switch backs, ups and downs and the odd tree around which we had to go made the going very enjoyable, the consentrating intence and quite tiring! After this we had a short flat section before the first serious climb of the day started. The next 5 km was a steady climb of 270m vertical ascend. That was followed by some awesum and quite scary descents. After 4 km, during which our elevation reduced from 800m to 570m, we started the real big climb of the day. With the exception of 1.3 km, it was all uphill until we reached the 35 km mark at 1,035 meters. This was followed by a 2 km downhill section on a district road where lost 90 meters and then a 1 km section of single track where we gained another 70 meters. There after came a 5 km section where we lost another 500m. This once again included some scary sections over rocks and loose stones. Fortunately I was "up to the challenge" and managed to negotiate all of them with some resulting in quite an adrenaline rush! The last 15 km consisted of some of the intial route, in reverse. I was quite pleased that the final distance was 10 km short of the advertised 70 km. Total distance was 60.49 km, which took me 4:46:39 and include 1,348 meters of climbing.

Here we go again

Planning to tackle the Freedom Challenge again in 2013, is in progress. A number of crutial training rides are scheduled before the final decision can be made. This includes a "recci" of the route from Rhodes to Kleinpoort and possibly the Rhodes Mountain Bike Extreme in September 2012, to test the effect to height above sea level.

The ongoing program will include some important other training rides and races like the Eselfontein 70 km on 22 October in Ceres. Looking forward to that!

I am quite exited about the Rhodes/Kleinpoort ride. At this stage we will be three who will be doing the ride over about 10 days, with a backup vehicle which will meet up with us at all the overnight points. This is schedule to happen from 26 April to 7 May 2012.

Gravel Travel

Saturday 27 August 2011 - Gravel Travel Ultra Marathon at Diemersfontein in Wellington. What an awesome race! 103.4 km; 8:13:04 with 2,906 meters of climbing. The start was at the Diemersfontein Wine Estate just outside Wellington. The race started a bit late at 07:58 due to the helicopter, which was covering the race. My aim was to enjoy the ride, which I thought I should complete in 7:00 to 7:30! I very quickly found myself cycling at a fair pace at the back of the field, but I was not last! The "race snakes" from the 75 km Marathon, came racing past after about 12 km. By this time I was averaging only 12 kph and have climbed 399m! During the next three hours my tempo increased a little and I managed to average between 14 and 15 kph. My average speed has increased to 14 kph by now. The terrain was also getting a little easier, but we encountered hills with regularity. By this time we were riding around the western side of Groenberg. I was now riding with the rear guard of the 75 km riders. It was interesting how we passed and repassed one another, especially around the water points. The first cut-off point was at 13:30 at the 69 km mark. At this point I still had 30 minutes in hand, so I was confidant of making the 16:00 cut-off at the end. Unfortunately, the "real" climbing only started from here. From km 69 to 78, we climbed 540 meters. That is 60 meters for every one-kilometer traveled. Now that I call serious climbing! Fortunately the gradient was fairly constant and I managed to main a steady pace, not once having to stop and push, although the thought crossed my mind a number of times. I was quite impressed when I reached, what I was sure the last water point, and still found it manned. The guys even asked me how many guys were behind me. I informed them that I was pretty sure I was the last competitor. At about 89 km I still found a lady marshal showing me where I had to turn right. I was quite thankful for this, because if she were not there I would have taken the wrong route! When I reached the 95 km mark, a scrambler came past, telling that there is one hill of 200-300 meters left and from then it is down hill to the end. I enjoyed the last couple of kilometers and was very pleased to see the guy manning the entrance gate to Diemersfontein. I crossed the finish line at 16:11 after riding for 8 hours and 13 minutes. I was a bit disappointed that the timekeepers have packed up at that point, but we were informed that the final cut-off would be at 16:00 and not 9 hours after the start as per the regulations. I also felt that they could have extended the cut-off by the 13 minutes we started late. If that were done, I would have just made it! It was a thoroughly enjoyable event and I never felt that I could not go on, even though my pace was a bit on the slow side. Sometimes it is just nice to go along for the ride!