RASA Day 1

RASA Day 1
Got up at 04:10 this morning for breakfast at 04:30. Had a healthy bowl of Jungle oats. We made our way to the City Hall at 05:30 for the 06:00 start.

We all stayed pretty much together into Bisley Nature Reserve. After 13 km we left the main road and made our way through the sugar cane plantations. Our group of 11 spilt into three here. The fast guys went ahead. Myself, Coen de Bruin and George Wienekus formed the medium group and the rest formed slow group.

We maintained a good pace and arrived at Minerva at 10:10. The fast guys were gone all ready when I got there. I was there first and had to wait 10 minutes for the other two. We had some soup, refilled our bottles and finally got going after 28 minutes. By this time the slow guys had not yet arrived.

We made our way down the hill to Byrne and from there via the Illovo Nek turn off to the Umkomaas valley. The track next to the river was very ridable. This is due to the Hela Hela MTB which was held earlier this year.  After crossing the bridge the Hela Hela climb started. It took me 1:214 to do the 7 km! I only had one word to say when I reached the top - bliksem! The last 15 lm took us 1:10 and we clocked into Allendale at 15:24.

Freedom Challenge minus one day

FC minus one day
Well, here we are again. My second try at doing the Freedom Challenge. I feel better prepared physically and mentally. Currently the weather is looking promising. Everyday is a bit hotter in Pietermaritzburg. Matatiele keeps on hovering between -1 and 17, with the -1 becoming 1 by the end of the week. No rain forecasted at this point, but it still is a long way to Praal!

Arrived in Pietermaritzburg. Checked in and assembled bike. Seems to have made to trip from Cape Town in tact. Tied rain gear to underside of seat and fitted number. Now ready to     go.

Met all the guys I will be riding with at dinner. Seems a very bunch of guys with the same strategy as mine, but no one else, who is going all the way has done it before. Some of the guys who are going to Rhodes have, but I think they will be too fast for the rest of us.

Remember to follow us on the Freedom Challenge website. I am off to bed. Breakfast is at 04:30 and we leave from here at 05:30 for the 06:00 start from the City Hall.

AMA Rider 100 miler

AMA Rider 100 km

Saturday 24 May was the date for the annual AMA Rider 100 miler in the Malmesbury district. I looked at the weather forecast before I left home and saw the we were going to have sunshine until 15:00 from when light rain was forecasted. I planned to ride 7:30 and starting at 07:30 that meant that I should finish before the rain came! On the way to Malmesbury there was heavy thunder in the air!

I arrived at the start on time to collect my number and line up for the start. We got going at 07:30. I managed to line up towards the front and not being a fast starter, I was passed by numerous riders during the first couple of kilometers. The thunder which I saw on my way to the start brought some unwelcome thunder showers, but fortunately they did not last too long and did cause any problems. I passed the first water point after 1:34, 5 minutes slower than last year in spite of having a tail wind! I was enjoying the ride and maintained a good pace but losing time compared to last year. During this period we gained 560 meters in elevation and my average speed was 21 kph. I reached the second water point after another 58 minutes and maintaining an average of 21 kph. This time I stopped for some refreshments and got going again after 3 minutes.

The previous sections had a number of gentle climbs, but the first part if the next section had some serious uphills. After a while we joined a district road heading north. In the meantime the wind has picked up and was coming diagonally from the left front. Two ladies caught up with me and we managed to maintain a reasonable pace and I reached water point 3 after another 1:36 with my average speed coming down to 17 kph. During later part of this ride I was sure I had a slow puncture. Fortunately it was only my imagination and I was quite relieved when I stopped and that my tyre was perfect. This was the halfway point and by this time I was 24 minutes slower than last year, which was not that bad after taking the wind into consideration. I had some refreshments and got going again after 4 minutes. The ladies was  contemplating giving up, so I left on my own.

After about ten minutes of riding we turned north west and was riding into the teeth of the wind. Some guys and a girl caught up with me and left me standing! A little later some more people came past and I managed to join them and we formed a group of about nine, working well together and catching some other "stragglers". On one of the slopes the pace got just too much for me and I was left behind. Once over the hill I managed to maintain the gap. The group in front split up into further smaller groups and I actually gained time on them, arriving at the lunch stop on their heels. There we were treated to dome wholesome soup. I got going again on my own after a stop of 5 minutes. During this section of 28 km, I lost 32 minutes compared to last year. That gives some indication of how strong the wind was! My average speed over this section was only 15 kph!

The next 7 km was still against the wind, but shortly after joining the R311 we took a left turn and had the wind coming over our right shoulder. After a further 13 km we turned left again and I had the wind in my face again. To make matters worse, it started raining and I only had a windbreaker, which is only shower proof, on with the result that I was getting wet. The rain was very feint and did not drench me through and as it was coming from the left only my lefthand side was getting wet. I was also lucky in that it was not too cold. It took me 1:35, the same time as last year to complete the 29 km to the last water point.

Here I just stopped to top up my water bottle and got going immediately.

The last 24 km actually included the second most climbing, 469 meters, of the whole course and we had portions with wind on our backs and others with the wind from the front. When the wind was from the front we also had rain from that side with the result of getting drenched! After 11 km I went over the top of the last hill and from there it was downhill to the end. I saw another rider in front of me and put in a great effort to catch him, which I did with 1 km left. I actually passed him, but he re passed me just before  we crossed the finish line.

Total time 9:00; total distance 163.28; total ascent 2,213 meters; 7,864 calories burnt.

FC training ride via Platteklip Gorge

With only 39 days until I start the Freedom Challenge, some serious training must be done. A while back I thought it would be good training to go up Platteklip Gorge and Saturday 3 May was d-day!

I met Mike Smit at his place at 06:00 as he agreed to join me on the ride to the bottom of Platteklip Gorge.

We reached the bottom of Platteklip Gorge after 1:56 and a leisurely ride to town and negotiating some of the contour roads up to the old tar service road, Mike bid me farewell and I started the epic  journey up Platteklip Gorge. I met a number of people on my up, some going up and some coming down. Most people was quite surprised to find somebody going up the mountain with a bike! One guy even enquired if I was training for the Freedom Challenge! All the other people did not know about it! The 1.6 km journey took me 1:54 and I gained 658 meters. At an average speed of 0.9 k.p.h.!

My plan was to cycle down the other side, because I remembered that there is quite a nice paved road down the other side. Unfortunately I forget that I still had to negotiate some very rough terrain before I got to the paved road.  The next 2.7 km took me 46 minutes! That is an average speed of 2.1 k.p.h.! Over this distance I gained 48 meters and descent 321 meters. The terrain was very rough and I had haul my bike over numerous rocks. I nearly jumped with joy when I finally reached the paved road.

During the next hour I covered 11.4 Km and lost 670 meters in height. The condition of the road was excellent and the views were just breath taking! About 15 minutes into my ride down this beautiful paved road, I was stopped by one of the local conscientious citizen who informed me that I was not allowed to cycle on the reservoir service roads or the local contour paths, but only of designated roads on the front of the mountain! A this point he was not going to stop me and after our brief chat, I was on my way again. I really enjoyed the descent down this service road which was like an Alpine Pass!

I managed to join Kirstenbosch/Constantianek road close to Cecelia Forest entrance. From there I went past Newlands Forest and joined up with the Rhodes Memorial/Table Mountain MTB track. After some ups and downs I exited from the mountain via Vredehoek and took the road back to Bloubergstrand.

Total riding time 8:13:07; total distance 80.32 km; elevation gain 1,852; calories burned per Polar watch 5,530.

For some reason my Garmin  did not measure properly from Blouberg to town, with the result that the Garmin data as far as elevation gained is not correct.

36ONE MTB Challenge

The 36ONE Mountain Bike Challenge was due to take place during the weekend of 11/12 April. As this was the weekend before Easter, I decided to take the next week off and make a holiday of it. We left Cape Town on Thursday 10 April at 11:00 after I managed a last “loosener” to Duynefomntein and back and also managed to get some last minute work related things tended too. We arranged to sleep at Karoo Life in Calitzdorp. We arrived there at 16:00 and were pleasantly surprised by the wonderful hospitality of Trevor and Tania. Trevor was quite intrigued by the 36ONE and agreed to come down to control point 2 when I came round on Saturday morning. We left at 10:30 and traveled towards Oudtshoorn on the old cement road.

Registration was from 12:00 and we arrived in Oudtshoorn at 11:50, so decided to wait till 12:00 before we book in at our weekend accommodation, which was 12 km out of town on the Schoemanshoek Road. I also placed my emergency cloths in the boxes the organizer provided to take to the various control points. Our weekend accommodation was at Oue Werf, right next to the Schoemanshoek DR Church. Once again the beauty of the place and the hospitality of the owners pleasantly surprised us. It also transpired that the owner’s daughter was at our daughter’s wedding in 2011. After unpacking and putting my bike together, we went for lunch at the farm’s coffee shop. Race briefing was scheduled for 17:00 and Sue dropped me at the start at 16:45. Just after she left, I realized that my water bottle was still in the fridge at Oue Werf. Fortunately the route we were taking went right past the Church and I knew it should take me about 40 minutes to get there. I therefore phoned Sue and asked her to wait at the church with the bottle.

Race briefing was well handled and completed by 17:30. Entries ballooned from just over a hundred last year to more than three hundred this year. We then had the wait till the start at 18:00. The race got going on time with a neutral zone through town until we hit the gravel road leading up to Schoemanshoek. The moment we went onto gravel, the front guys went. I decided to maintain an easy pace and was passed by a number of people. We got to the Church at 18:38 and Sue was waiting for me with my full water bottle. From the Church we joined the road to the Cango Caves and took the turnoff to the Rust en Vrede Falls. We were on tar from the Church to Rus en Vrede Falls and then went onto gravel. Very shortly after that the first major climb started. During the next 10 km we climbed 250 meters and then it was down hill most of the way towards De Rust. Where the average speed from the beginning to the top of the climb was 18 k.p.h. it increased to 21.2 k.p.h. after the down hill, but I must confess going down a hill at 50 k.p.h. in the dark on a curvy gravel road on a mountain bike is quite scary. We reached the first water point after 52.6 km and 2:36:06 with 705 meters ascent. I had a Coke and was on my way immediately. We joined the De Rust/Oudtshoorn road about two kilometers on the Oudtshoorn side, travelled about 500 meters on the tar road and then went left on a gravel district road. After another kilometer or so we were directed onto some farm roads, which connected us with the main gravel road from De Rust to Dysselsdorp. This road was fairly level and I was making good time. Just before Dysselsdorp we took a left turn and stated one of the many “never ending hills” in this race. For the next 12 km we continued going up, not very steep but at such an incline that you can never relax! After 28.49 km and 1:29.23 I reached control point one. In this stretch I reached a maximum speed of 56 k.p.h. but from here the road was much straighter and it was less scary to pick up speed on the down hills. We were treated to a nice warm cup of soup, of which I had two plus some other things to eat. Total stopping time was 9:42.

The next section of the route was supposed to be the “easiest” part with no major climbs, but it very quickly transpired that every nice down hill was followed by an up hill. We had numerous down hills only to have to go up the hill on the other side. I never realised that the Klein Karoo had so many “valleys”! From control point two to the end the water points between the control points increased. Two between one and two, two between two and three and two between three and the finish. The distance to the next water point was 30.24 km and it took me 1:47 with 512 meters ascent and a maximum speed of 52 k.p.h. The next section was 33.68 km and it took me 1:53. Ascent was 423 meters and maximum speed was 53 k.p.h. The last section, which included a stretch on tar, was 36.73 km and I took 1:45 to complete it. I arrived at the second control point at 03:40. Here I had some lasangne and hot chocolate and a nice rest. Total time spent at this control point was 23 minutes and I got going again at 04:04.

The section between control point 2 and 3 is the hardest part of the route because it includes Rooiberg Pass, but we first had a number of other obstacles to overcome. The first 5 kilometers was tar. We then turned off onto a local farm track, which led us onto a district road and some serious climbing. Fortunately the incline was not too severe and I managed to maintain a good pace. During this stretch we had the daybreak over our backs and by the time we went through the Gouritz River, it was light. The next water point came after 34.64 km and 2:09 riding time and total elevation gain of 474. The riding surface was pretty rough and the part of my anatomy where my body and the bicycle met was getting rather tender! Water point 7 arrived after 27.97 km and 1:44 riding time. Here I had to prepare mentally for Rooiberg, which was between me and the next control point at Calitzdorp. This section of 35.72 km took me 2:21. The climb of Rooiberg, where I had to ascent 486 meters over a distance of 6.5 km, took me 60 minutes! The descent was also quite hairy because the recent rains have washed large sections of the road away and I had to go down with great caution! In the outskirts of Caltizdorp I phoned Trevor and was quite glad to see the familiar face when I rode into control point 3. The “roosterkoek” and Ostrich meat offered was well received as well as a soft seat and some coffee. I also had a nice chat with Trevor and after 24 minutes, I was as ready as can be after 280 km to tackle the last leg.

Looking back at my overall progress during the race, this first section of the last leg transpired to be the slowest one! I do not really know why. There are some major climbs in this section, but nothing quite as significant as during the previous part of the race. I suppose it also is a case of at what point in the race this came and the heat increased the fatigue. The distance to the next water point was 30.09 km and it took me 2:24 to complete this distance, which included 581 meters of climbing. The average temperature increased to 32.5 degrees Celsius. Most of the water in my backpack was used to cool my arms and chest rather than for drinking! After refilling my water bottle, back pack and cooling down with some ice water over my head, chest and back, I was on my way again. The temperature was constantly increasing and the hills did not come to an end. We had to “struggle” over four more major climbs gaining a total elevation of 404 meters during the next 29.84 km, which took 1:53 to complete. Half way through section, I met an “angel”! By this time I have ran out of water for cooling down and had very little water left in my water bottle. On my way up the third hill, one of the Dryland bakkies passed me in the opposite direction. As he got level with me, he stopped to find out if everything was OK. I asked for some Coke and he obliged by half filling my bottle with Coke and topping it up with ice! That was sufficient to last me to the next water point. By now the climbing was over and after filling my water bottle I settled into a good rhythm towards the end. It took me 56 minutes to complete the last 20 km, making it the fastest section of the race! I managed to complete this 12 minutes faster than some other competitors who left the last water point with 15 minutes and me into some other competitors who I passed on my way to the finish.

Total distance: 360.17; total time 22:09:48; total elevation gained 4,929, total calories burned 13,230! There were more than 300 entries, but only 111 finished. I came finished 65^th and 4^th in my age group, finishing 15 after 3^rd and 2:34 after the second finisher in my age group! Competition is getting tough!

24 Hours of Oak Valley

It was the 1st of February and another milestone date was here. It was time for the 24 hour of Oak Valley. The aim is to see how many laps you can do in 24 hours. Each lap is 11.6 kilometers long with about 240 meters of climbing per lap. The last lap must be completed after 12:00 on Sunday or else the competitor will be classified as a non-finisher. Some people decided to ride for 24 plus hours, while others opted to ride, go for a sleep and carry on riding. To be in contention for an overall placing, one could not afford to sleep more than three hours.

I arrived at Oak Valley at about 10:30, received my race number and pack form registration and got everything sorted for the start at 12:00. We found a nice “camping site” under some trees, but it was about 500 meters from the actual track. Race briefing was at 11:30 and just before 12:00 we line-up for the Le Mans start. Our bikes were at one end of the rugby field and we had to run the length of the rugby field to start the race. We got going at 12:00 sharp. This is a long race, so I did not try to get to the other side first. I got on my bike and joined the initial procession. Fortunately the first two kilometers consisted of farm roads, so the congestion was not that serious. The first completed lap took me 41 minutes, the next two 39 minutes and then I settled into a rhythm of between 44 and 49 minutes. The route was the same as two years ago, with the exception of going around the dam instead of through it due to a higher water level. The first 6.9 kilometers of the lap was 90 percent climbing with some awesome single tracks including a ”weaving “ track cut out through some wild ferns. This was in a small valley and became pretty hot during the heat of the day.  The second half included some more awesome single tracks especially a specific section running next to a stream, followed by a rough section, a scary downhill and some more good single tracks through the trees.

Everything was going well, with no mechanical problems. I did loose my water bottle on lap three, but was fortunate enough that I did bring a spare bottle along, so that problem was resolved at the end of the lap when I received spare bottle from my brother. He was seconding for me as well as his son Leon, who was also riding. The heat was quite intense with the temperature reaching 34 degrees Celsius! Things started cooling down from 14:25 going down to 24 at 14:45! At 24:00 we were still looking at 20 degrees. This did decrease to 12 - 14 during the night. I even had a lap with some rain. Not enough to cause any problems, but enough to wet the ground. I did nearly loose my head against a low hanging branch on a short single track section just after passing the highest point of the course. This did proved to be a bit of a problem, because the impact cracked the bracket, which held my helmet light. When I tried to fit it just after dark, it broke. I was fortunate in that I did borrow a backup light and therefore decided to use this to alleviate the matter. It did help in illuminating the tracks, but I still had problems replacing my water bottle after having a drink. I normally used the helmet light to make sure I get the bottle into the bottle cadge. Without a light, that was quite a problem, so much so that I ended up stopping whenever I took a drink. It also gave me a small opportunity to rest.

Leon lapped me after 10 laps. At the end of lap 11 I stopped to fit lights as it was getting dark. When I came around at the end of 12 laps, I saw that the seconding chair was empty and realised that supper was being prepared. When I got there the fire was going, but no food was ready yet. I rested for a while and when I was informed that supper should be ready in a hour, I did another lap. At the end of the lap I was treated to a very well “braai” piece of chicken and ”braai brood. These two laps took me 1:19 and 1:41. After this “rest” I got into a rhythm again and did three laps in 51, 59 and 55 minutes. On lap 17 I had another lengthy recovery stop of 1:33! The effort was now really taking its toll and my next lap took me1:04 to complete. Next time round was resting time again with a lap of 1:20. This included a stop for a very well ”braai“ chop! The climbing sections were now really getting difficult. I once or twice considered getting off and pushing, but decided to grind on my teeth and managed to carry on.

It was a very interesting experience riding at night. Quite different to daytime riding, especially through the single tracks where it was more difficult to keep a rhythm going through the trees. It is just that much more difficult to judge your distances at night than to the day time and these single track are anything but straight! That “scary” downhill was extra scary at night!

During my stop at around 05:45 it was announced that three of us were lying third and we were all on 19 laps. On checking back it transpired that this was the situation before my 1:41 stop mentioned above. At this point the chap who finished third was all ready two laps in front of me. I picked up a nice rhythm again and did the next four laps in 1:02; 1:01; 1:04 and 59 minutes. This last lap was completed at 10:06 and at an hour per lap, I was due to start my last lap just after 11:00. That meant I only had two more laps to do.  When I came round at the end of this lap, my brother told me that there were three of us on the same lap and I was marginally in front. At this point I still thought I had a chance of finishing third, so this spurned me on. The next lap was done in 51 minutes and what was supposed to be my last lap was done in 48 minutes! The net result was that I started my last lap at 11:46 and therefore had to do an extra lap. This effort ensured that I was a safe forth as I completed one more lap than the guys who were on the same lap as me. During this time I also had a very interesting experience when my one contact lens poped out! I noticed it on the left lens of my sunglasses and the only option I had was to put it in my mouth untill the end of the lap. I then stopped, got into car and used the rearview mirror to put it back!

I completed 26 laps at about 11.6 kilometer per lap, giving a total distance of 302 kilometers. Total climbing came to approximately 6,400 meters.  That equates to 20 meters per kilometer. That is a lot of climbing! My average speed was 12.2 k.p.h. 

Here is a link to an article written by Chris Hitchcock, whose company PhotoSport took all the photo's during the weekend. www.doitnow.co.za/content/night-long-ride

I attach the Garmin data, but this is only accurate for the firts 13 hours. I have updated the time, distance and total meters climbed to account for the full race.

Attakwas 2014

Saturday 18 January and it is time for the annual Attakwas from Chandelier Game Farm in Oudtshroon to Pine Creek Resort in Groot Brak River. A distance of 121 km with 2,900 meters of climbing over the duration of the race.

Sue agreed to join me again this year and we left Cape Town on Friday morning at 11:00 and had a leisurely drive.  We stopped at Affie Plaas Padstal in Robertson where we bought some fresh pies, cooldrinks and fruit as take aways and to eat along the road. We arrived in Oudtshroon at about 16:00, booked in at NA Smit Resort and collected my number and goody bag at Kleinplasie. As I have completed the Attakwas five times, I now became a member of the Rattle Club. At this point there are 67 members and I was number 47. From here on my number will be 047 in all future editions of the Attakwas. To celebrate this, we were invited to a braai at Katot Meyer’s Attakwas Cottage Bush Camp in Oudtshroon at 18:00 on Friday 17 January. We had quite an enjoyable evening in the company of some fellow “Rattles” and even played some “kennetjie”. If anybody want more information on “kennetjie”, just Google it! Everybody agreed on an early evening so we left just after 20:00 and managed to get to bed before 22:00.

Saturday morning was an early rise as the race was starting at 06:30 to beat the heat. Sue dropped me at the start at 05:45. The actual starting shoots were moved from last year and the first 2 km was different to previous years. Instead of going straight out we now took a loop in a south-westerly direction, then went east before joining the old route after 2 km. Due the fact that I finished in under 7:30 last year, I was seeded in the A group. This meant that lots of people were going to pass me during the first 10 km!

We got going after a short benediction at 6:32. The start was actual very nice with nobody really trying to force their way to the front. I decided to keep left and let the “racings snakes`’ pass on the right. People kept passing me on a regular basis as I settled into a pace that I felt comfortable with. After a while I started noticing certain people who either I kept up to or kept up to my pace. The weather was excellent with good cloud cover and a starting temperature of 19 degrees Centigrade. The first 69 km of the route consists of jeep tracks through Chandelier Game farm, the Doringrivier Nature Reserve, the Outeniqua Nature Reserve, the Attakwas Nature Reserve and Bonniedale Guest Farm. Some of the tracks are in excellent condition while others are pretty rough. Most of it is rideable, but there are a number of steep rocky sections where one is compelled to get off and push. I see even the pros had to revert to pushing their bikes! The first 25 km to water point one took me 1:18 at an average speed of 19.6 k.p.h. This section was generally in a good condition and it was easy to maintain a good pace.

The next section of 21 km was very rough and took me 1:20 at an average of 15.8 k.p.h. This included some really steep descents and a number of serious climbs. At water point two we crossed the R328 linking Oudtshroon and Mossel Bay. The next section of 22 km through the Attakwas Nature Reserve, was the really tough part of this race. It took me 1:56 to cover this distance at an average speed of 11.4 k.p.h. We also went over the highest point of the race, at 841 meters. The terrain was also the roughest during this section. Most of the pushing occurred here. There also were a number of downhill sections that was just not rideable for the average rider. I did see a lady negotiating the last descent, while staying on her bike, but there were very few of these around when I went down this hill! At water point three we were treated to a Spur Burger and other general eats and drinks. A quick “rinse”, to get rid of most of the mud and muck we picked up while crossing 11 streams, was also provided.

The last 52 km was mostly on district roads, but it started off with a 207 meter climb over a distance of 6 kilometers. Not really serious climbing, but energy sapping after being in the saddle for five and a half hours! At least the road condition was very good. In the end it took me two hours thirty minutes to complete the 46 km from the top of this hill to the end. The route was pretty undulating from here to the end with three nasty climbs at 88, 106 and 111 kilometers, with all of them being between 1.5 to 2 kilometers long and climbs of 60 to 80 meters for every kilometer travelled! Fortunately we had water points at 86 and 107 kilometers. The last water point was on top of the second last hill. So from there it was 14 kilometers to the end with only the last climb in our way.

During this section I picked up a number of riders with whom I “seesawed” for quite a while. I would pass them and then they would pass me where after I would pass them again. There was this one guy and lady, who never spoke, so I was not sure whether they were riding together, but we were around one another for quite a number of kilometers. After a while they pulled away from me. Then three guys, who were going quite a bit faster than me, came past. I managed to “hook “onto them and made good time. We were going along at about 25 k.p.h. until the second last hill. They gained about 100 meters on me while going up the hill. I managed to maintain that up to the second last water point. Here one left before me and while the other two took their time and left after me. I did not manage to catch the one who left before me and did not see the two who left after me again. Just after going over the top of the last climb, a guy came past. Once again I managed to hang onto him and we started working together nicely. About five kilometers from the end, we caught up with the quiet guy and lady and formed a “train” of four going along well and rotating the lead regularly. When we crested the last uphill to the last descent into Groot Brak, I looked behind me and saw that I had a gap on them. I slowed down, but they did not catch up to me so went downhill as fast as possible. When I approached the last corner I saw the guy who left the last water point before me, in front of me. I raced up to him and went past the finish line level with him.

What a fantastic race! 121.16 kilometer; 7:46:45; 2,921 meters ascent and 3,230 meters descent. I finished 356th out of 846 finishers and 6^th out of 25 in my age group. Not quite as good as last year’s 7:29, but very enjoyable and satisfying! Photo's will be added as soon as they become available.

We were informed that they had a mosquito plague at the Pine Creek camping site, so my sweet wife and me decided to take the road and find a B&B closer to Cape Town. That happened to be Swellendam and we spent a delightful evening at de Companjie Guesthouse at 6 Voortekker Street, Swellendam. It is well worth a visit!