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!

Eselfontein MTB

As our team captain did not get our entry for the Coronation Double Century, which took place on Saturday 23 November 2013, in on time, resulting in no DC this year, I opted for the Eselfontein MTB in Ceres, which took place on the same day. My friend, Danie Kotze decide to join me and we set course for Ceres at 06:00 on Saturday morning to be in time for the 08:30 start. We arrived at Eselfontein just after 07:00, collected our numbers and had ample time for the start on the race. The weather was glorious with the temperature at 19 degrees Celsius and promising to get hotter as the day progressed.

We got going just after 08:30, heading down from the manor house towards to hills south of the farm. The first couple on kilometers were on farm roads and jeep tracks. After about 5 km we started hitting the famous Eselfontein single tracks, which has been used extensively on the Absa Cape Epic. These were free flowing and mostly on level terrain with some slight down hills. We also had to cross some steams resulting in wet feet, but with the fantastic weather that dried quickly. After about 30 minutes we picked up the splendid singles tracks through the local forest. This lasted for approximately 15-20 minutes with beautiful flowing tracks through the forests on the farm.

After we got out of the forests, we crossed over to the hill north west of the farm and the first serious climb of the day starting at 520 meters and topping out at 777 meters over a distance of 6 kilometers. This was followed by a very technical downhill of 3.5 kilometers descending down to 561 meters, followed by another climb to 737 meters over the next 3 kilometers. What goes up must come down so we went down to 541 meters over the next 8 kilometers. After a short lull 2 kilometers with little climbing, we got to the monster of the day. At 36 kilometers we started a climb from 550 meters to 1,014 meters over a distance of 8 kilometers to the highest point of the day. The scenery from here was truly breathtaking with a view over the whole Ceres valley right up to Mitchell's Pass. This followed by a downhill, which was fairly free flowing, with some technical bits thrown in, down to 555 meters over a distance of 8 kilometers.

We then did the first section where we started out this morning, before the forests, but in reverse. On this section I picked up a rider who seemed familiar. On enquiry in turned to be August Cars tens, fellow Freedom Challenger and adventurer who rode from Kilimanjaro to Pietermaritzburg during May/June 2012. We really had a nice ride and chat for the last 5 kilometers to the finish.

This really was an awesome ride with most of the route made up of purpose built single tracks. A route really worthwhile traveling 305 kilometers for. The average temperature for the day was 30 degrees Celsius with a maximum of 38! It was really hot in the valleys, but we were fortunate to give a cool breeze on the hills.

Total time was 4:22:52 for a distance of 62.97 kilometers and 1,419 meters of climbing and 1.412 meters of elevation loss.   

Wine2Whales Day 3

I decided to set my alarm for 05:30 to ensure I get an opportunity to use the FNB VIP toilets again, but the campsite lighting went on ay 05:00 with the result that I woke up at 05:00. As we went to bed quite early, it was easy to also get up early. Breakfast was the same as the day before. We once again got prompted and were moved up to group C, with a starting time of 07:20.

The day’s route was generally downhill, starting at 293 meters through some local fruit plantations and past Paul Cluver, but not through the amphitheater again and ending at sea level at Onrus Caravan Park. The first 40 kilometers included some more single tracks and the old Houwhoek Pass down to Botriver. The single track leading to the pass was sublime! Unfortunately we ended up behind some guys who were less proficient on the technical sections, resulting in a lot of stop/start cycling as these guys were struggling to negotiate the single tracks.  We reached Botriver covering the 26-kilometer in 1:30.

As we reached the old pass, I started noticing a very ominous sound coming from my bike’s bottom bracket. Every now and then it sounded as though I was grinding ball bearings. The only re-assuring thing was that the noise was not constant, so the hope remained that it will hold out until the end and not seize before then! It also had not apparent effect on the performance of my bike.

After Botriver we dissented the Botriver, which went down to 7 meters above sea level at a distance of 40 kilometers. We had 35 kilometers left, but now the big climbing of the day started. We still had to negotiate three major hills before we reached the top of Rotary Way from where it was 10 kilometer down hill to the end. We went up a jeep track and around a hill on a contour path through some quite beautiful scenery of fields of purple flowers, into a single track through some blue gum trees. This took us the Heel en Aarde Valley and the Hamilton Russel Vineyards where we had our last water point. Just before we reached Hamilton Russel we went down a hill past some vineyards. Some guys came racing past us and one on them miss judged a contour water furrow, lost his balance and careered head first into a support pole. We stopped to see if he was OK, but as he was attended to by one of his mates, we left them. We are not sure what the outcome of this was, but we did not get any bad reports, so we presumed that he was fine.

After stopping at the water point we went up Rotary Way, a 135-meter climb over a distance of 2.5 kilometers. This took us onto a district road past the Hermanus Hang Glider launch pad, with breath taking views over the bay, onto a single track down to the Hemel en Aarde tar road. The next stretch was a magnificent single track down the valley to the Hemel en Aarde shopping complex on the Onrus/Hermanus road. Was crossed this road under a culvert and sprinted the last kilometer to the end at the finish line. Total riding time 4:40 and finishing 171 out of 507 teams and moving up to 148^th overall. and13^th in the Master category for 50+ year olds. Not bad for two old buddies with a combined age of 127!

Wine2Whales Day 2

I set my alarm for 06:00, but it went off at 05:00! That turned out pretty well as I found the FNB VIP toilets and was able to brush my teeth and put my contact lenses in relative comfort compared to the confined space of the porta toilets, which was provided for tenet crowd. Breakfast was served from 06:30 and once again was excellent! Muesli, Weetbix, bacon, scrambled eggs, boerewors,, toast, juice, coffee – eat your heart out! I settled for muesli with yoghurt, some fruit juice and coffee.

Our result from day one got us promoted from group F to group D, so we started at 07:30. The first 3 kilometers was uphill again, but we only gained 100 meters, which was not that bad. There after the route was very much a case of regular of ups and downs. We encountered some magnificent singles tracks and the ground condition was quite reasonable considering all the rain we had the day before. We also got an opportunity to negotiate the wonderful Paul Cluver Amphitheater, which will only be opened to the public during December. This consisted of some wonderful single tracks, bridges and various similar challenges over a distance of 6 kilometers.

This led us to some forest tracks, which was very muddy and also quite tricky. The mud got into the drive train again and this led to chainsuck, which sucks! We were fortunate again in that the terrain was such that I could get away with negotiating most hills in the big chain ring. We maintained a good pace and completed the 68 km in 4:54, finishing 151 out of 537 teams and moving up to 159^th overall.

The campsite was in a much better condition, although there were still quite a few soggy patches. Supper consisted of roast lamb, mussels, roast vegetable, savory rice and salad. This was rounded off with chocolate mouse and flavoured milk!

Wine2Whales Day 1

The long awaited Wine2Whales have arrived. Unfortunately the weather was true to form. For those who do not know, the third day of the Wine2Whales rained out a couple of years ago. It was so bad, they cancelled the third day! This year we started in the rain. 

We (my partner Mike Smit and myself) arrived at Lourensford, Somerset West at 07:00, with ample time until our 07:50 starting slot to hand in our bags and get down to the start area. The weather was very overcast, but no serious rain. On our way there we had a couple of light showers, but nothing too serious. As we approached the start area, a light drizzle started falling. We stared in seeded groups at 10-minute intervals. 

The route kicked up from the beginning. In the first 5.4 km we climbed 328 meters. That is 60.74 meters for very kilometer! The next 19 kilometers was downhill, even though it did not feel that way. We were cycling on the contour of the hills around Lourensford estate. The scenery was quite careened, but the constant drizzle made riding quite a challenge, especially going some of the slippery downhills! Every now and then the clouds lifted enough to allow us a peak over False Bay, but just as we thought that it is about to clear, some more clouds and mist covered us with more rain. The rain was not too bad and the temperature was reasonable at around 12-14 degrees Centigrade. The real problem was that the rain created more than a fair share of mud and mud and mountain biking do not go together too well. The mud tends to clog up the drive train, which result in gears not working properly. We were very fortunate in that we had no technical problems during the first 55 kilometers of first stage. 

After going downhill up to water point one, the route continued over some hills in the Somerset West area, which I did not know, existed! I always thought it was all downhill from the top of Lourensford to The bottom of Sir Lowry's Pass. Now I knew differently! In the next 12 kilometers we climbed 140 meters and had a descent of the same magnitude. 

There after we started the climb up the lower slops of Sir Lowry's Pass leading onto Gantouw Pass and water point 2, about two kilometers to the bottom of the pass. Gantouw Pass is about two kilometers north east of the top of Sir Lowry's Pass. This is the routes which was used in the eighteen hundreds for moving cargo inland. There is a distance of 3 kilometers where we were not allowed to cycle, as it is a heritage area. There are actual marks in the rocks showing where the ex wagon went across the mountain. It is incredible to think that people with ox wagons and goods went over that mountain! It was so steep that some of us carried our bikes up the hill as this was easier than manhandling a bike over the rough terrain. Once over the top, we were allowed to get back onto our bikes and got riding again.

The terrain here was sandier, which made for good riding in the wet conditions. After doing about nine kilometers, we encountered our first technical problem. A screw worked loose on the gearshift of mike's bike and he had to do the rest of the day in one gear. Fortunately it got stuck in a reasonable gear for the terrain and we managed to maintain a good pace. We tried to get it fixed at the next water point, but to no avail. We also moved away from the sandy areas into mud again and I started encountering "chain suck" problem. That is when your chain gets jammed due to all the mud and muck, which the drive train picked up due to the wet conditions. Fortunately this also only happens when one uses the from small chairing, so I just continue in the big chairing, having to push some of the steeper hills as the gears available was too big. We went down some awesome single tracks through some pine forest, which carried on and on and on! It really made for some really magnificent riding. The last couple of kilometers went through some of the fruit tree plantations around Grabouw and we finished off with some of Oak Valley's legendary single tracks.

It was a long day in the saddle. We took 6:11:50 over the 75 kilometers and finished 168 out of 595 teams. 

This event included meals and accommodation and those who elected to use the accommodation was allocated a tent on the local sports field. This was fine, except for the fact that with all the rain, the walking areas were getting very soggy! Supper was excellent and consisted of very well grilled steaks, a chicken dish, vegetables and salads provided by Food Lovers Market. This was complemented by various juices and flavoured milk provided by Fair Cape Dairies. 

Trans Baviaans 2013

The 2013 Trans Baviaans took place on Saturday 17 August. Danie Kotze, Pierre van der Merwe and myself entered a team again and we had my brother as backup driver. 

I left Bloubergstrand at 09:30 on Friday morning, picked Danie up in Sunning Dale and Pierre and my brother in Goodwood. We left Goodwood just after 10:00 and headed off to Willowmore. We arrived there at 16:00, registered and left for my cousin's guest farm where we stayed over for the night. In total they accommodated 27 participants on their farm on Friday night. We were treated to an excellent supper of Kudu steaks, chops, sosaties, sausage, veggies, salads and freshly baked bread! 

After a 07:00 breakfast, we headed off to Willowmore for the start of the race at 10:00. During the night we had a gale force wind and as we lined up for the start, a few drops of rain started falling. 

The race got under way at 10:00, by which time the rain stopped. The rout was the same as last year and we headed out of town past the golf course over some gravel tracks. The initial going was at a very sedate pace as over taking was quite difficult.

Once we joined the main gravel road to the Baviaanskloof, the pace started picking up. We were also fortunate to have the wind on our backs. We made good time and really enjoyed the beauty of the Nuwekloof Pass and passing through the awesome sight of high cliffs on both sides of the road. We made good time and reached the first water point at Vero's Restaurant after 2:09, where we were treated to "roosterkoek". We had a bit of misfortune as Pierre informed us that his rear gear cable has broken. After we had some refreshments, we set about replacing the cable. We were fortunate in that Danie had a spare cable. We set about the task and managed to get it right first time. Total stopping time was 17 minutes. 

The section to water point 2 was all downhill and covered the next 52 km at an average  speed of 28 kph with a maximum of 68. Due to the lack of rain, the river crossings was a breeze. All of them were rideable. We managed to maintain our good pace and reached Geelhoubos after a further 1:50, 10 minutes quicker than last year. We had a good recovery stop and got going again after 16 minutes.

The next section to Smitskraal included the climb of Grassnek Pass. Not to steep, but steep enough and a relentless grind to get to the top. Initially to road is fairly flat with a number of water crossings and then comes Grassnek. A climb of 200 meters followed by a descent of 257 meters. It took us 1:04 to cover the 20 km from Geelhoutbos to Smitskraal. Here we stopped for sosaties, wors and potatoes. Total stoppage time was 22 minutes.

The next section to Bergplaas included the "Fangs" and Holgat Pass. It took us 1:33 to cover the next 17 km. the slowest section of the day, but also the most number of climbs and highest ascent between any two water points. 671 meters of climbing. There is only one option under these circumstances. Put your head down and turn the pedals over! We arrived at Bergplaas at 17:55. Here we had the option of hot soup and coffee or tea plus various other items to eat. We also had a container with clean cycling gear shipped here. I initially decided not to use any if that gear, but realised after a while that my fleece vest and cycling pants was wet from sweat. I then decided to change everything for dry clothes, including two cycling tops, for warmth and my shower proof jacket over the whole lot. The dry thermal socks and gloves were perfect for the weather. When we left, after 28 minutes, the temperature was five degrees Celsius. 

Now it was downhill all the way go the Gamtoos River crossing. It was still light, so the going down Combrinck Pass was easier than last year. By the time we got to the Grootrivierpoort, it was dark and we could not really appreciate the beauty of the Poort. Water point 5 was moved 5 km back from the Hadley packing shed to the Komdomo campsite. We arrived here at 19:15 and were treated with a chip roll and chocolate flavoured milk. We recuperated, gathered some strength  and got going again after 21 minutes. 

The next 7 km to the Gamtoos River crossing was flat and then the climb up the Never Ender started. During the next 18 km we climbed 288 meters and it took us 1:17. By this tome a light rain was falling. We arrived at Zuurbron at 21:36. The end was on sight, so we only stopped for 10 minutes. 

The route from here to the Jeffreys Bays turnoff was along jeep tracks and did include some minor climbs. We were also fortunate to initially have a strong wind in on our backs, but then we headed SW and into the wind. We had a miner reprieve behind a hill, which was pretty steep, but when we got to the plateau it was grinding time against the wind. A steady rain was also falling by now. We caught up with two girls and for a while the five of us cycled together up the Jeffreys Bay tar road. We put our heads down and pulled away from the girls, which was a mistake! The finish was moved from last year, but the directions were not very clear. Both Danie and myself had some problems downloading the GPS tracks, so when we got to the Jeffreys Bay turn off, we turned left while we should have hone straight. Fortunately somebody in a vehicle, who new the correct route, saw us, chased us down and told us turn around. We lost about 5 minutes. The last 6 km was a steady climb to the finish in contrast to last year where it was mostly flat or downhill! There also were route guides at the circles we encountered and we reached the end after 13:03, 4 minutes behind the two girls! We an elevation gain of 3,203 meters and elevation loss of 3,949 meters. Total distance travelled was 226.42 km.