I’ve heard a lot about this race, words like beautiful, fast, hard, scenic and lots of fun. All of those things were definitely included in the 5th edition of the event.
A few weeks ago, I gave good friend and fellow road rider Ray Cox a call and asked him if he’d be up to it, straight away he said yes, and we were set. He spent some more time on the mtb getting used to it and raced another mtb race or two in between
S T A G E 1
We opted to drive in and out every day as it wasn’t to far and saved a bit of costs. Plus, sleeping in your own bed is always greater and home cooked food is also much tastier. On Friday I arrived at the ATKV Goudini Spa and left my car there before hoping into the shuttle truck to the start of stage one where Ray’d be waiting for me.
We actually never even trained or rode together before that day, except for racing in road races. But this was a whole different dynamic. Stage on was 67km with 1200m of climbing, lots of rough climbs and loose rocks with a ton of thorns. Ray had a tough time trying to keep his front wheel hard, eventually we plugged one of the holes after many times stopping and pumping it up. We settled into a great rhythm together, I went on the front in the single tracks and on the flats we shared the efforts. On that day we rolled over the line somewhat confused in what we thought would be top 20 position, but later learnt that we’d crossed the line in 8th position.
S T A G E 2
We were much more positive over stage 2, having learnt a bit on stage 1 and topping up our tyres with extra sealant that Friday afternoon. The stage started with a long open tar road which immediately lifted the pace. We then turned onto a dirt road and one team went off the front. I tried to close it but realized it’d be suicide and didn’t see where Ray was in the bunch, luckily, he was actually 5th wheel. A few kilometers further my chain fell off and I lot time fitting it back on. Ray kept pushing on and soon I was back with him. That early mechanical cost us one position at the end of the day, but we crossed the line in 9th.
S T A G E 3
On stage 3 we decided that we’d bring some fun to the race and attack early on. One of those moments where I was on the left of the bunch and Raymond on the right-hand side. I looked over at him and he nodded. I’ve added the video down below; you can see it happen there. I loved it. The funny thing is that we were over and hour down on GC but the leading team closed the gap. We had a good laugh about that tactic after the race. Racing in Europe taught simple rules like don’t chase break with riders far down on GC. Simple un-educated racing like that is why I still love SA’s racing more, it’s similar to gravel races, it’s never by the book and keeps it super exciting! Nevertheless, we had a jol. Got our TV time and was back in the race where I soon dropped my chain off again… on the first off road section. For some reason it happens at least once on every ride, that’s GX for you. Ray knew the drill and kept going, whilst I chased back. This stage was by far the most fun, absolutely brilliant trails and so much scenery with the finish road on a nice piece of long open gravel to get us home. Another day in 9th position with 8th overall after 3 stages.
It was a great race and a wonderful experience. I’ll be back in 2020 for sure.
If you’re not racing – actually about 80% of the field, the people that make the race and these events happen, here is Ila Stow’s view from the event. Enjoy!
Over ‘n’ out.
Jaco
Photography - Chris Hitchcock
www.photosport.co.za
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