Jock 150km

Lessons & Observations on a roadie-ride

Me an Carine did the Jock Cycle Classic 150km this past weekend, below a report by her.

Report By Carine Reyneke

It was perhaps more than just a little arrogant to think that you could do a roadie ride marketed as "South Africa's toughest" if you've only been on your roadie bike once after the Argus tour. But you've been on your mountain bike a few times since the Argus, the Jock was on your to-do list for quite a while already, and you had to go find out if it was really as tough as everybody said it was ... and there was another sucker (the Mummy) who was up for the challenge, so ... what the heck, enter the ride & see what happens. How tough can 150 kays be anyway?

You were about to find out.

Some lessons & observations from the past weekend:

• If you take your bike for its only training ride in months a week before a biggish event, and you discover something like the shifters are not working, don't expect the bicycle shop to be able to fix it for you there and then. Not if you don't have a decent overdraft facility, anyway.
• Have a friend like Mamparra who can change the only gear that you will be able to use on the front chain ring, from the big to the small blade. That's good enough for Jock.
• Knowing that Barberton is somewhere in Mpumalanga is not good enough. Instructions pulled from the Internet telling you to continue for 146.2 kays, and then turn right, somehow would make more sense if you had a roadmap of the area, or at least knew where Barberton fits into the bigger picture. Especially since there was no Dirt Rider at the destination already, whom you could phone for directions.
• There're a lot of roadie bikes to be seen during a roadie-bike-weekend.
• Don't leave your fleece & wind jacket behind in Barberton when you're leaving for Nelspruit at 5 in the morning, if your start is only at 7:30. Even if The Mummy says it won't be so cold. What does the Mummy know about the weather in Nelspruit at 5:30 in the morning, anyway? ;)
• Be nice to other mountain bikers when you share a mountain, a single-track or a Noon to Moon with them, 'cos you don't know when you will bump into them at roadie-events. Was great to see the familiar faces of Big Daddy Rob & girlfriend (fiancée) Lisa on the bus on the way to Nelspruit.
• Sitting in an empty classroom waiting for your bunch to start, isn't any warmer than outside, but at least there's other people to share the cold with.
• Getting a slightly above average Argus Tour time, still doesn't make you an above average cyclist by anyone's books: you will still start in the very last bunch for the Jock.
• Nelspruit is cold 7:30 in the morning.
• The bunches start out very slowly. It's no use to try and get ahead of them, though, they will catch you. They always do. So stay with them. Sittt. Stay.
• Maybe you must take your roadie bike out more. What a pleasure to ride such a responsive bike!
• If you see a notice saying "Dangerous Downhill: Concentrate", get down on your bike, find the nearest slipstream ('cos you mos don't have a big blade) and slingshot yourself from slipstream to slipstream with a huge grin.
• Note to self: definitely take road bike out more.
• Boulders is 7 kays of climbing at Suikerbossie's gradient. The steep part of Suikerbossie, that is. You can't get your heart-rate up, because it's like pushing weights in a gym. It would probably have been more fun with a Granny Gear.
• The bicycle shop and Mamparra and Dirt Rider and everyone else were right: you won't need your big blade for this race.
• If you start in the last bunch, don't lose the bunch, otherwise you solo the rest of the race.
• Note to self: learn to climb, so that you don't lose the bunch on Boulders.
• Boulder's downhill matches the uphill in every respect ... maybe even exceeds the climb. What an exhilarating downhill! WOW! W-O-O-W!!
• Going down the bends on Boulders on a roadie bike trying not to touch the brakes while marshals are trying to flag you down, can be as much fun as a single-track at night. Maybe even more.
• "Dangerous Downhill: Concentrate" is your new favourite road sign.
• If you've done 100 kays and there're still 50 kays to go and you're hungry, eat. Don't think that you'll finish just now and eat then. You'll finish much later than expected and will have to eat at some stage anyway.
• Cycling the last 20 kays into a headwind slightly uphill all by yourself is not fun.
• If you discover a week before the Jock that your roadie bike's odometer's battery is flat, and the bicycle shop can't replace it for you, and you therefore decide to fit your Suunto's bike pod on the roadie bike because it was just lying around in a cupboard somewhere, then calibrate it before the ride.
• Road cycling is hard work.
• "Give me my chocolate" - the new national greeting? Who taught these kids to beg? Who gave them sweets, thinking they are doing them a favour, and creating an expectation that who-ever passes by will have sweets to hand out? Where did they learn to try to push cyclists off their bikes and obstruct their way if they don't stop and give them sweets? (This is something that I've seen in the Drakensburg, in the Wild coast, even on the Argus Tour this year.)
• You cannot possibly allow a girl being pushed up the last uphill 400 metres from the finish, to beat you. No matter how tired you are. She's allowed to beat you if she can get up there on her own, but you simply cannot allow her to be pushed faster than what you can cycle ... so you'll have to chase them. Keep some energy in reserve for that.
• Road cycling is not for sissies.
• Road bikes are so clean after an event!
• Some races you'll keep coming back to. Sabie Shenanigans is on my to-do list for next year. The Magalies Monster and the Induna ... I will be back next year for the awesome single track and the exhilarating downhills. The Mnweni marathon, Wartrail, a weekend of Rogaining - great events; I'll keep going back for the views, the vibe, the people, the challenge. Sprint races presented by UGE events - I will keep going back for the fun and the adventure and the speed. The Argus tour - may be expensive for Gauties, but the vibe will keep people returning for more. 94.7's on my doorstep, so I will do it as long as I have a road bike.
  The Jock? Been there, done that.
  That said, that downhill after Boulders ... I might return for that. I will train a little more if I do the event again. But then again, I often say that about other events too and never do the extra mile of training.
• Roadies are a strange bunch of people. Discussions after the event was about the vets' tour next month, about a particular team's position after this race, about what roadie-thingy they're doing next, about beating a guy from another team ...almost like they're punishing themselves ... there's no discussions about the great piece of single-track of the morning, or cycling through plantations or banana tree tunnels or orange orchards or next to canals or over dodgy bridges or through surreal rock formations, or the near blow-out on a downhill, or about the horrible technical climb that they managed to do without unclipping, or about crossing the river or bunny-hopping an obstacle or pringling a wheel or showing off newly acquired scars or the fun they had that morning ...
• Note to self: appreciate your mountain bike buddies more.
• Another note to self: Take roadie-bike out more. It is excellent training, it's great riding such a responsive bike, and riding it more often will prevent sore shoulders, neck & wing-stubs the morning after a roadie-ride.

Well, and is it South Africa's toughest race? I can't say, really. I haven't done any of the toughest races to have anything to compare it with. It can't be compared to mountain bike-events like Induna or Magalies Monster; it's much harder because of the nature of roadie rides: a much higher intensity for much longer without technical distractions. It's not comparable to adventure events like Wartrail or Mnweni: the attraction of these events (for me), is exactly this: the low intensity and the variety. It's not comparable to the Argus or 94.7; anyone can get on their bicycles and do these distances - and they do.

Distance-wise and climb-wise, even wind-wise, a Double Century may be longer and harder, but it's a team event, so you will never lose the bunch, and you'll never have to take the headwind on all on your own ... and if you pick your team members carefully, you will never be the slowest person in the team, so you will never ride at a high intensity for too long. :)

So: I still don't know if it is South-Africa's toughest road race. But I did learn one thing: road cycling is not for sissies!

And I think I am one. :) A sissie, that is. So I'll stick to mountain biking, for now.

From trials rider to skater boy mummy in 10 seconds...

Crash Report:

Last Monday night i was sitting in traffic on my way to Pretoria, thinking of how much petrol i will safe when i sell my 4 liter jeep the next day for a better mountain bike and a smaller car. It was going to be my first ride in a skate park, my first introduction to the practical side of trials riding (like Mr. Leech in Roam). I was actually more nervous that i would struggle to take off my eggbeater pedals and put on platforms than riding in a half pipe, because I figured that i would take it slowly and not try something stupid.

While still on my way Werner phoned me and told me he was selling his bike, 'just like that' i replied, after a while of trying to figure out what he was up to he told me he bought the bike of his dreams. I couldn't wait to see it and after getting lost in th area around menlyn i eventually found the skate park named thrashers and Wessel trying out Werner's new bike.

We started riding in circles in a cement like vellodrome but much smaller than a real one, the first ramp was small but quite fun to jump, thereafter we started riding in the quarter pipes that you find higher up in the park above a piece of sloped grass, it was really great fun to ride in a skate park, you get lots of air and i never felt like i was in a position were i was out of control of the bike and fall. Then Wessel put up a line that was great fun, with us following, his line was cool, you don't have to check or think much and just follow the rider, Wessel you really had a cool line.

At a stage Werner was just standing there for 20 minutes totally in love with his new bike while me and Wessel played in the quarter pipes. If we didn't shout to him to get a room, he would still be standing there making out with his bike.

Then I became very relaxed in the skate park (my mistake) and with Wessel behind me wanted to make my own line, one thing i didn't know about this line making thing is that even though it looks safe, you ride the line very slowly the first time to check it out, and then when you know your line you invite others to ride it with you because you know it is safe.

Ok, so ja, I saw my line going down this piece of grass towards the vellodrome thingy and because the vellodrome was at the same slope angle as the grass going down, it looked from a distance as if the grass goes strait onto the vellodrome thingy, mean while back in the jungle somebody build a 1 meter drop-off just before the vello thingy.

Obviously i only saw it when i was about a meter from the edge and didn't have time to think of things like lifting my front wheel and stuff so i went down like a kamikaze pilot on EPO, face first onto the ground still holding on to my handlebars.

Now, what followed actually happened in mills seconds, but felt much longer, more like 10 seconds.

The first thing i remember is a lot of sparks as my glasses and forehead were scratching against the cement of the vello, then i remember my nose slowly ice skating on the vello slowly taking more of my weight, then it was my left cheeks turn, you see each part of my face had to get a turn to do ice skating on the vellodrome. Then followed a big shout, as if it would stop me from ice skating on my face!

Wessel was behind me but luckily stopped and didn't follow my line. I stood up and saw red through my left eye, quite scary, head pounding blood running i suggested they take me to some hospital kind of place. They took me to a clinic of choice, were i got cleaned and injected in the face with adrenalin. Then Werner tried to bunny hop my wheelchair while i was blindfolded on my way to the x-ray babe (i peeked you see).

Damage assessment, cracked nose, between 45 and 55 stitches (will count if they take them out), mummified for a week.

To cut a long story short, I was very lucky, the skate park is really fun and i will be back soon with more experience, be careful when you setup your own line, and always wear a helmet.

Thanks to Werner and Wessel for taking me to ER, to Wessel and his Wife for looking after me during the night and the next day at the plastic surgeon and to his lighty for waiting for his MacDonalds while Wessel was driving me around. Also to everybody who phoned/smsed me to hear how I was doing, Thank You.

See ya on a D&D ride soon.

The Mummy

Mnweni Marathon

Report by Jan Dekker:

On Friday 11th May a bunch of happy campers went of to Mnweni in the Northern Drakensberg to experience something neither of us has ever done - a mountain marathon. This is basically a trail run, a very long trail run.

With a well-organised race briefing every runner were issued with a map of the route, and thankfully the race organisers made use of a red line to indicate the route. Also a big thanks to the sponsors, with their logo I could establish which side was up!

Some nervous jokes traveled through the tent later the evening. After a discussion on navigation we established that if you drove down Lynnwood Road (in Pretoria) you would be going east, unless you were traveling in the other way, navigation sorted then..........

We started on a cloudless morning before sunrise. Every member of our gang had an objective, mine was to finish before the rugby, Wessel, Carine and Jacques aimed to reach the cut-off time of 11:00 at the bottom of Mnweni pass, Tony had been preparing in the Himalayas the previous month and looked eager to go. The route was as follows : follow the Mnweni river up the Berg
until you eventually reach the escarp via the Mnweni pass, then descent through the Rockeries pass and follow the Thanyelna river all the way home.

With my map safely tucked away in my back pack the run started, a few level kilometers along a well maintained road before we started our ascent on some rather smaller hiking trails. The route meandered up the valleys towards the pass. Running became more difficult and nobody was ashamed to walk up or down a slope. Ten kays in I stopped for to fill up on water when I heard some talking behind, the gang had caught up with me again, after al that
running?

Then the mind games started as the route became more difficult. Aches and pains appeared from seemingly nowhere. Fast walking became acceptable with the odd run for a hundred yards, maybe. As we came nearer to the Mnweni pass the going got even more difficult, the voice shouting ouch in the head louder and for a minute I thought about turning round, but that would be quitting, never! Finally we reached the pass, legs tired but the big challenge still lay ahead.

Mnweni pass is only about 1200m, doesn't sound much but it is steep, very steep, you know what I mean, moer steep. We looked like climbers summitting Everest, baby steps and strained faces, and one thought to keep going and not to stop until the top is reached. It was at this stage that I once again got hope for our beautiful country. A friend from university was in
front of me and suffering from cramp when I caught up with him, he was walking with two trekking poles. My leg was very sore by now and as we struggled up the pass I mentioned that to have a trekking pole would be great at this moment, although hurting with cramp he offered me one of his poles without hesitation (I didn't take it).

More than hour later we reached the summit and sat down for some lunch, lovely macaroni and tomato paste, enough fuel to carry us home together with the trusted Evox bar and zoom juice. The descent down Rockeries was, um rocky and steep. At stages the best way for fast and rather safe progress was the two-foot slide, as practiced by kids wearing socks on tiled floors. After a while we noticed some vultures circling above, was this an ominous sign, luckily not as they were breading on the rock face above.

After Rockeries going got easier as the gradient softened and jogging once again became and option. By now my running technique looked a bit like a Boerboel crossed with Sonja Laxton, at least it was faster than walking. Then we hit the gravel road back to Mnweni; it was back to
full throttle, which was by now not so fast and quite sore. At least it was faster than
walking and just as sore! The finish was as sweep as 'toffie appels' and I was just in time for rugby! What a fine day.

Everybody made it back safely and it was time for a good old braai. Most of us walked around like sailors with two wooden legs, but smiles as wide as a grand piano!

See you there next time, cheers.

Mnweni Marathon mapworks

Mnweni Marathon mapworks

Apr 24, 2007
by The Jackal

Estimations of how I think the route will be. I made it on maps based on these given facts only: - This 42 Km run involves ascending from 1200 m asl to 3000 m on the berg summit in Lesotho - It is a circular route which starts and ends at the Mnweni cultural centre (roughly at the confluence of the Mnweni and Ntonyelane rivers)in the northern Kwa Zulu Natal Drakensberg - The route follows the Mnweni Valley, ascends the Mnweni pass, crosses the source of the Orange on the plateau and returns down Rockeries pass and the Ntonyelane Valley

View Album

Mozambique Scuba Diving

So me and werner decided to try out Scuba diving and the plan was to do our open water qualification in Mozambique.

We started driving there the tuesday after work and arrived at the border post 3am, and had to wait a couple of hours for the border to open.

There were lots of boxes and rubbish in the bushes next to the road at the border, but i though it must be normal. When the sun came up, the boxes started moving, it was actual people sleeping in the boxes!! Amazingly they appeared and got ready for the day to begin. Only in Africa.

Now the instructions we got was, as soon as you cross the border it becomes a sand road, but what did we see? A perfectly tarred highway going to Maputo!! We were at the wrong border post, we should have went to kosi bay!

Out come by GPS and a map of mozambique, our mistake was huge, but we were up for the challenge to fix it. It meant we had to somehow find a sand road between the Maputo highway
and ponta du aura, and there were no real roads on the map! In the end after 6 hours of following the GPS bearing and trying to avoid land mines, driving through some hectic sand and almost getting stuck with my jeep we reached ponta du aura.

Scuba diving was an awesome experience, and to experience it in some of the best diving spots in the world a privilege! The vis was good and we saw very amazing fish, turtles and lion fish.

CapeStorm Rogaine - Kaapschehoop, Mpumalanga

Me can Con did it as a team, we overnighted in a train (barretts coaches) in kaapsche hoop. We experienced all weather conditions possible in one day: Mist, Sunshine, Rain, Hail, Thunder and Lightning and took shelter in the race office after taking a heavy beating in the hail while lightning stuck around us and the blaire witch chased us.

What is a Rogaine?

Rogaining is a sport where teams of 2 navigate their way around an area using a specially drawn map. Teams try to visit as many check points in the area within the set time limit, scoring more points at check points that are further away from the start / finish and at those that are harder to navigate to. Check points can be visited in any order. Teams may finish earlier if they so choose, but all teams MUST return to the start / finish before the cut-off time. Teams will loose points at a high rate for every minute they are late. Teams more than 30 minutes late will be disqualified. The overall winner in the race is the team with the highest nett number of points. For the MTB rogaine, check points will be located on and next to paths, tracks and roads. Mountain bike competitors must complete the entire course with their bikes.

CapeStorm Foot Rogaine - 3 November 2007

19	Team Information				Points	Penalty	Grand	Postion
20	Name #1	Name #2	Category	Event	Score		Total	Overall	Cat.
21	Nicholas Mulder	Ryno Griesel	Male Open	12 foot	2910	140	2770	1	1
22	Stephan Muller	Heidi Muller	Mixed	12 foot	2575	0	2515	2	1
23	Arrie De Swardt	Susan Sloan	Mixed	12 foot	2515	0	2515	3	2
24	Alex Pope	Nathan Thompson	Male Open	12 foot	2305	0	2305	4	2
25	Garry Morrison	Phillipe Van Der Leeuw	Male Open	12 foot	2055	0	2055	5	3
26	David Pilling	Dirk Els	Male Vet	12 foot	1990	0	1990	6	1
27	Alec Avierinos	Clinton Hardenberg	Male Open	12 foot	1950	0	1950	7	4
28	Tim Deane	Paul Burnett	Male Open	12 foot	1915	0	1915	8	5
29	Liz Mulder	David Hall	Mixed	12 foot	1865	0	1865	9	3
30	Stefan Horn	Johan Van Dijkhorst	Male Open	12 foot	1720	0	1720	10	6
31	Mark Anderson	Debbie Smith	Mixed	12 foot	1655	0	1655	11	4
32	Paul Plantinga	Derek Martin	Male Open	12 foot	1605	0	1605	12	7
33	Con Loubser	Jacques Booysen	Male Open	12 foot	1555	0	1555	13	8
34	William Cairns	Mike Underwood	Male Open	12 foot	1525	0	1525	14	2
35	Corne Van Biljon	Bennie Prinsloo	Male Open	12 foot	1555	30	1525	15	9
36	Francois vd Colff	Laura Foster	Mixed	12 foot	1465	0	1465	16	5
37	Reichardt Groenewald	Karen Pretorius	Mixed	12 foot	1125	0	1125	17	6
38	Lean Drinkwater	Karen Drinkwater / Royden Tapson	Mixed	12 foot	1020	0	1020	18	7
39	Kath Burnett	Cath Martin	Female Open	12 foot	610	0	610	19	1
40	Charles Lautenbach	Glynis Shoebotham / Catherine Horrocks	Mixed	12 foot	485	0	485	20	8
41	Burke Lautenbach	Sean Morrison	Male Vet	12 foot	385	0	385	21	3
42

CapeStorm Mountain Bike Rogaine - 4 November 2007

2	Team Information				Points	Penalty	Grand	Postion
3	Name #1	Name #2	Category	Event	Score		Total	Overall	Cat.
4	Arrie De Swardt	Ryno Griesel	Male Open	5 bike	1600	0	1600	1	1
5	Sakkie Van Wyk	Benjamin Van Wyk	Male Open	5 bike	1490	5	1485	2	2
6	Alex Pope	Nathan Thompson	Male Open	5 bike	1300	0	1300	3	3
7	Alec Avierinos	Clinton Hardenberg	Male Open	5 bike	1280	110	1170	4	4
8	Stephan Muller	Heidi Muller	Mixed	5 bike	1120	0	1120	5	1
9	Anita Stoll	Karin Stoll	Female Vet	5 bike	1100	0	1100	6	1
10	Derek Putter	Emily Clarke	Mixed	5 bike	1040	0	1040	7	2
11	Jan Delpoort	Liesbet Delpoort	Mixed	5 bike	1040	0	1040	8	3
12	Michele Botha	Liz Mulder	Female Open	5 bike	1000	0	1000	9	1
13	Stefan Horn	Johan Van Dijkhorst	Male Open	5 bike	980	0	980	10	5
14	David Hall	Elmarie Mulder	Mixed	5 bike	1040	70	970	11	4
15	Con Loubser	Jacques Booysen	Male Open	5 bike	940	30	910	12	6
16	Jose De Sousa	Adele Drake	Mixed	5 bike	780	30	750	13	5
17	William Cairns	Mike Underwood	Male Open	5 bike	680	0	680	14	7
18	Glen Terry	Eddie Bevan	Male Vet	5 bike	580	0	580	15	1
19	John Wattrus	Andrew Sparrow	Male Open	5 bike	580	10	570	16	8
20	Tim Deane	Paul Burnett	Male Open	5 bike	570	0	570	17	9
21	Debby Hall	Elsie Grobler	Female Vet	5 bike	440	0	440	18	2
22	Mark Anderson	Debbie Smith	Mixed	5 bike	390	0	390	19	6
23	Kath Burnett	Cath Martin	Female Open	5 bike	340	0	340	20	2
24	Reichardt Groenewald	Karen Pretorius	Mixed	5 bike	370	105	265	21