Surviving Sabie – an expert view We asked Max Knox, Sabie resident and one of the rising stars of the South African MTB scene (he was second to Burry Stander in the Under-23s at the opening round of the XC nationals in Stellenbosch recently) for his advice when riding the Subaru Sabie Classic. Read it carefully: it could mean the difference between a great ride and a 'Did Not Finish'
The key to a good mountain race, but for Sabie in particular, is preparation. The area is very rough and treacherous, the roads are very rocky, and not only does your body have to be in good condition but your equipment needs to be sorted! Having trained in the area for many years my suggestion is to carry a multi-tool with a chain breaker, two spare 'bombs' and definitely two tubes... if you're riding tubeless you are also going to need to make sure you use a thicker tubeless tyre, not a lightweight racing one. My choice would definitely be something like the Continental Mountain King – it is a great tyre both in the dry and mud and as anyone who lives there will tell you, the weather can change at the drop of a hat. Anyone who has ridden the Sabie Experience state race can vouch for that! If you're riding the longer distances, you might be out there for a while – especially if the conditions are tricky - so remember to eat and drink good quality carbohydrates regularly. If the weather is cooler people often forget to drink and you can get caught out because you don't feel thirsty so you can end up 'bonking' very suddenly. Another thing to take note of is the roads can become treacherous in the rain (there are rocks, roots and the area's super-slippery red mud) so take your time and don't risk anything – remember, the goal is to finish in one piece. If any of you haven't trained properly I would suggest maybe considering doing the shorter ride: the 70 km is definitely very challenging for most guys, and the 100 km race even harder. The routes in Sabie also feature some very long hard climbs which many of the guys from out of town are unaccustomed to. Remember to pace yourself accordingly - even I have been caught out many a time and cracked on some of the hills, so just relax and get into your own rhythm...don't let it disturb you if every one seems to be coming past you - you will catch them later when they are paying for the early effort. And at the risk of repeating myself, the road surfaces are also very rocky, so concentrate on getting into a rhythm and choosing the smoothest lines on the road. Each little bump will fatigue you and you need to save all your energy if you want to finish strong and enjoy the outing! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DarkAndDirty" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/DarkAndDirty?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
