Southern Storm (Part 2) www.southernstorm.co.za Day 3 – 8,5km Trail Run (Robberg) and 50km Cycle to Diepwalle Forest station
We said goodbye to all the folks that came just for the Otter Trail run and the Southern Storm athletes got up the next morning for Day 3. The AR shuffle was evident throughout the camp. But what do you expect.. how is this for a comparison elavation gain for the tough Sabie 101km Classic Mtb was 2300m.... The elevation gain for the 42km Otter Trail Run was 2100m. Eish bru.. Everyone that participated are now legends in their own right, these are the stories you can proudly tell for a long time... but the story for us stormers was not over.... Mark Collins told us later that as he watched us all painfully hobbling around in the start, while we assembled our bikes, he had to try and put on a brave face. No one has hosted a multi day Duathlon event before...He was thinking that there was just no way this was going to work. We bunched in behind the start banners and as the gun went off, and he was thoroughly relieved to see everyone bolt out of there like no tomorrow.. and then he knew, this was definitely going to WORK. I hung onto the leading bunch for a while, ok so maybe 500m... :-) thinking keep this easy till the legs warm up.. we scuttled down stairs and across some very soft sand as the trail led you across the Robberg point nature reserve. Louis came past me here looking as fresh as the breeze. Beautiful smooth seas at Plettenberg.. My pace slowed down a lot, the aches and pains were not going away..There was some grunting and funny noises which I was happy to confess was not me but rather the families of seals on the rocks below. There was a rather off smell too, which I am also happy to confess was not me, as it also belonged to the seals. I shuffled and kept telling myself, its only 8,5km... We reach the outer point (300degrees of glorius ocean view) and I was shocked to see the only remains of the fisherman hut that was washed away by a huge wave. (Thursia and I have had the privilege of spending a new years there with turbo dwarf and super G a few years ago).. what was once a real cosy hut which stood for decades was now just a small pile of rocks. Apparently the area has twice this past year, experienced waves bigger than ever recorded in the last 70 years. Anyway around the point, some tourists just smile and wave at us crazies.. there was a nice fresh sea breeze blowing to cool the engines. Some steep climbs and eventually a flat section along a beach... folks were passing me easily but I didn't care too much.. bring on the bikes... Wow.. what a feeling of freedom to the legs.. I felt good and decided it was payback time and cruised through the Harkerville forest trails.. I was able to pass quite a few riders while chasing another rider in blue and white who just seem to manage to keep about 200m ahead of me..it was only after about 25km that I passed him on a technical climb... there was a nice but short singletrack leading you under a bridge (N2) and then out the other side past some farms, it was back into some of the most beautiful forest I have ever ridden in. The trail was wide with a smooth gentle climb and while you cranked the pedals you could scout the vegetation for signs of legend “Oupoot”. It was unbelievable and dense. We popped out onto a main dirt road leading up to Diepwalle forest station.. it was about 7km of climbing and although I was giving it everything, yet my friend, the rider in blue and white behind me that just keep getting closer and closer.. He passed me just as we came towards the end and as the road looped back for the finish I shocked him by getting out of the seat for a sprint finish.. he was not amused but laughed a lot about it later. He beat me to the finish and it turns out it was Pieter de Bruyn from P.E. (nickname Pieterman) He actually came for a D&D ride way back in 2005.. hehehe he felt bad as he confessed I had borrowed him lights which he had not returned :-) What a small world hey. Some clouds moved in and turned it into a misty, wet world... Now this is why I think this Dualthlon stuff is far easier and mellow vs Adventure Racing... you could guzzle down mega food, shower, freshen up, catch a nap, relax and wait till tomorrow for the next leg.. The cold rain against the tents hushed everyone of into dreams of wild oceans and forests. Day 4 - 6.8km Elephant trail run 60Km Bike. It had stopped raining, but was still overcast and cool. There was a sombre vibe around until we started. Some of the big differences about having trained or not is recovery time.. now 2 days after the Otter, my legs were trashed.. the Elephant trailrun started with about a 1km long downhill, the tearing pain in my quads and calves was just too intense and I was forced to walk. Some old grey bali.. didn't get his name had some comical chirps as his bunch came past me.. eventually I was right at the back.. the pain was nauseating.. you know the saying that cowboys don't cry.. well what happens deep in those forests, stays in the forest... that is until those camera men pop out from behind those giant ferns you have to quickly put that cowboy hat back on :-) The uphills were a little easier.. and at some river crossing I really thought I might see that little girl with long untidy blonde hair pop out of the bushes with that bloke shouting “MEISIEKIND!” As I hobbled into transition, there were not a lot of bikes left..... 60km is not really a big enough cycle to make much of a difference.. but after been woken up by that painful unglamorous shuffle.. the tiger in me was very awake.. and he was hungry... Screeched down some wicked twisty downhills with tight zooting bends and then the climbs began.. it was time to get it on and I held nothing back... Although not having anyone to pace with, it is very inspiring and good for the mind to be passing people the whole day. I rode with Ina and Deon (Sterling) and bit and met up with mummy who had been pacing himself nicely. We did some wicked loose high speed downhills that got your adrenalin pumping.. and then there was a nice climb out of the Knysna valley. Right at the top I met Doc just before the water table. He was going to ride with me but decide to hold back.. We went close to the top of some amazing mountains and the views of green forests, ocean, blue skies and nature were so inspiring. I found the route fairly tough, and looking at the surrounding mountains, they could have certainly made it tougher if they wanted to. Mark later said that it is one thing to host an event referred to as the Toughest, but that was not their goal, they wanted us to see the beauty of the Nature Parks in the area and they were showing us the cream of the crop. I really felt they had got the recipe right to achieve this. There was an amazing single track section where we rocketed down through the indigenous Homtini forests at mean speeds.. I did hope that no wildlife stepped out into the path cos that woulda been ….whhham... but luckily all I had to watch was the branches and trees we zooted past. Took a daring glance at my speed, 51km/h.. then swung left and ducked for a low branch. While crossing some really bumpy farmers field a met up with Louis and the finish was right there at the amazing Portland Manor lodge. Beers were drunk at the legendary pub and some folks traded their tents in for some of the upmarket rooms. Day 5 - 65km MTB to Buffalo bay and 4,2km dune run. The start of the MTB leg had a prelude of an 8km neutral zone as we headed into the forestry road. And then it was go, go, go... into a hair raising adrenalin pumping downhill where there were great fears for a group wipe out but luckily none.. a nice long steep climb out the other side really split up the group nicely. I was definitely not as strong as the day before, but I was not going down without a fight.. we entered some forestry areas where there were specific no cycling boards up that once again reminded me of the privilege to participate in this event. I chased down some riders ahead of me and in some cases we really tested our breaks and handling on some of the sharp corners on the downhills. I was still ok on the climbs and gave it some stick as this was gonna be a short day.. I got onto the 8km tar road sections and with the wind blasting from the front, I was not happy that I was alone.. the next riders where about 500m ahead... I cranked on as hard as I could.. the wind was relentless and I was burning a lot of amps... and then whoosh this 4 rider bunch passes me, I give it stick and hop on.. Tim Deane cranking a pace in front, with Alec from PE and another bloke all taking brief turns to work in front. I took a turn but could not hold the pace for longer than about 2 minutes. At last we got off the dirt road, there was a water table. I greeted and thanked the guys as they stopped and I carried on past... rode a bit with Louis and we got to some character testing soft sandy sections that really sucked your wheel and energy up... we tried all sorts of options and eventually resorted to pushing...on a downhill section it felt like the sand has made my chain very dry and I stop to lube. Louis and Tim carry on with only about 15km left.. As I get going again and get some momentum, I run through the gears and thats when I heard that fear filling sound just before a rear derailur hooks into the spokes.... it jams the back wheel and I make a 10m skid before the bike stops... now I have been trying to improve my vocabulary to more delightful words that the Neanderthal four letter type.. but as I looked at the mess of my rear derailur ripped off and twisted in the spokes... Oh !*#@ was the most direct and fitting summary of the situation. After a further assessment the score was 1 broken spoke, a few bent spokes. 1 ripped hanger. 1 twisted derailur, 1 twisted chain... So with my trusty chain breaker and 2 spare gold links I got to work.. there were many concerned riders passing all looking very worried thinking I had crashed out... removed derailur, broke out twisted links of chain....and after sometime I had morphed into the singlespeed category... eish boeta.. it is not worth all the hype the blokes make it out to be.. so I crank my way along the remainder of the route... we had an interesting portage section over a disused railway bridge which crossed over some river.. eventually got on the tar road leading towards buffalo bay.. the relentless headwind still on.. two riders pass me and the one says hop into our slip.. I try to keep up, legs spinning like a hummingbird... and then we hit a short climb.. they gear down and I am forced to stand.. “you quite strong on the climbs” the one guy notes as I end up passing them.. “yeah well, I don't really have a choice..” They dropped me on the last flats into buffalo bay.. I reckoned well.. may have had some bad luck, but I am not going down without a fight (this is good to keep the focus up!)... as I pull into the transition I park my bike and clock out, scoring the fastest transition time for the day (16 seconds) hehehe and run the trail in full cycling kit... I took off my shoes along the 2km or so beach and as the trail headed off into the dune forests I was fortunate that it was barefoot friendly (for my doekvoeta).. I had those two guys that had past me towards the end of the cycle right on my heals which kept me pushing to stay ahead of them all the way..it was a nice yet twisty trail.. hehehe must have looked funny me running with my helmet on and shoes in my hand :-) .. boy was I happy to get to the finish banner along the beach. I show Mark my single speed conversion and inquire about the last days MTB leg... “It's only 45km and the profile shows a lot of downhill.” I smile and Mark's smile disappears too quickly... he recommends I get it fixed if I want to enjoy the last day. I chat to Pieterman and it looks like he also had a rough day. He had taken a highspeed crash and the cameramen were getting him to flash his raw hip and elbow... eina man, that looked so sore. Trevor from Action Cycles was the race Bike Mechanic.. I show him my limping metal steed and see him go into contemplation about what could be done to save her. He didn't have a Mongoose hanger and so he said he would take my bike with him that night to his shop and see for one there. He promised to have my bike at the start of the next days MTB leg. I looked at all the other bikes there that they were busy with and thought bliksem. I will really be impressed if he is able to get to my bike and get any sleep. The campsite at Buffalo bay is stunning, overlooking the beach...except for the days relentless galeforce wind... luckily our rugged tents were strong enough to withstand it. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
