And just when I thought mountain bikers have become a bunch of woozies you came along with this report and restored my faith in the sport . I have been listening to people complaining about single tracks in races , mole heaps on trails and all these small little things you would expect a bunch of roadies to cry about . We need more "real" mtb races like the Monster . After many years they decided to put a litle uphill in the Crater Cruise just to maybe make it a little bit more "off-road " , hell some people are still crying about it ! It will be a very sad day if all mtb races looks like Babaas or the Cruise . Make no mistake I love doing Babaas but for the pure fact that it is a nice relaxing race with a grreat venue . Do the Karoo2Coast , To Hell and Back and the Crater Cruise once just to get the t-shirt but a race like the monster you need to do as often as possible just to make sure you CAN still do it .
> For those who can't, or couldn't be bothered to follow my blog :-) > vortexe.blogspot.com > > What a race. > I am reminded why this race is my favorite one of all. It has more > technical singletrack and seriaas rocky descents than any other single > stage of any MTB race I have ever done, bar none. > It really does. > From a ride over a cement pipe, to large fixed rocks round Bufflespoort > dam, to smooth flowing singletrack on the hiking trails in Mountain > Sanctuary Park, to hectic smaller loose rocky descent to a portage river > crossing and up a to the top of an almost-cliff, followed by a long > technical climb on cut grass with loose rocks interspersed and a > downhill of the same, to purpose built flowing singletrack along the > Sterkstroom river, with bridges to cross over, and sometimes not, to > technical rocky jeep tracks, and awesome rocky descents... > Man, I'm outta breath now :-) > This race is, to me, what epitomises what a mountainbike race should be. > It has every aspect, with a definite lean to the technical, where a > longer travel light all-mountain bike is not penalised like on virtually > every other race I can think of, with their long miles of smooth dirt > road. > The distance of 42km this year, may seem paltry, but it is surely the > toughest 42km race this side of Alpine Heath (which I hear is, or rather > was, no pushover ;-) ). It left me with just enough in the tank to be > able to sprint the last 5km for a not too bad 2:30 finish, good enough > for 32nd overall. The winning time was 1:57, which is flabbergasting. > In comparison with the long route which I did last year, the 42km has > everything except the actual monster climb up Breedtsnek from the north > along the 4X4 tracks and down on the dirt. Almost everything else on the > long route is dirt road... > I firmly believe that in this case the half marathon is a better route > than the full marathon. > Thanks to all for a wonderful day out. > > ******************************************************************************************************* > > Disclaimer: > Denel (Pty) Ltd t/a Denel Aviation (Denel Aviation) Registration number: > 1992/001337/07 > This message and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for > the addressee. If > you have received this message in error, please notify Denel Aviation > immediately, telephone > number +27 11 927 2122 and by Reply email to sender. Any unauthorised use, > alteration or > dissemination of the contents of this email is strictly prohibited.In no > event will Denel Aviation > or the sender be liable in any manner whatsoever to any person for any > loss or any direct, > indirect, special or consequential damages arising from use of this email > or any linked > website, including, without limitation, from any lost profits, business > interruption, loss of > programmes or other data that may be stored on any information handling > system or > otherwise from any assurance that this email is virus free even if Denel > Aviation is expressly > advised of the possibility of such damages. > > ******************************************************************************************************* > > -- > 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. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ South Africa's premier free email service - www.webmail.co.za ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For super low premiums, click here http://home.webmail.co.za/dd.pwm -- 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.
