Man I miss doing this race :-)
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dirt Rider Sent: 21 May 2011 16:30 To: [email protected] Subject: [D&D-chat] Sani2C 2011 Maybe I have missed it but it has been a while since I have seen a MTB race report on this list . So for your entertainment I decided to spend 5 minutes in front of the keyboard . Every year after I have entered the SAni2C I say , this is the last one . After the race I say , where do we enter . I have done four already and this year was the best by far . The single tracks are stuff most people only dream about , you don't even see stuff like this in these MTB videos from Canada . Food was top notch , bacon and eggs in the morning !!!!!!! But let me tell you more about the race itself . Wednesday morning we started at 07:00 . Somehow we found ourselves in the A batch , a seeding I was not happy with as I knew I did not belong there . It took a good few km to warm up in the cold but once we got to the first single track all pistons were going and the race was on . Day 1 had a few changes from last year and that only meant more single track . We exit single track onto the district road that leads up to McKenzie club but I was still smiling about the trail we just did and did not even notice the uphill towards our over night . This is the first year I got to the finish and there were almost no people in the village . That left me with plenty of time to have a few beers and eat of everything I could find in the mess tent . But as expected we did not stay in the A batch and moved down to D much to my partner's dismay . But after I explained to him the benefits of an additional 30 minutes sleep he accepted his faith . But his joy was short lived , day 2 they start a 06:30 and that means we will start at ......... 07:00 . If we thought the previous morning was cold we made a big mistake . Problem with day 2 and cold is that the first 30+km are all downhill . Almost no time to work up a sweat in the first bit but of that first bit 99% is single track . And I am not talking about Groenkloof or Tokai single track !! I am talking of tracks that just make you want to turn the bike around after every section to do it again . The speeds we went down there scared me at times .I lost control going around one of the hairpins on Nick pass and rolled a bit down the mountain before getting a bush to hang onto . Most of day two stayed the same but once you hit the bottom of the valley SURPISE , you don't climb out of the valley but follow the river on single track for what felt like 15km . Lots of river crossings , some with bridges , some rideable and others you had to wade through . The Nando's stop has been changed from a 10 minute compulsory stop to just a normal water point . After the Nando stop things got a bit hairy . With half a chicken in the stomach you got to climb out a hill called "Push of a hill " . I made it halfway up and then just did as the name of the hill suggested . The climb out of the valley was easier than previous years and once we got to the top I looked at the watch and saw us heading for a sub 5 hour time . That would be a 2 hour improvement on any of my other times . But Farmer Glen had another surprise . He has made it his mission to eliminate all tar from the race . On day 2 we always use to do about 5km bit on the tar road to the finish line . He has found a new route around the back but what he forgot to mention in his briefing is that there is a mountain on that side . I had a total sense of humour failure seeing this hill 91km into the race . But being so close and with lots of gears on my bike we went over the mountain just to be greeted by a downhill that would make Greg Minnaar go for a double Rum and Coke . It was very difficult to enjoy this downhill when you as tired as I was but with burning brakes and bottomed out shocks we got to the finish line . Again we got to a fairly empty village and everybody got invited for FREE drinks at the Supergroup hospitality tent . The steaks was so good that evening I had two . Day 3 for some reason , not known to me , gets the label as being easy . I suppose compared to day two it is easy but after 2 days of racing not as easy as they make it out to be. We got back into the C batch and took up position 2 teams from the front racing down district roads and single tracks at neck breaking speeds . But my eagerness to go down the hills faster than anybody before me has done , saw me going of track at high speed . I managed to jump over the first boulder but landed onto another one causing me to puncture both front and rear . Somehow I manager to keep control of the bike and after a 15 minute stop to repair all the damage we got on our way again . Heart Rate hill again did not disappoint and we made up a few lost places on this section . Let me just say that as some of you may know I don't care two hoots if I get 143 or 650 position , but my partner did not like the fact that people pass us so I had to oblige and made a effort to pass other people , something very new to me . We formed a nice bus of about 6 teams from the Last water table and with my partner in front we all tucked in and wheel sucker (sic) up to the beach averaging about 30km an hour . Too soon we got to the uphill to the school entrance . Because I lost the capability to select the granny blade just after I got onto the beach the going was very tough up that tar section . But with a little pushing from behind we made it to the finish . After the free hamburger and another bought beef burger we jumped into the car and headed back to Pretoria . As we drove pass the Underberg off ramp on the N3 we wanted to take the turn off and do it again but I had a hair appointment the next day and we unfortunately had to go straight pass . Will I enter again ? No bloody way I am loosing this entry ! Now we can rest for a few month and go and do another awesome stage race called The Three Towers . I don't take responsibility for any loss in hair or brain cells caused by spelling or grammar errors in this report . ____________________________________________________________ South Africas premier free email service - www.webmail.co.za For super low premiums, click here http://www.dialdirect.co.za/?vdn=15828 -- 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]. 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