Back to our square 1 - The Mabalingwe Lion Man 2011 – 14 May 2011

We arrived to an empty campsite on Friday afternoon; however, we knew that this was only temporary due to the hordes of bike-carrying-cars on the highway. Within a matter of hours the Mabalingwe campsite was packed to the rafters showcasing every make and model mountain bike you could think off. This was our annual big weekend – returning to our square 1, our very first mountain bike race, for a third consecutive year – The Mabalingwe Lion Man 2011.

When we came here for the first time in 2009 we weren’t sure what to expect. We knew that we would have to complete 35 km’s but had no idea how long it would take.  At that stage we had never even ridden 35 km’s. We had our new bikes for about 5 months and did some rides during the week of about 8 km’s and over weekends of between 15 km’s and 20 km’s. I distinctly remember the debate around whether we would drive the 3 km’s to the starting line or ride. Yes, we were new to this sport and blissfully unaware of the excitement, exhilaration and suffering that awaited us. We finished the 35 km race that day in 3 hours and 10 minutes. A feat that we were extremely proud of!

In 2011 we once again returned to Mabalingwe and occupied the exact same camping spot that we did the previous two years. We do not camp often but the Lion Man has become a camping tradition. For the last three years 15 good friends have invaded the bushveld... and wreaked a fair amount of havoc whilst doing so. That, however, is not the point today.

This year we were prepared. We’ve done our fair share of MTB races in the last three years and have also done this race twice before. We were prepared for the sandy terrain and knew that Mabalingwe wasn’t a flat landscape. The race profile that was published prior to the race showed that the race would be very flat... disappointingly so, as the challenging climbs were a big part of what had made this such a special race. The profile luckily turned out to be as truthful as a pre-election political promise...

DnA before the start

Saturday morning we were up early and rearing to go. Due to the fact that the Lion Man also now, for the first time ever, had batched starts our starting time was a bit later than usual and was there ample time to prepare ourselves. Our batch started just before 9 and before we knew it we were on our way. We quickly turned off the landing strip into the sandy jeep track. Some recent rains meant that there were some muddy patches here and there. These we avoided for the first couple of km’s ensuring that we did not pick up any unnecessary mechanicals early in the race. The first part of the race was very sandy where, for the most part, we were all riding in one long line searching for a hard packed piece of road in between the sand. This meant that our pace were at the mercy of the riders in front as space for passing was limited. Once through the worst of the sandy section Adel hit the front and put the hammer down. We were constantly riding at speeds over 25 km/h and I could feel that the sub 2 hour race was on!

The view to the front

We then hit the middle part of the race. A new singletrack section had been introduced where the course designers found some small technical drop offs and river crossings in the middle of the bush. This was a great addition to the course, however, spoilt by the fact that the batches were started 2 minutes apart at the start instead of the usual 5 minutes. We hit congestion. We had to stop 4 or 5 times and wait in line to pass a technical section that was unrideable for a minority of the riders that caused all of us to stop. This not only cost us a good 10 minutes in total but also broke our rhythm that we had going. Luckily, it was only this small middle section that had congestion, the rest of the route was flowing.

Adel on the jeeptrack

Both Adel and I felt good throughout the race and we hit the last 7 km’s with still lots left in our legs.  Up to now the race had been predominantly flat but the last part was not. A long drag brought us to the first climb after which we dropped back into the valley just to ascend the final steep and rocky climb to the top. The descent after this climb is characterised by loose sand and saw many a broken collar bone in the past. We made it down without any incidents and pushed on to the finish line.

We finished in a time of 2 hours and 20 minutes, which was disappointing considering the pace that we sustained throughout the race and the fact that it was 4 minutes slower than 2010, even though we felt so much better than last year. In retrospect, the 2010 race did not have the technical sections and therefore did not have the congestion, which ultimately made the difference on the watch. Still, we rode a good race and Adel still maintained her top 20 finish in the Elite ladies category. The race also saw only two other finishers from our campsite with Ernst coming in in 1:42 and Jaco in 2:24.

Crossing the finish line

Once again the Lion Man presented us with a unique bushveld experience shared with good friends and 1800 other avid mountain bikers. It’s clear why this race has grown to one of the most popular MTB events in and around Gauteng and the Limpopo province. This weekend is already a fixture on the 2012 calendar, though, next year might be the time to take on a bigger challenge...

Hou by die Blou,

DnA