Sani2c 2015 - Number IV

It would come as no surprise that I was back on the starting line for the 2015 Nedbank Sani2c Trail. It’s such an awesome race that I have no doubt that I’ll be back every year and 2015 again did not disappoint. This year, being my fourth, would have no surprises… or so I thought.

Our lead up to the race went better than ever. Erno and I were teaming up again for the race and did all of our training together. In 2014 we followed a Science2Sport training plan which worked really well. This year I decided to customize the plan a bit to suit our schedules. Keeping the essence of the plan I moved some of the workouts to times that worked better in our balance of family life, work and training. The way we trained also just worked much better. Long training rides in our base phase, building the intensity towards the end and clocking the climbing metres all stood us in good stead. We also adapted our training as we went along. When we felt that we started to hurt as we went past the 1100m climbing mark, we knew we had to focus more on climbing and did just that. It all worked out beautifully and what made it better was we were healthy throughout the start of winter right into the race. Knowing exactly what to expect during the race, knowing my riding partner really well and having a huge amount of confidence in our training meant we went into Sani2c 2015 with an incredibly positive frame of mind.

Our bikes were mechanically sound right through our preparation, except when I misjudged a sidewalk in my second-to-last training ride, banged my rear wheel badly and eventually had to change a tyre short before the event due to a small puncture right on the bead of the tyre. I was running Maxxis Ikon in the lead up, but decided to go back to the much heavier but much more robust Maxxis Crossmark tyre. To make a long story short I had issues seating the new tyre properly and eventually found myself at registration in a mechanic’s tent trying to get the tyre ready for the race the next day. Thinking it was fixed I woke up the morning of the start with a flat tyre. And then, to make matters worse, I broke the valve when I tried to inflate the tyre again. I don’t stress easily, but this close to the start, I was as panicked as a raided Ponti resident. Rushing to the start I found an empty mechanic stand and now was even more panicked. But then, some random guy (named Kirk) emerged from the GoPro tent and somehow had everything we needed to fix my tyre. Had it not been for this guy I don’t know what I would’ve done. Thanks to him I had an inflated tyre 20 minutes before my start. Just in time… hoping it’ll last.

We started Day 1 in batch C and immediately felt that we were comfortable pushing a faster pace than we were used to doing at this point in the race. Our approach had not changed, we were still riding at what we have dubbed “stage race pace” and were not racing. We just felt stronger and were able to be comfortable at a much faster pace. As usual, we stopped at the spectator points, enjoyed the waterpoints and took in the scenery and vibe but somehow the kilometres just clicked by faster and all the climbs just felt shorter. We rode a 4:43 in 2014 and was hoping to get closer to 4:30 this year. As we went on through the day we saw that a 4:30 could be possible and by the last waterpoint we knew that it was on. We didn’t have to push or race, just keeping our pace steady would do it. We did just that. But then 3 km before the end, my rear tyre was flat. It had held up well throughout the day, but the last couple of kms had made it just a tad too far. Luckily the end of Day 1 has been made quite a bit easier with the removal of Tiny’s climb, that made for a tough uphill finish. This year we took a different route, still uphill but much easier. Luckily for me, the tyre was not completely gone and still had a bit of air left. When I was sitting I was riding on the rim but as long as I was standing the wheel was ok and could we continue. A 3km standing effort after an 80 km ride is not easy, but I was just glad we didn’t have to stop. We were 3 kms away from the finish and hordes of bike mechanics. Out of the saddle, we crossed the Day 1 finish line in a time of 4:28. A significant improvement from 2014. As always, we don’t want to be too phased about time. This race is more about the experience, the sights, the sounds than your time, however, it still feels good to know that there was some improvement from the previous year.

Luckily my usual mechanic from www.MyBicycleMechanic.co.za was there and sorted my wheel out overnight. I suspect that I had damaged the rim tape when I did the tyre change. So after a visit to the showers, nice meals and lots of Vanilla Mmmmmilk, we were ready to get going on Day 2.

Despite riding what we deemed was a pretty good time on Day 1 we dropped from batch C to batch E. Still a decent, early enough, start time to hit the Umkomaas descent without too much traffic to worry about. We started feeling fresh and at the first rise I upped the pace a little and we moved to the front of the bunch. The less people we have in front of us by the time we hit the singletrack, that starts very early in the day, the better. We unfortunately had to stop after a fellow rider was stuck with a broken chain and without a chain link. After a good Samaritan saved my day the day before it was only right for me to pay it forward. We pushed on from there and quickly made up the places that was lost due to the brief stop.

As always, the Unkomaas descent was superb. The weather was perfect and the views, as I had gotten used to, sublime. We hit a bit of traffic heading down into the valley but nothing too bad. At least we were moving at a steady pace and not stopping. At Nick’s Pass we passed a struggling rider and from there had some more open air in front of us. In places, we were flying. Definitely our best descent yet. Bottoming out on the valley floor we were feeling good, although I could feel that this was a faster descent than I was used to. Approaching the Umkomaas river we saw a long line of riders backed up before the bridge. The floating bridge had come apart in the middle of the river and riding it was no longer possible… unless you were keen for a swim from halfway. I was able to cross just before the marshal arrived and roped Erno in into assisting with some ad hoc bridge maintenance. A bit later Farmer Glen arrived and Erno was keen to be the hero of the day. By this time I had been standing around for almost 15 minutes on the other side of the river and started instructing him in a semi-civilised manner to get his behind across the river. He eventually pushed Farmer Glen aside and crossed. The only person to do so. This means that we rode completely alone in this majestic setting to the first waterpoint. Getting there, we knew the real work was about to start. I was worried about my new gear ratio of 11-32 but after riding some of the steeper areas early in the day I was put at ease that I would be able to ride this ratio, albeit at a bit of a harder effort.

We were riding well together but on the big climb of the day up to Nando’s I let Erno go again. I knew it was important to ride at my own pace and not to get sucked in if he was flying. Again, for the biggest part of the climb I couldn’t even see him, but I was riding at my pace and felt comfortable. We met up back at the waterpoint and ravaged a Nando’s burger. We were feeling good. I knew that Push of a climb was up next and riding it was one of my big goals. I’ve never been able to do so before but knew that I could. The climb is steep but rideable and is the last big climb of the day, but also the steepest. The challenge has always been that by the time you hit Push of a climb you’re already fatigued and spent from an already arduous day. This time I was feeling good, my biggest threat to not riding it being my new 32x11 gear ratio. Grinding it out I made it to the top. Chuffed I was, but there was still some riding left to be done. The closer we got to the finish we realised that a sub 7 hour ride was on the cards. Even at 5 kms out the high 5s were flying as we knew we had made it. We eventually rolled into Jolivet in 6 hours and 50 minutes, a 32 minute improvement from the prior year. It was done, we could now relax in the newly revamped Jolivet Race Village. Tomorrow we were heading to the sea!

We started Day 3 in the D batch, moving up 1 batch after our performance the previous day. We started out at a decent pace and monstered the early climbs again. We were feeling good and the weather was playing it’s part. Heading into Vernon Crookes we were both still looking strong and once we hit the Work to be done climb we kept the head down and the pedals ticking over. Erno again smashed the climb after he avoided a bunch of riders close to the top, that I unfortunately couldn’t. Agonisingly close to the top I fell off after avoiding a rider and had to push for the last 10 metres or so. I really wanted to ride that climb, but I guess that would be a goal for next year. We set off after Work to be done and it was clear that Erno was on a high after smashing that steep monster. He was pulling hard and I was just holding on. Erno kept on pilling on the pace and I was starting to feel the effects of grinding every single climb with my not-so-well thought through new 32x11 gear ratio. Even though I rode all of the climbs, bar the last 10 metres of Work to be done, I was grinding and not spinning when I felt I needed to conserve. There was only one way of getting to the top and it wasn’t the easiest way. My legs were sore at this late stage in the race and my partner was in a rush. Not such a great combination… At some stage we found a bunch of riders and sat out of the wind a bit whilst making good time but after the last waterpoint Erno was hungry for more pace and I was hurting. Not cramping, just sore legs. When we hit the 3 Bitches trail of the Ricky Ridge mountain bike park Erno was hurtling along and I was extremely grateful to get stuck behind a slower rider. An excuse to settle down for a bit. The rider in front did ask me if I wanted to pass, but I respectfully declined. I knew Erno had to wait for me at some point.

Getting closer to the finish line we saw that a sub 4 hour ride was on, but it would be close! Being the first year Sani2c was GPS navigated meant that our GPS’ gave us so much more information than what we were used to so we knew exactly how much further we had left to go and what the impending profile looked like. Nearing the finsih Erno yelled that we had 2.4km left to go and 7 minutes to do it in. I got on his wheel and we pushed on, sore legs and all. We flew over the last floating bridge and as we turned up the finishing ramp, Erno popped his chain. I stopped and we pushed our bikes over the line together to come in at 3:59:47. A superb ride by all accounts!

Again, seeing our wives and kids on the finish line was awesome and always adds so much to this already special race. Sani2c, for us, has become more than just a race. It’s a massive family holiday with three days of the best mountain biking imaginable. We’ll be back every year and as such, entries are already paid up for the 2016 instalment. The plan next year is to do a Day 0 up the infamous Sani pass, adding an extra day of awesome riding to this already superb race. Should be a blast!