Trans Baviaans 2015 - Our first taste of the majestic Baviaanskloof

The opportunity to ride Trans Baviaans – dubbed as the toughest single stage team MTB race in the world, crossed our paths early in the year. We were fortunate to have TreasuryOne sponsor us for the event and jumped at the chance without hesitation. This meant that we had a new goal after Sani2c and a very different goal than a 3 day stage race. The Trans Baviaans is a single stage mountain bike marathon starting in Willowmore, in the Eastern Cape, and finishing in the coastal town of Jeffreys Bay 230kms later. Participants have 24 hours to complete this epic journey through the Baviaanskloof World Heritage Site. Erno and I were teaming up together again in a 2 man team. We were fit and knew that we could ride well over 200kms over 3 days, but could we do it in a single day? 

Coming of great Sani2c and preceding preparation we were in good shape and had a solid base going into our preparation for Trans Baviaans. We didn’t follow a structured training plan this time around, something that I would’ve preferred to do, but knew that we had to stretch our legs and focus on some long distance riding. This poses a challenge in itself as fitting a full day of riding in between work, family life and other commitments isn’t as easy as it sounds. We usually ride on Saturday mornings where an early start gets you home by mid-morning after a 4 hour ride. Pushing to 6 hours was doable but going beyond that meant sacrificing an entire day which was difficult to fit into the schedule. We kept our 5 – 6 hour rides going and eventually found a day in July where we could push the 150km barrier. Before this point I was nervous as I didn’t know how my body would react to the distance. I’ve done a 175km road ride in 2013 but other than that my longest rides were all around the 100km mark. We did the 150km ride, with a lunch stop in Cullinan, and finished strong. This ride gave me so much confidence and I was now looking forward to Trans Baviaans even more. I now knew 100% that I would be able to go the distance. Having confidence in your body is a great feeling and helps so much mentally.

 

Our strategy was simple. Keep a steady comfortable pace throughout whilst going as fast as possible. Eat at every checkpoint and drink constantly. We were aiming for 14 hours, which meant we would finish before midnight on the Saturday night. My biggest reason for this is that I still had two days after Trans Baviaans with Evan & Dian on the beach and didn’t want to waste a day sleeping due to riding most of the night. Even though we didn’t quite know what to expect, 14 hours seemed a realistic target. 

Before we knew it we were on the starting line in Willowmore and ready to get down to Jeffreys Bay for that Spur burger. The legs felt good from the get go. As soon as we hit the first uphill we started to swim towards the front of the bunch and without much effort dropped the bunch well before the end of the climb. It was a chilly start but warmed up so quickly that we had to stop 20km into the race to take off our windbreakers. We knew that the nights get cold in the Baviaanskloof and would need a dry windbreaker that is not drenched in sweat later. We soon were on our way again and kept a steady pace. Every time we looked back there would be bunch of 30 odd riders behind us sitting on our wheels as we got into a nice rhythm. The first 30km has a few gradual climbs taking you to the top of the Nuwekloof pass, referred to as The Roof, before dropping you down the pass as the road snakes its way to the valley floor. From there, barring a few bumps in the road, it’s a gradual drop from an altitude of 1000m at 30km to 200m at the 104km mark. The pace was high on this stretch as we were sitting in bunches to keep out of the wind. We realised that we found ourselves at the front of the bunch all too often and needed to take some shelter to not overexert ourselves in the first part of the race. After a quick stop at checkpoint 1, Vero’s Restaurant, we pushed on to checkpoint 2. The first section of the 50km between checkpoints 1 and 2 were surprisingly hilly but soon settled down to a flat dirt road between these rocky outcrops and massive cliff faces next to us. The route was nothing but spectacular! Some of the most scenic riding I’ve ever done. After every turn in the road a new piece of stunning scenery would just blow us away.

 

The plan in this section was to find a bunch and use the numbers of the bunch to keep the pace high and the effort level though. Unfortunately though all didn’t go according to plan as Erno’s drivetrain started making a terrible noise. After dropping from our bunch we stopped to check it out. It turned out the rear derailleur pulley was worn and the chain kept on slipping of it when he applied pressure to the pedals. We stopped a couple of times to fix it and in doing so missed a couple of big bunches. We later got going again and joined a decent bunch keeping a decent pace. Erno was going through a dip and I was feeling strong – making my way to the front of the bunch to do a couple of long pulls at the front. 

We soon made it to checkpoint 2 at Geelhoutbos where Erno had his bike checked out at the Tech Zone. Unfortunately there were no pulley wheels so the mechanic “made a plan”. After filling our bottles we soon got going again. The second biggest climb of the day was lying in wait. We only had a tad over 20km to go to the next stop but had to negotiate “Baviaans Back” in the process. I was still feeling strong and rode well to the top of the spectacular climb. Erno was riding well but it was clear that the frustration with his drivetrain was weighing him down mentally. From the top the views were spectacular and the drop back down into the valley was fast and exciting.

 

Soon enough we were at Checkpoint 3 at Smitskraal where wors and sosaties were the order of the day. Erno’s bike was on the mechanic stand again whilst we filled up, grabbed a bite and put our lights on the bikes. It was still early in the day, but we decided to send out lights to checkpoint 3 just in case something went wrong and we were behind schedule. We knew that after checkpoint 3 we would hit the most difficult part of the race consisting of two smaller climbs, named Fangs, and then the biggest climb of the entire race, a 10km mountain pass taking us to checkpoint 4 at Bergplaas, aptly named “Mother of All Climbs” or MAC, in short. 

Now, we knew beforehand that we were fit enough to do this, but we also knew that during a day this long your body will go through on and off patches. I.e. there’ll be times where you feel strong and times when you will struggle. Thing is, when you are fit you ride with the confidence that the off patches will pass. I knew that I’d be struggling at some points during the day but that I am fit enough to push through these off patches and feel better again. I started struggling when we hit the second fang of the Fangs climb. “Great timing!”, I thought “right before the biggest climb of the day I’m hitting an off patch”. By the time we hit MAC I wasn’t feeling well at all and Erno, keeping a good rhythm, disappeared up the road. I kept the pedals ticking over knowing that the road to the top was long and hard. I was still saving my GoPro battery to have a chat to the camera on this climb but just didn’t have the energy. Looking back on the race, that is probably my only regret – not capturing the view from MAC on camera. Man, as bad as I was feeling, this was just spectacular! We could see for miles and miles! About halfway up as I went through a bend I felt some light cramp setting in. I immediately stopped and shook out my legs. Pushing my bike would make things worse, so I took a minute, shook my legs out, had a drink en carried on up this monster of a climb. I was still not feeling great but towards the top started to feel better again. Just as I thought things were looking up my left leg was rocked by big cramp. I stopped, I had to, and took a few seconds to get myself to stand upright again. Again, shaking out the legs, not pushing my bike and having a drink. One thing I think that saved me was the USN Vooma carb & caffeine gels that I carried with me. I’m not a big USN fan, but I’m pretty convinced that these things work. I had a big gulp of the gel and carried on. I didn’t have any issues with cramp after that. I made it to the top of the steepest part where Erno waited for me. We did the last flatter drag to Bergplaas together. 

We made it to Bergplaas in daylight just after 6 that day. Our goal was to make it to Bergplaas in the light of day and try and do the subsequent descent with still some light around. I had watched the sunset the previous day and figured that it would be dark by 18:25. Essentially we could’ve made it, but checkpoint 4 at Bergplaas does take some time. This is where we changed into dry kit, I stayed in my bib (Wichard organised awesome TreasuryOne Ftech kit) but changed my shirt and socks. This was also the spot where we sent all of our winter kit so it took some time to put on the base layer and subsequent layers. We were prepared for a very cold night. Again, we filled up our bottles and had some bread and soup for dinner. It definitely hit the stop. All of this took some time, so by the time we left it was dark and we would be negotiating the mountain pass by night. We had decent lights but my spare battery packed up in the run up to the event and I didn’t have time to replace it so we rode with one battery pack each, which in hindsight wasn’t the best idea. This meant we had to run our lights on the lowest setting to be sure that it’ll last the 5 – 6 hours we needed it that night. We could still see well but better lights would’ve saved us some time.

We only had 30km to checkpoint 5, which was mostly downhill. Riding through the pitch black night we could only see stars and the outline of the massive rocky cliffs beside us. The night riding was an awesome experience. By this time the field was stretched out over the route and there were long stretches where we were riding completely alone with our two lights the only light for miles. We reached checkpoint 5 at Komdomo soon enough and enjoyed the chip rolls and Super Ms before setting off. The next 30km to the unmanned checkpoint 6, although not steep, would be mostly uphill. We were now on 170km with 60km left. We were tired but felt good. There was a long tar stretch after checkpoint 5, which meant some respite whilst pushing a decent pace. The next moment though we saw a sign saying “You are now off route. Wrong way”. I had been using my Bryton to navigate. As it was using “breadcrumb navigation” it would warn us when we were off route, however, due to the length of the Trans Baviaans route the file proved too big for the Bryton and was it hanging and only updating once every few minutes. The route is not marked at all, so we were lucky that the organisers decided to put a sign down the road after the missed turn. We had missed the Humansdorp turn off and had to turn around and go back. Luckily not by too much. Whilst we were still deliberating whether we are right we saw some other riders coming down the road and decided that we were now back on track. Luckily, we were. Following other riders is not a fool proof navigation method, but sometimes you just have to make do. 

Erno hit and off patch again on Never Ender – a 13km climb, not steep but never-ending as the name suggests. A 13km long drag with close to 190kms in the legs. It was a tough bit where those inner demons battle you with every pedal stroke. At a stage in the race where you are so close to the finish, this stretch takes longs and drains you mentally. From here we could literally see the lights of the ships on the ocean and knew that the end was near, we just had to make it to the Never Ender’s end. We eventually made it to the unmanned checkpoint 6 and pushed on to the last checkpoint of the race at Zuurbron. After having a quick jaffle and giving Adél the go ahead to meet us in Jeffreys Bay we headed out on the last portion of our 230km journey. We had roughly 23km left and were expecting to be home soon. However, soon after Zuurbron Erno hit a big muddy patch at pace and fell hard. He was lucky not to have injured anything, except his ego, and after taking some time to compose himself we were on our way again. With about 10km to go we were unsure again if we were on the right track. We hadn’t seen any riders for a long time and decided to stop and check the map. Soon enough though we saw more riders and realised we were on track. Just around the corner we were waved into a singletrack section by a marshal. I’ve read about this section on thehub and no one seemed to enjoy it. “How hard could it be?” I thought. Man oh man, that must’ve been the worst part of the entire race. We were now in the outskirts of Jeffreys Bay and so close to home but first had to negotiate this muddy, monotonous piece of singletrack. We were now on close to 220km, with the finish beckoning, and then this piece of trail brought us back down to earth. At some point we crossed the railway line. On approaching it I was busy saying to Erno that we should just get off and push our bikes over it but mid-sentence the fatigue got the better of me and for some inexplicable reason I decided to ride over it. Needless to say I found myself on the ground soon after making that decision. Thinking back, if I had injured myself there I would’ve never forgiven myself. It was probably just on 5km before the end of this epic 230km journey. I was lucky, got up and soldiered on. 

We rolled into the Fountains Mall at Jeffreys Bay at 00:40 that Sunday morning. Our aim was to finish before midnight, but this was close enough. I was in a state of disbelief of what I had just experienced. Pushing your body to riding 230km on a mountain bike is one thing, but doing it in the setting where we could was nothing short of awe-inspiring. What a privilege to have been able to experience what I just did. Adél and my mom were there on the finish line cheering us in. Having them there meant so much. Due to the fact that we finished around midnight Evan & Dian couldn’t be there so my dad was waiting at home whilst my two boys cheered me on from dreamland. When they jumped into my bed a mere 6 hours after I crossed the finish line normality was restored and was I the happiest man alive.

 

We did it! Though, barring injury or some major mechanical, we knew we could. It was just a matter of getting out there and doing it. Erno and I made a great team again. Having a partner that knows you well and understands your riding style, and you his, makes a world of difference to the entire experience. You just know when you can push and when you have to hold back, without anything being said. We were an awesome team and the ride together was superb. 

Having completed such a long distance marathon is a massive achievement to any wannabe-athlete. Having to juggle work, training and family time is challenging and being able to do it is an achievement in itself. So too being able to complete what is the dubbed as the toughest single stage team MTB marathon in the world, however, the sense of achievement is massively overshadowed by the sense of gratitude. Being able to be there and experience what we have experienced is something special and something that’ll stay with me forever. I’m grateful for the places I’ve been to and the experiences I’ve shared with friends whilst on our mountain bikes. I’m grateful for the amazing scenery, which I cannot even begin to describe, that I have experienced, for the ability to be able to push my body far beyond I ever imagined it could go (and I still wasn’t even remotely close to its limit). I’m grateful for a supportive wife and family without which none of this would’ve been possible and being able to see them every time I cross the finish line makes every event just so much more special. Trans Baviaans was just that – special, humbling, spectacular… I could go on… 

A big thanks to Wichard and TreasuryOne for sponsoring us for this race and making this all possible.