Tankwa Trek 2018

“Fun doesn’t always have to be fun”. Something that Derick said after Day 1 and that I repeated to myself countless times over the next two days. This was our first trip to the Koue Bokkeveld for the Tankwa Trek and also my first stage race down in the Western Cape. A trip that was as beautiful as it was brutal.

I flew into Cape Town with my family the Wednesday before the race and spent the morning before registration relaxing on the beach in Bloubergstrand with Adél and my two peeps. I took it easy and enjoyed a perfect day with a perfect view of Table Mountain but was everything but relaxed. As the race drew closer the nervous excitement turned into just plain nerves and I could feel I was way more stressed than I  was used to before a big race. I spoke to Adél about the same thing not long ago in preparation for her first Sani2c; being able to manage your emotions and nerves in such a way that you are excited to go racing and here I was doing the exact opposite of what I was preaching. The truth is that I knew that the Tankwa Trek would be the biggest challenge I’ve faced on a bike. From a pure numbers perspective it dwarfed everything that I’ve ridden. It’s a few kilometres shorter than Sani2c, but with roughly 50% more climbing metres. Also, Day 2 of Tankwa Trek has almost the same amount of climbing (vertical metres ascent) in its 83km than Trans Baviaans has in its 230km. Just by the numbers, it was a mammoth challenge. The numbers however cannot prepare you for the terrain you are to encounter.

My biggest issue with stage races is that I battle to eat early in the morning. Well, in truth, it’s a battle before every ride but on most of our rides I can get away with eating very little for breakfast and snacking up through the ride. With Tankwa however this is not a strategy to be tested. I always force myself to eat as much as I can but on the morning of Day 1 that unfortunately wasn’t enough. With half a portion of scrambled eggs and a few spoonful’s of oats in we were on our way. Admittedly that’s not enough, but it’s better than nothing.

Day 1 started relatively fast out towards the Witzenberg Valley. After a roughly 10km stretch of farm roads and some singletrack we made it to the first climb of the day. A steep, rocky and rough singletrack section snaking its way up the mountain. We passed quite a few riders up towards the first climb and found ourselves moving up the field quite steadily as we meandered through the rocky outcrops on the naturally crafted rocky singletrack and trail features. Many steep drops, off camber corners and rock faces made for some technical, challenging but super fun riding. I was feeling good on the climbs and even better on the technical descents and was just having a great time on my first outing in the Cederberg.

The first hour flew by and soon enough we reached the first waterpoint. At this point we were flying, feeling good and still had full bottles and decided to ride by and skip the first stop. We kept on catching and passing other riders without pushing too hard. The trail resembled a local private trail called ‘Rotsvas’ quite closely and I felt at ease on the rocky climbs and descents. We were still going well 35kms in when I reached a steep rock section and Erno standing next to the trail. He had snapped his chain. He did not have a spare chain link or chain breaker and we proceeded to try and make my 11 speed link work on his 10 speed chain. It didn’t. The minutes started to pass and every one that we worked so hard to pass earlier in the day came riding passed again. After a lengthy struggle we gave up on the 11 speed link and started asking passing riders for assistance. We managed to get a number of different links from assisting riders and after almost an hour of battling, Erno managed to get the link hooked on the one side of the chain. Problem is, you need to get both sides to hook simultaneously and if only one side locks in, it’s stuck. We had already struggled too long and lost too much time and I encouraged Erno to carry on gingerly on the one sided link. We were 6 km from the next waterpoint where there would be a tech zone mechanic to assist us with the broken chain. The chain didn’t even last 1 km before breaking again and Erno resorted to running the up-hills and freewheeling the downs. By the time we got going earlier there was only one rider left behind us and we had lost more than an hour. We were losing more time this way but at least we were moving. Less than 2 km into Erno’s running and riding ordeal we came passed the medical and support vehicle supporting an injured rider and a rider with a mechanical issue who called it a day. When we asked them how far to the next waterpoint they said it was 9 kms but that there was no tech zone. The next tech zone was at waterpoint 3, more than 30 kms from where we were. We had no option, we had to try and fix the chain or else Erno’s race would be over. I managed to get another 10 speed chain link from the rider who had the mechanical and a chain breaker from the injured rider and we set about shortening the chain once more. This time with successful results. By the time we got going we had lost an hour and 13 minutes (I know this because I looked) and were 20 minutes behind the very last rider in the field. Where Erno’s chain had snapped on 35 km a bit more than an hour and a half into the race, we were now on 37 km nearly 3 hours into the race. We pushed on hard to try and make up our time on the last riders.

The big issue with this whole debacle, which would only come to light later, was that for the more than an hour that we were struggling with the bike I did not eat or drink anything, nor did I eat or drink much before that (with such a technical trail there wasn’t much time to take your hands of the handlebars), nor did we stop at the first waterpoint to grab a snack and nor did I realise this until it was too late.

I started feeling flat already on the way to waterpoint 2, in stark contrast to how I felt in the first 40km, and then had a few bites and filled up at the waterpoint. Not long after this we hit the big climb of the day where we started catching the backmarkers again. I did not feel well and the climb turned ugly. Steep, rocky and loose. Making it to the top only means that you’re riding on the ridge of the mountain with some short sharp uphills thrown in as the top of the mountain undulates. The subsequent downhill was loose and sketchy but rideable, taking us to waterpoint 3. After filling up we hit a long tar road section and found ourselves at the bottom of the downhill singletrack section that we started with… and this is where things got interesting. I had a few cramp niggles on the big climb of the day that now returned with a bit more vengeance. I managed it by getting off my bike just as I felt the cramp setting in and made it through most sections by pushing a bit and getting pulled here and there by Erno. I was empty. My legs were done. The headwind was howling on our way back to Kaleo and Erno did a great job of helping me get through it to the end. If I was alone here I would have been toast. I managed the cramps the whole way back stopping before the niggles turned into a serious cramp, but 2 km from the end I got stuck on a rock in the trail and when I clipped out the cramps hit both legs hard. I couldn’t stand upright and was found by the support medic squatting next to my bike. There’s not much you can do when cramps strike but I was given a Rennie by the medic which brought some relief and helped me to get to the finish line.

Day 1 was a big day. Lots of climbing, lots of technical trail and lots of hard, loose and tough terrain. Our own circumstances made it even tougher and I was relieved to have made it through the day. I was already worried about tomorrow and drank and ate as much as I could to try and get something back in the tank. Tomorrow was another big day with the Merino Monster looming.

I knew recovering fully from a bad day like Day 1 would be difficult but I needed to avoid cramping again, especially with the giant climb that awaited. I had dehydrated slightly on Day 1, which lead to the cramps, but had tried to remedy as much as I could. I still struggled to eat at 5 in the morning but put in a better effort, forcing more down my throat than the previous day.

On the starting line I felt better than expected. My body still felt flattish but my legs were ok. I expected sore legs, but they were just a little tender. We got going in batch D again (the last batch) and meandered our way through fruit farms to the Du Toit drop. Another fun but sketchy piece of trail. The trail drops 300m in 3km on purpose built switchbacks and again is loose and dusty with deep ruts on some of the steep sections. Some traffic gave us a bit of a breather and after we got moving again made it to waterpoint 1. We knew the mini-monster climb was between waterpoint 2 and 3 and the major climb of the day, the Merino Monster, between waterpoint 3 and 4. We reached waterpoint 2 at 40km, where the climbing was going to start, but had already climbed 800 metres by that point. There were 8 kms to the next waterpoint and 500 metres of climbing to be done. A notable climb in anyone’s book, and one that would take us to the foot of the Merino Monster. My legs were ok, but my body was still feeling empty so I settled into a rhythm and rode my own pace up to the top. Erno went ahead as he was still feeling good. We always do this. We’d ride our own pace and meet at the top. However, at the top Erno wasn’t there. I carried on and stopped at the waterpoint. I also didn’t see him there and took some time to cool down, have a bite and fill up. I took my time and steadily rode up the climb. I stopped three times to take some photos and rest and eventually made it to the top where Erno had been waiting for about 25 minutes. Being a UCI event there are timing chips at the waterpoints and we received a 30 minute penalty for being too far apart. We weren’t even close to being in the running for anything so it didn’t really matter.

We set out on the descent together. It starts as a steep concrete road but then the trails turns away from the road onto the mountain and all hell breaks loose. It’s very rideable, but also very rocky and very rough. Halfway through the 8km downhill section we had to stop. My hands were taking a beating and I had to stop to get some life back into my fingers. The rest of the day was flattish and fun. We finished the 87km day, with more than 2000 metres of climbing, in under 6 hours. A good showing given how I felt.

The morning of day 3 dawned on us and my body was done for. I battled to eat again, my stomach wasn’t great and I had nauseous feeling the whole day. I started the 89km day with an empty tank as we hit the Koue Bokkeveld district roads. The first 30 kms were supposed to be fast but I was flat. I couldn’t stick to any wheels and just rode my own easy pace. It was a long day with some sublime singletrack in-between the rocky outcrops. I couldn’t shake the nauseous feeling and just focused on keeping the legs turning over. There was one long gradual climb and a sharp switchback climb early in the day and a few minor bumps towards the end. The trails were fun but feeling as flat as I did I didn’t enjoy them as I should’ve. At the last waterpoint of the day I forgot to put my bottles back on my bike after filling up, but the crisis was averted when Erno shared his bottles with me. The best part of my day was when I saw the “4km to go” banner when I still had it as 8km to go. The day turned out the be 4km shorter than advertised, for which I was very grateful. A much easier day than the previous two but still a tough day in the context of the three days, especially given the enormity of the previous two days.

We finished in a tad over 5 hours. Perhaps a time closer to 4 hours is closer to what we’re capable off, but my body just didn’t allow it. My body just couldn’t recover enough to push that hard after the first days’ dehydration and cramping, but I’m grateful that it had recovered enough for me to at least continue, be able to finish and that the cramps never returned. It would’ve been close to impossible to finish if I felt like I did on Day 1 for the following two days as well. Even though my body was battling, it recovered enough after each day to at least keep me in the game, even if the performance was way below what we’re used to.

The Tankwa Trek deserves respect and even though I expected 3 days in the hurt box, you never quite know just how hard it is going to be. It’s not only the amount of climbing that makes it tough, but also the harsh conditions that you need to do those climbing metres in that makes it such a gruelling event. All three days are different but all three days are hard, however, to me none harder than Day 1. It’s a rude awakening to what awaits in the Koue Bokkeveld and what to expect for the following two days and also for the riders taking on the Cape Epic not long after the race. The elite field also makes it a special event with almost all the big names in Mountain Biking, locally and internationally, sharing the same race village with us normal plebs. We queued next to Alban Lakata, the World Matathon champ, on Day 1 for dinner. We were in front of him in the queue, which felt right as we had spent more than 3 hours longer than him on our bikes that day. It was also cool to see and hear the Cannondale riders on warming up on their rollers each morning as I peered out my tent. It was a different race village with so many professionals there, yet the venue was so intimate that I never once felt like it was stuck up or stressed.

Will I do it again? Today is day 3 post Tankwa and only today I’m starting to feel that I’d ride it again. Asking myself the same question yesterday, the day before or any of the race days the answer would have been a resounding and convinced “No!”. Truth is, the race is brutal and challenges you to your core. It is never going to be easy, however, I’d like to ride the race just feeling better. Not feeling empty and flat but feeling strong and having the same sensations I had during and after Sani2c last year. I’m proud of myself that I finished, but I would’ve loved to enjoy it more and suffer less. For me, it was a constant battle against not only the elements but also my own body for the last 210 of the 250 kilometres. I’ve always said that the races I’ve done is more about the experience than the sense of achievement of finishing, but the converse is true here. Finishing the Tankwa Trek is an achievement in itself, even if the experience was less about enjoyment but one more focussed around bringing you back down to earth and building some character again. I love the different experiences that mountain biking adds to my life. It was a special experience and one that I would not forget in a hurry, as brutal as it is beautiful.

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