MTN National ultra-marathon #5 Mabalingwe

Only 7 days ago I rode across the finishline on Scottburgh beach to complete the 9 day, 900km journey of a race from Heidelberg known as the joBerg2c. Racing a National ultra-marathon a week later without much time for recovery was going to be interesting and not something I wouldn't normally do. However, I needed it for the series points due to missing the previous one in Clarens that took place during joBerg2c as well as crashing out of the Sabie one.

The setting for the fifth national ultra-marathon event on the calendar was a race through the bushveld. Yet again this year, Mabalingwe would be another first time event for me. Although the race was new to me the area was not completely new to me as 18-months ago I was spending some very special time there with my number one supporter and wife Jayde, on our honeymoon. I seemed to recall that there weren't any major hills or mountains in the area and was therefore expecting a rather flat undulating route. However, driving around the reserve on game drives in a 4x4 must have given me this distorted impression and when the route information said 110km and 2000m of climbing it got me thinking as to where that was all going to come from!

The course turned out to be one of the toughest on the circuit thus far! The first ramp in gradient came and although it was seriously steep I pushed super hard to go with the pace set up front by some of the guys. My impression of the area changed almost immediately as we climbed around a few corners and the path continued upwards without any respite in lung-busting gradient. I then accepted my prior ignorance regarding the landscape of the Mabalingwe reserve and at the same time began to fall off the pace.

Once over the top of the climb and safely down some treacherously rocky descending I took on new water bottles and some food from my number one supporter Jayde at the first feed/tech zone (who in the process had some difficulty in navigating her way through the reserve to get there for us, but as usual she was doing a superb job). Soon afterwards we encountered the next big climb and yet again it turned out to be never ending. I think this was the case because you would go so slow up the climb as you battled to find traction on the very rough, loose rocky paths. My hardtail (no rear suspension) bike didn't seem to handle the section on top of this climb and descending the other side, or should I rather say my body didn't quite handle my hardtail bike as I got bounced and battered while struggling to keep forward momentum.

I managed to find a bit of a rythem and continued to push hard chasing back as many positions as possible. With 12km to go I caught sight of my team mate from Blend Property Charles Keey ahead. Hoping to be able to ride a bit together and keep each other going in the latter stages of the race this was not to be as he was completely blown and not in a happy place. So I pushed on weaving my way through the back markers of the shorter distance route which we had now rejoined back onto. In the end I managed to cross the line in 10th place, happy with another top 10 (just) in a national event, however, a little off the pace as to what I would ideally like.

The biggest highlight of the race took place quite soon after the start. While riding up close alongside the lion enclosure fence out the corner of my eye I saw a lioness charge out the bush and come after us! Fortunately for us there was a big electric-fence between the lioness and us but it definitely raised heart rates as well as the pace in the bunch because straight away things split up completely. Other than that I didn't really see much game apart from a few buck, however, the experience of riding through the reserve was a tough but exciting one as it was different to the mountain biking I'm used to coming from Cape Town.

Jayde's friend came to ask for a drink of water

Old Mutual joBerg2c

Most people are aware of the fact that the city of Johannesburg is a long way from the coast line. For the large population of South Africans living the high-speed lifestyle customary to the city of Johannesburg know the N3 highway that delivers them to their annual holiday destinations usually somewhere in sight of the sea in Durban. Hence the trip through the millie fields and the single stop at the Harrismith Wimpy goes by very quickly and often noticed.

I got a chance to enjoy a different and more interesting approach to this journey, which took 9-days (opposed to 5hrs...) and involved a few more stops, eating lots of traditional koeksisters, meeting new people and of course racing my guts out through some of the most beautiful scenery our country has to offer. This came in the form of the Old Mutual joBerg2c mountain bike stage race.

As the name implies you start just outside Joberg near the town of Heidelberg on the Friday and head south to finish on the beach in Scottburgh 9 days later. This was my second time participating in this event after thoroughly enjoying it last year! A lot happens in just one day of racing so one can imagine how much takes place in 9 days! I thought about trying to touch only on some of the highlights of the race/event, however, this proved to be difficult as in this case everything was a highlight!

Stage 1 was a non-race day due to the dragon boat crossing of the Vaal Dam being the only, yet fun means of getting across this large body of water. It is, however, a nice way of easing the legs into the 8 days of racing ahead and still involved covering a lengthy 114km of riding to get us to the first over night stop in the town of Frankfort. This would also be the first time riding with (and not against) my partner for the 9 days, Louis Bresler Knipe from the Contego Giant Team. Myself being from the Blend Property Team, we had been given an opportunity and formed a coalition as the Itec Connect-Vodacom Team to take on the Old Mutual joBerg2c. The racing would begin the following day and I'll also get a taste as to how my legs have recovered since finishing the ABSA Cape Epic only 4 weeks ago!

The clever structure of the prize money available for each day made the racing fierce every day! The first racing day being stage 2, was a mere 93km with 1000m of climbing taking us from Frankfort to Reitz. Clearly this prize money structure made all the guys forget that there was 7 days of racing still to come after this stage as the pace was so fast and intense! We finished the stage with an average speed of 30.4km/hr and the top 5 teams crossing the finish within 2min of each other! We managed to take 4th position, knowing that that incredibly sort after podium is not going to come easy over the next 7 days!

The next day was a solid 126km ride through the millie fields and I think after the furious pace set in yesterdays stage the sting had been removed from many of the guys legs. After the initial split up of the field soon after leaving the town of Reitz the front bunch remained together until things heated up with about 30km to the finish on the waters edge of Sterkfontein Dam. An amazing 4km stretch along the mighty Sterkfontein Dam wall lead us to stage 3's finish line after 4hr24min with yet another 4th place.

The 121km (1600m climbing) stage 4 from Sterkfontein Dam to the little town of Winterton is one of the most amazing routes in the country! Some single tracks mixed with some steep undulations soon takes you to the "Great Wall My China" as it is known as. Basically this is a stretch of single track running along the very top edge of the escarpment. Without much between you and a couple hundred meters sheer drop and an amazing endless view to the right, one important rule was enforced and that was strictly NO overtaking on the right! The route also took in a brutally steep climb up to the top of Spionkop which is known for the Battle of Spionkop that took place on 24 January 1900 during the Anglo Boer War. After a long hard 4hr55min we had to settle with 5th place for the stage.

Stage 5 took on 101km and with the Drakensberg Mountains in the vicinity some uphill riding was instal. The stage profile looked like it was only an uphill ride between Winterton and Kamberg with only 900 meters of descent compared to the 1400 meters of climbing! The first part of the route was relatively flat and easy going resulting in the bunch remaining together for quite some time. As soon as the major climbing began things split up and we once again found ourselves lying in 4th position only seconds behind 3rd! We chased hard, however, today wasn't meant to be our day... With about 20km left in the stage Louis seat clamp broke causing his saddle to come off completely! In true South African words "'n Boer maak 'n plan" and we managed to thread wire through the saddle and around the seat post to stabilize it. This obviously cost us precious time and was still not ideal but at least with 20km to go we could limit our losses. We ended up 8th on the stage and dropped one position in the overall standings to be lying in 5th.

We awoke the following day opening our tent flap overlooking the river at the picturesque Glen Garry Resort. Fortunately the body was tied at this stage of the race as if we were to have exited our tent with a little too much energy we would have gone straight into the river with the edge being only about a meter from our tent door! Stage 6 was one for the mountain goats as it was only 91km in length but involved over 1700 meters of climbing with the highest point reaching 1800 meters in altitude and finishing in Underberg. Today was finally our day and we managed to crack that podium to finish in 3rd place as well as to move up into 3rd overall! Kevin Evans and David George of Team 360Life also stamped their authority on the race today by gaining huge chunks of time over the rest of the field.

3 days is what was left between us and the finish on Scottburgh beach and these weren't just an ordinary 3 days... The route from Underberg followed the famous trails of the Sani2c mountain bike race taking in the endless flowing single tracks and of course for our non-swimmers out there, the famous floating bridge! Today's stage 7 saw us racing as a group consisting of the three top teams for most of the way and then battling it out up the final sting in the tail to finish at Mackenzie Club 80km and 2hr53min later. Now that the podium ice had been broken the day before we yet again managed a 3rd place finish.

The penultimate day saw the arrival of the much anticipated Umkomaas River Valley soon after the start, which involved a 17km stretch of downhill single track. Not forgetting the 100km total distance over hard mountain biking terrain and 1500m of climbing stage 8 had to offer making it a real tough day in the saddle especially after the previous 7 days! Team 360Life had got a substantial lead quite early in the stage while we were left fighting it out between 3 teams. With about 30km to go things split up between us and Team RE:CM of Neil MacDonald and Waylon Woolcock managed to get the upper edge on us while we left Paul Cordes and Arno du Toit of the Transact Team trailing closely behind. This is what it came down to at the finish in Jolivet Farm thus claiming another 3rd place.

The fast and furious dash through the sugar cane fields is what characterizes the final day taking us from Jolivet Farm onto the beach in Scottburgh. The stage is only 73km long with double the amount of descending to climbing (800m to 1600m respectively). But that's not to say its an easy walk in the park especially trying to go all out after 8 long hard days of racing! We found ourselves fighting for 3rd place about 2min behind the leading two teams of 360Life and RE:CM with the Transact team who were even more hungry for just one podium position! It was a great battle and without much opportunity to get away and gain time on each other, about 10km to go to the finish we put in a huge effort and made a deciding break to have a nice run into the finish to claim 3rd place for the 4th stage in a row.

This meant that Louis and I took 3rd overall after the 9 days of racing 898km, 11261 meters of climbing, 12816 meters of descending in a total time of 33hrs29min. This behind a well deserved win by Team 360Life and second going to the defending champions Team RECM. It was very rewarding to claim that step on the podium especially being next to those two teams of that caliber! Thanks to Itec Connect-Vodacom for making it possible for us to race and friends and family for going out of their way to helps us out! And lastly to the organizers Glen, Gary, Wappo and their crew for creating this a truly special and "PROPER" (insider joke for those who rode...) mountain biking event!

So from Johannesberg city life through the Freestate millie fields, wolf sanctuaries, river crossings, bridge crossings, mountain passes, forest plantations, single tracks and through the lush sugar cane fields of Kwazulu Natal onto the beach sand of Scottburgh, to those who completed it-well done! The joBerg2c 9-day mountain bike stage race is a fantastic N3 for mountain bikers!