wiledog_X
Race Dog
a bit of a different RR - my sister, brother in law & I did the Cradle Quest mtb race at Van Gaalen's this past saturday. :eek7:
the day started off very wet and all the way to Harties we drove in pouring rain. Arrived at Van Gaalen's - the start for the 35km delayed with 30mins.
so everyone was hanging around like "nat hoenders", waiting for the start. little did we know what lay ahead!!
much fun was had as we started off- i was soaking wet and covered in mud in the first 200m of the race. it was fun to get going over the snotty
bits and once we hit the open dirt [mud] farm roads, we picked up speed nicely, with mud flying everywhere. :lol8: i had to squint to try keep the mud out of my eyes!
then we hit the koppies and hike-a-bike was the only way to get over the mountain - it was way too slippery to ride those technicals!!
the downhill trail on the other side was quite a challenge, being slippery rocks all the way down, but the Silverback & I did the whole thing without a hitch!
one nice knee-deep river crossing - and a chance to clean the bike a bit - and we were at the 1st water-point. the scenery was really awesome,
with the low-hanging clouds and misty drizzle. soem more open road for the next 4k's or so..... and then the "fun" singletrack started....
needless to say, a race that should've taken under 2hrs, took me over 4hrs to complete!!! it was mostly fun for the first 30k's,
but the last 6k's of singletrack was a complete snot-slip-and-slide mudbath. it was impossible to ride, with mud caking up the wheels
so badly that I had to stop every 5m or so to scrape off the mud! my poor bike handled everything quite well. i had no mechanicals
or punctures, but the bike will have to go in for a service.
my sister did the 18km on my old Silverback - it was her first mtb race - and she finished 15th overall in the 18km! not bad for a first in those extreme conditions!
the day started off very wet and all the way to Harties we drove in pouring rain. Arrived at Van Gaalen's - the start for the 35km delayed with 30mins.
so everyone was hanging around like "nat hoenders", waiting for the start. little did we know what lay ahead!!
much fun was had as we started off- i was soaking wet and covered in mud in the first 200m of the race. it was fun to get going over the snotty
bits and once we hit the open dirt [mud] farm roads, we picked up speed nicely, with mud flying everywhere. :lol8: i had to squint to try keep the mud out of my eyes!
then we hit the koppies and hike-a-bike was the only way to get over the mountain - it was way too slippery to ride those technicals!!
the downhill trail on the other side was quite a challenge, being slippery rocks all the way down, but the Silverback & I did the whole thing without a hitch!
one nice knee-deep river crossing - and a chance to clean the bike a bit - and we were at the 1st water-point. the scenery was really awesome,
with the low-hanging clouds and misty drizzle. soem more open road for the next 4k's or so..... and then the "fun" singletrack started....
needless to say, a race that should've taken under 2hrs, took me over 4hrs to complete!!! it was mostly fun for the first 30k's,
but the last 6k's of singletrack was a complete snot-slip-and-slide mudbath. it was impossible to ride, with mud caking up the wheels
so badly that I had to stop every 5m or so to scrape off the mud! my poor bike handled everything quite well. i had no mechanicals
or punctures, but the bike will have to go in for a service.
my sister did the 18km on my old Silverback - it was her first mtb race - and she finished 15th overall in the 18km! not bad for a first in those extreme conditions!
