3 Towers: Team Clueless

When Team Clueless entered the 3 Towers months ago, we dreamed of back to back training rides on weekend, conquering the magalies mountains and getting lots of playtime in the saddle. But life interfered, so when we left Joburg late on Thursday evening, I haven't been on the bike for 3 weeks, and Adri hasn't been training in sympathy with my cold and study deadlines and fighting her own flu. At least our bikes were serviced and Linden Cycles looked after us with a 'just-in-case' box of spares and a racing (podium contender) bike mechanic who could take care of any mechanicals. 

Day 1

80 km

total vertical ascent: just over 1700 m

total time: just over 7 hours (riding time was just over 6 hours, indicating a lot of time spent at the water tables)

It was warm. The day started with a long climb, and then we climbed some more. 

The highlight was a rivercrossing at Ryan falls. Adri in the river just above the falls.

The extreme deadly dangerous portage on the other side of the river.

It was a short scramble / portage to the waterpoint where we lubed the bikes, ate lots of bar-one potatoes and filled up with huge blocks of ice. A long hot climb and we finally cycled past the first tower.

It wasn't all downhill from here, but there was a few break checks and a bushtunnel or two as reward for the morning's climbs. The last few kilometers on the cross country tracks made the Trance come alive: have to go back there to ride them when I'm fresh. It was good to finally see the BMX track. 80 km is far with not enough training, and 7 hours out there is a long time for untrained bums :) Dirtrider and his brother Anton cheered us in and we celebrated the first day with lots of vanilla milkies.

The sun (or the lack of training, or the vanilla milkies, or the potatoes flavoured with bar-one chunks) caught up with me, and Adri cleaned the bikes while I felt miserable all afternoon and most of the evening.

Day 2

78 km

total vertical ascent: around 1750 m

total time: just over 8 hours (riding time was about 7 hours, indicating even more time spent at the water tables and the mechanical)

The day started with a long climb, a downhill, a watertable, and then a neverending climb with no shade. The lack of food the previous day soon caught up with me. I walked long bits of the hill while Adri was kindly not riding circles around me - thanx Adri, much appreciated :)

It was a long way up, but finally, finally we got to the second waterpoint: the second tower. Yaaaaay :D

The watertable was well stocked with potatoes, bar ones and bananas. I was still a bit wary of 'heavy' food, so I stuffed my face with extra-salty potatoes. Yummie. We just started with the downhill when my backwheel went pst-pst-pshht-pshhht-pshhhhht. Stans all over the place spraying from a nice 2cm long sidewallcut in the tyre. The tube I had with me was a schrader valve which didnt fit the presta rims ... we were not team Clueless for *nothing* (grin)

Adri's spare tube had the right size valve.... we fitted it and pumped it ... and promptly broke the valve off in the pump. There was enough air in the tube, it wasn't deflating, we didn't had any more tubes ... so we continued with the downhill. Another water point, more salty potatoes and ice blocks, a very long dry climb with a nose-bleed incident, a sharp downhill to the last waterpoint, a sharp short climb ... and finally bushtunnels, bushtunnels, mega-fun, downhill uncongested undiluted singletrack, the BMX track and Dirtrider and Anton cheering us in. The second day was done.

We dropped the bikes at the bikewash (the BEST R15 per bike Dirtrider has spent this year) and then showered and caught a very short afternoon nap before the race briefing for the next day.

Day 3

50 km

total vertical ascent: around 1200 m

total time: just over 5 hours (riding time about 4 hours)

Dirtrider was not feeling well, and he decided to ride with team Clueless rather than his racing snake brother. Flash Gordon rode with us for the first few kays, but he was promptly fired from the back-of-pack when he rode circles around us on the first long climb.

By now everything was aching: arms, legs, feet, knees, hands, lower back, neck, shoulders, bums. Especially the bums. Next time we'll train a bit more. No - wait. Next time we'll train.

But this last day was everything that mountainbiking is: Climbies, major fun technical downhill sections with berms, drops and bridges, more climbs, more bushtunnels and lots of fun bits to distract from the aching bodies.

Dirtrider on the avalanche, the first serious downhill. This was FUN. THIS is why we have mountain bikes :D

Our bikes next to the track while we wait for the racing snakes of the short route to pass us. 

After the avalanche there was some singletrack and then a long climb in the forest. We heard the waterpoint at the last day's tower about 5 kms before we reached it. It was pure torture. The singletrack just before the lat 2 km of climb up to it compensated a little bit.

After the day's highest point there was some jeeptrack, singletrack, a high-fun high-speed deep-drop bushtunnel where I chased, but just coudln't catch Dirtrider. Huge grins, great riding, great people to ride with. 

We ate a LOT of potatoes at the last waterpoint, filled up with ice blocks, and then partially hiked the last little climbie before we finally got to the Sodwalla carnage downhill. It was shorter than I remember form the 'Lost in Da Bush' adventure. Too soon it was over.

A last few pieces of singletrack, round the BMX track for the last time, and the ride was over.

* Adri, it was an honour riding with you. Thank you for looking after me when I had no energy left on that long climbie of day 2. I know I can trust my adventure racing buddies with my life - and sometimes I have to.
* Dirty, I totally enjoyed riding with you. When can we do this again?
* Congratulations to our Linden Cycles Team Mechanic John-Michael, who won the mixed category - well done man!

* The last day of riding was absolutely superb ... for THAT i will do the ride again.

* There's a long weekend in December ... a perfect time to go back there and play on the bushtunnels, avalanche somes and downhill singletracks. These people know how to build tracks; my bike absolutely loved it and I will have to take it back there soon.

* And does team Clueless now have a clue? Well, maybe not really, but we will be back for more!

The Freedom of the South African singletrack

Magaliesburg Breakfast ride

"Oooh you going to love these trails", Dawn said as she put her armwarmers on.
"Tall order", i thought to myself as i fastened the helmet. I was still on a high from the van Gaalens Daggapad/Greek church trails the previous day, and didn't think that better trails existed.

Studies kept me out of riding for a few weekends, but 3Towers is getting closer and when the invitation about a Magaliesberg breakfast ride landed in my inbox, i couldn't resist.

I forgot what a cool crowd these Freedom Challenge Friends are. Once you've carried your bike over mountains through snowstorms and into gale force winds - once you've blogged and tweeted the race experience back to the impatient news-hungry followers - there's nothing that you can't do. It's bad enough if you do this once - but in Sunday's group there were repeat offenders, people who went back as guardians, one who finished FC with a broken wrist, another who should have stopped in Rhodes due to knee injuries, but continued - almost all of them already on the list to do it again next year.

Maybe it's the type of person attracted to these types of rides - or maybe I was just extremely lucky to get to know this particular crowd. They never seem to be in a hurry, they never make you feel bad that you're (again) the slowest rider, always there to help, to support, to encourage without even being aware of it - sharing dreams and trails, discovering new ones - and a sense of humour above all.

But I digress.

So - Dawn said i'll love the trails, and I was sceptical, but i wasn't there to play (I had my fix the previous day at Van Gaalens) and I was quite willing to tolerate a boring ride for the sake of training.
We parked at the Zennex garage on the Hekpoort road, freewheel down the hill, and then onto singletrack. The morning was a mix of dirt road, gentle climbs, surprise-singletrackies that would have Dawn emerge with a big grin - and some fast downhills for even bigger grins.

After Wimpy 'brekkie buns' in Magaliesburg we climbed a steep hill, then more singletrack, a quiet dirtroad that might have been uphill - to provide the training for the day - with Dave, Doug and Dawn babysitting me and talking me up the hill - until we reached some more singletrack.

Dawn was right: I did love the trails. I would love riding anywhere with them, but it's always a bonus to ride spectacular trails. Hoping to have more free time next year for many more of these rides :)

Getting high on the daggapad - with the xtc :)

Van Gaalens Daggapad 10 September

My favourite singletrack is always the last one i rode. And my favourite friends always those who shared the last ride. That's the easy part. The difficult part is picking a favourite favourite. Which part of the daggapad/greek church loop on Saturday was the best bit?

Maybe the technical(ish) climbie up the cement track and beyond. Or seeing the riding budies' grins after the first bit of rocky downhill. Or hearing the screams of pure joy as you enter the twists and turms on the foresty bit - surrounded by pink blossoms and the smell of jasmine and aliveness.

Then you ride next to the river for a while, a short piece of gravel road, and onto more singletrack next to the gravel road. technical, joyful, FUN with exclamation marks. A bit of gravel road to a cafe for a Fanta Orange, then continue on the tracks next to the railway line and on to more singletracks and finally on the river-singletrack on the homestretch - where everyone agree that they aren't ready to go home yet - so a quick detour to the Greek church. The climb up was on singletrack and much less a slog than i remember from the last time i was up there - and the downhill back even better than i remember. Finally onto the bushtunnels and play-bridgies, and then home for a well-deserved breakfast. 

This ride has everything: technical challenges, fast flowing singletrack, rocky climbs, rocky downhills, fun trails, surprises, floating bridges, high bridges - life doesn't get much better. 

Only one question remains: When can we do it again?

A fallen tree in the forest. Fun flowing twisty tracks - lots of them :)

Some pink flowers next to the river after the first bit of forest.

on the way to the Greek church. The bike-entrance was too narrow, so we just lifted the bikes over the gate.

Chilling at the Greek church.

A rickety bridgie on the last rivertrail.

The floating bridge.

A high-bridge on the rivertrail.

The bushtunnel.

Last ride at Teak Place: 9 August

Teak Place closes on Tuesday. My favourite part (the bridgies that criss-cross the river) is closed already, as is the part on the other side of the tar road.


I'm planning to ride the last ride on Tuesday at 8. Black route as far as it's still open, then coffee, and picnic-legs-allowing, blue/green afterwards. Followed by a cyclists breakfast and a huge orange rock shandy, just for old times' sake.

Join me. (For coffee, the fisrt ride, the second, both, breakfast, or all of the above :) )