Trans Karoo

On 26 April 2014, 200+ cyclists descended on Eselfontein, Ceres, famous in the Western Cape for it's singletrack, for a race involving no singletrack at all. The Trans Karoo is a 240km one day endurance event, across the dirtroads of the Tankwa Karoo and climbing up Ouberg pass to the Roggeveld to finish in Sutherland.

I have never done a long endurance event comparable to this and the longest training rides I did after the Argus were about 80km so I was a bit apprehensive of the day ahead, I decided to stick as far as possible with my Wines2Whales partner - Dewald, not that he has ever done a race like this, but at least he has trained with people who had... The plan was basically to take it slow for the first few kilometers with a big climb up Swaarmoed pass, and then.... - well that was the extent of the plan but I was hoping to finish the race in under 12 hours, requiring me to average 20km/h over the 240km.

Important Pre-Race photos with the support team

On the morning of the race the rain clouds that threatened during the week stayed away, most of the cold stayed away as well and at 7h00 with the sun rising over the Warm Bokkeveld we were off, the young bucks at break-neck pace but Dewald and I and most others at a more sedate pace knowing that there were a long ride ahead.

Beautiful morning on Swaarmoed Pass

Riding at a slowish pace the climb up Swaarmoed pass went smooth and onto some tar we rode pass the pretty cherry and fruit plantations of the Bo-Swaarmoed area, descended out of the valley via a long downhill to the first checkpoint of the day, about 40km out of Ceres. Here my enthusiastic support crew were awaiting us, but it was to early for a rest and we skipped the water tables and headed towards Karoo poort.

At Karoo Poort the world opened up, we were greeted with wide expanses of open sky and open landscapes, the Roggeveld mountains in the far-off distance the only real feature in the Karoo landscape. We joined up with a group of about 20 other riders and with the wind at our backs the kilometers ticked off at steady intervals, we were the group just behind the race leaders, going quite fast but never threatening the front runners.

Dewald & I & the rest and the wide open Karoo

Checkpoint 2 done!

After 98km and about 3h40m our little group, now whittled down to about 10 riders, reached Bizaansgat, the second checkpoint. At that stage we were averaging above 25km/h and I was starting to have grand visions of reaching Sutherland long before sunset! We had a quick eat & drink and were off again, I'm not sure what drugs my fellow riders consumed at the waterpoint because the intensity suddenly picked up and the going got tough. There were now also a few climbs to contend with and the easy riding before the checkpoint was a memory of the past. I grimly hang on to the group but I was seriously contemplating dropping off. Suddenly disaster stuck Dewald, a nasty sidewall cut to his front tire meant he had to stop and fix the puncture and I there had my excuse! I eagerly stopped to help and after about 20 minutes of struggle we were off again, now at a more civilized pace.

We reached the 142km check & lunchpoint in just under 6 hours. Our little support team was again waiting

The Roggeveld Mountains looming ahead

for us among quite a number of other spectators. Dewald's front wheel was still giving trouble and we spent some time sourcing a replacement tube among the supporters. After the checkpoint the route swinged north and suddenly the wind weren't at our backs anymore and and as we slowly started climbing the going got a bit tougher. Most riders we passed were sticking together in little groups of 2 or 3 to help each other out in the wind. At about 180km's, with the Roggeveld mountains looming above, the fatigue suddenly crept up on me, I found the pace too much and I told Dewald to go ahead without me, I'll just ride at my own pace for the last section of the race.

The Infamous...

 I reached the bottom of Ouberg pass (180km into the race) after about 8 hours, even though we lost about 40 minutes with the punctures I was still averaging well over 20km/h well on my way to a Sub-12 hour finish. I have heard beforehand that Ouberg is tough and most of the riders walk it, but nothing could have prepared me for the murderous suffering that lay ahead. When you hit the slippery & steep Ouberg pass you have about 190km in the legs, so a climb that on any other day would be highly challenging is now simply impossible to ride. You stumble along, step by step, staring at the Garmin with the odometer seemingly frozen. For short sections the gradient slightly decrease, allowing you to ride about 100 meters before the gradient increase again.

No words can describe the pain & suffering caused by this pass...

After about 2 hours I finally crested the 15km pass at the final waterpoint. I quickly grabbed my lights, refilled the water bottles and I was off again. I was now slightly behind schedule for a 12 hour finish, but confident that the worst was now behind me. The worst was indeed behind me but what I did not factor in was how much the "worst" took out of me. As I cycled the downhills and straights I felt little "hermit crabs" starting to crawl in my legs, and as soon as I tried to extract some power at an uphill the hermit crabs got mad and started pinching viciously. The worst I have ever cramped in my life! Seemingly the only way to appease the hermits was to pedal softly on downhills and straights and whenever you reached something that remotely resembled an uphill you got off your bike and walked.

With about 25km to go the sun went down and I was now riding my first night race! There is something magical about riding in a cold, dark, lonely Karoo night with it's strange sounds and nobody & nothing to see except your little light guiding the way.

10km to go, the last push/climb, met up with the first rider I've seen the past 2 hours, had a friendly chat as we walked up the climb with Sutherland's flickering lights down below, knowing that the race was virtually conquered as it's all downhill to the finish. However the race had a final sting in the tail as the last 10km downhill was viciously corrugated. After 12 hours in the saddle a corrugated downhill is punishing on a tired and sore body and reaching the tar road was a welcome relief!

I rolled into Jupiter Guesthouse at a time of 12h23, missing out on the Sub12 but very relieved to be done! Dewald finished about half an hour ahead of me but something like 70 riders didn't finish at all, so a good result for me! The Trans Karoo was a highlight of my cycling "career" and I will definitely be back to battle the Ouberg!