Lost & Found - Die Burger MTB Challenge 2016

Ever since I surviced the Dirtopia 100 Miler back in 2013, I receive an annual invite from Dirtopia - inviting me as a "top" rider to participate in the 75km Burger MTB Challenge with the 75km distance reserved for "elite" riders only.

However every year something comes up to prevent me from participating and with every passing year I am becoming more and more desperate to get my entry in before Dirtopia realises their mistake and invite an actual "top elite" rider in my spot.

Was 2016 finally going to be my turn to do this race? On the Thursday before the race, my bike was serviced & picked up from the shop and I parked on my usual spot in the Sanlam garage, then this guy showed up...

The bastard that stole my bike

Seemingly tipped off by an "insider", neatly dressed he strolled into Sanlam, heading straight for an unlocked side door in the garage, walked straight to my car & bike and off he rode with my bike...

Bye bye bike!

Luckilly the story had a good ending but more on that later.

For now it appeared  the 2106  Burger MTB was another non-starter for me.  I had my moan on the bikehub and Facebook and totally unexpectedly got swamped with offers for a loan bike for the event. I could literally pick & choose! I took up an offer from Hentus, who organised a loan bike for me from Marc, the owner of Attitude Cycles. An awesome gesture from someone I have never met!

Sunday morning I lined up with my borrowed Trinity bike, just grateful that I would be able to do my first Burger 75km but also a bit nervous about doing it on an expensive borrowed bike, I was definitely going to take it easy!

8h00 we were off! Me right at the back taking it very chilled, soon we were climbing up the mountain roads behind Coertzenburg - scene of many varsity cross-country runs back in the late nineties! The feather light Trinity climbed like a dream and I passed many of my fellow riders, only to be caught again on the downhills where I was a bit apprehensive with the new borrowed equipment.

Soon we dropped down back into Stellenbosch and then it was the long climb up Botmaskop, quickly crossing the tar road on top of Helshoogte and then dropping down the old Helshoogte pass to the farms below the Simonsberg mountains.

It was easy going on the Trinity, and despite starting at the back of the field I was passing a lot of my fellow riders, but near Muratie the bane of spectacled riders striked again - mist! Doing singletrack half blind is not particularly fun, especially if the surface is slippery (watch out for that treacherous green moss) and you have a strong desire not to scratch your borrowed bike. So I slowed down considerably, and was passed alot!

Mamils in the Mist

I reached the turn-off for the 60km riders, happy at least that no 60km rider caught up with me (seems the 30 minute headstart was enough) and then it was back up the mountains into the mist & slippery singletrack.

 Then it was onto some technical singletrack somewhere near Delvera (Klapmuts hill I think), despite not possessing great technical skills I enjoyed the rocky up & downs requiring a lot of concentration.

Next it was down onto Elsenburg and we joined up with the 60km riders for the last 20 km's. The mist was gone and I was feeling strong again, but I was not particularly successful in catching up to the other 75km riders.

One last big climb up the slopes of Papegaaiberg with all the 40km riders and then we dropped down into Stellenbosch for the finish line. Finishing 128th out of 150 finishers is not particularly glamorous, at least I'm not the slowest "top elite" rider out there. Have Dirtopia caught onto their mistake and will I be removed from the invitation list in 2017? Only time will tell..

My verdict: A challenging & fun route but not as difficult as I expected. The waterpoints a bit barren so don't enter with the intention of having buffet stops. Overall, definitely one of the better races in the Western Cape. Highly recommended!

Postscript: And then I got my bike back!

Luckily the dastardly bastard who stole my bike decided to sell it at the nearest convenient place, the petrol station across the street. And even more luckily a Sanlam employee noticed the suspicious transaction in the forecourt and notified Sanlam security. After a week of begging the police finally investigated and found my bike from the petrol attendant that bought it. After another week of begging I finally found the detective who found my bike and booked it out.

The bike was still in perfect condition, only loss was my Tygerberg bike board. So the Silwer Valk and I are reunited and will be doing the Namaqua Quest first week in September!