FAW80 Cycle Challenge 2017 - The crazy bunch do it again

I promised my wife I wouldn't do something stupid like this again, and I meant it at the time...

But memories fade and when Neil posted the new 2017 FAW route on Strava late in 2016 I just couldn't resist the call to again be involved in this crazy adventure(If only because the last time I forgot to start my Garmin until we were 10km into the ride and if the whole ride is not on strava the 480km ride never happened!)

It is after all a special opportunity to raise money for a good cause, us cyclists pay our own way and all the money raised go towards the sterilisation of dogs at the Fisantekraal settlement.

Having survived the 2016 version I had some confidence in my ability to do it again, my biggest worry were the cold Karoo night as temperatures around zero degrees were predicted (I hate cycling in the cold)

The Crew looking fresh at the start

So on 8h00 Saturday morning, 26 riders set off from Oudtshoorn to Melkbos on a 480km journey. The first 30km were riding on tar along the R62 mostly in single file, trying to figure out the ideal pace at which the group can amble along together on our way west.

We took a right turn on the gravel road to the Groenfontein road, passing a local mtb race (the Redstone mtb challenge) and the large group of cyclists  momentarily confusing some of the route marshals, not sure how to handle the large group of cyclists going the wrong way. This road is a beautiful hidden gem of the Klein Karoo, taking you back in time along beautiful old farm houses,  mountains and nature. After a long downhill along Nel's river we reached the outskirts of Calitzdorp.

Huisrivier Pass

We were riding along at a good pace, 80km's done in just over 4 hours but the first big climb were up ahead - the Huisrivier pass. The larger group shattered into lots of little groups as we made our way up the long and winding climb up the pass that inspired David Kramer's song "Stanley en die koei". This pass is deceivingly steep for a national road and the our pace dropped considerably as we laboured up the pass.

After a brief respite on the downhill to the mission station of Amalienstein (and lunch) we had another nasty surprise - the Seweweekspoort pass. I thought I remembered this pass as a beautiful ride among majestic mountains (we ride this on the Ladismith Cheese mtb race) but on this day the long 25km climb was just relentless with a strong headwind not really helping. For once I did not appreciate the mountain scenery and just wished to see the end of this kloof. All of us took strain at this stage and we were certainly behind schedule when we finally crested at the end of pass into the Groot Karoo.

But after the pain, the highlight of the day - a 40km downhill section with the Swartberg mountains to our left, the Groot Karoo to our right and in the soft light of late afternoon with the setting sun at our backs, the going was easy and the moods lifted. Some of us were caught by the dark before we reached the next stop at the Anysberg turn-off where lights were fixed on the bikes. Night has fallen and we were still only about 180km into our ride.

Next up was the rolling hills along the R373 up Rooinek pass past the Floriskraal dam to Laingsburg. For the next bit our route planner had a bit of a dilemma. The N1 at night with the heavy truck traffic would be a death wish for a group of cyclists and the only other option to our halfway stop at Matjiesfontein was along a sandy jeeptrack next to the railroad line. This section was another highlight for me (maybe not for the group in general) The concentration and energy required to ride sandy sections and little river drifts in dark after more than 12 hours on the bike is not the easiest thing to accomplish. More than once a fellow cyclist took a tumble in the soft but finally after 240 km and 15 hours we reached the little historic settlement of Matjiesfontein.

Lord Milner Hotel @ Matjiesfontein

Here we had our dinner, Steers burgers in a historic dinner room, apparently the room is a bit haunted but we would have been to tired to notice had they made an appearance. Temperatures started to drop and we dressed up in extra layers for the next section, soon we were making our way across the N1 onto the flat stretches of the Tankwa karoo. Luckily the wind was at our backs and the roads smooth so the kilometers were ticked off quickly without incident.

Resting somewhere in the middle of nowhere

For me around the 320km mark the going started to get tough, it was now about 3h30 in the morning, the body craves sleep, temperatures started to really drop, the cold slows the heart rate and the conversations has long dried up with everyone in their own cold dark place. We exited the Tankwa karoo on one of the worst corrugated roads I have ever had the misfortune to ride on (not even that could wake we me up) and then we entered the Ceres-Karoo through the historic (and a bit spooky in the early morning) Karoo-poort.

Just after Karoo-poort we had another stop, had some caffeine pills, coffee, coke and hot chocolate in the hope to wake me up + an extra jacket for the cold. But merely a few minutes after the stop the sleepiness crept up on me again, not even a tumble of my bike after I fell asleep could keep the drowsiness away. At this point if the support vehicles were behind me I would have given and grabbed some sleep in one of the Landies but fortunately/unfortunately they rode ahead of us so I had no choice but to suck it up and keep on slogging.

Next up was the climb up the Bo-Swaarmoed pass, luckily the exertion of the climb lifted the heart rates a little but it was still a struggle to keep awake. It was only when we descended on the Ceres side of the pass in the first rays of light that I finally woke up (going 60km/h downhill also helps to sharpen the senses).

Breakfast at Ceres

It was an easy downhill cycle into the town of Ceres on the sunday morning where the friendly people of Ceres Cycles treated us with muffins & coffee for breakfast. By now we were going for a full 24 hours and had still had about 120km to go. But the feeling was that we had survived the worst climbs, cold & fatigue that the ride could throw at us, now it was time for the homestretch.

Next up was a short climb out of Ceres and then the long descent down Mitchell's Pass into the Boland and onwards to the last big climb of the ride up Bains Kloof. At the bottom of Bainskloof all the extra layers against the cold of the night before were stripped off and everyone climbed their own pace to regather again at the top of Bainskloof for a quick rest.

Homestretch!

Then it was a long easy downhill to Wellington and luckily the wind played along because for the last 50km of rolling hills past Philadelphia the wind was mostly at our backs and the kilometers ticked off easily despite the bodies hurting at this stage.

@ Philadelphia with my enthuastic supporters

After one final stop at Philadelphia where Corlia & the kids were waiting for me, we rolled into Melkbos 31h30m after we started, my Garmin calculated 505.8 km but the official distance was 480km. More than R50 000 was raised for animal sterilisations and we even had a mention in the local community newspaper.

Finish at Melkbos!

http://www.netwerk24.com/ZA/Tygerburger/Nuus/cyclists-brave-challenge-for-faw-20170523-2


 ( and I promised Corlia that this time I'm serious, I'll never do something stupid like this again!)