Lormar Endurance Sheep Trail 2017 - That one time I won a bicycle race!

I have never won a bicycle race before. I actually came close a few times, but even on the "platteland kerkbasaar" races there are always that one up-and-coming talented youngster. The one who respectfully greets you with: "More Oom. Oom trap lekker sterk vanoggend!" before disappearing ahead of you on the first big climb. Or that one local farmer who used to be a pro-cyclist and now dominate all the races and Strava segments in the district.

Posing in front of Graaff-Reinet

The Lormar Endurance Sheep Trail is hosted in the platteland near Middelburg in the Eastern Cape but is certainly no "kerkbasaar" race, about 250 riders from all over the country travelled to Fairview Farm for the 3 day stage race. Joining me were 7 fellow FAW riders. Also coming along to support were my family , Lormar being one of the few races where "non-riding" family members have the option to be part of the race village.

We made a road trip of our journey to Middelburg, camping in the Karoo National Park and exploring Graaff-Reinet on our way to Middelburg.

Stage 1 - 22km night-ride:

Noisy kids in the race village

We arrived at Fairview just after lunch, quickly registered and then settled in our tents.  I shared mine with my 8-year old son who was having a fun time in the race village with his sister. Heavy clouds hanged menacingly in the sky before the stage but the weather websites promised the rain would only come tomorrow, so no one even bothered with rain gear.

Pierre starting fast, me trailing on the left

The evening kicks off with a spectacular "fly-by" of a herd of Arabian horses storming through the start area after which the riders are set off with a gong. I was warned beforehand that it it easy to get stuck in a bottleneck behind "walkers" when the route hits some rough jeep-track few 100 meters from the start so I made sure I started close to the front.

A group of about 8 riders with fellow FAW riders Neil & Pierre broke away immediately, setting the pace at the front of the field. I decided to help Neil & Pierre upfront, moved forward and took my turn, carefully watching the clock on the Garmin so that I don't overdo it. After exactly 3 minutes I moved over to the left so that that the next rider can take his turn, only to notice emptiness around me, I looked back and saw that somehow I managed to open up a big gap between me and the rest of the front group.

For a few seconds I sheepishly slowed down for the rest to catch up but then thought: "Screw this, let them chase me a bit!" and I set off riding as fast as I could. Riding up-front in a race was a novel experience to me and far more stressful than I imagined, no cyclists or tire tracks to follow, it is up to yourself not to miss a sign and embarrass yourself by getting lost. Probably spent half the time looking behind me to gauge if the chasers are gaining and wondering how quickly are they gaining?

Good timing by the camera woman!

To add to the drama the rain storms decided not to wait for Day 2. Spectacular lightning & thunder filled the night sky and almost immediately heavy rain started falling. The Karoo roads were almost instantly transformed into mud pools.  I pushed myself as hard as I can but after about 25 minutes the adrenaline started wearing off. I noticed my average heart rate was close to 95% of max and I was struggling to breathe! Given my heart history I was becoming concerned that I was more likely to kill myself tonight than win a stage!

Somehow the photographer managed to capture a photo of me not looking back.

Just as I started contemplating the option of slowing down and continuing to live, I was caught by the respectful "up-and-coming" youngster AND the local pro (in this case a farmer's wife!). Slightly disappointing, however sitting in their slip was much easier & less stressful than trying to set the pace upfront myself (despite the mud of their back wheels splashing in my eyes).

The Local Pro & The Youngster

None of us made a serious attempt to break away as we neared the finish area, I was still contemplating a sneaky break-away a few 100 meters away from the finish line when suddenly the finish line jumped upon us (the organisers decided to cut out the last few 100 meters due to the storm) and again my record of never winning something was extended further. I finished in 2nd place just behind the youngster Zian and just ahead of the local pro Lizanne.

Due to a technicality, I ended up with the prize of solo stage winner and the leader board for Day 2 (Zian only changed from a team to solo entrant after Stage 1) but deep down I knew the Youngster was the actual winner of the day.

Me claiming the Youngster's beer.

Fellow FAW riders Neil & Pierre did well to claim 3rd spot in the male team category and their better-halves Belinda & Mari-Su (Lunachics) won the ladies team category for Stage 1.

Stage 2 - Fairview to Nieu-Bethesda 67km, 740m climbing:

Day 2 we woke up to even worse weather than the previous night, it was cold, windy and rain drizzling intermittently. A number of riders wisely decided to skip riding in this conditions altogether and headed for Nieu-Bethesda by car.

Thus a smaller group than the day before lined up in the miserable weather. I had a simple plan for Day 2, stick with the Local Pro & the Youngster and preferably attempt a break-away BEFORE the stage ends.

This plan lasted about 5 seconds before I got stuck behind some slower riders on jeep track and the Local Pro disappeared up ahead with the front group and the Youngster I never even saw. I naively imagined he was somewhere behind me also stuck behind "walkers".

After passing the slower riders I managed to catch-up with the front group of about 6 riders, we rode together for about 10 kilometers in the rain before a new kind of mud striked! Suddenly the road surface was hard & slippery like ice. Being only slightly off-balance meant a tire slipping out under you and tumbling down. Suddenly the front group resembled a chaotic children's party with riders giggling and falling down every few seconds.

Chasing the Youngster

I somehow managed to stay on my bike for a few 100 meters and suddenly I was on my own again. Not sure what happened to the Local Pro but I assume a bad mechanical problem brought an instant end to her race as she suddenly disappeared from sight and strava fly-byes. The rest of the group didn't catch up after the slip&slide and suddenly I was leading again...

Or so I thought, I started noticing a single tire track in the mud ahead of me and the realisation dawned on me that maybe the Youngster wasn't riding behind me as I optimistically imagined. I was still contemplating if I had any chance of catching him this day then I saw a figure running ahead of me.... Initially I thought the Youngster took a wrong turn, but unfortunately he somehow managed to bent both his wheel rims on a tricky downhill, I stopped to help but the solution to his problem was beyond my limited mechanical "knowledge"

Zian bravely ran 13km's to the next waterpoint where he managed to fix his bike and finish the stage, but his mishap meant that with 2 strokes in a matter of minutes the challenges of both  the Local Pro & the Youngster were removed and I was in the lead again!

Typical Karoo Scenery - Day 2

The first 36km of the stage was basically a long gradual climb, on a normal day this would be fairly easy riding but today the wind, mud and rain made you work hard for every meter. Splashing mud turned my glasses into a brown mass and sweat mixed with rainwater continuously dripped into my eyes - effectively half-blinding me as I rode. I assume I passed the famous landmark Kompasberg along the way and I'm certain I heard sounds resembling animal calls in passing but I saw nothing but a vague brown haze that I assumed was the road, my biggest fear being that in my half blindness I would miss a direction board!

Pausing at the Scott KOM stand

I reached the Scott KOM point still ahead of the rest, and took the opportunity to stop, clean my drive-train & lube the bike and clean my glasses (for what it's worth). Suddenly the waterpoint crew warned me that riders were approaching I took off again, hoping to hang on to my slender lead.

Even though my glasses was soon covered in mud again, going downhill was far easier than battling muddy climbs, my only fear (other than a wrong turn) the potholes that jumped from the brown haze in front of me as I descended down to Nieu-Bethesda at 30km/h plus.

A few km's from the finish line was a final beer stop but I was far more interested in the warm showers at the finish and drinking my beer in dry clothes with a roof over my head so I didn't even stop. Finally the little town of Nieu-Bethesda appeared up ahead in a valley and even better nobody was sneaking up from behind!

A brown blob just arrived in Nieu-Bethesda

I slowly rode into town and crossed the finish line in the rain for my first ever stage win, this time for real! The only person other than me to witness my moment of triumph was the timekeeper who casually said "Ons het jou tyd". The rest of the people in Nieu-Bethesda (including my family) were hiding indoors in the sport club far more concerned with staying warm & dry than with my heroics.

As it turned out, I had a proper stage win, 15 minutes ahead of the next riders meaning I had a 20 minute gap ahead of the field on the last day & also meaning I could relax and just enjoy Stage 3 with no further heroics required.

Neil & Pierre lost some time due to a mechanical but were still in running for a podium position. The Lunachics continued to dominate the ladies category and my ex W2W partner Dewald quietly moved into 5th position in the solo category.

That afternoon our family explored the "odd-but-interesting" small town of Nieu-Bethesda, visiting the famous Owl house as well as the Karoo Fossil Exhibit. I somehow contrived to miss the prize giving at the local brewery, but since I already claimed a prize the previous evening that wasn't really mine I guess karma was now evens. That evening we had steak for dinner, I had a few too many celebratory craft beers and then it was into bed to rest up for Day 3. 

Owl House

Karoo Fossil Exhibit

Nieu-Bethesda Race Village @ sundown

Stage 3 - Nieu-Bethesda to Fairview 67km, 780m climbing:

Ready for Day 3!

On the 3rd day we again woke up to miserable cycling weather, the rain was abating but it was still cold and misty. The field of riders dwindled even further with less than half the field now braving the conditions at the start. Today we would be riding back to Nieu-Bethesda via a different route but with a similar profile to yesterday. A long gradual climb for the first 30km followed by a long gradual downhill to the finish.

As dictated by tradition & physics, the Youngster broke away from everyone else on the first climb, I somehow managed to catch up with him after the climb and soon we were joined by a mysterious rider in red that I couldn't recall from the previous 2 days of riding.

Whether it was the craft beer of the night before or just old age I don't know, but it soon became apparent that my batteries were flat today and I was just hanging on while the other 2 were setting the pace. However, barring a disaster, the Youngster was never going to make up the hour-and-a-half he was behind me. Mysterious-Rider-In-Red however, concerned me somewhat....

I was not enjoying myself as planned - I was again half-blind, this time by mist fogging up my glasses, it was cold & miserable and the other 2 were just too damn strong. I managed to hang onto their wheels for the 1st hour while feeling sorry for myself but then they gradually rode away from me. Mysterious-Rider-In-Red powering in front with the Youngster chasing his wheel.

After 30km I reached the highest point of the day and as I descended on the other side suddenly the sun came out for the first time in 3 days! Suddenly I could see again, I was warmer, it was downhill and just like that life was better again.

And again bad luck haunted my rivals, Mysterious-Rider-In-Red managed to break his chain in a way that chain-links cant fix, again my limited mechanical skills were offered but words of encouragement don't fix broken chains. Since I was unable to assist in any meaningful way I rode on leaving him to hike back to the waterpoint.

Finished!

I now knew that, "touch wood",  I was actually going to win a race for the first time in my life. After 3 days of mud-riding however, my bike was now loudly complaining and I squeaked my way forward in the direction of the finish, halfheartedly attempting to chase down the Youngster while avoiding pedaling too hard on the short climbs as I had no desire to also attempt fixing broken chains.

About 10km before the finish line was a a final beer stop, I took time for 2 glasses of beer before riding the final few kilometers of flat jeeptrack to the finish. I arrived at the finish about 10 minutes after the Youngster and just ahead of a stream of chasing riders including Pierre & Neil who clinched a podium position on the final day as well as Dewald who moved up to 3rd place in the solo category.

The Lunachics finished a little while later, the only full ladies team that managed to finish the race! Fellow FAW riders Steffan, Beneal, Izak and Sarah also found themselves among the few brave souls that managed to complete the full 3 days of riding.

My finishing time on Day 3 was good enough to keep me in 1st place overall. I also finally managed the double act of actually pitching for prize-giving AND collecting the correct prize.

So finally after many years of cycling I can now also claim to have won a cycle race. This alone will make the 2017 Lormar Endurance Sheep Trail a fond memory as I ease back into mid-bunch mediocrity. 

In the Karoo everything is a bit harder and things never work exactly as they should, there are a few logistical challenges the organisers need to work on for future events but these certainly didn't distract from the experience for me. The memories of the great Karoo vibe, the great food, the magic of riding Karoo roads in rain & thunder and the privilege of sharing all this with my family and FAW-partners will stay with me for a long time.