09 May 2012 Van Wyk thrilled with victory at African Continental Championships, Mauritius
The 2012 African Continental Championships was held on the lovely island of Mauritius on the 5th of May. Team bizhub-FCF’s Junior Linda Van Wyk participated in the ...
Jade Roberts
(January 2010, Clarence Training Camp)
DCM Cape Pioneer Trek 2011
2011 was the third edition of the DCM Cape Pioneer Trek, organised by Dryland: a 6 day stage race in the Klein Karoo/South-western Cape. I guess the fact that these routes traverse my stomping grounds in my back yard and I really have a love affair with the Klein Karoo, makes this race so special to me…despite the fact that is probably the toughest stage race in our country! The race organisers, Henco Rademeyer & Carel Herholdt and route planner, Katot Meyer, had promised that the 2011 edition would be slightly easier than the previous year...
This is probably the only reason why Catherine Williamson, my partner for the race, and I had been able to convince our manager to let us race this gruelling event ? CPT 2010 saw me crash on day 1 and even though I completed the tour with broken ribs, I have never been so broken physically and mentally as then.
After examining the start list we had reckoned that the German/Austrian pair consisting of Katrin Neumann and Martin Miessgang, Team Mountain Heroes, would be our biggest threat as would be Team Display Mania-Sludge – the ever fit Hannele Steyn and her partner Leanne Brown-Waterson.We knew that Stage 1 would give us an indication of how strong the competition was and we were hoping to win the opening stage and get a decent lead on the other ladies.
Stage 1: Oudtshoorn to Calitzorp 107km, 2160m ascent
The first stage of a stage race is always a nervous one: time to check out your competition and analyse the body and the legs, matching your pedal strokes with those of your partner. It is crucial to pace yourself but not lose time, not going to hard and save some energy for the other stages.
The bunch rolled out of Oudtshoorn at a really civilized pace, giving us plenty of time to warm up the legs before the attacks started. I was quite relieved when the bunch split up, however, giving us more breathing space and less argy-bargy as we settled into the second bunch.
It was a really enjoyable route with lots of challenging jeep track sections and magnificent views of the Red Stone Mountains.
In the steep jeep track climbs through the Besemkop nature reserve, we passed quite a few teams as I pushed hard to keep up with Cath on the climbs. The last third of the route we were on our own and had not seen any of the other girls since the start of the race, so felt confident and just kept going reasonably hard to build up a comfortable lead over the second ladies team. Just before the 5km to go sign we had an encounter with a HUGE Yellow snake lying next to the road… I thought it was a branch lying next to the road but as I looked back the snake was fiercely moving forward over the road just behind Cath. Needless to say, the last 5km we flew at an incredible speed to the finish line in Calitzdorp
We felt strong and happy and confident, having finished the first stage in 11th position in GC, in 4h55 and 29 min ahead of the 2nd ladies Display Mania Sludge. 3rd ladies home were the European team Mountain Heroes, who had learnt that South African cycling conditions are somewhat different from Europe and suffered some punctures.
Stage 2: Calitzdorp to Riversdale 128km, 2756m ascent
The first day had been hot, and we slept well in our little tents in Calitzdorp. The school and community had treated us like champions …and we were going to need it with the tough day waiting, regarded by Katot and Henco as the second hardest stage. I should have known better than to sleep at peace after speaking to them the night before, when they said they were worried the stage was going to be too easy!! I mean, really, what was I THINKING?!
The neutral zone roll out of Calitzdorp was easy enough to settle the nerve and get the legs working before we started the climb up Rooiberg Pass. Obviously everyone was respecting the length of the stage with over 2700m of climbing to do. Once we hit the foothills of the pass, the bunch was blown apart. Soon we were surrounded by a group of familiar faces; same guys we rode with for long sections on the first stage and would be riding with often the next 4 stages .
On the long loose descent once over the Rooiberg Pass, my chain came off twice, the second time I had managed to get it tangled into a knot and had to stop to fix this. This caused me to lose the bunch, while Cath was chasing on. By the time she had heard that I had stopped and waited for me, we had a long way of hard chasing to do, but eventually caught up with the bunch again. This was important, as there was a long section of district road to be covered and I would have died if we had been on our own on this long flat section, mostly with a cross wind.
At waterpoint 3 we turned off and filled up our bottles as we had been warned the night before that the section between waterpoint 3 & 4 would be very challenging. It was only a distance of 20km but we soon realized that this was going to be a loooong nightmare stage. Steep climbs with loose big round rocks, impossible to ride for long sections of the climbs and treacherous on the descents meant we had to walk and push our bikes on the climbs and concentrate on the descents. We can be grateful it was not a very hot day, or riders would have dehydrated and tested to their limits by the heat. The 20km section took us 2hrs and sapped our energy! Luckily the last 18km was on tar road and mainly downhill as we descended down the Garcia pass to Riversdale. We were lucky to chase down the Cycle Lab Pta-Lynnwood team just as we got onto the tarmac, making our last stretch a whole lot faster and easier.
Angry riders were complaining all day about the impossible unrideable section of todays’ rout. Even Christoph Sauser had to get off his bike a few times! But the race village at Oakdale School in Riversdale was a charming setting, the meals were good, the physios even better and by evening we were laughing at the video and photographs of the day, courtesy of Big Shot Media, OakPics and Slingshot Media.
And the next day could only be easier …right?
Stage 3: Riversdale to Albertinia 106km, 2400m ascent
Maybe so, but the weather gods had other surprises in store for us… I woke up thinking someone was kicking my tent, then realised it was the wind. As I fumbled in the dark trying to get my earplugs back in place, I suddenly became of a light pitter-patter sound on my tent: RAIN! Now I definitely don’t like pushing my bike, but when I’m riding, the one thing I hate is rain and cold weather. So I was not in a positive mood at breakfast table! 30 minutes before the race start the wind suddenly picked up turning into a mini tornado, the sky dark with angry clouds. I feared the worst and started with my wind proof rain jacket – big mistake, as I was soon sitting in my own little sauna unable to take the jacket off in fear of losing the bunch. What a relief when we could stop at the first feed zone and I could rip the jacket off!
The only good thing about the horrific wind on route was that it was very often a pumping tailwind, and there were some sections of district road where one could hide in a bunch and fly. But if you look at the route profile you will realise that it was a very hilly stage, steep ups and downs, up and down, up and down, with twists taking turns of cross wind, head wind, tail wind. Relentless is the only word that comes to mind if I think about stage 3. It should have been a beautiful ride, lovely proteas in bloom, but the weather had spoilt the day.
As we turned into the finish in the tiny little race village at Albertinia School, there was nothing and no one… all had been blown away!! The finish banner, the big white marque tent, the little blue camping tents: all had been blown down. The race organisers had had a pretty busy morning: all riders were now accommodated in school classrooms and they had set up the school hall as new eating hall. They had challenges of too little water for showers, then cold showers, and 200+ hungry, cold, tired, grumpy riders.
But once we had had showered and warmed ourselves, filled our stomachs and lay sheltered from the wind on our matrasses in school classrooms, the mood lifted and we started joking and laughing again. I slept like a log ? Thx Grade 5B and Albertinia school for your classroom! Lesson of the day: always appreciate and be grateful for the small joys in life, not to be taken for granted!!
We had again managed to increase our lead as first ladies team, with the Mountain Heroes in 2nd place just less than 17min behind us on the day and Display Mania-Sludge in 3rd place.
Stage 4: Albertinia to MosselBay 98km, 1579m ascent
Surely this had to be an easy day, with less than 100km to cover and under 1600m of ascent?
Our strategy was to use this as a “recovery day” to help recharge our bodies for the gruelling stage 5 that was waiting.
But as all riders know, there is no such thing as an easy stage and it is hard to ride easy whilst trying to hang onto a bunch. The first section on flat district roads I found myself dying to stay in the bunch, Catherine was just so much more comfortable with this, and had to help me find the sweet pot out of the wind several times! I was glad when we turned off into the famous Gondwana Game reserve where we were told to be on the lookout for lion and other wildlife. As we started up a steep climb into the game reserve I found the bunch riding had blown up my legs completely and it took a while settling into my own rhythm and refuelling before the diesel kicked in again.
We tapped off quite a bit and enjoyed the scenery, especially as we came over to the coastline at Dana Bay with a tricky but fun sandy hiking trail to the last water & spectator point at Pinnacle Point. The views were amazing as we rode along cliffs over breaking waves and along the dunes, slipping out in the sand from time to time. Suddenly Team Mountain Heroes were right behind us and I realised that we had been having too much fun and needed to put foot if we still wanted to take the stage. Luckily there was a super steep tar road climb up to Pinnacle Point (some guys were even pushing up!) where we could open a gap again.
We managed to take the stage again, with Mountain Heroes finishing less than 3 minutes behind us and less than 5 minutes behind them the Display Mania-Sludge ladies rolled over the finish line.
The sun was out, it was a beautiful day and the race village at Milkwood Primary School at the Point in Mosselbay was a beautiful setting.
I knew the next day would be a killer for most riders: 127m with around 3000m of climbing is a hard day on fresh legs, never mind stage 5 of such a tough tour! Thanx again to the ladies providing our sports massages and to KT Tape, one of the sponsors, helping to keep niggles under control!
Stage 5: Mossel Bay to George, 127km, 2750m ascent
I woke up looking forward to the day’s racing: I have trained or raced on most of the sections of the route awaiting us and know the roads closer to my home town George like the palm of my hand. And there was the bonus of looking forward to sleeping in my own bed in George that night! What a luxury to look forward to
After a neutral section it was chaos as we hit the boardwalk and steps down to the beach where the real racing would start; everyone pushing and running/riding down the dunes to get to the beach first! Unfortunately it was a bit past low tide and the sand riding a bit tricky at times with some waves catching riders by surprise. Cath and I managed to get a good start, hooking up with the second bunch again. Off the beach it was a short section next to the railway line and then up, up, up and away into beautiful forestry areas and on past Bottelierskop.
Anyone who has ridden in this area or is familiar with the second half of the Attakwas race will know how steep some of those forestry roads can be: up and down, steeper up and steeper down, boiling hot at times and then some beautiful shady areas in indigenous and pine forests. I was thoroughly enjoying myself and knew exactly how to pace myself as we knew the last part of the route and the “sting in the tail” would not catch us by surprise this time!
We finished in 6h32, 1st ladies again and 11th in GC, pleased as punch and singing about a hot bath and fluffy duvet in a real bed for the last 5 km!
Stage 6: George to Oudtshoorn 93km, 1594m ascent
We had built up a very comfortable lead of just under 2hrs by the last day, which was again classed as an easy day and should really just be a formality. But I believe it ain’t over till the fat lady sings, so always, always be careful and never count your chickens (or ostrich chicks) before they hatch!
So goal for the day was to finish without any crashes or mechanicals.
The field soon split up after the single track past Witfontein forestry station, as we headed up towards my favourite Montagu Pass. We rode up at a fairly steady pace with the second mixed team, Haibike Giraffe.I don’t think there are any cyclists that have been up and down Montagu Pass more times than I have, I really love training here. I glanced at our lap time for the climb and was shocked to see that it was 6min45 slower than my PB !… just puts into perspective how tired the body really was by this time. But I still felt we were riding strongly, in the same company as on most other days. After the first feed in Herold we rode through some farmlands and dipped under the N9 to start the last little present from Katot, called “Katot Koppie”. This can only mean:”unrideable” to most riders, we managed to ride halfway up then started pushing and suddenly the Display Mania Sludge ladies had caught up to us.
They rode really hard and we decided to ride with them for the remainder of the stage, enjoying the jeep track through Chandelier Game Farm and knowing that the finish was getting closer with every pedal stroke.
As we rode down the tar road leading to the finish line we backed off and let the Hannele Steyn and Leanne Brown-Waterson of Display Mania Sludge past: they were riding ever so strong on the last day and we were happy enough with our overall win in the ladies category and hanging on to 11th position in the GC.
After 6 stages, 32h39 min we had just under 2hrs lead on the next ladies, Team Mountain Heroes (Katrin Neumann & Martina Miessang); with Display Mania-Sludge (Hannele Steyn & Leanne Brown-Waterson) in third position.
The mens competition was of course – as always – a different battle with top class riders fighting it out for the win. Congrats to Team Nedbank 360 Life, Kevin Evans & David George with taking the honors. Ben Melt Swanepoel & Nico Bell rode a superb race to finish in 2nd with Adrian Niyonshuti & Jacques Janse van Rensburg (MTN/Qhubeka) in 3rd position. The mixed race was won appropriately by super-couple Ariane & Erik Kleynhans, who met here at this race a year ago. Swiss team Haibike –Giraffe finished in 2nd and the CycleLab KTM Mixed pair of Johan Labuschagne & Yolande de Villiers in 3rd.
It has been a long 6 days and I still think the DCM Cape Pioneer Trek is the toughest stage race in Africa, as can be deducted from the fact that the winning time for the men is just around 2 hrs shorter than the ABSA Cape Epic winning time – but that is 8 stages compared to the Pioneers 6.
For the ladies; my time in the saddle for the Cape Pioneer Trek was around 7 hrs less than for the Cape Epic and 8 hrs less than the Joberg2C (6 stages vs 8 stages vs 9 stages)…
This year I felt stronger and enjoyed the Pioneer Trek more than the previous 2 years.
Stage 2: Calitzdorp to Riversdale 128km, 2756m ascent
Stage 3: Riversdale to Albertinia 106km, 2400m ascent
Maybe so, but the weather gods had other surprises in store for us… I woke up thinking someone was kicking my tent, then realised it was the wind. As I fumbled in the dark trying to get my earplugs back in place, I suddenly became of a light pitter-patter sound on my tent: RAIN! Now I definitely don’t like pushing my bike, but when I’m riding, the one thing I hate is rain and cold weather. So I was not in a positive mood at breakfast table! 30 minutes before the race start the wind suddenly picked up turning into a mini tornado, the sky dark with angry clouds. I feared the worst and started with my wind proof rain jacket – big mistake, as I was soon sitting in my own little sauna unable to take the jacket off in fear of losing the bunch. What a relief when we could stop at the first feed zone and I could rip the jacket off!
The only good thing about the horrific wind on route was that it was very often a pumping tailwind, and there were some sections of district road where one could hide in a bunch and fly. But if you look at the route profile you will realise that it was a very hilly stage, steep ups and downs, up and down, up and down, with twists taking turns of cross wind, head wind, tail wind. Relentless is the only word that comes to mind if I think about stage 3. It should have been a beautiful ride, lovely proteas in bloom, but the weather had spoilt the day.
As we turned into the finish in the tiny little race village at Albertinia School, there was nothing and no one… all had been blown away!! The finish banner, the big white marque tent, the little blue camping tents: all had been blown down. The race organisers had had a pretty busy morning: all riders were now accommodated in school classrooms and they had set up the school hall as new eating hall. They had challenges of too little water for showers, then cold showers, and 200+ hungry, cold, tired, grumpy riders.
But once we had had showered and warmed ourselves, filled our stomachs and lay sheltered from the wind on our matrasses in school classrooms, the mood lifted and we started joking and laughing again. I slept like a log ? Thx Grade 5B and Albertinia school for your classroom! Lesson of the day: always appreciate and be grateful for the small joys in life, not to be taken for granted!!
We had again managed to increase our lead as first ladies team, with the Mountain Heroes in 2nd place just less than 17min behind us on the day and Display Mania-Sludge in 3rd place.
Stage 4: Albertinia to MosselBay 98km, 1579m ascent
Surely this had to be an easy day, with less than 100km to cover and under 1600m of ascent?
Our strategy was to use this as a “recovery day” to help recharge our bodies for the gruelling stage 5 that was waiting.
But as all riders know, there is no such thing as an easy stage and it is hard to ride easy whilst trying to hang onto a bunch. The first section on flat district roads I found myself dying to stay in the bunch, Catherine was just so much more comfortable with this, and had to help me find the sweet pot out of the wind several times! I was glad when we turned off into the famous Gondwana Game reserve where we were told to be on the lookout for lion and other wildlife. As we started up a steep climb into the game reserve I found the bunch riding had blown up my legs completely and it took a while settling into my own rhythm and refuelling before the diesel kicked in again.
We tapped off quite a bit and enjoyed the scenery, especially as we came over to the coastline at Dana Bay with a tricky but fun sandy hiking trail to the last water & spectator point at Pinnacle Point. The views were amazing as we rode along cliffs over breaking waves and along the dunes, slipping out in the sand from time to time. Suddenly Team Mountain Heroes were right behind us and I realised that we had been having too much fun and needed to put foot if we still wanted to take the stage. Luckily there was a super steep tar road climb up to Pinnacle Point (some guys were even pushing up!) where we could open a gap again.
We managed to take the stage again, with Mountain Heroes finishing less than 3 minutes behind us and less than 5 minutes behind them the Display Mania-Sludge ladies rolled over the finish line.
The sun was out, it was a beautiful day and the race village at Milkwood Primary School at the Point in Mosselbay was a beautiful setting.
I knew the next day would be a killer for most riders: 127m with around 3000m of climbing is a hard day on fresh legs, never mind stage 5 of such a tough tour! Thanx again to the ladies providing our sports massages and to KT Tape, one of the sponsors, helping to keep niggles under control!
Stage 5: Mossel Bay to George, 127km, 2750m ascent
I woke up looking forward to the day’s racing: I have trained or raced on most of the sections of the route awaiting us and know the roads closer to my home town George like the palm of my hand. And there was the bonus of looking forward to sleeping in my own bed in George that night! What a luxury to look forward to
After a neutral section it was chaos as we hit the boardwalk and steps down to the beach where the real racing would start; everyone pushing and running/riding down the dunes to get to the beach first! Unfortunately it was a bit past low tide and the sand riding a bit tricky at times with some waves catching riders by surprise. Cath and I managed to get a good start, hooking up with the second bunch again. Off the beach it was a short section next to the railway line and then up, up, up and away into beautiful forestry areas and on past Bottelierskop.
Anyone who has ridden in this area or is familiar with the second half of the Attakwas race will know how steep some of those forestry roads can be: up and down, steeper up and steeper down, boiling hot at times and then some beautiful shady areas in indigenous and pine forests. I was thoroughly enjoying myself and knew exactly how to pace myself as we knew the last part of the route and the “sting in the tail” would not catch us by surprise this time!
We finished in 6h32, 1st ladies again and 11th in GC, pleased as punch and singing about a hot bath and fluffy duvet in a real bed for the last 5 km!
Stage 6: George to Oudtshoorn 93km, 1594m ascent
We had built up a very comfortable lead of just under 2hrs by the last day, which was again classed as an easy day and should really just be a formality. But I believe it ain’t over till the fat lady sings, so always, always be careful and never count your chickens (or ostrich chicks) before they hatch!
So goal for the day was to finish without any crashes or mechanicals.
The field soon split up after the single track past Witfontein forestry station, as we headed up towards my favourite Montagu Pass. We rode up at a fairly steady pace with the second mixed team, Haibike Giraffe.I don’t think there are any cyclists that have been up and down Montagu Pass more times than I have, I really love training here. I glanced at our lap time for the climb and was shocked to see that it was 6min45 slower than my PB !… just puts into perspective how tired the body really was by this time. But I still felt we were riding strongly, in the same company as on most other days. After the first feed in Herold we rode through some farmlands and dipped under the N9 to start the last little present from Katot, called “Katot Koppie”. This can only mean:”unrideable” to most riders, we managed to ride halfway up then started pushing and suddenly the Display Mania Sludge ladies had caught up to us.
They rode really hard and we decided to ride with them for the remainder of the stage, enjoying the jeep track through Chandelier Game Farm and knowing that the finish was getting closer with every pedal stroke.
As we rode down the tar road leading to the finish line we backed off and let the Hannele Steyn and Leanne Brown-Waterson of Display Mania Sludge past: they were riding ever so strong on the last day and we were happy enough with our overall win in the ladies category and hanging on to 11th position in the GC.
After 6 stages, 32h39 min we had just under 2hrs lead on the next ladies, Team Mountain Heroes (Katrin Neumann & Martina Miessang); with Display Mania-Sludge (Hannele Steyn & Leanne Brown-Waterson) in third position.
The mens competition was of course – as always – a different battle with top class riders fighting it out for the win. Congrats to Team Nedbank 360 Life, Kevin Evans & David George with taking the honors. Ben Melt Swanepoel & Nico Bell rode a superb race to finish in 2nd with Adrian Niyonshuti & Jacques Janse van Rensburg (MTN/Qhubeka) in 3rd position. The mixed race was won appropriately by super-couple Ariane & Erik Kleynhans, who met here at this race a year ago. Swiss team Haibike –Giraffe finished in 2nd and the CycleLab KTM Mixed pair of Johan Labuschagne & Yolande de Villiers in 3rd.
It has been a long 6 days and I still think the DCM Cape Pioneer Trek is the toughest stage race in Africa, as can be deducted from the fact that the winning time for the men is just around 2 hrs shorter than the ABSA Cape Epic winning time – but that is 8 stages compared to the Pioneers 6.
For the ladies; my time in the saddle for the Cape Pioneer Trek was around 7 hrs less than for the Cape Epic and 8 hrs less than the Joberg2C (6 stages vs 8 stages vs 9 stages)…
This year I felt stronger and enjoyed the Pioneer Trek more than the previous 2 years.
