Return to Bothmaskop and Beyond

A three o'clock wake up will always be early. Especially a couple of days in Knysna partying hard and looking for wedding venues.  But I was excited never the less. The prospect of standing on a peak beckoned.  Something I haven't done for a while and definitely not this year yet.

We had to hit the road to get to Stellenbosch by 8:00.  My father and I would have another attempt at summiting Bothmaskop. And if time allows continue to Saaltjie via the watershed.

Father and son on Bothmaskop

 It took us 2 hours to summit Bothmaskop at 925m above sea level. The weather was perfect and we thoroughly enjoyed the views while having some biscuits and Melrose Cheeses.  We looked towards Saaltjie and it didn't look that far. So we decided to be brave and push on and then descend through Jonkershoek.

Saaltjie...in the distance before the sharp incline

 The road to Saaltjie is tough. There is no road. You basically follow the ridgeline rock hopping some of the way and bundu bashing the rest through burnt protea bushes. And there is some small koppies thrown into the mix topping out at just below 1000m.  The day dragged on and got really hot. And so the going got rather slow.

The view back to Bothmaskop from the last beacon

 We took regular breaks enjoying the views over Pniel and the Drakenstein mountains.  After much longer than anticipated we summited the last koppie and started our descent.  The descent felt forever winding through the pine plantation and on mountain bike routes. At least we got out of the sun.

The Cathedral...Still on the bucket list

 It was a great day out on my favourite mountain with awesome views. Six and a half hours, 800 vertical meters and 12.5km later we collapsed on the lush green lawn of Jonkershoek tea garden with a couple of beers to celebrate the achievement.

RIDING YOUR SCRUNCHIE OFF: IMPROMPTU RACE

With the beautiful weather hitting our coast last weekend and the half of PE streaming onto the roads for the annual Herald Cycle Tour we decided to head down to the beach front Primi Piatti.  A lazy afternoon of coffee sipping and big burgers was on order while watching the people enjoying the surf and sand.  We also saw some cycle legends refueling with some pasta.
    It was a round trip of 16km.  But disaster struck 400m from home.  OK, I'm exaggerating.  Lida was pedaling gently across the road when a stray chain link got jammed in the rear derailer. The hanger and derailer ended up being bent.  I had to replace the hanger.  It turns out this is not covered on the warranty.  This was very disheartening on a bike that is 2 months old and hasn't even seen the best part of 100km!

Thats not right!

 
I got the bike back yesterday and we decided to go for an gentle ride. An 4k ride and then return via the valley back home.  Nothing serious, just getting back into things.  Arriving at the parking lot where we enter the valley we were confronted with loads of MTBers.  Some of them asking us if we are here for the race. Not sure if they thought we looked like competition for them.  On closer inspection it turned out to be a weekly thing called "The 1 hour madness". It's hosted by one of the local cycle shops, Cyclo Pro.  You get 1 hour to ride a 3k course as much as possible.  Lida was super excited to do this! Even some slight persuasion from my side to reconsider wasn't enough to break her spirit.  We entered and decided that completing two loops will be an achievable target.

We started off quickly and enjoyed the fast sweeping turning single track. By far the most technical we have done. We were leading the slow pack! There was one major climb and Lida owned it on both loops!  We finished our two loops in 35 minutes and decided to call it quits, seeing that we still had to get home.  What a good way for Lida to finish her 25th year on earth.  I would have done another one trying to keep up with the fast guys, but my crank bolt was coming loose.  Another not so good advertisement for the Scott Aspect 40.  I had to free wheel most of 4.5k's back home, with Lida pushing me here and there. Quite a sight for some I'm sure.

Our total distance for the day was 15km. The same as the race I'm training Lida for.  That race will be much less technical than this one and flat as well. So Lida is well on her way!

BOTHMASKOP

The idea was to hike the +-6km and 700m vertical gain to the top of Bothmaskop.  Strange how Google Earth can make gradients look much flatter than it really is.

We started out at about 10am, which was late as the temperature pushed above the 30's already.  We had limited time and not 100% sure of the route to take.  After some extra turns and bumps through the plantation we finally got onto the spine of this "little" koppie. The last section before getting to the open veld on the foothills were luckily shaded and offered some degree of stoney steps.

Stepping onto the foothill the gradient noticeably goes up quite a few degrees.  There is no real rig-zagging up the contours like Lions Head offering a straight ascent to the mountain ridge.  The heat was exhausting sitting at 37 degrees and time running out.  I made it to an elevation of 700m, still a good 200m below the summit.

We took a more direct route back to the car dropping 500m in 3.65km.

Whats goes up...

I'll be back in Cape Town 18 February and if all goes to plan will be able to report back on a successful ascent.  If time allows it we will push on and follow the ridge to Saaltjie returning via Jonkershoek.

Never trust a plantation road to go in a straight line

Making my way up with some walking sticks

Self portrait with Bothmaskop in background

RIDING YOUR SCRUNCHIE OFF: WEEK 2&3

The last couple of weeks saw some first for both of us.

We did our first group ride. Everyone's abilities and fitness levels differed so each one missioned on at his/her own pace stopping and waiting here and there.  Lida was able to ride some rather technical sections while I tried to be the extremist and ride everything which included stairs.  I didn't fall but did end up with a nasty tire roastie on my inner thigh...don't ask.

Single Track 1    Lida 0

We did 10k's on the beach front which was a great Sunday cruise.  Not difficult at all, but a good opportunity to set Lida's bike up and see how her new seat performs.  I'm happy to report that she finished without any discomfort considering she didn't wear cycle shorts. 

Beachfront Face

The temperature and humidity in Port Elizabeth is a little better at the moment and our normal weekly course is getting faster and funner. Well, until Wednesday. Lida didn't eat the whole day. You've guest it, she bonked and she bonked hard! After the single track she had to lay down, luckily her mind still functioned to remember not to lie on the spider infested grass, but rather in the road.  Welcome to the world of endurance athletes, my love! I've been there and it ain't no fun. So let this be a lesson to you kids, eat well!

I told you Lida can be stubborn and the very next day she was in the saddle again.  When I got home after work I found her on the couch with a peanut butter sandwich in the one hand and glass of Oros in the other. No bonking today! 
     We tried out a new track and wow was it awesome. We had our first taste of how awesome downhilling can be. We also had our first taste of how brutal hills can be...and cactus.  Lida was so concerned with her rear wheel while riding on the pavement that she didn't see the cactus. She rode through it and almost ended up in peak traffic in front of a car.  But she soldiered on and up the hill. So proud of her!

This weekend were off to Cape Town so no riding for us.  I think Lida deserves a rest before we kick it up a notch next week.

Enjoy the weekend, and go ride your scrunchie off!

Riding your scrunchie off Week 1

We chose the hottest and most humid week ever experienced in Port Elizabeth to start training. Daily the mercury pushed beyond 30 and the discomfort level up at 100%.  With the swimming pool temporarily off limits there is no relieve from the heat after a ride.

It's at this point that I was amazed at my wife's commitment to still get out there and ride.

Monday we set out for a relative easy 6km route. 50% road and 50% single track.  It's a steady climb on the road to the point where we enter the trail which brings as back to about a block away from our apartment.  It didn't take long before the sweat was pouring down our faces.  She found some relieve from the heat under some sprinklers in someone front yard. 

6km route

The single track is predominately downhill with a handful off sharp climbs which you really need to nail to get over them without loosing momentum.  Lida did well having to push the bike only on the last meter or what on one or two climbs.

When we joined the last stretch of road again the heat was just one to much for her and she jumped of the bike onto the grass in the shade...onto a spider nest. Soon some gnarly spiders were crawling all over her, but even this didn't phase her for a while, until she realized what was going on!  Before moving on she realized she lost her hair scrunchie during the ride, or did it maybe vaporize due to the heat?

Wednesday was another scorcher of a day and we did 8km on the road.  Yes, PE can be flat and we chose the flattest part of it, so it was a constant peddle all the way.  Great training for the race as the race is also very flat and sandy.  Lida made it home once again without too tired or sore legs and her scrunchie.

For the statisticians out there.  Lida's average heart rate on Monday was 157bpm with a max HR of 197bpm.  Theoretically her max HR should be 194bpm. It's a bit scary that it reached that high on a "easy" ride. I blame it on the heat.  But we will do the same route once a week and use it as a benchmark for fitness and skill progress.

Riding your scrunchie off

A month ago we bought mountain bikes.  And like most people my wife had a New Years resolution regarding fitness.  Her goal...To ride in a MTB race.

Now first for some background.  About a year and a half ago we also tried training her for a race. A 10km running race. Fair enough it was mid winter in Port Elizabeth, not a very nice place to be. She is not a morning person, almost puked after the first early morning run.  Then she couldn't even remember the afternoon that we ran the morning. Hows that for surpressing bad memories.  Other excuses included a buzzing in her ears. WHAT! It apparently goes away when she starts to sprint, but come on, you can't sprint if you can barely jog.  So after a few weeks she ran her scrunchie off and she quit.

I'm a fitness freak...She is not. She is a couch freak. Especially now that we have a nice new couch and she finished her honours degree.  So it can be rather difficult for me to always negotiate anything fitness related.  The plus point, she loves the outdoors just as much as me and can be rather stubborn if she wants to.

We are taking on this adventure with a couple of goals in mind.  Getting through this without divorce.  Getting her to the start line on 25 February still motivated means I need to control my enthusiasm for pushing hard when it comes to training.

The race we are entering is the MERRELL NORM-HUDLIN TRAIL 15km MTB ride.  We have 7 weeks to train.

Wish me luck...Wish US luck!

Ps. Follow our scrunch-tious adventures over the next 7 weeks.

Back on the Wagon

So it's a new year.  It seems that every year this time I find a need to let out on the little creativeness I possess.

I had a pretty successful 2011 regarding races. But towards the end of 2011 I already made a decision to try and do more runs to challenge myself and less focus on races. I want to discover new routes for training and try to run existing hiking routes fast. Hiking routes that is not part of a race. 

Routes that come to mind is the Jonkershoek Traverse Marathon, Boland Hiking Trial, summiting Groot Winterhoek Peak, Stellenbosch to Franschoek via the mountains.

It doesn't necessarily have to be fast.  I just want to do it. I can always go back and do it faster at a later stage.

Adventure and exploring needs to return to trail running.

Who's got some challenging routes in mind? Or knows about existing "challenge" routes that people set fastest known times for?