Imana Wild Ride 2011

Well the 2011 version of the Imana Wild Ride has been done. I was a bit worried going into this one, as on the last long ride that Reid and I did, I cramped a bit.

We got going on the Monday morning, but as the tides were an hour later than last year, the start times were later. The route had changed from earlier years, our usual ride from the ferry to Trennery’s, along the 4×4 track behind the dunes was declared out-of-bounds by the organizers due to the bad roads, and the danger of injury in the first few km’s. We rode down to the beach immediately after the start over the hill at the ferry, so we reached the beaches earlier.

The rain over the last year had been torrential; this caused many changes to the race, compared to last year, after several years of drought. The rivers were deeper, for one. Last year we never had to swim any of the rivers, but this year a number of rivers had to be swum, most notably the Mbashe. The Qora River just before the finish on day one had ferries across to the Kob Inn side, which was a great relief, as I didn’t feel like swimming the river. The Mbashe was so much deeper than previous years that the end of day two was moved to the western bank of the river, and then there were canoes to take you and your bike across to the other side.

One river on day four was particularly deep, with a long swim, and the current was strong. I was swimming along pushing my bike, when I had an asthma attack, I shouted for help, but every one thought I was joking, and Reid was still swimming, so he could not help me, eventually someone (I’m sorry I never caught his name, or got his number) jumped into the river and grabbed my bike, which allowed me to swim to the bank.

The roads were also badly washed, one section on the third day that I really liked was cut out, this section runs through coastal forest on a path, a section of road in the forest was so badly washed that it was hazardous.

Day one was a real struggle for me this year, but thanks to Reid pulling me I made it.  I cramped about 10 km from the end, and really had to slog to make the day. The subsequent days were so much easier though, so much so that on day four (a big day, 68km with steep hills and long stretches against the wind on the beaches) I was feeling extremely strong, and was riding up the big hills on my middle chainring. Reid did not have a good a day as I, but he recovered by the end and was strong on the last 5km stretch on the beach between the Umngazana and Umngazi rivers.

On the first day there were two incidents of guys getting lost, one of which could very well have been my fault. Just after the Kobonqaba river, a couple of guy’s (the chaps in the polka dot jerseys in the pic above) asked us if we knew the route. Reid replied “Just follow my partner, he knows where to go” so they did as instructed and followed me, missing a crucial turn-off to Wavecrest Hotel where Reid and I had decided to stop for tea. They followed the road for a long time and eventually made their way back to the beach, where they finished in a time of 7h20.  3 hours after us, and 40km further. Sorry Mark and John, but the route directions say keep the sea on your right, not at your back (Mark is a sometime reader of my blog).  They were at least not airlifted to the Kob Inn Hotel, like another team was.

Reid and I had decided that we would tackle this ride like the previous year, barring the fall on day three, naturally. A relaxed ride and stops for “tea” at about the halfway point on the stage. Day one’s halfway was at the Wavecrest Hotel, so we stopped there for coffee. I was really looking forward to an Espresso, but they had a power outage so could not make one, but they had laid out a spread of sandwiches and tea & coffee, which we took full advantage of. Thanks to the management and staff of the hotel for their hospitality, it was most appreciated.

Many of the stops were at a scenic spot on the beach where you could catch your breath, then continue type stops.

Day three, from The Haven Hotel to Coffee bay was an epic day. The first target was to get to the beach without any of us crashing, that was achieved, then the next was to remember all the short-cuts (sneaks) that we had taken last year. We missed one.

Day three of the Imana is known as mothers day, because of the very steep hills (mothers), that cannot be ridden by ordinary mortals. You cannot even push your bike up these hills. The bicycle has to be carried. There are Mothers Two (One is on day two), Three, Four and Five. Four and Five can be ridden, they are just so long, and near the end so the legs are weak.

The one feature that stands out on day two is the first sight of the Hole in the Wall, it is a magnificent sight (below), the path leading up the hill is Mother Two.

The paths on the top of Mother Two make for great riding, twisty single track, with the sea crashing below you and the Hole in the Wall ahead of you.

Day Three, Coffee Bay to Umngazi River Lodge

The last day is the hardest day, 63 km. Many people question how hard can it be as it’s only 63 km. Well you try it, soft sand where you have to push your bike for long stretches, rocky outcrops, where you have to carry your bike, while climbing up the walls, very, very steep hills, unridable, where you have to carry the bike on your back and just plod along, then the deep rivers where swimming is the only way to cross – these are the elements that make this day hard.

It starts with a killer of a hill, which you end up pushing the bike, as walking is faster than riding.

Then there is a roller coaster ride to the Mtata River, which is too dangerous to swim, so ferries carry us across to the other bank.

The hill leading down to the Mtata, and the Mtakagie (the photo on my header) rivers is very steep and rutted, so the rules are no racing on these hills, you get on the ferry in the order in which you reach the top of the hill.

From the Mtata River we meandered on and off the beach and hills behind, until we reached the Mtakagie River, where we crossed by ferry and rode above the mangrove swamps to the first killer hill of the day, the hill reaches a false top, then as you crest the false top you see the rest of the hill looming above you.

The next stop is in the Hluleka Nature Reserve. From here it is mainly riding on district roads with a bit of beach and hills until you reach the Umngazi River Bungalows Refreshment Table at about 40 km. This table appears in a clearing in the middle of nowhere, just after a stretch of beach.  It has everything you could want on it,  from cold drinks to ice water and sweet and chocolates.  We stopped here for a while, to refuel, before continuing inland on district roads.

Soon after this we met up with two chaps who were struggling with a bike on which the rear gear changer (derailleur) had broken, and was jumping out of gear. I helped them convert the bike into a single speed, not easy when you are working with a dual suspension bike. One has to be careful as the chain lengthens as the suspension compresses.

At the 44km mark we got to the start of a 5km long uphill that took you to the top of a hill known as Stimela, the top is the highest point in the race, at 235m above sea level. From here it is all (mostly) downhill to the ferry at the Umngazana River (Video of the crossing of the river). Then a 5km sprint across the beach to the finish at the Umngazi River.

Here is a profile of the day.

It was great to reach the finish, in one piece and to be greeted by Farmer Glen and Mandy, and to know that the ride was over. My wife, who had arrived the day before at Umngazi River Lodge, met us at the dock, I was so happy to see her.

I had a massage booked for 16h00, and we finished at about 15:15, so it was a rush to get showered (yay, hot water in the showers, after having cold showers for the first two nights of the ride, then a bath in Coffee Bay), and get to the masseur in time.

We had booked into the Umngazi River Lodge for the night, it is well worth the cost. The alternative is to stay in Port St Johns, which we did the previous year. The accommodation was not of the same standard, and the roads were poor. The best thing is to be able to walk to your room after the prize giving dinner, without having to worry about the hazards of driving in the rural Transkei at night.

How old are you?

I often buy MTB magazines from the UK and the US; I find them to have a lot more info about MTB than the local bicycle magazines, except for Tread Magazine, to which I subscribe.
The editorial of the May edition of MBR struck a chord with me, so I had to post it here (as I also get asked this sometimes);
““How old are you?”
It was, I believe, a rhetorical question. Either that or the wife is planning me a killer surprise birthday party, five months in advance.
The nonplussed look suggested it might have more to do with the bloody knee coming through the front door.
Non riders are often mystified by our obsession with a sport where injury is… well, not exactly inevitable, but at least likely over the course of a few years. So why do we do it? I suspect it’s a sneaking desire to prolong our childhood, when risk was something to be tested, not avoided.
I’d be lying if I said I haven’t boasted about the odd injury, but if that’s part of the fun, dealing with the aftermath never is:
days, weeks month off the bike, nagging pain on a climb, ‘the fear’ kicking in early on the descents. Make no mistake: a fall can mess with your head. Spare a thought then for our old blokes. (AMD’s note; a feature in the magazine titled ‘Old blokes and girls who should know better, a selection of gruesome images of cycling injuries sent in by readers) And old girls for that matter. No matter what the season, they provide pictorial evidence that somebody, somewhere has been more stupid/gung-ho/unlucky than you were this month. Among this issue’s gruesome selection is a grown man with no front teeth and another who almost contracted septicaemia.
Next month we take a look at the stories behind the images – and what to do if you land rubber side up and on the wrong side of your pain threshold. Until then carry on testing the risk, pushing the boundaries, being stupid – but take heed of our old blokes, pad up and know when to stop. Besides what else are we going to do? Golf?
Matt Hampton, Editor of MBR”

I know a few readers of this blog have landed in hospital in the last few years after pushing the limits, including myself, twice. And I’ve been told that I must take care of myself as I have a family now, “for goodness sake”. And I do take care, I’ve found that the speed at which I ride has slowed somewhat, either that or I’m more in control now. One of the best investments in my riding was a book on mountain bike techniques.
With that, take care, ride slower than your skill level and keep the rubber side down.
AMD

Imana Wild Ride Day 3, The Haven to Coffee Bay- Ocean View

We woke up to a grey miserable morning and the rain continued off and on all day.

The day started off with a fantastic ride through the coastal forest, on jeep tracks and single track. Soon after leaving the forest, I stopped to take photos, and Reid carried on down a steep track.

Towards the bottom of the track, he got his front wheel stuck in a rut and fell badly, landing on his face and chest.  When I arrived he was lying in a foetal position and I thought he had hurt himself really badly. He could move though, and we moved him off the road, and I proceeded to start cleaning his cuts and scrapes.  His face was only lightly hurt, and his knee abraded, but his chest was badly hurt, and we thought it was possibly cracked ribs.

Andrew and Avron, the medics, arrived and cleaned Reid up. We started riding and Reid proved to be stronger than on day two (maybe it was the pain of the cracked ribs spurring him on). We quickly caught up to the back-markers and overtook them.

Andrew stayed with us for a while, but when he saw how strong Reid was he went back to shepherding the stragglers.

Today was mother’s day, the day of the very steep hills.

Reid took strain on the hills as his injured chest hampered his breathing, and the hills are so steep that it is easier to carry your bike than to push it.

The steep hills quickly took over from the rolling hills of the previous two days,and we soon had our bikes on our backs plodding up the hills. Despite this I found day three far less taxing than day two, mainly because we were riding in the type of terrain that we had trained in, and not pushing our bikes in soft sand as much.

The highlight of the day was very definitely the first glimpse of the Hole in the Wall hills, I don’t know what to call the two sentinels at the river, they are so much more than rocks.

When you get up close to the Hole in the Wall, you can take in the grandeur of the terrain.

The obligatory pic of the team at the Hole in the Wall.

On the other side of the Hole in the Wall hotel are two mother hills, lined with kids who want to puuuush you for mooooneeee, or sweeeeets, I got tired of their exhortations, and eventually had one kid running beside me telling the others in Xhosa, “don’t ask him, he’ll shout at you”, I got to the top of the first hill, and rode down a bit again to Reid, who at this stage was taking strain with his sore ribs. We then rode up and over and attacked the next hill, also a long hill with lots of kids wanting to push.

After this there was a rolling road to Coffee Bay, and the ride ended at the Ocean View Hotel.  While Reid had his chest checked out, I ferried our bikes and bags over to the Coffee Bay Hotel, where we were spending the night.

This pic of Reid with Coffee Bay in the background tells the story of his day.

The profile for the day was quite hilly.

In the afternoon, WREC and Imana opened four classrooms that had been built from funds raised in the previous year. They have built 14 classrooms in the last 10 years.

The fines evening was held that night.  Various people were fined for arbitrary things like the number of Wild Rides they had participated in etc. Paintings by the school kids from the school that was opened, automatic entries (R17 000, R16 000 and 15 000), and a once off book of the best photos of the Imana’s first 10 years (R8 000) by Jon Ivins, were auctioned off. One of the teams pledged a minimum of R60 000 and other pledges were made, altogether a total of R350 000 was raised. All this money plus any profits from the race, and other donations received from sponsors, etc. is all ploughed back into the Wild Ride Education Company (WREC).

Mountain Bike Racing for Beginners

As many of the readers of this blog are not cyclists I thought I’d explain a few things about mountain biking. Mountain bikes or MTB (multi terrain bikes) are typically split into about 4 main types; Cross-country, Marathon, Trail riding and Downhill. There are also other types of mountain biking, like Free Riding, 4-cross, Dual Slalom, Dirt Jumping, Trials, etc., but they are not very common in South Africa.

Cross-country involves riding around a circuit of about 6-8km a number of times. The cross-country races usually take about two hours, and if you get lapped you are eliminated, i.e. you have to retire. These circuits are very technical, in other words, they have rock sections, some very steep sections, some twisty narrow paths and so on, and are mainly narrow paths with few places to overtake.  This is part of the World Cup cross-country  track in Pietermaritzburg.

Our best cross-country rider at the moment is Burry Stander, who partnered with Christoph Sauser (another cross-country rider) has just won the ABSA Cape Epic. The first round of the cross-country World Cup (a series of seven races around the globe) takes place in Pietermaritzburg from the 22-24 April, which I am privileged to attend. The bikes used by the top riders are very light, from about 7kg for the hard-tails (bikes without back suspension) and 8.4kg for the full suspension bikes (the Cannondale Scalpel) and typically cost more than a new small car.

Marathon racing is a long race, from about 60 to 120 km. These races vary from lots of dirt roads to single track, and can be quite extreme. The bikes used on these races by the pros are usually dual suspension bikes, slightly heavier than cross-country bikes, as they tend to use more durable parts, which are heavier. The top bikes used are also very expensive. Our top Marathon riders in SA include Kevin Evans, David George (road biker turned MTBer), Max Knox, Ben-Melt Swanepoel and Brandon Stewart. Cross-country riders also enter Marathon events, Burry Stander won bronze medals in both the Cross-country and Marathon World Champs last year. The Cape Epic, which has just finished, is a stage race with each days stage the equivalent to a marathon race. There are a number of Stage races in SA, including the Sani2Sea, Joburg2Sea, Cape Pioneer Trek, and the Imana Wild Ride.

Trail riding is what most of us do, which is to ride with a few friends for fun. Sometimes it also coincides with a race.

Downhill Racing is a timed race down a short (about 2km) track, with rocks, through trees, over high drop-offs (drops of about 1-2m), scary stuff.

Each rider goes off at 30 second intervals. The riders have a day for practicing, then a day for the preliminary rounds and then the finals. In the finals the riders go off in order of their fastest times in the preliminary rounds, with the rider with the fastest time leaving last. Their bikes are massively over engineered; they have more in common with Moto-Cross bikes than ordinary mountain bikes, to cope with the stresses of the terrain that they traverse. The bikes usually weigh in the region of 16 to 19kg, and have between 203mm to 300mm of suspension travel (as compared to our bikes, which have about 100mm travel). The competitors usually wear body armor, neck braces, elbow and knee guards, and full-face helmets due to the extremity of the falls.

Greg Minnaar, from Pietermaritzburg, is the best SA downhill rider, and is probably one of SA’s most successful cyclists ever, with one World Championship win and three World Cup overall victories (the World Championship is a once off race every year, and the World Cup is a series of races around the globe).  He also has numerous other victories in Downhill Racing.

One other type of racing, which I’ll mention is 4-cross racing. This entails racing three other competitors down a short (200-300m) track, which has built-up turns (berms), jumps and drops. The competitors start with a gate as in BMX racing, and the fastest two riders go through to the next round. The bikes that they use are strong hard-tails or short travel dual suspension bikes. This is quite a spectacle, and is very spectator friendly. The rules allow for contact so pushing and bumping happens. This will also be held in Pietermaritzburg, along with the Cross-country and Downhill racing World Cups (22-24 April).

Day 2 Kob Inn to The Haven

Day 2 was a very relaxed riding day. We started off slowly and at one stage were at the back of the field. The first 5 km was on paths behind the sand, which made for a more relaxed start to the day. We hit the sea sand at the Ngadla River mouth.

Crossing the Shixeni River.

What I do remember from this stage is that I pushed my bike in soft sand for a long way.

Pushing on this soft sand is no fun. My right calf had cuts on it from hitting my pedals by the end of this stage, and I lost a toenail. For this reason only, I would suggest that anyone doing the ride use comfortable cycling boots, not racing shoes.

Reid and I had decided that as we were in no rush, we would stop after about 2 hours into the race, at a spot with a view, and have “tea”. We would have a break, eat something and rehydrate. I found that the Woolworths handmade bars were the best – tasty and chewy.  My fav is the brazil nut, peach, date and bran flake bar.

After the Nqabara River we rode into the Dwesa Nature Reserve, through the Rhino valley. We saw huge piles of dung, but no rhino.  Helicopter flips from The Haven later flew over the reserve and saw the rhino.

Reid had a tumble, nothing serious, after taking photos of The Peloton whilst we were riding with them. The Peloton is a group of riders shepherded by Spider Clark and Kevin Paxton. Their motto is “The PELOTON never dies. It just lies low, waiting for the right time to rise up, surge through the Wild Coast again, and wreak havoc along the way”

This is from the email I received from them prior to the 2010 Wild Ride:

“The good news is that the PELOTON 2010 is now in full force for this year’s IMANA!! The Peloton will again be marshalled by its self-appointed leaders, both wearers of the maillot jaune, the poorly behaved and generally slow mountain bikers, Spider Clark and his domestique Packy “Lionel” Pax-Wax, reuniting to bring toilet humour, bad character and disgustingly wonderful memories to all of you.

What is the PELOTON ?

Usually consisting of anything between 12 and 20 riders, we ride together as a group for the 4 days. We ride at a reasonably brisk pace but stop regularly along the route for snacks, picnics, regrouping and swims. Landmark stop overs for which the Peloton have now become infamous include tea at Wavecrest Day 1, Peloton fly-past on Day 2, the initiation ceremony somewhere along the route Day 3, swim at Hole in the Wall Day 3, brandy-and-cokes at the Skipper’s pub at Hole-in-the-Wall, and lunch spot under the mangroves on Day 4.”

Reid and I decided that we wouldn’t join them.

Just before the Mbashe River, which is at The Haven, I saw this sight in the sand and decided that it epitomised the day.

The Mbashe River has the reputation of being a habitat of the Bull shark, otherwise known as the Zambezi shark, which made for some nervous wading through the river as it was waist deep when we arrived there.

The finish was about 1.5 km after the Mbashe River.

The route profile of day 2, a shorter day, but with all the soft sand, a long day with the bike.

In the evening we had a long chat with Mandy, Glen’s wife (the ride is organised by Glen and Steve, otherwise known as the farmers), and later Glen. It was interesting getting their perspective on the events that they organise (Imana and Sani2Sea), and comparing it to the ethos of other organisers. Despite the cost of the entry into these events, they take nothing out; all profits are ploughed back into the communities through which the rides go. We invited them to join us on one of our outings through the Amatola’s.

That afternoon a memorial in the form of a table and a few chairs were erected in memory of one of regulars in the ride, the “Dusi King” Graeme Pope-Ellis, who died in a tractor accident earlier in the year. Martin Dreyer and Lloyd Darby (Pope’s Partners) rode in memory of Graeme.

Thanks to John Ivins for permission to use this Photo.

Why Singlespeed?

I have been asked this a few times…. OK too many times.

Last year after Imana I took a month off of the bike. When I wanted to start riding again, it just seemed like too much effort. I have been riding bikes ever since I discovered triathlons in 1986. That is a long time. I think it was just getting a bit stale for me, so a change was needed.

Road bikes are out as we live 15km from the closest tar, and I don’t like riding in traffic, even if it is only the thin traffic of the N6. And I have no intention at all of riding any road races. I find them mostly dull.

I had my old hard tail frame at home, having used many of the components to build up my dual suspension bike. In the last year, before the Imana, I had replaced the fork, brakes, crankset and wheels with more durable parts so these parts were available to rebuild my hardtail into a singlespeed bike. All I needed was a chain tensioner (to take the slack up in the chain, so it doesn’t jump off the rear cog or front chainring), that’s the black goodie in the place where the gear changer(dérailleur) should be in the photo below,

and narrow chainring bolts (the bolts that hold the chainring on are too long if you only have one ring on the front).

I also decided to get a singlespeed cog and spacers for the rear hub.

This is what the bike looks like now. Last year I was running a 32 tooth chainring up front, along with an 18 tooth cog at the back (a 32×18 set-up). I found this combination a little too hard at the start, but I soon got used to it. Now I’m running a 36×18 for most rides.

Annually in November the Thomas River Conservancy organises our local MTB race. There is a 65km marathon, and a 45km half marathon. As I am a good friend with the route designer, I knew that the 65 would be quite challenging; so I decided to do the 45 on my singlespeed. I recorded a fairly decent time(2:36), mainly because of my speed up the hills. A consequence of riding with the single speed was that my strength has improved considerably. I find that when riding with friends, where I would have been left behind up hills I’m now leaving them behind , and my enthusiasm for cycling has been renewed.

Day one, Kei River Mouth to Kob Inn

Navigation on the race

At registration we received our goody-bags, and they were good. In these bags we received a pack of route cards, two A4 sheets per day, to help us navigate from the start of each stage to the end.

This is an example of the cards.

The Imana Ride is an unsupported ride. This means that the organisers will transport your one bag that you are allowed, and your sleeping bag, from the start to the end, and feed and house you over night. But they will not be available to assist you in any way on the route. If you get into trouble, you are responsible for getting yourself to either the end of the stage, or to where you can retire from the route. The organisers do recommend that you take cash with you to pay for a taxi/incidentals should you need to.

However, if you do find yourself in an emergency the helicopter that transports the media crew will evacuate you. There were two evacuations in 2010.

This unsupported nature of the Ride is the reason that the organisers do not accept women only teams, not because they would be any less capable of supporting themselves in any mechanical failure, but because of the danger if they found themselves isolated.

The best advice that we were given, was to always keep the sea on your right, then you cannot get lost.

Day One – Kei Mouth to Kob Inn

Our day started early with breakfast at the Kei Mouth Community Hall, after coffee with my parents.

Coffee with Dad

The start – on the Transkei bank of the Kei River – was incredibly exhilarating.  All the competitors crossed the River on the ferry; the banks were lined with spectators and the Media helicopter flying overhead.

Ferry over the Kei River

Ready to go!

Reid and I had discussed the route we should take to the Kobonqaba River; thereafter we would follow the pack, as we had no knowledge of the route beyond that.

We changed our minds riding along the beach beyond the Ncizele River (in hindsight it was a good decision), when I decided to carry up a hill, at the wrong point, and we wasted a lot of energy. We should have just ridden over a bump onto the beach, then up a river to the 4×4 path that goes behind the wreck of the Jacaranda (I did the navigation because I know this section of the coastline so well, having holidayed here as a child).

After we had crossed the Kobonqaba River mouth, which was sanded up due to the terrible drought in the area, we continued on tracks just behind the seashore.

Around the Kobonqaba point we saw a few whales, I tried to take some close-up photos, but had no luck, and Reid went on ahead. When he reached Wavecrest, Reid thought I was ahead of him, and raced off after someone whom he thought was me. As it happened, I was just behind him, and was trying to catch him; fortunately towards the end of the beach he looked behind and saw me racing across the sand. I was not amused when I caught up to him, and carried on at the pace that I was riding for a while.

We continued along the beach, and on tracks behind the seashore to Cebe, where we had to head inland. We couldn’t find any tracks; eventually we worked our way across about one km of grassland and found more paths above the rocks.

Eventually we worked our way to the mast above Mazeppa, and into the village.

I don’t remember much about the ride from Mazeppa to Kob Inn, but I do remember pushing my bike in the sand a bit. I think I blanked those bit out.

On the beach between Mazeppa and Kob Inn

I see in my logbook I noted that there was a head wind towards the end of the day, so that is probably why I remember so little.

A photo of Kob Inn, the village of Mazeppa Bay is on the next headland. (Photo courtesy of John Roskilly)

The procedure that we had previously decided on was to wash our bikes at the finish, and then we could take care of ourselves and get something to eat, usually with a beer or two. After we had eaten, our bikes would be dry and we could then lube the chain, dérailleurs, and pivots.

The profile of day one, 472m of climbing in 45km.

I’d like to thank Shayne for editing my posts.

The Imana Wild Ride; Training and Preparation

Great excitement!  Reid (my neighbour & riding buddy) and I had finally been accepted to do the Imana Wild Ride.  After being on the waiting list for 6 years, this was almost a ‘dream come true’.

We rationalised that most of The Wild Ride takes place on sand; the first two days being mainly beach riding and the last two days on roads/paths over the hills of the upper Wild Coast – our best bet would be to train on our known mountain tracks, as this would quickly get our strength up to par.  This is what a typical profile of the rides we did looked like:

Due to circumstances I was unable to do as much training as I would have liked.  I tried to do 2/3 interval sessions on an indoor trainer during the week, with one 4-6 hr ride on the weekends.  We also decided that we’d ‘play golf’ on Wednesdays, and managed to squeeze in quite a few more rides.  (Just out of interest, I have recently built up my old hard tail into a single speed, so I’ve been riding that during the week.  This gives me a good interval session – hard up the hills, rest on the downhill’s, and spinning on the flats.)

The week before the Imana, we left our bikes with our LBS (local bike shop), to be serviced and prepared against the ravages of the sea sand and salt water. This entailed a full service, lubing all the cables, and all the bearings would be repacked with marine grease.

On Monday, 26 August 2010 we headed down to Kei Mouth to spend the night before the race with my parents, who have retired there.  The plan was for Reid, an enthusiastic amateur aviator, to be picked up at the Port St Johns airfield on Friday afternoon (after the end of The Ride), and then fly to the Morgan’s Bay airfield, where my dad would fetch him then he would drive home from there. This was all so Reid could attend his dad’s 80^th birthday celebrations on the Saturday.  I booked accommodation in Port St Johns, for me & my family, who were driving up to meet us at the end of the race and enjoy the sights of the Wild Coast.

Friday evening was spent doing the final packing, and preparation of our bikes. Lubing the pivots, derailleur, and chain, spraying DWF(de-watering fluid, WD40) into all crevices and holes in the frame, and spraying the frames with DWF. (A friend that does yachting suggested that we use a product called Whynnflon to spray inside and outside our bikes.)

After registering, we had dinner at the Kei Mouth Community hall, where we met a few of the other competitors.  Needless to say it was early to bed for us that night!

Hello and welcome

This is my first Blog post.

A member of the thehubsa.co.za cycling forum (hello Slowbee) has been at me since September last year to publish a ride report (note: I don’t do race reports, as I don’t race) on the Imana Wild Ride. This is an mtb race from the Kei River Mouth to the Umngazi River Bungalows, over 4 days, so I decided that the time had come to start a blog.

I’m a sheep farmer from the Eastern Cape, and my favourite cycling area is in the Amatola Mountains.  Anatolian mountain dogs are sheep dogs from the Anatolian Mountains in Turkey, they adopt the sheep herd as their family, and protect the sheep. Their use has been widely promoted in the Eastern Cape to protect sheep from predators. That is where my blog name comes from.

Due to the slooooow internet connection this stormy evening in my corner of the Eastern Cape, this is all I’ve the patience to post.

By the way my header picture is of the Mtakagie River estuary on the Wild Coast.