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West Coast
Epic Ride Weekend 28-30 December 2006
The Team Subaru West Coast training camp
took place at the end of December 2006. We were based in
Langebaan and did 3 days of riding in the Cape West Coast
and Swartland regions.
Initially the interest was high and it
looked like we would have too many riders but the lure of
the silly season and some family commitments saw the numbers
drop off. In the end 8-9 riders took part in a good 3 days
of riding.
Team Marcold returned again this year and
made a huge contribution by putting together goodie bags
that were more like Christmas hampers. They went to a lot of
trouble to get some quality items from sponsors like Due
South, Mountain Biker magazine and…. And of course Marcold
Ultra Cold Refrigeration. Thanks Nadine, and Trevor of
course with his wise cracks – what would a ride be without
them.
Team Lotus was also there, this ultra
distance running couple Vernon and Charisse are first time
epic riders.
Then there were a couple of stragglers,
Lloyd a rider out on holiday from the UK joined us. And then
a phone call out of the blue, Kevin Vermaak (the creator of
the crazy Cape Epic idea) was in town to do some windsurfing
in the prevailing southerlies that visit Langebaan daily in
the summer. Turns out Kevin had packed his bike in and was
keen to do a couple of days riding. Another epic rider Matt
also showed up with Kevin on day 2.
Day 1
We rode out from Hopefield for a 100km there and back ride
taking in the steep technical trails of Koringberg. This was
a good day 1 with some challenging climbs and long technical
singletrack descents. Everyone made it through fine with no
mechanicals. The road back was hot and took its toll on some
of the riders.
Day 2
This was a freak day as far as summers go on the West Coast.
We woke up to a howling northwester and rain. The drive out
to Koringberg still looked promising but once on the trail
we hit the brunt of the passing front. 20km into the ride it
was official, were riding in the pouring rain, with 100km
still to go in the day, things were looking – well, less
than ideal. The climb up to Bo-Piketberg had intermittent
rain and we were grateful for the tar surface make the going
a bit easier on us and the bikes. We had started out on the
ride thinking that the rain could not possibly last long
after all this was summer on the west coast, even clouds
were a strange phenomenon at this time of year. But at the
top of the mountain the temperature started dropping and the
cold set in. then when our season UK co-rider announced that
the weather was decidedly miserable and bordering on insane
we started considering the shorter cut home. Either way we
had to get down the mountain via the hair raising decent. So
off we went – what a blast – the rain had firmed up the
surface so the going was good. Lloyd showed us all up with
amazing descending skills followed by closely by Kevin who
is apparently a bit of a downhill freak on that Giant trance
of his. The downhill claimed some victims and wore through a
few brake pads leaving some with metal on metal braking.
At the bottom of the decent we decided to
head back and eventually ran into our support crew who were
ready with some hot coffee and sandwiches. We all stood
there shivering in the rain getting some warmth and energy
before tacking the last stretch home. The Lotus team still
behind had trned back on the hill and headed back to
Piketberg to get their own form of cheer at a coffee shop.
The route back was cold to start but
finally the weather started clearing and we finished
somewhat warmer in a drier Koringberg. It was disappointing
to cut the ride short but the right decision in the end. We
sill managed a respectable 74km for the day with 1400m of
ascent.
Day 3
The final Day was flatter and as Kevin put it “more what I
expected West coast riding to be like. After a couple of
days in the mountains with some hills that make you hurt the
riding now was on open farm roads. The route was one way
from Langebaan via St Helena to Paternoster for a brunch. A
bit of a north westerly meant a headwind up to St Helena
along the dirt and tar roads. Then it was onto the
singletrack and jeep track along the coast and into the St
Helena hills. The 80km ended at the Paternoster lodge with a
full plate of breakfast.
The 3 days riding worked out to be a
worthwhile with about 245km of riding.
For more pictures from the
weekend check the Cape
Epic Training photos
LIVE2RIDE Epic Training Camps
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