24 Hours of Rietvlei - Official Race Report

So, team Lickety Split decided to do "24 Hours of Rietvlei Farm". It was to be last team event of 2009 and everyone rocked up with varying expectations. Emails flew around during the preceding week detailing plans and strategy. Key phrases in said correspondence ranged from ‘social’ and ‘taking it easy’ to ‘military precision’ and ‘tactical advantage’. Mostly, though, catering and gazebo decorations were discussed in the finest detail.

The racing team consisted of Mike, Nando, Adri and myself with William, Sue and Trish in support. Mike volunteered to arrive early and secure real estate for our camping effort. He did a sterling job of getting a prime spot with a massive front lawn thrown in to sweeten the deal, and only a stones chuck from the transition area. It sure beat camping out in the windswept sticks as many latecomers had to endure. As the team started to arrive our camp soon resembled a medium sized Bedouin village rounded off with Christmas lights.

Soon enough, thoughts turned to the task at hand and I went for a quick warm-up ride before the race briefing. I got tangled up in the twisty track purpose cut across a dry (for now) vlei and, when I finally found my way out, missed most of the briefing.

The start was of the Le Mans variety and bikes were positioned about 200 meters from the line. I positioned myself near the front of the bunch thinking the sooner I get to my bike the better to avoid the consternation and chaos that’s bound to happen. It worked well. I picked up my bike in the first group but was so winded from the flat out sprint that it took me half a lap to recover.

The course was nice and varied. After the somewhat pointless meander across the dry vlei the track headed up a short, easy (for a while) climb to the first bit of twisty single track. I never tired of this section and it was nice to try and negotiate the sweeping turns and energy sapping bumps faster and smoother every time. A fast, technical section followed that took the course behind the original farm building and down some fast and rocky single track into the first forest section. This section was perfect to catch ones breath as you could only go so fast between the trees. A short, brutal climb out of the forest lead to a nice, smooth road that delivered you to the crux of the course, an uphill section that just kept coming at you. In the heat of the day it was highly unpleasant as there was no tree cover. Soon enough, though, the course turned and started heading for home with a blistering downhill that put a smile on my face every time. Fast flowing single track lead to some more twisty forest sections. When you eventually popped out of the forest the camp and transition area seemed tantalizingly close but a ‘sting in the tail’ style climb and meander had to be dispatched of first before the super fast descent into transition. All in all it was a course I didn’t mind riding repeatedly and it was one that the solo competitors would feel in their legs for days afterwards.

After handing the baton over to Nando, I sat down for a well earned rest and discussed tactics with William. We agreed to best course of action would be to rotate on a single lap basis and only switch to double laps during the late night and early morning to give everyone a chance to get a bit of sleep under their belts. After Nando, Mike went out on a super fast lap and bettered my first lap time. This inevitably sparked an internal fastest lap contest that simmered all the way to the end. William, in his new role as cycling team manager, wandered around with a stopwatch, scribbled notes and muttered to himself while planning the demise of all other mixed teams on the roster. He predicted that our individual fastest laps would only come on Sunday morning. I disagreed stating there’s no way I can go any faster and that fatigue will surely slow us down steadily during the course of 24 hours. Sure as not, the whole teams’ final laps proved to be their fastest. The human body continues to marvel!

The rest of Saturday afternoon disappeared in a blur of riding, eating, resting, eating, lying down, eating, resting a bit more and doing the odd lap trying to better our personal best times. We’ve been eyeing a band of thunder clouds and for a while I thought it would bypass us to the south but by about 17h30 it was clear that we would be receiving some form of precipitative offering! And offer it did! I was on my third lap when the heavens opened and a storm of epic proportions presented itself. Lightning crashed all around and contemplated the isolating properties, or lack thereof, of rubber bicycle tires. Luckily, I avoided in-depth empirical research on the subject and found myself in transition where race organizer Dimitri told me the race has been suspended until the lightning subsided.

Back at camp the rest of the team also had epic tales of saving our encampment from blowing to downtown Alberton. We decided to make the most of the lull in racing by exchanging Christmas gifts and singing some carols before getting busy with the most important part of the day: Dinner! William, cycle manager and chef extraordinaire, prepared perfect roast chicken and vegetables on the Weber. Before it was 100% done, though, the race was restarted and Nando had to go ride on an empty stomach. We sent him off and tucked in only to be surprised twenty minutes later by a returning Nando dragging something that resembled a bicycle behind him. Apparently the (used to be dry) vlei had turned into a quagmire that severely impeded forward progress with the stickiest mud imaginable adhering to all moving parts of the bike. Some people apparently took half an hour to do the 1.5 km vlei section. Nando gave up the good fight and returned in order to save his bike from certain demise. As Nando sauntered off to find a tap to clean his bike, we stood around looking at each other sheepishly, wandering what to do next. I sat down and opened a beer while contemplating the situation. No one wanted to go out and wreck their bike. An announcement that the offending section of the course was to be cut out didn’t spur us into action either. We all knew those forest sections would be as bad as it gets. I opened a second beer after dinner and severe nafi-ness kicked in big time. Members of the team that hoped for a more social event had their wish granted for the next hour or so while we sat around goofing off and chewing the fat. Mike worked his way through a few Savannahs, secretly building courage. At some stage Adri realized that the course was actually open and rideable and confronted us with the inevitable question: “Why are we not out there…riding?” This simple yet eloquent question had the desired effect on Mike. He finished his ‘how-many-th’ Savannah with a deep swig and loped off in the direction of his bike, thus ushering in the late night part of our race……

As our esteemed manager and fearless leader William rightly noted, 24 hour races are won or lost during the night. The ability to efficiently circulate at a consistent pace and smoothly rotate in the dark quickly separates the experienced teams from the wannabees. We did OK during the night, doing 2 laps each before handing over and going for a well earned hour or two of sleep. The amount of mud on the course, and the sections in the forest especially, slowed us down considerably. Soon enough it was getting light and I had the pleasure to do the sunrise lap. I’m sure it would have been more pleasurable if I had actually been awake. That only happened after Sue handed me a cup of steaming moerkoffie and I could dunk a few of Francina Kruger’s finest.

The stage was set for a showdown of OK Corral-like proportions. We were lying in sixth position and realized we could make up some positions if we put our heads down. Adri passed Team Bravo soon after breakfast to move us up to fifth. We decided to set our sights on fourth place as our goal for the morning. If nothing else it would keep us out of mischief. We started chasing and raced hard all morning, bettering our lap times all the time as the course was drying out nicely by now. Fearless manager William devised a strategy for us to get the maximum amount of laps by allowing me to ride a fast lap after Mike and coming through the timing tent with about 2 minutes to spare. This allowed Adri to do a leisurely final lap as this would still count towards our final total. Well, no-one told Adri that and she proceeded to better her best lap by almost 2 minutes. We still ended a lap and a half behind fourth place but this also meant that we had gained a lap and a half since early that morning. A job well done, even if I had to say so myself.

We spent a full day riding in circles, created nothing of any worth, spent calories unnecessarily, our productivity index hovering around zero. To most people on the sidelines what we did must have seemed like a complete waste of time and they would surely ask: “but.… why?” My philosophical answer to this would be simple: “If you have to ask, you’ll never know!” Of course there is a more practical answer: “Because it feels so good when you stop!” In the end it is all about hanging out with good friends and celebrating with some not-cake! Thanks to the team and supporting cast for a great weekend!

Team Results:

Pos Laps Time Team

1 39 2009-12-06 12:12:22 Team Teen

2 38 2009-12-06 12:24:48 Goldfish and the Bowls

3 33 2009-12-06 12:19:15 Full-of-Beanz

4 32 2009-12-06 12:03:40 The Good The Bad The Old And The Ugly

5 31 2009-12-06 12:35:04 Lickety Split

6 28 2009-12-06 11:17:21 Team Bravo

7 24 2009-12-06 12:16:34 JMBC Blue

8 20 2009-12-06 11:21:06 Rhino-Soreass

9 20 2009-12-06 11:45:13 4 of a Kind

10 16 2009-12-06 12:26:06 Glen Fowler and Team

11 15 2009-12-06 11:19:47 JMBC Virgin Shock

12 13 2009-12-06 11:51:59 N.O.W (NIGHTMARE ON WHEELS)