ADDO MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE 30KAY 6 FEBRUARY 2010

The Addo Mountain Bike Cycle
SATURDAY 6TH FEBRUARY 2010


Mark and I got stuck into Barbara's bike. First we had to fit knobblies and then make sure the bike was perfectly tuned with no sticky points. We fitted him out with cycling gear. We loaded the bikes into the Corsa Bakkie and were set for our mountain bike ride. I had arrived home late and this meant that I was only able to get to bed after 11pm. This is very late for me. Saturday morning we were up at 04.00am and drove to Gerald. He picked Alf Zemkhe up and we drove too fast to Addo.

We arrived with over an hour to the start of our event. There were three races: the 85kay technical and tough event. Then the 65kay which was as technical but would have been more manageable for me. But we had decided to tackle the 30kay Family Fun Ride. I was amazed at how many people were doing this event who we know: Pat, Gerald and Ronel; Alf; Bob Howlett and brother Neil; Jonathan Coffey and friend Nico from Nippers; Peter DC; Tracey Brink (Leah was there in support); Rob and Michelle Elfick and Fred Allabone; Darryl and Avril Smith. Nicky's old diving friend Cathy and husband Neville; There were probably more people that we knew that I cannot remember.

I had asked Gerald to register me for the event. I had entered on line but was stuck in Jhb and would not be back in time. He made the mistake of entering me for the Saturday Fun Ride and not the Mountain Bike event. This meant that I was entered twice but not for the correct event. Sounds very complicated. I tried to explain this to Jenny who was in charge of the entries. She understood but said that she would have to refer this complication to some committee. I dont blame her.

This was both my and Mark's first ever attempt at mountain biking off road. Mark was not fit for this type of exersize and while I am reasonably fit for cycling; this was new territory for me. We started off reasonably slowly. I saw Ronelle ahead and tried to stay with her but I had determined that Mark and I would ride together and so let her get ahead. Pat passed us. Gerald and ALf would bring up the rear.

There were no really tough mountain climbs. Merely a gradual hill that was a downhill compared to Brickies. We rode through the orchards of oranges. If it had been season we could have picked fruit on the ride. Occasionally there was a downhill that allowed us to have some real excitement. I saw Cathy and Neville having a huge amount of fun on one of the downs. There were some speed bumps which Cathy ramped and flew a good few feet into the air.

There were just a few sections where the track narrowed and we would have to watch where we rode. We scaped bast thorn trees and bumped over ditches, skidded around wet patches and tried to avoid the stony parts of the road. Then there were plenty of soft sand area's that made us watch our way. With Mountain biking you have to watch just ahead of you much more that you do when you are on the road. On the road you should be looking ahead to see where you are going.

This was a Family affair with lots of Dad's, Mom's and children. I would often hear a child talking to the parent and the parent advising of the route to take. It was a healthy atmosphere of people taking care of others more than themselves. I had fitted a bell to Mark's bike and he would ring it every now and again to let me know that he was right behind me.

We were fortunate to be in shade for most of our 90 odd minutes of cycling. We had a cool breeze to add to our comfort. We thought of those doing the bigger events and the heat that they would have to suffer later on this morning. We approached the half way feeding station. There was a menu that would have made a restuarant envious: Banana's; Potato; Powerade; Borrie Rolls and a willingness to help everyone as much as they could. And this was just the 30kay fun event. This made me feel embarressed as how shoddily we had treated our fun runners last weekend at the Achilles event.

We rode on with the smells of fresh manure, dusty fields, Orange trees and the sweat of fellow cyclists. There was a great cameraderie and chatting going on as we came to the end of a great (for us) first time off road on the mountain bike. Rob Howlet came up to me later and said that I was surely a convert and would not go back to road running. Not quite, but certainly I will be looking out for more of these events.

Mark and I loaded up the bikes and headed home.