An cycling adventure and a photo shoot bikes in Grabouw

Posted in Cycle Trails | Cycling | Mountain Biking

Kati, Rob and I met at The Upper East Side consolidated into one vehicle and departed for Grabouw. It was a perfect Spring morning and adventure was in the air…

We arrived at JP’s to a warm welcome from a large crowd of riders and after the neccessary preparations we set off. Up past Ou De Moulen distillery, into the forest and up towards the N2. From here on out I have to keep our route under wraps but I can tell you about the adventure we had and the exquisite scenery.

We headed off the gravel roads and into the mountains. This was unchartered territiory for a lot of us. The first climb loomed ahead and up and up we went JP and Robert ahead in the distance and the rest of us following in small groups. My goodness men can chatter just as much as women! There were 11 of us 2 women and the rest men. So up we climbed until we were above a smallish dam and the views were stunning, so we thought there was more to come. After taking a few pics we continued as the road wound up further into the mountain.

A comment was passed that it was all very well that this land was protected ans a conservancy but why not let people onto it to enjoy the bauty of it?? I have to agree. This stunning part of our countryside should be open for all to enjoy.

Anyway, as we rounded a corner there ahead was a concrete track that looked almost vertical! “Are we going up there?” I called to JP. Of course, his reply was “yes”. After a few short climbs, tricky descents, twists and turns we came upon the concrete wall!!! It was a heartattack waiting to happen and was attacked full on. JP and Rob and Albert ate it up and poor Marco had to walk up as he wasn’t used to the gearing on the bike he was riding.

I was in granny and grinding up and all I could thing was “I will not walk. I will not walk” and just as I popped a lung my front wheel hit gravel at slightly less of an incline and it got a bit easier. Whew!
Then a long rocky descent and we stopped to regroup and take in the view, there was more to come, off we went a again and down some more very rocky washed out road. Rob just ahead of me had got onto the really washed out side of the road and was trying to cross over whenhis wheel caugh in a rutt at a an angle and the next thing he was sliding and sommersaulting over his bike into a deceptively deep ditch. The poor guy lay in a heap in the ditch with his legs over his head. Yoga mid ride!!! By now everyone behind us had screeched to a halt and he was being helped out of the ditch and was in considerable pain and very quiet- not the norm for Rob!!! When he at last asked how his bike was we knew he was going to be ok. it was a sorry realisation that not one of us had any first aid at all. Note to all mountainbikers- take a small first aid kit whenever you ride. You never know when you will fall!

It took some time but finally Rob was ok and got back onto his trusty 9er. He was still very quiet, but was soon back at the front with JP. We cama accross a rock formation that was incredible and then the view,absolutely breath taking. We could see all the way to Cape Point! We were high above Koolbaai on a clear day and it was- words wouldn’t do it justice. Look at the pictures. Then we spied a vehicle comming towards us and panicked,we were kinda riding illegally although I have to say with great respact for where we were and minimal impact. We are all very environmentally concious and responsible.

So- panic? Hide behind the rocks? Leap in a ditch?… what to do?

It turned out that he was a gueat of someone with a house in the area. So all good. A quick chat and on we went. It was pretty easy riding now and we started to split up into smaller groups as some put on some speed and others dawdled along. I found myself alone so put on the gas and rode hard along the wide jeep tracks. What an exhillarating feeling to be flying along a road in the middle of nowhere with stunning views either side and fresh air!

My soul felt cleansed as I flew along the trail just me and my racing machine. It was exhilarating!

After a long while I saw Meyer and we caught the others, to realise that we had lost 3 of the back markers. Kati being one of them. After a quick call we dicovered that they had taken a wrong turn and would be riding a little further than planned.Jp then decided to add in a nice long ascent to the ride to make the legs work a little harder. It’s all good training we tell ourselves.

Then before we knew it we were back at the N2 and crossing over into legal land and back to reality again. We got back to find the missing 3 awaiting our arrival!! Turns out we actually did 3 kms more than them, so 60 kms and 1500m of climbing, one spectacuar wipeout, heartattack hill, views from heaven and great company all made for a pretty awesome ride all in all.

A quick stop at peregrine for refuelling and back to town to drop Kati and then Rob and I headed off to Meerendal for our photoshoot. HansGrohe has sponsored us and 2 other teams for the Epic 2013!!!! So exciting. So we had a photo shoot for the website. We arrived a little late but soon changed back into riding gear and very nice new HansGrohe/Craft long sleeved tops,fleece lined no less. Then it was head shots in a canola field and a short ride to the “stairway to heaven” the notorious switchbacks that were in the prologue for Epic 2013. True to form for a photo shoot we had to do things over a few times which mean riding up a rediculously steep incline and round a sharp corner a few times.

Then up the stairway of hell- it gets steeper and steeper as you go up! Finally at the top the guys decide we have enough of table mountain in the background and we all line up smile and “Hey guys, I can’t really see the mountain” says the photographer. The haze was so bad that the mountain looked like a ghost behind us. A few shots later after lots of fiddling with exposures and so on it was all over and Rob and I bade a quick farewell and shot back down to the car as he still had a 40th to go to!! Thank goodness I just had dogs to feed and a bath to look forward to.

12 hours , 1 heavenly ride and a photoshoot later I got home.

Thanks to all for a fantastic day.