Not so far from Cape Town lies the sleepy hamlet of Mcgregor. And just the other side of the dorp, next to Lord’s Winery, was the venue for last Saturday’s enduro.
In order to make the races more ‘friendly’ , there is now a silver and gold loop. In essence, there is one main loop – the silver loop – and off this loop are a series of mini-loops, which make up the gold loop.
The gold loop is longer (in kilometers) than the silver loop; the race is 3 hours long for both gold and silver, but there is also a 2 hour silver loop race. Keep the orange stickers on your left. Two orange stickers either right or left means a turn is coming up. A green sticker means stop, turn around and find the orange sticker. Look out for the ‘split’ sign on the trail otherwise you will end up on the wrong loop and get a DNF. Don’t forget to stamp your clip card out on the trail. At the end of each lap hand it in, and get a fresh one.
If you come in before your race time is up, you must go out again and do another lap, otherwise you get a DNF. But you can wait out the time on racing side of the checkered flag, then you will be a finisher.
Whilst driving out together to the start in the cage, I watched my chommie John out the corner of my eye, as he was digesting these rules. I could sense the nervous energy in the car – this being his first enduro and all.
After setting up our pits, I sat down for a cuppa. John no, he was checking his bike, starting it, stopping it, feeling the tyre pressure, and the million and one things you do when the nerves are tight like a snare drum.
All too quickly the start comes, and before you know it, you’re in the start line, whoosh down with the flag, and there you are hammering it down the trail. What a ride!
The loop was 90% rocky single track with all sorts of trouble lurking off the trail. Shortly after the start you dropped into a riverbed. Eish … slippery awkward size small rocks to ride over, and a goodly number of wet logs in the way. I dunno, but I found this riverbed section particularly trying. There were some water crossings which were firm underfoot, and not too deep. Thankfully out of the river bed and then a snaking single track through the bossies and out and up a ravine. A step up here, veer off to the left there, and so on and so on.
The course came at you relentlessly; rocks, single-track rocks, up and down. More water crossings, up a track littered with small rocks and stones, down again, in and out of a serpentine mini riverlette, along the fence, and boom … back into the pits, but not before traversing a sheep loading pen, which is another word for a deep hole in the ground. Thankfully there was a loading ramp on one side for the less gung ho riders.
An amazing thing happened after the second lap; the single track sorted itself out due to being ridden in, and became an absolute joy to ride. Don’t get me wrong, at no stage could you let down your guard, but it became significantly easier.
Another thing happens deep into the race; you come to an understanding that the bike and terrain are going to win if you don’t conserve your energy. It is only when you are tired, and start gripping the bike with the inside of your knees, stand in a stance as if you are going to be punched in the stomach, hands just gripping the bars and squeezing like a tube of toothpaste … you come to an understanding that you are going to win.
The silver and gold loop format provides a wonderful bridging gap between Offroad bike racing and hard enduro. Silver or gold – either loop will challenge you, but sting is out the tail on silver. Given the number of riders at Mcgregor, you can see this format is really working.
Roll on the next enduro … Riversdal next month!
In order to make the races more ‘friendly’ , there is now a silver and gold loop. In essence, there is one main loop – the silver loop – and off this loop are a series of mini-loops, which make up the gold loop.
The gold loop is longer (in kilometers) than the silver loop; the race is 3 hours long for both gold and silver, but there is also a 2 hour silver loop race. Keep the orange stickers on your left. Two orange stickers either right or left means a turn is coming up. A green sticker means stop, turn around and find the orange sticker. Look out for the ‘split’ sign on the trail otherwise you will end up on the wrong loop and get a DNF. Don’t forget to stamp your clip card out on the trail. At the end of each lap hand it in, and get a fresh one.
If you come in before your race time is up, you must go out again and do another lap, otherwise you get a DNF. But you can wait out the time on racing side of the checkered flag, then you will be a finisher.
Whilst driving out together to the start in the cage, I watched my chommie John out the corner of my eye, as he was digesting these rules. I could sense the nervous energy in the car – this being his first enduro and all.
After setting up our pits, I sat down for a cuppa. John no, he was checking his bike, starting it, stopping it, feeling the tyre pressure, and the million and one things you do when the nerves are tight like a snare drum.
All too quickly the start comes, and before you know it, you’re in the start line, whoosh down with the flag, and there you are hammering it down the trail. What a ride!
The loop was 90% rocky single track with all sorts of trouble lurking off the trail. Shortly after the start you dropped into a riverbed. Eish … slippery awkward size small rocks to ride over, and a goodly number of wet logs in the way. I dunno, but I found this riverbed section particularly trying. There were some water crossings which were firm underfoot, and not too deep. Thankfully out of the river bed and then a snaking single track through the bossies and out and up a ravine. A step up here, veer off to the left there, and so on and so on.
The course came at you relentlessly; rocks, single-track rocks, up and down. More water crossings, up a track littered with small rocks and stones, down again, in and out of a serpentine mini riverlette, along the fence, and boom … back into the pits, but not before traversing a sheep loading pen, which is another word for a deep hole in the ground. Thankfully there was a loading ramp on one side for the less gung ho riders.
An amazing thing happened after the second lap; the single track sorted itself out due to being ridden in, and became an absolute joy to ride. Don’t get me wrong, at no stage could you let down your guard, but it became significantly easier.
Another thing happens deep into the race; you come to an understanding that the bike and terrain are going to win if you don’t conserve your energy. It is only when you are tired, and start gripping the bike with the inside of your knees, stand in a stance as if you are going to be punched in the stomach, hands just gripping the bars and squeezing like a tube of toothpaste … you come to an understanding that you are going to win.
The silver and gold loop format provides a wonderful bridging gap between Offroad bike racing and hard enduro. Silver or gold – either loop will challenge you, but sting is out the tail on silver. Given the number of riders at Mcgregor, you can see this format is really working.
Roll on the next enduro … Riversdal next month!
