In this third instalment of his 2015 Old Mutual joBerg2c journey, social mountain biker Alistair Schorn answers the burning question of what to pack for the nine-day adventure of a lifetime. Click here for more Confessions of a Weekend Warrior on In the Bunch.
With a bit more than a week to go until the start of our great adventure, I would imagine that most of the technical bits related to bikes, equipment, kit and nutrition choices are already in place. When it comes to fitness and physical preparation, we are where we are.
I’ve spent the last couple of weekends putting the finishing touches to my preparation, with a good Easter weekend at Mankele, training and celebrating a mate of mine’s 40th.
Then last weekend we raced the Cradle Mountain Challenge event on the west side of Joburg, which was really good – a properly tough route, with awesome singletrack, bush tunnels, switchback climbs and so on.
With regard to joBerg2c, though, the list of things to prepare and take along is growing ever longer.
On this subject, the packing list on the website is really comprehensive, and I’ve also seen a few posts on social media from experienced stage racers and people who have done the event before, which include some really good bits of advice.
So – based on my experience of having been on the race as both a rider and supporter – this is my two cents worth, which I hope will be of some use, especially to first-timers:
• We’ve all heard the saying that a woman can’t be too rich or too thin; on joBerg2c, when you’re not on your bike, you can’t be too warm or too dry. In general, the focus should be on those things that can make the experience as pleasant as possible, which to my mind translates to things like extra warm clothes or an extra towel.
• In terms of the cold morning starts, last year the organisers arranged a drop-off at the first water point of the day for extra kit – jackets, arm warmers and what not – so I hope that we’ll have the same system this year. If so, bring along a small bag marked with your name and race number that you can carry in your pocket.
• Also for those cold Free State & Berg mornings, what we found works really well is sandwich bags inside your shoes, and surgical gloves over your riding gloves – these can be disposed of in the bins at the first water point.
• Glen, Gary and Wappo seem to be particularly fond of river crossings, so definitely take a second pair of cycling shoes, and newspaper to stuff into wet shoes to help them dry faster.
• Clothes pegs and a bit of thin rope for making a washing line are especially useful – more often than not you end up using the tent ropes for this purpose, but, if you’re lucky, you can find a couple of convenient trees.
• Ziploc bags are your friend – take with a whole bunch, especially big ones; they’re extremely useful for preventing dirty or damp clothes and towels from infecting the rest of the stuff in your bag.
• Based on last year’s experience with a particularly nasty tummy bug in the race village, Imodium is your very very best friend – bring a sh*tload (no pun intended). One of my mates who didn’t get sick drank a shot of vodka every night before bed and he is convinced that’s what kept his stomach on the straight and narrow.
• Also, as mentioned in the packing list, leave a couple of rolls of toilet paper in your bag, and if you do come down with a bug, take some with on the stage (in a Ziploc bag so you don’t end up with a soggy mess in your pocket when you need it most). On the first joBerg2c we had a guy come in one day minus his socks and arm warmers because he ran out of bog roll and options.
• An extra water bottle to use in your tent at night can save having to refill your race bottles in the morning.
• Charging cables for cellphones and GPS units are a must. While participants will be getting an Amped power unit, that isn’t going to help if your device has an older or non-standard connection jack. Last year I lost count of the number of people wandering around trying to borrow cables.
• Finally, and most importantly, beer money – every race village will have a bar and, as a rule, the closer you get to Scottburgh, the stronger the temptation becomes to have an extra cold one in the afternoon or evening.
This list is by no means intended to be exhaustive, so if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to share them on the joBerg2c Facebook page or Twitter feed.
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