When it comes to surviving the 2015 Old Mutual joBerg2c, mountain biker Alistair Schorn says there are a few key elements to success. Read his wrap from the fourth stage of his grand adventure below. For more episodes, see Confessions of a Weekend Warrior on In the Bunch.
I think most people will agree that day four of the Old Mutual joBerg2c (give or take 115km) was another pretty brutal one. In fact, very few of them are easy.
This was the first day of really technical mountain biking so, although there was plenty of descending, even that was really demanding, both mentally and physically.
Freedom Day started out at Sterkfontein Dam, where the mist rolled in with a vengeance, making things a little hairy in the big bunch of riders for the first few kilos.
Alistair Schorn reflects on riding on the edge of the world at the 2015 Old Mutual joBerg2c.
Once the mist started to lift, so did the tracks, as we headed into some of the most spectacular sections of mountain biking trail to be found anywhere.
Some memorable names such as Great Wall My China, Solly’s Folly and Puffadder Pass stand out. Riding on the edge of the escarpment, looking down into KwaZulu-Natal, must be one of the best experiences in mountain biking.
As we made our way through the stage, the accumulated fatigue really began to tell, making riders all the more vulnerable to mistakes.
What’s more, the highly technical nature of the course meant that when such mistakes happened, the chances of them being serious were highly amplified.
As a result, it seems that there were some pretty spectacular crashes and some badly damaged riders by the end of the day.
Eventually though, most of us negotiated our way through the gnarly terrain, dust and heat, to another exceedingly warm welcome in Winterton.
The more we get into the race, the more it seems to me that it’s as much a management exercise as anything else.
I reckon that one of the keys to negotiating your way through the event is to get through every day with the minimum of fuss, so that you can get back to the race village and recover as much as possible for the following day.
This means making sure you evade crashes, get through the water points as smoothly as possible and avoid mechanicals by checking your bike thoroughly the previous day.
I also think it means preparing properly for the next day and getting through the daily admin of showering and bike and kit washing to give yourself the best chance for a good night’s sleep and a relaxed morning before we do it all over again.
Read previous Confessions of a Weekend Warrior
Read next Confessions of a Weekend Warrior
