50 x 160km mtb trips - Transbaviaans 1 2 3......

Transbaviaans is a 24 hour mountainbike race over a 230km distance. The route starts in Willowmore in the main street (± 700 m above sea level) and then follows a farm road through Poortjies to link up with the Baviaanskloof turn-off ± 4 km out of town. The route then ascends over a distance of ± 26 km to the top of the spectacular Nuwekloofpas (± 1000m above sea level). For the next ± 80 km the route drops down into the Baviaanskloof passing through a number of farms such as Rietrivier and the Baviaanskloof Police Station at Studtis, after which it enters the Baviaanskloof wilderness area under the control of Eastern Cape Parks Board.

This long descent ends at Geelhoutbos a distance of ± 110 km from Willowmore. From here the route becomes more strenuous, narrower and more difficult to negotiate, reaching a high point at Bergplaas, at ± 147 km from Willowmore. From here it drops suddenly into the Cambria Valley past some citrus farms and the Komdomo Camp site in the banks of the Groot River at ± 175 km mark.

From Komdomo the route follows the road to Patensie but before reaching it turns off to Humansdorp on an undulating gravel road to cross the Humansdorp-Patensie tar road at ± 210 km mark. The route then follows a farm road to Jeffreys Bay were it finishes at the Fountains Mall in Jeffreys Bay, 230 km from Willowmore.

The total accumulated climbs for this route is 2540m.

A videoclip of what the race is all about. (TB website)

# 3 TB with Jaco Brand - Our third race was with Jaco Brand, with sister Theresa and a friend providing the back up.

To make it fun, the race starts at 10am to force riders to cycle through the night. Food stops every 40 kms allow riders to feed, and a back up team provides assistance dry clothes and maintenance support. Bergplaas, about 130kms from the start, is normally a longer stop over, and big fires and plenty refreshments are available as the next five hours of cycling will be in the dark with dangerous downhills.

https://www.transbaviaans.co.za/

Our first and second Transbaviaans was done with Vlooi and Liezel, with Jaco de Kock backing us up on trip one, and Andy backing us up on trip 2. Andy's Hat is a clear indication that backup is not a sought after position. We managed on all three instance to finish around 16 hours. The race has now developed into a massive event, and entries are filled up early. Ons eerste slaapplek was in die ouetehuis in Willowmore, en die tweede keer het ons by Boetie in die aartappelkamer gebly. Boetoe was n reus, langer as 1,9 m en fisies groot daarby. Hy het mooi verduidelik dat hy Boetie is omdat sy broers groter is as hy.

#2 TB - Andy was our backup and we stayed with Boetie on the farm at the start of the gravel road.