Discovering the goodness of riding in South Africa!

I live in London 11 months of the year and get to spend a month in South Africa over Christmas! I've started riding about 8 years ago now and have only been able to take my bike home with me once before and after being home last year I decided that it is the last time that I will be sitting at the farmstall and watch how everybody else rides their bikes. 

1. Local around our farm on the Garden Route

I had the privilege to ride with 'locals' around the farm; technically I was the local being born and bred in the area whilst they were just on holiday; although I was also on holiday! 

At home I was able to ride in places I've only seen from a far or driving past in a car. Some of the rides were a trip down memory lane riding where I grew up with the sea right next to me. I was also lucky to meet people to ride with which broke down my pre-conceived ideas of South Africans back home being snobbish and unfriendly. How wrong was I? 

One thing is for sure; these people can ride their MTB's fast on tar. We were averaging a speed higher than what I do on my road bike on the road when I'm fit on one those days into a head wind! I promised that I'll do a turn on the front when the wind was from behind. :-) 

They were everything but that. Friendly, accommodating and very helpful. Thank you Rozanne, Albert, Grahame, Tim, Jean-Luc, Fanie & Marius!

Canopy trees towards the N2

Coastal road near Gourtizmond with Rozanne!

Riding with the 'locals' aka holiday makers in the area! :-)
TC the local, Jean-Luc, Rozanne, Graham & Fanie

2. Hemel & Aarde Vallei, Hermanus

Riding in Hermanus was with my best friends. This was my 3 day break away from the farmstall. 

It was like old times; like Tango Cycling Wales weekends, but just in Hermanus. Everything revolved around a good ride, eating and kuiering! Awesome! Thank you Steph, Gerhard, Christiaan, Kerryn, Si & Pokkeljie for the memories! 

The trails and scenery was out of this world and the trails form part of the well-known Wine 2 Whales race. My favourite part was riding up The Gorge and following the wheel of Steph like old times down some flowy twisty singletrack.

Read more about 'Heavenly' Hemel & Aarde Vallei

Day 1 

The Tango Twins were lost & found again before this picture! 

Tango Train

Happy place

All together now! 

 Day 2

I indulged a little bit too much in all the good South Africa food and it felt like my breakfast sat in my throat whilst riding, but I'm so glad that I rode as the scenery was just so beautiful! 

Early morning sunrise! 

Steph & Si! :-) 

The morning after the night before! 

3. The Farm :-) 

One of my highlights was when our dog a good sized, Bull Mastiff, Mincke invited herself to join me for some singletrack hunting on the farm. She replaced me as laat lammetjie ('late lamb') or in English youngest child in the house so has never been my favourite, she stole my heart and I would like to get a trail dog now! She was so funny though, not used to all the exercise she went for a swim in the dam and refused to run after that again.


Explore more about The Farm!

4. Welvanpas, Wellington

The day before I returned was spent with Christiaan & Elisca on trails that form part of one of the Cape Epic stages. It was the hottest day on my whole holiday, the temperature was close to the 40's. The trail was 95% singletrack, constantly going up & down and traversing round the mountain. 

Because of the heat in South Africa there isn't much time for respite, you ride to finish your ride before the heat of the day. That means you shut up & pedal so that your ride is done by 10:00! The trail provides you with views over the whole of the Bainskloof Valley before you head over to the furthest part which spans views over to the Swartland! It has a good combination of easy rideable fast flowing singletrack and a few pieces of nice rock garden type singletrack. 

I still need to get a bit braver with the regular narrow little bridges that they sneak in regularly when you least expect it. 

Read more about Wonderful Welvanpas!

Bainskloof

Trying out IamSUPERBAR, a healthy dried fruit and nuts bar made by Elisca's friend

View towards the Swartland!

Singletrack for miles!

Singletrack satisfaction! 

Elisca properly said something inappropriate to make us both laugh like this! 

The Dollas in action

Welvanpas

I found riding in South Africa much better than what I expected. 

TC's Observations

1. The pace as these people can klap/cane it on the district roads with! 
2. The heat is something out of this world and mostly not in a good way for us who are used to ride in mild to VERY cold conditions
3. Rides take place early morning and you still have the whole day to do other things
4. The trails are well built not as technical as what I'm used to in comparison to Wales
5. The trails are dusty and I'm sure for us from the UK that is one thing that isn't a problem! 

The Dust-O-Meter!

'Heavenly' Hemel & Aarde Vallei

Riding in Hermanus was with my best friends. This was my 3 day break away from the farmstall. 

It was like old times; like Tango Cycling Wales weekends, but just in Hermanus. Everything revolved around a good ride, eating and kuiering! Awesome! Thank you Steph, Gerhard, Christiaan, Kerryn, Si & Pokkeljie for the memories! 

The trails and scenery was out of this world and the trails form part of the well-known Wine 2 Whales race. My favourite part was riding up The Gorge and following the wheel of Steph like old times down some flowy twisty singletrack. 

Check out Hermanus Adventures website for more details on the routes. We followed a combination of the routes, Steph knew the routes so she hand selected all the best bits! :-)

Day 1 

Tango Cycling Global

Tango Triplets Re-united

The Tango Twins were lost & found again before this picture! 

Tango Train

Breakfast at Die Plaaskombuis

Obviously the best part of our ride according to me. Some of us didn't have breakfast before our ride and didn't take into account the South African heat. 

The Gorge!

At the top of The Gorge!

Happy place

All together now! 

Steph nailing it!

Psalm 24

Cream Soda Float vs Popeye Juice
The Popeye Juice was clearly NOT mine, but I can assure you that it tasted what it looked like!

Kammabaai

Delicatessen from the farmstall

 Day 2

I indulged a little bit too much in all the good South Africa food and it felt like my breakfast sat in my throat whilst riding, but I'm so glad that I rode as the scenery was just so beautiful! 

Early birds catches the worm

Early morning sunrise! 

The morning after the night before!

Steph & Si! :-) 

You scream, we scream, we all scream for Ice cream! 

Prawn Flats

Coffee @ Voëlklip

My Besties: Si, Pokkeltjie, Kerryn, Christiaan, Zoé, Steph & Gerhard

Read more about riding in Welvanpas

Introducing the Tango Twins

I didn't think we needed an introduction... ;-) 

Tango Twins

I’ve been called many nicknames in my lifetime, but this one was added to the list about a year ago when Pokkeltjie & I went on a ride with Iain & Lizzie.

Lizzie named her ride on Strava, “Anthem initiation ride with the Tango twins.” Ever since then they have referred to us as the Tango Twins and others joined in. We even took it further than that, and identified ourselves as TT1 (that’s me of course) and TT2 (Pokkeltjie).

 

Lizzie had no idea how famous the Tango Twin Duet would become when she named us. J

Recently we completed the Epic Cymru in Wales and a photo of us at the Finish Line made it into the MBR for November 2015. This photo is the pure inspiration for this post. (Thank you Pierre for the Strava alert!)

In order for you to get to the Tango Twins better I have asked us a few questions?

TT1 about TT2

TT1

(TC about Liezl)  

Who gets the most punctures?

TT2, but I’ve made up with 2 in 2 days recently so we should be even now

Who waits the most on the trails for each other?

Definitely TT2, she is fast, I just can’t keep up with her even if I try my best!

 Who takes the least risks?

 Me (TT1), I’m either the sensible one or just plain scared

Most spectacular crash you have witnessed of TT2?

There have been a few crashes which makes it hard to narrow it down. I always discover the black spot (that’s how I refer to TT2 laying on the ground in the fetal position). It has to be when she was taking a jump, landed on a down slope by doing a full 360 summersault with her feet still attached to her bike.

Proudest you have been of TT2 and collectively of the Tango Twins?

- When she won her age category in her first ever XTERRA triathlon and came third overall in 2013.

- Collectively when we finished the Sellaronde Hero in 2014, the longest toughest day we’ve had on our mountain bikes, but we did it!

- Oh and the way we approached Peaslake MTBO (Mountain bike orienteering) in April 2015. We planned our route, stuck to the plan, picked up the 11 markers we planned to get on our route plus an additional 3 we added in case we had enough time.  We ended up having enough time and won the Women’s 3 hour category.

 What is the best part of having a trusting riding partner?

It starts with knowing that if she said she is going to ride with me, she will ride with me. Knowing each other so well helps reading a situation, when to encourage and when to keep quiet. It took us time to figure out the best way of communicating with each other, but we are reaping the benefits now. TT2 knows when I am tired just by looking at the position of my head. We often have a role reversal, when one of us is down the other one keeps us going and the other way round.  Thankfully we have never been down at the same time! I know she isn’t just going to leave me behind, she will warn me or wait for me at sections  which she knows I might not like that much. Even if I know she will be fine, I always wonder where is she, what happened to her, is she ok?

Most common phrases TT2 uses?

- I don’t like to push

- I have a puncture

- *bus doors opening* tee tee tee tee (the sound she makes to announce that her legs can no longer cope and that it would be better to be at the top of the hill right now than to still have to get there)

  

TT2

TT2 about TT1 

(Liezl about TC) 

Who faffs the most?

Uhm.  Do I have to be honest?  Okay…although it’s pretty much 50/50, I think TT1 probably thinks I faff the most…and vice versa.  However, if the question is a general one…then I think the answer is Simon Osborne a.k.a Sakkie :-)

 Who gets the most punctures?

That’s an easy one!  I definitely do…hands down!  I can basically change a tyre with my eyes closed…behind my back…whilst eating a cheese straw.

TT1 says you do most of the waiting? Why do you wait, why don’t you just carry on riding?

Safety in numbers and all that :)  With my track record of falls it is better not to go solo.  In all seriousness, I would not want to ride on my own all the time and it helps to know that there is someone waiting for you (whether it is me or TT1).  It gives you that extra push you need and mentally it can do wonders.  I’m not in it to win it…I want to enjoy the mountains on my bike and be a reliable, patient friend at the same time.

Who takes the most risks?

That’ll be me (TT2).  I have always been a bit fearless so when I see a great downhill I love just bombing down it at speed (with relative amount of control of course).  TT1 is definitely more sensible than I am when it comes to that.

 Who crashes the most?

Do I really have to talk about my crashes again?  People might think I can’t ride you know :)  If you bear the above mentioned comment in mind you’d completely understand why I crash so much but then again…my motto is:  “If you don’t fall, you’re not trying hard enough”  Or that’s how I justify it at least…

Who has the best sense of direction?

Now I must say, TT1 isn’t just a pretty face…she has direction as well.  She literally knows the Surrey hills like the palm of her hand and doesn’t even need a GPS to get us around.  It’s quite astonishing really…and it means we hardly ever get lost #respect

You can trust her to get you from Point A to Point B without a doubt.

What is the best part of having a trusting riding partner?

TT1 and I are like sisters.  One minute we can joke about and the next minute we can be cross with one another but the beauty of ‘family’ is that you get over it quickly and move on.  We do mountain biking for fun and it’s much more enjoyable to ride with a good friend / riding partner so we can have chats, encourage one another and share the experience.  She is really good with helping with punctures as well #handy :)

Most common phrases used by TT1?

- I LOVE Summer Lightning

- I want a Yazoo

- Are we at altitude?

Blog written by: TC and her guest TT2

Tango Twins literally

On a recent training ride in Summer 2015

Through thick & thin
Photo: Anthony Pease as featured in MBR November 2015 on page 13