Joberg2c 2012 - Paul Cordes

Last week was the 3rd year running of the Joberg2c and Arno du Toit and I were lucky enough to get an entry through the Ride Like a Pro programme. This is an event that I had always wanted to do and when the opportunity came around we grabbed it with open arms!

We were introduced via Craig “Proper Wappo” Wapnick to Transact, who is the medical support for the event, and together with a few other talented team pairings became a part of the very well looked after Transact family for the nine days of racing. Now how this worked was that with Craig’s initiative, entries were given to a few (I like to think talented or just naturally good-looking semi-pro cyclists) that otherwise would not have been able to enjoy and race an event like this from current sponsors of the Joberg2c event. We were then given some great kits and sent on our way to do battle for 930km with some of South Africa’s top professional teams!

The first day was supposedly a neutral stage which was a nice way to ease into the event (so I thought). So at 8:00 am we rolled out of Heidelberg behind an enormous Massey Ferguson tractor and started our journey down to Scottburgh. 50km into the day we were all given the opportunity to row across the Vaal River in dragon boats which was an amazing experience. All being well-trained cyclists and fortunately gifted with huge shoulders and guns we made it across the 50m with only a couple of rest stops. After this we rode on at a nice tempo to not stretch the day out too long. All was going well until the last water point where we were offered the biggest spread you have ever seen. We spent some time there; in fact we even had to spend extra time to help with digestion before we could roll into our first overnight stop. What a way to start the race!

After this things got serious! The next two days were spent blasting through the Free State at one silly speed where Arno and I tried hiding in the bunch and not getting too shown up by our teammates on single speeds! But finally Day 4 arrived which we heard was arguably the best day of mountain biking that could be had, and they weren’t far wrong! Thankfully we discovered the free Seattle Coffee this morning which definitely helped us stay near the front up the first climb of the day which paid off as we had a clear single track ahead of us… for kilometres! Now if you don’t know Arno let me give you some background: he is only 19 years old, but has already been SA XCO champ five times! He has also run in the top seven of a World Championship XCO until a mechanical knocked him back! So this being said, I had to ride downhill faster than I ever have… so he wouldn’t ride over me! What an amazing experience! It felt as if we matched our strengths and had one of the best days ever!

This day moved us up the leader board and put us in fighting spirits! We had some good battles with the teams from 5th-10th, won a couple, lost a couple, but slowly worked our way into the race and every day we started to feel stronger and stronger on the bikes, and when we didn’t we just had another Vooma Gel which was amazing! I think a big problem that resulted in our slow start was that I had been sick the couple of weeks building up to the race, so had to take some time off but I was happy to go into the race healthy(er) but undertrained rather than fit but sick.

Then finally we went into the Sani2c days which really suited our riding style and gave us a chance to spend some time with the big three at the sharp end of the event, and by then we had the GT Zaskar and Cannondale Flash dialled! We finally rolled into Scottburgh having had a sniff at the podium which never quite materialised, but finishing with a very satisfying 4th overall! What a great event – from the organisation, to the hands-on approach of the three main race organisers, to the great overnight venues and food, to all the preparation that went into the course itself! If you haven’t yet done this race then go make an entry into your bucket list – you won’t be disappointed!

A big thanks to all of our supporters: Transact for the opportunity to race this event and Andre from Epic Sports running after us hand and foot making sure everything and the bikes were perfectly prepared. Then to Omnico for our GT and Cannondale race machines and extremity safety equipment from Giro. And then to USN for all the great supplements which had a huge impact on our daily recovery and endurance throughout the event.

Till the next time, happy trails.

Paul Cordes