The 2017 Momentum Health Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen was a very emotional journey for the J9 Cycling Team. Me and my partner (Dirk Kotze) were riding to raise awareness for the Motor Neuron Disease. Dirk has dedicated all of the races he took part in from the ABSA Cape Epic of 2014 (he has done 3 since then) to raise awareness for MND. Unfortunately the legend of SA Rugby and the founder of the J9 Foundation, Joost van der Westhuizen, past away earlier in the week, but we want to salute him for creating a vehicle and put so much momentum in place for MND Awarenss and helping thousands of people in the process. Our main goal is for people to appreciate life and fitness and in the process to help them see how lucky they are just to be able to take part in sport. It doesn't matter who you are, it can be taking away from you with a blink of the eye. Live to the maximum, although it might not be that easy as you will read later on when we start with the race info!
On Thursday afternoon we went through to Kaleo Guest Farm where the registration took place. This would also be our home for the next couple of days. We got to our tents witch were nicely positioned in the shade (thanks Craig Kolesky!). You could feel the nervous excitement all around camp for the next three days that were looming. Weather predictions where very hot for day 1 and then steadily cooler for the last 2 days. No one new exactly how hot it will eventually get on day 1.
 |
| My tent at Tankwa Trek |
Stage 1 started with a 05:00 breakfast and for us in B group a 06:36 start. A moment of silence were held for Joost van der Westhuizen as it was his memorial service on that particular morning. One could from early already feel that it was going to be a scorcher. We new most of the route from the previous year although there were some changes in the beginning with some new singletrack to stretch the field. Day 1 consisted of about 90 km and 1 650 m vertical ascent, no easy day under normal circumstances. We had an awesome ride up until waterpoint 2 where Dirk took something that made him feel very nauseous. This was just before the main technical climbs of the day started and Dirk were feeling left with no power. We rode cautious not to make any silly mistakes because of his sickness and build some character along the way and made it through in 5:30. The whole area were very dry and the road surface very technical and dusty. When we finished it was about 11:15 and already 39 degrees. The people who finished by 13:00 had it at 43 degrees and there were some rumors of 46 degrees in certain section recorded on route. We were glad this day was behind us...fluids to be taken in after this stage were crucial for recovery for the next day as day 2 was actually the hard one! Dirk almost slept the whole afternoon and we were lucky to come to the believe that there were no other "bug" symptoms. Hopefully day 2 will treat us better.
 |
| Scenes from Stage 1 |
No alarm needed on day 2 with thunder and lightning starting at 04:20...unbelievable after the very hot conditions of day 1. We all saw on stage 1 how rugged and dry the area were and new this little bit of rain were welcomed with open arms by the farmers, also by us for taking away allot of the dust.
We decided to take it easy at the start and save something for later when we will hit the two main climbs of the day (Ou Wapad and Merino Monster). Stage 2 consisted of 89 km and about 2 000 m vertical ascent. You hit the big climbs late in the day so you need to be careful not to burn to many matches early. We rode a steady pace and felt good. Dirk was feeling way better than stage 1 and even had time to laugh and joke again during this stage. When you finished the Ou Wapad climb you already feel as if you had enough of climbing, but when you then have a glance to your left, you will see the mast on top of the Merino Monster and you try and build some new courage to tackle him. When we rode through the waterpoint just below the Merino Monster there were a light drizzle and that helped the morale allot. We started and each of us rode up there on our own pace. I don't know if you can call it cheating, but it definitely felt like it with me and Dirk using the new SRam Eagle Groupset up the climb (see next blog for more details on this). It was still very hard, but as most people know who have done this race, after the Merino Monster comes possibly one of the most technical descents you will ever come across in a MTB race. You need to be cautious all the way down and upperbody, arms and hands fatigue and cramps sets in with about a third of the descent left. If you made this safe, it is plain sailing for the last 10 km flat and fast home where the Eagle Groupset also helps allot. We finished day 2 in 5:26, safe and sound. Good recovery were needed to tackle the fast stage 3.
 |
| Scenes from Stage 2 |
The weather prediction for stage 3 were always the coolest of the 3 days. In other years the race started with a 11 km neutral zone, this year there were only 500 m of neutral zone and this made the stage a very fast one. Day 3 consisted of 86 km and 1 100 m vertical ascent. Stage 3 has some superb singletrack which you can only see in this area and it was a real privilege to be able to ride in this unpretentious and untouched environment. We were flying through the day and felt very good to be able to finish another fantastic Tankwa Trek. We finished stage 3 in 4:08. What made it even more special was to see the family at the finish and know that we will be on a MTB high for another year until we get back to Tankwa Trek 2018!
 |
| Scenes from Stage 3 |
Some things I need to mention to people who want to do the Tankwa Trek next year - this is for sure the race with the best food you will ever get! All the hard work during the day will be well worth it when you get to go and plate up. We all ate like kings! The race itself is by far the hardest 3 day stage race in South Africa and good preparation is needed to tackle this one, this is NOT a walk in the park, but for your hard work you will be rewarded. From the J9 Cycling Team and from the J9 Foundation we would like to thank Dryland, Momentum Health and Biogen for accommodating us and supporting us to create awareness for MND. From a personal point, thanks to Oakpics for the use of the pictures and to Bike Addict Malmesbury for sorting out my Silverback Sesta SBC to the finest detail.
We will be back in 2018!
JG
