Grabouw Training Camp
Day 1: Friday 28 November
Being the under-leaved working class that we are, we missed the first day. We heard tales of an epic 105km in the saddle which included long hard stretches on tarmac. Glad we missed it!
Andre du Plessis, fellow training camp rider wrote a ride report, which includes the first day.
We did make a very interesting talk that Harald Zumpt from Polar delivered on Friday night. Some good tips on training and pacing your ride. Harald has given us his powerpoint presentations, as well as a very useful excel worksheet that you can use for planning your training. Download them here:
Day 2: Saturday 29 November
Up bright and early to a healthy breakfast of muesli, muffins and fruit. Then off we went!
The first loop was in the Western part of the Grabouw forest, with lots of ups and lots of downs. We went right past the top of Sir Lowry's Pass then zigzagged our way back to the cabins for and early lunch with only 38km under the belt.
After lunch we hit the punishing Nuweberg climb, which had many people off their bikes and on foot. It was very steep and with limited traction in places. Doug was at the top to capture all of the interesting looks on our faces.
What goes up must come down however, and we had a glorious descent for the next 10km which took at back to the Grabouw Country Club. At this point though we lost the trail and the first bunch (we'd split into two groups by now) missed an extra 10km loop of singletrack - very disappointed :( - the others managed to total 75km with 1800m of climbing (click here to view Csaba's route profile)
Back at camp to relax and talk crap, following by Lance "Tim the Toolman"'s talk on what to take and how to prep your bike for the trip. We grabbed his notes and you can find them here.
Supper was a well-made pasta feast which everyone enjoyed. Excellent catering by the guys from the country club!
Day 3: Sunday 30 November
Sunday was Saturday in reverse. This meant a flattish start followed by the long winding climb up Nuweberg, with a hair-raisingly steep descent.
The temperature was getting up too and was hitting the mid-30s.
We didn't stop for lunch this time but went straight through into the next loop which was a lot harder in reverse. Long steep climbs in the full sun were very sweaty. We had a short stop next to some water then headed back to camp. Climbing for the day - 1485m (profile).
The cool lake was calling at this stage and most of us headed for a refreshing swim. A group photo and that was it! An awesome weekend, well organised by Cobus and Doug - we even had route markers so that we couldn't get lost. Well done guys!!
