24 HOURS OF PAIN & GLORY STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS JACQUES MARAIS
XM MAGAZINE MAY 2014
There may be more recent pretenders to the throne, but the #TransBaviaans 24HR MTB Marathon remains the original, 100% proof, Mother of All Single-stage MTB Monsters. Enter here and you better be prepared to commit mind, body and soul to a singleminded philosophy of bike-or-die.
All Imagery shot on the SONY Alpha Camera System
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Harsh Rea The numbers behind #TransBaviaans portray the harsh reality of what await any rider brave enough to toe the starting line in Willowmore ... 230km of gnarly gravel looms between here and the finish at Jeffreys Bay, with more than 2.5km of accumulated climbing thrown in for good measure. Buffalo, leopard, puff-adders and night-time spectres (if the rumours are true) may pose additional obstacles should you survive the heat, thorns, wash-outs, corrugations, dehydration and muscle fatigue.
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eality
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Ele(mental) J
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Journey
This, however, does not seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the 900-plus entrants who throw down the gauntlet to face off against the elements every year. Riders enter as teams of two, obviously because of the severity of the terrain and the huge chunk of time they will spend on their bikes, and this in the middle of one of South Africa’s most remote and untouched wilderness areas. If you fall here, you can forget about cell phone signal, and the closest hospital could easily be 3hrs away (if you manage to find a car).
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Monster MTB Marathon The fact that organisers EcoBound (yup, that’s Wikus and Elmarie van der Walt and family) manage to bring all their riders home every year highlights how well they know this route after a decade of running this beast of a 24hr MTB Marathon. This is a no-nonsense event with community buy-in from all the local farmers and dorpies along the way, making for an earthy, unique and genuine feel.
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The Long W I decided to cycle in this year rather than run the gamut of trying to thread a vehicle through the field of riders, and that was a brilliant (and way safer) call. Bonus, as I got to ride my bike (albeit only from Bergplaas to beyond Langwater and back), but that gave me a taste of being inside the race, rather than an observer peeking in from the outskirts. And I can vouch that it is hard work ... my paltry 50km is less than a quarter of what the real heroes rode, and they have my utmost respect.
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Race Faces The transition back at the summit of Bergplaas resembled something from a World War 2 movie scene, with bikes and packs and bodies strewn everywhere. A few broken and battered souls had given up the ghost, and were waiting to be cassevacced to the finish, while all the never-say-dyers lined up at the food tent to down hot soup. The camaraderie was palpable.
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Stars of th
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he Show And as the heavens lit up with a million stars, the wheeled warriors continued their journey under a velvet canopy hung heavy with the Milky Way. These are just a few of many moments captured while following the TransBaviaaners through the breathtaking Baviaanskloof. If you want to experience this raw beauty for yourself, go check out www.transbaviaans.co.za ‌ And start training right about now!
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“ The Toughest Single-Stage MTB Race on the Planet! ”
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