{"id":12812,"date":"2022-11-15T06:19:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T06:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2022\/11\/15\/bike-check-kevin-benkensteins-curve-karoo-prototype-r8503\/"},"modified":"2024-05-05T13:47:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-05T11:47:25","slug":"bike-check-kevin-benkensteins-curve-karoo-prototype-r8503","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/bike-check-kevin-benkensteins-curve-karoo-prototype-r8503\/","title":{"rendered":"Bike Check: Kevin Benkenstein’s Curve Karoo Prototype"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWe followed the dots at the inaugural Rhino Run<\/a>, and after seven days the race between Abdullah Zeinab and Kevin Benkenstein came down to the wire.\u00a0Abdullah finished the brutal 2,741 km course across South Africa and remote Namibia in 7 days 20 hours and 4 minutes. Kevin finished just 17 minutes later.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tUltra-endurance racing is a novelty to us, so we asked Kevin a bunch of questions to get an idea of what goes into completing a race like this. We also took a closer look at the setup of his Curve Karoo prototype.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"RhinoRunDSC08229-Focus.jpg\"Image by Rae Trew-Browne<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHow do you charge your devices?\u00a0<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI use a Dynamo hub, which creates electricity as you ride. In the day this allows you to charge devices, a portable charger and cell phone in my case, and at night it powers a dedicated front light. I did use wall plugs once or twice but more for convenience than necessity.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you carry clean bibs?\u00a0<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNo. I wore one set (Privateer ONE bibs) the whole way. I did wash them at the last sleep stop with 470km to go, they were fine still but I stank and needed some extra morale <\/span><\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you stop to shower?\u00a0<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI showered whenever one was available. I used to think not showering was hardcore or something but jeez it makes you feel better. I probably showered every 2nd day on average, it just makes you feel so much more human.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhere do you sleep?\u00a0<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThere were loads of towns, so I booked a room whenever I could. I would phone ahead when I left the previous town. Sometimes that would mean being let in by a security guard at midnight, but all the accommodations were very helpful. It wastes a bit of time getting checked in and so on but 3 hours in a bed has to be better than 3 hours on the roadside in a sleeping bag! When I did sleep out it was just in the sleeping bag alongside the road.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\"RhinoRunDSC08287-Focus.jpg\"\n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\"RhinoRunDSC08399-Focus.jpg\"\n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\"RhinoRunDSC08162-Focus.jpg\"Riders have to contend with extreme temperature variations making equipment and clothing choices critical. Images by Rae Trew-Browne<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHow much does what you carry weigh?<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tExcluding food and water, it is about 7 to 8kg. I carried too much warm stuff and the sleeping bag could have been a lightweight bivvy bag instead. At max, you can add 2kg of food and 12 litres of water to that. So the maximum bike and \u2018stuff\u2019 weight was 25-27kg, I guess.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat keeps you coming back?<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI really really like racing people perceived to be better than me. I am also quite driven to improve as a racer and you can only do that if you compete and push yourself outside of what is comfortable.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was the best choice you made with regard to setup?<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNo individual item really, but I think riding a setup I was used to and comfortable on was a good call as I felt super confident in my equipment, which is important I think.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIf you could go back and do it again, is there anything you would do differently on your setup?<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tI would just take fewer clothing items, but that\u2019s really weather related which is hard to gauge perfectly before the race.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat did you carry with you?<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBags \/ Storage:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n