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<\/a>Gerrit de Vries leads Gawie Combrinck through the notorious Langwater crossing, just after Check Point 3, on their way to Trans Baviaans Repeat glory. Photo by Jacques Marais.<\/span><\/p>\nCombrinck has only recently retired from elite mountain biking, but showed that he was still the pedigree rider in the 1 250-rider strong field. The former NAD Pro MTB rider, who has been spending long hours riding his gravel bike in the Low Veld this winter, put the years of mileage to great use. \u201cGawie was the only rider working for the first 100 kilometres today\u201d his partner De Vries praised. \u201cWe went it alone from Check Point 2 (at the 93 kilometre mark) and just rode tempo. Gawie worked for probably 220 kilometres, I did about 10. So, it was all Gawie today\u201d De Vries recounted. Chipping in Combrinck added, with a laugh: \u201cUnfortunately I have it on a GoPro where Gerrit rode away from me on a climb, so I won\u2019t hear the end of that\u201d.<\/p>\n
Behind the race winners the Trans Baviaans Repeat riders battled in, splatted with mud and grateful to be out of the wind. \u201cIt was just the wind which was a killer\u201d Garth Ennion, of ESA Partner, said upon sealing second position. \u201cThe temperature was actually alright.\u201d \u201cHead wind all the way, except for the last 5 kays\u201d his teammate Wesley Lentz was quick to point out. \u201cJa\u201d, agreed Ennion with a rueful smile, \u201cexcept for the railway line singletrack.\u201d<\/p>\n A little further down the field the famous Trans Baviaans team spirit came to the fore. Riding for the event\u2019s official apparel partners, Ciovita, Jaco Pelser and Raymond Cox had a longer and harder day than they had anticipated. \u201cRay had a terrible day. I had to pull him all the way\u201d Pelser said with a grin at his teammate. \u201cThe road was definitely not smoother and that headwind was brutal. I\u2019m shattered!\u201d he finished; before setting hungrily to work on the post-Repeat Spur burger, chips and a Darling Brew beer.<\/p>\n While the times were significantly slower than in the previous weekend\u2019s Race one new record was set in the Trans Baviaans Repeat. Bryan and Lauren Allot, riding as Team PowerBar 2, became the first riders to complete the event on gravel bikes. The couple are preparing for the 1 000 kilometre long Munga in December. \u201cI figure if I can do this then the Munga will be just as easy\u201d Bryan smiled a little nervously on the start line in Willowmore. \u201cThere might be no suspension, but you get rattled around anyway. The corrugations are always smoother on the other side of the road. But it\u2019s a photograph ride, we are aiming to take it easy and enjoy it.\u201d The Allot\u2019s did just that, finishing in a steady time of 17 hours, 53 minutes and 56 seconds.<\/p>\n It was arguably not the year to take on the Trans Baviaans on a gravel bike though. \u201cIt was the toughest one I\u2019ve done in the last 12 years\u201d Vickus Boshoff rated. Boshoff, who owns the Coimbra bike shop in George, has completed an event in each of those 12 years and knows a thing or two about surviving the Baviaanskloof. His and Jan-Paul Gerber experience in the event helped them to third overall, just two seconds ahead of the Pure Savage team of Waldo Zevenster and Malcolm Isaacs. Zevenster and Isaacs had by all accounts been two of the strongest riders in the field, but mechanical issues kept them off the podium.<\/p>\n Like in the first weekend\u2019s Race mechanical misfortunes played a significant role in the Repeat riders\u2019 stories. Many failed to heed the warnings about the state of the road and the pre-race rain did not help matters either. A steady drizzle fell on the final 100 kilometres, from Bergplaas to the finish, in the morning before the first riders summited the Mother of All Climbs. From Bergplaas, at 140 kilometres in, to the finish muddy roads and a thick mist made the already challenging riding conditions even harder. Each and every rider who completed the Repeat should thus be justifiably proud of their achievement.<\/p>\n<\/a>From Bergplaas at the 140km mark the route to Jeffery\u2019s Bay was muddy in places following the, much needed, rain the region experienced that morning. Photo by Jacques Marais.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>The challenging weather conditions ensured that team spirit came to the fore even more than usual during the 2019 Trans Baviaans Repeat. Photo by Jacques Marais.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Bryan and Lauren Allot became the first riders to complete the Trans Baviaans on gravel bikes when they rolled into Jeffery\u2019s Bay in the early hours of Sunday morning. Photo by Jacques Marais.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>The water crossings in the forests between the base of the Big Dipper and Check Point 5 were deeper than they had been the week before, forcing riders to get creative to keep their feet dry. Photo by Jacques Marais.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>The dense indigenous forests of Cambria, in the eastern part of the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve, feature spectacularly gnarled old trees. Photo by Jacques Marais.<\/span><\/p>\n