As I write our luxury coach claws it’s way past the 18 wheeler we have been stuck behind for the last half and hour or so. The roads here in rural KwaZulu Natal are sinuous in both the vertical and horizontal plane making for conditions blind rises and corners, so overtaking is tricky at the best of times but for these mega-vehicles it’s even more so. So the two and a half hour – by car – journey is going to take a good three and a half hours. I wonder again why I am here after deciding to not again participate in the Sani2C mountain bike race due to the challenging logistics. But hey, it’s an air conditioned luxury bus this time. Which beats the 5 hour journey in a clapped ou school bus I enjoyed last time! And we’ll arrive just after lunch. Not in the dark. So perhaps….

Anyway, it seemed like a good idea 6 months ago when Jayson asked if I would consider partnering with a friend of his from Sydney who was keen to cross the globe and experience this highly rated race. So yes, of course. Would love to! Fast forward to last night, trying to pack while fielding various work crises, a home work project crisis, a bathroom renovation project crisis and a mid-life crisis. Fortunately though I have a marvelous and understanding wife who helped me find the stuff I had had in my hands only moments before, tend to the kids stuff (most of it at least) and help close a race bag that was being alarmingly difficult about the matter. 

And that’s not the only reason I can be grateful for her understanding. I had of course discussed the opportunity and received the requisite bike visa for the race before accepting. It was then about 3 months later that Laura discovered that Larry was actually Larri. As in – a girl. It was a small detail that I may have (completely inadvertently) omitted to highlight in the negotiation process!

As it turns out, it isn’t the first time I’ve ridden in a mixed pair (boy/girl). Laura obviously has confidence in my fidelity. Or she thinks I have the attractiveness of a Fiat Multipla and the pulling power of an Uno! (And yes, I have been reading  Jeremy Clarkson recently. No tut tutting in the back row please. He’s been fired. We must get over it!)

Not a stud car
  

So what lies in store over the next three days Three days of mountain biking nirvana, that’s what!

The Sani, as its generally referred to, is extremely highly rated for its mountain bikey-ness, with long sections of not just singletrack, but dual singletrack,  smooth ground, floating bridges and fabulous scenery. And it’s generally downhill to the sea!  Such is it’s popularity that Farmer Glen hosts not one, but three events in succession. The Ride, The Adventure and The Race – all in all about 2100 teams! That’s 4200 riders who make the pilgrimage to enjoy the tracks that have been crafted to link Undeberg at the foot of the Sani Pass with Scottburgh on the coast. Sani2C. Geddit?

Google’s more or less guess at the route shows some scale  

The slightly revised route is a bit more balanced nowadays with similar daily distances (80km, 90km, 80km) and starts on Glencairn farm rather than in Underberg. So it’s even closer to the Sani Pass. Glencairn farm was recently acquired by Farmer Glen which is what farmers do I guess. Although this “farm” seems pretty dedicated to hosting the start of the race. The facilities were sorted out just in time bit seem to be really good. 

Arriving, the meeting and the briefing 
So I knew Larri was a girl but I met her for the first time at the race registration.  So far so good as they say! She rides a lot. A lot more than I do – nothing like Strava to put ones efforts into perspective. But hopefully we will be more or less evenly matched. 

Right now though it is far too cold to keep my hands out the sleeping bag and typing. As the sun dipped – rather early in these parts of course – the temperature began to descend like Jayson on a downhill. It’s predicted for 3 degrees overnight but it feels that it’s approaching that already – at 8.30pm. So more about Larri and GottaRide tomorrow.