Werner van der Merwe is a highly experienced Marathon Mountain Biker and Stage Racer. La uta, The ABSA Cape Epic, BC Bike Race, Craft Bike TransAlp… these are but a few of his past ‘holidays’. In late June he was at the infamous Beskidy Trophy. Later this year he will be in the USA racing the Breck Epic.
Relief, as I spot my bike box on the luggage carousel with no bike part sticking out. Once again I find myself at Krakow airport ready to battle the Beskidy mountains on the borders between Poland, Czech and Slovakia. The Beskidy MTB Trophy is a four day mountain bike stage race with a fair bit of climbing of 10,800m in the beautiful setting of the Beskidy mountains. The race is of a clover leaf design, and starts and ends in the town of Istebna every day making it much easier as you don’t have to stress about fitting everything into your race bag every morning. This is the fourth year I’m taking part and hopefully it will be an injury free one. In my first year I ended up with a fractured elbow and needed an operation on my hand to relieve a trapped ulnar nerve. It appears that this race is becoming more of an international affair with an annual increase of overseas riders. In 2009 I met the very experienced marathon racer Mike Blewitt from MarathonMTB.com. This year Steve Tebbitt from my local mountain bike club and some of my other South African compatriots join me.
Following an uneventful two hour drive, Steve and I found ourselves building bikes at the hotel. Turns out the drive was not that uneventful for everybody as some of the other South Africans got pulled over by the local police for a random check. It turned out the vehicle’s licence was out of date which resulted in a three hour wait next to the road for new vehicle. This somehow put a damper on their mood and they didn’t want to join in the normal pre race banter. While all of this was happening Steve and I jumped on the bikes to get the legs going again after the morning’s travels.
Day one and there was a lot of talk about the weather at breakfast. Previous years saw some really muddy days but in the end this year turned out to be one of the driest races with only a few muddy sections. This was a bonus and it meant that we didn’t have to replace drive trains afterwards.
The ‘shorter’ 62km with 2400m first stage was only to start at a more sociable 12:00 which gave us time to actually enjoy our breakfast instead of the normal wolfing it down to get ready for the days stage. The Top 100 from the previous year were gridded at the front of the race which meant that I didn’t have to fight through the 400 or so pack. While we are waiting you can see people sizing each other up by depth of cycle tan lines. Five minutes to go. A final check that I’m in the right gear and my shoes are tight. And off we go. The pace car is setting a fairly fast pace and I try to keep towards the front of the bunch, firstly to keep out of any trouble (mountain bikers are not always known for their bunch riding skills) and secondly to be ready for the selection when we hit the first climb. The race is known for some serious climbs early on in each day. Day one is always a shock to my system as living in London I’m not really used to long climbs. The first climb doesn’t disappoint and the top 10 or so guys quickly disappear up the climb. So I have the normal conversation about losing weight with myself at about this time.
With the first climb done, it is followed by a fun fast decent on rocky singletrack. I love the new Giant Anthem. Compared to the hardtail that I have been racing previously this feels like I’m floating over all the rocks and roots.
There is no time to really recover as each technical decent is followed by medium to long climbs with few flat sections inbetween. I count the climbs off – four to go, three, two, one. I catch up to a guy in a skin suit and Camelbak. This just feels wrong – this is a stage race so aerodynamics is not really going to make a big difference. I put in a little dig to pass and drop him but I should have paid more attention to the signs next to the road. After cycling around 2km along a gradual road climb my sixth sense tells me that I must be lost and I cycle on to the next road junction to confirm it. Damn, now I start blaming the guy in the skinsuit but really I can only blame myself. (Turned out Steve made exactly the same mistake but on top of it he had two punctures also.) Luckily it is a fast decent down the road again. Finally I get back to the signs I missed and now I have to pick the guys off that passed me during my 4km detour. Luckily most of them are struggling a bit now that we are towards the end of the stage and I’m able to make up a few positions.
One more serious climb and it almost feels like I’m going to burst an artery in my head. I’m a bit worried that I’ll run out of gears as I’m running a XX double crankset but luckily the 36 rear sprocket comes through for me. (I was to use it a lot over the remaining days). I can now hear the music so I must be close to the end. Then just to make sure we have to wash the bikes they take us through a really muddy section. As usual, the front wheel gets stuck in the mud, leg disappears up to calf high in mud, bit of swearing about wet shoe and then I’m over the line. Survived day one. 4 hours in the saddle, 17th overall and 5th in my category.
Day two is to start at the normal 10:00 but seeing that I am seeded in the front 30 block I decide to do a casual warm up and then head down to the start at 9:30. On my way down to the start everybody is going the opposite way along a tarred road. At this point I am trying to figure out whether the race has started. The guys around me are taking it easy – are we still on our way to the start or are these the back markers who are enjoying the stunning views? I am not able to ask anybody as we are now on a fast road descent. It turns out we were on our way to the start and the 5km cycle was actually a good warm up. Not much time for faffing around before the start. We immediately start with a short sharp climb and I can feel the previous day’s stage in my legs. I manage to drop my chain on the first climb but I manage to catch up to the second group and this is where I want to try and stick for the 87km with 3000m of climbing stage. Today consists of four main climbs and some great outback type of riding. Normal thing of trying not to loose too much time in the technical rooty sections where I seem to struggle a bit compared to the other guys. In the last 10km a group of 5 guys or so keep on catching me on the flats and descents and I then drop then on the short climbs. At 5km to go I decide I will have to attack now and try and get away on the last few short climbs. I really have to dig hard to get away and to stay away. At the 3km mark one guy catches up to me but I’m able to drop him on the last slow road drag. Bit of a crazy decent on a rocky road without touching the brakes and I’m over the line. 5 hours, 7th overall and 4th in my category. Well pleased with the results as I never thought I would be placed here.
Day three and the organisers decide that they are going to send us out on the ‘shorter’ 72km with 2800m of climbing course. This is the ‘bad weather’ course which has got a few people worried. I’m more worried about my bike as XX components are crazy expensive (this is a topic for another day). Well the day turned out to be one of the fastest and with only a bit of drizzle somewhere in the middle. Today’s main climb takes us from 650m to 1250m over a distance of around 5km. I remember this climb from previous years and I recall a really rocky section towards the end. I decide to take it at my own pace as I get dropped by five guys. Luckily I paced myself quite good as I catch and pass all but one of the guys just as we get to the top of the climb. Turns out the trail is much smoother and dryer compared to previous years. Second half of the stage heads mainly downhill with 3 big climbs to test the legs. One last short climb and then we are back into the mud section at the finish. Normal leg into mud, swearing and then over the line. 4:08 hours, 6th overall and 4th in my category. Once again I had not expected this result. Still, podium feels so close.
Day four and with 2600m of climbing over 69km and everybody is looking forward to getting this done and dusted. My aim is to take it relatively easy and ensure that I finish at least 5th in my category overall. Off we go behind the pace car. Keep to the front of the bunch. Pain on the first climb. Drop chain (again) but catch up again. There is more up and down but also a fair bit of hike a bike as the legs are just too tired to go up the one really muddy section. Then I hear the dreaded hissing sound. Don’t tell me I have a flat again on the last day! (Last year I lost a few positions on the last day when I cut the sidewall of my tyre.) A quick look down at the tyre but it seems ok. In the last 20km me and this one big (I think Polish) guy and Iswap positions constantly. He is stronger on the climbs and flats and I sit back a back as he is riding hardtail and I keep on dropping him on the descents. One more descent which will be followed my a road climb before the finish. Luckily I know the climb from previous years so I decide to attack on the descent and keep on attacking on the climb to get away and finish in 4 hours, 6th overall and 3rd in my category.
(Afterwards when washing my bike I found I had a nail in my tyre but luckily the sealant did its job and sealed the tyre. Once again it shows that it is sometimes worth running a bit more weight in order to make the make the bike more ‘issue’ proof.)
Something must have happened to the guy that lay 3rd in general classification in my category as I ended up 3rd in my category in the general classification and 5th overall in the general. As I’ve said before I was really surprised by the results. Must be that some of the top guys were away and Worlds which gave some of us normal guys a fighting chance.
This is really a hard race but you are rewarded with some beautiful scenery and great riding. Compliments to Grzegorz Golonko and his team for a great event. Check out full details and results at www.mtbtrophy.com.