Lord of the Chain Rings, 17-19 November

Hogsback is a little village in the Eastern Cape which hosts the Lord of the Chain Rings MTB Stage race each November. From the Wine2Whales stage race in Cape Town we travelled via Knysna to reach the little hamlet of Hogsback on Wednesday afternoon. As we drove into the town, it felt like discovering a secret place. The village was situated in pristine forestry and had a mystical atmosphere hanging in the air.

The first day we woke up completely surrounded by a thick mist. The race started at 7:30am and upon leaving the start line the heavens opened up. This combined with the early hours mist, caused the trails to be wet, muddy and very slippery. The route was laid out on mostly single and jeep track winding through thick forests.

Caitlin and I decided to start at a fairly fast tempo in an attempt to gain time on our rivals before heading into the single track. This plan worked well for us as we established a good lead on the next ladies team early on. From half way we settled into a steady rhythm intent on maintaining our lead. Our strategy was successful and we managed to win the first stage.

Day two was the longest stage (78km) and also included climbing up to a high spot of 1800m above sea level. Although it was the hardest day, everyone was smiling as we woke up to a beautiful morning with clear skies.

Caitlin and I went into the stage with a buffer of 18min over our main rivals, Team Merrell (triathlete Andrea van Holt and Hilana Marais). Therefore we decided to start a bit easier than the previous day and ended up alongside Team Merrell in the early stages. We stayed together until the first big climb around 20km. The climb required a big effort and lots of concentration as it was very steep on a narrow loose rocky single track.

Here Caitlin and I managed to get away from team Merrell. With knowing we had a proper lead on them we didn’t need to push too hard and just kept our steady comfortable pace to the finish, gaining another few minutes over them by the stage finish. With the weather being more kind to us we were able to take in the beautiful surrounds of Hogsback. When the rain finally fell, it was only 5km from the finish which made it much more bearable.

Weather-wise, day three turned out to be the best with a great route to match. This gave us the opportunity to once again appreciate the beautiful views offered by Hogsback.

Over the last two days Caitlin and I established a lead of 33 min on our nearest rivals. This meant our main goal for stage 3 would be to make sure that team Merrell didn’t take any time back on us.

The final stage was surely a highlight for both of us as it was Caitlin’s last day racing her bike as a professional athlete and I was the fortunate one to share this with her. Next year she will be heading in a new direction and attending a flight school in George. She ‘ended’ her career in style with a third stage win and an overall victory in one of her favourite races.

The organisers put together a great, well organised event providing some of the best trails, lovely accommodation and amazing meals in a superb package. I really liked Hogsback with its enchanting forests and mystical feel and look forward to returning to this quaint village soon.