Totalsports Challenge Kleinmond 2008

I am currently preparing for the Totalsports Challenge Kleinmond on the 12th of January which starts in Gordan’s Bay and finished further along the coast in Kleinmond. Its where the Totalsports Challenge started 7years back, and is geographically a perfect location for the 7 discipline multisport event.

There’s hardly an excuse to not be a part of the event, as the 7 disciplines can be done individually, shared in a pair, done in a triple, or raced in a seven man team. The pairs and triples have to do the final leg, the 9km beach run together, but have the freedom to pick which three of two legs each member is two do respectively. Finish times range from 5h30 for the fastest seven man teams, to 11hours for the slower solo attempts.

The event is set apart in my mind for its uniqueness in attracting the various sporting communities to one event. There’ll be surfki’ers, swimmers, bikers, pure runners, triathletes, adventure racers, etc, all a part of the event in some way. The vibe is always great, even if the weather turns upside down like earlier this year. Its also fantastic having to move from transition to transition, with a different atmosphere at each.

I have quite a few friends who have been getting set for the event, some for a solo attempt, some in a pair, some in a triple, but all excited for the event which has etched out its rightful place on the calender. Its probably the event I look forward to most. Guessing it could be too as consequence to me getting the best deal - I get to see all the views, play with all the toys, and generally get to go slower with the excuse of doing all the disciplines…

Last year there were some cracker finishes, witht he seven man teams fighting it out on the final beach run. The first three triple men’s teams were spread across the line by less than two minutes. And this year will be equal to the excitement I reckon. I know of two seven man team managers who have both assured me they cant loose.

One team seven challenges:

1. Surfski - 12 km Gordon’s Bay
2. Swim - 1.5km Gordon’s Bay
3. Road Bike - 50km Gordon’s Bay to Kleinmond
4. Road Run - 13km From Kleinmond to Arabella
5. K1 Canoe - 13km From Arabella Jetty towards the bird sanctuary and back
6. Mountain bike - 25km From Arabella up the Highland Road, finished in Kleinmond
7. Beach Run - 9km From Kleinmond out towards Meer-en-See and back to Kleinmond main beach

The day starts at 6am in Gordan’s Bay, a half hour’s drive from Cape Town along the South Coast, with a 12km two lap surfski leg.

(The Surfski route out along the coast)

(Let the games begin…)

It’ll be a 6h30 day for me, so it’ll be critical to take it out conservatively. But the nature of the races is such that a harder surfski and swim may give you a good pack to ride in on the road bike. So a tricky judgement call. I’ll see how I’m feeling on the day really. I plan to paddle with the bottom half of my wetsuit on, so as to quickly slip the top half on for the swim straight after.

(Water’s arent always as calm as in Jan 2007)

The swim is 1.5km and two laps as well for some spectator value. it becomes quite a bustle with boats coming in and swimmers going out.

(A swimmer tagged and heading into the water)

(The swim route)

The road bike leg is stunning and rolls out along the coast from Gordan’s Bay toward Kleinmond. Its hilly first half, but the bits of elevation make for breathtaking views of False Bay.

(One of the smaller climbs)

(Road bike to road run transition chaos)

The road run is straight and flat. 13km. Guess the more dreaded leg for me personally, but some work has to be done somewhere in the day. The run takes the race to the border of the well known Arabella Golf Estate, to a fresh water estuary for the start of the K1 paddle leg.

(Road run route)

The K1 leg is for me the last chance to sponge off some team member, as the mountain bike and beach run after aren’t draft optionals really. I was fortunate to get onto a 7man mixed teams wave last year, and got towed most the way before an amateur judgement error cost me some time. I went out without a spray deck cover, thinking the wind was tame enough. But she turned on us, and waves starting breaking in over the cockpit. It made for carnage on the water, but I was thankfully off before the severe side of it hit.

(A lone paddler heads for shore)

(Paddle leg route - one lap)

The mountain bike leg goes through the Koegelberg Nature Reserve and heads back towards Kleinmond. Its a mere 25km, but a hard ask even for those just doing the mtb leg. Loose terrain and some punishing climbs test tired legs of those who’ve been going since the gun.

 The mtb to beach run transition is right alongside the finish area, so the atmosphere is vibrant and energising after a lonely ride through the mountains. Its not long after this momentary euphoria that the long quiet beach awaits. But the beach run is out and back, which makes for great camaraderie, seeing pairs, triples, seven man team runners, coming past or heading home from the front.

(A mountain bike to beach run change over)

(Beach run route)

(Finish area - the bridge leads onto the beach)

The beach run seems best done barefoot. Those heading out with shoes generally come back with them in their hands. Its a tormenting run, with ones mind plaguing you whether to run on the firmer more sloped wet section, which is a longer route with many small curves, or take the softer sand in a straighter line. Both hurt too much.

(Kent Horner and Dawid Mocke winning the pairs race)

Finishing is bitter sweet. Whether in a team, or solo. I hope you’re intrigued by the event, and will either join in some way on the 12th, or in the years to come…

(Training partner Dylan van der Merwe finished 3rd individual in Jan 07)

I had some time off after the Jailbreak event, and feeling a little sluggish at the moment, but emotionally and psychologically revived. I havent been in the boat much since Triple Challenge either and enjoyed getting back into the boat this week. Swimming compliments paddling very well, and its easy to bounce in the boat when in some swim form. It’ll just be some longer base work leading into the event - hoping it’ll be sufficient. Either way, really looking forward to the race. My old man is also going to race the individual event. And I hope for my sake and the other youngsters fools racing solo that we can build a buffer for the second half of the race over him, as he’ll probably be getting stronger and stronger form leg to leg.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Dylan van der Merwe, Google Earth, Multisport, News, Totalsports Challenge, Totalsports Challenge Kleinmond, Totalsports Challenge Kleinmond 2008, Totalsports Challenge Sun City. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.