Sus the Imana Wild Ride
Report by: Diana Carolin – @di_carolin
Dates: 1 – 6 August 2015
Where: Eastern Cape Wild Coast
Race Website: www.imanawildride.co.za
Imana Wild Ride is a legendary event that has been going for almost two decades! There is no marked route so it is an event won by knowledge of the area. It’s a ‘Wild Ride’ in the truest sense – there is no mechanical support or massages at the end of each day and no water tables except for one on the last day. This is mountain biking in its purest form and it’s super tough!
This is my first experience of the Imana Wild Ride:
Day one
There was a 06:00 wake-up to get bags packed and on the truck before 06:30, then breakfast and lots of advice from the guys who had done the race before. But apparently you mustn’t believe anything anyone says because part of the fun is to keep your ‘sneaks’ (secret routes) to yourself and watch the newbies pay their school fees. And pay our school fees we did. My partner for the race was the legendary Doug Brown so I knew it was going to be pain cave all the way!
After a short ride to the Kei mouth ferry and a lift across the river to the start, we all departed at 08:30 sharp, straight up the first of many steep climbs. About 6kms into the race we took a wrong turn while following some guys who apparently knew the route… we all ended up adventuring through thick bushes, over fences and up the wrong roads but eventually got back onto the beach and on track again. I chose to ride a Niner Air 9 hard tail with a Lauf fork as it was lighter than my dual sus and easier to carry (there’s a lot of that). It also has fewer parts that can be damaged by sea water. You spend a lot of time in the water!
Doug was a hard task master, constantly pushing me to go faster! On we raced along beaches riding where we could and running where we couldn’t. Clambering over rocks and slogging up grassy climbs and along trails covered in mole hills. It was back-breaking to say the least. I was getting a serious initiation into what this race entailed! I fell about 4 times, once in the thickest, darkest, stickiest mud I have ever experienced and nearly dislocated my thumb. As we rode along yet another beach we finally saw the sign for Kob Inn, the finishing point for the day. Never have I been happier to see a finish line. After 3 hours 8 minutes deeply embedded in the pain cave, I collapsed in a heap on the grass, a broken woman. I was beginning to wonder if I would make it through the next three days…
We were all handed a bead bracelet and then sent off to our allocated rooms. It turned out that I was sharing with one of my rivals in the mixed category. We got on like a house on fire and were roomies for the rest of the race.
It was time to rest and recuperate, and to tend to my poor bike for Day 2.
At 06:30 it was dinner and the race briefing. At the end of a gruelling day we were rewarded with the most exquisite moon rise. We were truly sitting in a little slice of heaven.
Day 2
Day 2 dawned and we had a bit of a delay after breakfast, waiting for low tide. One of the guys went and got some oysters straight off the rocks right in front of the rooms. We all sat on the grass, soaked up the surroundings and chatted about the Lauf forks to people as they had noticed that we were using something a little different than what they were used to.
We started in the first bunch and all shot off up a grassy hill. After a really bumpy section over the grass and mole hills we got to the beach and Doug said “grab my pocket”. As we took off down the beach we passed the mixed team in second. They had started before us but had taken a wrong turning early on. It seemed a slightly easier day as we had lots of open beaches to ride along, I had a pocket to hang onto for dear life, and the scenery was so beautiful and lush. We had quite a hike up a super steep grassy hill called Mother1 which was really challenging, and a deep river crossing which was a little nerve wracking when I couldn’t feel the bottom for a while, but it all added to the adventure of the Imana. Doug pushed me to my limit and beyond, to try to close the gap between us and the leading team. After climbing over a sand dune which just about wrung out the last bit of energy I had for the day, we had a long stretch of beach ahead of us that seemed never ending. Eventually we saw a team turn right ahead of us and into some trees. Then there was another steep climb up a sandy track and onto the grass where the finish flags were at the Haven Hotel. Once again I collapsed in exhaustion at the finish and lay in the warm sun while everyone chatted about their ride. We had managed to come in second mixed, 7th overall. A better day!
That evening at dinner we were introduced to a German lady who had started a school for disabled women nearby and she gave us a presentation on what she had achieved. It was so heart warming to hear of the difference that one woman and her husband could make.Everyone gave very generously to their cause. I was beginning to realise that this was more than just a race; it was a community of riders with a love of the area through which we raced and a desire to improve the welfare of the less privileged.
Day 3
Day three began at the Haven Hotel. It was promising to be another warm day. The horses came to visit and see us off. We all had time to warm up a bit as we had a late start again, waiting for the tides. This day promised to be challenging as there were some more ‘mother’ climbs, tricky descents and the ‘Col de Coffee Bay’ at the last part of the day to contend with.
I was beginning to get used to the hard tail and the Lauf fork was performing well on the terrain. But on the first hill I soon discovered that I didn’t have my easiest gear, for some reason it just wouldn’t change up. Then, on the descent, my back breaks started to go due to the wear and tear of the sand and mud from the previous days. So a large portion of the day was spent with 9 gears and no back brakes! Thanks to no brakes I went hurtling straight into a fenced off area that we’d been warned to stay out of and had to make a hasty exit as I was yelled at to “voetsak” by a very angry local lady. The young kids yelled “strong mother!” at me as I rode by – a boost to get up the next climb. At one stage I asked Doug to stop for a moment as I was absolutely exhausted. He looked at me in horror and said “Stop? Give me your bike and walk while you recover!” He then proceeded to walk up the steep grassy hill with both bikes until I felt better. After another particularly steep descent we arrived at the Hole in the Wall and I was briefly allowed to take it in before being hustled onward and upward. Once again Doug the machine got me through the day; he motivated me and pulled me up the hot and steep district road climbs that were the ‘Col de Coffee Bay’. After a short detour in the wrong direction near the finish at Ocean View in Coffee Bay, we slogged our way into 5th place overall.
I sat on the beach with some ladies making bead bracelets while they made me a collar for Guru (my dog) and they chatted to me in their broken English. They found it funny that I was cycling so far along the coast and if they’d had their way, they would have sold me all their beadwork.
That evening was spent fixing brakes and gears and swopping leg massages with my roomie. Then it was dinner and fines. Each evening stories were told about the adventures of the day and this evening people were fined to raise money for the Wild Ride Education Company, the charity Imana Wild Ride works hard for. They build classrooms for kids in the areas along the race route and have built 28 classrooms in 16 years, thanks to the generosity of the riders that have taken part.
Day 4
It was the last day and the longest. We were lying 6th in the GC so set off on our own 2 minutes after the team ahead, straight up a pretty steep, technical climb. The plan was to catch the team ahead of us and stick with them. They were always just out of reach and then when we took a wrong turn we lost them completely. Now it was a case of hunt the tracks which is not easy when you get off the beaches. Once again, we got a bit lost around the huts and eventually as we found the way two other teams caught us. So we decided to stick with them. We then parted with the one team as they were slower than us on the climbs, and set off along a district road only to find them just ahead on a climb – they had found a sneak!
Fortunately my 42 gear was working again because we climbed some seriously steep hills. Then it was back onto a district road again and off we went… alone. I saw another team behind us and suggested we wait and see where they were going, but they just followed us. We joined up as we now had no clue where we were and they had done the race before… – that was fatal. We ended up riding 7kms uphill in the wrong direction until a guy on a bakkie very kindly stopped us and said we needed to turn and go left about 6 or 7kms back. By the time we got to the last river crossing the man on the boat ferrying the riders across the river said I was the third lady. We had lost serious time with our 14km detour! We went along the beach as fast as we could until we saw the finish flags. The sand was so soft over the hill to the finish that I had to get off and run. Doug’s stronger legs managed to get him over the hill. Exhausted, we reached the finish and rang the bell signalling the end of our race. There, ahead of us, was the team in third. Deep in the pain cave right to the bitter end! Fortunately we had enough of a time buffer to keep our 2nd place. Not too shabby for a couple of newbies who had no local knowledge and not a clue about how physically challenging it was going to be.
Doug was a brilliant partner, pushing me beyond my limit each day, making me dig deeper than I ever knew I could while all the time being encouraging and teaching me so much. Well done to Lindsay and Bjorn on a well deserved win in the mixed, and to Craig Woods and Nic Lamond who never ceased to entertain in their battle for first, though they did lose out on the last day to Warren Price and Trevor Rowe! In fact, congratulations to everyone who was there, it was not an easy four days.
This really was a race like no other. The generosity, warmth, camaraderie and kindness that each and every rider and the organisers showed during the four days of the Imana was so heart-warming. I can understand why people keep coming back to this event year after year. I am totally hooked and hope to be back next year. Thank you to the organisers of Imana Wild Ride for such a wonderful experience.
[author image=”https://fullsus.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Dis-Profile-Pic-jpg.jpg” ]Diana Carolin is a regular and loyal contributor to Full Sus, providing everything from race reports to articles on sports massage therapy, but now we’ve focused her talents on everything related to women’s mountain biking. If you would like to get in touch with her, send her an email on dicarolin7@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter at @di_carolin.[/author]
