Kargo Magalies Adventure |

The Kargo Magalies Adventure was a race that Sean and I had set out as one of our major goals for the year as Sean had won the event last year and wanted to defend his title. As has become the norm for a stage race the racing is done in teams of two riders in the same way as something like the Epic.

The first of three stages was a 25km night stage which saw us setting off at dusk and then finishing in the dark. The racing started from the gun with the team from Trinity Cycles and us breaking clear early on in the stage. We managed to get a gap on Trinity Cycles near the top of the main climb only to be reeled in again as I started having problems with my bike lights. We rode together for the next 5km until I was struggling to keep up in the technical single track with limited lighting as the night grew darker. We came in second on the stage 30 seconds down but knew that the next day’s stage would most likely be the race decider.

Following the second placed team from Trinity Cycles

Image Credit: http://www.waterpoint.co.za

The second stage of some 75km was the queen stage of the race. With just 1200m of ascent it didn’t sound terribly hard but one should not judge a stage’s toughness on just the numbers. The course was incredibly rough and rocky and it took its toll on our bodies especially towards the end of the day. We managed to ride away early into the stage with Trinity Cycles until the first main climb which was very loose and rocky on the lower slopes and ended with steep concrete strips at the top. This is where we managed to shake off the Trinity Cycles pair. Following this we rode some awesome single track in a river bed complete with purpose built bridges and cool drop offs, it was super fun riding! I had a bit of a mechanical towards the end of the stage with a broken chain but we fixed it quickly and had a good cushion on the second team to take the stage by almost 9 minutes.

With a nice cushion over the second placed team of Trinity Cycles going into the third day we still wanted to win the stage and it was a mountain bike race after all so anything could happen. A steep rocky loose climb 10km into the stage allowed us to get a gap on Trinity Cycles again and from here we rode a good tempo until 10km from the finish where we hit the fun single track at Van Gaalens Cheese farm. Sean and I tapped off here and enjoyed the single track keeping a check that Trinity Cycles weren’t going to catch us. It was awesome to take another stage win and to have Darryl and Paul from Cube Bikes at the finish too.