Stepping inside I'm greeted by the Race Village Lead. At Vanderkloof it's the ever cheerful Debbie Streeter. She gets me to complete the Race Village Lead Sheet—rider name with time and date in/out. She knows from past experience that I'm pushing on but normally you'd be asked what your intentions are. If you're just passing through you get a meal voucher. If you're staying you get a meal voucher and are assigned a bed. I'm passing through so I just get a voucher.
As always, after signing in, my first task is to sort out my water bottles. There's some premixed sports drink on a table. I fill 2 with this and 2 with plain water. The sports drink is too diluted for my taste so I find the container of dry mix and add another scoop. While I'm at it I add a splash of coke to liven it up. There are electrolyte tablets on the table which I must take to replace losses but I don't like the taste of them when added to my water. I pop one in my mouth and do my rabid dog impression. Once it's finished foaming I flush it down with a swig of water.
The place is well signposted and I follow the arrow that holds the promise of food. I step through a doorway and am met by a room full of cheerful people who liberate my meal voucher and talk me through my food options. I settle for Malva Pudding with ice cream and wash that down with coffee. It's an odd choice for dinner after grinding out 224kms in gruelling conditions but the eyes and head want what they want and I've learnt to go with the flow.
The pudding is sugar dense and should provide adequate fuel for the ride ahead and the ice cream is happy food. Right now I need all the happy I can get. But happy is a weird thing. It's fleeting and serves no useful purpose in endurance races. If it's happy you seek then disappointment is going to be a constant companion. It's far more important to get your head into a mindful state where you focus on what you need to do to keep moving forward.
Sometimes the right thing to do to continue moving forward is to stop. I see from the sign in sheet that both Michael McDermott and Thinus have opted for a sleep at Vanderkloof. They're strong riders and have pushed hard. I'm sure they'll be up and about soon.
I'm directed to a table of padkos. They've got bread, peanut butter and jam. I know peanut butter is among the best energy sources you can get—allegedly Benky gulps it down by the spadeful. He's the lucky one. Unfortunately peanuts and me aren't friends even though I love the taste. I settle for a roll with jam. The happy people even provide a ziplock bag for my booty.
As I sit spooning happiness into my face I see John Ntuli heading back out. He's been here almost 40 mins. Seems a bit long for a race snake. Benky by way of contrast was through in 3 minutes. Marco Martins lingered for 5.
Erik Vermeulen is tucked away in the corner of the room catching up with his race admin. I don't envy him. As weary as I am I'd sooner be pedalling my bike through the night than driving endless hours along the route. Some folk might like the idea of bumping along country roads in the dark ensconced in the embrace of a double cab with Shania Twain reminding you that You're still the one. As for me I'd rather settle for the visceral experience of the wind in my face accompanied by the pop and crunch of MTB tyres on gravel.
Suitably topped up with pudding and coffee I head back to the front desk and sign out. It's 23:32. 9 minute turn around. Not Formula 1 awesome but it's respectable
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