I got the call a few weeks ago and now “D-Day” has arrived and The Imana MTB Race on South Africa’s Wild Coast. I have been told many things about the event and what to be wary or beware of, whatever way you want to put it! The Wild Coast is South Africa’s description of ‘Real Africa’ in South Africa. I arrived here on Saturday with friends and so far it’s stunning, plus plenty of laughs. Friends Paul and his girlfriend Mona are riding together (this event is a partnership like The Cape Epic), Wynand is riding with Frederick, while I am riding with Specialized Athlete and the upcoming XTerra South African sensation Dan Hugo.

So some facts first. There’s a ten-year waiting list to get into this event and with only 140 starters it’s exclusive (don’t ask me how the Irishman got in)! I have been for the past two days at the start of the Wild Coast in a place called Cintsa, which is about 100km eat along the coast from East London. It’s truly amazing. So far I have seen Wild Pigs and while riding on the beach each day, have had school of dolphins swimming parallel to me, surfing the waves. It was class!

I have done literally no background research on the event itself, so since Saturday, have been trying to do some recon. Unlike most events where the route is marked, this event features a start-line and a finish and apart from that you must make your own way. Dan placed second last year. Apparently, they had the legs to win, but the local team who knew all the short cuts were a step ahead. My guess is this year, we will follow other local teams quite a bit, if as Dan correctly puts it, we have the firepower. I am definitely the weak cog, so time will tell on if I can rekindle some of that muscle memory from those tri days.

So here’s some of the low down. There are many full depth river crossings etc, but three where we must get into a boat! Why ….. so one of the rivers has some freshwater crocodiles and the other two are infested with sharks! No joke! We also must cross a nature reserve full of Rhino’s … Christ! Most of the race is on the beach and takes places all along the coast, so I have mounted 2.4 tires and intend to run a low pressure of 25 PSI, which should give great traction. I have tested this in the sand over the past two days and it’s definitely a big big help.

The race itself takes place over four days. The stages aren’t very long in terms of km’s, but possibly long time wise given what we have to endure. Honestly, I have never been as excited about an event. Last night we hit the bar so there’s a few sore heads this morning, but we are having serious fun and I am looking forward to a lekker ride as they say here in South Africa. I will keep you posted on events as they unfold.