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 The Swaziland Imvelo MTB
Classis took place this past weekend at Mlilwane
Wildlife Sanctuary, just past Mbabane, in Swaziland.
I decided to ride the
64km longer route, there were also a 35km and 22km
races.
The best route to drive
to Mlilwane is the N4 towards Nelspruit. Then take the
Carolina turn-off just before Belfast, through
Carolina and turn left onto N17 towards the Oshoek
Border Post. I arrived at the border post on Friday
afternoon about 14:00 and it took me about 20 minutes
al that was necessary. This included paying a R50 Road
Tax. No visum is required.
Once in Swaziland you
drive on a relatively new highway towards Mbabane.
However, the highway is still under construction near
Mbabane and thus the road through the city is slow and
congested. Once past Mbabane, you once again climb on
the highway towards Mlilwane. Total distance = 370km
(from Centurion)
I arrived at Sondzela
Backpackers Lodge and booked into one of their 3
sleeper huts. It cost me (single) R160 for the night.
Dinner was served at 18:30 for R30 and breakfast at
6:30 for R20. The view from my hut was awesome,
overlooking the valley below and I was able to see the
sunset behind the mountains. Remember, the sun set
quite early here in winter time, around 16:45.
 The 3 American girls, 1
Kiwi and 1 guy from Holland that stayed over at the
lodge provided some interesting conversations, a
welcome relieve from the normal MTB chatter the night
before a race. Most of the MTB’ers stayed over the
Main Rest Camp.
It started raining at
about 19:00 that evening, which seemed like a light
drizzle from inside, but the following morning
everything was wet and muddy. And if you have mud
tires, don’t be too lazy to put them on (as I did!)
the clay can really pack up your tires and just made
the race so much tougher.
Luckily it was not too
cold at the start of the race, and no rain during the
race.
The race started quite
fast, with the 1st 20km being relatively flat. But
don’t underestimate this perceived flatness; there is
quite a few nasty short up hills and no time to catch
your breath. There is some nice flowing single track
in the 20 km.
Before the 64 km routes
split from the 22km and 35km route, you will go down
some very steep and tight switch backs (also remember
it was wet and muddy and very slippery) into deeply
eroded ditch, just wide enough for one bike to ride
some flowing single track, then do some rock/boulder
hopping and then some wall climbing to get out of
there.
 Then
you start with 1st big climb that starts out gradually
to become steeper and ends with an extremely steep
single track climb. Thereafter you head DH with some
fast, off camber, grassy single track down some hectic
bits. After that you will have no chance to rest
before you start with the next big climb where the
King of the Mountain is decided. This starts just
after big water crossing. It is one strait up jeep
track/forest road that was very slippery and muddy.
Then you head DH again down some awesome steep and
hectic single track with couple of switchbacks and
steep drops down to next big water crossing. Then some
portage up to next fire road.
 After that you will
have your 1st time to catch your breath on one of the
few flat sections of the race. But this only leads to
the biggest climb of the day. Fortunately, this climb
is done on smooth forest roads and felt easier than
the other two climbs. Then some extremely fast DH with
a good mixture of forest roads (with some blind
corners) and some very nice flowing single track
sections.
Next to the river you
will meet up with the riders from the other two
routes. Some more awesome single track just before the
river crossing. A little bit more climbing after this,
just to split again from other routes to start with
The Scorpion for the last 15-18km! That thing killed
me with some nasty steep up hills. Then head down back
to river just to gradually climb back to plateau and
to head back home for the finish!
The 64km race was
eventually 67 km long with a total ascent of 1600 m,
of which 1300 m is done in the last 45 km!
The weather stayed
overcast and cool (not too cold) during the entire
race, with no rain.
All in all, some
awesome single track that will really test your skill,
especially when it’s wet and muddy. Then some very
steep climbing, and lots of it, and some flat sections
that give you no resting time. But the best of all
must be the awesome scenery and views. (With all my
walking and resting I had lots of time to admire it!)
Don’t know about you,
but I‘ve already booked this date for next year.
Total Ascent : 1600 m
Total Distance: 66.9k
Total Ascent in last 44.4k's = 1307m
www.imvelo.co.sz |
