Everyone knows that Jeannie Dreyer is a tough endurance athlete. Many know that she holds the women’s record for the Freedom Challenge, a 2300km mountain bike race from Pietermaritzburg to Paarl – in the middle of winter… Plenty are aware that she finished second overall at the recent edition of The Munga and smashed the women’s record in the process. Here are 11 lessons we can all learn from mountain biking’s Iron Maiden…
By Sean Badenhorst
Photos: Erik Vermeulen
Dreyer led The Munga, a 1084km mountain bike race from Bloemfontein to Paarl, overall on her own at times and spent most of the last half co-leading with eventual winner, Heinrich Visser. In the end, she crossed the finish line just 13 minutes behind Visser There was widespread marvel at her achievement. She made most men feel inadequate and most women feel proud.
Dreyer is married to Martin Dreyer, seven-time winner of the Dusi Canoe Marathon and one of South Africa’s most successful ultra-endurance athletes, including overall record holder of the Freedom Challenge.
As a couple, the Dreyers raced the 2015 edition of the Colorado Trail Race, a self-supported, self-navigated 900km race in the Rocky Mountains.
The accumulated elevation gain was 25 000 metres (The Cape Epic is around 15000m) and the average elevation was 3350 metres above sea level, with peaks at over 4200 metres. They finished in 5 days 15 hours 36 minutes, which is a women’s record. During our interview, Jeannie said this arduous race definitely prepared her well for The Munga.
“It was totally unsupported with very high levels of discomfort, especially at that high altitude. By comparison, The Munga has plenty of food and drink at the Race Villages. It’s almost a luxury to have that by comparison,” said the 36-year-old mother of two.
Because The Munga is closer to home than Colorado, we can all relate better to Dreyer’s impressive feat there. Here are 10 lessons we can all learn from what she achieved and how she achieved it.
1. Don’t over train
“I began training for The Munga in August, just after Transbaviaans, so I had about three months to prepare. But I ended up doing far less than I thought was necessary.
I knew of others that were doing huge mileage. But I’m first a mom and then a bike rider and my two kids (Callum, 6) and (Ruby, 4) really keep me busy. When my husband, Martin, is at home, he obviously helps with the kids, but the four weekends in succession before The Munga he was away with work, which really made it hard to focus on Munga training. So when I stood on the start line of The Munga in Bloemfontein, I really didn’t think I’d done enough training. Turns out I had…”
2. Don’t over think
I don’t over think things. I just don’t seem to have time to think much about my racing. My main thing is being a mom and looking after the kids. So when I train or race, I go by feel. No heart-rate monitor, no power meter. I’ve been asked what tyres I was riding with at The Munga and I actually didn’t know. I think it was a Continental Race King on the front [It was a Continental X-King – Ed]. I just knew I needed to be comfortable for that distance so my Cannondale Scalpel’s set-up was slightly less aggressive than it would be for short races. So I knew I wanted to be as comfortable as possible, but I really didn’t think too much about small details.
3. Focus on the positives
Racing over a thousand kays in one go is hard, for sure, but if you let it get to you, it will. It was blisteringly hot from the start! I think a lot of riders let it bother them. Sure, it was hot, but it was the same for all of us and we had a headwind that cooled us down. If we didn’t have a headwind, it would have felt hotter. I just focussed on the positive of having that (very slightly) cooling headwind.
I also broke the race down and focussed on each segment at a time and appreciated the beauty of the route. It was proper mountain bike route with some rough sections where you really had to be mindful of your line choices. The Karoo was amazing. Just beautiful. It was really a wonderful three days of me-time. Getting to ride my bike for three days is bliss for me. I give 150% to my kids. It’s all about the kids, but as all mothers know, to have that time out is like a holiday.
4. Don’t be afraid to seek assistance from others
When I got to the first water point I was leading overall. I stopped for a while and filled my bottles. I thought the guys I’d been riding with earlier would catch me there. I could see them in the distance, but decided to just start pedalling and they’d reel me in soon enough. But they didn’t. For about 100km I was on my own. One of my biggest fears was running out of water, so I kept stopping to top up my four bottles, often at reservoirs near the road. By the third water top-up stop, Sthembiso (Masango) passed me. Then a few more guys passed me. At that Race Village I refuelled and then went into the night on my own. It was nice, I had no pressure, but I got lost after an hour. I got back on track and then a few guys caught me, so I rode near them. I made sure from there that I could always see someone ahead of me. I would never let them get too far ahead. I didn’t’ want to risk getting lost again.
5. Stay focussed on the race
I was always mindful of the fact that this was a race and that those that kept moving were getting to the finish faster than those that weren’t. But you had to also remember that it’s a long race and you have to have some sleep and food and liquids. I had a short sleep around mid-morning on the second day. When I left, I was in second place, as the others that had stopped seemed to sleep for longer than me. But Vaughn Roux, who was leading, didn’t sleep at all and ended up withdrawing at halfway. You always feel like you need more sleep, but if you have intentions of doing well in the race you can’t sleep too much! I slept a total of five hours.
6. Focus on what you know you can do and do that
The unknowns in a race like The Munga can really overwhelm you, especially as a novice. But I focussed on what I knew I could do. I had done a very tough adventure race (Expedition Africa) in 3.5 days earlier this year with very little sleep. I knew that it was possible to do something similar at The Munga and that gave me confidence. Often athletic barriers exist in our heads and when we surpass those, we extend those barriers. My mental barrier was 3.5 days with very little sleep and I finished The Munga within that (Jeannie clocked 2 days 23 hours 14 minutes).
7. Be smart
Although The Munga is a long race, which requires a steady pace, there was a time when I really had to ride hard for a while. From Sutherland to the Tankwa was a bit of a rush. I was riding with Heinrich there. Well, when I say ‘with’, you are not allowed to slipstream in this race, so we were always riding near each other. There was always an official vehicle nearby keeping an eye on our distance from each other. But you can still benefit by having another rider nearby, even if you don’t talk much (as was the case with Heinrich and I). We both knew that it would be tough to do the Osseberg descent into the Tankwa at night, so we left Sutherland at 16h45 and rode hard to reach the descent at sunset.
I thought we’d be descending into a cooler area, but it turned out the Tankwa was even hotter. Fortunately we did that whole Tankwa section at night! Looking back, that was a smart move and worth the hard effort from Sutherland to the pass.
8. Be prepared
I mentioned already that I had four bottles and I made sure that they were all full. I feared running out of fluids and I never did. I drank water and a mixture of USN Hydrator Fizz (electrolytes) and USN Pro Enduro (carbs and proteins). Over 1000km in one go is far. I hadn’t done that before so the unknown factor there scared me a bit. I wasn’t sure if I could handle the discomfort that I knew would come with backside chaffing and possible sore hands. It took six months after Freedom Challenge to get full feeling back in my hands.
I never really found the perfect saddle while training for The Munga. 
During the last few months I have been using an ISM saddle, which is cut out at the front. Three days before The Munga I changed to the ISM Breakaway, which is what a lot of triathletes use and you can move forward or back on it if you need to.
It’s never a good idea to change equipment so close to a race, especially your saddle, but I had found the previous ISM to be good and felt the Breakaway could be better. It was. I didn’t suffer the usual chaffe that I thought was just normal for girls during long rides. I did chaffe though. Everyone did. The consistency of sitting means that the pain is unavoidable. Add to this the heat, sweat, salt and rutted roads and you have a lot of discomfort to deal with. I started getting sores on the second day on my backside. A few days after the race, I still have bum pain and the outside halves of my hands are still numb. You can’t avoid this contact point pain, but I suppose you can try to minimise it by being prepared. I feel it would have been worse with any other saddle.
9. Be realistic
There were times I thought I could get the overall win, especially on the climbs. On the climb towards Sutherland it was baking hot and I put a gap into Heinrich. Maybe I could have gone harder but I had to be realistic. I felt I should save myself. It’s also not worth trying to get a gap in such a long race. Heinrich is definitely a better descender than me and even if I hadn’t had to deal with the puncture and had gone into the final stretch with him, it ended with a descent of Bainskloof and I reckon he would have dropped me there. It turned out well. He got the overall win and I got to win the women’s race, break the record, get second place overall and have three days of me-time.
10. Don’t panic
I punctured on my final night. It was a sidewall cut that I managed to plug. But the next day, on the final dirt climb into Ceres and knowing the Mike (Woolnough) was getting close to me, I was a little less cautious with line choice and the tyre started losing air again through that same hole. I stopped to try and patch it, but the tyre was so well seated on the rim I couldn’t get it off. Thankfully I was able to reinflate it with a CO2 bomb; then I had to stop and pump a few times to get me to the support station, where I was able to get it replaced.
When I first stopped, Heinrich, who saw me stop, said he’d wait for me. But I said he should go on. As he was leaving me, he said he’d wait for me at Ceres. I seemed to take forever to get to Ceres and expected he was long gone. But when I got there he was still there. That’s when I realised he was more broken than I thought. He headed for the last 70km stretch while I was getting my tyre repaired.
At this point I was thinking that was the overall race lead gone. But I also knew Mike was close behind and I wanted to head out of Ceres before he got there. There was so much going on in my head, but I kept telling myself to stay calm and just get to the finish. I knew Martin and our kids would be waiting there for me, which was motivating. On my way up Bainskloof Pass it was so hot. I wanted to stop and swim in that lovely river next to the road, but I had a race to finish…
11. Be philosophical
Before the start, it was not my objective to win overall. I wanted to try and beat women’s record of 3 days and 12 hours. Having finished now, the level of self-fulfilment is high. The winning isn’t that important. I always go into tough races wondering if I am tough enough. It amazes me that I can do it. I think it helps to have such a tough husband – Mart really believes in me, which is very good for my confidence.
Also before the start, I wrote on my Facebook page that in order to cross
that finish line I would have to ‘try control the controllables and manage the uncontrollables’. It is now that I process my incredible experience that I realise that the only controllable is one’s behaviour or attitude. Controlling our behaviour is certainly the key ingredient to success. Success is not necessarily being the best or first across that line, but creating or having the best experience in the given conditions. The uncontrollables out there: the body, the bike, the weather, food and water and sleep deprivation, all needed to be managed as best as I could. And this, when looking at the bigger picture, is applicable to all aspects of life.
Dreyer’s race stats:
Finishing time: 2 days 23 hours 14 minutes (71 hrs 46 min)
Moving time: 2 days 10 hours 37 minutes
Stopped time: 12 hours 36 minutes
Total average speed: 14.9kph
Moving average speed: 18.9kph
A total of 79 riders started and 39 finished
