The final stage of KAP sani2c is fast. Well, it’s the fastest of the three stages. Fast is of course relative to your conditioning. Compared to the first two legs, our Dad-and-Son team sped through this stage, which saw us miss a turn, do some extra distance and wish away the final few kilometres. Only to wish them back again…
By Sean Badenhorst
The final stage of sani2c is a bitter-sweet event. You are proud to have reached the start of the final leg, an 85km haul from Jolivet to the finish in Scottburgh. But you are just a few hours away from the end. The end of the stage. The end of the race. The end of the adventure.
While it’s a mountain bike stage race of the highest order, sani2c is a modern-day adventure for most. Our digital, fast-paced modern life consumes us city-dwellers. Spending three days riding mountain bikes and relaxing in the countryside, all meals included, is part escape, part adventure and part reality check.
When you ride a mountain bike on singletrack, your focus is on the riding. You can’t afford to let your mind wander and worry about other responsibilities. Not crashing and riding the singletrack smoothly becomes your priority. A responsibility to yourself and everyone that depends on you. You also realise at some point during this race that less is more.
Less chaos, more quiet. Less drama, more peace. Less pleasing others, more pleasing yourself. A bicycle ride in the South African bush can be so simple, yet so fulfilling. When all you have to do is ride your bike on a marked, flowing route for three days and everything else is taken care of, you bank that as an important, unforgettable life experience. The fact that you can do it again and again every year is quite special.
I digress.
As my son and teammate, Cade, and I waited in the start chute, my immense gratitude for this moment was quickly crushed when I realised this was the last few hours of this incredible Dad-and-Son adventure that had begun some three months before. Many weeks of training together and preparation was about to reach its culmination. But that’s life. Nothing is permanent. Appreciate the exceptional moments in those moments.
“Let’s just roll steady. This stage is longer than you expect,” I advised Cade. But of course, with a fast and flowy start, we got a bit caught up in the hype as our batch went into mid-pack race mode. Mid-pack race mode is the same as lead pack race mode, only more stressful, because the skill levels are quite low and the chances of crashes are quite high.
A whole group of us missed a turn early on. A few minutes of confusion and a bit of mild panic saw everyone ride back about five minutes to the actual route, which takes in sugar cane farmlands, forest plantations and coastal bush. We were stoked to see my wife, Joanne and oldest son, Kalon at the two water points. They’d joined us on the supporter package and it was cool for them to see us doing our thing. We stopped briefly each time to have a short chat and show our appreciation for their support.
It’s actually hard to ‘roll steady’ on this stage. We found ourselves just charging along and enjoying the experience and privilege. We’d burned all our matches and still had about 10 kays to go. Mostly flat, so all pedalling, no freewheeling. We found ourselves wishing those last 10 kays away so we could end our discomfort. While I knew that we would finish on the golf course, Cade thought the finish was earlier – in the town as we crossed the beach. A lesson for him in that no doubt.
We eventually crossed the finish line like everyone else does in this event. Feeling relieved, proud, tired and grateful. A finish-line photo with Glen Haw, one of the very few people I regard as a legend of South African mountain biking, is a great touch at this event. Glen took a real interest in Cade’s first sani2c experience, which shows me how much he understands about this young generation’s value on stage races in general and his stage race in particular.
Also at the finish, the welcoming smiles and hugs of our supportive family members! A first for me to have supporters at this race and something I feel adds great value to the event and the participants.
I have now done five editions of KAP sani2c, two with friends (2012 and 2017), two with my wife, Joanne (2018 and 2020) and one with my son, Cade (2024). All of them were special in their own way. It’s impressive how the organisers continue to find ways to upgrade the route but also ensure that it remains challenging. I don’t like it when race organisers dumb routes down to become easier. It looks like Glen feels the same way…
When we were toiling our way through the final 10 kilometres, we couldn’t wait to get to the finish line. It couldn’t come quick enough! We were both pretty spent after three solid mountain biking stages from the Berg to the Beach. Our discomfort was physical and self-inflicted.
A few times since then (in what have been a personally challenging few months for various reasons), I long to be back at that spot. That moment – facing 10 kays to go of sani2c feeling rather creased. With my son, pedalling mountain bikes in the South African bush, healthy and fit on bikes that cost a fortune. Do you know how many people wish they could experience that?
Entries are open for the 2025 edition of KAP sani2c. You can do the event on an eBike these days. You can also take someone along to share the experience with the new supporter package. You can find all of that information here.
If you missed my descriptions of the first two stages of our Dad-and-Son sani2c, here are the links.
DAD & SON SANI2C PART 2: UMKO DROP DRAMA & DELIGHT
DAD & SON SANI2C PART 1: STAGE 1 IS HARDER THAN IT SEEMS
