Panorama Tour - Stage 1

Panorama Tour – Stage 1
The Maputo Hill Climber team, myself and Carlos Sales, were getting ready to take place in our first Panorama Tour, a 4 day climbing fest in the Mpumalanga “Lowveld”.. Why they called it Lowveld I can only assume is a bit of Afrikaans humour, because the hills here were anything but low, rather steep and sharp, and the Mountains would give Tour de France rides a good ride for their money.
We arrived just in time to collect our race numbers and hear the race briefing for Stage 1. The weather outlook was not brilliant, with possible rain and cold winds predicted. We were eager to go, if a bit nervous. We had the obligatory cyclist pasta dinner and headed to bed early.
Next morning we were up at five, bikes on the rack, a quick breakfast and coffee, and off we drove the 20km’s or so up to White River. The roads were empty at that hour and we made good time but even so found Casterbridge packed with nervous cyclists in various stages of readiness. We were in group C, middle of the bunch, and we felt the pre-race tension as other cyclists cracked nervous jokes or checked their cables. Few had stress-free faces. Some hadn’t banished the sleepiness from their eyes. Others were hurriedly warming up. As for us, we were cold, and in awe of this event, and suddenly quite conscious of our amateur status in this race. Maputo Hill Climbers.. What hills are there in Maputo that can compete with what the Panorama was about to unleash onto us?!?
All of a sudden loud music and there was a surge as cyclists started to one foot pedal up the driveway and onto the main road towards Hazyview. I tried to move forward and lost Carlos in the frenzy as everyone jockeyed for a better position. Once on the road cyclists started streaming past as if crazed, trying to catch the front peloton, which was already pushing at a healthy pace up the first incline of the day, even though it was behind the pace car. Today would decide the King of the Mountain, and the pro’s at the front were eager to go.
Eventually we found each other near the back of the pack and started the long uphill drag. By now we were with the back-markers and so steadily moved forward in the ranks. Hill upon hill took us up past the KOM hotspot and then down towards the Kiepersol turnoff where a fairly flat section and a fast riding group helped us make steady progress. From there we re-joined the main Sabie – Hazyview road and again the rather aggressive hills showed themselves as worthy adversaries to our already tired and heavy legs. The first water-point loomed and I had to stop to replenish my bottles, as I had forgotten to bring my normal drink supplement, and the USN sponsored drinks were certain to be better than my water! They offered up a cool green drink which perked us up instantly, and with banana for food, we set off on the steep incline. Hill turned into descent into hill and descent and we still hadn’t reached the dreaded Spitskop climb. To lighten my load I emptied my spare water bottle, which helped out with the climbs, but then a few km’s further ahead disaster struck as Carlos’ water cage broke off during a descent. He’d finished his other bottle and I was almost through my last bottle! The next water point was half-way up Spitskop, and we were still doing the hills! Would we last till then?
We shared the little water we had and eventually started up the dreaded Spitskop. A 12.5km climb with an average gradient of 3.4%. Doesn’t sound too bad, but the “hills” leading up to Spitskop had higher gradients and had already sapped our legs. The temperature was getting cold but our bodies couldn’t feel it, due to the heat of exertion as we crawled up the long, steep climb. Ahead of us stretched clumps of riders, and we hopped onto each bunch as we came to them, moving back up through the standings. My 27 rear cassette meant that I was able to keep up a faster rhythm up the climb, although every time I thought I’d lost Carlos, he would re-appear on my wheel. We found our rhythm on the hill and finally made the water-point, and loaded up with a different coloured drink. USN was testing every product in their arsenal on our bodies.. Must say, we referred the cool green one from the first pit stop.
From the waterpoint onwards, our liquid stores replenished and the legs slightly rested, we powered up the remaining climb at a nice healthy pace and organized a fast pace-line over the crest of the mountain. There the temperature was 9 degrees, and as we started to descend my arms froze and I could hardly change gears or pull the brakes… My climbing ability was counterbalanced by a certain lack of descending skills and I watched in frustration as first Carlos, and then all the cyclists I’d passed on the uphill flew past me to the bottom of the hill. It would be a tough job making back that time lost.
I got to the bottom of the hill and regrouped with Carlos and we trudged up the remaining hills to the finish-line. By now we were quite tired but somehow managed to claw our way back and catch some of the cyclists who had past me on the descent. However many had managed to maintain their lead and push on ahead of us. We turned off the main road into the back-streets of White River and could smell the finish line. One final surprise though, that last hill up to Casterbridge farm. Our tired and battered legs could take only so much, and we inched our way up, trying in vain to catch one last group of riders before the finish. Finishing time 4 Hours 54 minutes. We were tired, we were shattered, but we’d made it through the first day. Only three to go!