Time flies when youre having Fun

With two weekends having slid past without any racing what has the Team been up to you may ask?


The first weekend in June saw Jeff,Netski and James do an awesome mountain bike ride through the back of the Knysna Forest out to the historic Millwood Goldfields. Having recently re read Circles in the Forest, this route put the final pieces of the rough sketch map in the book into place. We crossed the Knysna river way up stream where it would have been crossed in those pioneering days having ridden through on of the last remaining stands of virgin forests in the Garden Route. What a favour Mr De Vaaselot did to us all by regulating the "hout kappers" of the time despite the huge financial hardships they then had to endure. One gets the feeling riding through these areas that the elephants or the spirits of the many elephants that were slaughtered here are always nearby.


During last week I had the huge challenge of taking 60 boys and girls (aged between 11 and 13) from Glennwood Primary School in George for a day of their school camp and introducing them to orienteering at the Ingwe Forest Camp in the Crags. What a day!!!!!! I returned home with ears ringing but with the satisfaction that five of the six groups of kids found all 20 CPs from the map I had made for them and the final group missed two in the confusion of the thunder storm that struck in the early afternoon.


This weekend Jeff headed off for a 120km bike ride with all the cycling heads of state in Knysna . Chris was busy scouting out routes for the up and coming Southern Storm to be run on the Garden Route in September. For those of you that are interested he has found some amazing new routes and the race should be spectacular. I was involved with the SA Marathon canoeing Champs held on The Keurbooms River in a marshaling capacity but sneaked in two great runs and a ride between showing the canoeing who's who where to go.


There are two weeks to go before the Knysna Oyster festival and by next week we will have confirmed all the teams entries into the different events . We will be represented at each and every event except the Oyster eating competition which is not good for ones cholesterol!!!!


CLUE TO WHERE ARE THE PENNYPINCHERS AR TEAM THIS WEEK.

The picture below is the old bridge crossing the river at the bottom of a famous pass.

Stanley's Light Mountain Run 29/05/2010 by Che Che Crewdson

Stanley's Light Mountain Trail Run - when you first read this you would beforgiven for thinking that the Run had been sponsored by some privatebrewery!However it has an even more interesting story which we are going to sharewith you as having now been there, done it and got the t-shirt - muchrespect is due to the man who now at 67 years old has done this route over300 times in his life while residing in the Klien Karoo hamlet of Ladismith.

Chris and Rhona along with other Knysna locals Jan Zonnestien ,Christine and John Collins travelled into the Klien Karoo on a very windy and wet Friday and the question on everyone's minds - what was it going to be like come race day ?

Running in MOUNTAINS when the weather closes in can be a very scary andunwelcome experience especially if you are not well equipped.For the Pennypinchers athletes we knew we were ready for any eventualitybeing kitted out with our Helly Hansen technical wear and armed to the teethwith our GU Brew, Chomps and Gels we had an answer for the cold and also forthe energy we would require in the process of covering 2000 m in altitude over the 24 kms we would traverse in some pretty hardcore and spectacularenvironments.

After a very sobering pre-race briefing from event organizer Ugene Nel ofQuantum Adventures on the dangers of not having the right equipment on handwhile in the mountains. (Three Trail Runners had recently died in Europewhen conditions had changed so unexpectedly) The runners prepared for the trek into the mountains.

Having been sent off by the 67 year old Stanley into a very chilly but clearmorning what was going to greet this band of intrepid competitors?The first 4 kms was on farm roads and once off it was hiking track going oneway - UP, UP, UP and more UP until we could hear the "waterwheel ofStanley's Light" turning away in its pristine mountain gorge. Ice coveredmuch of the route in the upper reaches and from the town resembled snow........it was cold but no time to worry about this or even pause to enjoythe view.....we had come to race and with conditions underfoot veryslippery in places with some major drops also lurking in the shadows it washead down and concentration ALL THE WAY.The knee wrenching tight downhill switchbacks soon took their toll and for thosewho had taken their Rockets Compression Garments. This was one sure way tonegate many of the problems other athletes were experiencing with cramp, blown quads or stiffness. The final 6 km was a rollercoaster ride with moretight switchbacks that created the ongoing illusion that as close as youcould see the finish line it was going to take a lot longer to get there asthe course meandered like some electrocuted snake all the way to the last100 meters.

Excellent performances from Rhona Zonnestien in the ladies (4th) and Chris achieving a Top 10 in the mens ensured that the PennypinchersAdventure Racing Team had continued to make their mark and most importantly give its team members the chance to test and pass on the benefits to others taking part in the many merits of the products worn and used by the team.To Helly Hansen, GU, Rockets, Earth Scout, Blue Steel, and IslandTribe THANK YOU for partnering us on yet another highly successfuladventure.See the following link for the full story on Stanley’s Light (well worth theread).

Use this link - www.quantumadventures.co.za/page-content.php?pageid=59

for the story about the light

What a Great Week for the Team

This week has been great for the Pennypinchers AR Team for various reasons. Firstly we have renewed our sponsorship relationship with Helly Hansen for this year. What this means is that we have been supplied with racing and training tops by the world leader in technical clothing for hot or cold weather. We now have only the best in this department. One cannot underestimate the importance of staying warm when it is cold,cool when it is hot and dry when it is wet. This balance can be the difference between winning a race and losing,finishing or retiring or even life and death in an emergency.

The second big plus came along with the sponsorship of race nutrition from GU. GU is what Hoover is to vac um cleaners in the energy gel market. GU now also has a full range of race nutrition options and we now have access top another brand leader in these products. We have the GU gels , the Electrolyte Replacement drinks and also the Energy Chomps to make sure we stay fully fueled during races and training.

With the news of these great deals putting wind in our sails Jeannette and myself headed down to Theewaterskloof Dam for the Quantum Adventures Tri Challenge. The race would start with a 10 km paddle on the huge dam ,then a 24km mountain bike leg through the apple orchards and on to the mountain behind Villiersdorp and finish with an 8km trail run again through the orchards and along the dam.



About 180 competitors took part in the race which had different categories allowing pairs and relay options as well as the solo entrants. We lined up for the start of the paddle looking around for the competition and also for strong paddlers who we could work with on the paddle leg. paddling would be our strongest leg so we knew we needed to have a good lead going into the next two legs. The paddle went well and we were the second boat off the water and with a quick transition were on to our bikes and heading along the edge of the dam. My legs were dead for the first twenty minutes of the bike due to a lack of brick session training . With some fun river crossings and sandy and muddy sections we finished the bike leg in 1hr 05. Another super quick transition saw us onto the final trail run. Jelly once again over took the legs for a bit as we wound our way through the apple trees and then along the waters edge back to the finish. With that leg taking about 36 minutes we were first in the Mixed Pairs category and second in the overall standings as well only 10 minutes behind solo winner Rory Cole from Cape Town.Our total time was 2hrs 34 min.


Well done to Jeannette who showed her huge racing experience and put her head down and went like the clappers for two and half hours in a race that was most probably 200km to short and three times to fast for the training we have been doing.

Mid May Weekend Fun and CX Press clues

With the year scooting past this weekend saw the Team spread out from Cape Town to The Crags.

Check out the new stadium WOZA 2010

Chris headed down to take up a prize of some luxury accommodation that he had one and got himself onto Table Mountain to do some training in between smoke salmon breakfasts and high teas.As always he was branded to the hilt.

Don't look down Che che

Jeff shed the Polly Shorts and lumo green running vest of the Knysna Marathon Club and headed thru to George to take part in the SA Cross Country Mountain Bike Champs. He pulled of a third place in his age group so found himself on the podium for a bronze medal.


Jeannette and I spent Saturday doing Mountain rescue Training with the SA Air force helicopters in the mountains behind The Crags. It gives one a great view of the mountains and some of the potential training runs and rides that we can do in the future. Sunday morning saw us doing a great multi sport session. We started with a hard surf ski paddle which a pod of dolphins cruised in to make sure the pace was right.We then rode up to the edge of the Knysna Forest and put in a quick run on Robberg. This in preparation for the Theewaterskloof Tri Challenge this coming weekend.


The Google feature in this weeks edition of the CX Press is the biggest man made body of water in the Plettenberg Bay area and would look completely different if you flew over the dam today.

Homtini Mountain Bike Race and a Run at Goukamma

With Tuesday the 27th of April being Freedom Day Netski took the opportunity to head out to the historic Goldfields area of Knysna and took part in the Homtini Mountain Bike Race a long standing favourite among local bikers. Jeff Wilcock was alos there along with a host of other multisporters making the most of the public holiday.

Netski wrote

"What a stunning cycle Homtini was it had everything district road, stunning forestry paths thru the natural forest and some nice and fast downhill single track and instead of being a 65km we scored an extra 5km as well making it a 70km mnt bike race thru the natural wonders of Knysna which to me is the forest. Being a holiday the race was well attended and the girl’s field was super competitive with two of the strongest mnt bike girls having come up for the weekend from the cape Hanniel Booyens and Tatum. Needless to say I was left in the dust but I’ve got an good excuses my good old back decided to cease up from 15km mark onwards so I would like to blame that for my 4th position!!!!!!…..I must say I did wish I wasn’t in so much pain because it is a stunning route and well worth it even with the two hills in-between without them we wouldn’t have such great downhill’s. That’s all for now over and out"


Saturday morning saw the old Team Knysna (the roots of PpART) join up for a run through the Goukamma Nature Reserve from Buffalo Bay to Groenvlei. Jeannette came along as did one of the party goers from a local 40th that I had mentioned the run to the night before.Chris as usual had a trick up his sleeve and added a stunning 5 km loop onto the run which meant I would definitely be scratching for water with my small bottle and one Gel. The run took us through Milkwood forests and over sand dunes and along the beach to Lake Pleasant where we were m by Gizzelle Crewdson and giving a well deserved lift to the Farmers Market for a great brekkie.
It was great to spend time with Hanno Smit and Christine and shoot the breeze while running thru another of the Garden Routes gems.