Weener Plastop is on the ball

Think the Argus <strong>is</strong> tough? Trythe Trans Baviaans!When Cobus Stofberg tackled the Argus cycle race recently with verylittle training, he knew he’d be able to do it. That’s because he’s alreadyconquered the Trans Baviaans – the longest single-stage team mountainbikingrace in the world.The Trans Baviaans takes placein August each year, starting inWillowmore in the SouthernCape and winding its way throughthe beautiful Baviaanskloof mountainrange to end 230 kilometres later inJeffreys Bay.Internal Audit’s Cobus Stofberg and h<strong>is</strong>younger brother Hannes entered therace last year as the two-man teamMalJan en BrakkenJan, and while theyfound it an enormous challenge, theywouldn’t hesitate to do it again.‘The race was really special,’ saysCobus. ‘Our strategy was to stopevery hour to eat, drink and enjoy thebeautiful landscape, and th<strong>is</strong> approachproved very valuable for us. We fin<strong>is</strong>hedvery strongly, overtaking a lot of teamsin the last stage towards the end of therace.’ The brothers clocked in at animpressive 14 hours, 57 minutes.Key to their success was the factthat they were well prepared forriding in the dark – the Trans Baviaansstarts at 10 on Saturday morning andcontinues through the night into Sundaymorning. ‘Clocking in excess of 60km/hon gravel roads on unfamiliar terrainin the darkness sure gets the adrenalinpumping,’ says Cobus. The brotherstrained in the Paarl mountains at nightduring the winter months to get used toriding at high speed with limited v<strong>is</strong>ibility.‘Riding that d<strong>is</strong>tance under thoseconditions makes you rely on teamspirit,’ says Cobus. ‘I can trust Hannes’shandling skills on the bicycle – I cansit 15 centimetres away from h<strong>is</strong> backwheel and be slipstreaming, knowingthere won’t be a sudden change indirection or him hitting the brakes hard.He’s also a phenomenal climber whichreally helps when you need someone todrag you up a hill.’The brothers, who hail from anathletic family, have set their sightson the Namibian Desert Dash for theirnext challenge, a 340-kilometreoffroad mountain-bike race fromWindhoek to Swakopmund throughthe Namib Desert.‘When you’ve spent 15 hours“suffering” on your bicycle,you real<strong>is</strong>e how strong the humanwill <strong>is</strong> and how much your bodycan actually take,’ says Cobus. So,for him, th<strong>is</strong> year’s 109-kilometrepedal around the Cape Peninsula,on a relatively wind-free sunny daywith thousands of supporters andplenty of time to take it easy andenjoy the scenery, was considerablyless pressured than the last time hesaddled up for a competition.A significant achievement: Cobus Stofberg(right) tackled the gruelling Trans Baviaansmountain bike event with teammate andbrother Hannes.ASTRAPAK NEWS 11