Sani2C Nonstop is officially a #1 bucket list event in South Africa, here’s why...
Participating in a 257km mountain bike race – with a strong focus on mountain biking – was truly remarkable. The experience exceeded all my expectations, and the feeling of accomplishment I gained from it will stay with me forever.
Sani2C Nonstop Trophies - Anthony Grote digital media
I have participated in numerous ultra-distance events. As I browse through my Strava profile, I reflect on the extensive rides and races I have accomplished throughout my career. I've compiled a personal leaderboard showcasing the challenging events I have completed so far. At the top is the Unbound Gravel 200, marking the longest single ride I've undertaken, followed by the Sani2C NonStop, which stands as the ride where I spent the most time on the bike continuously. The third spot goes to the Cullinan Ultra Gravel, placing in the top three across all three categories. Among other notable events are the Transbaviaans, Tranbaviaans Virtual (thanks to Covid-19), Steamboat Gravel, Belgian Waffle Ride NC, World Marathon Champs X3, Imbuko Big 5, and, of course, the Attakwas Extreme. Below, I have categorized the events based on three criteria: longest time on the bike, furthest distance ridden, and highest elevation gain for easy comparison.
Longest Time on the Bike:
| Race | Time (hrs:min:sec) |
1 | 2024 - Sani2C NonStop | 12:58:17 |
2 | 2022 - Unbound200 | 11:35:05 |
3 | 2024 – Cullinan Ultra | 11:26:19 |
4 | 2021 - Cullinan2Tonteldoos | 11:14:34 |
5 | 2017 - Transbaviaans | 10:44:27 |
6 | 2022 - Belgian Waffle Ride, NC | 09:30:25 |
7 | 2020 - Transbaviaans Virtual | 09:17:35 |
8 | 2019 - Transbaviaans | 09:05:45 |
9 | 2018 - Transbaviaans | 08:59:01 |
10 | 2022 - Steamboat Gravel | 07:40:37 |
Furthest Distance Ridden:
| Race | Distance |
1 | 2022 - Unbound200 | 320.95km |
2 | 2024 - Sani2C NonStop | 257.13km |
3 | 2021 - Cullinan2Tonteldoos | 254.56km |
4 | 2024 – Cullinan Ultra | 252.92km |
5 | 2020 - Transbaviaans Virtual | 233.79km |
6 | 2022 - Steamboat Gravel | 227.58km |
7 | 2019 - Transbaviaans | 226.79km |
8 | 2018 - Transbaviaans | 226.54km |
9 | 2017 - Transbaviaans | 226.37km |
10 | 2022 - Belgian Waffle Ride, NC | 208.47km |
Highest Elevation Gained:
| Race | Elevation |
1 | 2024 - Sani2C NonStop | 4714m |
2 | 2022 - Belgian Waffle Ride, NC | 4352m |
3 | 2021 - Cullinan2Tonteldoos | 3429m |
4 | 2021 - World Marathon Champs | 3327m |
5 | 2022 - Crusher in the Tusher | 3218m |
6 | 2023 - Imbuko Big 5 Challenge | 3206m |
7 | 2024 - Imbuko Big 5 Challenge | 3139m |
8 | 2019 - World Marathon Champs | 3125m |
9 | 2022 – Attakwas Extreme | 3114m |
10 | 2022 - Steamboat Gravel | 3106m |
Each of these events has a story behind it, all of which have challenged me and pushed me out of my comfort zones, ultimately shaping my mindset to understand what I could accomplish. Particularly remarkable is the Sani2C Nonstop, which excelled in all three categories, securing a top 2 position. I have also included a fourth category for races that were perceived as the most challenging. Here are my top 10 psychological demanding events:
Psychologically Toughest Events:
| Race | Reason |
1 | 2019 – Absa Cape Epic | Psychologically the toughest stage race in the world |
2 | 2022 – Attakwas Extreme | Extreme Heat – Early in Season |
3 | 2022 - Unbound200 | Extreme Distance - Flat Terrain |
4 | 2021 – World Marathon Champs | Elba Island – 2 lap course, steep, punchy climbs |
5 | 2022 - Belgian Waffle Ride, NC | Blown from Unbound200 the weekend before |
6 | 2022 - Crusher in the Tusher | Extreme Altitude – Short distance; massive climbing |
7 | 2021 - Cullinan2Tonteldoos | One of the few on a gravel bike – so hard! |
8 | 2019 - World Marathon Champs | First time racing in Switzerland |
9 | 2024 - TransElands | Solo Time Trial from 76km (not my best idea) |
10 | 2024 - Sani2C NonStop | First time riding over 12 hours in one go! |
If you're a Munga or Freedom Challenge participant, you might think these times are no big deal compared to your usual adventures. But if you're considering stepping up to events longer than the standard marathon distance, here are some great reasons why you should. Getting involved in an ultra-distance event is seriously awesome. It's where I've felt closest to that state of "flow" in years. Maybe I'm chasing a particular feeling, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with that! Lots of riders come back year after year to events that stir up certain emotions or memories because of how it makes them feel. The stories riders share after these events are just amazing. I could sit for hours listening to each person talk about tough climbs and crazy weather. These events aren't just about overcoming challenges; I see real personal growth in every rider as they cross that finish line.
Views from Sani2C Nonstop - Anthony Grote digital media
In sports and performance psychology, we talk a lot about psychological resilience and grit. In South Africa a more simple, blanket term for this is “vasbyt”.
Grit is the passion and perseverance for long-term goals, whereas resilience is the ability to easily recover from or adjust to misfortune or change. There are many moments on route where you need to have grit to make it through physical and psychological obstacles. Take a tough climb, a scary descent, or working through the monotony of a long gravel road. In certain parts of the ride, you have no choice but to have grit to accomplish what’s right in front you – for the benefit of the performance goal (to make it up the climb without stopping) or outcome goal (to finish the event). In my opinion, once we don’t give ourselves an option other than to have instantaneous grit, that positive, non cognitive trait is an easy one to practice. All the training rides, struggles with cold, early mornings, and long-distance rides where you practiced the art of grit helped you show up more prepared for the ultra-distance event.
Resilience on the other hand is a different kind of beast. To be able to recover or pivot from adversity is not the easiest thing to do. Often those trapped in the fixed mindset space find this incredibly difficult. Have you ever struggled when plans suddenly change? Where are my A-type organizational people at? I too – have struggled with this in my life. Luckily, in the world of mountain biking, we have plenty opportunity to practice resilience. Unexpected mechanicals and crashes happen, and what is our mantra “when you get knocked down, you just get back up again…?”. Sure. But what about those times when you did everything right, and the body or mind are just not 100%?
When we speak about psychological resilience, we are talking about the off-the-bike adversity too. Where in your life can you think of times where you needed to be resilient to get through a particular time? Not necessarily the physical behaviours, but rather the psychological ones. Here’s some examples. Practicing patience in the typical morning/evening traffic instead of shouting and hooting at the taxis. Regulating your emotions in order not to shout at your toddler for filling your car’s petrol tank with water. Actively listening to your boss when they are having a hard day and venting their frustration onto you. We are constantly practicing resilience when we reset after expectations do not match reality, but each person has a tolerance for how much they can manage at any given time. Just like any other boundary being pushed and tested, resilience requires a lot of training to become an optimal psychological skill. The main ingredient to resilience is adversity. A little morbid to write it out like that, but without adversity, we’d never need adapt to our environments, i.e. – we’d never grow.
Image taken from: Workshop – Resilience Model© – Life Launch Centers
Resilience is what is gained after hours and hours of showing grit, overcoming challenges and building a new relationship with what it means “to suffer”. Watching the riders cross the Sani2C Nonstop finish line I could see that each rider had developed this unbreakable sense of achievement, as if graduating into a new level of personal understanding. They are truly resilient people with undeniable grit to face 257km of gravel and single track with 4714m of climbing in one go. There is no event in South Africa quite like this…
"Dear Adversity, thank you for the Opportunity!" - Dak Prescott
We all enjoy challenging ourselves in various ways throughout our lives. Without doing so, we would never achieve success through decision-making, taking risks, or gaining insights into our physical limits by attempting things we once deemed impossible. It is clear why an event like the Absa Cape Epic holds a significant place in my yearly routine, as it serves as a true test of psychological endurance.
Views from Sani2C Nonstop - Anthony Grote digital media
So why Sani2C Nonstop? Out of all the events we could have done, why did we choose this one?
Firstly, the people. I had a good friend of mine, Will Samson, who I met while he was finishing off his PhD in Johannesburg a couple years ago. Once he became Dr. Samson, he semi-grated to KZN where I’d try meet up with him whenever I was down there. Ironically the events and training camps we saw each other on were some of the toughest races in South Africa, and when I put 1+1 together, I figured he wouldn’t mind a day on the bike with a bit of climbing. His engineer friend, Harry, was defined as a ‘Natural Talent’, i.e. the ‘Wild Card’. I’d had a short description from Will on how strong he was, and how little training he needed, and how he would be absolutely fine. I was so keen! After a very tough SA Marathon Champs for the 3 of us it didn’t long to enter and get the ball rolling.
Will and I contemplating life after a very tough SA Marathon Champs in Karkloof, KZN
Secondly, the new territory I’d be exploring on the bike from my personal experiences. I’d never started a race at 2am before, let alone ridden a mountain bike for 4.5hrs in the dark. This was new and exciting, and I wanted to have the memories of what this felt like. I mean single track in the dark is so much fun, I’d do that again any day. Harry was a beast in the single track and Will and I had big smiles on our faces following his lines.
Scenes from Sani2C Nonstop - Anthony Grote digital media
Third, time spent on the bike, and elevation climbed in one go. This was a race that was going to push those personal “limitations” that I’d previously set. I thought Unbound Gravel was going to forever be the longest race with the most time spent on the bike. It was a suffer-fest of note, but as you can see, I haven’t rushed back to do it again. I also thought Belgian Waffle Ride in North Carolina was going to be the most I’d ever climb in one ride, but when this came up, I thought… well if I had teammates would it even feel like 4714m of climbing? (My hypothesis was right by the way. More teammates definitely flattens the route with all the fun conversations!)
Scenes from Sani2C Nonstop - Anthony Grote digital media
With a 24-hour deadline looming, we aimed for a sub-14hr finish time as a team. Emphasizing the importance of speed at the checkpoints, we balanced it with necessary rest periods after completing each Sani2C stage. Our strategy revolved around approaching the race one checkpoint at a time. The event's organization and the unwavering effort of our support team, who met us every 20-40km, were truly appreciated. With 14 checkpoints in total, we always found comfort in the friendly faces, snacks, and comforting hugs. It was a collective effort that saw us through from start to finish in record time, leaving us amazed at our achievement of 12hrs and 58min.
Harry, Ian, Will and myself at the checkpoint. Image taken by Harry's fiancé, Sabrina.
Reaching the Umko drop just as the sun began to rise was the highlight. A stunning red blanket unfurled across the horizon, swiftly transforming into vivid purples and oranges. It left me in complete awe. It marked a pivotal moment where all my past struggles seemed to vanish, and nothing else mattered except the emotions stirred by the sunrise. There I was, overcoming the tough nature of the race climb after climb, and realizing that the difficulties in my life would also be overcome with time. We often find ourselves engulfed in pain, adversity, and defeat. Completing this race was a testament to myself that I can break free from life's tough spots that I've faced in recent years. Pursuing your passions in life isn't so bad; it led me to this incredible race, after all.
Scenes from Sani2C Nonstop - Anthony Grote digital media
With that in mind, the Sani2C Nonstop offers a level of enjoyment surpassing any ultra-distance race I've experienced so far. Your team becomes your echo chamber, and together, riders and supporters embark on a 12 to 24-hour adventure. It's exhilarating, thrilling, liberating, and immensely enjoyable. Whether you choose to race or simply ride, the duration is up to you. And for the truly adventurous, tackling it on a gravel bike is an option that has been successfully attempted!
Our Sani2C Nonstop Team: Ian; Will; Sarah; Harry; Sabrina and of course Farmer Glen.
On the car drive back I was thinking of what the next big thing would be in my riding world. Will mentioned the idea of C2SaniPass and I nearly melted with excitement. That would be around 8400m of climbing and would most probably take two days as we’d need to get through the South African – Lesotho border before it closed for the night. It’s not off the books if Farmer Glen gives us the go-ahead…
For now I’ll keep my eyes set on the Road to Desolation, a pretty hard core gravel race in Graaf Reinet happening on July 13, 2024.
What a year this has been!
May the off-road adventures continue.
- Sarah Hill
My name is Sarah Hill, a competitive off-road cyclist for Complete Cyclist based in Johannesburg, South Africa. I work for The Threshold Coaching as a Sports Psychologist, Performance Coach, and Mountain Bike Skills Instructor. With supporting qualifications such as my BSc Hons Exercise Science, BA Hons Psychology; MA Sport & Performance Psychology; UCI Level 1; PMBIA Lever 2 Air and SSISSA Certification, my goal is to create informative sports-related articles enriched with a racing and educational background.
Image by Max Sullivan
References
Cormier, D. L., Ferguson, L. J., Gyurcsik, N. C., Briere, J. L., Dunn, J. G. H., & Kowalski, K. C. (2021). Grit in sport: a scoping review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 17(1), 1–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2021.1934887
Duckworth, A.L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1087–1101. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087
Hardeman, J. (2016). Comparing resilience and grit: An empirical examination (Doctoral dissertation, Drexel University) idea_6803_OBJ.pdf
Sarkar, M., & Fletcher, D. (2013). How Should We Measure Psychological Resilience in Sport Performers? Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, 17(4), 264–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/1091367X.2013.805141
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