Today was the descent into the Umkomaas Valley which is considered the best single track in South Africa - we weren't disappointed. The views were spectacular although the corners were sketchy and if you got it wrong it was a long way down!
After the first 40km the climbing started - we were well placed within the first 10 groups but soon started to fade. Ian was faltering like the Lions Super 15 hopes (the doctors say he has a fever and he has also had the "runs" which a number of people seem to have, so I hope it's not my doing after yesterdays hard ride). We were soon being overtaken by the teams we caned yesterday. To top things of Ian had mechanical issues where his chain kept coming off the front chainring, but also kept coming off the lower jockey wheel and we had to stop every km or so to sort out the bike. That said, we still came in a respectable 25 overall and 5th in our category - hats of to Ian who guts'ed it out for the day.
South Africa is a truly beautiful country and I would recommend this race highly as a way to see the place. We had a number of river crossings (I slipped on my arse on one of them), hard climbs, white knuckle descents and a hell of a lot of fun.
Tomorrow it's into Scottburgh - it's going to be an emotional entrance given this where I had the best holidays of my life. Ian and I will be taking it slow given the warning from the doctor o to push his heart rate up given the fever, so I am trying to even things up tonight with a couple of beers (Ian here....he is on his 7th to be precise.....although has now moved own to Klippies and Coke......showing his Dutchie roots).
It's been an excellent race with a great mate. Thanks to our wives who have put up with all our training and bitching about sore legs, lack of sleep and general grumpiness - we had a ball (but don't for one moment think we are going to up the chores around the house).
Sunday 5 May 2013
Day 8 - The Umkomaas Valley
Today was the descent into the Umkomaas Valley which is considered the best single track in South Africa - we weren't disappointed. The views were spectacular although the corners were sketchy and if you got it wrong it was a long way down!
After the first 40km the climbing started - we were well placed within the first 10 groups but soon started to fade. Ian was faltering like the Lions Super 15 hopes (the doctors say he has a fever and he has also had the "runs" which a number of people seem to have, so I hope it's not my doing after yesterdays hard ride). We were soon being overtaken by the teams we caned yesterday. To top things of Ian had mechanical issues where his chain kept coming off the front chainring, but also kept coming off the lower jockey wheel and we had to stop every km or so to sort out the bike. That said, we still came in a respectable 25 overall and 5th in our category - hats of to Ian who guts'ed it out for the day.
South Africa is a truly beautiful country and I would recommend this race highly as a way to see the place. We had a number of river crossings (I slipped on my arse on one of them), hard climbs, white knuckle descents and a hell of a lot of fun.
Tomorrow it's into Scottburgh - it's going to be an emotional entrance given this where I had the best holidays of my life. Ian and I will be taking it slow given the warning from the doctor o to push his heart rate up given the fever, so I am trying to even things up tonight with a couple of beers (Ian here....he is on his 7th to be precise.....although has now moved own to Klippies and Coke......showing his Dutchie roots).
It's been an excellent race with a great mate. Thanks to our wives who have put up with all our training and bitching about sore legs, lack of sleep and general grumpiness - we had a ball (but don't for one moment think we are going to up the chores around the house).
After the first 40km the climbing started - we were well placed within the first 10 groups but soon started to fade. Ian was faltering like the Lions Super 15 hopes (the doctors say he has a fever and he has also had the "runs" which a number of people seem to have, so I hope it's not my doing after yesterdays hard ride). We were soon being overtaken by the teams we caned yesterday. To top things of Ian had mechanical issues where his chain kept coming off the front chainring, but also kept coming off the lower jockey wheel and we had to stop every km or so to sort out the bike. That said, we still came in a respectable 25 overall and 5th in our category - hats of to Ian who guts'ed it out for the day.
South Africa is a truly beautiful country and I would recommend this race highly as a way to see the place. We had a number of river crossings (I slipped on my arse on one of them), hard climbs, white knuckle descents and a hell of a lot of fun.
Tomorrow it's into Scottburgh - it's going to be an emotional entrance given this where I had the best holidays of my life. Ian and I will be taking it slow given the warning from the doctor o to push his heart rate up given the fever, so I am trying to even things up tonight with a couple of beers (Ian here....he is on his 7th to be precise.....although has now moved own to Klippies and Coke......showing his Dutchie roots).
It's been an excellent race with a great mate. Thanks to our wives who have put up with all our training and bitching about sore legs, lack of sleep and general grumpiness - we had a ball (but don't for one moment think we are going to up the chores around the house).
Day 9 - Into Scottburgh......it is all over!
After spending most the afternoon sleeping after popping an overdose of Imodium and the prescribed Paracetemol, I was feeling a bit better but still struggling to eat much at dinner.
I woke up feeling very much below average. One of the hardest things about the stage races is eating enough volume of calories (primarily carbohydrates of course) to replenish what you are burning each day. Once you get a running stomach, it is impossible and that really does take its toll. I popped 3 Imodium and 2 paracetamol about an hour before the start and tucked a heap of toilet paper into my shirt pocket just in case.....I am a city boy and using leaves in the sugarcane fields was not an appealing option.
The plan was to keep my heart rate below 155 bpm at all times which is what we did, but what had not been factored in was that the mechanics who were supposed to have fixed my gears did not do it so I had another day of stopping repeatedly to fix the chain etc which was very frustrating. At one point I looked down at my gears momentarily to see what was happening but we were near a corner and my front wheel slid out and I went down, cutting up my knee and shin and the left side of my hip. There may have been a few words used which I would not want my kids to hear!!
We arrived at Scottburgh to be met by Lisa and Keith, Minters sister and brother-in-law. We grabbed our luggage, had a quick clean up and jumped into the car as they are off for a well deserved holiday and I needed to head to the airport for the flight back to Joburg.
So....what am I feeling after my first stage race? It is tough, very tough but great fun, a fantastic bonding experience, and a sense of achievement. The downside is that a lot of your overall results depends on luck (avoiding punctures) which is similar in any mountain bike race, but when you have 2 bikes and 9 days, the odds increase. It also depends on other people doing what they should....the team of mechanics we used, were sub-par at best and did not maintain the bikes of fix things they should have. This is very frustrating when you have trained so hard and raced so hard.
I would recommend it anyone who is interested in the personal journey and wants to see parts of a country that they would not otherwise. A great experience!!
I woke up feeling very much below average. One of the hardest things about the stage races is eating enough volume of calories (primarily carbohydrates of course) to replenish what you are burning each day. Once you get a running stomach, it is impossible and that really does take its toll. I popped 3 Imodium and 2 paracetamol about an hour before the start and tucked a heap of toilet paper into my shirt pocket just in case.....I am a city boy and using leaves in the sugarcane fields was not an appealing option.
The plan was to keep my heart rate below 155 bpm at all times which is what we did, but what had not been factored in was that the mechanics who were supposed to have fixed my gears did not do it so I had another day of stopping repeatedly to fix the chain etc which was very frustrating. At one point I looked down at my gears momentarily to see what was happening but we were near a corner and my front wheel slid out and I went down, cutting up my knee and shin and the left side of my hip. There may have been a few words used which I would not want my kids to hear!!
We arrived at Scottburgh to be met by Lisa and Keith, Minters sister and brother-in-law. We grabbed our luggage, had a quick clean up and jumped into the car as they are off for a well deserved holiday and I needed to head to the airport for the flight back to Joburg.
So....what am I feeling after my first stage race? It is tough, very tough but great fun, a fantastic bonding experience, and a sense of achievement. The downside is that a lot of your overall results depends on luck (avoiding punctures) which is similar in any mountain bike race, but when you have 2 bikes and 9 days, the odds increase. It also depends on other people doing what they should....the team of mechanics we used, were sub-par at best and did not maintain the bikes of fix things they should have. This is very frustrating when you have trained so hard and raced so hard.
I would recommend it anyone who is interested in the personal journey and wants to see parts of a country that they would not otherwise. A great experience!!
Thursday 2 May 2013
Day 7 - Ok...ok....we couldn't help ourselves - we finished 8th overall. :-)
The morning started off on a very worrying note. Minter and I were in the tent which we are sharing and we were getting dressed and ready for the day ahead when Minter broke out into song....the song by the Divinyls.....for those of you who may not know it, the lyrics go "......when I think about you I touch myself". Not what I wanted to hear!!
Despite Minters assurances that we were no longer racing we ended up bolting out at the start and flying along at a killer pace. About 14 km we entered some single track and this time there was a left and right path. The left looked much smoother and the right more rocky and bumpy and everyone in front of us took the easy option, but not Minter who started flying down over the rough route. It was steep and fast and we were flying along bunny hopping over ruts and dodging rocks but managed to get ahead of most of the group we were in. We hit the dirt road at the bottom and powered along with a group of about 5 of us. The guys were strong on the hills and I was struggling to stay with them on the climbs (Minter was not afflicted with the same problem), but then on the descents we were flying past them (admittedly we may not have been 100% in control). We started to catch small groups that had splintered away and kept overtaking them until about 3 km before the end we saw a group of about 6 riders and started chasing to catch them Minter managed but it was a hill and my heart rate was up at 169 beats per minute and I just couldn't give any more so we came in just behind them.
Overall it was an excellent result for the day, with us placing 8th overall and second in our age category (30 to 39 year olds....they use the age of the youngest team member). We were very chuffed and how fantastic to actually see the results of our efforts, rather than to be standing on the side of the trails changing tyres after killing ourselves for half the race.
The 7th, 6th and 5th positions were all within 20 seconds of our time of 3:08:51 ahead of us, and according to Minter (who was screaming like a psycho...."hurry up boet.....come boet...come" ......repeated about 100 times over 2 minutes.....as if I was sitting on a friggin sun-lounger and sipping a piña-colada), if I had just dug a bit deeper we could have taken them. According to me, I would have died on the spot if I tried to accelerate.
The Magellan unit has performed as one would expect. It is difficult to say too much about it as it does what it should do. Compared to the Garmin Edge 500, the Magellan battery life is better, the look is nicer and the screen is bigger. The mount is also more robust. At the moment, the time of day is not an optional field on the screens, but is a separate screen (you just click "enter" to flip the screen), and I would prefer it as a field option. The good news is that (I believe) they are looking at fixing this in the next firmware upgrade....which is my only moan about an otherwise great unit.
One thing I can say at this point is that the Syntace Hi-Flex seat post was a great purchase. It definitely allows me to stay seated quite a lot when Minter is up off the saddle. If you are riding a hard tail (or a road bike) then I think this would be a very valuable addition from a comfort perspective. Given the quality of the Sydney road, and the fact that my current roadie seat post is aluminium, I will be buying one for the road bike.
Despite Minters assurances that we were no longer racing we ended up bolting out at the start and flying along at a killer pace. About 14 km we entered some single track and this time there was a left and right path. The left looked much smoother and the right more rocky and bumpy and everyone in front of us took the easy option, but not Minter who started flying down over the rough route. It was steep and fast and we were flying along bunny hopping over ruts and dodging rocks but managed to get ahead of most of the group we were in. We hit the dirt road at the bottom and powered along with a group of about 5 of us. The guys were strong on the hills and I was struggling to stay with them on the climbs (Minter was not afflicted with the same problem), but then on the descents we were flying past them (admittedly we may not have been 100% in control). We started to catch small groups that had splintered away and kept overtaking them until about 3 km before the end we saw a group of about 6 riders and started chasing to catch them Minter managed but it was a hill and my heart rate was up at 169 beats per minute and I just couldn't give any more so we came in just behind them.
Overall it was an excellent result for the day, with us placing 8th overall and second in our age category (30 to 39 year olds....they use the age of the youngest team member). We were very chuffed and how fantastic to actually see the results of our efforts, rather than to be standing on the side of the trails changing tyres after killing ourselves for half the race.
The 7th, 6th and 5th positions were all within 20 seconds of our time of 3:08:51 ahead of us, and according to Minter (who was screaming like a psycho...."hurry up boet.....come boet...come" ......repeated about 100 times over 2 minutes.....as if I was sitting on a friggin sun-lounger and sipping a piña-colada), if I had just dug a bit deeper we could have taken them. According to me, I would have died on the spot if I tried to accelerate.
The Magellan unit has performed as one would expect. It is difficult to say too much about it as it does what it should do. Compared to the Garmin Edge 500, the Magellan battery life is better, the look is nicer and the screen is bigger. The mount is also more robust. At the moment, the time of day is not an optional field on the screens, but is a separate screen (you just click "enter" to flip the screen), and I would prefer it as a field option. The good news is that (I believe) they are looking at fixing this in the next firmware upgrade....which is my only moan about an otherwise great unit.
One thing I can say at this point is that the Syntace Hi-Flex seat post was a great purchase. It definitely allows me to stay seated quite a lot when Minter is up off the saddle. If you are riding a hard tail (or a road bike) then I think this would be a very valuable addition from a comfort perspective. Given the quality of the Sydney road, and the fact that my current roadie seat post is aluminium, I will be buying one for the road bike.
Wednesday 1 May 2013
Day 6 - Same Shit.....Different Day
We woke up to a freezing cold morning up in the mountains. After eating breakfast and getting dressed for the ride we went to get our bikes only to find ice on our saddles and grips from the condensation and the cold.....nice.
We spent the first part of the morning shivering uncontrollably before the race began with another very strong start which heated us up pretty quickly as it was the hilliest of the days. We had no problems keeping up with our targeted group for the first 40 km at which point about 3 teams broke away on a monster climb. Minter and I moved to the front of the group which had splintered off by the top of the climb and then started the white-knuckled descent back down the other side of the mountain and at about 52km Minter hit a rock which dented his rim and put a small cut into the sidewall of the tyre.
We tried to re-seal the tyre but it was not working so I pulled out my brand new tube....confident that unlike yesterday, it would not have any holes in! We whip off the tyre, put a bit of air into the tube, and start remounting the tube.....only to realise I have been carrying a 26 inch tube around and we are both on 29ers. At this point we just started laughing....clearly I can't be trusted with bike spares. We put Minters spare tube on and had to pump it by hand. We had lost about 8 minutes and just decided that there was no point in killing ourselves any more....after what would be 2 disastrous days. The views were spectacular and we just rode along at a moderate pace. We even stopped for the first time since the race began at a water point and scoffed choccies (bar one's), bananas, and Minter ate some sort of pink looking sausage thing. We then stopped and took some photo's along the trails as the views were awesome with the snow covered peaks of the mountains in the background.
On the one hand, we are disappointed, but that is the nature of the sport and it is nice to have the opportunity to focus on th e pleasure of the sport rather than the pure race mentality.
We spent the first part of the morning shivering uncontrollably before the race began with another very strong start which heated us up pretty quickly as it was the hilliest of the days. We had no problems keeping up with our targeted group for the first 40 km at which point about 3 teams broke away on a monster climb. Minter and I moved to the front of the group which had splintered off by the top of the climb and then started the white-knuckled descent back down the other side of the mountain and at about 52km Minter hit a rock which dented his rim and put a small cut into the sidewall of the tyre.
We tried to re-seal the tyre but it was not working so I pulled out my brand new tube....confident that unlike yesterday, it would not have any holes in! We whip off the tyre, put a bit of air into the tube, and start remounting the tube.....only to realise I have been carrying a 26 inch tube around and we are both on 29ers. At this point we just started laughing....clearly I can't be trusted with bike spares. We put Minters spare tube on and had to pump it by hand. We had lost about 8 minutes and just decided that there was no point in killing ourselves any more....after what would be 2 disastrous days. The views were spectacular and we just rode along at a moderate pace. We even stopped for the first time since the race began at a water point and scoffed choccies (bar one's), bananas, and Minter ate some sort of pink looking sausage thing. We then stopped and took some photo's along the trails as the views were awesome with the snow covered peaks of the mountains in the background.
On the one hand, we are disappointed, but that is the nature of the sport and it is nice to have the opportunity to focus on th e pleasure of the sport rather than the pure race mentality.
Tuesday 30 April 2013
Day 5 - Sheer Dissapointment
Today was the day that it all went wrong. We started off strong and stayed with the front group for the first 14 km of firetrail and then onto the single track section which was about 10km long. We were working hard but the pace was good and then "poof" my tubeless tyre in the front punctured and the sealant did not work. We pulled over and tried to use an air canister to inflate it, but while doing it, the connector broke. We decided to put in a tube and then flagged someone down and they gave us their connector but it turned out that the spare tube had a hole!! We were now out of air canisters and took the tube out and tried Minters tube which we then had to pump up the old fashioned.....but time consuming way. By this stage we had lost about 10 to 15 minutes but that was not the only problem, we now had 9km of single track ahead of us and it was full of the slowest riders on the planet, with nowhere to pass them.
We tried our best to squeeze past here and there, but there must have been 100 people in front of us. At one point Minter tried to take a gap and came off his bike, falling on the same arm as he had yesterday.
Once the track opened up we worked hard to make up time, but still, after placing 18th yesterday we came in 70th today, which moved our overall position from 26th to 29th. :-(
Our bodies are very tired and it is getting harder and harder. I have a blister on my right hand from all the jarring on yesterdays ride and it hurts constantly when on the bike. I am struggling to eat by dinner time as I am so tired that each mouthful makes me want to puke. Despite the fatigue, I am struggling to sleep well and feel like my mind is constantly active and I keep waking up. It is interesting how the mind works, and I have found that as I get more and more tired, I find myself longing for my family and missing Vee ( my wife) and kids more and more.....I want a "family hug".
Minter has been great and I couldn't ask for a better partner....not only coz he pulls me along, but he is just a top class friend and riding buddy. People say that this sort of event tests friendships like no other situation, and at this point my choice of partner has been spot on. That said, having his sweaty riding shorts hanging from the middle of the tent is somewhat less pleasant, and there have been a few instances where I have looked right in the tent to see him lying naked rubbing a soothing anti-septic cream onto his chafed arse. These things I could happily give a miss, and although he can claim to have seen similar behaviour, I think the view for him would be a lot more pleasant (if somewhat intimidating) than it is when I see him.
We are staying at a race village up in the mountains, next to a river and the views are great, as they were on the ride today.
We tried our best to squeeze past here and there, but there must have been 100 people in front of us. At one point Minter tried to take a gap and came off his bike, falling on the same arm as he had yesterday.
Once the track opened up we worked hard to make up time, but still, after placing 18th yesterday we came in 70th today, which moved our overall position from 26th to 29th. :-(
Our bodies are very tired and it is getting harder and harder. I have a blister on my right hand from all the jarring on yesterdays ride and it hurts constantly when on the bike. I am struggling to eat by dinner time as I am so tired that each mouthful makes me want to puke. Despite the fatigue, I am struggling to sleep well and feel like my mind is constantly active and I keep waking up. It is interesting how the mind works, and I have found that as I get more and more tired, I find myself longing for my family and missing Vee ( my wife) and kids more and more.....I want a "family hug".
Minter has been great and I couldn't ask for a better partner....not only coz he pulls me along, but he is just a top class friend and riding buddy. People say that this sort of event tests friendships like no other situation, and at this point my choice of partner has been spot on. That said, having his sweaty riding shorts hanging from the middle of the tent is somewhat less pleasant, and there have been a few instances where I have looked right in the tent to see him lying naked rubbing a soothing anti-septic cream onto his chafed arse. These things I could happily give a miss, and although he can claim to have seen similar behaviour, I think the view for him would be a lot more pleasant (if somewhat intimidating) than it is when I see him.
We are staying at a race village up in the mountains, next to a river and the views are great, as they were on the ride today.
Monday 29 April 2013
Day 4 of the race
Today was one of the toughest days I have had on a mountain bike. At 122km the distance was long, and there were some killer hills and bone jarring downhills but the more technical nature of the course suited us over the many riders who may be at the same fitness level but are less confident when the trails get technical. As a result, we came in 18th today vs 27th and 28th the other 2 race days. That said we are absolutely buggered and our bodies took a major hammering.
The race started off fast once again and we managed to stay with the front group for quite a while before they broke off. On the first technical descent, one of my bottles went flying out of the bottle cage and rolling down the mountain.....not a good start on a long, hilly, sunny day. :-(
About 40km into the race, we were crossing a wet rocky river section and the guys in front of us got off to walk across. Minter got the moer in (threw his toys) and tried to charge across in anger.....slipping, falling, and hurting his arm and cutting his thumb. Luckily the nerve endings between his pain centre and his brain are somewhat slow so we carried on as if nothing had happened. Then about 80km into the race my i must have gone over a thorn and my rear tyre went flat, meaning we had to stop and reinflate it. fortunately the sealant worked and it stayed hard.
The single track and the views were amazing coming down from the escarpment, but what has burnt into my mind was the climb up to Spioenkop which had an average gradient of 22 percent, made all the more difficult by the fact that neither of our bikes was changing into granny gear on the rear cassette.
It is difficult to describe how good the trails were today, and the only thing that would have made it better would have been if there were only 80 km of them!!
The race villages and the local communities, food, etc etc are phenomenal and we are really enjoying the overall experience.
The race started off fast once again and we managed to stay with the front group for quite a while before they broke off. On the first technical descent, one of my bottles went flying out of the bottle cage and rolling down the mountain.....not a good start on a long, hilly, sunny day. :-(
About 40km into the race, we were crossing a wet rocky river section and the guys in front of us got off to walk across. Minter got the moer in (threw his toys) and tried to charge across in anger.....slipping, falling, and hurting his arm and cutting his thumb. Luckily the nerve endings between his pain centre and his brain are somewhat slow so we carried on as if nothing had happened. Then about 80km into the race my i must have gone over a thorn and my rear tyre went flat, meaning we had to stop and reinflate it. fortunately the sealant worked and it stayed hard.
The single track and the views were amazing coming down from the escarpment, but what has burnt into my mind was the climb up to Spioenkop which had an average gradient of 22 percent, made all the more difficult by the fact that neither of our bikes was changing into granny gear on the rear cassette.
It is difficult to describe how good the trails were today, and the only thing that would have made it better would have been if there were only 80 km of them!!
The race villages and the local communities, food, etc etc are phenomenal and we are really enjoying the overall experience.
Sunday 28 April 2013
Day 3 of the race
We woke up at 5am to a very cold morning.....apparently 4 degrees, so after a quick breakfast we got dressed for the ride and then spent roughly an hour shivering together as you need to go load your bags onto the trucks which take them to the next race village, meaning you can't keep on a jacket and track suit pants until near the end.
We ended up in a group with pretty much the same riders as yesterday and stayed with them until the 2nd water point at about 96km. Minter is a lot stronger than I am and to be fair he has been a legend. Coming into the water point, everyone in the group was planning to stop as we knew the main climb of the day was at about 110km, so we moved to the front of the group and I gave Minter my bottles and I rode straight through. He filled the bottles and then chased me down, leaving the group in his dust. A few minutes later Minter went over a thorn and the sealant spurted out of his tyre, but as he looked down in surprise, he hit a muddy patch and his wheel slipped out, giving him a one sided mud bath and helping to lift my waning spirits. :-). Fortunately he did not hurt himself!!
We then hit the main climb of the day at around 110km and it was around 5km with switchbacks up the mountain (we had now entered the Drakensberg ......South Africa's highest mountain range). It brought back a lot of memories of my childhood, and I can remember being about 6 years old and climbing Mont Aux-Sources as a family. Mom, dad, and my two older sisters. I clearly remember complaining that they were all walking to fast and that I was tired. Well, not much has changed, other than I am now 38 and it was Minter rather than my dad shouting at me to hurry up.
From the top of the mountain to the bottom there was a timed Red Bull run with separate prizes for the fastest times. We were flying down and I was marvelling at my courage and bike skills and contemplating whether I should take up downhill racing. That was the last thought in my mind when I lost control and hit a rock at break-neck pace. I yelped out as it was flung off the bike. Minter says that he braked to a stop, turned around and I was still rolling at that point. Very very very fortunately I just lost some skin on my right knee, but took a hard knock on my thigh. I jumped back onto my bike and we pedalled off with me in a lot of pain, but as we rode it eased up. We then arrived at Sterkfontein dam and were flying along the dam wall with Minter pulling me along, encouraging me all the way as we managed to overtake one more team on the run into the race village.
We ended up in a group with pretty much the same riders as yesterday and stayed with them until the 2nd water point at about 96km. Minter is a lot stronger than I am and to be fair he has been a legend. Coming into the water point, everyone in the group was planning to stop as we knew the main climb of the day was at about 110km, so we moved to the front of the group and I gave Minter my bottles and I rode straight through. He filled the bottles and then chased me down, leaving the group in his dust. A few minutes later Minter went over a thorn and the sealant spurted out of his tyre, but as he looked down in surprise, he hit a muddy patch and his wheel slipped out, giving him a one sided mud bath and helping to lift my waning spirits. :-). Fortunately he did not hurt himself!!
We then hit the main climb of the day at around 110km and it was around 5km with switchbacks up the mountain (we had now entered the Drakensberg ......South Africa's highest mountain range). It brought back a lot of memories of my childhood, and I can remember being about 6 years old and climbing Mont Aux-Sources as a family. Mom, dad, and my two older sisters. I clearly remember complaining that they were all walking to fast and that I was tired. Well, not much has changed, other than I am now 38 and it was Minter rather than my dad shouting at me to hurry up.
From the top of the mountain to the bottom there was a timed Red Bull run with separate prizes for the fastest times. We were flying down and I was marvelling at my courage and bike skills and contemplating whether I should take up downhill racing. That was the last thought in my mind when I lost control and hit a rock at break-neck pace. I yelped out as it was flung off the bike. Minter says that he braked to a stop, turned around and I was still rolling at that point. Very very very fortunately I just lost some skin on my right knee, but took a hard knock on my thigh. I jumped back onto my bike and we pedalled off with me in a lot of pain, but as we rode it eased up. We then arrived at Sterkfontein dam and were flying along the dam wall with Minter pulling me along, encouraging me all the way as we managed to overtake one more team on the run into the race village.
Saturday 27 April 2013
Day 2 of the race
Last night they put on a great feast for us with some killer steaks and a great atmosphere as the town put on a fantastic display of hospitality.
Today was the first real race day that counted. A 91km smash-fest where, in my humble opinion, we went much too fast, and if I had enough air in my lungs at any point during the ride, I would definitely have told Minter to slow down. Average speed was just over 26kmph and our ride time was 3:28 which put us into 27th place out of the 350 odd teams that raced today.....a result which I am very happy with as there are some very very strong riders. Winning time for the day was 3:11.
Racing for most of the day was in groups. We just missed the first group and settled in drafting in the second group. This group included the top female pair and a few mixed couples. The girls were really strong but were a bit slow on the technical (for SA but merely a few rocks and not even comparable to Manly dam) bits. Three teams including ourselves broke away from the group at the 82km mark in order to position ourselves for the Red Bull run, 2km single track with a 5km run into town. We had a good descent although we're held up a bit by one of the other teams. The last 5km ride into town was hard pushing the 90%HR zone. I think this is where we pushed to hard and may come back to haunt us - we'll know soon enough tomorrow.
After the race we arrived at the race village and headed to get our bags, but Minters had somehow disappeared, which meant no sleeping bag etc, and it is very cold here at night. Anyway, he starts hinting about how cold he will be etc etc and all I was thinking was that this was a scam so he could ask to share my sleeping bag. I don't blame him. My shaved legs are pretty irresistible and the girls doing the massages were making similar hints. It's tough being a babe magnet. Anyway, we eventually located his bag and he headed off to the showers.....a very welcome development as he was smelling way over his "use by" date.
The massages were agony as our legs are already very sore, but hopefully they will feel better for the 130km awaiting us tomorrow. Worth noting is that the furthest I have ever ridden a mountain bike is 114km at the Highland Fling, and that was after a taper and with fresh legs. I am thinking about slipping some laxatives into Minters water bottle to ensure I get a few stops en-route.
The Magellan GPS units have been great and the battery life is fantastic which is very convenient on an event like this. Based on where the battery is, it looks like it will be between 18 and 20 hours.
With respect to the Syntace Hi-flex seat post, it is difficult to know how much more comfortable it is or isn't but what I have noticed is Minter (who is almost always riding in front of me.......so I can make sure he is ok) often stands over ground where I am still seated, so perhaps this is the difference between the aluminium seat post he has on the Scott and the Syntace carbon post which is specifically designed to provide a level of flex. Early days still though so watch this space!
Friday 26 April 2013
Day 1 of the race - 116km
Last night Minter slept at my folks place as we had an early start. The guest bedroom has two single beds which are pushed together however due to my fear of attempted spooning, I had pulled the, 20cm apart. Minter looked devastated!
The atmosphere at the start was great with everyone very excited to get the race underway. The first day, despite being a long 116km, does not count towards overall placings as there is a river crossing where we all board dragon boats and paddle across......bizarre but good fun.
The weather was crisp and clear with the blue african skies contrasting against the backdrop of the farmlands, some of which were game farms where we saw buck running along which gets Minter very excited (must be a Dutchie thing???). More importantly, the food stops were great and we got to pig out.
The tracks were generally smooth and the decision to bring the hard tails seems to have been a good one so far.
The only downer was a tunnel we went through which was ankle deep sticky mud which clogged up the bikes and shoes and sent Minter into a fury......which is always amusing to see. :-)
We have been chilling out this afternoon in the race village after a well earned shower, but in all honesty I am a tad worried about the next 8 days as I am already feeling hammered!
The atmosphere at the start was great with everyone very excited to get the race underway. The first day, despite being a long 116km, does not count towards overall placings as there is a river crossing where we all board dragon boats and paddle across......bizarre but good fun.
The weather was crisp and clear with the blue african skies contrasting against the backdrop of the farmlands, some of which were game farms where we saw buck running along which gets Minter very excited (must be a Dutchie thing???). More importantly, the food stops were great and we got to pig out.
The tracks were generally smooth and the decision to bring the hard tails seems to have been a good one so far.
The only downer was a tunnel we went through which was ankle deep sticky mud which clogged up the bikes and shoes and sent Minter into a fury......which is always amusing to see. :-)
We have been chilling out this afternoon in the race village after a well earned shower, but in all honesty I am a tad worried about the next 8 days as I am already feeling hammered!
Day 1 of the race - 116km
Last night Minter slept at my folks place as we had an early start. The guest bedroom has two single beds which are pushed together however due to my fear of attempted spooning, I had pulled the, 20cm apart. Minter looked devastated!
The atmosphere at the start was great with everyone very excited to get the race underway. The first day, despite being a long 116km, does not count towards overall placings as there is a river crossing where we all board dragon boats and paddle across......bizarre but good fun.
The weather was crisp and clear with the blue african skies contrasting against the backdrop of the farmlands, some of which were game farms where we saw buck running along which gets Minter very excited (must be a Dutchie thing???). More importantly, the food stops were great and we got to pig out.
The tracks were generally smooth and the decision to bring the hard tails seems to have been a good one so far.
The only downer was a tunnel we went through which was ankle deep sticky mud which clogged up the bikes and shoes and sent Minter into a fury......which is always amusing to see. :-)
We have been chilling out this afternoon in the race village after a well earned shower, but in all honesty I am a tad worried about the next 8 days as I am already feeling hammered!
The atmosphere at the start was great with everyone very excited to get the race underway. The first day, despite being a long 116km, does not count towards overall placings as there is a river crossing where we all board dragon boats and paddle across......bizarre but good fun.
The weather was crisp and clear with the blue african skies contrasting against the backdrop of the farmlands, some of which were game farms where we saw buck running along which gets Minter very excited (must be a Dutchie thing???). More importantly, the food stops were great and we got to pig out.
The tracks were generally smooth and the decision to bring the hard tails seems to have been a good one so far.
The only downer was a tunnel we went through which was ankle deep sticky mud which clogged up the bikes and shoes and sent Minter into a fury......which is always amusing to see. :-)
We have been chilling out this afternoon in the race village after a well earned shower, but in all honesty I am a tad worried about the next 8 days as I am already feeling hammered!
Wednesday 24 April 2013
Daily Results Link
Folks,
The race starts on Friday and the daily results will be published here....
http://www.joberg2c.co.za/DisplayLink.aspx?group=About%20joBerg2c&name=Results
If you are in a rush then start on the last page and move upwards ;-)
For those of you who are in South Africa, the race highlights will be aired on SuperSport 6 at 9pm - 9:15pm each night. For the full schedule click here.
The race starts on Friday and the daily results will be published here....
http://www.joberg2c.co.za/DisplayLink.aspx?group=About%20joBerg2c&name=Results
If you are in a rush then start on the last page and move upwards ;-)
For those of you who are in South Africa, the race highlights will be aired on SuperSport 6 at 9pm - 9:15pm each night. For the full schedule click here.
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