Day One
Having arrived in South Africa on Tuesday and with the Cape Pioneer only 3 weeks away a three day stage race was perfect to get the feel back on the bike and get used to fat tyres, constant pedaling and lots of dust! Ischen promised three pleasant days of scenic riding, which I thought quite amusing 4km in when we were hanging onto the lead bunch flying through the dust at over 30kmph. 20km later and we were still hanging on. Finally the group split and we rode with a few guys with Pete hanging behind me on the descents. I’d like to think he was hanging back to help me get back to the group as I took the corners in squares but maybe he just found himself stuck behind me and cursed me all the way down!! I was just thinking how keen the guys in our group were driving the pace on when I saw it was Ischen leading the way possessed with the need to catch the front group again. So, 40km in and we were with the leaders again. One attack a few km later and we were dropped for the final time. Ischen was eating a bar at the time and I was chatting with one of the many faces I recognize now in the MTB circle.
Back with Pete and two others there was chance to take in the fantastic scenery of the little Karoo. Even if my legs didn’t feel 100% I had to smile seeing so many Ostrich running around in circles and lambs in the field while we are approaching winter at home. The area has had plenty of rainfall too and so looked so green and bright, not what I expected of a semi desert.
After a long climb we stopped for a drink and my beloved Kooksister before we continued down to the finish working together with the group into the wind and crossing the line joint 1st, 107km in 3hr50. Catlin came in next having dropped another girl right near the finish so 1-2-3 for Bizhub on Day One.
Day 2
With the temperature only 8 degrees first thing we set off with extra layers that were later pushed deep into my pockets as both the temperature and the pace increased. For the first hour the bunch rolled along quite steady then it gradually got both faster and hillier. We were a group of around 20 or so when the front 5 rolled off up a long climb. Some of the guys obviously wanted to be back in the action in front so the pace was pretty high. Mid way through we turned into the veldt and the track became narrow, rocky and sandy. The guys were still putting in big digs at the front so at the back it was a constant yo yo and trying to hang on wheels while also hanging onto my bike was becoming a bit of a mission. I was thirsty, hungry and had had more than enough of juddering over rocks and slipping in the sand, in fact I nearly shed a tear! Finally the elastic snapped on one of the rocky descents and I dropped off. Ischen backed off and I followed her wheel to the feed where Pete was waiting for us. A muffin saw me right and the three of us rode steady for the last 20km to the finish. 97km, 3hr45. Can’t say it was my favorite 4 hours but is all good training and practice for the Pioneer, which goes through some of the tracks from today. The scenery was urm… apparently very nice though I could probably tell you more about which tyres the people in front of me were riding!
 |
| Ischen, my training and racing buddy |
 |
| Not a bad place to ride! |
Day 3
Forecast was a light drizzle so I was happy enough that the day started overcast but dry and a little warmer. The bunch stayed together until the first big climb 15km or so in. We got to the top in our usual group of 10 or so with 5 up the road. Turning onto dual track through a nature reserve I stayed comfortably near the front and could see the tracks much better. Our bunch stayed pretty much together with the pace pretty high and yo yoing along as some of the men kept putting in huge spurts then dying off. Nearing the end we came out on a main road and found we’d gone wrong and had 17km left on the tar, by then in a cold drizzle! Pete saved my life with a bar and luckily I had much better legs than yesterday so didn’t really mind, unlike the other guys who were clearly not impressed! We finished with 109km, 9 or 10km longer than the route and behind a few other groups but not affecting the overall positions. Caitlin also went wrong and her group was turned round but she kept 3rd overall with Ischen and I taking 1st and 2nd.
No comments:
Post a Comment