Garden Route Rocky Mountain 300

After a two day road trip in our new luxury van and a feast as always at Yolandi’s grandparents we arrived in Knysna ready for the stage race the following morning and with time for a tourist spin round to the Heads and onto the Island.

We couldn’t have had closer accommodation, within sight of the marquee near the centre it was a matter of rolling round to the start and having a descent warm up from there without any worry of traveling and parking.  I was pleased for the warm up as me and Yolandi set off at a descent pace and had a clear run up the first single track through the forest.  After only 15km or so I was surprised to see all the teams in front standing around.  First thoughts were that everyone was enjoying the first feed stop before realizing that we were all lost!  Eventually we backtracked and joined the single track again, this time behind a whole load more riders who had taken the right route.  We played catch up after then found our own pace and rode alone for most of the day.  The route was fantastic, plenty of single track in Harkerville Forest which popped out on the cliff side at one point and I felt pretty chuffed at riding so much more than I did last year.  In fact poor Yolandi who was in front had to get used to me saying ‘careful, there’s a drop off soon’ ‘watch out for the tricky crossing’ etc when really there was nothing to worry about (apart from the wide handlebars which nearly caught me out a few times!!)

We kept a good pace, which we reckoned was just out of our comfort zone until the last few km where, with a huge caffeine boost from Conrad’s coke and a near miss down a steep sandy descent, my adrenalin kicked in and we raced home fast in 1^st place with our teammates comfortably in 2^nd. 

Day 2

We knew it was going to be long at 115km and tough with around 2000m of climbing but I wasn’t prepared for the amount of sand kicking round and another wrong turn in the beginning.  After a scary warm up over the rail crossing (where I discovered my fear of heights is getting worse!) we started in Brenton.  With the sun just coming up the ride across was beautiful with a different view of the Heads and town.  The start was fast again, straight up and along a ridge before a fast drop back down to the sea… and a deadend!  We were about the last to get right to the bottom, those behind must have found the right track and we had to get back up and start way back in the field for the second time.  It was slow going for a long while after that, lots of sandy climbs that were so congested we walked a lot.  Eventually it cleared and gradually we worked our way back through the field.  The sand was crazy but our new Scott 29ers rode over a lot easier and it was quite fun sliding around keeping balance and not been too worried about a soft fall.  The fun wore off eventually and I was glad to get on a series of long open gravel roads.  Once we caught the other girls we all rode together and put in some ‘Epic’ pace hills.  It certainly was like a stage from the Epic and was perfect training for it.  With such a long day it was a blessing that we all found ourselves in a big group and for a change we had nice stops for real food instead of jels and bars.  I’m pretty sure that won’t be happening in the Epic so was worth making full use of! The other team took the victory and we held onto our overall lead after 5hours 40 in the saddle (well maybe 5 hours 30 and 10 minutes stuffing our faces!!)

Day 3

After a long warm up both Yolandi and me were keen to go out hard and see what we could do for the shorter 80km day.  Things went well upto all of 3km in when I punctured on the flat tar road!  Avoiding any collisions I stopped and straight away had the TV camera at my side.  Not knowing what had caused the sudden flat I tried to bomb it but that failed as it was flat as a pancake so in the end, once Yolandi had rode back we put a tube in and continued in dead last place.  Climbing up Phantom’s Pass we overtook dozens of riders all shouting encouragement then on the tar road raced from one group to the next.  Back into the forest my wheel was going flat again, obviously a puncture on the rough rocks.  I tried to bomb it but it went flat again.  Luckily Conrad was at the first feed and he quickly put a tube in.  We were now way back in the field again and were re passing the same riders again.  What struck us was how supportive everyone was like they personally knew us though I did quickly learn how popular Yolandi is!!  We rode well with no more problems right up until 10km out when Yolandi had a front wheel flat.  We think the tyre came off the rim and it was on such a fast descent I was just relieved that she held it upright.  With no tubes left she finally got one and from then on we just rode to the finish, hugely disappointed but with the consolation that it was our teammates Nicci and Leana who took the win with us in 2^nd.

After three tough days for a change we stayed put that evening and had a nice night out on the Waterfront followed by a blissful recovery ride in what I think is one of the nicest places in the World.  A huge thanks to Bizhub FCF who continue to enter me into such amazing races, to the organizers who put on a great 3 days again, and to everyone who helped us on that 3^rd day.  

The Pale One Returns To The Sun!

Stepping off the plane in Johannesburg and switching straight away into my shorts I was suddenly very self consciece about how white I had turned in the 3 months I had been home, skin tucked away behind layers and layers of thermals and fleeces!  Nothing to worry about though, a few training rides and I’d soon burn to a crisp and set the base for a temporary tan again. 

110km Ride for Sight Road Race, Boksburg

Arriving on the Thursday our first race was on Sunday.  Without really getting into a descent sleep routine the 4am start on Sunday wasn’t particually welcome and the race was more of a struggle round than I would have liked.  Training at home had gone so well but I found the long intervals didn’t prepare me for the stop, start race we had. Without any guys setting a descent pace we had a hard start following the attacks by Toyota but then the pace dropped and we could have stopped for a coffee and still got back on.  A group caught us and we yo yo’d for ages, us racing up the hills and them catching us on the downhills.  No one could split the pack with that many guyts around and eventually we neutralized ourselves until there was a descent gap.  A break went up a long drag and while I struggled to hang on to the chasing pack, the break rode off.  A few of us got to the front to chase but with no success and we sprinted in for 4^th place.  I took 7^th, enjoying very little apart form that last sprint and the feeling of going quite fast after the slow winter slogs at home. 

Maybe it was a hasty descision but with a list of road races on the calendar, a new 29er to get used to, and the all important Epic only a month away I flew myself down to Cape Town and stayed in Paarl with Catherine and her family who kindly put me up for the week.  I knew I’d made a good call when out riding that evening in the cool evening air round some fantastic granite outcrops on the mountain side.  The next morning I rode with Hendrick from the bike shop for a 3-4 hours steady ride… 5 hours and 1900m ascent later I got back to the house and flaked out on the floor!  Not feeling 100% when we left I struggled up the climbs and never felt that comfortable on the bike.  The scenery was amazing and the route on any normal day would have been perfect.  We headed up the mountains, into some wooded single track than dropped down to Wellington and into a whole warren of single tracks.  The 29er was quite good fun on the single track though I got through the steep descents and bends on a wim and a prayer slidding out the back wheel and somehow staying upright (on all but 2 occassionas anyway!). 

The rest of the week I continued to discover some lovely trails and even though I wasn’t well I enjoyed every ride and did a lot of hours nicely topping up the tan while at it!  Relaxing in Elma’s beautiful house and enjoying the family atmoshere made the week very memorable and it was sad to leave for the race on Saturday. 

Tulbagh MTN Mounatin Bike Marathon 70km

I planned to ride the race at my own pace and not to push it, racing such a tough event the way I felt may have set me back weeks and only 10km in my plan was put into play as I dropped off the group.  As I settled in I started to pull a few girls back but no sooner as I started feeling ok, my cleats started coming loose and it became a huge mission to clip out.  Without knowing they were loose I just kept falling over then yanking my foot out or waiting for some guy to help before getting up and repeating the senario.  With a collection of briuises gathering I evtually gave up, sat down and looked at my shoes and set about with my allen keys.  The course was more technical than last year and was a good practice on the 29er until again the other cleat started comoing loose and I rode most of the scary bits on top of the pedals.  Eventually on the flat I knew it was loose but it looked like we were over the technical climbs so felt safe enough locked in, until my gears jammed and I again fell over once my track stand ability went!!  The only way out of that one was to twist my foot enough to leave the cleat in the pedal and ride the rest on the top… I vital lesson learned – always check cleats before the start of a race, and if it does come loose stop and tighten straight away!!

The race was not one to remember either for Ischen who had 2 flats then went the wrong way, or for Leana whos rear mech broke 10km in, or for Catherine who also went the wrong way on her 40km race.  Oh well, such is life!!