FNB Wines2Whales 7-9th November 2014

Following the Pioneer I stayed in Stellenbosch, recovering then preparing for one last race of the year. Riding was steady to start with lots of Lycra time but mostly sat in kit drinking coffee than actually turning the pedals.  I then did some tougher more intense rides to prepare of the onslaught to come. 

Pre race nerves kicked in as me and my partner, Robyn de Groot registered and got our kit and bikes ready for the early start.  Robyn was riding a brand new bike having discovered a crack in her frame only a few days ago and with shorter cranks she had a few nerves of her own.  We stayed in Somerset Lodge, also with the rest of the Asrin team; ideal as we could ride down to the start next morning. 

Teaming up for W2W as Biogen Toyota/Asrin had been in the plans for a long time and I was both excited and nervous riding with the current National Champion, one thing I knew for sure was it was going to be a hard three days keeping up with her and battling with other top woman’s teams: Jennie Stenerhag and Candice Neethling as well as Theresa Ralph and Jeannie Dreyer.

Stage One: Lourensford – Oak Valley Wine Estate, 72km

As the horn went off at 7am I knew I was in for a painful day after about 30 seconds.  My breathing was crazy and my legs full of lactic.  The 5km climb thankfully became a little more gradual and with a few pushes from Robyn we could see Jennie and Candise not far in front.  That was however the last we saw of them all day.  

I did think I’d feel better after an hour but I didn’t, my legs were aching the whole way but Robyn helped by taking the wind all day.  The route had a real mixture of long and short climbs, the compulsory portage over the historical Gantouw ox-wagon pass and some mostly downhill single track to finish off with.  It’s a few years since I last raced W2Ws and I was surprised to see so many new trails.  I did feel a little better after the portage, probably because there was more downhill but I was very pleased to see the finish after 72km of pain!!  I was surprised Jennie and Candise were only one and half minutes in front considering we hadn’t seen them all day and so at the least the race was still on.  I just prayed that my legs would return tomorrow.  I spent the rest of the day relaxing and doing anything possible to improve tomorrow including a very good massage and an ice bath.  We were happy enough to camp, there was so much effort gone into the race village everything we needed was there as well as plenty of fresh tasty food from Fruit and Veg Market.  The social side of camping can also massively increase your enjoyment of this event to and there was a big lounge to lie around in and chat to like-minded cyclists. 

Stage Two: Elgin Valley, 67km

Despite our tents directly outside the toilets and under a big spot light all night I slept solidly and was ready for the 5am alarm.  Pulling on warm kit I’d stored in the sleeping bag also eased the whole getting up in the cold.  I made sure I had a better warm up than yesterday with some efforts thrown in to and though I sounded like a dying horse the first 10km we kept in contact with the leading girls.  Over the dragging fields that followed the first flowing single track we pulled away and as the day went on I started feeling better and better.  The single track was amazing, so well groomed and flowing and with new brakes on following problems I’d had yesterday I was riding so much better.  We never eased up, the constant twists and climbs was like riding a criterium but today was a good suffering, my legs and lungs hurt but it wasn’t the lactic dull constant pain of yesterday.  Even cresting the King and Queen of the Mountain Climb I jokily asked if we could have a rest knowing neither of us would even be tempted.  

Robyn was super motivating as well; she rode in front forcing me to put in all my effort on the climbs before a short rest bite on the tops as she took the wind.  I did offer to sit in front but she was doing such a great job I was very happy when she said she was feeling good still.  We crossed the line 1^st and instantly had some cold wet towels over our shoulders, a great idea by the organizers.  Jennie and Candise were close behind but we had managed to sneak into the lead by a mere 48 seconds.  Tomorrow was going to be another intense day!!!  I repeated the first day, eat, massage, ice bath, socialize and relax and without an afternoon snooze found I slept solid again from about 9pm. 

Stage three: Oak valley – Onrus, 74km

The last day once again brought perfect conditions with blue skies and little wind.  Breakfast was forced down as I was feeling very nervous.  I knew we started again with a short climb and we knew with that time gap we couldn’t risk loosing the other girls at the start.  I told Robyn to stay by me in case she had to give me a shove but thankfully she didn’t have to.  We rode in a big bunch after a few initial splits on the first single tracks, the other girls following us for a while down the open road.   At some point they dropped off while we still had the benefit of the group to ride in.  That had mixed blessings.  While we were pulled along we also had to accelerate hard out of every corner and used a lot of energy, then in the single track we hit log jams causing hard surges afterwards.  I felt even better today and the work Robyn had put in the last few days to get us to the finish as quick as possible caught up with her and she said she was pretty tired.   That’s the great thing about racing in a team though; I was able to at last take some wind and feel like I was contributing to our ride a little more! 

The course was tough going, though we were obviously heading down to the sea we still had some tough climbs to get over and both downed some much-needed coke at the final feed before the final 3km climb.  Over that the views down to Walker Bay were amazing and we started to relax a little, we hadn’t seen the other girls for a while and I descended carefully, we could very quickly lose the race with one flat tire or crash.  I appreciated every last bit of the single track to the ocean, heading back to the English winter there won’t be a lot of riding off road and I really did enjoy every bit.  The last few km’s over the PERI bridge and along the sea front with the crowds out cheering made the day even better and we finally sat up a few hundred meters from the line to soak in as much as possible.  Our gap was narrow; the girls finished a few teams after us. Having seen us on then last climb their motivation had increased and they had set about chasing us in.  In third was Yolandi du Toit and Anriette Schoemen, Theresa having had to pull out with a torn hamstring.

With the draw of equal prize money it was a very exciting race for the woman.  I have never done a race with such a narrow margin between first and second and I hope for the organizers, followers and sponsors it was equally as exciting.  Wines2Whales exceeded Robyn’s expectations as a first timer and I was equally as surprised about how much an already great race could improve so much.  There has been so much time and thought put into creating unique single tracks, amazingly designed bridges, challenging climbs and technical descents and all linked into three hard but very rewarding and manageable days.  A lot of events could learn from the race village: a relaxing lounge open to all next to a very deluxe FBN lounge, excellent and big quantities of good fresh nutritious food, ice bath facilities, plenty of toilets and showers so no queues, boardwalks in case it had been muddy, and a well laid out bar and Spur burger van for those not so interested in the racing end of things.  

Massive thank you to the organizers for inviting me and Robyn, to JP and the crew at Tech Zone for the extra effort, to Meg and the team for two excellent massages and help with all our baggage, to Squirt Lube for three days of smooth running chains as always and Continental for my favorite X King tires as well as Asrin and Cyclefunatics of Durbanville for all your support though the year and my Specialized Epic 29er, I was extra proud to win on your doorstep!    

Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek

One year exactly has passed since I was last in South Africa where I raced the Pioneer with Team Asrin and whilst last year I had one week to prepare, this year the last six months really has been focused on the event.  Last December we went to work in the Alps, a life long dream that we happily fulfilled until the 1^st of March when my leg gave way from the rigours of massive ski days and it broke.  Another 3 months off the bike and I was desperate to get back to the stage races.  To get fit for the back end I found some races through the summer heading over to Canada and America and racing on much more technical terrain than I’m used to.

Knowing I was unfit it was good to race over there with no pressure on performing but picking up some skills from the top riders there.  I followed that with a week at the Tour de Timor, a last minute one again but helped build up more endurance for the Pioneer. 

This year Team Asrin consisted of a three teams in the three main categories each with the podium as an aim.  In the men’s Austrian Herman Persteiner paired up with James Reed, Nizaam paired with Hungarian rider Barbara Benko and I paired with Alice Pirard from Belgium.  As well as riders we had a great backup team: JP, the mechanic, Angela and Kurt, the masseurs and helpers and new to the team, Zac, a chef as well as two helpers there to set up camp, drive and wash our kit. It may be a hard race but if it was anything like last year we were spoilt rotten once off our bikes!!

The prologue

15.3km Buffelsdrift

We just managed to ride a lap the evening before having travelled from Cape Town as a whole team.  This year we went the opposite way to start and I led us out apparently pretty hard.  Alice has been racing XC World Cups this year so I thought I’d set a steadier pace in the front and let her lead through the single track.  I blew massively as soon as we hit the first climb on the single track and had to back right off.  I seem to be able to keep one pace but once I go above that I blow and need to back down for a long time to recover.  Alice looked like she was cruising and crossed the line saying how much she enjoyed it whereas I was interviewed with a very croaky voice  from breathing so hard!!  We didn’t do too badly missing out on a podium by a few seconds.   The stage was won by Robyn de Groot and Jennie Stenerhag. 

 

Before the race starts

Stage One

100km Oudtshoorn to Calitzdorp

Leaving the comfort of a hotel we rode down to the start for 7.30.  The start was very fast and again I battled to push that hard.  We soon settled into a good pace though and caught up the lead girls who we stayed with most of the day.  Alice was super strong and I held onto her wheel a lot.  She also descends confidently and straight away I could trust her line.  She had to change her wheel at the tech zone as the free wheel wasn’t working then I punctured soon after on a rocky descent which we managed to plug and bomb and not loose too much time but by then we lost sight of the lead ladies and came into the finish 2^nd after a good fast last 15km slightly down hill on the road. 

Stage Two

85.9km Calitzdorp – Swartberg Summit

Every team going for the top finish today will certainly have woken with butterflies as the top of the Swartberg Pass offered R125 000 to the first men’s and woman’s team.  We raced the stage as any other, there was a lot of climbs and long road sections to get through before the pass started.  The first half of the race we had Jennie and Robyn in sights, I had my usual first hour of biting the bars but certainly felt better than yesterday.  Alice though was quietly battling with stomach cramps and slowly we lost sight of the other two and rode our own race.  There was a new section added onto the stage that was pretty slow going terrain but despite Alice clearly feeling very rough we didn’t slow much at all and kept a positive spin on things, we held onto 2^nd position and didn’t lose a massive amount of time. The big prize went to two very deserving riders but we would fight on for the overall.  In the men’s race Herman attacked everyone and got away up the climb with the idea been that James would sit in and come round in the final sprint.  Unfortunately James went as hard as he could but blew, Herman crossed the line unaware and 4 minutes ahead of James landing them with a 30 minute penalty.  

 

Massage in style only with Team Asrin

Stage Three

107km Prince Albert to De Rust

We rolled away from the start with a strong tail wind and blue skies. The tail wind mean’t a very fast pace and soon the race was cracking up. Once the race spilt we were with the other girls and mixed teams.  Off that road we had a flat sandy section.  I was too far back in the group and was constantly having to slow and accelerate to keep on, not the way to ride through sand at all and I was more than happy to see the first water point and the climbs looming ahead.  My racing on the steep technical climbs in Brek Epic had certainly paid off and I can ride a lot more than in previous years and as Alice is also good on the steep climbs we pulled away from Theresa and Esther with Robyn and Jennie on our wheels by the bottom.

From then on we rode together, happy to be in a good sized group as the wind was howling and making it hard going.  We all stopped at the last water point, and it made me laugh how we all dive in for different things.  Alice grabbed the 32Gi chews, Jennie was happy to find marshmallow fish and I was over the moon to find koeksister, a year has passed since my last indulgence in these sweet treats!! That gave me the sugar kick I needed to focus on the most fun single track section so far in the race and I emerged on the road at the bottom on a high.  From there we flew down towards the finish and knew we faced a sprint to the line with Jennie and Robyn.  My memory is so bad I couldn’t remember the finish at all and swung round the last bends leading the four of us.  The two pink jerseys upped and left us. I don’t think I posses a single fast twitch muscle fibre at the moment and we had to settle for second, still a great day out and extending our gap on third The afternoon was made up of eating and resting, the best thing about stage races!  Zac had made us some delicious chicken lunch and I later caught up with good mate Leana in the tent and ate pancakes and drank tea. 

 

One of Zac's many delicious lunches

Stage Four

109km De Rust – George

The queen stage lay ahead and with it the worst forecast of the week.  Waking up at 5 I heard the rain belting down on the camper van and was thankful not to be in the tent.  Everyone gets up early in Team Asrin so I am always out last and opened the camper to find everyone huddled around eating Zac’s porridge and scrambled eggs and Nizaam’s coffee machine was in full swing.  He has also been boiling up water so I have my much needed cup of tea and rusk.  I spent the extra time that is normally used packing up bags from the tent to stress about my choice of layers for the day, climbing out of the Kammanasie the temperature was 10 degrees lower we were told and if it rains it can feel colder still.  I opted for the Helly Hansen long sleeve thermal in the end with my waterproof jacket stuffed in my pockets and thicker gloves.  Once into the reserve we got in a group with 2 mixed teams and the leading girls and as we hit the steep climb at the end I weaved through so we were ahead and was pleased that Alice was right on my wheel.  By the top we were out of sight of the others and they didn’t catch us on the descent.  After that we were in and out of river crossings.  We had both settled into a perfect pace and after the long hike bike section, and a tricky, rocky descent in pouring rain we apparently had 4 minutes on the other girls at the first feed.  The rest of the stage we had no clue where anyone else was but I could tell we were having a strong day, both sharing the work load on the open trails and neither of us even flinched when the heavens opened and we were drowned .  After 5 hours we were both feeling good, we both admitted we had no idea how long that feeling would last but as we neared the dam in George and still could see no pink jerseys we started to realise we were going to win the stage.  The ‘mountain’ (tiny drag in reality) out of the dam hurt a lot but soon we were on the muddy field and through the finish.  We were elated about the stage win then 17 minutes later we realised we were in pink, the others having had a day of mechanicals.  

Unfortunately Barbara had a bad day and had to pull out with pains in her heart.  She was checked over and later given the ok to ride the rest of the race still with their number boards so at least they can still be involved in the race. 

Stage Five

71km George – Herold

At dinner last night we were given two bits of information that made everyone cheer following one of the hardest days in Pioneer history.  The first was that today would be shortened to 51km, the whole starting loop of single track round the dam having been removed because of the mud.  The second was that we would only start at 9.15am in order for the crew to get the next camp ready.  It was a shame to miss the single track as the trails are excellent round the dam but with rain having fallen most of the day and evening they would have been such a mess and no fun at all. 

So at 9.15 we rolled out of George in our pink jerseys. The race was neutralised until the bottom of Montagu Pass then we were off.  Alice and I climbed on our own and over the top were chased down by the next group including Cherise Stander and Candice Neethling.  The route turned onto a jeep track with a side wind where we felt the effort of yesterday catch up and we were both relieved to turn up into the hills again near the end.  Candice and Cherise were flying and they dropped us both on one of the descents.  We didn’t have the legs to chase them back and instead rode our own pace to the finish.  Theresa and Esther were close on our heels but we extended our lead overall as Jennie was battling with flu and scared us all by passing out at the finish line. 

With another later start tomorrow things were a little more relaxed in camp and after the presentation I joined in round the camp fire wrapped in 7 layers with Nizaam, Kurt, Angela, JP and Zac, eating Cadburies Bubbly and laughing about anything and everything.  It was on of those race memories that will stay with me a long time. 

Stage Six

Herold – Oudtshoorn

The final stage and I had mixed feelings on the start line.  Another stage race almost over, no more afternoons and evenings socialising with friends and guilt free eating, no more racing along with Alice and sharing the highs and lows, the adrenalin of surviving a rocky descent and the burning lactic of the first hours racing.  No more excitement at what food Zac would have waiting for us back at the camp or box of goodies Angela always had at the feed and no more excellent massage that got rid of the massive knots in our legs and back.  On the other hand we held the pink jersey and only had to get through one more day without incident to win.  The day did thankfully go by without any problems.  We had a good start, got in a fast moving group along with Cherise and  Candice again and flew along the duel jeep track and out on the open road.  With 30km to go we turned off the road onto the rough jeep track trails round the Chandelier Game and Ostrich Farm.  Here the other girls put in an attack down hill.  I followed for a short time before backing off, only a bad fall or serious mechanical could loose us the leaders jersey and while a stage win on the final run into Oudtshoorn would have been the cherry on the cake we were happy to settle for just the cake.  We passed under the finish arms in the air and I tried and failed to spray champagne around. 

Our Asrin team mates managed to jump up into 4^th on GC only 1 minute off the podium despite the 30 minute penalty they got.  Nizaam and Barbara also got some good racing in winning stage 5 and getting on the podium in the prologue. 

Final results

Men:

1^st Simon Stiebjahn/Tim Bohme – Team Bulls 22.08

2^nd Philip Buys/Matthys Beukes – Scott Factory Racing 22.17

3^rd Johann Rabie/Gawie Combrinck EAI South Africa 22.49

4^th James Reid/Herman Persteiner Asrin Cycling 22.50

Woman:

1^st Catherine Williamson/Alice Pirard – Asrin Cycling 25.59

2^nd Jennie Stenerhag/Robyn de Groot – Biogen Toyota Cape Brewing Co 26.43

3^rd Theresa Ralph/ Esther Suss – Meerendal Wheeler 26.57

Huge thankyou to Dryland for another fantastic event, to Team Asrin for all the support at the race and throughout the year and to CycleFunatic of Durbanville and to 32Gi for providing the race with drinks, chews and bars as well as myself with my energy products for the season,  

Tour de Timor, East Timor

12-16th September

I first heard of the Tour de Timor from Cory Wallace on the way home from Canada.  He mentioned it was near Singapore and the dates were just before I was going to be there on holiday with Rob staying with some good friends.  Numerous emails and bookings later and thanks to a free entry from the organisers and a flight there with Air Timor I found myself walking into a tiny airport terminal no bigger than a shed with the sea a hundred meters away.  Cory was on the same flight as were 2 Malaysian guys and they suggested we form a Commonwealth Team to compete in.  We were then picked up by Edson, one of the organisers and a great person who was to help us massively all week.  He took us through the crazy streets of Dili to our hotel, a basic room with no window but with a fridge and air con and a bed.  After 3 days of travelling I was keen to ride and we caught the last bit of daylight spinning along the coast road to a massive statue of Jesus perched precariously on the rocks.  Initial impressions of Dili were of fascination, I've never been anywhere quite like it, scooters everywhere, cars honking their horns constantly, men carrying fish on long poles over their shoulders and a sun which literally fell out of the sky.  Before we were back it was pretty dark, we grabbed some good food from a busy Chinese "Burger" restaurant following a fresh coconut juice, laughed at a mouse running across the floor under the tables and left having had the tastiest smoothie ever- Avocado with chocolate sauce.  

Sunset in Dili

The hotel was noisy and I slept badly from 3am, since changing time zones I've struggled to sleep after 3 but still felt ok getting up the next morning.  We rode through the city this time, alternating between staring at everything around us like a cockerel fight on the road side and keeping an eye on the traffic and trying to figure out the one way system which wasn't really a system at all.  Rather you realised it was one way when three rows of cars were heading your way!!!  That evening we had the briefing, and was warned about 'the existence of big holes' and that 'there is a cut off because we want riders to ride fast'.  Following which we ate at the same restaurant as neither of us had got sick so we figured it was a safe option and again I laid awake most of the night.  Awake by 1.30 this time and I laid there stressing about getting back to sleep until it was time to get up at 5.30.

Stage One
With no coffee shops open that time of morning I set off a little lethargic and was happy we had a flat ride out of town where we were entertained by a number of Timor riders sprinting off the front, some only in trainers, most on bikes you'd class as a bike fit enough to get to the shops on, and one guy with only one functioning leg, the other having wasted away with an infection.  Once we hit the first climb the bunch split to pieces, Cory took off with a group of 8 or so able to hang on, I settled into my own pace feeling not the best but gradually getting going.  It helped that Cory's hanger on'ers were dropping away at a pretty rapid rate and so I was nicely passing up through the field.  We descended down the climbed again, another long climb of over 30 minutes before a quick descent and up again.  The final climb was more my kind of climb, steep in parts then flattening a little before hitching up again and mainly under the cover of rain forest.  I had some company for a while before riding over the last climb, along a spectacular ridge line and a long descent on a really rough and bumpy road through the finish lined with locals as had most of the course been. Apart from Leadville I've never seen so many spectators cheering us on, it really was amazing support even if they did think I was Australian.

Downhill to the finish line past the crowds of locals

Having cooled off, weighed in and given some electroytes Edson pointed me in the direction of the showers only there weren't any.  I was about to get used to washing Timor style: a concrete basin filled with water next to a squatting toilet.  The idea was you stood over the toilet and scooped up cold water from the basin over your head.  It works in a fashion, I was very glad for my flip flops but in the hot weather we were at least dust free and clean.  As with everything here, accept it, embrace it and it becomes part of the unique experience.  Lunch was tasty, very fresh beef (the head was still out back on the kitchen table), chicken pieces, rice and some salad with dinner pretty much the same after  the presentation where myself and Cory were awarded the leaders jerseys.  Camp was on concrete under a spot light I managed to just avoid and apart from the local dogs and cockerels first thing I slept pretty well.

Stage Two
Breakfast was pretty good: two jam and banana sandwiches in fresh white bread and these delicious purple sweet potatoes that came with me for the ride.  Boiled eggs were also on offer but I've never been able to have eggs before a hard race.  The stage started with a long descent on a rough unmade road.  With only 80 riders it was all pretty safe and once down I sat on a strong rider form Portugal until we caught up the lead group where we both had a chat and rode hard at the front, perfect for the 40km of flat roads.  After that we turned off into a complete contrast: slow going loose steep climbs and descents, a few walking ones but the rest a hard push.  It was extremely hot but I felt good and as our group split apart I rode alone in 4th place.  I caught the two riders in front at one point but lost them again when I was expecting the finish nearby and came across the final feed with another 12km to go.  I picked my head up off the floor, eased the pace, ate some 32Gi tabs and rode on, finishing in 4th place and extending my lead in the woman's category.  Today camp was in Balibo, a famous village as it was where 5 Australian journalists were murdered by the Indonesians during the conflict and a film was made from the event.  Edson took myself, Cory and Naomi down to the beach to see the Indonesian border, eat the most appreciated Magnum ever and paddle in the sea briefly as a croc had been spotted nearby that morning, hence we left the costumes in the car!!

Making friends at the Indonesian - Timor Leiste border

Stage Three
The day began with a brand new road that descended forever followed by a conversational group ride leading up to the climbs of the day.  After the hard day yesterday this was good for everyone, some riders had been out there for 10 hours yesterday and today even through the race got pretty intense in terrain it was a much shorter day.  The climbs began and were steep and long with a few recovery bits in between.  I much prefer these to the gradual inclines and while riding hard amongst the riders I've been around all the time I also took in some of the amazing views.  The mountains are like ones I've never seen, dramatic jagged tops, vertical walls, its hard to describe but to say they were very impressive!!  The last climb passing the 'Finish Ahead' sign three of us were together and we sprinted up, turned a corner and climbed, turned another corner and climbed, gradually getting slower as for another 15 minutes or so we climbed till finally the actual finish came into sight.  The other two got the better of me and I came in 5th today.  The skies became overcast a little later luckily after everyone was in and cold showers had been taken before it started raining.  The streets turned muddy and being at over 1000m high it was pretty chilly too.  Luckily we have learnt what the others were doing and rented a floor of a room in a house so we laid in there trying to nap while the Timor guys were their usually chatty selves outside with the massage ladies, the children from the house were charging around and the rain was battering down on the tin shed.  Later I had a lovely cup of tea and biscuits up with Susan from South Africa and her group of friends.

Loads of support along the way

Amazing mountains 

Stage Four
The skies cleared overnight and walking down to breakfast it was nice to see stars in the sky.  The start was straight up a cobbled street out of the village and we stayed up for most of the day.  Cory disappeared up the road and a group of 6 of us formed pushing each other all the time on the short climbs and descents along this amazing high road, at one point I'm sure I saw the sea.  With three of us there from our 'Commonwealth Team' we looked out for each other, I nick named Shahrin our 'Guard Dog' because he guarded us from the dogs as he was usually first down the descents.  On top of dogs there was also the unpredictable chickens that wandered around, the pigs who didn't ever hesitate and walked straight out and the goats who were less of a threat been much more timid.  From the top of GPM 2 was a 18km descent mainly downhill right into the finish where we finished pretty much together, Cory been 15 minutes up front.  Dinner was beef again, I'm not a big fan of beef at the best of times so have now switched mainly to the green veg it come with, rice which is always cooked perfectly and the last few days we've also had a clear pasta soup.  Many of the medics left today, they had been an amazing team, following us on the stages, weighing us at the end and providing electrolytes and cool fans, they were also always so upbeat and chatty despite the long days they had.

My other team mates minus Cory who was already finished

Chatting with the medics

Stage Five
There was the usual air of excitement riding away this morning out of the mist of the valley towards the finish line and a few attacks off the start line.  Once climbing we formed the usual groups for the long climb of the day during which I saw one of the Timor riders get a bottle of baby oil out his back pocket and squirted it on his cogs to lube it.  Once at the top it was downhill for ages.  I was at the back of the group and dropped off as we turned onto a really sandy road and couldn't see a thing in front.  Last thing I wanted was to crash so I eased off and enjoyed the last few miles before hitting the outskirts of the city.  We were sent through a dry river that was also a quarry with tracks all over and it was comic as there were no directions and many ways through with locals pointing in all directions.  Finally myself and Malcolm, who had joined me through the river crossings beforehand, got on the seafront and we rode along the closed roads of Dili into the finish.  I finished 1st woman and held onto 3rd overall by a few seconds and we won the team category.

Top three woman

Back in Dili after 5 days hard racing

That evening was a great final banquet in the centre of Dili with a huge effort having gone into it.  We sprayed champagne, ate a delicious buffet and received some very generous prize money before saying farewell to new made friends.

The week had been a fantastic experience, the local support had been unbelievable and the routes have varied every day with plenty of climbing in.  The medic team from Australia were excellent both out on the course and at the finish to weigh us and make sure we weren't dehydrated.  They gave us all peace of mind that if things did go wrong we were in good hands.  The food was basic but in villages where there are very few fridges around all was fresh and it was such a detox to get away from processed rubbish (apart from the afternoon nibbles of crisps and biscuits!!)  Once adjusted to the different way of living Tour de Timor was about embracing the culture and running with it.

Huge thank you to the organisers for a memorable week, to Edson in particular for taking me and Cory, the newbies to this culture, under his wing and looking after us, to Cyclefunatics of Durbanville for my Specialized Epic... another week with no mechanical issues and a fast, comfy ride, to Arsin for the continued support and 32Gi for the supplements.

Breck Epic, Colorado 10th - 15th August 2014

Finishing Leadville100 I could happily have taken a few days off the bike and recovered both mentally and physically from riding hard for over 8 hours at altitude.  The race hadn’t exactly gone to plan and I wasn’t feeling much love for my bike as we drove round and signed in for Breck Epic starting in less than 24 hours time.

I first heard about Breck Epic a few years back through Dewet from Squirt Lube and since then its been on my bucket list of races that someday I’d love to do.  6 days, 240 miles and around 11000m climbing all at altitude in proper mountain bike territory appealed greatly, I seem to be attracted to races which are as much about challenging yourself as they are racing other competitors.  

When I heard it was round the corner from Leadville I couldn’t resist trying and thanks to Squirt becoming a sponsor in the event and as an ambassador for Squirt Lube things fell in place and I became one of 400 excited and nervous riders on that first race morning in Breckenridge, Colorado. 

Stage One

Pennsylvania Gulch

35miles   6000ft climbing

I rolled out of bed this morning not stiff just drained and to breathe in deep set me off coughing.  I didn’t feel ill though so just put it down to having to breathe much more yesterday racing at 12000ft.  The vibe at the start perked me up as did the coffee me, Dewet and John shared on the way up to Breckenridge.  As we started I felt ok as the car took us out of town.  However when he pulled off and the hammer went down I couldn’t increase my pace and had a swarm of riders overtake me and jump into the first single track.  For me that was the best thing in hindsight, I could relax a little on the flowing single track and keep up with the riders in front and slowly get my race legs back.  Towards the end I tucked in behind a young rider on the open forest and popped out to see Kate Aardel just in front.  I sprinted towards her thinking the finish was just round the corner and preceded to blow up as we turned up hill onto a gravel track and away from town.  We raced for around another 40 minutes from that point and I learnt the hard way that at this altitude you pay big time every time you go anaerobic though luckily recovered enough to enjoy the berms down to the finish line.  I came in 3^rd to 1^st place rider Kelly Boniface and Kate who took 2mins30 out of me on those last few painful miles! 

Stage Two

Colorado Trail

43 miles 7, 200ft climbing

Today we rode the Colorado Trail and was told at the briefing that

if there is one trail to ride in Colorado it’s this one so it had a lot to live up to and didn’t disappoint.  The race started fast again but my legs now knew they were racing a stage race and didn’t rebel as much as yesterday!  Plus the first climb was pretty loose and with the mass of riders there was a lot of recovery as we walked and climbed in a line for a while.  I felt good going into the first feed before the long climb of the day and catching up Kate and Marlee, (the local favorite who lost a load of time yesterday with a flat) on the road I went into the single track ascent 1^st.  I settled into a comfortable pace on a perfect gradient climb, single track with some roots and rocks to concentrate on but all ridable.  The ascent was amazing the other side, single track that went on forever, fast long straight sections, compacted switchbacks and views that you could sense rather than look up at and hope that some photographer would take care of those views!  I only had a couple of guys catch and pass me and could keep them insight most of the way down.  Kate didn’t catch me either so I felt confidant going into the next climb that I might win the stage.  On a good day you remember the fast flowing section and zipping through the trees and riding high on the berms and these were all the things I’ll remember from today.  I’m sure there was some brutal steep long climbs but they are a blur and I came into the finish on a real high and with a stage win.  I moved up to 2^nd on GC, only 6 seconds off wearing the leaders jersey that Kate moved into. 

That afternoon I moved locations.  We were staying down in the valley 15 mile away but Dewet was leaving for Europe and John was driving him back so I had planned either long warm up rides or 2 buses up to the start then hang around for the briefing and presentation each night.  Not ideal but I was happy enough just to have gotten to ride the race so wasn’t complaining when I was offered a bed in the apartment of organizers Laura and Karen right in town.  I couldn’t believe my luck, not only was it a beautiful apartment but both are such nice people and with all the male company I’ve had on these trips it was a real treat to relax with girls!! 

Stage three

Mt Guyot

37 miles 6700ft climbing

Today was the Queen Stage with an epic climb over French Pass.  It was the most scenic pass so far this week and you could see a trail of riders in front and a trail behind with massive views of Mount Guyot.  There were ridable sections but also a lot of walking so chance to look up a few times There were some locals at the top handing out bacon and beer and I did have a slice of bacon in my mouth for half the hairy high alpine descent.  I do have strange thoughts while I race and during that descent I wondered if I would choke to death on bacon if I crashed!  I had to hop off and run a few sections and lost a huge chunk of time to both Marlee and Kate on that down hill, I should have had the beer to be honest it might have relaxed me!  I also struggled down the next descent off French Pass with a rock garden I found very hard to negotiate!   Today was one of those days that seemed to go on forever and I had a hunger knock near the end that didn’t help my mood as one climb followed another.  To do the route again with fresh legs and a wheel to follow down and it would probably be a brilliant day out on the bike but today I wasn’t feeling it.  Still, no mechanical problems and somehow no crashes so all is good plus I discovered the best ‘made to order’ sandwiches post 4 hr epic effort: streaky bacon, gherkins and crisps.  Amazing. 

Stage 4

Aqueduct Loop

44 mile 6300ft climbing

This morning I had a much more chilled out warm up and had the best start all week in how I felt.  We were up and down a fair bit then hit Vomit Hill.  I can see why it was called that, early on in the day it was a very steep hike bike or slow cadence grovel.  Off that it wasn’t long before we hit the main climb of the day.   I was feeling good and riding a steady tempo but not fast enough to hold off Marlee on course for her 2^nd stage win.  I still had her in sight at the top but only saw her again on the final big climb, a steep one but with better legs I was actually enjoying the challenge of riding the whole of it.  In the briefing we were warned we would be passing the finish line a few times before finally finishing so at the top had another jel and that got me through the single track loops we did near the finish.  I finished a minute or so behind Marlee while Kate came in 3^rd.  The woman’s category is getting everyone excited as its that close and its great to be part of that.  The girls are so friendly we all know each other’s strengths by now and while we are battling it out on course we are always the first to congratulate each other after.

Stage 5

Wheeler Pass

30 miles 5131ft climb

The start today was in a different place and we set off in waves, the woman just after the men30.  Straight into single track we were overtaking men but soon we were on the open road then off that was soon into the hike bike section up Wheeler Pass up to over 12000ft.  The views were very impressive but with a drop to the right along a narrow trail I got a case of vertigo and struggled to ride it.  Finally at the top I’d lost sight of the first three girls.  The guys were up there at the top handing out whisky, bacon and skittles.  I had a few skittles but didn’t think the whisky would help me get down the other side!  I actually enjoyed the downhill after all the horror stories and at the bottom were finally clocked some miles in along a bike path with the help of another rider and Liz Sampey, currently 5^th on GC.  Off that we had a brutal steep climb followed by some rooty single track that was pretty slippy but was a good trail to concentrate on.  I was glad to get to the finish today in one piece, it wasn’t my favorite day by a long way but was an experience to get so high with the bike and I was happy with how I rode the descents.  I came in 4^th but held onto 2^nd on GC. 

Stage 6

The Gold Dust Trail

31 mile 3500ft climbing

The best of what was left to do can sum up today’s route.  At the briefing, today was described as a fun day out promising a party at the top of the pass with beer and even tequila was mentioned.  However I have come to discover the last day of any stage race is usually one of the hardest.  You often go into the day already thinking it’s over then the first fast hill hits you and you have to change thoughts and for one last time get into race mode.  I did, a little too early!  Already having a good start in a fast bunch up the tarmac road my adrenalin took over and I jumped on a wheel going way too fast for me to keep up for long.  We got away from the group and onto the single track well ahead of the next group and I was ready for a good decent, only we didn’t go down, we went up!  The single track had some steep kickers to it and gradually wound up and up and I gradually got slower and slower feeling a bit of an idiot for going off so fast.  Finally we emerged at the top, Marlee had made the group just ahead, I dangled off the back.  Someone next to me in true American style told me to go for it, ‘its what you’ve been training all year for’ he said (if only he knew he might have been a little more sympathetic).  I did make contact eventually near the top of the pass, briefly smiled at the ‘party’ going on up there led by Larry the commentator before head went down again as we hit the single track descent.  It was over too fast but did include a wide twisty flat section at the bottom in a deep gully that was lots of fun.  The fun stopped as we started to climb a gravel road again in a head wind.  By now I was really paying the price for my early effort and could only hold the wheels coming past for a few minutes before having to sit up and slow down again.  I could see Marlee sat in a group slowly moving away and aware she was only around 8 minutes back on GC I just had to keep going hard and hope the descent wasn’t too technical.  It wasn’t, in fact I found a wheel to follow and zipped down it better than I have all week enjoying every minute.  The last few miles of single track were twisty but fun in the forest and just as I was thinking how much fun I was having swooping along I wacked a tree with my bars and went down.  The only thing I hurt was my finger slightly but it did make me slow a bit and I came over the line safely and in 2^nd for the day and 2^nd on GC.

 

New friends 

All 5 of the top girls were in quickly and we all had a good laugh about how hard we had made the racing this week.  Of all the stage races I’ve done I’ve never raced with such a competitive deep individuals woman’s field in a stage race and though there were lots of times I wished I could have just backed off and enjoyed the ride I look back with a lot of satisfaction that I was able to dig that deep over the 6 days despite what I’ve been through this year.  Huge congratulations to Kate Aardel on her 2^nd stage race win, I would be happy and scared if I could descend half her pace, and to local rider Marlee Dixon who finished 3^rd overall and didn’t let the mechanical problems of day one get to her, and to Kelly Boniface in 4^th and Liz Sampey in 5^th and who both won ‘stage 7’.  I made it to 11.30 with a lot of dancing; apparently they were both still going strong at 1!  I was pleased not to have a hangover the next day though and enjoyed one last Colorado ride in Eagle thanks to Karen as she prepares for a big race in Costa Rico next week.    

More single track heaven in eagle

Thank you so much to the organizers, Mike puts on one of the best stage races out there.  They had an extra 100 riders this year but from an outside view everything ran like clockwork.  The racing and route was epic and is meant to be yet there is no time limit on the days so everyone has the chance to earn the famous belt buckle no matter how slowly.  Every rider also has their own drop bags that are taken to all the feed stops for spares, specific nutrition, bottles and extra layers.  The finish food also became a daily thing to look forward too, sandwiches made to order and each with its own name.  I took hugely to the bacon, gherkin and crisps but another favorite was bacon, gherkin, fluff (a marshmallow spread I must import to the UK), peanut butter and banana.  I think that was a ‘Smokey Jo’s.  The socializing round those sandwiches about the days riding was probably my highlight of the day.  Big thank you also to all the helpers, especially the big crew from Dead Goats a team I’d met at ST6 who worked hard all week, its always nice to hear personal support along the course.  Thank you also to Dewet and John from Squirt Lube for the whole experience (and the huge bar of chocolate and dried up brownies, heated up in the microwave together they were like a deluxe chocolate fondant, making my dull pasta and sauce dinners so much tastier!!), and to Team Asrin and Cyclefunatics of Durbanville for my duel suspension Specialized Epic, a hard tail wouldn’t have been anywhere near as fun on these trails.  

Leadville Trail 100 MTB

9th August 2014l

Leadville 100 is on the bucket list of many mountain bikers on this side of the pond.  It has a lottery entry and each year is over subscribed despite nearly 2000 starter.  The 100 mile course changes in elevation from 10,152ft up to 12,424ft in the Colorado Rockies, no mean feat for someone who lives by the sea!!   Through the MBC Rob Fawcett managed to secure one of those sought after spots for me and Cory Wallace, male winner at Mongolia Bike Challenge and so the trip was planned to incorporate Single Track 6 along the way too.  Plans changed slightly and I ended up recharging my batteries after ST6 on the very peaceful setting on the gorge just outside Victoria on Vancouver Island staying with Rob.  Leadville was in question due to the travelling there until I had help from both from Team Asrin and then Dewet from Squirt Lube offered a place at Breck Epic, the 6-day stage race round the corner from Leadville and one he has sponsored for a number of years.  With the thought of both an epic one day race plus a stage race it was much more appealing to travel and so after one ferry, 2 buses, a 2 hour flight following a 4 hour delay, another bus and a then a 2 hour drive Dewet, John; the US distributer of Squirt Lube and myself arrived at Leadville 8 hours after registration closed.  Not only did I get my race packet from the very friendly organizers my Epic also got a little love from the Specialized mechanics set up there for the race. 

We stayed out of town at friends of John’s so race morning saw the alarm set for 4 something AM to get there for the 6.30 start.  Even then there was no time for a warm up but luckily I had a gold number (13 in fact) so got in the front pen.  It would have been pretty hard to warm up anyway as it must have been around 5 degrees up there at around 10,000ft.  What the Americans do well is get very enthusiastic for events and Leadville 100 was no exception.  Cheering and the National Anthem plus the celebs called out including Mark Webber whom I would loved to have rode along side with were called out so it was impossible not to get carried away and I got goose bumps as the final countdown was read out. 

The goose bumps got a lot worse though as we set off on the fast road descent and it got colder and colder.  Legs went numb and hands froze so when we finally started climbing I was feeling like a block of ice and had that sick feeling come over me when the feeling came back to my hands.  I’m not sure if the altitude made it worse but I felt pretty faint and did contemplate stopping and sitting down.  However, finally blood started flowing and I felt better each mile.  I passed a few girls and then was told I was in 3^rd place. This got me too overexcited, suddenly I felt part of the race and so on the next descent went too fast and hit a rock putting a hole right in the tire.  I thought it might reseal so unsuccessfully bombed it then had the long job of putting a new tube in and pumping it up while streams of riders went past.  Once back riding I found myself in a traffic jam of riders even stopping a few times going down hill.  We eventually hit the long road section where I rode through groups past the 40-mile mark and onto the climb marking half way.  I was enjoying the ride a lot by now, the atmosphere at each feed station and spectator point was unbelievable with so many people cheering everyone on and passing riders always makes you feel good plus although my breathing was labored I felt a lot better than the first hour.  The climb became slow nearer the top with a narrow trail and in two-way traffic it was becoming very difficult and sketchy to pass people and certain sections we all ended up walking.  The top was around 12.000ft and looked pretty desolate.  I was glad the weather was holding up and it wasn’t cold coming back down. 

Enjoying the one piece of single track without traffic and then fighting the headwind back along the open road I’d then forgot how steep the descent had been down and around 70 mile I had the first signs that I was blowing.  I had only drunk one bottle and now in the 4^th hour I started feeling nauseous when I drunk or ate anything.  Before my long lay off this year I’ve never struggled with endurance or with running out of fuel but with 5 months off the bike I’m feeling my unfitness a lot and it’s not fun!  The steep climb up which I walked a lot zapped the last of my energy and the next 20 miles was a massive suffer feast.  As I got slower the climbs went on for longer though I had some consolidation in seeing others suffer as much as me as we all asked each other ‘how much further’!  I stopped at one aid station, drank water and ate some beef jerky which helped a little but I didn’t stand for long otherwise I might have got off and curled up on the floor! 

As we got nearer the end I worked out that the last few miles were a different way in and we didn’t have the long descent I’d frozen on many hours earlier to climb back up.  I glued myself to a wheel in front and finally after 8 hours 31 crossed the line 30 minutes inside the 9-hour ‘gold buckle’ cut off. I had pulled back up to 161st, 5^th place woman, 3rd 30-39yrs, at one point I thought I might have got back to 3^rd place but those last few hours put paids to that idea!!  Sally Bigham retained her victory and in the men’s race Todd Wells beat Christophe Sauser by a few seconds.  

With some time to lie on the grass I finally got an appetite back for some savory noodles and lots of crisps before packing up and heading round to Breckenridge to just catch the race briefing for the Breck Epic starting in just over 12 hours time!!

My claim to fame now is that final results showed Mark Webber was 2 places behind me, we had switched places a few times and I talked to him as I talked to everyone at that point but had no idea it was him!!  What a shame, I could have let him sit on my wheel those last few miles!!

Mark Webber with some people that did recognise him!