Du Toit Tankwa Trek, South Africa 13 - 15th February

Only in its 3^rd year the Tankwa Trek was sold out after so many rave reviews and I was looking forward to being part of the race for the first time and sharing another stage race experience with Rob.  A few days beforehand I lost my partner Nizaam and decided to race solo.  With Trans Hajar still making my legs feel pretty heavy in the run up to Tankwa racing solo at least meant the pressure was off to hang onto a fit team mate!!

Arriving at the race village at Kaleo Guest Farm outside Ceres we found the camp set out in a way the tents were nicely in the shade and everything was within easy walking distance… a thing of high importance after a few days of racing!!!  With a delicious dinner laid on and video of the next few days ahead there was definitely an excited feel amongst everyone as we headed to our tents in preparation for the early start.

Stage One

Witzenberg Valley 83km

I don’t think I will ever get used to how early stage races start in South Africa.  The alarm sounded around camp at 4.30 and in the pitch black, people started wandering to the warmth of the tent for hot oats, homemade cereals, Fairview yogurt, a full fried breakfast, and lots of tea and coffee.  There was certainly enough choice for everyone and enough fuel to get every rider to the end!   At 6.30 we were off racing down the gravel road.  TransHajar was certainly still in the legs and I had no speed to stay high up so I didn’t kill myself and instead slowed down and settled into a nice moving group with the likes of Farmer Glen from Sani2c and Cherie Vale whom I rode with a lot of the day.  The single track was great, technical but ride able though with a lack of off road training through the English winter my nerves where with me and I chickened out of a few drops much to my annoyance!!  It was very obvious lots of the trails were designed by top mountain bikers; Hannes and Sakkie Hanekom.  The scenery was spectacular and while Cherie and I rode hard on an open road section we also had a good look around at the clouds rolling off the red mountains.

Once the single track opened up to some jeep track climbs our group spit up and I passed a lot of riders before the sweeping descent round to the finish coming in 1^st solo woman with Cherie in 2^nd and Christine in 3rd

Stage Two

Ceres Valley 89km

Rob was up and away before I even got to breakfast having got the job of setting up the first water point.  We were warned today’s stage was the tough but rewarding one one and we weren’t to be disappointed.  There was one long single-track descent next to the Gydo pass with steep switchbacks that should have been a lot of fun but there was a lot of traffic and we literally queued and waited on every turn.   Following that I rode in a group including Yolandi de Villiers and her young partner Bianca before the climbs started and I again spent most of the second half catching riders in front.  There was a lot of grinding climbs but also some fast sweeping descents and soon we arrived at the Merino Monster whose name was very appropriate.  The night before we were warned the climb was similar in length and height gained as Alpe d’Huez only this was on an unmade road and would take a lot longer!  I enjoyed the climb with its steep switchbacks and amazing views along the way and while it was nice pacing myself up it I really missed a line to follow on the descent.  I had a bit of a sugar low and battled with a few rocks in the way (!) and following that we had 10km to the finish.  That was a hard section and seemed to go on forever, my own fault as I’d presumed from the top it would be 20km of downhill to the line so didn’t take on any food or drink and paid for it later.  I came in 1^st solo again and, apart from the last 10km, was pleased with how I felt.   That afternoon was so enjoyable laid around the lounge area chatting and drinking smoothies, eating ice cream and chewing biltong. 

Stage Three

Koue Bokkevel 61km plus 26km neural

The weather had been kind to us this year, last year riders climbed The Monster in 40 degrees, this year is was more like mid 20s.  The downside to this was this morning was bitter cold and with a neutral start at 6.30 for 24km it was a chilly first hour.  I was glad for the social ride in more ways than one.  It was a chance to actually get my legs functioning better for the fast starts, but I was more thankful for it when I heard something hitting my spokes and looked down to see the Specialized Brain hanging into the wheel.  The screw had come out but was luckily still there so all I had to do was tighten it back up, it could have been a lot worse if I’d have been flying along on a fast descent.  Once at the official start Dryland had sorted out a food table, tea, coffee and portaloos before the official start around 8.30am.  With a tail wind, an open, slight down hill road and single track coming up I was flat out and you could spot anyone riding a 1x11 as we had to do around 120rpm just to keep on the wheels.  I started better and had little congestion into the single track and was all alone after the next climb into the next long section of single track through incredible rock formations.  This zigzagged along this high plateau and a number of times we caught sight of riders looping round.  I did finally find some company once the trails opened out.  The pace felt high all day with fast moving smooth tracks and was again a really enjoyable ride.  The finish was down the back of camp again like Day One through these spectacular sandstone rock formations and I was much happier how much better I rode down than the first day.  I came in 1^st; with a total ride time of 11 hours 16.  Cherie came in 2^nd at 11.47 and took back 2^nd on GC to Christine at 11.53. 

Thank you Dryland… it was my first Tankwa Trek but hopefully not my last.  This race will no doubt be another Sani2C with a Race, Adventure and Ride before long.   Rob had a blast lubing chains at the feed stations… he got to also eat fudge and kooksisters without having to ride his bike there!  Huge thanks to Johan and Mindi from Dryland for your kind hospitality, real bed and tour of Oudtshoorn.  Thankyou to Deon at Cyclefunatic of Durbanville for my Specialized Epic Expert 29er, Asrin and Nizaam; though I missed my partner’s line on those descents I did enjoy my longer than usual stops for all the feed stop delights!!  Next stop: Gr300 in 2 weeks. 

Trans Hajar MTB Race, Oman. 30th January – 3th February 2015

 Leaving a wintery flurry of snow in Newcastle behind we boarded the flight and arrived a fair few hours later to the sunshine of Muscat, the capital of Oman.  The kind hospitably we were to later see through the whole week started at our hotel where, despite it been only 5am we were allowed to check in and crash out for some good sleep.  Assembling the bikes later that morning we had a few problems involving a taxi ride to a bike shop and a road side fix in the heat and my front brake refused to work at all.  Both tired it wasn’t the best start to the week but better to get the issues sorted and despite that we did find the sea on our ride over a small mountain and also found a bakery cooking flat Lebanese bread while we waited.

 

The following morning we got a taxi to the airport and after meeting a few other Brits there including Matt Page, got the transfer to the race start.  3 hours later we were on the 1000m plateau under the vast Hajar mountains, unpacking the bikes, throwing bags in tents with their big thick mattresses and getting into lycra ready for the afternoon prolougue. 

Stage One

44km Sint Bowl TT  (930m ascent)

To go from snow a few days ago and spending the winter riding on roads to setting off at 2pm in the 30-degree heat down a rocky loose descent was a shock to the system to say the least and I found it hard

to really get into race pace. The two laps took around 1 hour 50 and I came in 3^rd elite woman behind Hungarian Champion Eszter Dosa and South African Hannele Steyn.   I lost 6 minutes which is massive in such a short time, though I felt good I really didn’t suffer enough and gave myself a lot to do the next four days.  That evening we sat listening to the race briefing on bean bags under the stars before eating in the Arabian style tent.  Around midnight I lay awake for a few hours and ventured to the bathrooms.  I will never forget the surreal feeling of walking along in the warmth in PJs and trainers looking up at star formations I’ve never seen before and seeing the mountains glow under the full moon.

Stage Two

127km Wadi Bani Awf (2038m ascent)

Before light we all jumped into buses and travelled to the top of Oman’s highest pass at 2,010m.  Why a road was built up there no one knew but the other side was only a dirt road so maybe the planners had also had second thoughts! We were neutralized down in groups of 10 and stopped again at the bottom.  Matt Page had had a lucky escape on the way down.  His front brake failed and he used some cyclo cross skills to jump off, falling once off but only picking up cuts and bruises.  He was no doubt going 40 plus km/s hour so was very lucky as the drops on the side went a long way down.  The elite men went off first followed by 4 of us woman.  I rode with Eszter to start with but got a gap on one of the climbs and pushed on.  I was convinced we would probably get swallowed up by the men behind and kept expecting to look round to see a group once we were on the flat but none ever came.  In hindsight it would have been a less soul-searching day if I’d have sat up a few minutes but I was 6 minutes down so had a lot of work to do if I wanted to win.  The route was pretty flat and there seemed a constant head wind.  After the second water stop with 32km to go we started climbing through a spectacular deep canyon.  The scenery was amazing but after such a long lonely 30-degree ride the climbs and views weren’t really appreciated.  I passed the only rider I had seen in 100km, one of the elite riders walking up a climb who later got stretchered into the ambulance with dehydration.  I was very happy to see the finish line after 5 hours and even happier to pull back the 6 minutes I had lost yesterday.  Only 4 seconds separated Ezster and me now.  James Reid held onto his lead with two out of two wins.  We got a bus back to camp where lunch and dinner pretty much merged together.  The back markers together with Rob who was in the sweep vehicle arrived much later in the dark.

Day Three

64km Tanuf (2732m ascent)

The start was another bus drive away of around 1 hour 30 but was worth it for the treats in store today!  After a long 12km climb where I’ll admit I put in extra effort to stay with another rider for the company as much as the draft resulted in the most spectacular views I can remember and while we were racing hard there was no way I was not going to look around and appreciate where I was.  My Swiss friend soon was lost out of sight as the descent went down the mountain side on an impressive man made single track.  Smooth in places and wild and rocky the next it was pretty unpredictable and I took extra care in protecting my tyres from the sharp unforgiving rocks.   At the bottom Matt was just behind me and we worked together and caught my Swiss friend ahead.  We zig zagged through the back lanes of a beautiful fig plantation and then got some quick miles done on the flat open road.  Following the final feed was a mountain pass on gravel roads back over to camp.  The other two rode away from me, my earlier efforts and yesterdays time trial had caught up and I used every granny gear I had to get over the steep climbs.  Coming in 1^st I extended my lead and finishing today at camp gave us a lot more extra relaxing social time enjoying a lunch of chicken kebab, humus and wraps.  The race had even provided a masseur who dug deep into my very sore back and super tight IT band.  Rob arrived earlier too having amused his new found friends at the back of the race by running past them all back from the last feed over the pass.  It was a good job he was happy to run as his bike was slowly been taken apart and used as spares for fellow riders!! 

Day Four

47km Jebel Shams (2000m ascent)

We had a very civilized start of 8.30am so pulled open the tent to see the red mountains ahead as the sun came up.  The race started as it meant to go on, up hill.  With only 47km and around 2000m climbing it was always going to be short and intense.  The route was an out and back with a loop at the top.  The first climb was a gravel road, the reverse of the way in yesterday.  The elite men rode away leaving the rest of us in ones and twos.  Following that descent we turned up the main tarred climb of the day, around 8km and apparently averaged 26%, steep enough to be in the smallest gear at times.  The views were amazing from the top and well worth the effort.  We descended into a very remote village, met the village idiot standing in front of most of the riders to greet us on a steep downhill and looped round through a river bed to climb back out. There was a nasty steep climb back up then an extremely fast descent back down the road passing the back markers walking up and Rob in the sweep car.  The final climb was a repeat of yesterday and then straight into the finish. 

One of the topics of conversation again was why such a big smooth road was built up such a steep mountainside.  Apparently once a year the Sultan of Oman goes round the villages asking what they want and presumably this village far out in the middle of no where must have fancied a real road to get in and out of and to get to their new huge school just built.

Day Five

100km Jebel Kwar (1758m ascent)

The final start was at a chilly 7am in order to get everyone round before the presentation.  Racing along the duel track we had done a lifetime ago in the prologue I soon warmed up hanging onto the back end of the elite men.  We came out of there onto a smooth road which rolled nicely for a few km's, now in the warm sunshine before hitting the roughest descent of the event so far.  Rob was at the top warning us of some deep ditches, handy since we were all coming downhill straight off the fast tarmac.  The men were out of sight in seconds and though I rode a fair bit down I was slow and picked my line.  A couple of very close crashes and I decided to hop off and run.  It’s always hard to get the confidence to get going again after that and I was on and off all the way as were most of the riders behind the lead bunch.  Back on the road was a real fast tail wind, I was caught by my Swiss friend’s teammate and we worked together to catch one then another 2 forming a small bunch as we came off the road and headed along a rough jeep track.  I saw the markers for the 2^nd climb pretty late and we turned up a great technical rocky climb.   Following that there was just two of us and we stayed together thankfully as the route turned onto the road and into a head wind for the final section.  The views back to the finish from the valley were interesting enough to take your mind off back pain and aching legs and soon we were on the final 4km pass up and along to camp.  I had won the stage and taken the overall so there was a big sense of relief, especially as I had spent a lot of the day convinced I had a slow flat then thinking my BB was gradually getting stiffer and stiffer. 

Eszter came in 2^nd and Hannele in 3^rd.   In the men’s event the front few had missed the markers and the 2^nd climb.  They were given a 15-minute penalty so it didn’t affect the overall GC and James Reid claimed overall victory, Kevin Evans 2^nd and Max Knox in 3^rd. 

All the local dignitaries came along for the awards ceremony that gave it a special feel as well as the local Oman TV station and other journalists.  A lot of people then left camp but we were treated to the best dinner yet including some delicious BBQ’d fish, lamb and chicken and lots of chocolate cake followed by a surreal few hours watching a movie projected onto the big screen sat outside under the stars on the bean bags. 

Thankyou to all the organizers from Oman Sail, I would certainly love to come back and race in Oman again, the event surpassed my expectations lots in the variety of riding, the luxury tent facilities, the food and the friendless of all the fellow riders.  A race definitely recommended for anyone in Europe to avoid the winter blues and anyone wanting some early Cape Epic preparation as many of the routes and descents were similar.  Thankyou to Nizaam at Asrin and Deon at Cyclefunatics in Durbanville for all your support, to Les at Continental for my X King Protection tyres and De Wet for the Squirt Lube, both essential in the sand and on those sharp rocks. 

Oman was a fantastic stop over on route to South Africa where the next race will be Tankwa Trek and GR300 leading up to the Cape Epic in March. 

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.