Voorbereiding vir RASA 2011

Oor 7 weke is ek teen hierdie al twee dae oppad. As alles volgens plan verloop slaap ek dan op Ntsikeni. Ek sien die Woolnoughs is in dieselfde groep as ek. Dit behoort te help met die navigasie! Die oefening verloop heel goed. Ek het die afgelope 14 dae 391 km gedoen met gemiddeld 15 meter per km se klim. RASA se gemiddeld is 16. Beplan om volgende week weer een la-a-ang dag in te kry en dan is dit die Saronberg MTN op 14 Mei en Dirtopia se 100 miler op 21 Mei. Daarna sal ek dit "rustiger" vat tot en met 12 Junie, wanneer die groot uitdaging begin.

21 Argusse

Ek het toe op 13 Maart my 21ste Argus, met dieselfde fiets, voltooi. Die prestasie om 21 Argusse op een fiets te voltooi was baie bevredigdnd, maar my "werkverrigting" op die dag was glad nie na wense nie. Die bene wou net nie teen die pas werk wat ek verlang het nie. Die gevolg was dat ek die swakste posisie ooit en my tweede swakste tyd, ooit behaal het. Ek het sommer teen Oostelike Boulevard al besef fat dit nie my dag vir 'n goeie tyd was nie en dit toe maar rustig gevat. Het die rit baie geniet en geen ander probleme ondervind nie. Nou kan ek darem volgende jaar daarna mik op 'n wesenlike verbeterring op vanjaar se 4,506 en 3:27 te maak

Grape Escape day 3

We slept over at Samburu, about 5 km from Boschendal. I was up early and left at 06:15 to be in time for the 07:00 start. Once again it was a mad rush as soon as the gun went off. Fortunately we first did some fairly flat roads, which gave us ample time to "warm up", but that lasted for only about 2 km, then we encountered the first hill. Once again nothing too serious and the pace remained high. The first "big hill" came at 7 km. 550 meters of climbing in less than 3 km. Then followed a nice, mostly downhiil section of 9 km. Thereafter the climb of the day. 500 meters in 3 km with a final climb of 130 meters during the last 180 meters. The rest of the course was quite senic with some minor ups and downs and some nice single tracks and a couple of wet river crossings. Total time 3 hrs 35 min; 59.09 km; 1108 meters climbing and 2361 kalories burnt. I finished 171 out of 404. Overall I finished 126 out of 400. All in all a wonderful event and another milestone in my preparation for the Freedom Challenge. Next challenge will be the Karoo 1 24 hour race on 9/10 April.

Grape Escape day 2

I slept over at Kabous' place on Friday because he lives very near to Nelson's Creek. We therefore cycled to the start at 06:45 and got there at 07:00, well in time for the 07:30 start. All the "big guns" were there again, but as it was racing from the gun, I did not see much of them. The route took us through the vineyards and district roads north of Nelsons Creek via some twists and turns, across the Berg River and up to the railway line going north. We then went some distance along the railway and crossed the Wellington/Hermon road heading into the farms on the slope of Groenberg. I thought we would do some of Welvanpass' single tracks, but we did not go there. We did use some of the tracks used for the Wilde and Gravel Travel MTB races. The "cherry" was the road past Beulah and up to the forest just below the old Du Toitskloof Pass. 348 meters of climbing over a distance of 5.35 km. That was quite a challenge! The views were breathtaking. From there it was mostly downhill to the Paarl/Franschoek road. The interesting fact was that there were a number of "unridable" sections on this stretch. Fortunately none were much longer than 10 meters or so. Once we crossed the tar road the route was fairly flat with a nice "cool" crossing of the Berg River were it was flowing over a low water bridge. When we crossed the Simondium road and my trip meter was showing 73 km of the supposed 74 km race distance, I was looking forward to finishing. One of the marshals showed 4 fingers as I passed her, which I thought ment 400 meters. I very quickly realized that that was 4 km, especially when the route took us on a detour around Boschendal. My joy was great when we finally reach the end with a nice little "jump" to finish off the race. 78 km; 4 hrs 43 min; 1367 meter climbing and 3113 calories burnt. I finished 171 out of 505. Although my behind was getting a little tender, I enjoyed the day, especially the fact that I overhauled a number of people, whom dropped me at the beginning, at some of the bigger hills and towards the end. Now I am looking forward to the final day, which includes some "monster" climbs. Fortunately we are starting at 07:00 so the heat should not be that bad.

Grape Escape dag 1

Vrydag 4 Maart 2011. Die Grape Escape begin vanoggend 09:00 op my voorstoep. Ons spring vanaf Eden on the Bay weg. Kabous Marra arriveer 07:30. 'n Werkskrisis duik op en ons kom eers 08:25 weg. Dit is egter so naby dat ons 08:30 by die wegspring is. Ek is in Groep A, saam met al die "Groot manne". Gelukkig is die eers 8 km "nutraal" as gevolg van verkeer, dus kan ek darem so 'n rukkie saam met hulle ry. Een groot bondel ry saam tot by die Caltex Garage in Gieweg. Dan begin die wedren in alle erns. Ons volg paadjies aan die Noorde kant van Du Noon tot by die N7 wat ons onderdeur met 'n stormwater bruggie kruis. Dan op na Contermanskloof. Klim redelik baie tot by begin van Kliprug en dan af na die plaas. Kabous, wat in die groep na my begin het, vang my by die eerste waterpunt. Daar verby, op teerpad en met Malanshoogte oor na Adderleyweg. Regs met Occultdale en dan verby die windkragopwekkers. Gelukkig is die kwaai klimme vir die dag verby. Draai regs na Leenwendans en dan terug in die rigting van die Boland Landbou Skool. Laaste waterpunt so 18 km van einde. Kabous sê ek moet aan ry, hy voel 'n bietjie op. Ons volg grond en plaaspaaie deur tot by Nelsons Creek. 87 km, 4 uur 20 min, 3291 kalorië verbrand en 993 meter geklim. Kabous kom so 10 min na my in. Lekker dag. Stert 'n bietjie seer maar bene voel redelik. Sien uit na dag twee wat 07:30 by Nelson's Creek begin. Eindig 144ste uit 595 beginners.

24 hours of Oak Valley

The next step in my preparation for the Freedom Challenge, was the 24 hours of Oak Valley presented by Dirtopia at Oak Valley Farm, Elgin on 29/30 January 2011. We aim was to get some extended time in the saddle and also to see what I feel like after such a long ride. I may just find that I have to spend some extended time in the saddle during the Freedom Challenge and then I will at least be able to call on this experience. I asked my brother to second for me. We left Bloubergstrand at 08:45 and arrived at Oak Valley at 09:45, giving me ample time to register and giving my brother the opportunity the set himself up for the time that we will be spending there. We found quite a nice spot, which was not too far out of the way of the actual course. I could thus quite easily pop into our "refreshment station".

The race got off promptly at 12:00 with a Le Mans start. We had to run the length of a rugby field to get to our bicycles! I got away towards the back, but once again it did not bother me too much. I was here to enjoy the experience and not to race. The race was open for Solo riders and teams. ??? solo riders entered and ?? teams. Teams had five categories of 4 riders per team and a fun category with 5-8 riders per team.

The course was approximately 9 km long with 105 meters of climbing per lap. Most of the climbing happened in the first 3 km of the lap. There also was a very nice down hill and some interesting "fence crossings" as well as three sections of single track among some trees. There also was a "nasty" downhill section of approximately 50 meters, which was getting slipperier as the race progress, due to some water seepage. A lap took between 25 and 35 minutes to complete. My time varied between 28:55 and 37:36 for riding time. I did drop in for some "extended rests" at my "support station" after dark, with the result that some lap times extended to 50-60 minutes.

I decided to "push on" for as long as I felt reasonably OK. Before dark, I did notice that a guy with a Hammer Nutrition cycling top passed me at least three times. Fatigue did not really set in and I felt so good after some of the extended rests that I decided to keep going. I was quite surprised in the early morning hours, when I was informed that I have taken "the lead". I was not quite sure what was ment with this comment, but at that stage my closest rival was Hanneli Booysen, who was sleeping. I therefore decided to keep going for as long as possible. By nine o'clock, my brother was informed that I was so far ahead in the Solo category, that I can go and have a sleep until 11:45 as nobody would overtake me. I did not really believed this and just kept going. Everything was working fine. My bike was 100% reliable and I had no mechanical problems. I only oiled the change three times, as the course was becoming very dusty. My back side was getting quite tender and I picked up a "chafe mark" on my right hand. My left knee was giving some minor problems, but regular extensions and the extended rests, cured that. My legs were "OK" but could feel I have been in the saddle for awhile. The muscles at the back of the neck also tend to start hurting. I managed to turn out regular laps of 35 minutes and felt quite confident that if I managed to keep this up, I may just win the race!

The rules stipulated that all laps started before 12:00 on Sunday will be counted, but must be completed. By 10:00 I felt confident that I would be able to complete 4 and start a 5th lap before 12:00. I duly started my second last lap at 11:02 and therefore quite easily managed a final lap, which I completed at 12:20. 39 laps, 343 km and the surprise winner of the Solo Mens category. The guy from Hammer Nutrition finished second. He picked up major problems with cramps after 14 laps and that is why I managed to beat him. So I picked a Princeton cycling light and a cash prize of R1,000 for the weekend's effort. Not a bad return for a wonderful event, which was well organised at a good venue. Even the weather was kind. Although Saturday afternoon was hot, it cooled down during the evening and Sunday morning turned out overcast. The clouds did disappear by about 10:30, but by that time there was only 1 hour 30 minutes to go.

FC Scholarship Fund

Commitments for the Scholaship Fund tied to my Freedom Challenge ride in June, is standing at R14,040. The latest people to give me commitments are Trevor Pascoe and Danie Maritz Racing. Thanks you guys. May you be richly blessed.