And they're off... let the series begin!
The first MTN ultra marathon national of 2012 also marked the first time I made an appearance on the start line in Barbeton (well over due I must add!). Traveling to this side of South Africa (from my home town Cape Town) for the weekend to race is well worth it! The landscape is perfectly sculptured for mountain biking and the Advendurence guys do a superb job in making use of this and providing us with a world class event consisting of about 3000 meters of climbing over 120km.
Its a long day on Friday beginning with the usual early morning last minute packing and rushing to the airport before chilling and reading a book on the plane for 2hrs followed by organizing a car, building and packing bikes and driving from Joberg only to arrive at our accommodation in Barbeton just before 5pm. Needless to say the evening spin to check the bike is all good and try loosen up the legs felt horrendous especially with the sight of the soaring mountains behind Barbeton knowing that's what is in stall for us in about 12hrs time...
Saturday 06h50 (10min to the start):
The start area is over flowing with incredibly talented mountain bikers from around the country. The nervous feeling inside of me was over-shadowed by the excitement and eagerness to get racing. As soon as the neutral zone came to an end there was no doubt the racing had begun. We scrambled through the first tight section of jeep-track to exit onto some gravel road with a front bunch of about 20 guys, which was short lived as we started the 14km, 1000m ascent. What a spectacular climb! I was taking a bit of strain in trying to keep up with the pace set early on the lower slopes. Reaching the first tech zone on the other side of the mountain I found myself a bit isolated about 2min behind the leaders. I continued to hold a solid pace through the many river crossings trying to take note as I knew we would be repeating this section again in the latter part of the race. One thing I certainly took note of was a monster of a snake that my wheels (and ankle) came within an inch of as I went round a corner! It was so fat that it would have had no problem at all in swallowing a skinny mountain biker like me! I was rather skittish after that as everything I saw looked like a snake and was a little nervous to have to pass that same point again later in the race. Fortunately for me the next time round I was accompanied by my team mate Charles (Blend Property) and Adrian Niyonshuti (MTN Qhubeka) along with masses of other riders from the shorter marathon race. Hence I didn't see the creature again.
With the fast pace up the first climb and my steady tempo riding seemed to have played in my favor as we encountered the second major climb of the race after 80km. Each corner I went round I saw a fellow rider in front of me and I managed to ride a solid pace and pass 5 guys going up the climb. This put me in 8th position at the third tech zone with about 25km to go and followed closely behind after getting two punctures earlier in the race and chasing back was my Blend team mate Charles. After about four and a half hours of racing, the endless river crossings and short sharp climbs began to wreak havoc with my legs and I just couldn't hold onto the back wheels of Charles and Adrian on one of them towards the end, therefore crossing the finish line in 9th place.
I was happy to have placed in the top 10 especially with such a quality field of riders, which makes for a good start to the series and something to try keep up and possibly build on as the year progresses. Its great to have my Blend Property team mate Charles back this year to race with along with the new younger addition to our team Ruan du Toit. Also an often over-looked member of our team who plays a vital role is my number one supporter and wife, Jayde. She does a fantastic job behind the scene making sure all we have to do is ride our bikes as hard as we possible can as well as our sponsors Blend Property for making it all possible for us and Gu Energy supplements keeping us properly fueled.
The first MTN ultra marathon national of 2012 also marked the first time I made an appearance on the start line in Barbeton (well over due I must add!). Traveling to this side of South Africa (from my home town Cape Town) for the weekend to race is well worth it! The landscape is perfectly sculptured for mountain biking and the Advendurence guys do a superb job in making use of this and providing us with a world class event consisting of about 3000 meters of climbing over 120km.
Its a long day on Friday beginning with the usual early morning last minute packing and rushing to the airport before chilling and reading a book on the plane for 2hrs followed by organizing a car, building and packing bikes and driving from Joberg only to arrive at our accommodation in Barbeton just before 5pm. Needless to say the evening spin to check the bike is all good and try loosen up the legs felt horrendous especially with the sight of the soaring mountains behind Barbeton knowing that's what is in stall for us in about 12hrs time...
Saturday 06h50 (10min to the start):
The start area is over flowing with incredibly talented mountain bikers from around the country. The nervous feeling inside of me was over-shadowed by the excitement and eagerness to get racing. As soon as the neutral zone came to an end there was no doubt the racing had begun. We scrambled through the first tight section of jeep-track to exit onto some gravel road with a front bunch of about 20 guys, which was short lived as we started the 14km, 1000m ascent. What a spectacular climb! I was taking a bit of strain in trying to keep up with the pace set early on the lower slopes. Reaching the first tech zone on the other side of the mountain I found myself a bit isolated about 2min behind the leaders. I continued to hold a solid pace through the many river crossings trying to take note as I knew we would be repeating this section again in the latter part of the race. One thing I certainly took note of was a monster of a snake that my wheels (and ankle) came within an inch of as I went round a corner! It was so fat that it would have had no problem at all in swallowing a skinny mountain biker like me! I was rather skittish after that as everything I saw looked like a snake and was a little nervous to have to pass that same point again later in the race. Fortunately for me the next time round I was accompanied by my team mate Charles (Blend Property) and Adrian Niyonshuti (MTN Qhubeka) along with masses of other riders from the shorter marathon race. Hence I didn't see the creature again.
I was happy to have placed in the top 10 especially with such a quality field of riders, which makes for a good start to the series and something to try keep up and possibly build on as the year progresses. Its great to have my Blend Property team mate Charles back this year to race with along with the new younger addition to our team Ruan du Toit. Also an often over-looked member of our team who plays a vital role is my number one supporter and wife, Jayde. She does a fantastic job behind the scene making sure all we have to do is ride our bikes as hard as we possible can as well as our sponsors Blend Property for making it all possible for us and Gu Energy supplements keeping us properly fueled.
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