The Herald VW Cycle Tour

Conditions don't look that bad... mmm...

One of the classics in the country and the same as last weekend (MTN National Barbeton) yet another debut attending this cycling weekend in Port Elizabeth.

It was very unfortunate that the weather didn't play its part and the heavy rain in the days leading up to the weekend made for some ridiculous conditions and the organizers had to completely revise the 80km mountain bike route in order for us to still have a race! Having driven up from Cape Town for the weekend it was definitely not an option to skip the race because of this although the thought did cross my mind at one stage due to the maintenance and repair my bike would need afterwards...

Not even 5km into the race and we were already ducking and diving all over the road to try avoid the "lakes" and mud, however, some were unavoidable and when you see the guy in front of you disappear waist deep in water all I thought of doing was holding my breath...


Not long into the race the field had split up and I found myself in the front group of 5 guys as we encountered the first big climb. Kevin Evans (360life) set a solid pace in the beginning which got increasingly faster and harder as the climb went on. I held in there until just before the top and was then able to reconnect on the descent on the other side. However, the muddy conditions began to catch up with my bike, which then started to become like a stubborn donkey and refusing to move. My chain got jammed on a slight incline and forced me to get off and run to the top. After this we went down some very slippery single tracks which reminded me of going down those super tube rides in Sun City. After this I never saw the leaders again and at one stage in chasing as best I could I rode through a huge puddle at speed and lost my bike from underneath me. This left me with a nice big cut to my shin and a broken front derailleur and shifter. Unfortunately this marked the end of my race at about 65km.

Although there was much disappointment in the end, at least I managed to still go out there and try my best! Well done to Kevin Evans (360life) for taking the win on the day, he really knows how to handle all kinds of conditions! Read more here: Herald VW official report

Not a pretty sight!

I then had the road race to contend with the following day before heading straight back to Cape Town and lets just say that also didn't go to plan...

Next up, I'm very excited to be heading into the magnificent Cederberg mountains the following weekend for the 3-day Ride the Rock mountain bike race.