The second year running of the joBerg2c 9-day mountain biking stage race saw some fierce competition on the start line in Heidelberg on Friday 29th April 2011. This was due to the large prize money up for grabs for the team crossing the finish line 9 days later on the beach in Scottburgh with the fastest accumulated time.
Stu and I were ready for the challenge after feeling good and having an easy 114km none-racing day 1 (due to the dragon boat crossing of the Vaal dam).
The first race day arrived on day 2 and for some reason I had a bad day and felt very flat! Stu was feeling good and had to drag me through the stage, which turned out to be one of the worst days ever for me on the bike! We managed to finish the stage in 4th position a few minutes behind the leading 3 teams. I managed to regain my legs a bit the next day and race the majority of the long 124km stage to Sterkfontein Dam with the leading bunch of 4 teams (RE:CM, Fed Group Berg and Bush, MTN Do It Now, and team Blend Property). I, however, wasn't completely recovered from the previous day. Once again we finished 4th a few minutes behind the first 3 teams.
The next day was another big day and I seemed be feeling better each day especially seeing that the real climbing was about to begin. Unfortunately for us after the first climb early in the stage Stu broke his chain. This ended up costing us a lot of time to fix and further lost time and frustration from being stuck behind hundreds of riders on single tracks in trying to catch up again. We rode a good consistent stage from then on and ended up finishing in 6th place only about 3min behind 4th and 5th place, therefore doing a great job in limiting our losses.
The next day (day 5), we overcame a huge physical and mental barrier to finish the stage in 3th place! This would be our first podium of the race. From this day onwards we gained momentum as we were both riding strong and enjoying ourselves as we mixed it up with the other 3 leading teams and continued to increase our lead over the 5th placed team on the overall standings.
Our consistency prevailed as our podium on day 5 ended up being our first of 5 podiums for the remaining 5 stages of the race! This came even after having another day of mechanicals on the second last day (day 8) where Stu punctured and we had to stop a number of times to pump up his rear tire.
The final day was a real show down for an exciting finish on the beach in Scottburgh. Stu and I were feeling good and racing strong up front. The stage came down to the last two kilometers where there was a tussle to enter the last bit of single track and onto the beach first for a sprint finish. Stu and I managed to claim our 5th consecutive podium of 3rd place. Although we had caught up quite a lot of the lost time from the first few days over the last 5 days, it wasn't enough for us to overtake the 3rd place team of MTN Do It Now in the overall standing and therefore we finished up the 9 days in 4th place.
In the end we were pleased to come in the top 5 and even more happy about our 5 consecutive podiums in the last 5 days. The riding was magnificent and the organization of the event was flawless. Stu and I gained some valuable experience and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! A big thank you goes out to Venetia our support crew and most importantly to Martin from Blend Property for making it all happen!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tokai Mast Challenge
I consider Tokai forest as my back garden because all my mountain bike training incorporates some riding on the forest trails. Much of my hard hill training is also done in Tokai as there is a long grueling climb that takes you all the way up to the mast on top of the Constantiaberg mountain at an altitude of 930 meters above sea level. Once a year this climb plays host to the First Ascent Tokai Mast Challenge, where mountain bikers and runners battle it out to see who can get up to the top in the fastest possible time.
The race therefore only takes place over a short distance of about 11km and is in the formate of a time trail. Due to this formate there would be no easing up along the way as I knew I would have to just go as hard as I possibly could as one does not know who might do the fastest time until everyone was finished and back down the mountain.
Unfortunately the weather didn't play along on the day as the gale-force south easterly wind was gusting near the top half of the climb such that at times you were almost standing still and about to fall over! This made for some even more challenging conditions and slightly slower times than anticipated.
I felt good and managed to put in a big effort to get up to the top in a time of 40min26sec with a average speed of 16.7km/hr. I then had to wait until just before prize giving to see how I shaped up against all the other competitors. I have always wanted to win this event as firstly it is a nice title to win, being the fastest person to get to the top and secondly because it is my back garden. To my relief I ended up with the fastest time overall and had the privilege of lifting the trophy! (Garmin connect file above and photos soon to follow).
The race therefore only takes place over a short distance of about 11km and is in the formate of a time trail. Due to this formate there would be no easing up along the way as I knew I would have to just go as hard as I possibly could as one does not know who might do the fastest time until everyone was finished and back down the mountain.
Unfortunately the weather didn't play along on the day as the gale-force south easterly wind was gusting near the top half of the climb such that at times you were almost standing still and about to fall over! This made for some even more challenging conditions and slightly slower times than anticipated.
I felt good and managed to put in a big effort to get up to the top in a time of 40min26sec with a average speed of 16.7km/hr. I then had to wait until just before prize giving to see how I shaped up against all the other competitors. I have always wanted to win this event as firstly it is a nice title to win, being the fastest person to get to the top and secondly because it is my back garden. To my relief I ended up with the fastest time overall and had the privilege of lifting the trophy! (Garmin connect file above and photos soon to follow).
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
SA Marathon Mountain Biking Champs 2011, KZN
Most likely the biggest race on the calendar for the year is the South African Championships as all the best riders turn up to race for the national title. This years event was held at Inanda Dam in the vicinity of the valley of a thousand hills in KZN. This would be the first time I would ever venture into this region. It was quite something driving to the race in the morning down the steep winding road into the valley. I really felt like I was in the heart of Africa and it was quite hard to believe that we were only 15min from Hillcrest!
The race was set over a shorter distance than usual for the elites, 84km as apposed to the standard ultra marathon distances of over 100km. The intention was that the route was more technical than usual and was still expected to yield a winning time of over 4hrs. The route profile also shows that the race consisted of many shorter sharp climbs and therefore resembled more of a cross-country like formate. This doesn't really suite me as I prefer the big longer climbs and cross-country mountain bike racing is not my strong point. However, it was SA Champs and I was there to give everything I had to get me to the finish line in the best possible position.
The first 15 odd kilometers of the race was very intense as the guys raced to get to the technical single tracks in a good position. I was struggling to hang on to the fast pace from the gun, but just kept it consistent. After 20km I managed to settle down and caught back up to quite a few guys.
At one point in the race I was cruising down one of the steep descents and then couldn't slow down in time for a sharp turn that was to take us off the gravel road onto some single track. Needless to say I tried making the corner but failed and went straight over my handle bars into the bushes. There happened to be some community kids watching at that point and of coarse they found this very amusing! I quickly straightened up my saddle and remounted as a small group of guys came up from behind me.
I stuck with this group for some part of the way until about 25km to go we came across a very steep climb. I was on the front of the group and made the mistake of not changing from my front big chain ring into the smaller chain ring in time. My only option was to push hard in the big blade and simply attack, which I did. Once I got to the top I had quite a big gap on the others and then thought that it was time to put my head down and keep going as hard as I possibly could to the finish.
This turned out to be a great move as I caught up and passed 4 riders. I then caught up to Ben Swanepoel who stayed with me for the last 10km. However, this part of the course consisted of lots of technical single track and I was starting to get rather tied from my hard efforts. I started making a few mistakes on the single track that caused me to loose the wheel of Ben and therefore finishing about 30sec behind him in 11th place.
My finishing time was 3hr40min (15min after the winner Burry Stander of Mr Price Specialized) and therefore much quicker than the anticipated over 4hr winning time of the course! Just shows how good the standard of mountain biking is in South Africa at the moment and therefore after just missing out on the top 10 I could still be very happy with my performance (as I was just 4min after 7th place). What also made a big difference for me was that I had my wife, Jayde there for support and to provide me with much necessary backup along the way!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour (AKA Funriders World Champs)
Ten days ago I was standing on the Blouwberg beach front about to start the Grape Escape 3-day mountain biking stage race, then I went into the Tour de Boland 4-day road stage race from Tuesday to Friday and now finally the Argus Cycle Tour on Sunday to finish off my week of racing 8 out of 10 days. Needless to say its been a tough week, but there I was ready and amped to fight out my 19th consecutive Argus Cycle Tour amongst the South African pro teams all aiming to be the first across the line in Green Point a little while later.
The conditions were perfect, however, we had a very large first (Invitational) bunch of 217 riders that set off in the dark at 06h15 and headed out of the city center. Things were a little edgy as usual in the beginning as everyone remained together and jostled for positions within the large bunch of riders. I tried my best to stay within the front half of the bunch, not wanting to miss out on any of the action up front.
As soon as we hit Boys Drive the attacks really began and the pace lifted in a big way as no-one was letting anyone get ahead up the road. I managed to stay with all the surges and the group still remained relatively large as we went over Smitswinkel.
I knew it was all going to come down to Chappies and Suikebossie! As we approached Chappies I somehow found myself too far back in the bunch and I therefore had to work really hard up Chappies as the group strung out and I had to make up ground. I fortunately managed to get over the top hanging onto the back of the lead bunch of riders. Now the group was whittled down to much fewer riders as we approached Suikebossie.
Suikebossie we hard! Some of the none sprinters (eg. mountain bikers) went very hard up there to try get away and leave the faster finishers behind. A group of about 10 guys managed to get a small gap over the top and I was just behind. Of coarse as you start descending this gap increases very quickly and I found myself in the chasing group a few second behind. We quickly caught back on a few kilometers down Suikebossie before we reached Camps Bay. Now the race to the finish line was on!
The pace was so fast I could only just hang in the group which now only consisted of about 40 riders! I could only watch as the teams, particularly MTN Qhubeka who were driving the pace, organized themselves to position their key sprinters in the right position for the last few hundred meters dash for the line.
In the end it was Tyler Day of Team Bonitas that took the sprint and I came in a comfortable 28th position with the same winning time of 2hr32min (average speed: 43.1km/hr). I was very happy to finish up with the very front bunch that consisted of a little over 40 riders after starting with over 200 and therefore a great way to end my hard week of racing!
The conditions were perfect, however, we had a very large first (Invitational) bunch of 217 riders that set off in the dark at 06h15 and headed out of the city center. Things were a little edgy as usual in the beginning as everyone remained together and jostled for positions within the large bunch of riders. I tried my best to stay within the front half of the bunch, not wanting to miss out on any of the action up front.
As soon as we hit Boys Drive the attacks really began and the pace lifted in a big way as no-one was letting anyone get ahead up the road. I managed to stay with all the surges and the group still remained relatively large as we went over Smitswinkel.
I knew it was all going to come down to Chappies and Suikebossie! As we approached Chappies I somehow found myself too far back in the bunch and I therefore had to work really hard up Chappies as the group strung out and I had to make up ground. I fortunately managed to get over the top hanging onto the back of the lead bunch of riders. Now the group was whittled down to much fewer riders as we approached Suikebossie.
Suikebossie we hard! Some of the none sprinters (eg. mountain bikers) went very hard up there to try get away and leave the faster finishers behind. A group of about 10 guys managed to get a small gap over the top and I was just behind. Of coarse as you start descending this gap increases very quickly and I found myself in the chasing group a few second behind. We quickly caught back on a few kilometers down Suikebossie before we reached Camps Bay. Now the race to the finish line was on!
The pace was so fast I could only just hang in the group which now only consisted of about 40 riders! I could only watch as the teams, particularly MTN Qhubeka who were driving the pace, organized themselves to position their key sprinters in the right position for the last few hundred meters dash for the line.
In the end it was Tyler Day of Team Bonitas that took the sprint and I came in a comfortable 28th position with the same winning time of 2hr32min (average speed: 43.1km/hr). I was very happy to finish up with the very front bunch that consisted of a little over 40 riders after starting with over 200 and therefore a great way to end my hard week of racing!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tour de Boland 2011
The Le Coq Sportif Tour de Boland (TdB) has taken over from the Giro de Capo in 2011. This would be my first road racing multi-stage race. As it is classified as a professional event I would have to race for a team, in which case the Marties Team kindly gave me a spot on their team. This race was included as part of my ambitious week of racing 8 out of 10 days. Therefore after only one days rest since the third and final day of the Grape Escape I would start stage one of the TdB with three days of mountain bike racing already in my legs.
Stage 1: 147km, Paarl-Bainskloof pass-Wolseley-R44 loop
Soon after the start in Paarl, after a few incidences in the first few kilometers due to the slick road surface from light rain we were to start climbing Bainskloof. This was going to be the first real test for my legs to assess their condition and set the stage for the next 4 days. Unfortunately they weren't feeling quite up to what they should be and therefore I took strain trying to hang on to the main bunch towards the top of the climb. However, with taking a few risks on the decent, a few other riders and I were able to catch back on to the main bunch. A fairly large break away group of about 10 riders managed to get away. As we headed back towards Wellington along the R44 the wind came from the side and resulted in some hard "gutter" riding as the main bunch split into 3 groups. However, everything came back together before Wellington except for the breakaway bunch whom still held about a 2 minute gap on the main pelaton, which is how the stage ended after 3hr38min of racing in Paarl.
Stage 2: 135km, Paarl-Du Toits Kloof pass-Worcester-Bainskloof pass-Paarl
Only 6km from the start of todays stage 2 we approached the bottom of Du Toits Kloof pass and then it would be a long 14km climb to the summit. I knew today's stage was going to be a tough one especially after how my legs performed yesterday on Bainskloof pass. None-the-less I took major shots going up the pass and got dropped by the main bunch about half way up. This meant that there was still another 7km to go to the top! This was unusual for me as I normally like the long climbs and this was one of the reasons why I always wanted to do this race. However, having done the Grape Escape before hand my condition starting this race was definitely worse off than most of the other riders. There was still a long way to go to the finish of the stage after Du Toits Kloof but fortunately for me there was a decent bunch of riders who were also dropped up the climb and we could therefore work together. We did so for a long way until we almost caught back up to the main bunch at the bottom of Bainskloof where unfortunately there was a minor crash as the bunch entered a narrow bridge section. This resulted in the convoy of backup vehicles behind the bunch coming to a standstill and blocking the bridge for us to get through and join onto the main bunch. After getting through and across the bridge we had already put in a big effort in trying to catch up to this point and it was difficult to make up the further lost time on the main bunch from then on up the climb of Bainskloof. From there it was a relatively easy run in to the finish where I finished with a group of guys in a time of 3hr41min, 14min after the main pelaton.
Stage 3: 125km, Paarl-Franshoek pass-Villiersdorp-Franshoek pass-Paarl
This stage was supposed to consist of a loop of 167km from Paarl to Franshoek, over the pass through Villiersdorp to Worcester and over Du Toits Kloof pass back to Paarl. However, shortly after the neutral zone just before we reached Franshoek, racing came to a halt and we were informed that we could not go over Du Toits Kloof pass because it was closed due to a fire. The organizers and everyone quickly discussed a new route for the day and it was decided that we would carry on through Franshoek, over the pass and then in to Villiersdorp where we were to make a u-turn and come back the same way. Well done to the organizers and traffic department for coming up with a quick solution such that we could continue racing! I felt a bit better today but I could also see that some of the other riders were starting to feel the effects of the last two days of racing. This was good for me as I then ended up having a much better day of racing than the previous day. A small group of riders had got away on the return trip over Franshoek pass and I found myself within the main pelaton. We rode very hard from Franshoek to the finish in Paarl where we were doing speeds in excess of 60km/hr on the flat roads with a tail wind. I was hanging on for dear life to the wheel in front of me as some guys towards the back of the bunch were getting dropped (it's not often you see riders at this level getting dropped along a flat road with a tail wind!). We ended up finishing the stage about 2min behind the front breakaway group.
Stage 4: 65km, Paarl 5x15km laps
Lets just say that stage 4 simply didn't happen for me. Together with the level of fatigue I was experiencing at this stage after 6 hard days of racing prior and a very difficult intense lap race ahead it was never going to be easy. I was very happy to make it through each stage and get to this point of the race as in the beginning on Tuesday morning there was just over 110 riders starting the tour and on this, the 4th and final stage of the race saw only a little over 60 riders on the start line! (There is a time limit where you have to finish in a percentage of the winners time each day otherwise you get eliminated and you're not allowed to continue the following day). What actually made this final stage not happen for me was that there was about 3km of pure gravel on the laps! Now I would normally like this sort of thing as I am a mountain biker, however, I had just purchased a very nice and pricey set of wheels! After the first lap, feeling the way I felt and not wanting to ruin my nice new wheels I called it quits. Along with this decision was the Argus Cycle Tour in two days time, which I had in the back of my head. I wasn't to feel too bad about this 4th stage as out of the 60 odd starters, less than 30 riders finished all 5 laps without being eliminated from lap to lap!
At the end of the 4 days of racing I can at least say that I got some good experience along with an extremely tied body! I finished 55th in the overall classification, 31min23sec behind the winner Darren Lill (DCM). Now it was time to put the legs up and recovery before Sundays Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour!
Stage 1: 147km, Paarl-Bainskloof pass-Wolseley-R44 loop
Soon after the start in Paarl, after a few incidences in the first few kilometers due to the slick road surface from light rain we were to start climbing Bainskloof. This was going to be the first real test for my legs to assess their condition and set the stage for the next 4 days. Unfortunately they weren't feeling quite up to what they should be and therefore I took strain trying to hang on to the main bunch towards the top of the climb. However, with taking a few risks on the decent, a few other riders and I were able to catch back on to the main bunch. A fairly large break away group of about 10 riders managed to get away. As we headed back towards Wellington along the R44 the wind came from the side and resulted in some hard "gutter" riding as the main bunch split into 3 groups. However, everything came back together before Wellington except for the breakaway bunch whom still held about a 2 minute gap on the main pelaton, which is how the stage ended after 3hr38min of racing in Paarl.
Stage 2: 135km, Paarl-Du Toits Kloof pass-Worcester-Bainskloof pass-Paarl
Only 6km from the start of todays stage 2 we approached the bottom of Du Toits Kloof pass and then it would be a long 14km climb to the summit. I knew today's stage was going to be a tough one especially after how my legs performed yesterday on Bainskloof pass. None-the-less I took major shots going up the pass and got dropped by the main bunch about half way up. This meant that there was still another 7km to go to the top! This was unusual for me as I normally like the long climbs and this was one of the reasons why I always wanted to do this race. However, having done the Grape Escape before hand my condition starting this race was definitely worse off than most of the other riders. There was still a long way to go to the finish of the stage after Du Toits Kloof but fortunately for me there was a decent bunch of riders who were also dropped up the climb and we could therefore work together. We did so for a long way until we almost caught back up to the main bunch at the bottom of Bainskloof where unfortunately there was a minor crash as the bunch entered a narrow bridge section. This resulted in the convoy of backup vehicles behind the bunch coming to a standstill and blocking the bridge for us to get through and join onto the main bunch. After getting through and across the bridge we had already put in a big effort in trying to catch up to this point and it was difficult to make up the further lost time on the main bunch from then on up the climb of Bainskloof. From there it was a relatively easy run in to the finish where I finished with a group of guys in a time of 3hr41min, 14min after the main pelaton.
Stage 3: 125km, Paarl-Franshoek pass-Villiersdorp-Franshoek pass-Paarl
This stage was supposed to consist of a loop of 167km from Paarl to Franshoek, over the pass through Villiersdorp to Worcester and over Du Toits Kloof pass back to Paarl. However, shortly after the neutral zone just before we reached Franshoek, racing came to a halt and we were informed that we could not go over Du Toits Kloof pass because it was closed due to a fire. The organizers and everyone quickly discussed a new route for the day and it was decided that we would carry on through Franshoek, over the pass and then in to Villiersdorp where we were to make a u-turn and come back the same way. Well done to the organizers and traffic department for coming up with a quick solution such that we could continue racing! I felt a bit better today but I could also see that some of the other riders were starting to feel the effects of the last two days of racing. This was good for me as I then ended up having a much better day of racing than the previous day. A small group of riders had got away on the return trip over Franshoek pass and I found myself within the main pelaton. We rode very hard from Franshoek to the finish in Paarl where we were doing speeds in excess of 60km/hr on the flat roads with a tail wind. I was hanging on for dear life to the wheel in front of me as some guys towards the back of the bunch were getting dropped (it's not often you see riders at this level getting dropped along a flat road with a tail wind!). We ended up finishing the stage about 2min behind the front breakaway group.
Stage 4: 65km, Paarl 5x15km laps
Lets just say that stage 4 simply didn't happen for me. Together with the level of fatigue I was experiencing at this stage after 6 hard days of racing prior and a very difficult intense lap race ahead it was never going to be easy. I was very happy to make it through each stage and get to this point of the race as in the beginning on Tuesday morning there was just over 110 riders starting the tour and on this, the 4th and final stage of the race saw only a little over 60 riders on the start line! (There is a time limit where you have to finish in a percentage of the winners time each day otherwise you get eliminated and you're not allowed to continue the following day). What actually made this final stage not happen for me was that there was about 3km of pure gravel on the laps! Now I would normally like this sort of thing as I am a mountain biker, however, I had just purchased a very nice and pricey set of wheels! After the first lap, feeling the way I felt and not wanting to ruin my nice new wheels I called it quits. Along with this decision was the Argus Cycle Tour in two days time, which I had in the back of my head. I wasn't to feel too bad about this 4th stage as out of the 60 odd starters, less than 30 riders finished all 5 laps without being eliminated from lap to lap!
At the end of the 4 days of racing I can at least say that I got some good experience along with an extremely tied body! I finished 55th in the overall classification, 31min23sec behind the winner Darren Lill (DCM). Now it was time to put the legs up and recovery before Sundays Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)