Carnival City Classic 26-02-2012

Besides my annual flirt with the tar at the 94.7, I have never done any other road races. This year I decided to try another road race and I am so glad I did. I entered this race as a training ride for my Sani2C preparation i.e time on the saddle at a sustained output.

My group was IL the last 'unseeded' group to do the 103km race and it started a rather late 08:00.  Being new to road riding, I was quick to make friends at the start while we waited for our batch to slowly move forward i.e to get some valuable tips on how to do this race etc. The start was extremely fast - for the first 10km I was averaging 40km/h and at the 30km mark I was on 37km/h. I managed to tag onto a few groups of riders which helped a lot. I have never ridden so fast in my life, what a rush. 

After the shorter race split at 48km, this is when the rolling drags started slowing me down. It was great riding with a few people along the way, I made a few temporary friends that helped me easily eat up the tar. Mike shared a good tip with me - if you throw water on your legs (from the sachets received at the water points) this takes away cramps and temporary revitalizes them. 

At the end I finished in a time of 3h23 with an average speed just over 30km per hour. I was really chuffed with myself as I was aiming for a sub 4 hours. What a fantastic race that was well marshaled and organized. 

Group IL patiently waiting to be called up to the start

Yours truly at the end of the race after an awesome day on the road bike...

Avoid the mud

I recently replaced my chain rings, rear cassette. jockey wheels and drive chain, so call me a fool I am not going anywhere near mud as it seriously reduces the life span of these parts. There seems to be plenty of mud this summer, so we are being quite selective on the routes and races that we persue, I know this seems a bit naf and not what a true mountain biker should do but I need these new parts to at least last until the Sani2C race in May.  

I am starting to notch up the hours for my Sani2C training 9 hours last week and 10 hours the week before. Still quite a way to go as I am not nearly fit enough to even tackle day 2 of this event on its own yet.



This was sent to me by a friend last week - and yes I can totally relate...



Riding and riding

Yes that is what I should be doing - but (un)fortunately I did a quick business trip to bitterly cold London last week which meant I spent very little time on my bike the last 2 weeks. I did manage to buy some new gloves there at a reasonable discount...

Prior to my bout of inactivity I did the 60km USN mountain bike cup race at Base3 Midrand. Quite an eventful race, I had a snake bite (when the tubeless Tyre is trapped between something hard like a stone and the rim of the wheel) on the 20km mark, which resulted in a flat Tyre. After unsuccessfully attempting to bomb my tubeless Tyre - I flagged down a (30km race) rider who lent me some tools and another CO2 canister (bomb). To cut a long story short I eventually managed to put in a tube and got going again (about 1/2 hour delay). So pretty much I thought I was coming last in the 60km race - because it was a 2 lap race I was very tempted to quit when I reached  the 30km mark and returned the tools to my good Samaritan. My bike was even at the car, but then I saw a pretty overweight guy going for his second lap (if he can do it so can I) - realizing that I would at least have someone behind me in case I had another flat - I decided to carry on. So glad I did - "pain is temporary quitting lasts forever". The second lap was great I managed to catch at least another 8 riders and enjoyed the single track as you did not have someone breathing down your neck wanting to pass you etc. I did however have a lapse of concentration when going through the forest and hit a root I did not see, which sent me sprawling over the handle bars (leaving a nice cut on my leg). But at least I finished the race and chuffed that this medal was hard fought for....

Oh I also did a little hike at Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve the next day with the family (was easier then riding the loop). Pretty awesome place, did some good cross training as my five year old had to be carried on my back most of the 5km route.

There are only hills in Suikerbosrand.....

Youngster catching  free ride during the 5km hike..