Awesome long weekend of riding

So Thursday the 21st of March 2013 was a public holiday - Human Rights Day in South Africa (aptly renamed by me to Human Rides Day a few years ago). I took the Friday off as well and we planned a few long rides in preparation for the Sani2C stage race happening in the middle of May.

 

The Thursday ride was great, Greg, Noel and I headed out to Irene from Benoni. The weather was sublime and we had a fantastic ride looking for some hills near the Rietvlei Nature Reserve. Click here for my Garmin stats of the ride. We did 93km at an average of 22km/h. On the way home I pulled out 10 thorns from my tyres - thank goodness for tubeless tyres with Stans sealant. We also passed a large bunch of mountain bikers who had stopped to repair some punctures, I saw a friend on mine, Clint and he shared this picture below and the story. At the corn/mielie fields where we ride the farmer uses the by-product from the local sewage farm to fertilise his crops. This stinking black stuff is usually left in big piles next to the fields and Hennie (a guy I have ridden with a few times) made the terrible mistake of thinking this was tar and decided to ride over it - only to sink deep in the sh*t. The guys watching really cracked up as he struggled to get out, sinking deeper with every movement.

Hennie is in deep kak...

Friday we went for a shorter ride (Renier, Mark, Greg incl) out past Dunblane and towards Pretoria road. We were pretty shocked that the farmer had dug massive trenches blocking the access roads to his farm. We have ridden these routes for years and because of some irresponsible individuals these routes are now being blocked off.

Renier, Mark and Greg

Sunday was a monster ride from home to Central Park Trails MTB park "Modders" and back. This was a 100km ride with over 900m ascent and plenty of single track sandwiched in between some tar. This was perfect training for Sani2C as there were plenty of hills that we could test our legs on. I had my first proper crash on my new bike when coming round a corner on the single track and hitting some loose sand resulting in my back tyre washing away and me hitting the earth with one mighty thump. What an awesome ride, we really tested our bodies to the limits and were pretty tired by the time we got home. Click here for the Garmin details of the ride. 

Adam powering up the single track...

....followed closely by Mark

P.S. I sold my old Giant Anthem that I had fixed up before buying my new bike, hope that Andrew takes good care of her and has many happy kms on her like I did.

 

Let the training begin

So we have 8 weeks to go before the Sani2C and this week coming is going to be a big one. I have been keeping the training ticking along with 10 hours in the saddle last week (nice 85km ride last Sunday) but this week I only managed just over 7 hours. Greg has had some bad luck with his bike this week with his shock being sent to Cape Town for repair so he has been off the bike for awhile.

 

The real issue we have with training for Sani2C, is that Benoni is so flat and we really struggle to find any hills to make us stronger for the many many hills on this 3 day event. Mark and me went on a quest this week to find one or two small drags that can be added to our longer rides in the week. Fortunately we found some in Kempton Park and this is a lot safer then dodging the cars on the way back from Bedfordview. The morning rides are still awesome except winter is on its way and it is getting darker and colder. The experience of being outdoors in the morning riding with mates is still incredible and we get to see some beautiful sunrises.

Early morning sunrise - Mark enjoying the experience

So how is the new bike going - Wow I cant believe how incredible it still feels, I feel like a new person on my new bike it is absolutely fantastic. I think this saying below that I saw awhile ago sort of rings true.....