It has been exactly 3 years since my life has changed and I started riding mountain bikes. Pre my flirt with the dirt, I was a couch potato of note. Not many sporting events would escape my concentrated glare from the couch. I knew my rugby backwards and was on top of the Global Standings (for 12 rounds of the Super14 rugby competition) for the Superbru prediction game - sadly finishing 3rd out of 30,000 players at the end (used my heart and not my head being a avid Shark supporter). Unfortunately this was not a healthy lifestyle and my mates nagged me to start riding, as they got fitter and I got fatter.
And so I did, slowly ambling out doing a few kilometers at a time and then the bug bit and now my love for mountain biking has intensified so much that my wife thinks it's obsessive - but I have lost 10kgs and have never felt so healthy and happy in my life. So where am I going with this blog post? Well, I had a decision to make this weekend, either watch the Springboks play Australia in the rugby world cup quarter final or, escape to Nirvana on my trusty 29er. This was an easy one for me to make and it made me realise how my life and priorities have changed over the years.
Today, was one of the best mountain bike rides that I have ever done. Greg and I hit the dirt when everyone else was off to their mate's homes to drink, eat and watch our boys in green try valiantly to win a rugby match (my PVR was set of course).It was an awesome day for riding, not too hot or windy. We ventured out past Serengeti golf estate towards Irene. We had to do a detour at one stage, as a grumpy farmer would not let us through his farm (the security guard was ready to call the police). But the rest of the ride was great - we found some new routes - at one stage it felt as if we were riding in the Drakensburg, nature at its very best.
The ride ended up being the longest MTB ride we have ever done, 82kms at an average of 21km/h and 80% of it was on jeep track, district road and single track. It was so good to be out there for 4 odd hours to round off a good week of riding after 4 x 30km morning rides, thus totalling 200km for the week - Sani2C we not ready yet but we are getting there.....
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