Out and about

Rememberable rides in the past few weeks, awesome to be out there with like minded souls and explore the limits of my endurance sorounded by beautiful scenery. Below is a awesome photo taken on our Friday coffee ride with Blouwpan dam in the background.

Rebecca on her fatty can't even block out this beautiful sunrise.

Sunday the 7th of Feb we did a group ride out to Heidelberg. Some of the Benoni Rough Riders -Mark, Rebecca, Michele, Sean, myself and Etienne (honorry member) met up with a group of Brakpan and Boksburg mountain bikers, for a incredible ride to summit the 2 towers around Heidelberg Town. The route was a bit muddy for the first bit after heavy rain the night before but after about 25km we hit dry ground for fast smooth tracks the rest of the ride. 

Signs of drought when you floating bridge doesn't float so much any more..

Summit of Hill 1 - group photo taken by me (yes I was there)

Thorn amongst the roses - Michele, Becky and Sean (Telkom tower in the background)

Joburg to Sea contenders Mark and Etienne

Benoni Rough Riders - Becky, Michelle, me, Sean, Mark and Etienne on Summit of Hill 2

Heidelberg 2 Towers ride is one of my favourite rides, Wimpy stop at half way for a coffee is always a must. I must admit the last 10km was a bit of a slog, we came back via Heidelberg road and it was over 35 degrees celsius. I was pulling amps trying to keep up with the group and even had a slight push from Sean once or twice to get me back up there.  102km mountain bike ride can take its toll on the body at the end, but I survived and I am hopefully a stronger rider for it. Great ride with awesome people and I managed to get a KOM for a Strava segment I created on the single track from Telkom Tower to Heidelberg road (aptly named Rough Riders free flow)

Breather as we wait for riders to catch up after they had mechanicals 

We did another of my favourite rides a week earlier to Big Red Barn bike park and back, this is also over a 100km ride. Nice flowing route there and back, and the track at Big Red Barn is awesome. After riding there and doing about 25km at the bike park we met up for a coffee and breakfast roll at the restuarant there to replenish energy levels for the ride home. Great ride with good company... 

Rough Riders - Michael, Michelle, Wayne, Marco, Mark and me

We had to hop over the railway line because of a sewage puddle blocking the tunnel 

Michelle pulling me home - fatty on the left trying to keep up 

Realising how flat the East Rand is..

I was fortunate enough to be able to do the Eqstra Spring Classic MTB race last weekend with Sean and Rebecca. Wow what a tough race and it made me realise once again that all the training that I do on the flatlands of the East Rand is not enough because you get a big reality check when you hit a proper mountain bike route. I thought I was pretty fit after averaging 24km/h in the Nigel AutoAlpina MTB race last month, but that was a flat non technical route next to the mielie fields. The Eqstra race was loads of single track and plenty of hills, my average was under 15km/h for the 44km route. An hour slower then the Nigel route for the same distance!!!! It really was a great race though, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was special sharing the experience with Sean and Becky. 

The three of us after the race, all a bit tired. 

The 24th of September was a public holiday in South Africa - Heritage Day and what better way to celebrate then do a 100km MTB ride. The ride started out as being The Apricot Tree charity MTB outride but we had a lot of other riders join us also (we were 25 in all). We had a fantastic ride out to Heidelberg from Benoni and back, with a climb up to the Telkom radio mast. Awesome ride and a fantastic route with great people. It was great doing a new route, as this was different to our normal Heidelberg radio mast rides (different tower and way to get there). We were all pretty thirsty by the time we got back, as it was very hot and most of us had run out of water with there being no water/coffee stops on the way back. Unfortunately, this ride was a game changer for Sean as he had a mild heart attack on the ride and got his son to pick him up half way before going to the hospital in the afternoon. He had a stomach virus earlier in the week and on the long ride his heart took strain. Fortunately he was wise enough to call it quits when he was not feeling too well. He is ok now and just needs a month off the bike before reassessment by the cardiologist. Wishing you all the best Sean on your speedy recovery. 

The group at the start of the ride (taken by Sean) Becky and me in the front in our Apricot Tree colours...

Group photo on the top of the Telkom tower hill

Quick stop to wait for stragglers (Telkom tower in the distant background)

Yes we did the bridge again, Wayne showing us how it is done.

Becky finishing the climb up to the tower

This morning we did a great ride out to the cell tower, brickyard, Serengeti and back via Monument hill before stopping for coffee at Mug & Bean on Atlas road. I was feeling strong and really enjoyed the ride. It makes such a difference if all your cylinders are firing. Nice group consisting of Becky, Greg, Paul, Alistair, Juan, Wayne and Mark. I finished on 80km and managed to sneak in to share Greg's KOM with Paul on the Atlas drop off single track segment. 

Stop to admire the view 

100 Club!!!!!

Milestone for Greg and I today as we did our first mountain bike ride over 100km. Fairly chilly start with the sad reminder that summer is now over, we headed out past Serengetti golf estate and on mainly district and jeep track roads, we reached our goal which was the Petrol Station on Nellmapius drive in Irene (just outside Pretoria).We really have come a long way in our MTB journey over the past few years and managed this ride with relative ease considering there were a few more hills then we are used to. 

Chocolate milk and a peanut butter sandwich at the 1/2 way stop

Greg eager to tackle the ride home...