Wow

So after having quite a torrid time with my 'old' Giant Anthem with all the bearings needing to be replaced (thanks to Greg for doing this for me) the rear shock needing a drastic service and the front shock to be replaced, I took the leap and purchased a brand new 2013 Giant Anthem X Advanced 29er 1.

WOW, this is my absolute dream bike, it has carbon frame, aluminium rear triangle, RochShox SID 29 RL with the Giant OverDrive 2 steeerer suspension fork, RockShox Monarch Rl rear shock, full Shimano Deore XT (2 x 10) componentry  etc. The full specs can be found here . I went for my first ride this morning and it was incredible, hard to believe that a new bike can handle so well and feel so great, I am so chuffed at the moment.



My old front FOX shock has some nasty grooves on the sanctions

My new pride and joy



The beauty of our morning rides is sometimes ignored because of urge to race..

With regards to the last few weeks, I have had some incredible rides:
2 weeks ago we did the USN Mountain Bike Cup race at the Big Red Barn. This was one of the best races I have ever done, not by the result of where I came, but because of the awesome riding and single track that was in the race. The route was incredible, over 40km of single track in a 47km race. Greg was our local champ and gave us all carrots, followed by myself, Mark, Grant, Justan and Waldi.  

Some dirty boys after the USN MTB Cup at the Big Red Barn

Last week because my MTB was in the shop, I did a bit of road biking. I joined Jacques in the mornings for a couple of 50km rides before work and then rode the 103km Macsteel Carnival City Classic race on Sunday.  This race is relatively flat and extremely fast. I started in group DL with Renier (who ended up wining the group), the pace was really frantic in the beginning for the first 20km we were averaging over 45km per hour. This gradually slowed as I got dropped from the leading bunch  and was picked up by other bunches. Total time was 3:13 with an average of 31.8km/h for the 103km. Chuffed that I finished in a faster time then last year, but still aiming to break the elusive 3:00 barrier.



Reward for the 103km sprint  

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...