Please can 2014 end already…

I sit here writing this blog post in a lot of pain after yet another painful fall this morning. Wow 2014 has been a year that has left its mark on my body. It started off when I fell on my knee 2 weeks before Sani2C, a smack into the tar when I clipped Greg's wheel on a training ride, of course the big one was when the taxi hit me from behind and now this morning I hit a water covered pothole on a road bike ride. Gee, I really came down hard, my shoulder and hip taking most of the impact (I can hardly walk now and think I have torn a groin or hamstring muscle) and my helmet also took a big impact and is now broken (yay at least I get to buy a new helmet). 

I was doing a road ride (something I normally don't do after the taxi accident) - a farewell ride for Jacques who is a real character of the riding fraternity in the East Rand as he is immigrating to Tanzania  to join Mike. A nice big group considering the wet weather and riding in the middle of the pack, I hit a nasty pothole that was disguised as a puddle. So here I am still hurting from my fall and hoping that 2015 will be a better year for me. 

On the brighter side the past week of December holidays riding has been awesome. Last Sunday we did a ride to Heidelberg radio mast and back. Nice big group that I arranged and led out, including my good mate Pierre all the way from Northcliff. Always nice doing this ride and the pace was pretty quick with a few stronger riders leading the way. Here are my Strava stats of the ride:

Group at the top (less a few stragglers)

Awesome to ride with my good mate Pierre

Becky and Jess provided the entertainment for the ride

Riding at Benoni Country Club - I was really fortunate to have a few rides at the BCC MTB track with my wonderful wife Linda. Really great to be out there with her - we even did a rain soaked ride on the one day. Plenty of falls for both of us, but who is counting (3-2 is the score).

My better half stopping for a mechanical...

No I wasn't waiting for her (she had a few top 10s on some of the Strava segments)

Plenty of wildlife

On Boxing Day I went out with Clint and the roadies (as there is too much mud for MTB), we had a quick 90km ride that definitely burnt off the Christmas excess. Here are my Strava stats of this ride, we were at a fast pace of 32km/h average for most of the ride.

On a closing note here is a photo that sort of rings true for my 2014 year. Wishing you all the best for 2015…..

Checkers Checkers ride up your street...

After a rather muddy ride on Sunday I opted to join the 'Checkers Group' for a relaxed road ride on the Monday. Due to a number of reasons I normally prefer to mountain bike but joining this group for a ride now and again is really awesome. The group was started by George and Clint some time back and leaves from the Checkers at Elizabeth road in Boksburg most weekends. Great bunch of people (16 of us on this ride) all with the same goal in mind to keep fit and have fun. George does a great job of leading the group and Clint helps the stragglers at the back.  The pace is normally pretty honest and there are a few competitive sprints for segments now and again. Really enjoyed this ride and will definitely be doing more of them (real bonus is that I don't have to clean my bike once I got home). Here are my Strava stats for the ride.  

Some of the Checkers group at the customary coffee stop at the end of the ride...

Early morning sunrises before work are breathtaking (with Greg and Chris spoiling the view)

Up in smoke

Great road bike ride today with Jason, Rick, Gina and Trevor. We did 102km with 900m ascent, a productive training ride for the Momemtum 94.7 cycle challenge on the 18th of November. We did a great route and I felt much better then last Sunday. What did amaze me is one of the guys rding (Trevor) would stop and light up a cigarette every 25km or so and smoke it whilst riding. Below is a photo of Trevor lighting one up....

Trevor and Jason



Yesterday was another watershed day in my riding career. I spent the morning at Modderfontein - Central Park Trials Mountain Bike park with my lovely wife as we christened her new bike on the single track. It was awesome riding with her as it was her first time to ride single track, bridges, through streams etc... 'Modders' is incredible, it is a unspoilt jewel nestled inside Johannesburg. It has fantastic scenery and awesome riding, it was fantastic to ride there and share my passion with my true love.

 

 

Training for Momentum 94.7

It has been an eventful few weeks since my last blog post. The weather has been a bit mucky and there has been loads of rain. I have managed to keep riding and did a 78km road bike ride with Clint and gang and then a lekker 68km ride with Adam on the MTB the following weekend. Adam and Marco are doing the Berg to Bush MTB stage race this weekend, it really sounds like fun and one to put on the race calendar one day. I had a special day last Sunday when I rode with my 11 year old son for the first time at Modderfontein Trails bike park. He managed 15km and really enjoyed himself on the pristine tracks at 'Modders'.

 

Yesterday I did a Saturday afternoon (55km) MTB ride with Greg and Justin, when we were about 20km from home the heavens opened and it rained really hard. I was drenched to the bone but it was actually quite refreshing riding in the rain and also the mud was washed off my bike making it one less chore to do when I got home.

 

My next race is the Momentum 94.7 road race on the 18th of November so this is the time of the year, when I spend some time on the tar instead of ripping up the dirt.  I did a magic road ride today, it started off as a short spin up Atlas road to loosen the legs from the previous days ride but when I hit Atlas road I caught up with a small bunch of riders and my ride dramatically changed. Being the riding slut I am, I asked where they going and if I could join them. Great bunch of people and we went for a long ride - I finished on 96km with over 800m of ascent - yes we went searching for hills towards Midrand and then Modderfontein.  Here are my Garmin readings showing my ride stats and the route that we did - Sunday 28-10-12 road ride.

 

Yours truly slogging away on the road bike...

 

Tour De France 2012

Yes it is that time of the year again where I am glued to the box for 3 weeks watching the exciting Tour De France. My money is on Wiggins this year - yes literally I got 6/1 on him a few months ago, so if he wins my R50 will grow to a nice R300. I must admit I am super impressed with young Peter Sagen, he is absolutely incredible and a name in the TDF for years to come. But hey what's with all these crashes? I thought that was a mountain bikers prerogative....but here is a picture that was tweeted by legendary TDF manager, Johan Bruneel that I think is fitting after the last few days.