6 weeks to Sani2C

Winter she is coming - we had a few 'fresh' rides this week before work (32km and 44km). The ride today was awesome, more off road then on and we needed our bright lights to spot the ruts on the jeep track. Mark took a tumble into the reeds whilst going over the bridge by Serengeti golf estate and had a wet frozen foot for the rest of the ride (and yes I am smiling as I have taken a dive off this bridge before).

Morning sunrises on our rides are something special...

With the increase in the petrol price this picture is relevant...

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...

Sani2C training

Another great week of training for the Sani2C, we managed another 240km this week. Our ride on Sunday was pretty long at 94km and slightly different as we used some paths less traveled i.e. bundu bashing. It great to out in the open fields with like minded souls and it turned out to be quite an adventure with us pioneering new routes through the bush. Our fitness levels are improving as we notch up the kilometers but the legs are starting to take strain (a few days of recovery is the answer).

Mark, Greg and Adam - stretching, eating and getting rid of warm clothes

Can you see a path up there? Well we made one..

Mmmmm what is the best way down here?

"Hey guys my way is easier..."

"OK, maybe not..."

Human Rides Day 2012

Hey it was a public holiday in South Africa today, Human Rights Day aka Human Rides Day. Nothing better then having a mid week break and been able to ride for 3 hours. Greg and I ventured out onto the trails alone, as our new Sani2C training buddies - Adam and Mark went big the night before for Adam's birthday and were in no shape tear up the trails. 

We had a very pleasant ride but our legs were still taking strain from our 90km ride the previous Sunday. We did however manage to find some new routes and even came across this structure below, which I believe is a blockhouse built by the British army during the second Boer War.

Greg is the official bike holder as I snap some pics for the blog...

Beware of the Dam

Awesome ride yesterday, Greg and I met up with Adam and Mark and we headed out towards Irene on a similar route to last Sunday. 

The riding was fantastic we managed to do around 90km at an average of 21.5km/h which was pretty good going in my books. Only downfall is that the terrain was relatively flat compared to what we are going to encounter at Sani2C with the total ascent on this ride of only 558m. Click on the link and you can view my Garmin stats for the ride (you may have to change the settings to Metric from Statute in the top right hand side of the page) Sunday 18-03-2012 Outride Stats

It was really great that we could ride with new like minded guys that have the same goals as us, it really made the ride more enjoyable. I had to take a photo of this sign below, taken just near a quarry near Dunblane Estate. Here is Adam holding up the damn sign..... 

2  minute respite for the boys as I take a photo of this classic warning sign.

Good week of training

Wow we managed to pick it up a notch last week doing 12 1/2 hours on the bike and over 260km wear on the tyres. Greg and I are trying to stick to a training program by USN specifically for the Sani2C, that gives you goals with regards to the number of hours you should be training per week. We managed to bank an extra 2 and half hours last week as we were only supposed to do 10hours.  

On Sunday we had a fantastic ride - just over 85km and found some new routes that I look forward to riding again next weekend. We were joined by Adam who we met on our ride last Saturday and is also doing the Sani2C Trail. Here is the link to my Garmin stats for the ride: Outride Stats 11-03-2012

Outride 03-03-12

So officially our Sani2C training has begun this week. Greg and me are going to do our best to keep to a programme that should increase our fitness levels before the Sani2C Trail in the middle of May. Ok this week got off to a rocky start as Greg had a bit of flu so I had to do a few solo rides. Never a less we managed to do a longer ride today (55km) and once Greg is 100% better we will aim for 80+ next weekend. 

We were fortunate enough to meet some like minded souls on our ride this morning that are also training for Sani2C (as pictured below). Numbers were exchanged and hopefully we will be able to do a couple of longer rides together in the next few months. Besides the company (and competition) it makes sense to ride in larger groups given the increase in bike jackings the past year or so. I am sure you will see more of these faces on my blog in the future....

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...

Avoid the mud

I recently replaced my chain rings, rear cassette. jockey wheels and drive chain, so call me a fool I am not going anywhere near mud as it seriously reduces the life span of these parts. There seems to be plenty of mud this summer, so we are being quite selective on the routes and races that we persue, I know this seems a bit naf and not what a true mountain biker should do but I need these new parts to at least last until the Sani2C race in May.  

I am starting to notch up the hours for my Sani2C training 9 hours last week and 10 hours the week before. Still quite a way to go as I am not nearly fit enough to even tackle day 2 of this event on its own yet.



This was sent to me by a friend last week - and yes I can totally relate...



Riding and riding

Yes that is what I should be doing - but (un)fortunately I did a quick business trip to bitterly cold London last week which meant I spent very little time on my bike the last 2 weeks. I did manage to buy some new gloves there at a reasonable discount...

Prior to my bout of inactivity I did the 60km USN mountain bike cup race at Base3 Midrand. Quite an eventful race, I had a snake bite (when the tubeless Tyre is trapped between something hard like a stone and the rim of the wheel) on the 20km mark, which resulted in a flat Tyre. After unsuccessfully attempting to bomb my tubeless Tyre - I flagged down a (30km race) rider who lent me some tools and another CO2 canister (bomb). To cut a long story short I eventually managed to put in a tube and got going again (about 1/2 hour delay). So pretty much I thought I was coming last in the 60km race - because it was a 2 lap race I was very tempted to quit when I reached  the 30km mark and returned the tools to my good Samaritan. My bike was even at the car, but then I saw a pretty overweight guy going for his second lap (if he can do it so can I) - realizing that I would at least have someone behind me in case I had another flat - I decided to carry on. So glad I did - "pain is temporary quitting lasts forever". The second lap was great I managed to catch at least another 8 riders and enjoyed the single track as you did not have someone breathing down your neck wanting to pass you etc. I did however have a lapse of concentration when going through the forest and hit a root I did not see, which sent me sprawling over the handle bars (leaving a nice cut on my leg). But at least I finished the race and chuffed that this medal was hard fought for....

Oh I also did a little hike at Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve the next day with the family (was easier then riding the loop). Pretty awesome place, did some good cross training as my five year old had to be carried on my back most of the 5km route.

There are only hills in Suikerbosrand.....

Youngster catching  free ride during the 5km hike..

Happy birthday me...

What an awesome week this has been (besides going back to work). January the 12th was my 43rd birthday and it made me realise how riding has taken over my life. What better way to start off my birthday with a early ride with my good mate Greg - I decided to do something different and we rode from Benoni to Bedfordview and back (up Fischers hill), the hills added a little diversity but the traffic was a mare.

Home to my lovely wife and kids for a wholesome breakfast and a whole lot of incredible riding related pressies - new First Ascent Pro-Elite bib, Camelbak bottle, bandanna, 4 pairs of socks, bombs, energy bars etc...My mom gave me a voucher for Procycles and renewed my subscription to the best magazine around - Tread. Mates at work organised me another skills lesson with Dylan Victor, so all in all they are all riding related and exactly what I could have wished for.

Sunday 15th January

Today Greg and I did our longest mountain bike ride ever. We each left home at 05:15 before meeting up at the Wimpy at Lakefield. Our objective was to have at least 4 hours in the saddle. We headed out towards Irene and turned around at the Rietvlei Nature Reserve which was 45kms away from Benoni. We were averaging over 20km/h until we came to a really muddy stretch of track (next to the railway line by the Bapsfontein road). Here we struggled as my bike got really clogged up by all the mud and the net effect was,  it took almost an hour to do only a few kms.   

Bike was so full of mud that the wheels stopped turning.



The bike tan is somewhat accentuated by my muddy sun screen.

Was great to see that we can do over 90kms and still walk around afterwards. Start of our training for Sani2C and I think we will be doing a lot more of these.  

2012 is here

Yup time flies when you are riding your bike - ok so we did over 300 hours last year on our trusty steads and 2012 is definitely going to be a whole lot more.

New Years Day ride - Greg and me had organised a ride to Heidelberg with Ian (Procycles), unfortunately the weather caused us to cancel the ride early in the morning and Greg and me settled for a 60km ride on the tar later because of all the rain the night before. As you can see below even the roads took a hammering.

2nd Jan - I did a solo ride on the tar and went to Bedfordview to tackle Fischer's Hill, was an awesome ride on the MTB with 350m ascent in just over 40km.

Clarens - we were fortunate to have a family holiday in Clarens in the Southern Free State province for a few days. I managed a few rides and the scenery was spectacular. The hills were pretty hectic and really got the heart pumping. On one ride I got chased by three dogs when I rode past a rural village - quick interval session with lots of shouting and I managed to escape their evil fangs (once bitten twice shy). 

The little shack we stayed in......



Yes we had to take the trailer so all six bikes could be bought with..




Photo taken on one of the rides



  



The town of Clarens in the distance...



Thaba Trails - to finish off the first week in January Greg and me went to Thaba Trails in the South of Johannesburg for the first time. Wow is all I can say, it was really hectic - we did the green route and really struggled as there were a lot of rocky climbs and descents. Really good training as our heart rates were being pushed to new limits every hilly climb but unfortunately I also walked a lot as I did not trust myself on some of the technical stuff (both up and down hill).

View from one of the many hills at Thaba Trails..

Ride with the beasts

We had a great ride at Groenkloof Nature Reserve this morning. Andrew joined Greg and me for the first time at "Groenies" to get his taste of real mountain biking with some technical tracks and a few heart pounding climbs. It is always great riding here and fortunately after all the rain it was not muddy as the water runs off pretty well. We saw some game in the reserve - Giraffe, Wildebeest, Zebra and the herd of Sable antelopes that weren't too perturbed my us riding past.  





December time again

2011 is coming to an end and it has been an incredible year. Greg and me have competed in our first stage race, we have upped our game to riding the 70km races instead of the 40kms, I beat my 94.7 time by an hour, my kids did 3 races, I did over 6000kms (300 odd hours) on the bike and the list goes on and on......

Well I am on leave for 3 weeks and I intend to see out the old year like I brought it in - on my bike (anyone who mentions this to my wife will be shot on sight). This is how my first week of holiday has gone so far:

Day 1 - kids did a race a Babas Lodge (14km), I was the roving mechanic and had to fix two flat tyres (there were some mean thorn trees out there).



My daughter Erin with a flat front tyre



Eager beavers before the start of the race

Andrew and the kids



Had to stop for this fellow taking his crap across the road..

Day 3 - Yes I did it again - another blind MTB Internet date. Greg and me rode with a guy I met on the Hub website - Pierre, he was pretty new to mountain biking and we took him on an introductory flirt with the dirt. He managed really well and kept up with us the the 40 odd kms ride that we did.

Day 4 - Great early evening ride with Andrew - we did 33kms before the sun set beat us back home. 

 Day 5 - Greg and me had a fantastic ride, we did just under 70kms and had some serious water hazards to walk around (and both got attacked by horse flies - ouch the bites itch for days)

Day 7 - What fun was this ride, a heavy down pour made the route we did a few days earlier almost unrideable. There was so much mud and water we slid all over the place and our bikes took a real hammering and clogged up real good. At one stage we passed a van stuck in the mud the man inside said he had been stuck since the day before and was waiting to be towed out.





Bike just a little heavier then when I started with all the mud attached to the wheels.



We rode on the railway tracks for awhile the sleepers were easier then the mud.

Greg you need some water wings there bud?

So much mud and water such little time....

We ended up doing 63kms and even with all the mud we managed to have and average moving speed of 22km/h which was pretty impressive given the conditions. OK week 1 done - can't wait for next week to ride off all that Christmas cheer. 



Last day of work

How cool is it to go on a 2 hour ride on your last day of work - need to get ready for my 3 week break where hopefully I will ride myself silly. Unfortunately on one of the routes that we have been using for years they are building a big wall blocking the way to the veld below Serengeti Golf Estate.



This will cause an inconvenience to a lot of Mountain Bikers that use this route...:(



Greg taking a rest while I moan about the new wall



Ok I think I need a shower after the morning's ride



Riding stats for 2011

It was almost a year ago that my beautiful wife bought me a Garmin Edge 500 GPS for Christmas. Although my MTB riding has been the topic of many a heated conversation in this household, I know that she really supports my new found passion for the fabulous sport. The stats below however are top secret and she must never know that I spent over 314 hours of my free time (that is over 13 whole days) away from her beloved presence with my trusty mountain bike. And please don't tell her that next year is going to be even bigger, with our entry into the Sani2C we have to really stretch the legs and do some really big rides before May next year.....

Count: 177 Activities

Distance: 6,126.35 km

Time: 314:37:53 h:m:s

Elevation Gain: 41,701 m

Avg Speed: 19.5 km/h

Calories: 228,994 C

Nancy Drew ride

Yes we were a bunch of Nancy Drew's this morning, after a few days of rain we tendered stay away from the mud. It is not so much about getting dirty but about not messing up your drive chain and rear cassette as they get caked in the grimy muck that can do so much damage. It was however a pleasant ride this morning with Greg and Justin (who has just conquered the Roof of Africa), we did just over 60kms at 21km/h average. I am looking forward to the holidays so we can do some serious longish out rides.  

Justin and Greg scouting ahead for some mud less tar....

Early Mountain Biker catches the sunrise

Nothing better then getting up at 04:30, going for a mountain bike ride with your mate in the outback of Benoni  and to experience the thrill as the morning shakes off the shackles of the night.