The big set up

After a few weeks of sore muscles and Greg's ITB injury scaring the S%$* out of me, I decided to have a proper bike fitting done. This is when your bike is set up according to your body measurements and movements (BG Fit), so that you can optimize power output and avoid unnecessary injuries. I was fortunate to see an advert on The Hub for David from XCOSA that offered professional qualified Body Geometry assessment and body-bike set-up. Greg was also keen because he is willing to try anything to get back on the bike again. So after a few emails David agreed to come to us and do a thorough assessment and set up.  

Wow, this was actually a lot more intense than I expected and the first few hours were an assessment of our bodies as Body-bike integration requires a thorough understanding of Anticipatory Response Regulation by the brain.  Then the tests and measurements were then used to calculate the optimal set-up of our bikes. First, the cleats on the shoes - mine were to high (I was pedaling with my toes) and they needed to move more inwards so my feet could be parallel to my hips and shoulders. Very important the foot has a natural angulation for walking and running and therefore during riding the arch needs support. This can be solved with inserts that give your foot the proper support. Next the seat was adjusted after measurements were done once again. Lastly the cockpit, I was too low on the bike and my handlebars needed to be raised. The short term fixes have been applied and it felt a whole lot better on my 60km ride this morning. But I need to spend some money on a new wider saddle (my bum bones are right on the edge of my Fizzik Gobi saddle) and I also need a new stem (17degrees by 90mm) to give my handle bars a better, higher angle. I can't wait to get these and then David will come back for the final set up. It was a great experience, David was awesome and very knowledgeable (he spent over 5 hours here) - well worth the money it cost. 

David making sure my seat is positioned right...

We had to do some riding to do the proper set up.

Greg with his injured knee

The new Specialized Phenom saddles that Greg bought for us today

  

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.

MODDERFONTEIN MTB TRAIL 30-06-2012

Today I joined Adam and Marco for my first ride at the relatively new Modderfontein Mountain Bike Trail park and wow it defintely did not dissapoint. We parked at the sports clubhouse and paid R40 for our entry ticket and then rode our bikes the 2km to where the trails begin. 

It really was a great ride plenty of flowing jeep track, single track and forest sections. It is hard to believe we have so much open ground right here in the middle of Johannesburg. We did just over 42km and did part of the green route first and then the yellow route (click here to check out the route). The routes are well marked and maintained and I enjoyed every minute of my riding there. There are a few small drags and hills so the total ascent we did was just over 500m, which got the heart rate up nicely (ave 155bpm). At the end of the ride, back at the sports clubhouse, there were loverly egg and bacon rolls and a Seattle Coffee van that made an awesome cappucino. Great ride definitly will be back....



These are the good looking cooks  that made our egg bacon rolls...



Adam and Marco munching of the egg bacon rolls after our ride



Awesome to have Seattle Coffee at the finish



Summer is on its way...

Yes the winter solstice has come and gone and the nights will get shorter and the days longer (and hopefully warmer). Its been a challenge riding in the cold and dark - but a least I managed a few rides whilst others were sleeping. Last Sunday I entered the Olympic Footwear MTB Winter Challenge which started at Serengeti Golf Estate. It was really an awesome race, the best one I have done so far (finally broke into the top 100 and was in the top half of the race) - ok I must admit I did have a bit of a home ground advantage as these are the routes I have been riding for the past 3 odd years. 

It was really cold when we started (about 2 degrees) and luckily the 60km race was shortened to 53km due to rain the day before that made one part un-rideable, so we didn't have to suffer for too long. I felt sorry for a guy that wiped out into the water at a river crossing, in front of me, at about the 20km mark - he must have been really cold the rest of the way. I felt good and was flying the first 40km averaging 24km/h and then I hit a wall and slowed down for the remaining 13km finishing on a respectable time of 02:20. It was great to ride with mates like Clint and Jacques and share this experience with them, overall I was pretty chuffed, my fastest MTB race to-date....

Winter blues

Does it count if you dream about riding in the cold winter months?

There is a direct correlation between 'the weather and time spent on the bike'. In the last week or so, I have managed just a few early morning rides. The dark and icy cold wind, takes some real muster to tackle in the mornings. My new found discovery of wearing disposable latex gloves under my riding gloves proved fallible last week when my hands were so frigging cold after returning from a early morning ride. It seriously took me 5 minutes just to take out my gate remote from my jacket and press the buttons to get into the house (and a further 10 minutes defrosting my hands in warm water to get some circulation back).  Nevertheless I will continue my battle against the elements and ensure that I ride a few times a week to be at least little fit when summer finally decides to pay us a welcome visit.   

After Sani...

So after what was possibly one of the most memorable weeks of my life at Sani2C with the best riding, one could ever imagine on a mountain bike, how you do proceed from here? It seems such a pity to take your foot off the accelerator (um sorry I mean pedal) after all those hectic months of training - yes there is an argument that your body needs a break, but I feel stronger then ever and need some extra motivation to keep on riding trough these cold winter months.

So I thought this could be pretty easy by entering a few races with my mates - say one a month. Unfortunately my Sani2C 'training group' has diminished in the last weeks to only one - me (Greg ITB injury, Mark's knees are shot, Adam - cut hand) so going out there alone can be pretty hard. 

But this ain't gonna keep me off my bike - by using a local biking website www.thehubsa.co.za and Twitter, I have managed to hook up with some other people in the last week. Saturday I went out with Twitter comrade aka IronMan Clint and a few Dirt Roadies for a ride in the plots and then on  Sunday, I was fortunate enough to attend a group ride (organized by Barry aka Tumbleweed on thehub) into the Benoni Mine Dumps (photos below). The latter was a awesome ride, 30 odd mountain bikers tearing up the dirt and creating plenty dust on some beautiful tracks, led skillfully by Paul from Procyles. There were amazing drop offs, that I actually yearned for, instead of hesitating, like before and a few steep up and overs, what an amazing experience. I had a few falls in the thick sand  and also did a classic face plant that has left its mark with a few scabs on my nose and chin this week.

Lastly I hooked up with another group after being in contact with (another) Greg on theHub for a ride in the mornings before work. OK funny story on its way.........the group meets at the BP garage 04:45 which means I need to leave home at 04:30 (getting up at 04:15), eager and not wanting to be late I got up before my alarm went off, got dressed for winter riding and hit the road on my bike.
I switched on my Garmin to see the time and to my horror it was only 03:30 - I had gotten up a whole hour early uuurgh. Long story short = back home, cup of tea and then leaving at the right time......

Was great morning ride though - longer, faster and more hills then I am used too (we went from Benoni to Bedfordview and back  - 50km) but great to test the body with like minded souls for 2 odd hours, thanks Greg.

Here is to keeping the legs spinning for the next few months....

Barry and Ian before the mine dump ride...

Nice downhills

and small climbs

Lovely drop-offs, yes those are mountain bikers on that mine dump..

Fantastic photo...of a group MTB ride

Nice to ride with Pierre once again..

Paul waiting for the others to catch up before leading the way..

Sani2C Trail 2012 - my story

So my mountain biking goal has been achieved, I have managed to complete the illustrious Sani to Sea mountain bike race.My senses have had a serious overload over the 3 magnificent days that I tested my body and rode 260kms from Underberg in the Drakensberg Mountains to Scottbourough by the sea in beautiful South Africa. 

This is a team event and you have to ride the whole time with a partner, I was very fortunate to do this with my good mate Greg Heunis and our months of training paid off. We also had the privilege of sharing this magnificent event with our new riding mates Adam and Mark and these guys really helped the 'old men' out. Yes, the event was very hard, as there were hills on serious steroids (not like the flat lands of Benoni that we are used to). It was a real tester for both of us and our bodies took strain, but we went with the right mindset that we would enjoy no matter what and took our time to at least appreciate the spectacular scenery.

Day 1 was a 80km ride from Underberg to Mackenzie Farm and after having no sleep, being fumed out by the trucks outside our (school room) sleeping quarters at 04:00 in the morning and freezing temperatures, we were not feeling too strong for the start of our journey. Adam and Mark started 20 minutes behind us (batched starts) and passed us a few kms before the end of the day's route. The route was a bit muddy and slippery in places but was otherwise spectacular. My phobia of riding over bridges was finally put to the test, as we had to ride over a long floating bridge over a dam (this had me waking up nights in a cold sweat). I really thought that I was going to fall in and swim and ride the remaining 50km in wet clothes, but it came and I conquered it with no problem - what an awesome personal achievement (never mind the 30 or so other bridges they had in the rest of the race).

Start of Day 1

What fun riding the floating bridge over the dam...

Sheer joy at riding over this hoodo...

Tented camp at the end of Day1

Adam showing us how bridges should be ridden

Day 2 This 100km ride with over 2000m ascent will be etched in my mind forever - the first 40km, is the best riding one could ever imagine, going down into the Umkomaas Valley and then the hardest 60km ride out the valley to the Day 2 rest camp.But wow, it was worth every minute of the almost 8 hours that we spent out there....the photos don't really do the views any justice.

Beautiful Umkomaas Valley

Yes those are clouds down there....we were really high and we rode all the way down to the bottom.

Hard sublime tracks all the way down...

Bit of congestion before Heaven or Hell track..

So there was loads to eat at the water points...

Route profile for Day 2 - that is a lot of climbing after 40km

Adam tearing up the Umkomaas valley decent track

 The long hill to the 'Nandos' water point, my legs will remember for ages, it was so nice to get off the bike and have a Nandos burger and relax in the shade for 20 minutes or so until my body could continue and tackle the next 'Push of a Climb' hill...

Our cozy tent in the macadamia tree orchard...

Day 3 - 75km at least this day was shorter and faster than the previous day so our bodies could recover and we could enjoy the last day of this incredible journey. There was a lot of fast downhill mixed with some really testing climbs. The scenery was once again out of this world...

So much single track you just couldn't help but smile all the time....

View of the sugar cane hills we climbed

Vernon Crookes climb

At the top of Heart Rate Hill

Really happy tired boys at the finish line...

Mark and Adam at the finish

 What a fantastic experience, I definitely want to do this one again, it was hard but incredible. We were not racing but rather enjoying the ride as much as we could, nevertheless a long time in the saddle 17 hours 21 minutes over 3 days (but at least we beat over 400 people). After the race Greg, Mark, Adam and I were fortunate enough to stay with Greg's parents for the evening and be fed some fantastic food that I will also remember for years to come. Thank you Mr and Mrs Heunis for your hospitality it really is much appreciated. We went down to the beach and had a nice swim in the sea followed by a few well earned beers.

Tradional swim in the sea after the race...

Marathon weekend rides....

What a great weekend of riding - yesterday we had a great ride out to Irene (95km) and today we rode out to Heidelberg (68km). Fantastic riding with some good company - Greg, Adam and Mark. Today was Greg's birthday and what better way then to celebrate then have an awesome ride in the countryside with mates. That makes it over 300km of riding in the last 7 days - not sure I could have done more for my preparation for Sani2C next week - lets hope those hills will be forgiving....

A TEAM

B TEAM

Breather at the top of the TV Tower hill at Heidelberg.

Your truly with Heidelberg in the background

Adam rising to Greg's challenge and riding rough shot...

Yes that is a staple in my rear tyre and 2 side wall cuts in one ride....

Sani2C Training....almost done

So we have less then 10 days to go before we embark on our exciting adventure and participate in our first Sani2C mountain bike event. Must admit I am pretty scared after speaking to my mate Pierre today who is currently doing the Joburg2C. He has just completed day 8 of his race from Heidelberg to Scotborough and they do the same route as Sani2C over the last 3 days of their 9 day event. He said it was a tough day 100km and over 80% was single track with lots of hills. 

Our training was ambushed last weekend by a injury Greg picked up to his leg - but he is visiting the chiropractor and hopefully he will be fit for the race (even so I still managed to do 280kms on the MTB in the last 7 days). Tomorrow is the tester when we will try to do a 5 hour ride in search of some hills Irene way.

Awesome sunrise taken on one of my morning training rides this week..

Thought this was appropriate as I gonna need some mental toughness in the next few weeks...

3 weeks to Sani2c

Time is running out and we seem to have lost some momentum in our training. Greg is tackling the hills on the coast, so it has been a lonely week of training. Today I was fortunate to team up with Adam and birthday boy Mark for a early ride in the mielie fields - 60km with 300m ascent. Tomorrow we are tackling Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve which for the same distance will be 1200m of climbing which is more like the hills we will be doing at Sani2C.