Long and hard

So what was I thinking, that I could easily do an ultra marathon mountain bike race over a 110km!!!!

I somehow got coerced into entering and completing this race by my group of fellow mountain bike nut jobs - the Benoni Rough Riders. You'll be fine they said, you did 120km to Irene and back. Well things did not go so well yesterday. It was one of my hardest rides and was possibly 30km further then I should have attempted on my current fitness levels. 

Unfortunately Greg had to pull out at the last minute and we had to reshuffle our transport to the start of the race in the small town of Reitz (Orange Free State) - thanks Wayne. It was an early start with us getting up at 3:30 in order for Wayne, Paul and I to meet Sean, Rebecca and Mark by 04:30 at the Engen garage so we could ride together. 

 2.5 hours drive to the start of the race and we were greeted with cold and windy conditions - it looked like we were in for a wet ride. Short ride from the Reitz show grounds to the centre of town where the race started at 08:00.

Benoni Rough Riders before the start of the race

We sort of stuck together as a group until the first water point and then I told them not to wait for me as I was really struggling with the hills - and there were lots of them. I stuck with Rebecca and Wayne until after the second water point and then got dropped on one of the many long rolling climbs. 

The route was pretty hectic - besides the rolling hills there were stages where we had to ride through grass fields and the tufts of grass really took their toll on my already aching body. Fortunately the rain stayed away but the clouds dissipated and the sun started beating down. Phew it really got hot my Garmin was  showing 36 degrees at one stage with an average of 29 for the ride. It was a really long ride and I took just under 7 hours to complete the 113km route. That meant I was riding the whole day - energy sapping stuff in the midday sun.

One thing that was awesome, was the beautiful scenery, there were Cosmos flowers and vast open spaces where you could see for miles. Near the end we passed through a wolf sanctuary, amazing to see all different types of wolves in separate enclosures.

Great scenery

One of the many wolves in the wolf sanctuary

The last 30km were really tough for me, it seemed that all my old injuries had came back to haunt me - my knee and back were killing me with every peddle stroke. There were some dark moments counting down the last few kilometres until the end. I stopped a few times to take some photos and have a reprieve from the constant mundane struggle. The end just would not come fast enough. I managed it though, really chuffed that I stuck it out and completed my first ultra marathon distance mountain bike race. Here are my Strava stats for the ride. 

Photo on the finish line and I was truly finished...

Longest ride take 2

Ok so my last post was about my longest mountain bike ride - well yesterday I went one up and went on a 121km ride to Irene market and beyond. Strava activity link

Fantastic group consisting of some of our regular morning 'Rough Riders' - Greg, Wayne, Paul, Mark, Becky, Sean, Anton, Juan and a mate from my work, Graeme joining us as well (Hansie and Aiden joined us for the beginning of the ride - at least until my KOM was lost on the Jess segment - thanks Hansie....).  

Awesome route to Irene with a great stop at the Irene market where we ordered cappuccinos and demolished the best muffins in the world - well worth the slog to get there. The route back was around the Cornwall Estate, along outskirts of the Rietvlei Nature Reserve and then along the power lines until the train tracks. Then the real slog started with a 10km lung burner along the railway lines until the welcome stop at the legendary Broodblik for a refreshing coke. 

Becky, Graeme and I in front of the incredible muffin man...

Group photo at the Irene Market

Graeme, Mark and Anton in front of the Broodblik

Longest MTB ride

Saturday the 7th of February was the day I recorded my longest MTB ride to date - 108km. The plan was to do 120km but the mind was willing and the body was not. There were 8 of us that embarked on a memorable ride to Irene and back - Paul, Greg, Wayne, Michael, Von, Ashley and Billy. A really hot day rushed up on us, after our early 5:00 start. The route that we took was pretty well known to Greg and I after doing a few Irene trips before. This time however we were going around Irene and not just to the edge of it, so there was a bit of clueless wondering to find some tracks until we ended up at the Irene market. 

This was a great place for a pit stop as there was plenty shade and food and coffee stalls to refresh our battered bodies. 

On the way to Irene when going through the bush we came upon a tame Zebra. This was an awesome sight as the Zebra was out of place and must have escaped from the nearby game reserve. 

The ride to Irene I can honestly say was one of my better rides. It was pretty amazing route with a bit of everything. Unfortunately Greg had a silly fall and besides ending up in a thorn bush his knee connected with a rock and it looked pretty painful (and is still swollen today). Hope it does not slow down his training for Joburg to Sea. I managed on the ride better then I thought I would, however spending 6 hours in the saddle was a bit hectic (given that I am not fully recovered from all my injuries) but it was totally worth it. 

Mid morning and the heat came up and sapped the energy out of our willing bodies, the last 20km of the ride was pretty soul searching and the coke at the end at the BP garage had never tasted better. Here are my Strava stats of the ride:

This has been a great week as I was able to have a few rides with my beautiful wife Linda. It's really awesome that she now shares the passion I have for mountain biking. We have done a few evening rides around our suburb and today we did a 34km ride out in the plots and had a breakfast stop in between. She is now on Strava and loves competing and working her way up the ladies leader board, she has a couple of top places and will soon have a QOM as she gets fitter. 

Evening rides around Korsman Pan watching the sun go down

Linda going down 'Mark the other way' segment

She loves taking photos on the rides so I will have plenty of shots of me...

Gentle does it

It has been a frustrating start to 2015 after being injured in my close encounter with the tar late last year. After 3 weeks of limited riding I finally got back on the bike this week with some great early morning rides and a awesome ride to the cell tower today. It has been gentle riding as my muscles are still a bit sore from the strain/tear of ligaments in my groin and hamstring. A bit different from this time last year where I did a 1000kms in January.  Never a less I know it is going to be a good year as it can't get much worse then 2014 from an injury perspective.

Incredible sunrise taken outside Dunblane Estate.

Enjoying a great cup of coffee after a ride with good people...
Becky, Sean, Michael, Paul and Greg

 

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…..

December time

I love this time of the year, nice relaxed riding and lots of coffee with good mates. We have had some nice early morning rides and longer weekend rides dodging the mud that is so prevalent this time of the year. We have had a few people leave our small riding group as life takes them in different directions - Adam moving to Cape Town and Mike to Tanzania etc.. Others have moved further away from our customary starting point in Benoni and are now pretty scarce (Mark and Marco). Fortunately we still have a great bunch of guys and girls and there is a wonderful spirit in this group, it makes getting up before the birds are awake much easier if there are nice people to ride with. Also we have had a few 'new' people join our group and they also bring a great new dynamic - Hansie, Anton etc…

Incredible 60km ride last Sunday with Jess (on her single speed), Greg, Wayne, Michael, Hansie and Paul (who screams like a girl when he gets a fright). Great ride around Serengeti, mainly off road and then a relaxed coffee at the Mug & Bean on Atlas road. Great to have Hansie as part of our team now - he had his GoPro on and did a fantastic job of filming and editing our ride. Please click here to check it out.

Post 94.7

It has been awesome riding the last few weeks, pressure is off to train for any events, so I can just go out and have fun. We have done a few early morning rides in the forest track that is situated next to the airport. This is a great track to test your tree dodging skills, we manage to get a couple of laps in before work. Rob who rode with us the last 2 times took the picture below and ran into a cobra in a solo ride there last week. Here is a great video taken by Hansie of the ride, click here to view...

Picture courtesy of Rob the racing snake...

We had a nice group ride last Friday (aptly named Dirty Friday) and I led the group up Monument Hill. Great ride and good coffee afterwards. Here is an awesome video that Aiden took with his GoPro (please click on the link for the YouTube clip) Monument Dirty Friday ride

December is here and it is time to wind down (and ride some more). Lekker ride last Sunday, Greg, Paul, Yvonne and myself. I managed to beat Paul at the post and steal a KOM - here are my Strava stats of the ride.

Picture courtesy of Hansie

Best 94.7 yet...

Last weekend I participated in my 6th Momentum 94,7 Cycle Challenge and as the title says above, it was my best one yet. Ok lets clarify that statement a bit - it wasn't my fastest time (click here for my stats of the ride) but the most enjoyable. This year, I decided to do it differently, firstly I rode for a cause - The Apricot Tree (a school for special needs children in Benoni) where I raised some money for this charitable cause and secondly I did the race on my mountain bike instead of my road bike.

I decided not to race the 94.7 this year but instead rode it to enjoy it. I knew I would not be able to beat my best time of last year (3:11) as I was not fit enough because of all my injuries (and the route had changed). So why not go out on my MTB which would be much harder and slower, but a lot more enjoyable. It was so great to ride the race and not race it, I managed to ride at a decent pace and left plenty in the tank for the last 20kms. The MTB is also a lot safer, I saw a lot of accidents and even had a tandem fall in front of me when we went through a paved traffic circle near the end in Steyn City, I had to brake really hard not to ride over the women that landed in front of me. I later heard that she was admitted to hospital with a broken scapula, clavicle and 3 fractured ribs.

The start of the race, Wayne already leaving me behind on the first hill

 

At the finish with a well deserved medal and coke...

All in all it was a really great race, I really enjoyed it. I managed to finish in a respectable time of 03:57 and was not exhausted afterwards. In fact I had plenty left at the end to fly past all the roadies on the last few hills and was the chief motivator in helping a lot of people forget about their pain whilst listening to my ridicule. It was also good to ride for a cause (the Apricot Tree) and in the true spirit of the race. I managed to raise R3500 in sponsorship funds and know that this really goes to a very worthwhile cause.

Wayne and I before the start.in our Apricot Tree kit

 

Still riding but not staying upright

So chicks dig scars - well I hope so because I have added few more to my body in the last few weeks. Yup it has been a rough few weeks, lower back is still troubling me from the taxi hitting me but I am still trying to churn up the kms as I have the 94.7 road race in a few weeks. I have had a few silly falls that have left their mark. One of those was clipping Greg's back wheel and hitting the tar pretty hard. I've been a regular at my pyshio and chiropractor the past few months.

 

Nice 70km outride - Paul watering the bushes in the background

Greg and I attempted the Juma last weekend and after flying over the handle bars in the Melville koppies I slashed my tyre in the 800m tunnel (in the storm water drains) which ended my race after 20km. Not lekker to not be able to finish a race, but 4 bombs and a spare tube later there was no way Greg and I could fix it. Quite a rough race, rode past lots of riders that had wiped out and were just lying there waiting for medics.  

Start of the Juma race

Juma selfie

 

Frustrating end with a 5cm cut in my tyre

Lots of bridges to ride over busy roads 



Awesome ride today, Greg, Wayne and I rode to Modderfontein - Central Trails mountain bike park and back. Nice long ride (almost 90km) and with a few hills to keep the legs honest. Click here for the Strava stats.

Greg

Wayne

 

Heidelberg radio mast and back

So after a few weeks of limited activity because of my back injury, I took the bait that Greg casually threw out and organized a group ride from Benoni up to Heidelberg radio mast and back. Not sure it was the wise choice doing a 95km MTB ride with unfit legs, but hey if you can't stand the heat stay, out of the kitchen.

Awesome ride, going to Heidelberg the pace was quick and besides Dee having a puncture and Michael getting propositioned by a prostitute, it was uneventful. All I can say that it was a tough ride coming back with a strong headwind knocking the remaining strength out of my legs. 

Great company, always nice when a group fits in so nicely, everyone is involved and no one rode away or lagged behind too much. Greg, Paul, Wayne, Michael, Becky, Sean, Jess, Dee and Tony it was incredible to share another Mountain Bike adventure with you all, thank you.

Here are my Strava stats from the ride.

 

Meeting outside PF Gym first flat wheel of the day

The group at the top of the radio tower hill

Jess single speed champ gave us all carrots up the hill

Wayne making the view look ugly

Dee making the view look pretty

Becky and Sean swapping their drugs

Paul keeping everything on track

Michael and Becky in the back ground

Group minus Greg

 

Gritting my teeth after the long hard slog from the mine dumps to the road

Welcome stop for a refreshing coke at the 85km mark

 

Post TAXI blues and smiles

It has been a trying few weeks since my tangle with the taxi, in fact it is a month now and I have still not fully recovered. My lower back has been giving me lots of grief after I managed to get back on the bike a week or so after the accident. In hindsight, this was far too early and my lower back has still not recovered from the whiplash/impact with the taxi.

 

Out of frustration I went to the Physio this week and was informed that I was to stay off the bike for a least another week while he treated me. Now this is when I hate Strava as I can see all the people I am following riding up a storm whilst I am sitting at home just clocking up the kilos and not the kilometers. Lets hope that this treatment will sort my back out and I will once again be pain free and be able to enjoy this wonderful sport once again.

 

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to do a MTB race with my son Caiden. We did the 13km Auto Aplino race at Nigel. It was a cold and windy race,  but incredible to be able to do the race with him. I was so proud as he has done no cycling in the past year and managed to keep up with me the whole race. Awesome to share this experience with him.

I was freezing at the start but Caiden refused to wear a jacket, much tougher then his dad

The cold wait at the start of the race 

Team Dawkins proudly showing our medals afterwards

 

Thank my lucky stars!!!!

A few things were different last Saturday - firstly I normally ride on a Sunday as my boys have hockey and secondly I normally only mountain bike. No Hockey and the MTB group was leaving too early for me, so I dusted off my road bike (only the second time using it this year) and headed out to join the road biking group for a nice long Saturday morning ride. Under the astute leadership of George, we headed out towards Edenvale, Modderfontein and then towards Midrand - down Allendale road. It was really great to be on the road bike again, my few weeks of limited winter activity were well felt when climbing up a few of the drags. It was so great seeing all the riders in the group again, they really are a fantastic bunch of people.

 

I lost the wheel of the group when they were speeding down a long down hill (about 15 meters behind) and as I started the climb up the next rolling hill - WHAM!!! I got taken out from behind by a mini bus taxi. I can't really explain the feeling, it was surreal, it was the last thing that I expected to be suddenly hit from behind and hit the ground. Fortunately I still had some momentum from the downhill, I was doing about 30-40km/h so the impact was not as severe as it could have been. The taxi pushed my bike out from under me and my back hit the front of the taxi before I landed on the ground. Fortunately he braked and did not ride over me, as I landed rolling and screaming from the sudden agony in my lower back. I managed to crawl to the side of the road and lay withering in agony from the pain. Thinking to myself I really hope my back isn't broken. The rest of the group turned back to assist me and Johan and his son in law, who witnessed the accident from behind in his car, pulled over in front of the taxi so it couldn't drive away.

 

The taxi driver got out and started to say that it wasn't his fault, it was the truck that he was overtaking (using the emergency lane on a dual lane road) - go figure that one out. Anyway to cut a long story short the group was really awesome they kicked into action straight away, making sure I was comfortable, my wife was contacted (thx Mandy) and that an ambulance was called. I ended up having 8 emergency vehicles, including a fire engine. I was put on a stretcher and my bike and me were loaded into the ambulance. Fortunately the closest hospital was about 1km away so it was a short journey. The doctor assessed me and was happy that I was stable enough to be sent for x-rays.

 

The x-rays showed there were no breaks or fractures, just extreme muscle damage on my lower back from the whiplash etc...As I write this 4 days later, my back is still sore but a lot better after a few sessions at the Chiropractor, rest at home, lots heat/cold treatment and of course drugs. I realize now, how blessed I am to have survived such a crash, not have any other major injuries, have a group of  fantastic friends and a wonderful wife. My bike surprisingly came out unscathed just a slightly buckled rear rim and a bent rear derailer. The driver was arrested as besides breaking the rules of the road and riding in the emergency lane his taxi had no license plates on etc... 

The wheels of destruction

Thanks once again to everybody that assisted me, especially the Checkers road biking group they really are a special group of individuals.