Back to basics

So after a few weeks of eating and drinking toooo much I decided to get back into riding again. The cold weather has definitely been a joy kill. I had a great business trip overseas to England and France and the weather was amazing, hot days and sun only setting at 10 at night. Coming back home, it is difficult to face the cold morning air, for early morning rides before work. Nevertheless I have committed to do at least 3 rides per week. Today Adam and I went out for a great ride out into the Benoni outback, phew my legs were tired, cant believe how quickly I have lost the little fitness that I had. Here are the stats for my ride.

Oh!! the past few weeks have been enthralling, 3 weeks of closely watching the Tour De France 2013. It has been amazing, those guys are just incredible athletes. I have been cheering for Chris Froome (as he is an African and was educated here in Johannesburg). He will win the 100th Tour De France today and I can't wait as I have been wearing my Sky shirt that I got in London for the past few days and it is beginning to ripen...

On a more serious note, I heard when I got back from my ride today that a mountain biker was knocked over and killed close to where we rode. Really sad news and my thoughts are with his family. RIP.

Impey you biscuit

Wow how awesome it is to have the first South African Daryl Impey to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour De France. As South Africans we are so very proud of this moment and what makes it even better is that Daryl went to the same school as me, Jeppe High School for Boys. Lets hope he can keep the yellow for a few days.

Battle of the burrs...

Fantastic ride today with a good bunch of people and some warmer weather. I joined Juan, Val, Terry, Tony and Renier for a ride out into the 'outback of Benoni', chasing a few hills and coming back via the train tracks. The route was great with a challenging short drag and some great new single track down the other side. We stopped at the top of the hill and Tony has us laughing when he sat down to take off his leg warmers and sat on a bunch of burrs and was covered all over. He then took his shoes off and was hoping around as his socks also got covered. These burrs are really difficult to take off as they stick to everything.



The battle of the burrs...

I had to keep a close eye on Renier as he was trying to take some of my Strava segments, so there were a few stages of chasing his back wheel. Near the end of the ride we met up with Richard and Bruce at a new restaurant (at the end of the Vlakfontein single track) for a great cappuccino and my first ever breakfast pizza (Tony spent most of the time still picking the rest of the burrs off his clothes....). Here are the Strava details of my ride.

The group relaxing after a great ride.

Jaaging in the mielies

So it has been a month since our epic Sani adventure. Before Sani I think I was the fittest I have ever been and it is amazing how quickly you lose that edge. Coming back home it has been difficult to get back into training again, as we have no events in the near future. Not to mention that winter has descended on our fair lands and it is extremely difficult to dress up like a Michelin man and go out in the freezing cold. I seem to only manage maybe one or two early morning rides during the week and our valiant group of 10 mountain bikers has now been reduced to Mark and I (and sometimes  Greg2). Mark and I have found a good incentive to brave the freezing cold we stop for a nice coffee at the new Mug and Bean outlet situated at the Total garage on Altas road.

Mark at our coffee stop, average temp for this ride was under 2 degrees

Jack Frost has added a bit of nip in the air

After a few weekends of very limited riding I really had to get out there and test the boundaries of my declining fitness. I joined the group of like minded mountain bikers at the BP garage on chilly Sunday morning. There were about 20 riders, some were doing a long ride to Big Red Barn mountain bike track, near Irene and a few other doing a shorter dash in the mielie fields. I decided to stick to the shorter route because of time restraints (and BRB route would be over 100km ride for me and I am not sure I was up for that just yet). We had an awesome ride out into the mielie fields, initially there were 6 of us but Ryan turned back after awhile as his legs were shot from the ride the day before. Renier, Jess, Dee and Adriaan ended up dashing (Jaaging) in the mielie (corn) fields, nice fast exhilarating tempo. Was really great to be out there and riding in the wide open spaces with great company. I ended up doing over 70km here are the stats from my Garmin.

Great way to finish a winter ride is to have a nice warm cappuccino

Sani to Sea Trail 2013 - my story

So the story begins: after a few hard weeks of training we were in much better shape then last year (injury free) to tackle the 2013 Sani2C Trail event. This year we were going to do a few things different, firstly we were not going to spend the first night at the Underberg school opting rather to pay a little bit extra and stay in a self catering cottage. At least we were guaranteed a nice warm sleep before our epic journey instead of sucking diesel fumes from the trucks parked outside the classroom. Secondly we were not going to kill ourselves and race everyday but rather just enjoy the experience and appreciate the fantastic scenery and wonderful tracks.  We were not sure if we would do this event again, not because of the cost but because we would like to use our limited sports leave to race/ride in a different part of the country. Below are a few photos that capture the essence of our exhilarating 3 days riding some of the best tracks in the country.

Our river view cottage for the first night stay before the race start

We went on a great adventure ride and found some great MTB tracks and views



Greg and I had an awesome time exploring the place where we stayed

Day1 was a lot warmer than last year and we had an advantage this time as we knew what to expect. This day was my best day of all three, as there was fantastic single track through the forest and of course the bridge over the dam which was really easy compared to last year. We had a very pleasant ride not exerting ourselves and finishing just under 5 hours for the 82km route.

Greg and I before the start of Day1



Awesome forest tracks on Day1



Day2 For the first time we were not scared for this day but rather looking forward to the challenge. Going down into the valley was absolutely amazing, the views are incredible except you don't have much time to look at them as you have to really focus on the single track in front of you, one mistake and you are over the edge (I believe one person was airlifted after falling and breaking a few vertebrae). Then came the long climbs, a lot easier than last year as we knew what to expect this time and we saved our legs for them. It was a long day - 7 hours of riding and 1 hour of stopping (we got our moneys worth at the water points). I had a bit of a de-javu moment when I hit the bolt on the end of the scaffold bridge going over the river before WP1 and did a fantastic tumble over the handle bars. A superb tuck and roll and back on my feet in a few seconds. Funny thing is I hit the exact same bolt last year and did the same tuck and roll. The heat on Day2 was something else - we hit highs of 39 degrees Celsius so it was pretty energy sapping but it was a great feeling finishing the 102km ride.  





Descending down the valley on Day2





Going over the Umkomaas river (Greg in the background)





Customary Nandos burger after slogging up a loooong climb

Best massage ever from Melissa after 7 odd hours in the saddle

Day3 Feeling a lot better than last year we eagerly started day 3, this was another fantastic day in the saddle. Farmer Glen talked up the last 16km so we were a bit nervous not knowing what to expect and pretty terrified for the new bridges at Scottborough.  I had another fall in the same place as last year whilst going down a steep decline, both brakes could not stop me sliding down this hill and I eventually lost control and ended up using my elbow as a brake pad. After washing my wounds at the first water point I was ready to tackle the rest of the day. I am not sure that the new route at the end of Day3 was better, I think I preferred going up Heart Rate hill and the fast declines thereafter. The bridge at the end was awesome,  800m  of narrow bridge winding over the lagoon at Scottborough with a few meters going over the sea at the end. Fortunately Greg was behind me (hoping to catch me on the GoPro taking a dive into the lagoon) and held back the other riders as I had a nervous start when riding the bridge and had to stop to change gears. Once going the bridge experience was fantastic, the bridge actually moved as you were riding so you had to really concentrate and keep your line. The last bit of the bridge went into the sea but it low tide so did not having any big waves rocking the bridge. 5 hours to complete the 86km and finish our second Sani2C.
 

Before the start of Day3 feeling a lot better than last year...

Partner Greg armed with the GoPro as I fall too much.... 

Hey is this thing recording or what?

Vernon Crookes Day3

Great to finish another Sani2C and the photo with Farmer Glen

What an awesome experience to share with my good mate Greg Heunis, 3 days riding over 270km of the best mountain bike tracks in South Africa. Below is some video footage of Day2 and Day3 recovered off the GoPro camera (long story but the SD card on the camera reformated itself and all footage was lost)....

 

One week to go....

So in one weeks time we will be heading out to Underburg to start our epic journey to the sea on pristine single track. Wow I can't wait. Am I prepared? Ummm yeah I think so, much better then last year at least. My riding this week started with a nice early ride on Wednesday, we had a great 77km spin out into the Benoni outback via the train tracks etc...I managed to get one Strava - King of the Mountain (KOM) crown on the ride. For the ride stats click HERE 

 

Today was my last big ride for my Sani2C preparation. It was truly a memorable ride because I met some great new like minded people and did a hard 90 odd km ride with them. Rebbecca and I got into contact via Strava and Twitter and then arranged a ride today from Benoni to Modderfontein Central Park Trails MTB park and back. Greg and Adam sent early morning sick notes but Mark man-ed up and joined Rebbecca, Juan, Craig, Jason, Jessica, Kevin and I. Great to ride with new people (although I have known Craig for years) and some of them are also riding Sani2C next week. The pace was fast and I pushed myself till the legs burned hoping that I will reap the benefits of this effort when climbing out of the Umkomaas valley. For the ride stats click HERE

The group at the end of the tussle with the dirt track..

Welcome customary stop at the garage for a coke and food...

 

Sani...you are always on my mind

So the last few months we have been building up to one of the greatest mountain bike races in South Africa. Our focus every week is what rides we will do that will help us manage to survive this three day event. Our progress has been relatively good, I reckon Greg and I are stronger then we were last year (even though we have not done 2 big rides in a row) and this time we know what to expect, so it is going to be awesome, I can't wait.

 

Last Sunday Greg and I went to Suikerbosrand Nature reserve after a few days of heavy rain (good to see they kept the rates the same after our social media intervention), click here for the ride stats. The route is all tar so there is no mud and washing of the bikes afterwards. We managed to see loads of game and had the odd jackal run in front of our bikes.

 

After a few rides in the week, we went on an epic ride to Modderfontein Central Park Trails Mountain Bike park and back. This was a great 101km ride with 950m climbing and I did it with Greg, Adam, Mark and Marco. Nice to be out on the saddle for over 5 hours, fantastic ride with some good people. Click here are my stats for the ride.

 

Adam, Mark, Marco and Greg at our 85km refreshment stop..

 

Morning rides normally end with some great views when going round Korsman Pan

Breedts Nek and more

Wow!! our Sani2C training got a massive boost today, we had an incredible ride from Sterkfontein Caves, up Breedts Nek and back to the Caves via Hekpoort pass. Click here: for the ride stats

After hearing about the infamous Breedts Nek climb from many mountain bikers over the years, we were fortunate enough to be able to go there today. It was quite a drive from the East Rand were we live and we left really early before 5:00 to get there by 6:30. We then met my friend Pierre at the Sterkfontein Caves car park (he had riden there from Northcliff). Pierre I must mention is a absolute mountain biking machine after doing a few Epics, Joburg to Seas, Cape Pioneer Trek etc. His weekend riding was a total of 250km - so this man knows his way around a mountain bike. Pierre was kind enough to take us on some awesome routes through to Breedts Nek, his knowledge of the area after many years of riding is enormous, we went on some fantastic tracks that not many people know about. This ride was incredible, the scenery was out of this world and the route was pretty tough at times with some big hills which is vastly different from the flat tracks we are used to in Benoni. 

Pierre and I on the top of Breedts

Greg was grateful to be at the top..

Mission accomplished Breedts has been conquered

Pierre and Greg

Now on Strava

So it has been a relatively good week of riding: 76km on Monday with Renier, 42km mad dash in the rain on Wed with the youngsters, 30km recovery ride on Thursday and a 86km ride out into the farmlands on Sunday with Greg.

I have recently discovered Strava - this is a online record of all your rides and you get to see what your friends are also doing. What is also interesting about Strava is that your ride is split into segments, that other riders have ridden in the past - these segments normally are hills, straights or certain sections of your ride and have each been given names i.e. I am currently the KOM for the Bredell Dam single track North . There is a leader board of each of these segments where the fastest riders are displayed and this makes it very competitive. So even if you are riding alone you really give it your all in certain segments to try and move up the log. Hence the picture above - if I collapse, please pause my Garmin so I can not loose my place on the leader board. It is really fun and you should give a try if you have a compatible device that can upload your ride stats onto Strava.

 

P.S. Seems like our protest about the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve fees increase has worked and they will be only increasing the fees by 10%.

Happy riding...

Suikerbosrand shocker

So Adam, Mike and I went to Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve on the weekend to get some proper hill training in for Sani2C. We had a great ride beating my best time by 20 minutes. Most of the ride was in the rain and we were very very soaked by the time we got back to the car park. It really is an awesome place to ride, the landscape is challenging for us cyclists (1200m ascent in 57km) and the scenery is out of this world. You can see lots of wild game and occasionally have to dodge a buck dashing across the road. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed to be told as we were leaving that the entrance fees would be going up on the 8th of April. Not that I should be shocked by the fact that companies increase their fees, this is a natural economic activity that occurs every year in order to at least keep up with inflation, but this increase is ridiculous.

 

To put things into perspective it cost Adam and I a total of R50 to ride today (R20 each and R10 for the car).  After the 8th of April it will cost R420 for the 2 of us to ride (R50 each, R150 per bike and R20 for the car).

 

PLEASE assist by signing this online petition to make sure these exorbitant fees are not implemented and ruin a great place bikers, hikers and nature lovers by clicking on this link: http://www.change.org/petitions/gauteng-conservation-environment-and-land-affairs-please-do-not-implement-fee-increase-for-cyclists-at-suikerbosrand-nature-reserve#share

 

New fees that have caused much dissension

 

Awesome long weekend of riding

So Thursday the 21st of March 2013 was a public holiday - Human Rights Day in South Africa (aptly renamed by me to Human Rides Day a few years ago). I took the Friday off as well and we planned a few long rides in preparation for the Sani2C stage race happening in the middle of May.

 

The Thursday ride was great, Greg, Noel and I headed out to Irene from Benoni. The weather was sublime and we had a fantastic ride looking for some hills near the Rietvlei Nature Reserve. Click here for my Garmin stats of the ride. We did 93km at an average of 22km/h. On the way home I pulled out 10 thorns from my tyres - thank goodness for tubeless tyres with Stans sealant. We also passed a large bunch of mountain bikers who had stopped to repair some punctures, I saw a friend on mine, Clint and he shared this picture below and the story. At the corn/mielie fields where we ride the farmer uses the by-product from the local sewage farm to fertilise his crops. This stinking black stuff is usually left in big piles next to the fields and Hennie (a guy I have ridden with a few times) made the terrible mistake of thinking this was tar and decided to ride over it - only to sink deep in the sh*t. The guys watching really cracked up as he struggled to get out, sinking deeper with every movement.

Hennie is in deep kak...

Friday we went for a shorter ride (Renier, Mark, Greg incl) out past Dunblane and towards Pretoria road. We were pretty shocked that the farmer had dug massive trenches blocking the access roads to his farm. We have ridden these routes for years and because of some irresponsible individuals these routes are now being blocked off.

Renier, Mark and Greg

Sunday was a monster ride from home to Central Park Trails MTB park "Modders" and back. This was a 100km ride with over 900m ascent and plenty of single track sandwiched in between some tar. This was perfect training for Sani2C as there were plenty of hills that we could test our legs on. I had my first proper crash on my new bike when coming round a corner on the single track and hitting some loose sand resulting in my back tyre washing away and me hitting the earth with one mighty thump. What an awesome ride, we really tested our bodies to the limits and were pretty tired by the time we got home. Click here for the Garmin details of the ride. 

Adam powering up the single track...

....followed closely by Mark

P.S. I sold my old Giant Anthem that I had fixed up before buying my new bike, hope that Andrew takes good care of her and has many happy kms on her like I did.

 

Let the training begin

So we have 8 weeks to go before the Sani2C and this week coming is going to be a big one. I have been keeping the training ticking along with 10 hours in the saddle last week (nice 85km ride last Sunday) but this week I only managed just over 7 hours. Greg has had some bad luck with his bike this week with his shock being sent to Cape Town for repair so he has been off the bike for awhile.

 

The real issue we have with training for Sani2C, is that Benoni is so flat and we really struggle to find any hills to make us stronger for the many many hills on this 3 day event. Mark and me went on a quest this week to find one or two small drags that can be added to our longer rides in the week. Fortunately we found some in Kempton Park and this is a lot safer then dodging the cars on the way back from Bedfordview. The morning rides are still awesome except winter is on its way and it is getting darker and colder. The experience of being outdoors in the morning riding with mates is still incredible and we get to see some beautiful sunrises.

Early morning sunrise - Mark enjoying the experience

So how is the new bike going - Wow I cant believe how incredible it still feels, I feel like a new person on my new bike it is absolutely fantastic. I think this saying below that I saw awhile ago sort of rings true..... 

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  

How not to do a drop off

Ok so we went to Central Park Trails (Modders) on Sunday. The new starting point and track are absolutely awesome. Greg and I had an incredible ride. I had my iPhone filming in my Optrix cover and got a good 1.5 hours video coverage of the ride.

Below is a short clip of a 'drop off' that I had problems with, it doesn't look too steep in the video (but to me it seemed enormous),  it was grassy with a kink at the bottom. First in the video is Greg showing you how it should be done and then me making a real hash of it....unfortunately, I panicked after taking a tumble here once before and didn't keep my line and then proceeded to hit the front brake sending me tumbling over the handle bars (bruising my ribs on my handle bar in the process). So long story short....this is how you should not go down a drop off, rather keep your bum off the back of the saddle thus putting your weight on the back of the bike, look ahead and gently feather the back brake (leaving the front brake alone)....

Edenvale Serengeti MTB Challenge 02-02-13

Awesome race today at Serengeti Golf Resort. Greg, Chris, Adam, Marco and Mark all had a go at this race on our backdoor. In fact these are the routes that we ride on every weekend so it was  exciting to do this race today. The race was extremely fast, we averaged over 23km/h for the 61km - which Greg and I did in 02:45 (click on link to view Garmin stats). Chris was a few minutes later as he lost his legs the last few kms. Marco and Adam were shunting at the front and took a wrong turn and ended up doing only 44km with a few other guys. The route was badly marked at one point and many people went the wrong way. We missed the turn once and had to ride back, fortunately I knew the route and we turned done the correct road where the other guys carried on straight (so I reckon the are a few unhappy mountain bikers out there today). Quite a few guys were disqualified (incl Adam and Marco) and this pushed us up the finishing order giving me my best result ever in a race - 33rd overall and 9th in category, really chuffed with my result.

Great race and we pumped it the whole way, only resting a bit when Greg had to plug a puncture. Below is a edited video of some of the race taken with my iPhone.

 

 

Nice action shot - you can see it was a bit muddy..

Greg and me at the finish line.....

Weekday rides

So the past few weeks of riding have been really great, we now have a good bunch of guys riding in the mornings (from 6 to 10 guys).  At the moment we are riding 3 times during the week and then longer weekend rides depending on races and bike parks etc.

The riding program we are developing to make our morning rides more fun goes as follows:
1.  Sneak Attack Tuesday – interval training each guy is allowed a sneak attack and when he goes everyone must follow, this is quite fun and makes intervals much more interesting (and competitive)
2.  Long Wednesday – generally do a longer ride on Wednesday 40-45km
3. Time Trial Thursday – we scoped out a route last week, it is about a 12km loop from a central point and the idea is that you go like the clappers and try and improve your time from the week before (and of course beat your mates)

I have also purchased myself a nice new gadget to mount on my bike, it's an Optrix iPhone case. It's really cool, I just slip my Apple iPhone 4 in and with an app loaded on the phone I can take great quality videos of our rides.

This is really great because now I can film those magical rides and edit the footage to post on this blog, so that I can share with  everyone and also have these rides on record for years to come. Here is my first attempt of some of the ride we did this Wednesday morning before work: 

 

Seen here in the video is Greg, Marco, Chris and Mike. Mark and the others opted for shorter route this day and had left us by the tme the video app was started (stick with us boys I will make you famous)....

2013 here we come

So it has been a great week of riding for the first week of 2013. Greg and me have done a few of rides ranging from 40 to 73km, our first was the customary ride on New Years day itself. We also rode with new people this week i.e. Ziggy and Chris which is always refreshing. Below are a few photos from our rides. 

Justin tackling the single track of New Year's day

Only in South Africa do you have railway police patrolling to stop cable theft

Ziggy

Serious Greg

Chris joined us for a great ride on his Santa Cruz with 27inch wheels and saddle hydration pack

The squeak and creak free Greg

Lastly this week I lost a hero with the premature passing of South Africa mountain bike legend Burry Stander after he was senselessly hit by a mini bus taxi. Burry was a incredible inspiration to all mountain bikers and he will be sorely missed for years to come. Burry thank you for the impact your short life had on so many people R.I.P.

Picture taken off Burry Stander's Facebook page courtesy of Gary Perkin