Looking back on the Swazi Frontier mountain bike stage race

Since it is a slow week and there is not a lot to report on the training front, I thought it might be nice to look back on past events.  Check out this link to get a sense of the Swazi Frontier – my favourite race last year.

Big bike ride of the week : 1/3 strong, 1/3 technical problems, 1/5 exhausted

We clocked about 73km’s this morning.  Headed out to Northern Farms, Hennops River, Diepsloot, Dainfern and home – 5hrs15 door to door.  We tried to stick to the pavement as much as we could.  For a big chunk of time we were really very strong – unstoppable in fact.  The ride was riddled with technical upsets – Mike blew a back tire and I broke my chain.  Fixing the tire was easy – the chain had us baffled for 40 minutes.  In 3 years of endurance riding we have never had to fix a chain.

As per usual I tried to capture the mood of the ride with my handy little waterproof camera.  I can safely say that when you lug a camera around you really start to see … on account of always looking out for a photo opportunity.

Riding past Diepsloot informal settlement

Riding past Diepsloot informal settlement

Puncture repair

Chain repair

Broken chain

Northern Farms area

Dainfern pipeline

Cheese : Mike and Rob

Near the end – taking strain

Johannesburg skyline – taken from Grosvenor Road/ William Nichol

Johannesburg skyline

Johannesburg skyline

Suikerbosrand :: tough as hell @ 35 degrees C

On paper this place shouldn’t be as tough as it has turned out to be. We only rode 52km’s, the climbing was just over 1,000m, the road is tar (which usually means easy). In fact we planned to cover the track twice today. Well well well – we limped in like wounded soldiers. I think Mike might have been crying … I know I was! The ride came at the end of a big week where we spent nearly 13 hours on bikes of some sort and covered more than 230km in total. An hour ago I was ready to give it all up. I feel better now though. The one thing that did throw us was the temperature – my heart rate monitor clocked an average of 35 degrees Celsius. I drank 5 litres of liquid without making a single pee – go figure. The graph shows the hills.  The video is a 13 second sample of what our 3 hours looked like – gripping stuff.



Suikerbosrand climbing profile

Hekpoort – 62km’s :: 4 hours

We had to dig deep today.  We are not quite as strong as we would like.  Wind was also a problem – not the weather type.  I single handedly consumed 10 big scoops of Hammer Perpetium along with about 5 litres of liquid.  The only reason we didn’t do the 100km’s that we planned was because of my post flu recovery and we thought it wise to turn early – really!

6:30 am at Hekpoort garage

Mike right behind Rob (rare – it is usually the other way around)

About 75 minutes into a 4 hr ride

Signage at Hekpoort

Rob at turning point

Busy day – must have been 200 hindred riders at Hekpoort today

Weather rutted road

4 hours later – we made it

Ballet stretching after ride

Crack of dawn

One of the hardest things about training is getting up early.  Given the busyness of life, one doesn’t have a choice other than to get a jump on the day.  Whereas I used to get going at 6.30 – now it is 5am.  Unfortunately for me I don’t go to bed any earlier so the sleep deprivation starts building up. At this time of year it is barely light and soon it will be dark at that time.  This morning I could easily have not gotten up.  I really wanted to give up and go back to sleep.  I pushed through in the end and managed to enjoy a great spinning class.  Glad for the small victory.

Come early to get a parking spot - Melrose Arch very early

Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve

First time out at Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. It is a 60km loop. The track is tar … not our first choice. The climbing was just over 1,000m. To honest it ended up being tougher than expected with an average temperature of 28 C. I have been trying out a new food formulae – Perpetium by Hammer. Seems pretty good so far. No cramping, didn’t bonk, recovered pretty quickly.

Mike loading bikes

Self portrait Suikerbosrand – about 20km’s in

Long road, Suikerbosrand – Mike behind me (rare)