Mountain Bike race (Nissan van Gaalen MTB) 4:01:20 [5] 68.0 km (16.9 kph) +1055m
ahr:154 max:174 shoes: GT Zaskar 29er 2013
What a day! Didn't quite go as planned... Got seeded in B batch which I was happy with. Started 10 minutes behind the A batch pros and serious racing snakes. My only goal was to beat last years time of 3:26, even though some sections of the route had changed. Had a great start, and got into a group of 3 leading B batch. Started catching A batch at about 10k. Was feeling good and holding my B batch position and passing A batch riders. About 35k in on a technical downhill I somehow hit a rock and completely bent my front wheel almost in half... and I didn't even fall! Eish! The hazards of riding light weight racing rims in the rocky Magaliesburg... So I knew there was a waterpoint about 3ks on, so I pushed my bike on the back wheel down the mountain, getting passed by so many people. Got to the waterpoint and was going to wait for a lift. Within 5 minutes, Stu Rawlinson came up the trail from the opposite direction with his mate that had just had a massive crash and needed the medics. Stu decided to stay with his mate, and he very kindly lent me his front wheel. Sorted! I was back up and going! Nicky had just passed me at the waterpoint, so I rode about 1k with her before putting the hammer down and playing catch-up for the next hour and a half. Legs and body felt really good today, and I was able to keep the pace up all the way to the finish. Pitty about the wheel, but sh!t happens! GPS analysis shows I lost about 38-39 minutes, so I could have perhaps been faster than last years 3:26. Course had a few changes from last year, so its hard to say. Pushed hard to try get under 4hrs, but that didn't happen! Good day out.
Official result: 90th place out of almost 700 starters. If not for the broken wheel, would have cracked the top 20, maybe even top 15... Next time!
Mountain Bike warm up/down 20:00 [2] 6.0 km (18.0 kph)
shoes: GT Zaskar 29er 2013
Ride from home to van Gaalen for the race. With a few extra warm-up loops.