Dischem Ride 4 Sight

The Dischem Ride 4 Sight is a 116km race starting in Boksburg and heading down to Heidelberg and back.  It is a pretty flat race, and wind conditions play an important role in determining race tactics.  Unfortunately, today there was virtually no wind, so tactics were hard to implement.

Checking out the weather forecast last night, the wind prediction was 0-3 knots westerly.  Completely the wrong wind for a gutter section up Karee Kloof.  So, the only alternative was to try to split the bunch on the two hills either side of Heidelberg.

Most of the teams were present today, Boss Logistics, Wadeville Steel, Club 100, General Airways, and a team that has Mr Video on the side of their kit and I never know their name.  Along with ourselves of course - Toyota SuperCycling 40+.

So, the plan was to try to keep a low profile until the hills, then try to do some damage.  There were a few minor attacks, but generally the bunch was watching us closely to see what our plans were.  Danie Marais (Mr. Price) put in plenty of attacks and at one point was away for quite a long time.

Then a good move got away, with Issy Zimmerman (Toyota SuperCycling), Jorge Faria (Wadeville Steel), and another rider that I didn't see.  They soon opened up a 45sec gap.

On the first climb, Danie Marais started hard, and when he started to slow, I went hard as well.  Unfortunately 2m28s at 508w was not enough because although the bunch split up a bit on the climb, it came back together on the other side.  No worries though, there was always the second climb coming out of Heidelberg.

Again, I went hard at the start, then Andrew came through and took a turn.  I went again but we were riding straight into a headwind, which is always a problem on a climb because it provides that extra bit of shelter to the riders behind.  Again, a few bike lengths at the top of the climb, but not enough to split the bunch, and launch across to Issy who was still away.

With the only two major obstacles out of the way, and the bunch very much together, everybody decided to try have a dip.  Racing got very aggressive but then died down as tired legs took over.

On the highway heading back to Boksburg, our team started taking turns in attacking to try soften the bunch up and eventually get one of us away.  This worked well, and Andrew made a good move with Danie Marais and Anton Duvenage (Boss Logistics) on his wheel.  Not ideal for us, given that Anton is a good sprinter, but still better than leaving it to a bunch sprint.

The chase was subdued, because of the alliance between Boss Logistics and Wadeville, so a few half hearted attempts to bring it back were made.  Coming in to the dogleg bend, I heard a huge crash behind me, and was later told that Andre Taylor (General Airways) went down hard (hope you are okay Andre).

Andrew was beaten in the sprint by Anton, with Danie taking third.

Overall a frustrating race - and power numbers show that midweek training rides are generally harder!