Bruce Diesel

Coronation Double Century

2009-11-23T00:54:00.000-08:00

The Coronation Double Century has become a 'must do' event in the South Africa racing calender. It is a 203km Team Time Trial held down in the Robertson/Swellendam area of the Western Cape.

Winning this event has become a major matter of pride for the big teams based in the Western Cape, and each year these teams look to invite some guest riders from up country to bolster their squads.

I was honoured to be invited to ride as part of the Anderson Transport squad, one of the race favourites along with Daikin Gu, last year's winners. These two teams are big rivals on the Western Cape racing scene, and they both pull out all the stops when it comes to the Double Century.

Sitting at dinner the night before the race, I was impressed with the squad, which included Darren Lill, Andrew Mclean, Shan Wilson, Heimer Anderson, Brandon Stewart, Johnny Kritzinger, Jacques Roussouw, Jamie Ball, Robert Quinn, Martin Wesemann, and Travis Allen.

Brandon Stewart commented that if he was a betting man, his money would be on us for sure!

The afternoon before the race, we went for a short ride so that Andrew and Darren could sort out some of the techniques required in a team time-trial and do some fine-tuning with regards to rotation order etc. Both of them are experienced pro's and had plenty of helpful information.

Initially, our start time was 7:29 - one minute before Daikin Gu. This got changed and we ended up starting 4 minutes in front of them, which was a much better situation.

The team started out nice and solidly, with everyone taking even, steady pulls on the front and keeping things nice and smooth. Up the climb (Tradouws Pass), Darren Lill kept a steady tempo, and we made it over the first obstacle with the whole team in tact.

The next sector after the climb was very fast, with a strong tail-wind. This was dangerous as it meant all the riders in the pace line had to be putting in a big effort, as there was little drafting benefit.

Next up was 'Op de Tradouws' which looks tame on the course profile, but just seems to carry on forever! This was where we lost our first rider, Shan Wilson. The first feed zone was at the top of 'Op de Tradouws' but we had elected to skip that and head for Montagu. We probably misjudged the heat a bit, and I was out of fluid with 25km to go to Montagu. News filtered through that we were 1m05 up on Daikin, and they were down to 7 riders. We were feeling confident!

The feed stop in Montague went wothout any problems, and soon we were heading out on the flat section towards Robertson. We had just lost another rider, Jacques Russouw, one of the strong men on the team! He was having saddle problems. I started to develop 'hot foot', and felt a burning sensation in the middle of my foot. Soon after that, I lost feeling in both my feet! I suddenly had no power and when my turn on the front came, I couldn't come through. I dropped to the back of the pace line, told Andrew that I had no sensation in my legs, and could not even hold on to the back of the team! I dropped off about 15km for Robertson, and about 120km into the race. Looking back after the race, I think I made a big mistake wearing black shoe covers. My feet heated up so much in my shoes that it seems that it affected my circulation. That is the only explanation that I can find because it happened very suddenly, and I was feeling quite good physically.

By now I was also suffering from the heat, so I had to take a 10 minute detour into Robertson to find some more water.

After stopping for some water, I was feeling okay again and got going to Bonnievale, hoping to catch the support car and get a ride home!

Unfortunately for me, I took too long to get to the third feed stop and the support car had had to go - so I was going to have to ride back alone. I tagged along with one of the tandem teams and finally linked up with Jacques Roussouw and we limped back to the finish. Every few kilometers I had to unclip and wriggle my feet around to get feeling back into them!

I eventually managed to limp in just under 6 hours.

In the meantime, the business end of the race had unfolded. For us, the last 30km was where the race would be won or lost. The team had heard that Daikin were down to 6 riders, so they were really cutting it fine. Andrew and Darren made the decision to ease off the pace a bit after the third stop, as they were concerned that they wouldn't have spare riders coming into the last few rolling hills.

In the end, Daikin pushed us all the way, and we managed to take the win by a mere 28sec over 205km - unbelievable!!

Ride data can be seen here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/19479177

Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge

2009-11-15T21:48:00.000-08:00

For Joburg based cyclists, this is the main event of the cycling calender. Second in size only to the Pick 'n Pay Argus. Although our team is split over two age categories for this race, we chose to race in the 40-44 (VC) category in order to race together.
The route has changed a bit this year, and is a bit longer. Now the route travels on the M1 all the way around the city, and heads back via Joe Slovo Dr. past Ponte flats. Here the route travels over 2 short sharp climbs, first over the ridge at Ponte, then again up Carse 'O Gowry past the Johannesburg College of Education.
With the team riding for me, we had chosen this point in the race to try to force the selection. Andrew and Issy strung out the bunch on the first climb and it was important to go into the corner at teh bottom of the second climb close to the front as it was fast and sloped the wrong way. Keeping the pace high after the first climb, we hit the corner very fast with me on Andrew's wheel in third place. Then it was flat out up the short 800m (8%-9%) climb. Only 5 riders were left at the top, Andrew Mclean, myself, Deon Coetzee, and 2 Germiston Wheelers riders (Tinus Scheepers and Gerald Latre).
The split had happened, but now it was going to be hard to hold it because the next 10km or so were flat to downhill, and the gap would be small.
We lost both the Germiston Wheelers riders travelling along Jan Smuts, then finally Deon popped off coming into Randburg.
Andrew was driving the pace really hard, and I was struggling to recover! Although I had managed to force the split, I was not feeling great.
The gap was still dangerously small heading up Witkoppen road and though Kya Sands, and had dropped to 1min when we turned onto the N14 highway. If the gap came down further, I was going to have to drop off and let Andrew go alone. I managed to get some food in, but the highway section of the race was one of the hardest times I've ever had on a bike - the power was just not there.
Andrew is an old pro, and realised that the chasing bunch was able to see us because of our support vehicle. He told the vehicle to drop back a bit so that we were not so visible in amongst all the stragglers from previous groups. Fortunately for me, the pressure on the bunch finally told, and the riders in the chase lost their cohesion. Coming off the highway, the gap had grown to 3min but I was really taking a lot of strain.
I started to feel a bit better after Diepsloot, but had no gas in the tank when I tried to come through and pace. The last few hills were very painful, but coming over the crest at Crowthorne I could see the finish line and could not believe that I had managed to hang in (at various times Andrew had been screaming, supporting, urging me to keep going).
Over the last bump and into the finish, I have seldom been so happy to see a finish line. Taking the win, I have to say that without Andrew I would not have made it. Performance wise, I was not great, but am so glad that I managed to hang in. Was rewarded with a hand shake from the great Phil Ligget after the race as well!!
Special mention to Mark Thijs (our team mate that is currently fighting bladder cancer) who rode the race on a chopper style bicycle dressed in a cow suit in aid of the Choc Charity. At the start of the race he had already raised R84000. We had agreed the day before the race that we would donate any prize money to his initiative as well, so I'm really happy that we are able to add nearly R4000 to his fund raising. Well done Mark, we are so proud of you!
Next week is the Double Century. I will be riding with Shan Wilson and the Anderson Transport team. After that, I'll probably have to have a bit of time off the bike to have a growth behind my eye removed.

Thanks to John Thompson, Neil Frazer and Deon Cilliers for supporting us in the race. Thanks to Deon for the pictures.

Details of the race can be seen here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/18820317

OFM Classic

2009-11-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

This race is billed as the biggest race in central South Africa. Central South Africa being Bloemfontein of course.
Although Bloemfontein is reasonably flat, this course has enough bumps and wind to make racing very interesting. A few years back Bloemfontein hosted a very successful S.A. Champs.
This year, the course had been re-arranged a bit. Usually the race heads out on a very flat section to the airport, then comes back through the suburbs and over some short sharp hills. This year, we hit the hills first, and the airport loop came right at the end of the race.
The goal this year was for the team to work for Issy Zimmerman (a.k.a. the Jerusalem Jet) as it has been his ambition to win this race for a number of years. Something to do with impressing the inlaws after the young Jewish man made off with the plattelandse meisie!
With the bumps coming early in the race, and the team feeling confident that if we caused the split we would have the legs to stay away for the rest of the race - the first 15km of the race was going to be very aggressive.
Kevin Prinsloo was assigned first watch - and needed to be in any moves that tried to get away in the first few kilometres. Then Andrew and I would go hard over the first two bumps and put the bunch on the back foot. The pace would be high for the next few kilometers then Andrew would attack a couple of times leading up to the last hill. As the bunch came back together, I would counter with Issy on my wheel. Andrew would then bridge to us, and we would be away.
Things went exactly to plan, and the only other rider that was able to come with was Deon Coetzee (current S.A. Champ riding for Tony Impey Cycles).
Deon immediately began working with us even though he was outnumbered and the time gap quickly got to 45sec.
We soon past the Elite Ladies and headed out on the N1 into a strong headwind. 10km later, the gap was up to 2m30sec and a small chase bunch containing Anton Duvenhage (Boss Logistics), Shane Brown (DiData), Kevin Prinsloo (Cyclelab Toyota), Samuel de Swardt (Cyclelab club rider), Jorge Faria (V&A), Mark Linington (Club 100) and a couple of Germiston Wheelers riders (Andy Irvine and Tinus Scheepers) was trying to bring us back.
A short loop through farmland north of Bloemfontein and we were heading back towards Bloem now with a strong tailwind and some long drags. This was the second point in the race where we could cause splits. Coming back onto the highway, Andrew attacked with Issy but Deon was able to get onto Issy's wheel. Deon saw that I had been gapped and countered, pacing hard on the highway trying to remove me. Andrew and Issy weren't going to help him, so the next few kilometres were spent with me trying to get back into the group, and Deon trying to drop me. Eventually he slowed, and as I came back on to the group, I attacked him and forced him to pace again. I opened a nice gap and put the pressure on. Then, as the gap started to close, Andrew and Issy attacked Deon again. I jumped onto Issy's wheel, but Deon was not too far behind and I realised that I was giving him the chance to hang on. I sat up and let the gap open. This was the last straw for Deon, and the elastic finally broke. Andrew and Issy were away.
The gap quickly opened to over 1 minute, at which point I started pacing with Deon again, wanting to get to the finish as third place was still up for grabs and the chase group was 2m30 behind us.
Deon and I maintained a steady pace to the finish, with Deon taking third place.
Then, a very unfortunate incident happened as the chase group came to the finish. Samuel de Swardt participated in the sprint (for 5th place) though he had not contributed much to the chase. This upset some of the other riders, Shane Brown and Jorge Faria, and resulted in Samuel being physically pushed into the curb and crashed.
I can understand the guys being angry when this happened, but physically crashing the guy off his bike is just unacceptable. The incident was reported to the commaissaires and hopefully some action will be taken.

GPS data from the race and power data can be seen here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/17717655

Telkom Satellite Challenge

2009-10-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

Even though maby road races have declining numbers, this race is still growing. This is despite the fact that the last 20km are some of the toughest to be found in Gauteng racing. The continued growth can only be due to the fact that the race is such a well organised one.

The only negative from the race was news of a bad crash apparently in A bunch. From what I heard, there was a fall within the bunch, and a rider swerved to avoid and went onto the wrong side of the road, colliding with a car. I don't know who the rider was, but hoping that he is okay!

The main obstacle in this race is Hekpoort, a climb that starts at about 20km to go, and is just over 3 km long at around 7% gradient. This is long enough that there can be no hiding, and close enough to the finish that if you can get away here, you have a real chance of getting to the finish and winning.

Our plan was for me to get away in a break and make it to Hekpoort with a bit of a gap on the bunch. My race would start at Hekpoort and I planned to try to get away from the break up Hekpoort. Andrew would attack the main bunch at Hekpoort and depending on the time gap, bridge across to me and we'd go for the finish. If I could stay away then all would be good anyway.

Well, that plan didn't happen. I was being well marked and DiData were making all the attacks, trying to force us into a long chase. The pattern repeated a number of times. Didata would attack, if I responded there would be plenty of guys on my wheel, and it would all come back together. So, change in tactic was required. A move went off the front, and I said to Kevin Prinsloo that he should go for it. He went and the bunch let it go a bit. The break got to 4 strong, but did not seem to gel well so it came back after 5km or so.

Approaching the dam, an attack went off, I responded with Danie Marais. As I got across, the break sat up, so I counter attacked and now had a nice gap on the bunch. Two more riders came across, Mervyn Scorgie and one other. This forced a big chase for a few km's as DiData did not have representation. It all came back together going over the dam, and Jackie van Eeden (DiData) attacked. The bunch was already strung out, and a small group responded to Jackie's attack. Andrew was amongst this group, and going up a short drag, he saw that the bunch had broken up. He accelerated away and joined Jackie. Too late for everybody else and they were away. For us this was perfect, as we know Jackie would not be able to hold onto Andrew up Hekpoort, and Andrew was more that capable of staying away to the finish.

Disappointingly, the bunch threw in the towel without a fight. Shane Brown (DiData) did his best to get a chase going, sensing that unless they brought Andrew back immediately, the race would be over. A little while later, Boss Logistics (without Anton Duvenhage), started chasing for a bit, but nobody coordinated anything. I really don't understand this, because there were enough teams to put together a proper chase - DiData, V&A, Boss Logistics, and some strong individuals like Danie Marais, Deon Coetzee, etc. Andrew would have had to do all the work, and Jackie would have been able to just sit in. A 50km TT prior to Hekpoort would have taken some of the sting out of Andrew and who knows?? Seems like the guys are happy to race for second place.

Various people came and went off the front, and after about 20km DiData started chasing a bit more. I was waiting for Hekpoort. I was not feeling good at all, having had some oral surgery this week, I was very flat. Hekpoort duly arrived, and I just set a really hard pace. Gary Beneke and Shane Brown come with, but the rest of the bunch quickly disappeared. Shane eventually popped close to the top, but Gary stayed with. At the top, Gary looked to see if Shane would re-join, but I decided to keep the pace going and prevent that from happening. Gary saw that Shane was not going to re-join us, and started sharing the effort to get to the finish line. At this point we thought we were racing for third place, because we had not picked up Jackie at all.

There is one last opportunity to make a move. A short sharp climb just before the finish line. Getting over the top with a gap would enable me to get into the finish straight in front. There is a short descent and a 90deg left hander into the finish - coming about 100m later. It is important to get into the turn first. I attacked Gary but did not have enough of a kick to shake him. He countered and I got caught out in the wrong gear.

In the meantime, Andrew had solo'd to the finish 6 minutes ahead of us! Catching and overtaking the VA bunch in the process. We also found out that we were racing for second as Jackie had cramped and was still somewhere out on the course.

So, a well deserved win for Andrew, Gary taking second and I got third.

Power numbers for the day were better than I expected - averaging 354w NP for the race. But I was not feeling sharp at all.

Just heard that the rider involved in the accident is Anton Pretorius, and Cyclelab Pretoria member. He is in a critical condition in Sunninghill hospital. Thoughts go out to his wife Roanne and family!!

Amashova

2009-10-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

The Amashova is the cycling equivalent of the legendary Comrades Marathon. But although the two races share much of the same route, I would far rather do this on a bike than in running shoes!

Although this event has been running since the mid-90's, for some reason this year the organisation was absolute chaos! First indications that things were going to be a bit different was the start order. Junior ladies categories were starting off before the Vet's categories, and with the weather conditions the way they were, along with some of the very serious descents on this route, it is a wonder that there weren't any serious accidents en route!

My race entry had been lost in the works somewhere, and I was told that the licensed categories were absolutely full, no more entrants allowed. Fortunately some intervention from Dave Bellairs got our team sorted out, but I was not surprised to see riders lining up next to me with boiled potatoes in a little bag on their cross bar, and rearview mirrors! Fun riders (i.e. riders on hybrid bikes and flowers in their hair) were lining up in the ladies elite start pen!

Forunately, the main selection point in this race comes in the first 15km or so, so we wouldn't have a mixed ability group for very long. I have absolutely nothing against people that take their riding a lot less seriously than I do, but this situation was plain dangerous!

Anyway, having a look around the start pen, there were definitely a few guys who we would have to keep an eye on. Our plan was to try to get away (Andrew and myself), right from the first climb. The second selection point (Inchanga) comes about halfway through the race, with plenty downhill after that, so we decided that getting away early would cause a lot of indecision in the bunch as to chasing hard. Guys would be reluctant to go too hard so early in the race and risk not having legs for the windy sections approaching the finish.

Andrew had been feeling very tired the whole week, and I had not been too sharp either. We also had Colin Germs from the team, and a welcome guest appearance from Gary Marescia (Cyclelab Cape Town). Jorge Faria (V&A), Martin Saunders (DiData) and Garth Schonewolf (Bring It On) were two of the danger men present.

On the first slope of Fox, Andrew surged, and a few riders followed and the bunch got strung out. Things came together, and Andrew went again. This time, Garth Schonewolf, Martin Saunders and another Bring It On rider went with. The bunch did not react, so as soon as the gap got to about 30m, I jumped across and nobody came with - perfect.

We went really hard up the rest of Fox, with Andrew doing most of the work. Martin popped off quite quickly, but Garth and his team-mate were hanging in there. Sensing this was the move, Andrew tried to force the Bring It On guys to come through, but he was putting on a lot of pressure. At the top of Fox, Garth started to come through but his teammate was not. Andrew surged and I let the gap open. Garth jumped across but his teammate stayed. I let the gap open again, then went hard, getting rid of him.

The gap was now just under 1 minute, and the three of us started working hard to open it up. Next came Inchanga. Andrew drove the first half of the climb, then I took over for the second. Andrew dropped back to see how Garth was doing, and decided the time had come to attack him. So, on the next climb, just before Botha's Hill, Andrew jumped clear and Garth stayed with me. Once the gap was a reasonable size, I attacked Garth and bridged across to Andrew. Not an easy feat because the road was windy and Andrew did not see I was coming across initially, so he kept his head down and was going hard.

Now it was just the two of us, and the gap was up to about 2 minutes. No holding back, we went as hard as we could. Coming on to the M13, we got a time check that the gap was now 3:40, so we just needed to keep a good solid rhythm and baring any mechanical problems, we could do it.

On a couple of the rolling hills, I was struggling to hold Andrew's wheel he was going so well. No problems for the rest of the race, and we came across the finish about 7min ahead of the bunch. Andrew taking first place, and I took second. Gary Marescia took third place to round out the podium for Cyclelab.

Power-wise, this was my best ever race effort. We finished the race in 2h31, at a speed of 42km/h, and Normalised Power of 354w. Peak 60min NP was 377w.

Ride Magazine Crater Cruise - 101km MTB

2009-10-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

This is one of the biggest MountainBike races in the country, and attracts plenty of roadies as well. It is relatively non-technical and fast - with much of the race on open sand roads.

This being the case, it is actually a very tough race. Long sections of corrugated dirt roads are incredibly draining, and the last 10km just seem to be 10km too far!

I did this race last year, and spent the following 3 days recovering! Having done the Epic this year, I was hoping that I would handle it a bit better. I hadn't ridden the mountainbike for a couple of months, so I wasn't really sure what to expect.

The start is a bit chaotic, with a long neutral zone. Everybody wants to be near the front when the sand roads start, so there is plenty of nervous braking and tyre touches going on. A short section of Jeep Track comes quite early in the race, which tends to break up the big bunch a bit. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a collision as the bunch hit the bottleneck and I got a bit delayed. Coming out of the Jeep Track section, I was in a small group not far from the leading bunch. We hit the first small climb at about 20km and the front bunch shattered. Things were getting a bit easier now, as the number of riders thinned out. The lead bunch was a lot smaller, and my chase group was about 8 riders at about 300m from the front bunch. It stayed this way for the nect 10km, until we hit the KOM climb. Right after this climb we turned off the road onto some narrow farm roads and Jeep Track and could no longer see the front guys.

The main climb comes at about 45km and is quite technical. Very steep and lots of loose rocks - not something I am very good at. I managed to stay with most of the guys in the chase group, but had a mechanical on the way down. My rear derailleur cable popped out of the frame cable guide and I had no rear gears. I had to stop and get it sorted out - losing touch with a lot of the guys in the chase group.

Fortunately, about 5km further there was a neutralised feed zone which a lot of riders stopped at. I was able to catch onto a group coming out of the feed zone. Now the tough part of the race began. A long section of single track (actually a quad bike course) along the river is very tough. Lots of short twists and turns, with plenty of humps which drain all momentum.

After the singletrack, there was planty of rocky dirt roads and undulating terrain, before finally popping out on the sand roads back to Parys. These roads are badly corrugated and the choice is between riding in soft sand on the sides, or corrugations in the middle.

A short section of tar precedes the last 10km of predominantly single track. At this point I was riding with a few of the DCM Chrome guys - Brandon Stewart having suffered a puncture and now just wanting to get home! I was actually feeling quite good, but we took a wrong turn, and ended up in the middle of a large field not sure which way to go. We could see some riders in the distance riding along the fence, so we headed that way over the veld, losing a couple more minutes.

By now I was really tired. The wind had picked up and I found myself alone, just trying to get to the finish. The last few km are all single track, but I was too tired to enjoy it. Finishing in 4h02 according to my Garmin. Would have been a good result had I brought my timing chip along.

BestMed Campus 2 Campus

2009-10-01T03:12:00.000-07:00

I have never raced the Campus 2 Campus, so I was quite excited about this race. Even though I had a function the night before and only got home at 12:30am!

The race starts at the Vaal Triangle Technicon campus, heads out west, goes over Ertjiesberg, and the returns. So, it is predominantly flat, with the short sharp Ertjiesberg at about halfway. I was hoping for the wind, which could have a significant impact on this course, but it was not to be.

Getting to bed late the night before meant that I spent what little time I did have, tossing and turning and worrying that I would not hear my alarm. I had Issy's race numbers with me, so I was concerned that I would oversleep and he would drive al the way to the race and not be able to race!

Anyway, all was well, and I did not oversleep, but didn't feel on top of the world when I headed out at 5:00am.

The Vets 40+ category had a strong field, with Dimension Data, Boss Logistics, V&A all present and accounted for. Notable absentees were Anton Duvenhage and Andrew Mclean, but the field was certainly strong enough that this would not be an easy race.

We were missing Andrew Mclean, Kevin Prinsloo and Mark Thijs, but welcomed back Colin Germs and had unexpected support from Jurie Krige as well.

Once again, we had to make sure we had representation in every break, because we did not have enough riders to bring back a break containing guys like Jorge Faria, Gary Beneke and Martin Saunders. All went according to plan, with Issy getting into a 5 man break, containing Jorge Faria as well as one of the Dimension Data riders.

For a long time the break had only about a 40sec gap, and Dimension Data made a number of attempts to attack and get a rider across. I needed to make sure Gary or Martin didn't get across and that would be the end of the race for me. Fortunately I was able to respond to all their moves, and almost got across myself when I counter attacked Gary. After this, the race settled down and the gap grew to about 1m30sec.

My plan was to try to get away on my own over Ertjiesberg, and bridge to the break. This would take Gary and Martin out of the race. I attacked on the climb, and only one of the DiData riders responded. He dropped before the top and I was away on my own, with about a 1min gap to the break. Gary kept his team together up the climb, conserving resources for the chase on the other side. The descent had a bit of a headwind, and after 10 minutes I realised that the bunch was catching me faster than I was catching the break. I sat up and allowed the bunch to catch me, hoping that the chase would end and give the break (with Issy) a better chance of staying away. I bought the ticket, but didn't win the lottery.

Gary kept the chase going, putting pressure on the break, and soon we caught the VA bunch. Unfortunately, the VA bunch also influenced the break and soon everything was back together and the race was now maybe 15 riders strong.

A few half-hearted attempts to get away were made. Martin Saunders was always willing to have a dip, and a chirp as well! But it all looked like it would end in a bunch sprint.

Coming into Vanderbijlpark, plenty of attacks and counter attacks. The finish was a downhill tailwind, so I decided to go early and see if I could make it to the line. Looking at my power meter data, I clearly went too early (376m) and the sprint was quick. Reaching just under 70km/h! 4 riders came over me at the line, with Gary taking the win.

MTN Zoo Lake Crit 40+

2009-10-01T02:50:00.000-07:00

The MTN Zoo Lake Crit is one of the very few crits we race, which is such a shame, because it is a spectator friendly form of road racing, and it's really intense as well.

We checked out the course the day before the race. This year the route would be raced in reverse. This meant that there was a shorter descent, and a longer drag. We were concerned that the speed of the drag would make it hard for anyone to get away, but fortunately on race day there was a nice tail-wind up the drag, taking away the draft benefit and forcing everyone to work hard.

The vets 40+ race was 25 minutes plus one lap. The plan was to make it as hard as possible right from the gun. Then, towards the end of the drag, attack when everyone was really hanging on. We knew that if we could get Andrew away, even with one or two other riders, he was more than capable of staying away to win.

The first lap started hard, with Kevin and Issy setting a hard pace. At the planned spot, I attacked and opend a gap and went really hard. The next section of the route had a headwind, but once I had a gap, the others would be forced to close it into a strong wind. Eventually, the gap got closed, but a lot of damage had been done. We applied the same recipe on the second lap, and this was enough to launch Andrew with one of the DiData riders. This was perfect for us, because it meant that DiData (one of the strongest teams in the field) would not contribute to closing Andrew down initially. A small chase group also formed, containing Issy Zimmerman, Bruce Reyneke, Jorge Faria, Gary Beneke and one or two other riders. I was in the main group.

After an easier lap, I saw that the chase group was only about 30sec in front of the main group, and nobody in the main group was keen to drive the pace. So, on Lap 4, I attacked the main group again, and got away on my own. I bridged to the chase group quickly. With no single team dominant in the chase group, there would always be some tactical games being played. So, I waited for one lap then attacked again, getting away with Gary Beneke. I wasn't confident that I would beat Gary in a sprint, but odds of getting a result were much better if I got away with him to the finish. By this time Andrew was 1 minute down the road, and had dropped the DiData rider so we had the win in the bag. Gary and I stayed away to the finish. With Gary taking second and myself third.

Tour de Maurice - Stage 6

2009-09-28T12:03:00.001-07:00

Beau Plan to L'Aventure du Sucre (99.5km)

Stage 6 was a flat stage, and would not have an impact on the GC as long as we kept out of trouble. With plenty of rain falling that was not as easy as it seemed. After many attacks at the start of the stage, things settled down for a while, and Standard Bank controlled the race. I punctured and while trying to get back into the bunch after a wheel change, I hit a pothole and punctured again! So, after a second wheel change, I finally managed to get back into the bunch to find that a break had gone containing 3 riders, of which one was Philip Fourie (TCS).

So, once again I just settled into a position close to the front and stayed out of trouble. The last 10km Standard Bank started to really push the pace, wanting a stage win for their sprinters. The break was caught close to the finish, and after a furious last 10km or so, the race was over and Andrew had managed to keep his third place on the GC.

Tour de Maurice - Stage 5

2009-09-28T11:33:00.001-07:00

Rose Hill Plaza to L’Aventure du Sucre (114.4km)

Stage 5 was the second of the climbing stages, with Eau Bouillie (4.5km @ 6%) coming close to the finish.

The goal of this stage was to get Andrew to the climb with no problems. Once again, we needed to make sure we got into any moves that went, so that we did not have to expend a lot of effort chasing a break. Unfortunately, things did not go quite according to plan. After a number of early attacks, the Yellow Jersey (Sylvain Georges) punctured. The bunch sat up to wait for him, but after a few moments, riders started going off the front. In the ensuing confusion, a break formed, and we weren’t represented. Fortunately though, Standard Bank was not represented either, and they combined with DSTV (actually the second Standard Bank team), and controlled the front.

The stage was very comfortable, while everyone waited for the big climb of the day. My main responsibility was to stay close to the front and out of trouble. Leading up to the climb, Standard Bank upped the tempo and started putting pressure on. At this point I was not feeling great and I was getting a bit concerned. Fortunately though, when we hit the climb I did better than I expected and had good power. Not enough to stay with the front guys, but better than expected. On this climb, Sylvain George showed his class and rode away from the rest of the contenders. The only survivor of the break, David Kinjah, stayed away over the climb and went on to claim a good solo stage win. Unfortunately on the descent, Andrew misjudged a corner and had a minor crash. This lost him a bit of time and enabled Yannick Lincoln to get enough time on him to take second place on the General Classification.

Tour de Maurice - Stage 4

2009-09-28T07:10:00.001-07:00

Municipalité de Port-Louis to L’Aventure du Sucre (110.8km)

Originally when we looked at the route map, we thought that the stage would start up the main road between Port Louis and Grand Baie. This road is a slight drag, very exposed, with a strong cross-wind (coming from behind). Perfect gutter conditions, so the plan was to go to the front right at the start and see if we could split up the bunch. Later in the stage, there was a 14km section that would also be very hard, so this stage was going to be tough.

Unfortunately, the route turned off the main road, and went along a narrow road, through plenty of towns. Not good for a sustained gutter strategy, but we went ahead and strung the bunch out anyway. After a lot of pressure, Philip Fourie (TCS) went off the front and got a small gap. Next, Melt Swanepoel attacked, and I went with. At this point, Standard Bank (holding the leaders jersey), was content to let it go and we quickly got the gap up to a minute.

The three of us were working well together, when Melt unfortunately punctured. At this point, we had just over a 1 minute break. Philip and I slowed for a while, but we were not sure if Melt had received assistance and the team car indicated that the gap was starting to close. After about 5km, we made the decision to go again and unfortunately Melt was not able to get across to us.

The long, slow, uphill section of the course started, and I felt that if we could get over the top, we would have a chance of making it to the finish – about 15km descent. Close to the top, Philip popped off and I was left alone to see if I could try to solo to the finish. I took the 2 KOM primes, but was caught with about 8km to go to the finish.

From a GC perspective, nothing changed, but my break allowed the team and Andrew to have an easy day, so job done! I was also awarded the jersey for the Most Aggressive rider for the day.

Tour de Maurice - Stage 3

2009-09-28T06:20:00.001-07:00

Stage 3: Pailles to Médine (83.3km)

Stage 3 was a climbing stage, going over Chamarel (3.2km @8.5%). This was where the major contenders would become apparent, even though the climb was too far from the finish to be decisive.

With only Andrew high up on the GC, the team plan was to make sure that we had representation in every move that went before the climb. Racing was again very fast with the wind being a big factor. Having ridden the climb a couple of days before, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to match the front guys, so my plan was to just ride steady just above threshold. When the climb came, the bunch disintegrated and it was clear who the main guys in the race were. A small group containing Andrew Mclean, Sylvain Georges, Yannick Lincoln, David Kinjah, Melt Swanepoel went over first, with riders like Jaco Ferreira, Michael van Staden, Thomas Desvaux going over in ones and twos. I just kept it steady, knowing there would be about 30km to the finish.

I went over the top with Philip Fourie (TCS) and had a hairy descent. My brake blocks were grabbing and locking up my back wheel. At the bottom of the descent, another Mauritian rider from Fit For Life joined us, and we started the lonely timetrial to the finish.

Once again, Andrew Mclean more than held his own, taking third on the stage, and lying second on GC.

Tour de Maurice - Stage 2

2009-09-28T05:12:00.001-07:00

Stage 2: Ruisseau Créole to Médine Time Trial (14.2km)

Stage 2 took place in the afternoon of the first day of racing. A 14.2km timetrial, which was fairly flat, but with the same finishing drag as stage 1. The wind was blowing really hard and across, making equipment choices a hot topic of debate.

I had hoped to be closer to the top of the GC when the timetrial started, and with a good TT, was hoping to be in the top 10 of the race. Our slip up in stage 1 had put paid to that ambition, but I still wanted to give it my best shot, having gone through the hassle of bringing a TT bike and disc wheels etc with me.

I had Ben Melt Swanepoel as my minute man. With him not having a TT bike, I had a chance of catching him, and keeping the motivation levels high! I felt really good at the start of the TT, and by the halfway mark was closing on Melt. The second half of the TT was uphill and a strong cross-wind, which made it a bit tougher on the TT bike. I had chosen not to use the disc wheel and was riding my HED Stinger 50’s. I wasn’t able to catch Melt, but had a good showing anyway. Taking 9^th for the stage. Mark Thijs (Toyota Cyclelab) had a great ride, taking 8^th, but most amazing was Andrew. He took second behind Sylvain Georges by 18sec.

Tour de Maurice - Stage 1

2009-09-28T04:17:00.001-07:00

Stage 1: Curepipe to Jonction Bol (Flic en Flac) 86.4km

Stage 1 started at the Municipal Buildings in Curepipe with a lot of fanfare. 13 teams were taking part, meaning that there were about 80 riders in total. Being a flat stage, the wind was going to be a major factor (35km/h SE), and with plenty of fresh legs and adrenaline around, it would be pretty dangerous as well. Unfortunately I only remembered to switch on my Garmin about 10km into the race, so I just added the missing section into the route above.

The day before the race started, we went and had a look at Chamarel (the big climb on Stage 3), and also took a look at the section of Stage 1 past Le Morne, a long drag which could have an impact on the stage. Our plan for the stage was to try to have representation in every break, and try to keep together for the last 10km of the stage. The last 5km had a big gutter section, then a short tailwind climb, at which point we planned to launch Andrew Mclean.

As I expected, the race started very fast! The first 10km were along the main highway between Port Louis and the airport, and the attacks were coming very quickly. Staying close to the front of the bunch is very important in such windy conditions, and just trying to switch on my Garmin saw me move right to the back. We turned off the highway, and headed down some narrow roads through the cane fields and small towns. It took me a good few kilometres to fight my way back to the front. Just in time to see an attack move off the front containing Jaco Ferreira (TCS), and Yannick Lincoln (FTS), and a Standard Bank rider. Two of the danger men in the tour. The gap opened up quite quickly, and was bad for us! Andrew decided that it needed to be brought back. With no help from any of the other teams, we chased hard and caused plenty of damage behind us. We hit the start of the drag past Le Morne with the gap closing, and Andrew attacked hard and bridged across, taking about 20 riders with him. Unfortunately, none of our team were able to hold on to Andrew, and we all got dropped. This put paid to our plan for the last 10km, but at least Andrew was with the main contenders and we had brought the break back.

The last 20km was just about getting to the finish in one piece. Meanwhile Andrew took third in the stage, with Sylvain Georges riding away from the group at the finish and holding a gap of 16sec.

Rebel TT Series (Event 1)

2009-08-30T03:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first of a three race TT series organised by Triathlete Magazine. Billed as a "triathlete vs. road racer" event, I think it is fair to say that road racers won this one convincingly!

The route was a flat 28km loop starting at Boswell Wilkie Circus, a venue which hosts a number of events including the Midvaal Vet's Tour. The major variable at this location is the wind, which was a steady breeze (10kph Northerly).
For me, this was a great opportunity to try out new equipment that I plan on using in the Tour de Mauritius. I will be riding a HED disc/trispoke combination, and an SRM wireless powermeter instead of the powertap of the past. I've opted for the SRM in order to give me more wheel flexibility, and have spent the last couple of weeks making sure I know the quirks of the device and ensuring I get good data from it. One the SRM website, there is a warning that the solid TT chainrings can affect the slope calibration of the device, so I checked that out and everything was fine.
The TT bike (Trek TTX) still has a few missing pieces from the puzzle - the FSA Vision TT bars are very heavy, and the Race seat post is also very heavy, but those will be correctly after other higher priority items have been sorted out!
The turnout was a bit disappointing to say the least. Even though the organisers had provided the same prize purse for male and female, no female elite riders bothered to attend. I find this a bit strange, because competive road TT's are few and far between in this country, and it is an important discipline to be good at! This on a weekend when no other major races are happening as well!
For me, the ride went very well. The wheels felt very quick - having gone to the effort of putting the best TT tyres I could get on. I completed the 28.4km course in 38m50s at a speed of 43.9km/h and average power of 345w. This is only 5w below my current threshold, which means I am no sacrificing much power in the TT position!
This time was fifth fastest on the day, but since I had entered in the Vet's category, I won the Vet's prize and not the open men's fifth prize. Anyway, I was happy with my performance, being 1:21 down to the winner - Andrew Mclean - who is also a Vet, but had entered the Elite category.
The next event in the series is out at the Cradle of Humankind, on the same course that we do a weekly training TT on - looking forward to it!

Photos curtesy of http://www.kingofbling.co.za

Cansa Lost City

2009-08-23T00:42:00.000-07:00

After a break from racing through winter, the Cansa Lost City was my first race for the new season. Training through winter has gone well, and I have been focusing purely on improving Functional Threshold Power (FTP), with a lot of L4 work being done on the computrainer (up to 4 sessions a week of 60min L4). Apart from a bit of a setback with the usual seasonal cold/flu, I have managed to remain relatively healthy through a very cold winter. The only other complication through winter was a persistent saddle sore that is a minor aggrevation.

This race was also a chance to try out my new bike. A Cervelo S3 with SRAM Red groupset and HED 50 tubbie wheels. On the power meter side of things, I'm also testing out an SRM Pro Wireless which allows me to switch wheels in a race without losing data, and I can use it on my TT bike with various wheel options as well. Over winter I have been testing out various CPU/Powermeter combinations, and at times have had a wireless powertap, wireless SRM, powertap cpu, PCVI, Garmin 705, and iBike Aero all on my training bike simultaneously. All of these bits of technology take a bit of getting used to, so it was fun getting them all to work together and produce accurate and consistent data. I have also changed my position on the bike slightly, trying to get a bit lower on the bike and reduce my aerodynamic drag. At 77kg and 191cm tall, I need to try to do everything I can to be more efficient on the bike.

So, it was up at 3:30am to drive through to Sun City where the race was being held. With a 7:13 start time, and a 2 hour drive, it was an early start! My team-mate Kevin, collected Colin and I from my house and off we went. On arrival, the temperature was 2deg Celsius, so much discussion followed on what to wear in the race. I use a BodyScience long sleeve compression top, with provides nice thermal control as well, along with long fingered gloves and a lightweight gillet.

We also received come black armbands, with RIP Billy Haasbroek on them. Billy rode for the Boss Logistics Team (a major rival!) and was tragically shot and killed during the week! So, the race was neutralised for the first 5km and Boss Logistics rode on the front of the peloton in memory of Billy.

For us, this race was preparation for a 5 day stage race we will be competing in Mauritius in a few weeks time. Some of my team-mates had ridden to Sun City the day before, and I hadn't done any tapering for the race, so legs weren't very fresh! Being a flat, fast race, it would be easy to sit in the bunch without expending too much energy. But for me, there is no point in getting up at 3:30am, driving 2 hours, only to sit in the bunch and have an easy race. So, while the result was maybe of secondary importance, I really wanted to get some good racing into the legs.

Tactics were to make sure that the team was represented in every move. So, after the 5km neutral zone, racing began in earnest. Most of the main teams were present - Toyota SuperCycling (ourselves), V&A, Boss Logistics, Club 100, Genair, Dimension Data, and some strong individual riders. We also have the Toyota Cyclelab Pro Ladies team racing against the men.

A couple of early moves eventually led to Ettiene Knipe going away. I decided to jump across, along with Ashleigh Moolman and a rider from Dimension Data. It was early in the race and it looked like the bunch was not going to respond. Unfortunately, none of the other riders in the move really wanted to contribute to the move and after a few kilometers, it came back together. This would be the pattern for most of the race, attacks would be made, but few riders wanted to commit to the move.

A small gutter opportunity presented itself, but it was not enough to split the field. Then, with about 30km to go, a series of drags allowed us to put the pressure on. The field split a number of times, but the drags were too short to make the split decisive. We decided that there was little chance in winning the race against the sprinters that were still present, but we wold make them earn the win! We each took turns in attacking and counter attacking, and the pace was really high in the last 20km of the race.

Coming into the last 5km, we managed to get Kevin off the front and open a gap of around 100m, but he was eventually reeled in. Andrew had a go in the last few kilomteres, but was brought back. I counter attacked, but also didn't manage to get away. It is not easy riding off the front of a bunch averaging over 50km/h.

Anton Duvenhage (Boss Logistics) took a well deserved victory. He had worked like a trojan to keep the race together, and must have been super-motivated after what had happened to Billy during the week. So, a fitting victory for him, and well deserved.

I'm sure the memory of Billy will forever be with the Vet's racing category, the Boss Logistics team will ensure that!

I has happy with my performance. I had a normalised power of 327w for 2h30, with plenty of matched burnt along the way!

Thanks to Michelle Cound for the photograph.

2009 Midvaal Nashua Mobile Vet's Tour

2009-06-18T08:04:00.001-07:00

This was my last race before taking a bit of a breather. I have been training hard and racing since the beginning of December last year, and have been feeling a bit tired over the last month or so. Physically I have been okay, but mentally it has been a bit tough. So, now I'll take it a bit easier, do some nice coffee shop rides and just relax a bit. The 40+ Cyclelab team decided to race in the 30+ category.

Stage 1: 8km Prologue

The prologue course was a fast 8km route with a gradual 1% descent. I was hoping to do really well because it really suited me. The course was part of the same course that was used in the Provincials TT, and over this section of the course I had managed to match Andrew Mclean's time over this part. From a team perspective it was also important that we had as many riders close to the top of GC as possible. Only having Andrew at the top of the GC made the tactics for other teams a lot easier, as they would only have one rider in our team to worry about.

Overall I was reasonably happy with my TT, not ecstatic. I did the 8km route in 9m52, and ended up 26sec off the winner Graeme Cronje. Andrew Mclean took second at 3 seconds down. As a team we were happy with the result, because it meant we did not have to defend the yellow jersey for the whole tour.

Stage 2: 120km

Stage 2 was the longest stage of the tour. The route had changed a bit from the previous year, and we would no longer be riding over the rolling hills close to Heidelberg. The course was very flat, but in this part of the world, the wind can have a major impact on the racing. My job for the day was to mark Graeme Cronje, and I had to make sure that if he went in a move, I went with. The rest of the team had to cover any dangerous moves. If all stayed together, Andrew Mclean would make his move in the last 30km of the race when there would be a lot of opportunity to gutter any followers. I would have to help Andrew establish a break if the race was still together with 30km to go.

Quite early in the race, about 20km in, a big move went. This break contained Johan Labuschagne and Martin Atterbury (Cyclelab 30+), Andreas Studer (Daikin Gu), Jorge Faria (Wadeville), Marco Swart and Jeffrey Kriel (MTN/Club 100). Johan and Martin drove the pace really hard, and the first casualty was Marco Swart, then later Martin Atterbury popped. Unfortunately, Johan burnt all his matches and also got dropped with the time gap quite big, about 4min if I remember correctly. Although Johan is riding in a different team, he is also from the Cyclelab club, and this was his category, so we had not tried to close the gap and damage his tour chances. Now we had a problem because the time gap was large and Daikin Gu were a strong team. Andrew called us to the front and we started the chase with about 25km left to go. With the wind conditions the way they were, the bunch was soon shredded and the only survivors were Andrew Mclean and myself (Cyclelab 40+), Graeme Cronje, David Garrett and Moolman Welgemoed (Daikin Gu), and Donovan Jackson (MTN/Club 100). Daikin Gu and Club 100 had riders down the road, so they did not need to contribute to the chase. So, it was left to Andrew, myself, and Graeme Cronje. About 2km's from the finish, I eventually popped off as Andrew put in a huge final effort. In the meantime, Andreas Studer (Daikin Gu) and got away from Jorge Faria and Jeffrey Kriel and ridden himself into the yellow jersey, with a time gap of around 1 min.

Stage 3: Criterium (8 laps x 5km)

Stage 3 was an 8 lap criterium. Each lap was 5km, with a short climb (1km) up to the start finish line. My job for the day was to try to get away and see if I could stay away long enough to do some damage and let Andrew counter later. Andrew would try to win the stage, and at least move from 3rd to 2nd in GC, since he was only 3 seconds behind Graeme. The race started, and Daikin put their whole team on the front and set a very fast pace. With the pace so high, it was very difficult to get off the front, particularly with Moolman Welgemoed being so quick, he could close down attacks very quickly. In all, I tried to get away 4 times, but Daikin Gu kept the race under complete control and I had not success at all.

Andrew did manage to get enough bonus seconds from the sprint prime and the finish to move ahead of Graeme Cronje by 1 second, but did no real damage to Andreas in yellow.

Stage 4: 101km Lap Race (John Boscoe Circuit)

Stage 4 would be 3 laps of the same circuit used for CGC Provincials. Again, this is a fairly flat circuit, that can be very tough in the right wind conditions, which we fortunately had!

Tactics for the day were simple. Attack early, and keep attacking until we could get Andrew away in a break. No problem if yellow went with him because it would isolate Andreas from his teammates. We were not confident, as we did not think we would be able to ride 1 minute into Daikin Gu. But, we decided to race for first place, and not settle for second.

Once again Daikin Gu went to the front and set a fast pace. After a few kilometres, we turned into a good gutter wind, and started attacking. In my opinion, Daikin Gu made a mistake in closing down all the attacks, because they put in a lot of big efforts. Heading up a long drag with a strong crosswind, the bunch was splitting up fast. Eventually I could not sustain the pace, but the damage had been done and Andrew went away with Andreas Studer, Craig Harvey and Gary Rabie (Bulk Pack Meat/Trek), and Graeme Cronje. This was exactly what we wanted - to isolate yellow. Andreas must have been feeling confident, because he took the sprint prime. Andrew and Graeme immediately attacked him after the prime and opened a gap on him and Craig Harvey. Craig's teammate was with Andrew and Graeme, so there was no need for Craig to close the gap, leaving Andreas trying to close it down in a strong tailwind. So, after 20km into the stage Andrew was away with Graeme and Gary Rabie. The gap quickly opened to about 1m30s, but then the chase started with Club 100 and Werner Moolman (Mr. Price) also helping. For us it was very much a free ride and finally the boot was on the other foot.

For the next lap the gap stayed at just over 1min, but Daikin Gu were putting in a huge effort. Then on the second lap, Daikin forced the bunch into the gutter and soon the race was down to about 10 riders in the chase group. In doing so, they lost a number of allies so it may not have been the best option with still half the race to go.

The pace slowed a bit and the group grew again, with Club 100 and Mr. Price once again helping with the chase. On the last lap, we started to attack Daikin again, mainly to disrupt their chase efforts. Then with about 10km left to go the gap had been reduced to 35seconds and things were getting very tight. Fortunately for us, the Daikin guys had put everything into the chase, and suddenly the wheels came off and the chase ran out of steam. Coming over the finish line, we were given provisional times, and Andrew had won the stage by 1m02s, which, along with time bonuses, would give him overall victory in the tour. An unbelievable ride!!

Overall results can be found at http://www.circus.co.za/results.htm

My power stats for the race can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/lsqz3a

Overall, the best Vet's tour I've taken part in. Thanks to the organisers and officials, as well as to sponsors like Nashua Mobile for making it happen!

A Deeper Look into my Nationals TT

2009-06-10T03:19:00.000-07:00

I'm not a person that goes on about 'could have, should have, would have', what's done is done and I always try to look forward. This does not mean, however, that there are no lessons to be learnt from the past, one should try not to repeat the same mistake twice. As they say, experience is the ability to recognise a mistake when you make it again.

Alex Simmons is an Australian cycling coach who is a regular and respected contributor on various forums and mailing lists that discuss training with power (check out his blog at http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com/). He has developed a tool and methodology for designing an optimal pacing strategy for a given TT course. I asked him to have a look at the data from my Nationals TT for 2 reasons. Firstly to see how well I paced the course, and secondly to try to assess the impact that my rubbing brake block had on my overall time. His analysis makes use of a technique for estimating CdA and Crr called Virtual Elevation (see http://tinyurl.com/kpeyx6).

Based on the profile of the course, an isopower (constant power) pacing strategy may not be optimal. He uses the Normalised Power algorithm as well to figure out how hard the rider should go on the climbs, and how much to back off on the descents. The following graph shows the optimal pacing strategy for the Nationals TT course, and my power output overlaid.

Interesting to see the correlation, even though I didn't pre-prepare my pacing strategy. I'm really pleased with my physical performance, there is not much more I could have done from a pacing perspective, as shown in the following table which ranks my performance against various benchmarks.

The really interesting part of the analysis comes from the figure Alex had to use for my Crr (coefficient of rolling resistance). In order to get the virtual elevation model to balance (i.e start elevation and end elevation to match up), he had to use a Crr value of 0.018. A more typical value of 0.005 would have resulted in a time improvement of 4m20s.

Hopefully I don't need to point out the moral of this particular story!

Thanks to Alex for doing the analysis for me, I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad!

Nationals 2009 Road Race (40-44). More Furstration!

2009-06-08T04:38:00.001-07:00

Before getting into a race report, I'd just like to comment on some of the events leading up to the race which were disappointing to say the least.

The team I race for is Cyclelab SuperCycling - Powered by Toyota. Which represents the largest cycling club in the country. The club was founded by Andrew Mclean, who is a world class cyclist that at the age of 45 can more than hold his own in Elite categories. A few years ago, he attended Worlds, and did not win his age category. So, the next day he rode in a younger category and won it! He is a high profile person, and does a lot of media work. Being a high profile person, he is subject to the tall poppy syndrome and can be the target of abuse at times.

At Nationals, that abuse spilled over into obsession, which was totally uncalled for and leaves a bad taste. Nationals this year was held in Oudtshoorn, a small town in the Klein Karoo about 70km from George. For most of the participants, this meant a significant journey, and a number of days away from home if you wanted to compete in both the timetrial and the road race. For amateur riders, this is a significant commitment. Andrew requested, and was granted, permission from Cycling South Africa to compete in his own age group (45-49) and the younger age group (40-44) in which most of his team compete. He also rode in the timetrial in the 45-49 age group. He had to pay entry fees for both events.
The 45-49 age group race was on Saturday afternoon, and the 40-44 age group race was on Sunday morning, less than 18 hours later. On the Friday, we were informed that a formal complaint had been lodged against him racing two races. Officials from CSA met on Friday night, and ruled that Andrew must chose which category he wanted to race in, but he could not race in both. After trying unsuccessfully to get an earlier flight back home, Andrew decided to race in the younger age category, with the rest of the team. On Saturday night, we were told that some of the riders were organising a signed petition to try to prevent Andrew from racing on Sunday morning, and when we got to the start one of the officials told us that he had overheard threats being made. One of the 45-49 riders, Jorge Faria, made a public speech at the start line, saying that Andrew was violating the rules as he had ridden the 45-49 timetrial, so he could not take part in the 40-44 road race, even though the officials had made a ruling on the issue. Why he was wearing his riding kit, as well as his numbers I don't know!

Andrew asked for a show of hands from those riders that felt he should not be riding. Quite a few people raised their hands, so he withdrew from the race. I was shocked and amazed at the behaviour of the riders. This is amateur sport, which is more about participation than winning. Anyway, the race started with a long neutral zone. Apparently the officials tried to contact Andrew to persuade him to race, but he had already left the start area. About 10km into the race, Andre Morse (Club 100) attacked off the front. First bit of bad luck, my teammate Issy Zimmerman punctured and was not able to use the wheels in the neutral support vehicle because they were Shimano. A short while later, Morse was joined by Daniel Schmeisser (Cycles Direct) and they opened a nice gap. The course is a 54km loop, with a long climb split into 3 sections. Riding the course the day before, it was clear that if the wind was blowing, the course would be very tough. The first part of the climb saw the bunch staying together, but things started to happen on the second part. Danie Marais (Mr. Price) went hard, with about 6 or 7 riders on his wheel. About 2/3 of the way up the climb, he started to slow, and Graeme Cronje (Ocean Basket) kicked on. The bunch was in pieces down the short descent, then Graeme kicked again on the third part of the climb. He opened up a gap which I was not able to close, and when I turned around, I only had Gary Marescia (Cyclelab/SuperCycling/Toyota) with me. He was already deep in the red, so also wasn't able to close the gap to Graeme. The gap of a few seconds stayed that way for a while, then Graeme started to open it up and bridge across to the two riders already up the road. At this point I was on my own, and knowing that Graeme was in good form, decided to sit up and let the small bunch behind me catch up to me.

The chase group formed (about 10 riders) with John o' Connor & Guy Pike (Daikin Gu) and Robbie Setton (Velo Atlantico) doing a lot of work to try to bring the break back. Looking at my power stats, I did a peak 1min of 660w when trying to catch Graeme initially. I needed to recover a bit, so I tried to hide in the group until we finished the first lap. The gap opened to nearly 2 minutes, and was becoming concerning. We needed to chase, but with the wind now having picked up, the climb was going to be hard. Fortunately, as we hit the climb we found that the break had lost one of it's riders. After the first part of the climb, Andre Morse came back. A bit further, Daniel Schmiesser was also dropped by Graeme, so he was now alone. But with 30km left to go, I thought he would be capable of staying away unless a proper chase happened. A few minor attacks on the second part of the climb came, but nothing serious. I decided that I had to commit and had nothing to lose. Robbie Setton (Velo Atlantico) and I drove the pace really hard. I had a duel purpose, firstly to try to get rid of some of the riders who were sitting in and not getting involved in the chase, and secondly to catch Graeme. I was feeling really good, and we were able to drive it really hard.

We caught Graeme with about 15km to go, and kept the pace as high as possible. Looking at the riders still in the bunch, I felt that Deon Coetzee (Tony Impey Cycles) was probably the biggest threat in a sprint. I planned to get his wheel in the final corner with 200m to go for the line. Unfortunately, more bad luck! With about 3km to go I punctured and that was the end of my race! I was feeling really good as well!

Deon went on to take the win from Mark Linnington (Club 100) and John o' Connor (Daikin/Gu). Congrats Deon!!

Power stats for the race can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/mu7t5v

S.A. Nationals TimeTrial - 40-44 age group

2009-05-28T01:58:00.000-07:00

Personal bests don't count for much when you make stupid mistakes! These are my best ever power numbers on the TT bike! 30w average better than my Provincials race in which I got silver.

The problem was that I had a front brake block rubbing and didn't realise it! After 4km into the TT I was caught already! I could not understand what was going on - I thought that the guy that caught me must be incredibly strong if he caught me within 4km and I was averaging better than 360w.

I ended up 21st overall (out of 23) with a 360w average!

Central Gauteng Provincial Championships - Road Race

2009-05-18T04:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Central Gauteng Provincials Road Race, also held in the deep South near Daleside (I keep expecting to see guys with white hoods and burning crosses!).

The 30km lap circuit (John Boscoe) is a lot harder than it looks, especially when the wind is pumping, which was what we were hoping for.

A short discussion with the officials before the race was held, in which the gutter section was discussed and they agreed to provide a lead car to ensure the safety of the bunch. The team tactics were to hit it hard right from lap one - and that's exactly what we did.

A short section of a couple of km's with a tailwind from the start, then we turned right into a perfect gutter - a 45degree tailwind from the left. Andrew hit the front, leaving space for myself and Issy, and went hard! Within about 2km the bunch was completely shattered. I took a turn at the front, then peeled off and nearly got caught out because I thought there were a few riders behind me and there weren't! Next thing I was fighting to close a 10m gap with Andrew Mclean driving the pace. He saw what had happened and sat up to let me get back on. The start group of probably 50 riders was suddenly down to 6. With 120km of racing left, there was no point in trying to get the group any smaller. So, Andrew, Issy, myself, a Panda rider, Deon Coetzee, and a Boss Logistics rider started working together.

By now we had turned into a long drag section, with a strong crosswind coming from the front. First off the back was the Boss Logistics rider. This was going to be interesting, because now Boss Logistics and Club 100 did not have riders in the break - would they chase?

The gap on the first lap was around 45sec, so the pace was kept up. Unfortunately my powertap CPU shot off my handlebars towards the end of the first lap, so no data for the rest of the race. Up to that point though I was averaging 345w so the going was pretty hard.

The gap slowly grew during the second lap, getting to about 1:10 by the end of the second lap. The conditions meant that there was no point on the circuit that could be used to recover. The uphill drag had a strong crosswind from the front, and the downhill section had a direct tailwind. Pushing the pace on the downhill and flat meant that there was very little shelter.

At the start of the third lap, Andrew an I rode away from the group. Not an attack, but it seemed like a couple of the guys just blew simultaneously. Andrew sat up a bit to see if he could pace Issy back into the break, but Issy wasn't able to get across.

Now it was just Andrew and myself, with a gap of under 2 minutes. Not safe by any means, so Andrew went hard up the drag! Within about 5km the time gap jumped to 2:30 so clearly the fight had gone out of the chase group. Now all that was left was pain and hoping that no punctures or mechanicals would happen. Andrew was pacing the headwind sections, and I did my bit on the flats and downhills. By the last lap the gap was up to 4:30!

Andrew was more than happy to let me take the win - he has plenty medals and gets a lot of pleasure out of team-mates winning, thanks mate!

Official time was 2h52, but looking at Andrew's powertap data, I have it at 2h59, just a shade over 40km/h in tough conditions. 23min faster than the 30+ age group, the slackers!

Thanks to Ali, Carri-Ann, and Den (+ boys) for supporting us. And thanks to Michelle Cound for the pictures!

Edit: I have removed references to a rider that would prefer not to be named, apologies if I caused any offence.

Central Gauteng Provincial Championships - TT

2009-05-18T03:35:00.000-07:00

The provincial timetrial for Central Gauteng was held this last weekend on Saturday morning down in Daleside. I'm not sure why this location was chosen, since it falls within Southern Gauteng, which is a different cycling union.

Anyway, the course was an out-and-back course which turned out to be 20km, having been specified as a 30km TT. This is the same thing that happened a couple of years back, so it didn't come as a surprise.

The profile is quite flat, with an uphill out bound leg and a downhill return. Wind conditions meant that the out leg would also be predominantly into a headwind/crosswind, and the return would have the wind behind us.

I was hoping to have my SRM available for my TT bike, but it is not back from being serviced yet. That, along with getting some changes to the TT bike means that I had only managed to get onto the bike for one computrainer session, and one road session - not nearly enough.

Turns out that with the wind the way that it was, my Bontrager Aeolus 5.0 wheels with my powertap were fine for the conditions, so nothing lost.

I did manage to break the cardinal rule of TT - start on time! Our start times were brought forward 20min on the day, which disrupted my warmup plans quite a bit. Anyway, I went to the start ramp in time, and was told there were a few riders ahead of me still. So I quickly went to the toilet and to sort out my Garmin 705 pairing with my race wheels. Returned to the start and was waiting patiently went I was informed that my start time had gone 20sec ago!

Cursing myself, I hit the road quickly! The best thing about riding a TT with a power meter is controlling the adrenaline at the start and keeping a lid on the power! I focused on staying aerobic and got into a rhythm. Feeling a lot better on the bike than my previous ride.

I haven't done a test on the TT bike, so I was not sure what numbers I could sustain for 30min. I do know that I am not able to match my road bike numbers when in full TT position, so I started out at around 340w (I had done 370w for 38min in the Panarama TT a few weeks back on my road bike).

Then I started having problems with my Garmin CPU - which came lose and kept rotating on the bars! So I ended up fiddling with that a bit - not good when trying to keep a good position and go as fast as you can!

At the turnaround point I was feeling pretty good, and decided with a downhill tail wind I was going to really nail it. Taking a few seconds recovery every now and then would not impact my speed much. I managed to produce 13w more on the return leg.

Stats for the ride can be viewed here: http://tinyurl.com/r4dlmh

It is interesting to note that I did the same time in the return leg as Andrew Mclean (overall winner), showing the advantage a bigger rider has in a downhill tailwind situation.

This was good enough to get me second place in the race - with some confusion over the results as I was initially told I was third, but found out I was second at medal presentation! My official time also didn't quite match my powertap times so who knows??

MTN Panarama Tour

2009-05-04T03:18:00.000-07:00

Stage 1: White River - Sabie

The first stage of the Panarama Tour heads out from White River towards Hazeyview. About 25km into the race there is a KOM prime, on a short sharp climb that can be decisive in the stage. This prime was not for our category (Veterans), so the main focus was just to stay in touch with the front bunch.

After that, the race turns off the main road, and descends a narrow road with plenty of potholes! This got quite hairy, and it was important to stay close to the front to make sure you could see what was coming.

The race then heads out to Kiepersol, and winds it's way through back roads until meeting up with the main road between Sabie and Hazeyview. The bunch regrouped and things were comfortable heading towards Sabie. The climb out of Sabie would be critical, so everybody was saving themselves.

Turning left out of Sabie, the race really started. The bunch shattered, and I found myself a few seconds behind a small lead group of about 15 riders. I was on the limit, so I didn't try to get back on, just kept a constant tempo and waited for the bunch to slow a bit. At the top of the steepest section, the bunch did sit up a bit as riders looked to see if their partners had managed to make the split. This gave me the chance to make contact again.

This was the first opportunity to see which teams had a combined strength to be dangerous in the race. Andrew and I were the only Veterans to make the split. The break group contained Dave Garrett & Moolman Welgemoed (Daiken Gu - one of the favourites for the overall win), Jaco Ferreira & Pieter Henning (TCS), Brand du Plessis & Alwyn Scheepers (TCS), Hanco Kachelhoffer & Mike Hewan (BH Medscheme), David and Johan Labuschagne (CycleLab Brothers), Alex Pavlov & Henry Uys (Northcliff Cycles), and Jade Muller & Conrad Viljoen (NMMU Mecer)

The route would comprise of rolling hills all the way back to White River. A chase group had formed with Nic White and Jacques Fullard in it. Blayne Wikner, Jacques partner, was up with us in the lead group. A situation that could have caused them a major problem, as Jacques crossed the line just under two minutes behind Blayne, and nearly fell foul of the 2 min separation rule.

The group stayed together to the finish, with Daiken Gu taking the sprint at the finish. Andrew and I came in 4th, but 1st overall in the Vets category.

Power stats for this stage can be seen here: http://tinyurl.com/p75ey4

Stage 2: White River - Nelspruit

Stage 2 heads south from White River to Nelspruit. We needed to be attentive early in the race because some of the descents would be very fast. With the tandems in the bunch, it would be possible to get away with a tandem and open up a big gap on the bunch in the first part of the race. Well, a tandem did get away, Jurie Krige and his son Adolph came flying past the bunch! Aparently they hit speeds of over 105km/h on the descent and opened up a gap of over 3 minutes. Fortunately for us, none of the half bike teams managed to get on their wheel!

The bunch arrived at the 60km mark pretty much intact, now the real racing would begin. The road back up to White River is a set of short sharp rolling hills, and attacks started coming quickly.

For me, this was the worst stage! I was really struggling with the constant accelerations, and then on the short descents, riders that had been dropped on the hills would come flooding back to the front of the bunch, and it became a constant battle to try to stay close to the front and not pick up dead wheels on the next climb. I watched in amazement as Andrew maintained his position in the bunch while I wasted lots of energy trying to get up there!

I got dropped on the second last climb, and managed to re-join but only to be dropped again coming in to White River. Andrew came back to pace me to the finish, but we lost about 25 seconds on the GC, but held our lead in the Vets category! Brand du Plessis & Alwyn Scheepers (TCS) took the stage.

A very hard day for me, with the last 20km reing really tough. Power stats can bee seen here: http://tinyurl.com/r9xy8b

Stage 3 - White River - Sabie (return via Long Tom Pass)

The third stage was the longest stage with two major climbs (Spitskop and Long Tom). I wasn't feeling confident after losing some time on Stage 2. Fortunately we had the Vets category to race for as well, so if things went wrong from a GC perspective, we could still win the Vets.

The race started on the road out towards Hazeyview. We then turned left on one of the smaller roads and joined up with the main road to Sabie. Quite a few attempts were being made to get off the front, but the main contenders were waiting for the first major split point - Spitskop. This was also the KOM prime for the Vets, with a Nokia Cell Phone up for grabs, so we wanted to make sure of that as well.

At this point we were about 25seconds behind on GC, but had about 8 minutes on the next Vets team, Gary Marescia & Adrian Enthoven (Cyclelab SuperCycling Cape Town).

Spitskop duly arrived and a small group containing TCS and Daiken Gu went off the front. We were in the chase group but a gap was opening up. A number of times I had to rely on Andrew for a bit of a push up the climb to keep the speed up! Once again, the main teams that made the split on the first day were there again. We won the KOM prime and started the long descent into Sabie in a small chase group of about 10 riders. Jaco Ferreira was having a tough time, having fallen on Day 2 and damaged a rib.

Surprisingly, the chase group did not gel very well and the chase was very haphazard. Andrew was trying to get things going, and telling me to keep as much as possible in reserve for Long Tom.

We went through Sabie with the gap standing at over 1 minute! The climb up Long Tom was hard, but he gradient is quite consistent so the speed did not vary much. Once again, Andrew kept me from going over the limit with some help! We reached the top and started the long descent. Hanco Kachelhoffer started to drive the pace really hard and started eating away at time gap. At some point the TCS guys suffered a puncture and the break slowed and was brought back in. Now all that was left was a short steep climb about 5km from the finish!

When we hit the climb we pushed it really hard. Fortunately my legs came to the party and I was able to push the pace with the front guys. Unfortunately for TCS, their efforts in the break made them pay a heavy price and they got dropped on this climb, along with some of the other GC candidates - David and Johan lost out here as well.

With 5km to go, the hammer went down and Andrew drove the pace to the finish. The group finished together with Daiken Gu, TCS (Jaco), Mecer NMMU, and ourselves all within 40sec of each other on GC - setting up the final stage TT very nicely.

Overall a very good day for us, with Andrew riding amazingly well!

Power stats for the stage can be seen here: http://tinyurl.com/ogkab7

Stage 4 - White River TimeTrial

The first thing Andrew said to me when we crossed the line at the end of Stage 3 was "We can win this race!". I think he felt that all along, but didn't want to put too much pressure on me. The day Andrew stops being competitive, is the day they put him in a box!

So, on the afternoon of Stage 3, we took a drive on the TT route, and started planning our strategy. The course was by no means flat, with some very fast sections, then it returned along the Stage 2 route.

The plan was to let Andrew pace on the uphill sections and the drags, and I would work on the flats and descents. This would give Andrew the chance to recover, whilst keeping the speed at a max.

First thing in the morning, we rode the route to check it out properly and were feeling confident when we got to the start. We were lying in 3rd place, and had 27sec to make up on the leaders. Our main threat looked like it would be Dave Garrett and Moolman Welgemoed (Daiken Gu), with Jaco Ferreira feeling the effects of his crash. The NMMU Mecer guys were a bit of an unknown as well.

Andrew has plenty experience in the TT department, so he set a solid constant tempo right from the start. I felt comfortable, but needed to keep a lid on the enthusiasm so that I could go flat out in the uphill sections of the last 5km. I paced the flat and the long descent, and we caught our minute men (Mecer NMMU) with abour 5km to go. The last 5km had the potential to cost a lot of time, and I was glad I had kept something in reserve for this section. We went as hard as we could go, and crossed the finish line in the fastest time of the day, 38:15. We took the stage, and the overall tour win!

Power stats can be seen here: http://tinyurl.com/pslg6o

Cape Argus Cycle Tour

2009-03-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable! Racing bikes in gale force winds is not for the faint hearted!

After all the negative publicity that Andrew (Mclean) had to endure in the week leading up to the race, we were all highly motivated for this race! On Saturday I took a ride out to the new Boyes Drive section of the route to have a look at the hills on it. Not too bad, but definitely a chance to soften up competitors legs during the race.

Weather forecast was predicting a strong South Easter though, which would mean a block headwind until the turn at Smitswinkel. Depending on the strength of the wind, there would be no point in trying to break things up until Smitswinkel.

Well, the wind was gale force! I was staying in a B&B in Newlands, and it is a 10km flat ride to the start - nice warmup, except it took me 13minutes pedalling easy! The wind propelled me at around 50km/h all the way to the start line.

Usually the city bowl is sheltered from the wind, but it was chaos at the start line. It was so strong that my bike lifted off the ground when I was standing holding it. The porta-loos became flying missiles with a deadly payload!

So, no point in doing anything until Smitswinkel then!

Heading out at the start, the entire front of the bunch got blown over in the wind! this meant that by the time I got to the highway, I was a good few hundred metres behind the front guys! No problem though, with such a strong headwind, they came to a virtual standstill and we crawled up to the hospital.

Edinburgh drive was also fairly slow, and the bunch crawled out along the Blue Route. At least the wind direction was not swirling, which made staying on the bike a bit easier. It was a fight though to stay in the first 10 to 15 though, as the front guys slowed, riders kept coming round the sides.

As expected, things stayed together until Smitswinkel. My strategy was to attack up Smitswinkel and open a gap. Andrew would then come across and we would use the strong tailwind to open up a gap on the bunch.

The tactic worked to perfection, except it wasn't me that attacked, it was Gary Marescia. Going up Smitswinkel, I was nicely place on 3rd or 4th wheel when Gary attacked hard. Unfortunately the guys in front of me could not go with, leaving me boxed in a bit. Andrew then attacked and nobody could respond to him either. Leaving us to make a steady pace up the climb and see if anybody tried to bridge, taking us with. Myself and Issy Zimmerman, along with another rider, made it to the top together and the rest of the bunch was shattered. With the strength of the tailwind, there was no way a single rider would be able to pull back Andrew and Gary, so a small chase group formed and we just sat in.

About 10km later, Gary popped and came back to the bunch, leaving a 40km solo TT for Andrew. Something which he did comfortably, given the terrain and the strong tailwind.

That left us in the position of just sitting in, and trying to get away up Suikerbossie. However, with the ladies race being part of our race, tactics became a bit messy on Suikerbossie and the bunch stayed together of the sprint at the finish. Even though I had been sitting in most of the race, I was pretty flat at the end and did not have great sprinting legs! Pity, as I would have liked to try get a podium in this race!

Overall Normalised Power for the race was 310w and finishing time was 3h06, almost 20min slower than previous years.

Harmony Randfontein

2009-03-03T02:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I was supposed to be riding Sani2C, but my partner, Ian, was seriously ill before the race and it would not have been adviseable for him to ride it in the wet conditions. So, no Sani2C this year, but from the reports, it is a race that everybody should do at least once in their lifetime.

With the last minute change of plans, I entered the Harmony Randfontein race. A 100km race in the Randfontein/Magaliesburg area. Not any serious climbs, but the the return route can be very hard depending on race conditions.

Given the small field, myself and Colin Germs (my teammate) decided to race in the Elite category to get some good training for the Argus this weekend. The only major team present was Konica-Minolta, along with some good riders from Queens. The juniors were included in the bunch as well, so things got pretty hairy sometimes with all the kamakazi pilots in the bunch.

With a pretty much downhill out leg, a small break was allowed to go, and soon built up quite a bit gap - around 3 minutes. Konica was well represented in the break, with 3 riders, but for some reason decided to let 2 of them come back to the bunch.

The bunch moved along at a comfortable pace, until Konica then decided to bring back the other 2 riders. The paced picked up, but was still fairly comfortable.

The fun starts in this race on the way out of Magaliesburg. A short sharp climb, and then another, provides an opportunity to split the bunch up a bit. So, when the hill came I made sure I was well positioned for the inevitable change in pace. The pressure came on and I just kept my position in around 4th or 5th place, making sure I wouldn't get any dead wheels.

When we got to the top, I had a quick look around to see who had made the selection and we were down to about 7 riders. Myself, Jock Green, a Queens rider, and 4 Konica riders. I was very surprised that so few had been able to hold on, but there you have it.

The second bump out of Magaliesburg was no problem, but then came the long drag up to Tarlton. Konica started attacking. I covered a few of the moves, but started to struggle a bit, while Jock Green (Garmin) was doing his best to cover everything. Eventually, two of the riders got away. I just stuck to a steady rhythm, knowing the pace would have to slow and I could get myself back on.

The chasing bunch did slow, and the riders left in the bunch took stock of the situation. Two Konica riders down the road was not a good situation, but we were outnumbered. Then, some other riders that had been dropped re-attached - including James Louter (another Vet that had decided to race down). Given the pace we had been going from Magaliesburg, it was an amazing effort for these guys to get back on.

After a bit of a breather, the chase began in earnest, with Jock keeping things together and coordinating things. Unfortunately I hit a pothole and had another pinch flat, second in two races! So that was my race over.

BUT, I was very happy with my form, and making a small split with the Elite guys.

My thoughts go out to Neil Frazer who was badly injured in a motor car accident comping home from Sani2C - you are in my thoughts all the time!

Bad Day, Great Result!

2009-02-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the Macsteel Carnival Classic. A flat 100km race out in the East Rand, starting at Carnival City, heading out to Heidelberg and back.

Once again, not a race that suits the Toyota SuperCycling 40+ team, but that doesn't mean we don't want to win it!

After missing out last week, having been the main aggressors in the race, we were determined to not lose out again this time. So we decided we would change tactics, and try get away right from the start. I would try to get away, failing that one of the other team mates would break. With everyone watching Andrew Mclean, there was a fair chance that they would let the break go.

My bad luck started right at the beginning of the race. My front derailleur was broken. I had had problems with it last week, but I thought it was sorted out. Riding to the start, the derailleur came lose completely and could not be tightened. Thinking that I would not be able to race, I decided to put the bike in the car, and get to the start and see if I could follow the bunch in case one of the team members needed help on the road - we did not have a backup car on the day.

When I got to the start, the guys pointed out to me that a front derailleur was not really required for this race, good point, so I quickly removed the derailleur, put the chain on the big ring, and rolled up to the start, with 2 minutes to go before the gun.

From the gun we started attacking. Mark Thijs and I took turns in attacking, whilst Boss Logistics were putting in plenty of attacks as well. It soon became apparent that I was being marked and nobody would cooperate with me in establishing a break.

Mark Thijs, however, managed to get a good move going, along with Anton Oberholzer, a Boss Logistics rider and one other. This was the point in the race that my second piece of bad luck occurred - I hit a cateye and had a pinch flat. With no backup car, and the speed of the race, I was out of the race! Fortunately one of the Germiston Wheelers support guys stopped and helped me get sorted out. I rode a few km's, thinking I would ride the course as a training ride, but then realised that I had no spares if I had another problem - so I turned around and headed back to the start.

Turns out, Mark's move was the telling move of the day! He managed to stay away to the finish and take the win - nice one Mark!!

What made the win even better was that Mark is due to start chemotherapy for a tumour in the bladder, so to get a win in the last race is really cool!

The bunch expected Andrew to make the moves, and when he just sat in, they had no answer. Maybe the other teams should start making more of the racing.

Dischem Ride 4 Sight

2009-02-15T09:40:00.000-08:00

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!

Emperor's Palace - Fast and Furious!

2009-02-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

The Emperor's Palace Classic has had it's route revamped, in an attempt to provide a safer race. The route used to travel through Midrand, taking in the Allandale 'Camel Humps' which was usually when the splits occured. It now takes a more southerly route, circling Boksburg and Springs. This route is a lot flatter, making the race very fast.

The Toyota SuperCycling 40+ team decided to race down an age category, with the 30+ vets. This would be a faster and more aggressive bunch. The 30+ cateogory was very strong, with Bulk Pack Trek, Toyota SuperCycling 30+, Focus, Club 100, TCS, and some new teams on the block that made for aggressive racing.

This is not really my kind of race, but it is very good training. In these races concentration levels have to be high to stay in the front of the bunch. This race started aggressively, with the Labuschagne Brothers (Toyota SuperCycling 30+) making numberous attempts to get away. This situation always causes a bit of a dillema because technically they are not the same team as us, but we are from the same club and wear identical kit. So, from the bunch's perspective, we are seen as one group, but tactically on the road that might not always be the case. This can result in a few choice words being spoken when an alliance between another team and the 30+ team is broken by the 40+ team. Anyway, we're all amateurs so let's not take these things too seriously!

The wind was playing a role in preventing the breaks from getting away, and things stayed together until the one small bump in the race. At this point Jason du Preez (Bulk Pack Trek) was off the front and David Labuschagne used his MTB skills to good effect when he attacked from the dirt pavement. David got across to Jason, and went past him. Jacques Fullard (Focus) then attacked on the right, taking Craig Harvey (Bulk Pack Trek) with him. They bridged across to David and the group quickly started working together. This was a good move, but a bad situation for the 40+ team. The three riders were strong enough to stay away, but chasing them would not have been seen in a good light.

The break hovered at the 45sec mark for the next 30km at least. The speed made it difficult for them to really get away. The Focus team did everything to disrupt the chase but the gap stayed constant. Two teams that I don't know (one with Mr Video on their kit, and the other with VWE on their kit), did the bulk of the chasing, with Club 100 chipping in every now and then.

When the break finally came back, the attacks resumed. This was the stage of the race where I felt I would have to be in a move if I was to get a result from the race. Leaving it up to a bunch sprint was not in my favour. The racing was very fast, so getting a break off the front was almost impossible.

Then, the short distance (fun rider) race and our race merged, and chaos ensued. I'm not sure why race organisers insist on doing this, but it is incredibly dangerous. There were certainly crashes in our bunch. It became almost impossible to see what was going on in our race with so many riders all over the road. A few attempts were made to slip quietly off the front, but the speed of the bunch ensured these would not be successful.

Our strategy was to try get into a break, failing that, Colin Germs would try his hand in the bunch sprint. Coming in to the finish line, he was well positioned in the train, but ended up being taken off the wheel by David L as both tried to stay in the pace line. In the end both lost out, but I don't think either would have been able to match Jacques Fullard when he kicked. Jacques too a well timed win.

Overall the race was fairly comfortable as reflected in the power stats:

Duration:   02:15:13

Work:       2156 kJ

TSS:        178.1 (intensity factor 0.889)

Norm Power: 316

VI:         1.19

Distance:   98.257 km

   Min    Max    Avg

Power:        0    1083    266 watts

Speed:        7.2    68.5 43.5 kph

Berge en Dale - Win!!

2009-01-31T08:10:00.001-08:00

After last weeks fast and furious downhill dash to the finish line, racing came to our neighbourhood this week. This is the kind of route profile you love to see when you have Andrew Mclean in your team, or maybe not!!

The course starts on the well known Krugersdorp Hill (locally known as Hillsnax). It then comes down Sterkfontein Hill, and past the Sterkfontein Caves - the Cradle of Humankind which is a World Heritage site and the location of the oldest known human remains. The course then heads out along the Krugersdorp highway, sharing part of the course with the 94.7. At Diepsloot, the course does an about turn and heads back to the finish near Muldersdrift.

At the start, I went straight to the front to set the pace, hoping to give Andrew the chance to launch off the front with the baunch alreasdy struggling. We would then try to vary the pace to shake off any stubborn competition. But nobody came with me! Pretty soon I had a gap of a couple of hundred metres. Andrew saw that nobody in the bunch was responding, so he jumped across to me - bringing along another Cyclelab rider. Unfortunately, the effort of hanging onto Andrew's wheel was a bit to much for him, and he dropped soon after reaching the top of Hillsnax. Without having to put in too many attacks, we had already achieved what we wanted, and put our heads down. By the time we reached the top of Sterkfontein, we were told by the commissaire that we had a gap of 1:07 - great, but still plenty km's left!

Andrew was driving the pace really hard, and with his relative size being significantly smaller than me, I had my work cut out here. Looking at the power stats, I stopped pedalling for the sum total of 3:30 minutes, the whole race! But these are our training grounds, and we know every single bump in the road!

The pace didn't slow for a minute, and the first hour of the race I spent at a Normalised Power of 354w, and my Functional Threshold is 345w (well it was anyway). We turned on to the highway with the commissaire telling us the gap was over 3min, to a chase group of 8, who had a gap of 2 min to the next group. Knowing that we would have a few team mates in that chase group, we knew that only 4 or so riders would be chasing - 4 against 2, just our kind of odds :-)

The highway section is very hard. The rolling hills are completely exposed to the wind, and the road just seems to be endless! With Andrew being lighter than me, every uphill was pushing me into the uncomfortable wattage above threshold, but I had to hang in, and drive the pace on the flats and the downhills.

The commissaire was no longer giving us time updates, obviously thinking that we had a big enough gap not to be concerned. We turned at Diepsloot, and were already well down the highway when we saw the chase bunch coming in the opposite direction. By now I think Andrew had his sights on the VA bunch! Having had a Biogen gel and got some liquids in, I was starting to feel a bit stronger again and worked hard to keep the pace high.

Hill after hill came and went, and I was beginning to wonder if they had moved the finish line! Finally we came over the last hill, and the descent into Muldersdrift. The finish line, however, was placed on the other side of the valley, so there was one last kick. I dug deep and pushed for the line. Andrew did not contest, I'm sure he could have kicked at the finish, but chose not to. A Toyota SuperCycling 1-2 and we put 9minutes into the rest of the bunch.

Overall normalised power for the ride was 333w, with a VI of only 1.08, and less that 2% of the time spent not pedalling!

The Fast One

2009-01-25T18:15:00.000-08:00

First race with my new team - Toyota SuperCycling Vet's 40+, and a good result to go with it!

This is the season opener, and is pretty much a 100km flat gallop from the south of Johannesburg to Van der Bijl Park. Then a steady training ride back home! Average speeds are usually around 45km/h, so it is quick, and can be a bit dangerous.

In years gone by, there used to be a climb at the start, which allowed the bunch to split into a more manageable size. However, now the race starts literally on a downhill, and is pretty flat from there onwards.

There is, however, one section that is a slight uphill drag, and always as a gutter wind. Tactically, this is the main place to force a split.

So, after about 35km of racing, with a few minor attacks off the front, the Karee Kloof section arrived. Toyota SuperCycling team took control of the front of the bunch, and forced the gutter. Andrew Mclean kept things coordinated, which Colin Germs made sure none of the other riders could get into the paceline and disrupt it. Jorge Faria (Westville Steel) joined in the pace making, sensing that the race winning split was about to happen.

At the end of this section of road, there were only 7 riders left of the 150+ starters. Included in this 7 were 4 Toyota SuperCycling riders, myself, Andrew Mclean, Issy Zimmerman, and Colin Germs. We had lost 2 teammates, Mark Thijs was feeling the effects of a mountainbike race the day before, and Kevin Vermaak punctured. With us were 2 Boss Logistics riders, Anton Duvenhage and Billy Haasbroek, along with Jorge Faria of Wadeville Steel.

Turning right after the Karee Kloof section, we had a strong tail wind. Ideal for keeping the pressure on the break away group. Andrew and I drove the pace really hard, but succeeded in losing two of our own riders. With the time gap under one minute, it was important to keep the pace high!

Soon, the break started working together, with still 45km of racing left and a 1 minute gap, we couldn't ease up. The status quo remained for the next 35km, with the time gap surpisingly remaining at around 1 minute.

With 10km to go, I decided to try to get away. Not knowing the riders in this category, I wasn't sure what their sprint capabilities were, and didn't want to risk it. Also, looking at Anton Duvenhage, he is built like a sprinter!

I tried a couple of times to get away, but Anton was able to match the attacks and keep things together. Andrew was also feeling the effects of the previous days MountainBike race, so he wasn't feeling very sharp.

The finish is a long uphill drag and the finish line can be seen from about 500m away. Coming into the last turn, there was chaos. We had caught the back markers of a number of bunches ahead of us, and they all wanted to get involved in the action. After some shouting and gesticulating from the commissaire, our group was finally left of fight it out. Billy went first, and I got onto his wheel. Anton countered and I went as well. Anton had the better of me and took it by a good few bike lengths, I took second and Andrew took third.

So, overall I'm happy with that. My sprint wasn't too sharp, after 60km of hard pacing.

Training Camp

2009-01-11T09:08:00.000-08:00

3 days of hard riding, and more than 10 TSS points improvement in my CTL score. CTL has gone from 99.6 to 111.5.

I will be doing an FTP test on Wednesday though, because I suspect my FTP is currently slightly understated. So, two days of easier riding, just to keep the legs ticking over, then testing time again on Wednesday.

Training Camp

2009-01-08T05:27:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we will be having a short training camp, locally. 3 days of around 120km (4 hours) of riding.

Day 1 is rolling hills out on the tracking station road.

Day 2 is hilly, out to Krugersdorp where we will take in Krugersdorp Hill and Sterkfontein Hill.

Day 3 will be flat and fast - out in the Randfontein area:

Can't wait!!

New Year, Training going well

2009-01-08T05:06:00.000-08:00

Well, the new year has arrived and I have had a good block of training as shown by my PMC chart. I'm currently at CTL=99.3tss/day and after this weekends training camp should be around 105tss/day.

I end my Foundation Phase when I break through 100tss/day, so L5 and L6 work begins after the training camp, to start getting ready for the race season.

The new team is going to be fun, it will be a great opportunity to race alongside Andrew Mclean (a rainbow jersey holder) and get to learn from him. Unfortunately, today we got the news that Graeme Cronje would not be racing with the team, which is a big loss.

Pick & Pay 94.7 Cycle Challenge

2008-11-17T00:40:00.000-08:00

As Marco said at the end of the race, "Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat are destined not to win this race!". We have had second place in the last 3 years running, but this time around we didn't even manage to get onto the podium, missing it by one place.

Congratulations to Mark Davel from Mr. Price KZN for taking the victory, and Moolman Welgemoed from Daikin taking second, Jac-Louis van Wyk taking third.

Changes to the route this year made it very hard to split the bunch up. With none of the hills being long enough to snap the elastic.

The pace started slowly, with a few very minor attacks along the M1. The first major move was made by Craig Harvey (Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat) who spotted a smooth section of tar along the flyover and shot off the front of the bunch, with a Toyota SuperCycling rider in tow. The gap opened up nicely, and heading into the CBD they were out of sight. The pace picked up through the CBD, but on exiting the buildings onto the Mandela Bridge, a strong headwind was encountered and Craig came back to the bunch.

I then tried to get away on the last hill before the Zoo Lake descent. Again, a nice gap opened, but nobody came with me, and the bunch caught me easily on the descent into a headwind.

The pace was quite high, but few attacks came all the way into Randburg. When on the last climb into Randburg, Marco van Biljoen and Werner Moolman tried to split the bunch up. Once again, the hill was too short and the bunch stretched out, but the elastic did not snap. Through Bryanston and coming down Douglas Road, the pace was high. We tried a few moves, but few people were willing to commit everything to the move with the Witkoppen climb coming.

Once again, Werner Moolman set the pace up Witkoppen, the bunch stretched but did not snap, so heading on to the highway it was still 40 or 50 strong.

Plenty of attacks along the highway, but still, nobody could get away. The last chance would be the drag near Diepsloot up into Bluehills. The main rivals all took turns attacking and counter attacking. Two riders did manage to get away, but I did not see who they were.

Last opportunity to do anything came on Heartbreak Hill. At this point I suddenly saw riders that I didn't even know were in the race appear out of nowhere. Obviously sitting in and hoping to be opportunists at the finish. With Werner the only person in the bunch prepared to bring the two man break back, I put in a last big effort to close the gap coming up to Crowthorn, hoping that this could create the opportunity for one of my teammates to launch off the front and get away.

The effort cost me, and I nearly went out the back on the descent past Kyalami. Marco was well placed at the front of the bunch, and with an uphill finish I thought he had a good chance for a result. Mark Davel went early (I thought too early at the time), opened a gap and managed to hold it all the way to the line. Moolman Welgemoed could not close him in time so had to settle for second.

So, that's the end of the season and my last race with Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat. It didn't work out the way we wanted, but that's racing!

94.7 Time of the Year

2008-11-13T04:47:00.000-08:00

Well, the final race of the calender year has arrived along with some really bad weather!

Last weekend was supposed to be the final warmup race for me. The Bakwena SuperClassic which is a flat, out-and-back race. I was not feeling great heading out to the race, had a bit of an upper respiratory infection and has also suffered from a serious saddle sore last week. I headed out to the race and on the way there the weather was terrible. At the start line the weather looked okay, but anything could happen in the 50km the race would go to the turn point. The first time in my life I've got to a start and not started, I decided not to risk it and jeopardise the 94.7.

Overall, the second half of this year has not been a very happy period for me. With my Mom passing away a few months ago, and the associated loss of training, as well as work issues that have intruded, I have been on the back foot the whole season. The financial market crash that has been experienced globally also set back some business initiatives, so all-in-all things just haven't come together.

This week the weather has also been really bad, so final tuning on the training has been difficult, but this affects everybody so no point in getting too hung up about it.

So, here we are, last race of the season and it will be the last race with my current team, Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat. I move up an age category next year, and will be racing for Toyota SuperCycling 40+ team, supporting Andrew Mclean and Graeme Cronje. I'm looking forward to it, it should be good fun. I'll also be trying my hand at the MTB discipline, given that I will be coaching the DCM Chrome MTB team, I should at least get to know MTB better than I currently do!

The Bulk Pack Meat team will continue, and will be centered around Marco van Biljoen and Craig Harvey. They have recruited a new rider Jason du Preez who is just entering the Vets category. They are a strong team and I'm sure they will continue to enjoy the success that they have in the past. Good luck guys!! And thank you for all the great fun racing over the last 2 years.

Telkom Satellite Challenge

2008-10-28T02:30:00.000-07:00

The weather for the Satellite Challenge this year was somewhat better than last year, and the size of the VA bunch was impressive. There are less road races on the calender this year, so clearly there were a lot of people wanting to test out their form before 94.7.

A number of strong teams were present, Toyota Cyclelab, Dimension Data, MTN/Club 100, Harmony, Garmin-DCM (better known for their MTB exploits, but very accomplished road riders nonetheless), MR. Price KZN, Metal Used Spares, to name a few.

From an Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat perspective, the team had Marco van Biljoen, Craig Harvey, and Bruce Diesel. The Hekpoort climb comes towards the end of the race, so Marco was definitely one of the race favourites.

Disaster struck early in the race with Marco puncturing. Craig stopped to help bring him back to the bunch, which he managed to achieve even though the first half of this race is very fast. Numerous attempts were made to get away, so tha pace was fast throughout the race. With Marco and Craig chasing back, I had to cover a lot of moves and was a bit isolated.

Finally, a good move went away just passed Bekker Skool. It was quite surprising because it was quite a soft move. Suddenly there were about 8 of us away from the main bunch. This group included both the Labuschagne brothers, Danie Marais (Toyota Cyclelab), Shaun Mackenzie (Garmin-DCM), Donovan Jackson (MTN/Club 100), Stefano Madies (Dimension Data) and myself. We had a gap of about 20seconds at the start of the Hekpoort climb.

Johan started the climb hard, and opened a gap on the rest of the group. Having spent a lot of the race chasing breaks I tried to ride a comfortable rhythm so I didn't try to get across to Johan. Soon David joined him, and Shaun Mackenzie, Donovan Jackson and myself were the only riders left chasing them. At the top of the climb David and Johan must have had about a 30sec gap on us, which we started trying to close - a tall order given that the pair of them were so strong and would work well together.

Donovan Jackson pulled up with cramp, so the chase was then left to Shaun and myself. We weren't closing the gap on David and Johan, so thoughts now shifted to staying away from the chasing bunch (being driven by MTN/Club 100) and try to get third place. Unfortunately Shaun hit the wall and I was left alone with about 2 km to go. The bunch caught me just before the top of the last climb. I tried one last attack but didn't have the legs to make it stick, so ended up rolling in at 10th place!

Even though the result wasn't great, I was very happy with my overall ride. I was involved in a lot of the racing and did well over the climb.

Some race stats:
Time: 2h36
Normalised Power: 327w
AP on Hekpoort Climb 383w for 9min.

Crater Cruise - 101km

2008-10-11T23:52:00.000-07:00

This was the worst I've felt on a bike after 'bonking' riding the Double Century a few years ago! This race has always been known as a 'roadie' friendly mountainbike race, so I thought it would be no problem!

The race started very fast. I managed to get to the front of the bunch and felt comfortable. I kept an eye on David and Johan Labuschagne, who I race against a lot on the road. I felt if I could just follow their lead, I would be fine - since they are very experienced mountain bike riders as well.

The first jeep track section cause the bunch to split up, with the main contenders going away. I was in the second bunch, with some good riders and feeling comfortable. A new section has been added to the race, a climb with a lot of loose rocks. Going up the climb I was not able to keep up with the group that I was in, and by the time I was at the top, I was pretty much alone.

I chased hard on the flat roads after the climb, hoping I'd be able to get back on to the group that I had lost. At the halfway mark, I stopped to fill my water bottle, and a group came past me. I got onto that group, hoping that I'd be able to stay with them to the finish. At about 40km to go the wheels started coming off!! In the next section of singletrack I just could not stay with the group, my back and my wrists were getting so tired that I was having difficulty going fast over the technical sections. Once again I got isolated was all alone after a section of singletrack that went along the side of the Vaal River. The ride would have been really enjoyable had I not been so tired.

The roads back to Parys were horrific. They were seriously corrugated, and I was really struggling. I just could not get comfortable and tried to stay on the wheel of every group or rider that came past me. I was losing plenty time and all I could think about was the finish!

With about 15km to go, the race goes onto a tarred section of road, and I was hoping that it would be tarred back to Parys. The route soon turned off the tarred road and although the terrain was flat, there were a lot of rocks and rough sections. One thing I have learned is that speed is your friend over rough terrain, but I was too tired to maintain momentum. I slowed down completely and the last 10km were sheer hell!

I finally got into the finish in a shade over 4 hours, feeling very sorry for myself. I was very surprised to see from the results that I had finished 34th overall, out of a field of 600. I thought I was the last man when I was coming to the finish.

Power stats show just how much my power dropped off through the race!

First MTB Race - Bekker Bundu Bash

2008-09-24T22:55:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to coach the DCM Chome MountainBike team, so I decided I had better do some races to get a better feel for what this sport entails. I had been thinking about doing some mountainbiking for a while now, so this was the perfect reason to go out and do it.

The team arranged a bike for me, and I have a disc version of the powertap, so I was really looking forward to seeing the data that comes from this type of racing.

The race was 60km, which much of the race on dirt roads. Perfect introduction to offroad racing for a roadie like me.

The first 20km were predominantly single-track with some very rocky climbs and descents. Riding in the middle of some experienced offroad riders, I could not believe how fast we were going through this terrain, I was just hanging on and concentrating on the guy in front of me.

Most of the race was sand roads, so I was able to really push it.

Overall, it was great fun. MTB races have a very festive atmosphere and a great vibe. I'm looking forward to doing more of these events.

Power stats are very interesting. RPE is definitely a lot higher vs. power output. I found that my back and arms were feeling really tired towards the end of the race, and that was limiting me more than my legs.

Powerade Dome2Dome - SuperSeries

2008-09-17T23:16:00.000-07:00

This was the final event in the SuperSeries calender. Overall I think the series has been successful, based on the snall resources used to put it together, and the positive responses received from the riders!

Dome2Dome is one of the more challenging events on the S.A. calender, it it was a fitting finale to the SuperSeries. The race is 116km long, over undulating terrain through the Cradle of Humankind area.

The VS category was well supported, with at least 60 riders present in the start pen. Most of the big names and teams were there, including Andrew Mclean, David & Johan Labuschagne, Graeme Cronje, Colin Germs (Toyota SuperCycling), Stefano Madies, Gary & Mark Beneke, Jackie van Eeden, Martin Saunders, Graham Parker (Dimension Data), Donovan Jackson & Jeffrey Kriel (MTN/Club 100), Philip Fourie (Team Computer-Smits), Jock Green and myself (Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat), Werner Moolman (Mr. Price KZN) and Donovan van Gelder (Greenoffice/Cybercoach). Some of the guys that don't have big teams have been in the mix as well - Francois Ebersohn (Velo Cycling Club) and Rynard van Hoven (Select Cycling Club). Hopefully with some of the proposed rule changes next year, some of the guys that have had to ride alone will be able to ride for teams during the SuperSeries.

The first part of the race had the Labuschagne brothers taking turns to try to get away, something had to be watched as they are both strong. Dimension Data also attacked plenty. The first opportunity to really split the bunch up came on the Kromdraai Road, leading up to the Cradle Restaurant. Jock Green attacked early, and Andrew Mclean countered as well. This was the first selection point of the day, and about 25 riders made the split. Including Anriette Schoeman as the only lady. This put her in a very strong position for the win, as it would require significant collaboration between the MTN Ladies team and the Toyota SuperCycling Ladies team to get back to the lead bunch. This didn't happen, so Anriette just had to stay in the bunch and would take the win.

The next split point in the race came on the Hekpoort Road, heading up towards Maropeng. Once again, Jock went hard and only about 8 riders were able to stay with him. This group was a little too big so not all of the riders would commit themselves. The pace slowed a bit heading towards the Tarlton Road, and the lead group came back together.

The Tarlton road has a long drag, which gave Jock the opportunity to attack again, this time going with a smaller bunch. At some point, the Dimension Data also went away for quite a long period of time, but everything came back together at the bottom of Sterkfontein Hill.

Another attack came on the climb up Hendrik Potgieter, but the long descent brought things back together. The telling move of the day came a short while later, heading up to the Kloofzicht Circle. Again, Jock and Andrew went away. This was less that 20km from the finish, so there was little chance the bunch would bring them back.

Over the last 20km, riders that still had a bit of strength left rode off the front to secure minor positions. The bunch slowly disintegrated, and I decided to put in one last effort to get away and get 8th place.

Hats off to Anriette Schoeman, for mixing it with the men. She must be feeling good going into Worlds next week.

I personally had a really difficult time. I couldn't make a number of the splits and had to work hard to get back into the bunch on a number of occasions. My CTL still hasn't reached my mid-winter levels, so I have plenty of work to do!

It was a pity that the MTN Ladies Team and Toyota SuperCycling Ladies couldn't combine to chase Anriette. I was hoping that this race would be at a very high intensity for Lynette and Yolandi going to Worlds - it would be good preparation.

Power levels weren't bad, but still about 20w off my peak of last year!

The speed of the VS group was very high, not much slower than the UCI Elite category. Vets racing is very competitive!

Meyerton Cycle Challenge

2008-09-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

No major races this weekend, so I headed to Meyerton for one of their 'Mass Start' events. All licensed riders start together and it is usually a fast and furious affair.
One of the primary goals for the race today was to give Lynette Burger an opportunity to race at the speed and intensity she will be encountering at World Champs. I was keen to see how she would go.
None of the big pro teams were present, but some of the U23 guys were there - notably CycleLab Academy. Plenty of other riders from teams like Liqui-Moly, Club 100 etc. Some of the Wadeville Steel vets were there as well.
The wind was blowing really hard and conditions were not very pleasant, just what is needed to prepare for Dome2Dome next weekend.
The start was fast, with CycleLab putting in all the major attacks. I tried to go in a move early, but the Lab rider with me did not want to contribute for some reason. Finally one of the Lab riders got away and built a reasonable gap. More attacks followed until 3 riders went across to him. I couldn't really see what was happening, but eventually there were only 2 Lab riders off the front, and the gap was around 1min.
With the main goal of the race being training - I did a lot of work on the front, along with Wadeville Steel, a Liqui-Moly rider, Donovan Jackson from Club100, and every now and then one of the other riders in the bunch.
By the time we reached the turnaround point, the group had been reduced to about 12 to 15 riders, including 2 Lab riders. The out leg of the race had a wind from behind, so at the turnaround, the wind come from the front and I thought that the Lab riders in the break were going to struggle to stay away.
We continued rolling through, with Lynette doing plenty work. The gap stayed fairly constant with nobody committing 100% to the chase given that the 2 Lab riders in the chase group were sitting in comfortably. With no team in the chase, nobody wanted to do all the work for the other individual riders.
About 10km out, Lynette attacked and went with one of the Lab riders. Surprisingly, he did not want to contribute to the move so it broke down quite quickly.
From my side I just kept pushing hard to try bring the break back. Eventually one of the riders in the break popped, but the other rider managed to hold off the bunch and take a well deserved win!
Looking at the power numbers, I was very satisfied. I doubt whether I would have had the motivation to ride for 2 hours at an IF of 0.93 had I gone training on my own. I'm still about 20w off where I'd like to be, but a normalised power of 316w for 2 hours was not too bad.
Well done to Lynette, she stayed in the front bunch the whole way, and did her fair share of work on the front as well! Great preparation for Worlds!

Worlds 2008 Road Race

2008-09-06T00:42:00.000-07:00

World Champs 2008
Find more Bike Rides in Varese, Italy

Congratulations to Lynette and Yolandi

2008-09-06T00:28:00.000-07:00

For being selected to represent SA at the World Road Race championships!

Lizanne Naude just missed out, but I'm sure she'll be there next year!!

Threshold Test

2008-09-02T00:17:00.000-07:00

Based on my power output during the Crit on Sunday, I decided to go out today and do a proper threshold test. I had estimated my FTP to be 320, but the results of the crit indicated that it was probably underestimated.

Today's TT proved that. 340w NP for just under 50min puts my FTP at 335w-340w. Still plenty of work to do though!

Zoo Lake Criterium

2008-08-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

This race was resurrected last year, and it looks like it will become a very popular event. The field in the Vet’s 30-39 category was very strong, and included the Labuschagne brothers (Toyota Cyclelab), Jaco Ferreira (Team Computer-Smith), Werner Moolman (Mr. Price KZN), Stefano Madies, Graham Parker, and Martin Saunders (Dimension Data), Doug Ryder, Charles Pritchard, Stephen Courtney (plus many more from MTN/Club 100), Harmony also had a strong team there.
The format of this race is 30min plus one lap, with the laps being about 4km long around Zoo Lake. The start/finish is on a short climb and is where most of the attacking happens, making for great spectator value. Today there was a strong tailwind up the start/finish climb, after which the riders turned into a full head-wind. This meant that the chances of a break getting away were quite slim. Any advantage gained up the climb was hard to keep into the headwind.
Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat only had Craig Harvey and myself. With Craig being in good form, we decided to try to go with any moves and see if we could get away with the right combination.
The race started very hard, as usual, with various attempts to get away. The Labuschagne brothers (David & Johan) took turns trying to get away in the first few laps. As the race wore on, Jaco Ferreira tried a couple of times to get away as well, with Craig Harvey marking him closely. Coming past the start/finish for the last lap, I jumped across to Werner Moolman, but neither of us had the legs to stay away into the wind.
The bunch stayed together for the final sprint which was taken by Jaco Ferreira. Neither Craig nor I are accomplished sprinters, so Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat had to settle for bunch finishes.
Not a result to write home about, but a good fast race none the less.

From a power perspective, I was very happy with my performance. I had estimated my FTP to have dropped due to the last 6 weeks of missed training - so I had it pegged at 320w based on a 52min L4 workout I did earlier this week - averaging 321w for 52min and not feeling like I could have gone much harder. So 368w NP for 37min was a good performance. I will go out and do another TT effort this weeks and see how I go.

EPR Race

2008-08-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

Even though the weather was fine, the turnout in the VA group was quite disappointing. This race is a fairly flat race, which is usually characterised by plenty of wind. This year was no exception and the conditions became overcast and windy as the race went on.
Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat were well represented with Craig Harvey, Marco van Biljoen, Bruce Diesel, and Hadley McCormick present. Jock Green was racing in the Elite group. Being in Randfontein, this is one of the home races of the Harmony Cycling Team, so they were also well represented. Apart from that, there were a few other riders present, Hannes Wessels (Team Computer-Smith) and Donovan Jackson (MTN/Club 100).
The race got off to quite a fast start. Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat were clearly expected to make the moves, and we decided not to disappoint. Marco van Biljoen made the first move, which was brought back by the fresh legs in the bunch. When the bunch came back together, Bruce Diesel counter attacked and opened a fair sized gap along with Donovan Jackson and one of the Harmony riders. With a nice sized gap, Marco van Biljoen, Craig Harvey and Hannes Wessels tried to come across into what would have been a good move. The bunch was able to close the move again. Absolute Systems/Baulk Pack Meat continued attacking until Craig Harvey went away alone. The bunch did not respond, so Marco van Biljoen jumped across with one of the Harmony riders on his wheel. The bunch was now softened up from all the attacks, and with Absolute Systems and Harmony in the break, there were no teams to coordinate a chase.
With at least 70km to go, the gap opened up very quickly and by the time the bunch got to Magaliesburg the gap was already 2 minutes.
Coming out of Magaliesburg there was a strong crosswind on a long drag. Perfect conditions for a gutter, so Bruce Diesel put the bunch into the gutter and by the time the bunch got to the top of the drag only 6 riders were left – including 2 Harmony riders, Hannes Wessels, and Bruce Diesel.
The Harmony rider in the break had been dropped, after not wanting to contribute too much to the break. So Craig Harvey and Marco van Biljoen were away on their own and Harmony were now the only team in the chase. With the break now up to 3 and a half minutes, they must have decided to race for third place and not push the pace too hard. After a number of attempts to gutter the remaining riders (unfortunately up against the white line which is a dangerous tactic), Harmony started attacking the rest of the group with about 20km to go. Eventually Hennie Serfontein (Harmony) got away and opened a 20second gap. The remaining riders did not have the legs to bring him back and he managed to stay away and take third place.
So, Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat took first and second (Craig Harvey and Marco van Biljoen) in a time of 2h34, almost 10 minutes ahead of the third placed rider – Hennie Serfontein (Harmony).

Race Report: Yolandi du Toit - La Grande Boucle Feminine Internationale

2008-06-25T23:31:00.000-07:00

Yolandi started training with me about 2 months before the tour. At the time she was still recovering from injuring her knee in the Epic. With her racing commitments (both on-road and off-road) we were not able to go through a periodised training program to build up to this tour.
Looking at the power data from the tour, she has done really well. We do not have power data for the first two stages, which had plenty of cobble sections and we did not want to risk the powertap wheels. Although Stage 3 was tempo intensity for her, the first two stages took a lot out of her and she was physically very tired at the end of the stage.
It rained during Stage 4, which reduced the intensity and was more endurance pace. Stage 5 was an Individual Time Trial, and Yolandi had a good ride. After 3 days of hard racing she still managed 65 minutes at 5 watts above her estimated functional threshold power. Unfortunately she punctured a few kilometres before the finish and rode the end of the TT on a flat front tyre.
Although she felt good in the TT, she paid for it in Stage 6, having a tough day. The main problem seems to be muscle glycogen depletion i.e. she did not manage to get enough carbohydrates back into her system after the timetrial. She was able to ride at tempo intensity, but not any higher – which is indicative of depleted muscle glycogen.
As is often the case, Yolandi had a good day after effectively ‘bonking’ the day before. In the last stage Yolandi got into the break and rode positively, finishing the stage in 18th place.
Given the disrupted preparation, this was a really good performance and with another 2 tours next month, this will provide her with a solid base.

Tough First 2 Days at GBFI for Yolandi

2008-06-19T04:07:00.000-07:00

The opening 2 days of the Grande Boucle Feminine Internationale have been very tough.

Stage 1 was over a lot of the difficult cobble sections in Flanders. Yolandi's bike had been set up incorrectly and her saddle was too high, hopefully no damage but she did say that her knees and hamstrings were very sore. She did manage to win the jersey for "Most Elegant Rider" - don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing!

Stage 2 she broke her seatpost and had to ride one of the spare bikes for part of the stage, until the team got her bike sorted out.

I'm not sure if she will get a chance to update her blog: http://yolandidutoit.blogspot.com/

Catch up with the action at: http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2008/jun08/lgbf08/default

Race Report: Midvaal Vets Tour Stage 4

2008-06-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

Well, the GC was looking very interesting this morning! I was lying in 5th place, less than 2 seconds off 3rd place!

The final stage was a kermesse, 4 laps of 5km each. I always thought a kermesse was much shorter laps but anyway!

The first and second laps had hotspots at the start/finish line, which was at the top of a nice incline. I decided I would try to get a good warmup and was feeling very motivated to try jump into 3rd place. I felt quite good riding on the rollers and my hopes were high.

My plan was to try to get away early and win one of the primes, then try to protect my position on GC. The pace started out really hard and any thoughts of getting away were quickly dashed. The bunch was strung out in one long line.

Coming up to the first prime, I felt as if I had no gas in the tank. I could not match the accelerations and watched in dismay as the front guys left me for dead. Stefano Madies (who was only a couple seconds behind me) took the prime. The group came together again as the pace slowed after the prime, but for me the plan had fallen apart. All that was left for me was to stay in the top 6 and be in the prize money.

Staying in the top 6 also proved to be impossible, but that was due to my own team mate moving up the GC by winning the second prime and coming second in the race - so no complaints there! Johan Labuschagne (CycleLab) rode away from the bunch and managed to stay away, taking a well deserved win! Jock Green took second place.

In 30 minutes the race was over and I must say, I was very disappointed in my own performance. Having said that though, the field at the tour was very strong this year, and I ended up just over 1 minute behind the winner, with a chance of a podium finish on the last day. I'm sure I would have taken that result at the start of the tour.

Power numbers for the 30 minutes: 355w normalised power. I don't think I could have gone any harder than that! Clearly I still have work to do!

The Tour this year was really well attended, and the field was really strong. Mr. Price KZN took a deserved victory and they rode as a team. Congrats to Werner Moolman for his victory, it was well earned and deserved. Craig Harvey pushed him all the way, and also took a well deserved second place. Jock Green took the points and polka dot jerseys so not a bad performance from him either.

From Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat perspective, obviously we would have liked to win the tour, but Craig Harvey took second, Jock Green took fourth (as well as the points and kom jerseys). We won 2 stages as well, so pretty successful tour for us.

Thanks to our sponsors: Absolute Systems, Bulk Pack Meat, Trek/Bontrager, Garmin, and our new sponsor Biogen.

Race Report: Midvaal Vets Tour Stage 3

2008-06-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

Today the stage was 120km, out to Heidelberg, then down towards the Vaal Dam, and back to Daleside.

With Werner Moolman (Mr. Price KZN) still in yellow, the onus was on Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat and Cyclelab to try to do something about it. Our plan was to attack from very early, and hope that I could get into a good move with some strong riders. Out feeling was that with Craig being marked closely, and Marco & Jock not being allowed to get away either, I may have a chance of getting a good move going before Mr. Price decided that it would be dangerous.

Once again the route profile was pretty flat, with the one small climb coming just before Heidelberg. I went in a move right from the gun with Moolman Welgemoed and one of the Cyclelab Riders and we opened up a nice little gap. But with the peloton being fresh it did not last very long.

The attacks were coming regularly and the pressure was on. Then Marco van Biljoen punctured which was bad news for us. A good move went with Johan Labuschagne and Moolman Welgemoed and opened up a big gap. Then on the climb into Heidelberg, Jock and Craig put in a big attack and shattered the bunch. A lot of riders were in trouble and we had managed to isolate Werner.

With Johan and Moolman down the road, it looked like Jock and Craig would get across to them and the move would be very dangerous. The bunch was completely strung out, but a few big trucks came past and pulled the whole bunch back together. Some seriously dangerous riding was taking place, and I'll be surprised if some riders aren't disqualified.

As the bunch came back together I jumped hard and went across to Johan and Moolman. Later Jock came across to the break but the dynamics of the break got disrupted and the bunch soon caught us again.

Heading out towards the dam, another hill allowed a break to get away. The break contained strong riders, David Labuschagne, Jock Green, Donovan Jackson, Dave Garrett, Moolman Welgemoed to name a few. The break became threatening, so Mr. Price called their riders back and the chase was on. Riders began dropping out including David Labuschagne, so the pace must have been hot.

The break lasted about 50km, and the Mr. Price guys had to work like trojans to bring it back. As the break was coming back, the counter-attacks started and things got hot again. There are plenty of long drags and the pace was really stringing the bunch out. All the while I was trying to keep an eye on the riders near me on the GC, so i had to make sure I covered moves by Stefano Madies, James Lauter, and Glenn Campbell.

Plenty of attacks but none of them had the right mix, until Craig and Werner got away together. Clearly Mr. Price would not chase this, and we would not either. This left Cyclelab attacking continuously. I didn't want to let any of their riders go because it would cost me in the GC. So I had my hands full trying to cover every move that went.

Things stayed together, with 3 riders getting away just before the finish line.

Unfortunately, even though Craig won the stage, his time bonuses did not make up the gap with Werner so tomorrow we need to make some moves if we are going to win this tour. The Kermesse is 4 laps of 5km, so not much time to do anything.

Overall I averaged 305w Normalised Power for 3h05 at an average speed of 41.1km/h. The first hour was hard, I averaged 340w for the hour so I am very pleased that I still had reasonable legs towards the end of the stage.

Race Report: Midvaal Vets Tour Stage 2

2008-06-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

Today was Stage 2 of the Vets Tour. 101km in length and was 3.5 laps of a circuit around Daleside. No major climbs, just a few drags, so unless the wind blows the bunch is going to stay together.

So far the Tour has been really well run, and really well attended. A lot of the top Vets in the country are here, with Mr. Price even importing a few riders (Dave Garrett and Donovan van Gelder - although Donovan I'm sure is just part of the extended family from KZN, one of the cuzzie's as they would probably say down there).

With Werner Moolman (Mr. Price KZN) in yellow, and being supported by a very solid team, it is up to the rest of us to make the racing - Cyclelab are pretty strong, and Club 100 also have some strong riders.

Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat are in a strong position though, we have 3 riders in the top 6, so this does give us options. I was about 0.4seconds behind Glenn Campbell, and with the time bonuses at the various hotspots and finish, I had my own race to think about as well.

Driving out to the start, the deep south was looking very cold! Fortunately with a 9:00am start, it had warmed up a bit. The team plan was to see if any of us could get into a good move and get ourselves into yellow, after that we would think about what the tactics need to be for the rest of the tour.

Johan and David Labuschagne went out very aggressively. None of the moves were sticking though and we all had our turn at trying to get away. Craig was having no joy with Werner watching his every move! The pace was pretty high, averaging over 40km/h but with no real climbs it was too easy to stay in the bunch. Mr. Price kept things together well, with Dave Garret, Justin Short, and Donovan van Gelder doing plenty work.

The race came down to a bunch sprint with Jock taking the win, James Lauter (spelling?) second and Dave Garret third. Jock also took the sprint prime and KOM prime, so he moves into the Green Jersey.

No major changes to the GC, but I don't have all the results at the moment.

I was feeling okay, not great though. Not having raced for a long time is showing. The power numbers were reasonable. 307w NP for the race (2h30) is hardish, but not too bad - felt harder but then being on antibiotics is not really helping.

Team gets new Garmin 705's

2008-06-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

Wow, we have just received our new Garmin 705s. And even better news, Saris have announced that they will be providing Garmin Compatible Powertap hubs!! Double Cool!!

Race Report: Midvaal Vets Tour Prologue

2008-06-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I woke up this morning with a severe sore throat. Last night I could feel I was not right, I had a fever and headache and the throat was scratchy.

I have been looking forward to this race for a long time. Having missed out on quite a few races lately I was keen to get back into racing. So, sore throat was not an option.

Went to the doc first thing. He checked it out and diagnosed a sinusitis. Prescribed some antibiotics.

The Prologue was 8km long, starting at the entrace of the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve and heading back towards Daleside. I was seeded 11th so my start time was 16:30.

This was the first time I was going to ride a Trek TTX so I was really looking forward to it. I had seen Andrew Mclean after his ride and he said the judges had told him he had ridden 8:11 for an 8km TT!! Holy Crap!! That is just under 60km/h.

The team rode out to the start together. The finish of the TT was close to the Boswell Wilkie Circus, so it was a nice warmup ride to the start. The Trek felt really good, best I have ever felt on a TT bike.

The ride went better than expected. I got to the start and started my powertap interval timer, then made the mistake of riding a slow loop waiting for my start. So, the CPU timer had started! Anyway, my target wattage for the ride was 370w. I felt this was a good target because I had averaged 368w for 20 minutes a few weeks back when I was doing my 20min threshold test. In the past I have not been able to match my road bike numbers on the TT bike, so I thought that if I could get 370 I'd be very happy.

I started out well. keeping the powermeter between 360 and 380. But by the halfway point I was really starting to feel it!! I found it very hard to keep the power levels up and started fading a bit. When I went over the line I was really hurting. I switched the CPU to time and say 10:14 - geesh, 2 minutes slower than Andrew over 8km, as Craig said, maybe we should take up golf!!

Anyway, at prize giving the results were given out and Andrew had done 9:11, not 8:11. The line judge must have made a small mistake. So, not as bad as I first thought, but I still thought I was about 1 minute slower, and I couldn't even blame the wind!

Times were pretty quick, Werner Moolman did 9:05 and Craig Harvey somewhere around 9:20.

Later when I got home and checked my powermeter data, I realised that my timer had started early and my time was 9:38 - okay, not so bad then!! Average speed was just a fraction over 50km/h.

Average power for the ride was disappointing - 344w. I really need to spend more time on a TT bike.

Grand Boucle Feminine International - Stage 1

2008-06-09T02:43:00.000-07:00

Yolandi du Toit will be riding in the GBFI - the ladies version of the Tour de France for Lotto Belisol. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotto-Belisol_Ladiesteam

Here is stage 1. I will be posting the other stages as I map them out.

Grand Boucle Feminine (Stage 1)
Find more Bike Rides in Ghent, Belgium

Yolandi du Toit - First Lady in Stonehaven on Vaal

2008-06-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

Yolandi came in first in the 80km Stonehaven on Vaal race today.

Nice one!!

Getting to grips with RaceDay

2008-06-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

I have been getting all my training data from the beginning of the year loaded into RaceDay. Now I will start regular testing so that the software can figure out my own personal training parameters i.e. how my body responds to training from a fitness and fatigue perspective.

RaceDay Performance Predictor (developed by Dr. Phil Skiba) is based on the same principles as WKO+ Performance Manager, except it helps you determine your own personal "decay" constants with respect to fitness and fatigue. It also will predict your performance based on your testing protocol.

What is really interesting is that it allows a short duration testing protocol - 2min TT. The idea being that the anaerobic contribution is relatively constant, and changes can be attributed to aerobic improvements.

I have decided to use a RAMP test on my computrainer (MAP test as specified by Ric Stern). The reason for this is that it removes the need to pace a TT (even a short one) properly. Basically I must ride to exhaustion.

Today I did my first test, and was quite disappointed at my result :-( My average power (AP) for the last minute of the test was 405w. I was aiming for 430w, based on a 1 hour TT I did on my computrainer a few weeks ago - in which I achieved 321w AP. My ftp should be between 72% and 77% of the last minute AP of the MAP test. In this case it is 79%. Strange, because I was quite fresh when I did the test.

Anyway, I need to test quite regularly so that the software can construct a valid model for me.

Kim Rose-Gershow Narrowly Beaten in Nationals Road Race

2008-05-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

Just goes to show, you can be the strongest on the day, and not take the win! Kim rode an extremely aggressive race in the 35 to 39 age group at Nationals today. The race is an 18km circuit with a climb. She was able to open a gap on the climb but the wind did not work in her favour. After the climb there was a strong head-wind preventing her from staying away from the chasing bunch. She was beaten in the final sprint, paying for all the hard efforts during the race!

Unlucky Kim, but one thing is for sure, your rivals know they had a race today!

Andrew Mclean wins Nationals 40-44 TT

2008-05-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Andrew won the Men's Nationals TT (40-44) today. Riding the 20km course in 28:00.

Well done Andrew!

Kim Rose-Gershow - S.A. National 35-39 TT Champ!!

2008-05-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

Today Kim won the National TT Title. Beating Lisa Vermaak by about 6 seconds. This is a brilliant results, having been narrowly beaten by Lisa in the Provincials TT last month.

The 20km race was held in East London. Kim finished the time-trial in 34m40 at a speed of 36km/h.

This was one of Kim's goals at the beginning of the year when we put together her training program, it's always nice when a plan works out.

Jock Green (Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat) Narrowly Misses out at Tour Durban

2008-05-04T20:00:00.001-07:00

Jock was pipped at the finish line by Dave Garrett (Daiken/Gu).

Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat controlled the SuperSeries race for the whole day, with Marco van Biljoen doing the Lion's Share of the work. Jock felt he had won the race, but camera replay showing that Dave just beat him.

The guys are showing good form a week before Nationals, well done Dave!!

Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat are winning both the individual rider, and team classification for the SuperSeries.

Kim Rose-Gershow wins Tour Durban

2008-05-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Kim's form is really coming good now. She won the Elite Cat. in Tour Durban.

Well Done!!

Andrew Mclean & Graeme Cronje Dominate Panarama Tour

2008-04-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

Andrew and Graeme not only won their age group, but the whole tour! The four stage tour in Mpumalanga is a two member team event and goes over most of the climbs in the area.

Looking at Andrews power numbers, he is right up there with some of the pro's racing in Europe. Not bad for a guy in his 40's!

Well Done Kim and Andrew!

2008-04-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Two people I've been helping out with Training with Power took Gold Medals today in Central Gauteng Provincial Championships!

Well done!!

Not A Week For Cycling

2008-04-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

This week has not been about cycling. The real world intruded in a big way.

First off, the head cold that I had in the middle of last week and during the Maluti, hit me badly this week. On Tuesday I was feeling off colour, then on Wednesday I woke up with full blown bronchitis. At least I had the joy of watching my football team come from behind twice and book their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League (Liverpool 4 - 2 Arsenal). What a game, I nearly had heart-failure but the Reds came through. This goes a long way to avenge the defeat in 1989 when Arsenal took the league from Liverpool at Anfield with a 0-2 win, the second goal being pretty much the last kick of the game!!

So, 2 days in bed feeling like death warmed up!

Then on Friday morning we received the news we had been expecting, but still came as a big blow. Lella Cullingworth passed away on Friday morning after fighting breast cancer for more than a decade.

To say that Lella was a special person, would be to do her a disservice. Lella was truly a Saint! Every person she came into contact with, was touched by her. There was not a selfish bone in her body.

To focus on Lella though, is to tell only 50% of the story. Brendan, her husband, is just as special. Brendan and Lella changed the lives of so many people, myself and my family included.

Cancer may have taken her life, but it never took her spirit. Even in the face of impending death, she never became bitter. Her concern for those around her was always foremost in her mind. She passed away peacefully, but courageously and never let cancer change who she was.

So, Provincial Championships have been put on the backburner this year. But I'll be giving it a full go for Nationals. The memory of Lella does not make me think cycling is irrelevant, just the opposite. She taught us to embrace life and live it. Whatever you chose to do, do it with all your heart - give it all or nothing at all.

Race Report: Maluti Classic SuperSeries

2008-04-06T22:50:00.000-07:00

First of all, condolences to the family of the rider that was tragically killed in this race. I don't know any of the details, just that a rider was killed during the race and that is tragic to say the least.

After an absence of a couple of years, this race has been revived and it is certainly a very nice race. 125km of rolling terrain makes for good, hard racing. The race has been included in the Vets and Ladies SuperSeries and has a good prize purse.

Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat are leading the Team Competition, with Jock Green (Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat) also leading the Men's Individual Competition, with Jaco Ferreira (Team Computer-Smith) just 5 points back.

Our goal for the race was to get Marco van Biljoen the win to bring him up in the standings, and ensure that Jock Green beat Jaco to extend his lead. With Jock and Jaco leading by such a great margin, it is a simple case for TCS to just watch Jock. Making Marco a threat in the series gives us a lot more attacking options going forward. With Andrew not being there, our only threat from a series perspective was Jaco.

Unfortunately, this event clashes with the Cape Epic, meaning that Toyota/SuperCycling and Andrew Mclean would not be present. However, Mr. Price Cycle Club were there in full force (as they always are), as well as Dimension Data. Team Computer-Smith also signalled their intent by having a strong contingent as well. Unfortunately, none of the MTN/Club 100 riders were present, which was a bit of a surprise.

Since Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat are leading both competitions, the onus is on the rest of the teams to attack us. This doesn't seem to be happening and the start of the race saw all the teams looking to us to make the racing. Our priority was to get Marco away in a break, hopefully with myself to support him, and hopefully force TCS into having to change from just watching Jock. With none of the teams showing any aggression, I decided to start attacking the bunch. TCS were marking us closely, and each time I went I had Philip Fourie with me. Dimension Data also sent Dave Mitchell down the road but none of the attacks got away. Then after quite a few attempts, a break got away at around 40km containing Jock, Marco, Jaco, Lee Muir (Mr. Price), Werner Moolman (Mr. Price), Flip Krugel (Mr. Price), Donovan van Gelder (Greenoffice/Cybercoach), and Gary Beneke (Dimension Data). I decided not to try get across and risk bring the bunch back to the break, as this break had the makeup to stay away for the race. Also, there were a number of top riders that had missed the break (particularly Dimension Data as Stefano Madies, Mark Beneke, Jackie van Eeden had all missed out).

Stefano Madies belatedly tried to get across, but had let too much of a gap open and was left in no-mans land for a long time.

With Jaco marking Jock, Marco had an opportunity to get away solo. Jock could play the policeman in the break and was able to remove some of the Mr. Price riders on Surrender Hill (they were the team with the most numbers and hence the biggest threat to this race). In the meantime, I also pushed quite hard on the climbs to reduce the size of the chasing bunch - with Jackie van Eeden being amongst the casualties. The chase bunch was down to about 12 riders by the time we reached Clarens, and we picked up Flip Krugel and Lee Muir with about 40km to go in the race.

On the road back from Clarens to Bethlehem, Mr. Price did all the work but there were still points to be had. I sat in and enjoyed the ride and waited for the final few kilometres. There is a small climb just before the finish which could present an opportunity to get away. Unfortunately, when we got to the climb, it was straight into a headwind which would make it difficult to ride away solo for the last 4km. I pushed the pace up the climb, but not enough to break it up. In the last couple of km's Philip Fourie (TCS) and Stefano Madies (Dimension Data) both put in attacks. This broke up the bunch and led to a fragmented group of riders going across the line. Stafano managing to take the spring, with Philip behind him and myself a bit further back.

In the meantime, Marco van Biljoen had managed to stay away for 60km and take the win, with Jock edging out Jaco in the sprint to take second.

So, overall, everything went very much according to plan. Marco has jumped up to 3rd place in the individual standings, and Jock has increased his lead over Jaco to 9 points.

Not a great way to start a new blog!

2008-03-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

I decided I'd get my new blog up and running over the Easter weekend. I'm feeling the heat from a few people I know because of my lack of race reports and general poor communication.

Unfortunately, my first bit of news is not good. Yesterday I was out riding with Kim Rose at the Cradle of Humankind. She is just returning to the road after having a fall in a race a few weeks ago and some concussion. Anyway, I was on my way home when I had a head

on collision with a taxi. I was turning into a road where the traffic was backed up in the opposite direction. My attention was focused on the cars coming in from the left (a slip road) and when I looked in fornt of me a taxi was coming straight for me (he was coming up the wrong side of the road to skip the backed up traffic).

I hit the brakes hard and went straight into him! Connecting his windscreen with my shoulder. After a bit of an altercation in which the driver wanted to leave the scene and I conviscated his keys, we waited for the police to arrive. Fortunately I was not too badly injured, but the bike was a bit of a mess! I train on a Trek SSLx (the Discovery Team edition which is a limited edition bike and I'm very fond of it!!). Forks were pretty much snapped, and the front rim is dented - Bontrager Classics that are bullet-proof. I went to the hospital and got checked out - x-rays show no broken bones, but my shoulder and hip are quite painful. Lifting my arm gets to about horizontal then becomes painful.

I went through to the Trek agents and Gary had a good look at the bike. The frame is fine and they gave me a new set of forks. Rebuilt the bike last night and will go for an easy ride today, see how the body feels!