Winding Down

The year is grinding out its last few days. After the Sabie Experience mountain bike stage race, I hoped to hop back on the bike and use my brand new trail shoes for the second time. No such luck.

I went down with a cold (I refuse to consider anything close to flu) and simply had no energy to do anything. Several afternoon naps later, I have started to feel like I can move around without dragging myself.

I can even face the piles of paperwork that accompany the wrapping up of a major race.  And for a change, I am ahead of the game with my Christmas shopping. Usually it is a last minute scramble when I return from Sabie.

So all in all, the year is winding down comfortably for me and I hope for you too. I am starting to feel excited about riding properly again and setting some goals. I am also looking a some trail running goals (if only my brother would play ball and commit!).

So 2010 looks to be a bit different, not only because we're hosting the World Cup (soccer for all of you fixated on only your sport) but I think I will have some new experiences to savour and record.

Whether it is shining or snowing on your head, I hope you celebrate this Festive Season in a manner that is meaningful for you.

(Picture courtesy of Action Photo)

Posted via email from Go Cycling

The Sabie Experience MTB stage race

Kelvin of Media and Kelvin took some amazing photos at this year's Sabie Experience - a four day mountain bike stage race in South Africa.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Go Cycling

Living Vicariously

The Sabie Experience four day mountain bike stage race starts on Sunday. Why is this of interest to you or me? Well, there is a group of dedicated people making sure that it lives up to its reputation of being a tough, challenging event and I am the ringleader.

No wait, the tough and challenging bit belongs to my race director, Dennis. He is the one who must take the complaints from the riders when they struggle up the next big mountain and the next. When the climbs are nicknamed "Ugly Words, Jelly Legs and Bad Language" then you know that it is brutal and they are cursing him with the little breath they have left.

Moi, I am in charge of all the nice stuff. I get to receive all the compliments. I swan around the route in my VW Caddie with the aircon on, and cheering the riders onward and upward. I am the cheery face of the mountain bike race who commiserates when they suffer and promise downhills to the finish. I am the good guy who pretends to suffer with them, bleed with them and grimace through muddy or dusty faces.

All the while, behind the inane grin on my face is the little voice saying, "I am so glad this isn't me!"  Don't get me wrong, I have ridden the routes so I know all about the sufferfest but that was under far more relaxed circumstances.  I did not have partners ranting at my being too fast or too slow. I had the luxury of stopping frequently ostensibly waiting to show the riders behind the route.

But I do know what its like to stay in the saddle when the legs are begging for respite and the sweat is stinging the eyes. And I do feel the rider's pain when there is yet another uphill. But I live the swooping downhills and single track with them and congratulate them as they cross the finish line pumped with the achievement that comes with suffering.

So to all you riders making the pilgrimage to Sabie for some of the best mountain biking in the country, I'll be there for you but I won't envy you.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Go Cycling

What's your mojo?

This weekend was soul riding. A handful of us headed out to the Cradle of Mankind for a bit of technical riding followed by the ubiquitous coffee and in this case, apple pie and cream. OK, so I had an omelette instead but that's not the point.

The point is that I ride for the exercise, the space, the cameraderie and the social interaction afterwards. This ride just happened to include herds of gemsbok and wildebeest, some impala dashing across the road in front of us and two tortoises giving it horns.

And Sunday was the single track all the way up the Braamfontein Spruit to Greenside for famous Vida coffee followed by brunch at Doppios. (I am such a name dropper).

And for the first time in ages, I loved my riding. Not too much, not too far and wonderful company. 

So what's your story?

What gets you out of bed and onto two wheels?

Posted via email from Go Cycling

End of year blues?

For once, this has seemed a long year. Normally they fly by and before you know it, another one has started.  Its been a year filled with milestones and wonderful adventures. And although there has been a paucity of cycling stuff in the last four months, I have been kept busy with other issues.

Now, we run up to Sabie Experience (the 4 day mountain bike stage race) of which I am the organiser. It is the usual scrummage of getting all the bits and pieces together to give the riders an incredible send off to the festive season. Four hard days of riding will give them a calorie deficit of note which will soon be filled with festive fare.

For those who have battled with the economic downturn, an event like this may sound extravagant but what better gift to give yourself than the joy of riding your bike in some of the best mountain biking terrain in the country. Finishing the year doing what you love best is the perfect antidote to doom and gloom and you can look forward to 2010 with renewed vigour.

Its a pity I can't ride.

Posted via email from Go Cycling

I did it!

I reached the milestone in my other life. November has been NaNOWriMo and today I reached the goal of 50 000 words. In NaNo terms, I am a winner. No one reads your novel or judges it, you simply submit it for word counting and then it is erased of their system. I stalled a little when I got to 45 000 and it almost seemed that I was sabotaging myself but the words flowed and here I am.

I am still disbelieving as 50 000 is an enormous number and my wonderful characters are still not finished with me.

So its Friday night and I am sipping champagne (any excuse for bubbly).  Tomorrow may be a day off then I will join the other Jo'berg writers at the weekly write-in to see where I go to next in my novel.

What a good week.

Posted via email from Go Cycling

Next year, I will train

I have discovered that muscle memory is a wonderful thing. Six months of training including a 3 week jaunt across the country has left me with enough in legs to actually enjoy Sunday's Momentum 94.7 cycle race.

I was pretty nervous because I knew it would hurt and I hadn't done the work required. Once week is simply not what the experts recommend. Well experts be damned. If you've got miles in your legs, you can drag them around 97 odd kms. I didn't do a sterling time but did what I hoped for and I really didn't suffer.

My ego did though as my bunch rode away from me and the leaders of the next group and the next. Then I saw the odd M  batch come past too and I cringed (I started in J). Riding solo because you dare not push too hard is not ideal for road riding, especially when there is a pumping wind. It was quite weird in that my lack of training manifested in straining quads and this after I had punished them in the mountains of Sabie.

I think I should check my saddle height. I really think that must be it.

But I reckon I rode myself fit because by the time we reached the highway (of ill repute) I was having fun and was tucking in behind all the larger riders. Actually I rode in an echelon of two because nobody else realised it was a wind from the side or they don't watch the Tour de France enough. I also have the wind of St Francis Bay to thank for the practice.

But back to the race. One of the things I marvel at is the range of logistics required to pull it off. As a race organiser, I understand more of what goes on behind the scenes. I always get a thrill when I see all the straw bales and fencing lining the road on the Saturday afternoon. Sometime after midnight, when all the riders are tucked up in bed, a team of army ants swarm all over the roads, erecting the barriers and blocking off access ready for the first bunch at 5.30. And there it stays until late in the Sunday afternoon where it all magically disappears again.

Every single access road or dirt road had a marshal and straw bales or fencing. That's an awful lot of people and stuff over roughly 97km. Good on them for hanging in there for so many hours in the searing heat.

I resolved to do the race justice next year. No more narfiness. Its a great race to ride well and I just know I can knock off lots of minutes. Any volunteers to pace me?

Posted via email from Go Cycling