Adventure and Travel

Race Report: A proper Durbie Dashing

Supplied by Team Pure Savage.

· By Press Office · 0 comments

Coming off the high of a cracking One Tonner, the boys were frothing for the Durbie Dash. This led to at least 45 minutes of discussions around possible tactics for the race and analysis of Windpomp, in the end, it was decided to stick to what we know and go out and hammer.

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We set off through the burbs into what felt like Siberia, this brought on the instant regret of leaving arm warmers and gloves in the car. This was soon forgotten as skirmishes off the front started to warm up the cold legs. The heart rates also shot up when a few riders turned left at the Fisantekraal four way stop to follow the short route.

On the final rise on the R312 before getting to the R44, Will went off the front with a Pharmachoice rider, this allowed the rest of the Savages to sit on while the gap was closed as we reached the R44. Like the trucks on the R44, the crosswinds came from nowhere and slammed into the group. Within meters of swinging onto the R44, the group was lined out and dead wheels were getting served up all over the place. Theunis was on the front helping to establish the break as Brendon waited to bridge over as late as possible, this may not have been intentional.

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This week’s poor luck was had by Kevin, when the break went, so did his rear tyre. Calvin did his usual, ask politely if Kevin had everything to sort out the puncture with zero intention to stop. The crosswinds on the R44 helped the break establish a 1 minute gap by the time they reached the climb to the prison. The break started to gel and rolled on like an express train.

Once the bunch had dealt with the climb, Will forgot that he had two teammates in the break and decided to set off. He managed to claw the gap to the break down to 17 seconds, but as the race turned into the slight headwind the eight-strong breakaway had the extra gas and that was the end of the chase for those behind. The break lost one of the original instigators, Tim, with what looks like a puncture according to Strava Flyby. I was unable to verify this, as at that point in the race all I can remember was seeing an S-Works Tarmac rear triangle in Sagan livery.

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As the break hammered towards the Silos, there was no easing of the pace. It was great to have all the riders emptying themselves for the benefit of the break. There was no skipping of turns, no soft pedalling on the front and no half wheeling. This helped stretch the advantage to four minutes over the chasing pack.

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In the pack things were not a coffee ride, with a Pharmachoice rider attacking the group and yes you guessed it, Will attacked to bridge over to this late surge off the front of the group. This sparked a reaction from the group which gapped Calvin and cause Cannonball to change his chain into his bottom bracket.

As the break approached the final kilometre it was looking good for Savage until a caught Cat 1 rider decided it would be a great idea to open up the sprint at 500m to go, having not much left in the tank, Brendon and Theunis watched the sprint for the line in relative safety. Will then came thundering towards the line followed a minute later by the rest of the boys in the bunch.

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The biggest surprise was checking Racetec to find our names at the top of the timesheets, this was due to the Cat 1 race being stopped because of the lack of an ambulance, therefore their moving time had 7 minutes added to it. This race suited our bigger boys as there were no testing climbs but instead a bag full of rolling hills.

We would like to wish a speedy recovery to the Cyclopath rider that had an accident when his skewer came lose during the race. His riding buddies have let us know he is in good spirits but may have a fair bit of Zwift in his future.

Thanks to the Durbanville High School for the great hospitality, we have not seen that many people hang around after a fun ride and chat to other riders about their war stories in ages! We are looking forward to the Langebaan race and Sportif #5!

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