Denny Menchov

Superb Desi and Nigel.

Congrats on your PB Scott. We're doing West Coast Marathon this weekend. Roll on Comrades! Min Dae!!

Hmm

@bmcfan - sien jou in die Biertent

@bmcfan Sal jy kan byhou met jou drafskoene?

He broke away 10km from the end

Nice pics 90 inch. Well done to everyone that competed last night. Awesome.

www.cwcycles.co.za www.cwcycles.co.za

Oh shut up, you enjoyed the camping!

Excellent!

Typo: 2011 start times.

In 2012 Elites / PRO teams started first at 5am. Why did the organisers change this for 2013? Let me try and find out.

And memories: Priceless PS Thanks for the "Yes yes hello!", passing me up Tradouw!

Hi Killarney Race Report by Dennis Lamminga As the year draws to a close, only 66 riders lined up for our normal Wednesday bash around Killarney track. We were only about half of the normal tally of riders, but with the Double Century only 3 days away, most riders were probably resting the legs before the arduous 202 km trek around the Swellendam area. We headed off in Scratch + 1 again. I sensed that tonight was going to be different as for some reason, Master Uwe Schmidt started with us. He normally starts with the Elite bunch. As soon as Sharon said, “Off you go!”, he was up ahead leading us through the first few corners. Jonathan Hartzenberg (Complete Cyclist), Gary (Intellibus) and Douglas Burger (Prime Cleaning supplies) took turns up front. I felt a bit guilty so did about 1 minute’s work up front, only to realise that I’d definitely burn out if I kept this up! So with my tail between my legs, I limped back to the middle of the peloton, humbled by the strength of the veteran riders up front. Mario (Outriders), Bianca (City Cycling Club), Robin Harris (Cycles Direct) and I just watched in awe as we whizzed around the track. The relentless pace had an effect: at around the halfway mark I could still see Scratch at the same place every corner. They were not closing the gap, and at one stage we were even closing the gap on them.., maybe tonight will be the night we can stay away from the Elites? The boys upfront were still putting their heads down working tirelessly into the wind. Lap after lap they would take turns leading the pack. Nearing the end there were some guttering, but the peloton was strong and we remained entact most of the way. With about 3 laps to go we realised the unthinkable: we’re going to stay away from the Elites! Our handicap of a shorter 1st lap obviously aided us to stay ahead, but we were excited nonetheless. Robin from Cycles Direct was sitting nicely and getting very excited about the last lap. His enthusiasm was infectious! Suddenly the bell went and we moved towards the front to get a great position around the top bend. Over the last few meters we managed an average of 60+ kmph and Robin sprinted to his first win at Killarney – congratiolations Robin! Killarney Accolades go to: Killarney Accolades go to Oom Uwe, Douglas, Gary, Jonathan and a few more die-hard souls who rode with their hearts on their sleeves and proved that Scratch + 1 can stay away from the Elites (even though it doesn’t happen too often! ;-). With our top 10 finish, we are now nervously excited to start with the big boys next week. Thanks Sharon and Midge – once again your happy smiles make Killarney so worthwhile. Rgds, Denny Pic: Robin Harris (Cycles Direct) preparing for his first win at Killarney Race Track – Well done Robin! (pic courtesy of Alan van Schoor)

True. Be gentle with us next week..

Yes!

Teach someone close how to ride their bike. Recently I had the opportunity to teach my mom how to ride her new bike: how to change with the new shifters, choosing optimum cadence, when to brake, how to check for cars, how to climb, when to get out the saddle, etc. It was brilliant seeing her confidence build up. Benefits to you?: it forces you to stop, have a drink, catch your breath, and realise that cycling is a sport you don't have to ride your nuts off every time you head out of the garage.

End of the race - everyone gets podium!

Start of the 80km Race

Morning Langebaan Race Report by Dennis Lamminga For some reason the world flipped upside down this weekend as we experienced European weather in the middle of November! What to do? Let’s escape the Cape Town Storms and head to a drier place 1 hour north, towards Langebaan. I love the Langebaan Race, because: · It rolls through the West Coast National Park · No Vehicles are allowed during the race · You get to experience the Weskus Nature · There’s very nice prizes at the end! Over 400 riders lined up to do the 80km Race. As most of the Outriders have bettered their seeding, it was great starting in the first group with my tjommas. Groups A-C were called forward and we wished our other half of the “Blue Train” good bye. They were starting in the group just behind us. We were also joined by City Cycling Club’s husband / wife team of Freddie / Bianca and 3 x more girls: Lolita, Desi and Maroesjke. As the gun went off, I am happy to report that the “Neutral Zone” was actually neutral, and no one sped off. The race officially starts at the reserve entrance, but disaster!: my buddy Douglas’s chain came off and he had to stop to put it back on. I decided to hang back and the plan was this: together we’ll fight back to the peloton. Or so we thought.. That 200m gap didn’t seem to get any smaller. We really pedalled as fast as we could and my Heart Rate has never been this high, so glad to be able to push it over the 180’s again, so thanks Douglas! Needless to say we didn’t catch the bunch. At the first 180 degree turn-around point we sort of gave up as I worked out the bunch had about a 1 minute lead on us. Luckily we saw the next group approaching at break-neck speed, so I decided to stop to try and help this rider with a back wheel problem. Unfortunately it looked like his bottom-bracket was completely seized up, so I waited until group 2 zoomed past with a “Haaak Vrystaat!!” from Daron spear-heading the front! Douglas and I had no idea what was going on in the first group now. All we could see was David Garrett and another younster maintaining their mini-breakaway and Angelo, Mario and Anton trying to chase them down with a very determined look on their faces. I joined up with the 2nd blue train and said a few quick hello’s to everyone I knew. Then off the the front we went and attacked every mini rolling hill, keeping the “through-and-off” technique going. At the next turning point at Kraalbaai we thought that we might actually be gaining time on the first bunch, so we attacked again on the way back towards the end. Quick Left Turn into the Northerly wind and the last 30km was just vasbyt as hard as you could. And so the last little sting in the tail arrived: Mamba Hill. This is a 800 m bump right at the end of the race. It’s got a 7.2% average incline, but it’s just long enough to cause a bit of a headache, not a nice way to end a race! We did a bit of a lead-out for Outrider Esrick Bull, and he shot past me with renewed energy taking 1st place of the 2nd group. Very well done Esrick, nice climbing! Flashbacks of our Malanshoogte training rides shot through my head. The rest of the peloton rolled over the finish line and we were pleasantly surprised to have a hearty welcome by all our Outrider and City Cycling Club friends. Thanks for the support guys! We heard that Outrider Angelo managed 7th overall, and 1st Vet in. Langebaan Accolades go to: · The 4 x girls that managed to stay with the 1st group: Big medals to Lolita, Bianca, Desi and Maroesjke · Angelo, Anton, Darren, Dane, Lukas, Mario, Freddie, Reinhardt: All finished with a terrific average of almost 36 kmph over a tough course · Esrick Bull, finishing just 4 minutes after the first bunch, and claiming a group D-G win · Douglas, Geno, Steve, Mike Guard, Andrew, James, Shaun, Daron, Philip – tremendous effort in Group 2 – you can be proud of yourselves! · Last but not least: Hannes van Aardt who started in Group M-N. He was doing tremendous pulls up-front, and managed to finish in the top 25% of the field. Pragtig Hannes! What a superb race. Well organised. Great camaraderie. And I won the biggest Lucky Draw prize as well: 4 nights in Club Mykonos! Whoohoo! Bianca and Lolita also won fantastic prizes, so we’ll definitely return next year ) Rgds, Denny

Nice pics FRAIL, thanks.

Pics taken by Bernie Viljoen - thanks oom Bernie 1. Theuns and Evan (NuWater) up front. 2. Outriders doing some work in Scratch + 1 3. David G leading the Elites with Swift alongside

Hi 13.11.13 Killarney Race Report by Dennis Lamminga Another Wednesday. Another Killarney. With most of the PRO teams now back in Joburg preparing for the weekend’s 94.7 race, and the South Easter not so “in-your-face” as normal, we in Scratch + 1 grabbed the opportunity to possibly finish with the Elites for once! Half the Outriders lined up at the start, together with World X-Terra athlete Douglas Burger and the Cycles Direct Crew. It looked like it was going to be red against blue team again! We were all happy to do a bit of work in front. There was very little guttering in the wind and everyone was mindful of each other. The going was tough, and everyone went quiet for a bit. About 2 laps in, Steven Hayes (Aurecon), Douglas and myself tried a break-away, but we were quickly swallowed up by the Scratch + 1 bunch. Clive Seebregts (Felt) did an amazing job again showing us: 1. where to ride, 2. how to do “through-and-off” and 3. where to sit in the corners. Robin (Cycles Direct) together with a few Outriders did nice long stints in front, but our imminent fusion with the Elite Scratch bunch seemed inevitable.. I went to the rear of the group and saw 3 ghostly figures appearing from the rear. Theuns vd Bank, Evan Carstens (both NuWater) and Matthew Merrington (Swift) broke away from the Elite bunch and was approaching our bunch with the speed of light! I shouted words of encouragement as they flew past, not wanting to interfere with their break-away dynamics. A few from our bunch did hang onto them however, and, as it was anyone’s race, the mini break-way of 3 turned into about a dozen riders. Robin and Outriders Reinhardt, Mario and Angelo were in the mix and managed a gap working together with the lads. Now it was Elite bunch’s time to catch up. They swarmed through us like riders possessed. By this time Theuns, Evan and Matthew were alone in the mini-breakaway up front, the rest of the guys just in awe with their speed. I tried to make myself as low as possible on the bike and my eyes were glued to the time. I could hear myself screaming “Just one more lap, just hang on for one more lap!!”, and luckily there it was: the bell signalling the last lap. By this time only Angelo and myself were together from the Outriders, and we tried to follow strong wheels from the Yellow Team Dane and Darren Perring as we screeched around the final corners. I knew Moolman would be good in the sprint so tried to attach myself to his wheel, but in the end traded his wheel for Neville Cragg’s wheel (Aurecon). I just have to remind everyone that Neville still has the Strava KOM around Killarney at a blistering average speed of 50.3 kmph, the only (Strava) rider to have broken the 4 minute barrier at 3.3 km Killarney Race Track! In the end his wheel was great to secure my first top 10 position at Killarney, so thanks Neville! Outrider Angelo sprinted amazingly well to earn a provisional 7th place with Killarney Jersey Leader Alex Heward winning the bunch sprint just behind the Killarney Threesome. Well done all!, that was fun, in a funny sort of way.. -- My Killarney Stats: · Distance: 41.6km · Time: 58 min · Average Speed: 42.4 kmph (Elites managed 44+ kmph!) · Max Speed: 58.3 kmph (towards the Finish Line) Killarney Accolades go to: 3-man breakaway Theuns, Evan and Matthew, who, even after their Night Time Crits in Stellenbosch and Engen Dynamic Race on Sunday, stole the show by riding away from everyone. Well done boys!, what a stellar performance. Rgds, Denny

I can vouch for that - amazing 3-man breakaway. And Thornman almost bumped into you going the opposite way!

Killarney Race Report - Visiting PRO Teams! by Dennis Lamminga Now we all know by now that Wednesday Killarney Racing is synonymous with a howling South-Easter. So why not liven things up by getting some visiting PRO Teams joining us? We had the honour of having Gauteng-based Bonitas and Abantu (the People’s Team) compete against us locals. You could sense the excitement when the Bonitas Bus arrived, complete with “PRO Cycling Team” advertised all over it. A few highly enthusiastic athletes jumped out and started warming up before our imminent 1 hour of pain. A handful die-hards from the following local clubs started turning up: · The Outriders · Cycles Direct · City Cycling Club (CCC) I don’t know if it was the weather or the pre-race social-media posts that scared most away, but our Amateur group looked rather diminished in size. Only 75 riders (normally around 120) were silly enough to cycle in these conditions. Bianca (CCC) was the only girl that was brave enough to face another Wednesday, yet full of smiles and optimism. Always great to have you in our group Bianca! As per usual the “Scratch + 1” group started first. We definitely didn’t want to be caught within the first few laps, so our group worked very nicely together to try and keep the pace high. Most did their turn in front and it looked like it had the desired effect. Our group was very quiet. We knew the big group of “Scratch” was approaching fast though.. Around half-way through a wall of wind rocketed past as the Elite Riders made contact. We appreciated their pro approach and there was very little shouting and pushing, just a whirlwind of devastation that wreaked havoc amongst us. One by one we were being spat out the back of the peloton as they seemed to attack every corner like it was the finish line sprint! After about 3 laps of utter madness my Garmin Heart-Rate monitor seemed to flash uncontrollably and all I could do was watch as the riders disappear into the sunset. No more Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch then! Robin Harris and Steven Buckley (Cycles Direct) did very well to hang on almost to the end. Raymond Cox (CWC) broke away from the Elite Bunch but was joined by 2 x Bonitas riders (Willie and Jayde) who kept the gap all the way to the end. It was great to have a Cape Tonian on the podium! Current Killarney Leader’s Jersey wearer, Alex Heward, managed an excellent 6th place. A big mention goes to Wayne Roberts’s new “Lights of Linea Future Stars” Team, with Reginald Benjamin managing a very respectable 8th place. Well done guys. -- A special thanks once again to our supporters who stood in that freezing wind for over an hour cheering us along. And of course our photographers, Capcha Photography, Robert Ward, Owen Lloyd (Team Intellibus) and Bernie Viljoen (Outriders). Safe cycling, Dennis