So...I finally got a entry to this Dis-Chem race that everyone's been talking about. Entered with the elites. Start time 06:00AM . Felt like a farmer getting ready to milk the cows and wake the rooster this morning, anyway had the usually breakfast consisting of steak, sausages, 2 fried eggs, some bacon, fried onions, tomatoes and mushrooms...oh yeah sprinkled some pronutro over everything with some vanilla coke Got to Pelindaba and did a quick warm up to get the heart up... Hit 124 MAX during warm up and I could already hear the Microsoft boys talking about me and how they should watch my every move. Had a run in with that photographer man but I didn't have time to warn him about me breaking his fingers cause I was running late... I needed to get to the start pen first, I suppose you wondering why...well it's the only time I'll get placed first in the elite group ... but I still had a few things up my sleeve . Race got underway and the pace was fast. It could have been faster if I was in the front but I decided to take things easy at the start so I went and sat at the back in last place. I was busy checking who was here and doing what and guess what? That BIG quad man from the Lost City was present...yes...Shaun...gulp...Leach. I swear those legs have gotten bigger but I wasn't to worried cause I dropped him like a hot potato in the Lost City... and his puncture was just an excuse. The puncture was caused by me setting a blistering pace and his tyre's couldn't handle the heat . Anyway back to the race... We hit Saartjiesnek and I moved up to second last place. Saw Jaco and Spinnekop in a bit of trouble so I moved up to 1st overall and offered them my wheel and pulled them up. I thought I was crazy doing it but hey they team mates and we help each other. Heard Spinnekop was riding the race with a 11-21 ?!?! Like WTF, was Saartjiesnek, Silkaatsnek, Kamandosnek and Hekpoort not enough damage? Anyway... rolled over Saartjiesnek and a few minutes later we hit Silkaatsnek. I stopped to check out the view once I reached the top and raced back down to join up with the group and climed back up with them. So off to Kommandoesnek... I got a huge gap on the group... think it was 15 minutes but the race referee?s watch was wrong cause I had it at 22 minutes over the group. Stopped at engine, had a whizz and went to the Pancake place cause breakfast was just not enough fuel so I needed to top up. All this was done and if you thought Spinnekops gear ratio was hectic I was riding a 1-10 at the back and a 70-53 in front and I was still feeling fresh. Waited at the top of Kommandoesnek just before the hot spot so I could see who would get it and then hooked up with the boys again. After this the road was pretty boring up until Hekpoort so I decided to offer everyone who was still in the lead group some of my juice. It was getting pretty hot so I assisted the Microsoft, Exel, HI-Q, CBist, Konica, Colorpress teams and took all their arm warmers, leg warmers, wind breakers, jackets back to their respective team cars. While I was doing this I got dropped! Can you believe it after 40km's of me doing all of the work they do this to me. I was stuck with 2 youth chaps who didn't do much work and some tall chap that was asking me when's Hekpoort coming. I was thinking man haven't we already climbed it?. So we cruised a long and I couldn't believe it. Photographer man pulls up with this snazzy van and I'm like thinking dude you better not be waving that camera out snapping pictures of me. Snapping is exactly what's gonna happen to you in the finger region and besides I had a photo shoot the day before for Lazer helmets... Ladies, sorry but BOOnen lost his job and the last thing I wanted to see is a camera. So off the van sped. We hit the bottom of Hekpoort and I started climbing this hill everyone was scared of. I did a couple of repeats up there and on my last repeat I see photographer dude... So I pulled over to see why or what his plan with all my photo's are? Before I came to a complete stop I got a message over race radio... We were like 67 minutes adrift of the leaders so the time for sorting out the camera man dude was cut... Like what is he? A cat with 9 lives? Everytime I wanna end his career and snap those fingers something comes up. So off I went. Joined up with a chap from Colorpress and a few others and we rode very nicely to the end. We managed to close a 67 minute gap to 25 mnutes in just over 30km's. Not a very good race for me, especially after the 40km mark. Was a challenging route and congrats to Jaco for 13th place only a minute off the winners time . Congrats to everyone who took part and finished. Well done to Cherry for a 2nd place . Next stop, the Cradle... this should be fun . Regards, First Place Elite Rider in the Start Pen(Jason) Jason2006-09-23 11:23:38
