99'er post race de-brief

[milky4130]

So, as I would imagine, with the weather as it was, some guys have to have a few stories to tell. Some interesting, some bummer, some ecstatic.

 

My race started at 6am in elites. Pace was going well, some said it started too fast for them. Wet roads and idiots riding two abreast in the oncoming lane made for some interesting action when having to pass oncoming delivery trucks.

 

My race was going well until I went past the silo's and onto Klipheuwel Road. I suspect that there was some diesel on the corner because as I went around my front wheel disappeared. Hit the deck hard at around 32Km/h.

 

Got up, picked the bike and my sunglasses up, saw not much damage to me or the bike and got on and tried to chase the bunch down. Passed a few guys that had fallen off the back in my attempt to catch the main bunch. As hard as I was riding, I was not getting close to catching them. The next few Km were a tough choice - a crash 26Km's into a 123Km race - do I quit while I am ahead or do I push on.

 

Well, I chatted to a guy who I passed and sat my wheel for a while, he suggested I carry on riding, so I did.

 

A few of the guys I had passed earlier caught up and we made a nice 20 odd man bunch. We rode well together sharing the pulling but there were one or two who just wheel sucked....

 

Coming down old malmesbury road, a guy from Team Aurecon came flying past - what I suspect was the lead man for the Vets racing bunch (%). I broke away from the group and rode with him for a while - until the beginning of Vissershok - my legs couldn't go anymore.

 

Swallowed a Gu and hoped for the best. The rest of the Racing Vets and Ladies passed me at the base of Vissershok as well..... oh and guess who I spot - one of the guys we dropped along the way. He just latched on the back of the Vets bunch and wheel sucked all the way to Vissershok. That irritated me.

 

Anyway, Vissershok didn't get any flatter overnight and was a b1tch of note. Started feeling the onset of cramps towards the top but thankfully never happened. The downhill was a solo attempt so had no wheel to sit to recover a bit.

 

Odendal was a cow and a half. Twitching in the quads when standing forced me to sit and ride the climb out.

All in all a good race - 3:27 with the winner taking it in 3:06.

 

Well done to the organisers - great job

 

Think bike marshals - even more support is needed. Flipping well done! I never thought that the Elite bunch (the guys the youth look up to) would be such an unruly bunch.

so that was you, i narrowly missed you, nice recovery though, only 2mins after I finished.

[Denny Menchov]

Tiny K, and Wannabe: Nice to have met you at last after the 99er.

 

Tiny, bad luck with your crash around that Right hand corner. Pity you couldn't catch us afterwards, as the paced 'slowed down' a bit after another 5km.

 

I was sitting nicely until my Mavic rear spoke broke at 87km. Ai. The average speed was 40.8 kmph up to then.

I released the rear brakes and then the tyre blew after another 8km. Ai jai jai.

Changed the tube, survived another 2km and the tube blew again. Ai jai jai jai jai.

But thanks to the Landrove sweep vehicle that picked me up 5 minutes later!, and I had a cosy ride up Vissers.

 

A big thank you to the organisers - it was a different perspective from the sweep vehicle and you can see how much these guys do for our sport. One of the best organised raced I've done in the last 6 months.

 

Now to fix that spoke and get ready for Hels on Sunday!

 

PS:

 

Soenen: Klippie in my cleat

Rollercoaster: Gear problems

99er: Back spoke

 

(Hopefully my bad spell of 3's is now over! ;-)

[Ceres]

Did u crash in % group?

 

Yes was about 14 km into the race don't know how many were down they were all over the road, got taken out by a girl who fell just in front of me.

[Wannabe]

Denny, pleasure meeting you too.

 

We must make arrangement for me to get those Mavic spoke tools to you. Maybe on Sunday at Medallion.

[milky4130]

Yes was about 14 km into the race don't know how many were down they were all over the road, got taken out by a girl who fell just in front of me.

aah then its the same crash my buddy was in, he is still lying in Durbanville Medi Clinic. Dislocated shoulder, possible fractured left hand, will know today after MRi if surgery is required on the shoulder, had stiches on his back for possible chainring connection or cut from the sharp & rough tar surface & of course the roasties on both legs & I was contemplating starting in this group to ride with afew buddies. Glad I started in the earlier group now.

[Ceres]

aah then its the same crash my buddy was in, he is still lying in Durbanville Medi Clinic. Dislocated shoulder, possible fractured left hand, will know today after MRi if surgery is required on the shoulder, had stiches on his back for possible chainring connection or cut from the sharp & rough tar surface & of course the roasties on both legs & I was contemplating starting in this group to ride with afew buddies. Glad I started in the earlier group now.

 

Checked my garmin we were doing 54 km/h at the time of the crash. I feel realy lucky that I could still get up and carry on, feeling it now though neck muscles are sore from when my head hit the tar, nice roastie on my thigh and legs, back is scratched and sore and sore stomach muscles.

['Dale]

The area around the silos is a bit of an industrial zone with a distribution of agricultural goods.

Lots of trucks and tractors move around there.

Normal rain does not cause excessive slippery conditions.

Must be a lot of grime, oil, lube, fuel in that zone around Klipheuwel.

 

Hope everyone recovers well.

[fandacious]

Yeah, but he did it for a longer period of time and I helped out where I could between me and the % guy (one guy) The rest of my group had sat up and I gave chase. It was there past the MX track on the Old Malmesbury Rd just before the N7.

 

Edit: but I get what you are saying.

 

umm yeah - that illegal and will get you and the leader of the vets bunch disqualified. In league racing, when you drop and the lead bunch from a lower group comes past, you're not allowed to latch onto them at all, let alone help them

[Tubehunter]

Hard lines to all who had a fall at the race. There were some tricky conditions for sure!

 

Seems like there was a lot of group dynamics going on. Started in D, with the group riding quite conservative and not many people looking to work up front. Did the odd stint out front. We were caught by E at the 27km mark. At this time the pace picked up and there were a couple of riders with A seed numbers dragging the expanded group along. Felt strong on the day so kept the pace high over some of the longer rollers when I was in front which fractured the group up into an almost manageable size. (Hill training is starting to pay off. Happy with that) Kept doing short stints at the front focussing more on the interval type riding from a training perspective than looking to save legs for the last hill climbs. About a kilometre from where the short and long route connect I punctured. Did a change and got on the bike as F group were coming towards me, so joined on that. Got dropped on Vissers and solo'd to the finish. Was a good training effort even if the clock was an unhappy 3:55. Feeling better about riding and training heading towards the Argus. Need to improve my sleeping habit in a big way!

[Breezer]

Did someone take photo's of the race?

[Tiny K]

umm yeah - that illegal and will get you and the leader of the vets bunch disqualified. In league racing, when you drop and the lead bunch from a lower group comes past, you're not allowed to latch onto them at all, let alone help them

 

Lets just say I tried...... damn that guy has some strong legs on him! Head tucked and gooi'ed. Dunno if he was the winner though coz I didn't see him on the top spot of the podium....

[Tiny K]

Hard lines to all who had a fall at the race. There were some tricky conditions for sure!

 

Seems like there was a lot of group dynamics going on. Started in D, with the group riding quite conservative and not many people looking to work up front. Did the odd stint out front. We were caught by E at the 27km mark. At this time the pace picked up and there were a couple of riders with A seed numbers dragging the expanded group along. Felt strong on the day so kept the pace high over some of the longer rollers when I was in front which fractured the group up into an almost manageable size. (Hill training is starting to pay off. Happy with that) Kept doing short stints at the front focussing more on the interval type riding from a training perspective than looking to save legs for the last hill climbs. About a kilometre from where the short and long route connect I punctured. Did a change and got on the bike as F group were coming towards me, so joined on that. Got dropped on Vissers and solo'd to the finish. Was a good training effort even if the clock was an unhappy 3:55. Feeling better about riding and training heading towards the Argus. Need to improve my sleeping habit in a big way!

 

Check the D'ville area roadies thread - join us on Sunday (unless you are doing the Medallion).

['Dale]

 

 

Check the D'ville area roadies thread - join us on Sunday (unless you are doing the Medallion).

 

It would be cool to see Tubehunter again...

Yeah, come along.

 

*let's see whether the hill training has made the US Postal Team Trek faster up Smitswinkel.*

Edited February 13, 2012 by ' Dale

['Dale]

At least you finished!

I was seriously considering dropping out after 25km when I got dropped, and I didn't even crash.

 

Big ups to determination!

 

I'm also happy I carried on, beat my dad my 8mins, a racing master who's son is in my lift club by 6mins, and my old sportsmaster by 11!

 

Lekka going there, Zac!

[andydude]

Congrats to everybody that finished and a good recovery for those who didn't!

 

To use a term you all like, I basically "wheelsucked" all the way until the start of Vissershok proper where my legs just couldn't muster the strenght to stick with the big boys.

 

The rainy weather was perfect for accidents to happen, with the rollers adding to the stop/start and sprinting/breaking(?). Nobody's fault - that is racing. Have you seen how many riders fall in the the Tour de France and they're supposed to be the most skilled!

 

Looking forward to the next SV league ride this coming Sunday.

[two hands]

Lets just say I tried...... damn that guy has some strong legs on him! Head tucked and gooi'ed. Dunno if he was the winner though coz I didn't see him on the top spot of the podium....

The 'Aurecon guy' is ex-SA Champ Robbie Rodrigues.

 

He stayed in front till the last climb, 500m from the finish, when Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio sailed past him to win the Ladies race (and, incidentally, beat all the Vets too).

 

I was riding $, and it was great to welcome her across the line looking so strong. She is truly a phenomenon to watch on a climb. Ash is one of the best things to happen to ladies racing in SA. One of the few chicks who wants to win her category (the WHOLE category), not just wheel suck whichever men's category the women are started with... Inspiring stuff.