SeaBee Posted September 25, 2012 Share Condolences to the friends and family who lost a beloved. It's just tragic. (FWIW - We also went past the scene and it was nowhere near 14:30. It was horrible to see.) Had the most horrible of hay fevers (well, still have it!) from Thursday night, my ears were fully blocked and my nose burning as soon as we hit the dirt. Still my ride started off fine. Stuck to the guys and then coming down Ou Wapad, I felt my back tweaking (had a bad lower back spasm during the week and wondered if I even should ride). It felt okayish, went on and then I hit the next climb... Ja well, that was - as the song goes - the day the music died. I felt like crying all the way up to WP2. From there on I climbed slooowly (usually a good enough climber) and watched people pass me that should have never been able to pass me - well, not going uphill, anyways! I just wanted to get to the next water point... and then the next. Up the climb towards the 55/60k WP, I started feeling better and stuck to the people around me. There I met a buddy - and he was in worse shape than me. We went to the medics and decided there and then we're going home together. From there on my whole ride changed. I was sitting there feeling sorry for myself and not enjoying it, thinking about time lost and not seeing the beauty around me. Big lesson in priorities for me - there are much more important things than "a good time". Suddenly I was in a role of a stronger rider (the fact that I began to win my own battles shortly before that helped) and could really relax and enjoy the ride from there on in. It was awesome! And man, it felt great to cross the finish line together after that. Solidly on the last page of our starting group, but we made it. Such a special event, the most stunning and vastly different views. I will be back for another dose! BTW, question of the day - does anti-histamines jack up your HR?! My original plan was to ride on HR but soon saw my HR through the roof with very little effort. But was obviously overdosed on anti-histamines just to try and not make the newspaper headlines for sneezing myself off the bike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wannabe Posted September 25, 2012 Share did you manage to do the time you where aiming for Not even close. Had a really bad ride up to 60km mark where I got a leg massage to get rid of the cramps. My two riding buddies nursed me from around the 50km mark till there. From there on it was mostly downhill and I felt a lot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaBee Posted September 25, 2012 Share Hey fandacious - awesome time! I'd have done that bike much more justice by spending much more quality time with her! (I see you fled before I could get to you...) Good going - keep it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGR Posted September 25, 2012 Share Did a 5h50 - my first one and 3rd MTB race! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wannabe Posted September 25, 2012 Share did you manage to do the time you where aiming forHow was your race? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott2luvit Posted September 25, 2012 Share I knew I was in trouble going into the race, started feeling flue'ish and not as fit as I wanted to be, also struggled the first half, but the potato at the 60k mark did the job, got some cramp block and a second life and finished with an official time of 5h07, stugeling to get the image out of my head of the guy they where trying to resuscitate and currently man down with some sort of airway infection, but still loved the the race and will be back next year!!!! Wannabe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabes Posted September 25, 2012 Share I had the most horrible start ever, when i arrived in Uniondale my front brake was touching the Disk. So i rushed off to get a mechanic to sort it out after my attempts failed. I then started the race 15 min late and just decided right there that i will not go for time and i will just enjoy. Just after the Wa Pad i found my wife who was battling with her chain. We then sorted it out and i decided to stay with her the whole way. She started battling at about 55-60 km mark. I nursed her to the finish. We had the most incredible cycle together and after all those "problems" i still managed to go more than 30 min quicker than last year and finished in a time of 5;48. jaxtun and Wannabe 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fandacious Posted September 25, 2012 Share Definately one of the hardest races I've done. I would say only the Jock took more out of me. The DC is not a patch to this, in my humble opinion. it all depends on how hard you go. Sub 6hr DC is still way harder than karoo2coast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fandacious Posted September 25, 2012 Share Hey fandacious - awesome time! I'd have done that bike much more justice by spending much more quality time with her! (I see you fled before I could get to you...) Good going - keep it up! ahh sorry mate. Had to rush back to somerset west. i'll buy you a beer @ lourensford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wannabe Posted September 25, 2012 Share it all depends on how hard you go. Sub 6hr DC is still way harder than karoo2coast Don't think I'll ever be able to test that statement for myself.Based on my experience of both, the K2C wins hands down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott2luvit Posted September 25, 2012 Share it all depends on how hard you go. Sub 6hr DC is still way harder than karoo2coast but then you would have to compare against a sub 3 K2C? Edited September 25, 2012 by Mr.E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fandacious Posted September 25, 2012 Share but then you would have to compare against a sub 3 K2C? nope. no-one has ever done sub3 k2c. Theres plenty of sub6 DC's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Dale Posted September 25, 2012 Share I had the most horrible start ever, when i arrived in Uniondale my front brake was touching the Disk. So i rushed off to get a mechanic to sort it out after my attempts failed. I then started the race 15 min late and just decided right there that i will not go for time and i will just enjoy. Just after the Wa Pad i found my wife who was battling with her chain. We then sorted it out and i decided to stay with her the whole way. She started battling at about 55-60 km mark. I nursed her to the finish. We had the most incredible cycle together and after all those "problems" i still managed to go more than 30 min quicker than last year and finished in a time of 5;48. What a storie. Well done. That makes these races so memorable... In hindsight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott2luvit Posted September 25, 2012 Share nope. no-one has ever done sub3 k2c. Theres plenty of sub6 DC's but surly that already states difference in difficulty? just asking as I havnt done a DC or TB yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fandacious Posted September 25, 2012 Share but surly that already states difference in difficulty? just asking as I havnt done a DC or TB yet any race is hard when you race it. But to go flat out for 6hrs is far harder than than to go flat out for 3 hrs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabes Posted September 25, 2012 Share What a storie. Well done. That makes these races so memorable... In hindsight. Thanks man i enjoyed every minute of it, my wife not so much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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