Amashova 2013

[KenG]

That wind punished me today. If you dropped the wheel in front of you, it was tickets. Lucky for me, I picked up a tandem down Fields hill. 10 mins slower than last year but happy considering the wind.

 

[Cruz Addict]

Did my first one today, have a couple of realisations.

• This is a hardcore race, much much much harder than the 94.7.
  
• Although the overall route profile is downhill it felt like all we did was climb.
  
• The headwind made the route feel like a 200km race.
  
• The cold was hectic, prepared for a durban ride and faced what felt like a joburg mid winter ride. Hands and feet went numb and the little bit of rain just made it worse.
  
• I loved it, climbed like a machine and droped plenty of people up every single hill, did however have to wait for my mrs, she bonked very badly at the 20km mark and hated the rest of the race. She did finish but was a 5 hour hard slog that she hated.
  

Overall a great ride though, bit of a bad taste in our mouths due to the weather but that can happen in any race I guess

Edited October 13, 2013 by DaddyG

[garrethk]

Did my first one today, have a couple of realisations.

• This is a hardcore race, much much much harder than the 94.7.
  
• Although the overall route profile is downhill it felt like all we did was climb.
  
• The headwind made the route feel like a 200km race.
  
• The cold was hectic, prepared for a durban ride and faced what felt like a joburg mid winter ride. Hands and feet went numb and the little bit of rain just made it worse.
  
• I loved it, climbed like a machine and droped plenty of people up every single hill, did however have to wait for my mrs, she bonked very badly at the 20km mark and hated the rest of the race. She did finish but was a 5 hour hard slog that she hated.
  

Overall a great ride though, bit of a bad taste in our mouths due to the weather but that can happen in any race I guess

Was my first race too. Could have done without the head wind for most of the race. Otherwise a good race, tough but good. Happier with the cold than the blistering heat of Friday. Hope your guys experience has not discouraged your wife. Everyone has a bad race at some stage or another.

 

Edited October 13, 2013 by garrethk

[Rich]

That wind and cold was hectic. Much tougher than other years.

[Pusher]

Did my first one today, have a couple of realisations.

• This is a hardcore race, much much much harder than the 94.7.
  
• Although the overall route profile is downhill it felt like all we did was climb.
  
• The headwind made the route feel like a 200km race.
  
• The cold was hectic, prepared for a durban ride and faced what felt like a joburg mid winter ride. Hands and feet went numb and the little bit of rain just made it worse.
  
• I loved it, climbed like a machine and droped plenty of people up every single hill, did however have to wait for my mrs, she bonked very badly at the 20km mark and hated the rest of the race. She did finish but was a 5 hour hard slog that she hated.
  

Overall a great ride though, bit of a bad taste in our mouths due to the weather but that can happen in any race I guess

Also my first race. I agree with you-harder than the 94.7. Legs froze on the highway and cramp set in. Battled the last 20km.

[GaryP]

Well done to all you who braved this years race!!

[Blackadder]

The wind was a bit of a bother, but it was great to ride in cool weather. I found last year much harder because of the incessant heat.

[Guest Latent Blue]

Well done to all the riders!

This weekend was the coldest weather in quite some time.... hope you all had a lovely time passing by the valley of a thousand hills!

[djsam]

Happy with my sub 3:30, after the ride from JHB to Durban.. absolutely incredible experience can recommend it to all, after the riding is 43 degrees on day 3 i have to say these were perfect riding conditions except the wind!

[jimmycool]

Well, that was fantastic! My first Amashova (and also my first road race) so I started in P batch seeing as I had no seeding. Couldn't find anyone going the same pace as me so I ended up riding a 106km individual time trial and finishing in 3:42 with that head wind all the way. I had heard of people touching 100kph down fields hill in previous years but I couldn't even get to 70 the wind was howling so hard straight into me.

 

All in all I really enjoyed it and wonder how it could have gone if I had a bunch to ride with (I think I must have spent a combined total of 10 minutes in the whole race on other peoples wheels and the rest of the time I was just passing and passing other riders.)

 

Despite being a mtb rider primarily I must say I do quite like this roadie thing!

[Harryn]

It was amazing ride, with lekker cool weather, and good mates to ride with and chat to the whole way. Some stunning scenery up botha!s and a great atmosphere made this a great day out for me. I really enjoyed it - glad i made the trip , and will definitely be back next year. the race was Organized like clockwork. Today was the very epitome of all that grabs me about cycling.

 

Ps: i cannot agree with the comments which assert that the Amashova is harder than the 94.7 . The contrary is true- even with today's wind factored in, I still think that the Shova is nowhere near as tough as the 94, which is ridden at altitude and has tough climbs near the the end, when the sufferfest is at optimum agonizing cadence

Edited October 13, 2013 by Harryn

[tombeej]

Started in P batch and was basically on my own the whole way. I really enjoyed the cool weather considering the punishing heat, humidity and wind that we often have to ride in here. Those were great riding conditions, I don't know what folks are complaining about.

 

Started strong: by the bottom of Inchanga at halfway I was going through D batch and just before Hillcrest I started seeing bits of B batch. That's when the wheels fell off a bit. Cramping in both legs from about 30km out, to the extent that I couldn't stand at all, and was forced to just spin the rest of the way home.

 

Was on track for a sub-3hr solo ride (on my own the whole way), but limped in at 3h12.

 

Still, I had a blast. Lovely course and great organisation. .

[spiderkzn]

done 1h10m in 35km. Loving it! except bit too cold and windy. I've to leave few hour after finish as too cold and raining.cycling to home and having hot bath and few hour nap.

[Joobs]

The race was hard and super fast. It was non stop racing in the Elites and it felt fast the entire way. Going up Fox hill and over the top was crazy hard.

 

It was quite dangerous from about Hillcrest with the slower cyclists from the 65km and 40km races. There were a few times when the bunch had to brake and avoid people in the road.

 

And coming into the end was a drag race along NMR Avenue, the guys have so much power!!!

[quintonb]

Well done to everyone, was definitely one of the hardest Amashova's in a while.

Cold and windy, saw a lot more accidents this year mainly because of cross winds and big bunches.

 

Rode 2.59.07, was very happy with a sub 3 in that weather....

And guess what, today is a stunning day in Durban...

[SurferChild]

It was an amazing race, besides a few marshalling inconsitencies and a marshal motorbike coming straight towards us in our racing line on the highway It was still an amazing race and a fantastic route. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will definitely support this race again.