Sondela Bela-Bela Road Cycling Challenge 2014

[bmw1za]

Morning coffee and pancakes was a great way to start the day at number collections area. kudos on that .

My first A Bunch start so I was rather intimidated(hands over eyes). Started close to the front and did not expect that intense pace straight out of the pen(swoosh). Left turn dodging the pothole maize when the Attacks started ... I pushed like mad trailing the split but with my garmin beeping like a truck reversing(Heart rate too high,lol) ... sadly that was too much for me and I tapped out at the 25 km mark. Rode on my own for about 3 kms recovering until I got scooped up by the chase bunch (About 15 ppl) .

These guys were not cruising ... I struggled holding on there too (Some seriously strong guys doing really long stints pulling...and a lady in pink who sure can ride a bike). I did a few turns at the front but I was on my last legs .

90km mark i was ready to abandon but my buddy kept me motivated .

200 meters to go he led me out around the pack for a sprint , Yay !!!! I won the chase bunch (lol). Yes in the grand scheme of things it means nothing .. But for us a 2h45 in A Bunch with a chase bunch finish is like winning the TDF

Well done all ... See you at the next one

[Anty]

My 16 year old son started in the 102 km A Batch. Kept up with the leading group until 57km but hit a pothole and punctured. Pinched the spare tube while trying to change but fortunately a "oom" stopped and gave him his spare and helped him fix it. Thank you whoever you are

[Sharkie 2]

Nice and tough road event on Saturday with all the continuous pedaling! Talus was a machine with all his pulls on the front of a very lazy A bunch. Decent time so happy with result and not being involved in any crashes.

[AryM]

My First Start in the A Bunch as well with bmw1za.

That START...

 

Wow, managed to hold on and stuck with this bunch till about 45-50 km...

Got picked up by the chasing bunch with a few strong riders. Latched & stayed until the end, awesome bunch to ride with.

Lady in Pink..Kudo's

Guy in Complete Cyclist kit with Pink Socks too...

 

What a learning curve!!

 

Potholes were scary tho..

[bmw1za]

4 guys in our team dont have racetec results...any info ????

[shaper]

4 guys in our team dont have racetec results...any info ????

they can query with racetec and submit garmin files or similar if racetec did not pick them up

[bmw1za]

they can query with racetec and submit garmin files or similar if racetec did not pick them up

 

Thanks. I have advised and was just wondering if its only them.

[Seeker911]

Potholes wrecked havoc in the BL group. Saw at least 1 lady go down in the group and heard one or more frantic scrambles behind me followed by who knows what except to say at one point it got very lonely at the back of the pack

[Wilka1975]

Hope they got the potholes sorted by next year otherwise I will have to do both on mtb! nice fast race though.

[bmw1za]

Was Ary and I the only 2 hubbers in the A bunch chase group... curious to know who is who

[Joe Low]

Potholes wrecked havoc in the BL group. Saw at least 1 lady go down in the group and heard one or more frantic scrambles behind me followed by who knows what except to say at one point it got very lonely at the back of the pack

 

Rode the mtb event with a guy yesterday who stopped to help a lady from BL who came down, he said she was taken away with a broken arm.

[Seeker911]

Must admit though the potholes and road conditions make this a very dangerous race. Personally I will have to think twice next year about doing this race considering the poor road conditions. Hopefully our wonderful government will fix the roads but somehow I doubt it