Frosty Posted October 21, 2015 Author Posted October 21, 2015 I was looking forward to day 3 from the day that we finalised the route down to Maritzburg - 176Km with almost 2000m of elevation gain, but also some really scenic roads through the midlands and of course plenty of downhills. After a request to start a little earlier than 07:00, we agreed on 06:00 and eventually rolled out at 06:28. A short climb out of Ladysmith, and then a double climb with a long descent to Colenso would take us onto a route shared with other tour groups coming from Winterton (after coming through the Free State). The Easterly wind was forecasted at 6-10km/h, with scatter clouds and warm temperatures - pretty much the same as the long term forecast we looked at in the week leading up to the start of the tour. Some of the slower group had wanted to ride UP Warthog hill, so chose to get in the car at the start and only get on their bikes at 20Km to Escourt. With many of us not really knowing the route, we didn't tell them that it's anything but flat on the road to Escourt. When they eventually reached us a the breakfast point at the top of Warthog hill, they were all back in the car. The roads leaving Escourt were terrible - and the screw on my Red-E power bank had worked it's way lose - forcing me to abandon the use of the camera - 40 mins battery life is the only downside of my Hero3 - the previous day was wet, and with the skeleton case is use, I didn't want to risk using it in the wet conditions. Bacon hill came and went, and onto Warthog hill. Our group was all together, but we soon split up on the climb. Our chairman decided that holding on to the backup vehicle was the easiest way to get to the top - and his fine would be to help prepare bacon rolls for us (at the top of Warthog hill). Strava hows 14:54 for me for Warthog hill, together with another "race snake" from the club. The slowest time was 20:44, so all in all a very good effort from each person on tour (for the faster group - the social group don't use Strava). Anyway, it wasn't a race, but rather an opportunity for each of us to ride a section of road at our own pace. Another 45 minute stop and we were on our way to Nottingham road via Mooi River. Lots of smooth roads, lots of descents and the occasional climb and we were in Mooi River and the sun shining in full force. The road leading out of Mooi River is under construction, so lots of cut-out sections of tar but on a climb it's not so bad. Down the next few rolling hills to Rosetta and finally in Nottingham road - where's the brewery? For a non-drinker, I was looking forward to having a Whistling Weasel - a pale ale, with a few deciding to join me. Other chose a stout and the rest either a cider or cooldrink. When in Rome, do like the Romans do... so why not have a local ale in Nottingham Road. Yet another 45 minutes break and we were back on the descending road to Howick. Now the fun could start... A short 1:53 video using the available power left on the GoPro. If you listen carefully, you'll hear a vibrating sound from the screw that was supposed to hold the power bank onto the bracket... The climb through Howick and up to Hilton was tougher than I had hoped for, and by now it was extremely hot. 24.6oC was the reading on another GPS, which I found hard to believe. A few mechanicals (2x punctures - not mine, and a loose STI on my bike) meant we had to stop on the Town hill descent. Thereafter, it was "descend at your own pace" and regroup at the railway line just before Victoria road in PMB. After rolling up at the wrong place (B&B), we had another 6Km cycle to the Hotel on the Mayors Walk road (a place I remember from my days in the army) where everyone started getting ready for the Amashova the following day. I missed the first half of the rugby, as I was the local mechanic (cleaning and prepping bikes for tomorrow - Amashova). Distance: 176Km + 6KmMoving time: 6:17:07Elevation gain: 2324m
Frosty Posted October 21, 2015 Author Posted October 21, 2015 Day 4 was the Amashova, riding out of the Buddy Batch, except for a few that chose to enter the tandem category. Our start time was 08:14 and getting up at 05:00 didn't help - it just made the day even longer than it could've been. Our plan for the day would be to help push the social group up Fox hill and onto the Saw Mills at Thornhill before we would split into two groups and meet up at the finish. The group was bigger than I thought it would be and knew we had to be at the front right from the start, so we didn't have to contend with slower cyclists. the fact that the MTB categories started in front of us, also didn't help - more traffic to contend with. After eventually getting away, we let the slower riders ride in front, and only pushed when they started drifting backwards. Fox was upon us quicker than we anticipated and also the big MTB group. The right hand side of the road was clear, so we quickly made the most of full road closure and hogged this side of the road all the way up to Thornhill. Teamwork got us to the top in 23.4km/h, so job done and we (faster group) were on our way. We were made up of 9 riders, with 2 dropping off on the road to Cato Ridge (with punctures), leaving us with 7 riders of which one had to be looked after on the climbs. I stopped at two water points to collect water and bananas for the guys, so they only had to concentrate on getting the slowest guy over the climbs. Little did I know how hard it was pedalling with a shirt/stomach full of food/water. I was eventually pushed back into the group after the first water point - next time I'll bring a draw-string bag with to put everything in. Next time = the charity ride at the 947. Inchanga was up next, where I got to meet two hubbers - they identified me from my name on the race number. Well done guys! Nice to have met you too. Water point 2 (for me) at Drummond was a lot easier to chase back to the guys, as they had it just before another climb so it slowed them down a bit. The time-lapse video below pretty much summarises the ride, but the best parts were on the descent of Field's hill, which two of us hooked onto the back of a tandem, with Simon (our Chairman) pushing them at 81km/h to get them to ride faster. By now, we had dropped the others as they weren't able to find that sweet spot behind the tandem and lost out on some awesome speed down Field's hill. As most people that rode later in the day, the wind had picked up and we were almost into a block head wind. 3 of us shared the pace making until 45th cutting before we recovered a bit and started again on the N3 into town. From there it was a long hard turn on the front right up to the line, meaning our Tour for 2015 was finally "done and dusted." Ride distance: 106KmMoving time: 3:21Elevation gain - does it matter? For me this was a great experience - I had finally clocked more than 200km on a single ride. I had cycled to Durban and i did it with a great group of friends. 2016 can't come fast enough!
Frosty Posted October 22, 2015 Author Posted October 22, 2015 well done guys, i saw some of you on the road There were a number of people passing us with bikes on the back of their cars - I guess heading to (1) the Amashova or (2) Berg and Bush, and then of course in the race itself.
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