Photos from www.photosport.co.za via www.bikehub.co.za & my gopro.
I had a lot of excitement leading up to this event. Nice training days and a few really long days in the saddle to get used to what a 100 miles would be.
Yet race day came, an early start at 7:30am and a beautiful sunrise on the way there. Walking to the start line and knowing how excited and good I felt for the race, I couldn't help but to smile. I was very fortunate to be handed the Canyon Grail gravel bike that I tested a few weeks ago for this race and knew we'd gel well together over this terrain.
We set off and hit the first dirt sections & I held back before pushing it a bit opening a gap to bring only the strongest guys along dit the day. I felt extremely comfortable, in love as always with the hover bar & managed the perfect tyre pressure for the day.
I know I had the pressure right, not to soft or to hard, yet the terrain had different ideas for a few of us. After about 40km's I started to bob around on the bike and noticed that the rear wheel was going down.
Jaco Davel & I both agreed to stop together and to bomb our tyres, that we did but mine didn't seal at all. I told Jaco to carry on and off he shot like a rocket. Laid the bike down & pulled out about 13 thorns, popped a tube in and set off again.
Well, I didn't get much further, about 20km on and then it struck again... The little thorns took me prisoner for a double punch. Unsaddled and set about inserting another tube. A friendly passer by stopped and gave me a Co2 canister to help get the tyre up(since I was out of them by that stage) Forever grateful to that guy, I owe him a beer. He rode a sintese bike if I'm not mistaken and the next time I see him we're having a beer. Such a selfless act! Got onto the grail and smashed some gravel.
That "smashing" lasted for about 3km's before my day ended completely. Another bam and I was out. Limping by foot, ready for a 100km walk because quite frankly, I had no idea where I was. I was so "rigting bedonderd" that I'd have been camping out there for nights. We didn't race in the coastal direction I though we did, we were quite far inland.
I have to add that I had a lot of fun throughout those first 60km's and definitely enjoyed the terrain. There was one section that was definitely very serious mountain bike section that took some navigation to get down with the gravel bikes but we all did it.
I got picked up by a local farmer that kindly drove myself and another cyclist to the half way point where we waited quite some time for the sweep van to pick us up and take us back to the start.
Not the ideal way I'd have liked to get back to the race village, but what an adventurous day eating way to many sweets at that midway point and seeing friends ride by and have an absolute baller of a day.
Keep on !
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