Happy new year everyone! A new year with new challenges and new possibilities!!
The racing season has started with a bash and this weekend saw 2 races, very tough in this heat wave that just hit us!! Yesterday was 43 degrees in Stellenbosch!!
On Saturday I did the road bike leg in a 7 men ladies team in the Total sports challenge inGordonsBay. We were in the lead for a long time but unfortunately lost it on the last leg and came second around 45 seconds behind the winning team. It is a fun event with 7 different disciplines that you either do in a 7 person’s team or you can also do it in pair or solo. The sports included are surf ski, open water swim, road bike, road run, canoe, MTB and beach run.
We had a very strong swimmer and she came out of the water as the first ladies team. The rules are that you are allowed to draft, I had bad luck and was on my own with some weaker guys on my wheel and the second lady got caught by some very strong men. So they all caught me after about 25km and then there was nothing to do, so we came together to the transit.
It was a very long day in the sun waiting for the prize giving in the afternoon, so I was very tired when I came home to prepare for the next days race.
The alarm went off at 4.10am for the second morning this weekend and it was time to cycle to the start of this season’s first league race. We started with the vets and masters again and it was a fast start with lots of attacks. I felt fine and climbed well with the first vets up Helshoogte, the biggest climbed of the day. I was sleeping when we turned on to the R44 and in to a strong side wind, they put the hammer down and went very hard on this stretch, I was too far back in the bunch and lost them. For 28km I was on my own trying to catch, which I obviously could not do. Another small bunch caught me and I could ride with them to the finish and win the ladies category by a few minutes.
I wish there were more ladies racing, a lot of girls says they want to do the league if there were a ladies only start group, and the organizers says that they will have a ladies only group if there are more then 30 ladies racing. So a catch 22, the ladies does not enter because it is not a ladies only but if they would enter then we could start on our own and it would be more of a race. So girls, get together and enter!!
