25 Jun: My one mountain biking goal for this year is to do all 5 of the Nissan Trailseeker series. And so it’s with great trepidation that the first one is here. Already. My goodness – really am not ready for this. All the other races I’ve done are fast and flat, no technical – they’re like road rides, but just on dirt. Until now. This is real mountain biking.
Added to the stress levels is the fact the MountainBikeBarbie, Lauren, has told me it’s a fast and flat route and it’s where she got her best finish last year. So that emboldens me and so I enter the 40km. Really, I don’t know where my brains are.
I go off to fetch the race kits, which is the same as the road races I’ve collected for – it’s just different: different venue, different things to check (like number boards and they have to be scanned – oh ok) and also different vibe. On route Clinton phones to say he’s also coming through now to collect his so that’ll be fun. While standing in the queue I see MeridaMan (John – Lauren’s boyfriend) he’s collecting 8 and we get chatting. It’s really a great vibe. I’m surprised at how many mountain bikers I know actually.
After work the WBB aka BikeMechanic Grems pops by to check out my bike for me. It’s all sorted. Mechanically everything’s ready. Psychologically – I’m not so sure.
The big day dawns. Well hardly. It is flipping dark. It is flipping cold and it’s flipping early. Ok –the latter’s not really a big issue for me as I’m one of the those rare rare creatures .. I’m a morning person. But winter’s a challenge – even for me. For the past 24 hours I’ve been discussing clothing. For a girl “what are you wearing” is nothing unusual – however I’m discussing this with Gerhard. And there’s a lot of discussion about base layer, sleeves, gloves, how many layers, what about a jacket, how to keep my ears warm etc etc.
I’ve arranged to go to this race at Hazeldean with Gremlin Airlines – so at least I don’t have to stress about getting there, it’s all up to him. The weirdest part about this is Homer Simpson telling us where to go. It is just too funny and I spill my breakfast. It’s just as well Homer’s not in my car, I’d probably drive off the edge cos I wasn’t concentrating.
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| Seriously? Where are your clothes? |
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| The Chill Zone? |
We arrive at Hazeldean and it’s c-c-cold. The demo cars that were left here overnight are all iced up. We’re not removing a single layer. It’s far too cold. Ettienne finds us and the three of us head on down to the start. We split up as Grems is doing the half marathon and Ettienne had to go back to the car.
My nerves are building and they’re not helped by seeing a guy 3 groups ahead crash in the thick sand a few metres into the race. Added to the race announcer is warning us about the drop off also somewhere close to the start. Eventually our batch is up and we’re counted down. I walked the thick sand, got back on my bike and rode off. Never did see that drop off the guy was going on about.
My nerves settle after a while and the going is good. It’s a nice route but it’s cold and flipping windy. There are some beautiful flat wide open sections where I’d like to become BBM (Big Blade Mulley as Clinton laughingly calls me) but it’s just too windy and I get blown backwards. I see one of the team from CSharp (it’s either LeeAnn or hubby Neil) alongside the dam – I can’t tell which because they’re bundled up with so many layers in an effort to keep from becoming a frostbike victim.
We come across a nice descent – not technical or anything and it’s quite long and I’m loving it. Woo hoo. A sharp turn left onto some single track and then there’s this little koppie. Hmmm. I’m off my bike and walking – some riders behind are not amused. It’s not what they say – it’s their silence. The vibes are stabbing me in the back. Never mind. At the top, I’m back on my bike and off again. It’s not long before I see a whole queue of people standing in front. Um – what’s this? Month end at Northgate? What’s with the queue? No idea. So we walk a bit and stand. Then we walk a bit and stand. Eventually it becomes clear – there’s a short roll down. I know what I have to do, but it’s not going to make friends with the guys behind me. I shyly turn around and explain to the dude behind me that I’m going to let a gap build up between me and the dude in front of me. I need momentum (momentum is my friend) if I have any hope of riding the obstacle. I think he was a little taken aback. But that pause was long enough for me to get on my bike and ride without him breathing down my neck. I rode it. Woo hooo. See all this playing at the bike park has helped. And funnily enough all the dudes behind me also got to ride it, instead of shuffling along.
But we were forced to shuffle a bit more as the next obstacle was coming up – the first of the bridges. I’d seen this one before – Tim had posted it on twitter. It looked Lisa Friendly from the photo. It wasn’t. Photo’s are obviously only two-dimensional and cant fully show you the steepness and twists that being there on the spot can. So I rode up to the top but walked down to the bridge and across it. The 2nd bridge I also walked. But the 3rd bridge that I rode. Woo hoo. And it went into the rocks of the river bed and I just rode on over. Yeah yeah yeah.
I’m beginning to tire though. The cold is still there and so is the wind. It’s actually really unpleasant. The route twists alongside the highway but I get off as it’s really really rocky and I don’t have the skill to pretend not to see them and just look ahead. I get off and walk. Finally that’s over. I come up to a water table and decide not to stop, I just want this to be over with and I see a familiar face .. it’s MountainBike Barbie – yay. So nice. We chat for a few minutes and she tells me something really really important. It’s not far, but there’s a killer hill coming. Not the best piece of news, but it’s not far and at least I’m pre-warned. Oh.My.Soul – she was NOT kidding. There is no way to ride this. And so I do what I do best – walk. Eventually I get to the top and begin to ride down the other side. I see the 3 arrow sign, but I’m going to give it a try .. I ride all the way to the bottom, slowly, but I rode it. The dude in front of me stopped and he walked, but I rode it. Woo hooo. See the progress. Small baby steps, but there’s progress.
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| Interesting outfit, but warm |
Eventually I’m on a tar section that I recognise from the beginning. Yay. Almost home. I pass a guy along the twisty section and I cross the finish line. There’s WBB to take a photo and send it to my sister to say I’m alive, home and in one piece. LOL. Poor guy – he’d finished hours ago and had to wait on the sports field in the howling chilly wind. I am so blessed. We go back to the car, load up the bikes, and decide we’re not going back to the field – it’s home and take-aways along the way.
I have never been so cold or found it so hard to ride because of the wind. Yes, it probably doesn’t compare with that time the girls rode Argus yada yada yada .. but really it was tough. Loved the route though. Hope next year climate control can be arranged.
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