3&4 Dec: Last race of the year. OmniMotion/Bicycling 24hr at Van Gaalens. What an experience! Had just the craziest week beforehand which resulted in minimal time to think and prepare for a 24hour race. Most people I know think that I’m crazy for entering a 24hour race and they just assume I’m doing it as part of a team. When I tell them I’m doing it solo there’s is just one expression – surprise. What they don’t realize is that it’s the best way. For me it means I have 24 hours to ride my bike – not necessarily that I’ll ride for 24hours. Big difference. I’ve found that these lap style races suit me. The course is not too long. It has a mix of terrain so each time I do another lap I gain in confidence. By the time the time is up I find that I’m riding things I couldn’t ride the first time round. That’s training. That’s improvement. That’s my goal. Number of laps is completely irrelevant.
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| Home for the 24hr |
Around was a riders’ briefing and we went to find out what to expect, what to do, what not to do. It was hot, but in the distance were some ominous dark clouds. Would they come our way and what was in them?
The start is a Le Mans
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| Sections along the route - SunsetLap (aka PhotoLap) |
The route is incredible. There is an incredible mix of terrain. Some challenging sections and some fast and flat sections; stunning, flowing single track weaving in and out of forest sections with regular wider spots for the faster riders to be able to pass by tortoises like me; open farm road sections where you could floor it; twisty-turny sections to navigate through; 3 bridge crossings; breath taking views of the Magaliesburg mountains as you came out through of the forest; no long draining hills (that Van Gaalens is known for); some short sharp dip and ups – some I managed just because momentum (my friend) carried me up, others if I timed the pedal stroke just right I made it and others I walked (not too many, but nevertheless I walked); we rode through tunnels of reeds and gnarly root sections. That Erik at Van Gaalens did an awesome job of route creation as well as maintaining the course during the event. I spotted him fixing a concrete slab and a bit later putting down gravel in parts of the track.
At the rider’s briefing I thought I’d only do 1 lap to start because of the heat. But by the time we got going the clouds had appeared right above us and it was lovely and cool and so when I finished the first lap I just kept going. That is a lesson I learned. Don’t stop – it’s too easy to get side tracked and then you cool down and your legs and butt hurt and it’s hard to get going. I wanted to do a 3rd one in succession but had made a mistake in my “nutrition”, which is dodgy at the best of times. I hadn’t eaten well the few days before; had only half a sarmie on the way there and had forgotten to pack any snacks/bars/sweets in my pockets, so as I was nearing the end of the 2nd lap I felt I may just bonk. My tank was on E and it didn’t stand for Enough. So I went to re-fuel, but you have to give yourself time to digest it and so I ended up only going out again for a SunsetLap. This is the most beautiful time of day to ride and so out came the phone camera and I stopped a lot as you can see. It was the PhotoLap
Next up … the moment I’d been waiting for – the night riding. I must say I was a tad concerned when they started mentioning that at would be the start of the naked lap and so I made sure I was nowhere near the start at the time. Grems suited up. Yup into a CowSuit and I had my CowKit and tutu … and so we were well covered. Lights went on and we were off. About 1km in all this white stuff started spraying – just like that silly spray we had as kids. Puncture. Grems fortunately bailed me out and got it to stop spewing, put more air in the tyres and got me on the road again. He is just the best! One day I’m going to have to learn to do this for myself, but not yet.
Along the way Sonya joined our little group and the 3 of us rode the rest of the way. She was part of a team but had only done 1 lap prior. It reminded me just why I like to ride solo. I can ride as much or as little as I want to. Some teams had 8 people in them. So if they take 40min each a lap and you’re the last person in the team you’ve got um well like a long long time to wait before you can ride again. Sadly my lights went from green to blue to orange before half way and so I didn’t want to take a chance that on the 2nd lap they’d go red and out and I’d be left in the dark so instead I went for a shower and a cup of aero hot chocolate. Wicked stuff.
One of the most surprising things is how the time goes by. There wasn’t enough time. I’m serious. The start was at 12noon. By I had finished my first lap and quickly checked my phone. The next lap I was finished by .. then around about 5.30 or so we headed out for the Sunset Lap .. that took another hour and twenty minutes. Then some supper, wait for it to digest, time the night ride to start after the naked lap has started, so sometime before 9 we headed out (I’m usually in bed and fast asleep by then, and I’m about to do a 12km lap .. who am I?). We finished that lap and Grems headed out for a 2nd one in the CowSuit (be wary of the CowSuit. Seriously it has mystical powers. Once it’s on it takes over and you can do anything in it). I went to shower and get the hot choc and I waited at the finish for Grems. He was done in 45min and the timekeepers clock said . That’s crazy. It’s late, especially for me.
At we went to watch the Bike Burning. Yes that’s right. Some time during the day it started with a serious competition of Bike Tossing: who can toss a road bike the furtherest and there were some serious contenders there. Then they built a bonfire, put the bike in it and at lit it. You cant say that you get bored at 24 hour event even when you’re not riding. There’s always stuff happening. There’d been several other odd competitions earlier but I hadn’t worked out what they were as I was too busy riding or chilling at the campsite.
After a good night’s sleep, yes really – a tent, a campsite with hundreds of people, a blow up mattress, my duvet and pillow (I think that’s the key or is it 48km of riding) - I heard signs of life from the other campers around 5am. I slowly got myself towards myself and climbed out of bed. Also Tiaan had come to visit and he and Grems were chatting away. After going to the bakkie to fetch my phone that had been on charge overnight, getting pancakes and tea we headed back to the camp, got ourselves ready and headed out for our first morning lap. It was not a happy occasion. Some how overnight my saddle had gotten ridiculously hard. My butt was not happy and I felt every single tuft of grass from the camp site to the start. This lap may not happen I was thinking to myself but even when you’re just in the CowKit you somehow keep going. The first km was awful, lots of groans and shifting to find if there was a non sore way to sit (there wasn’t). The legs were protesting a bit as well as it was quite chilly still and they needed to warm up. But surprisingly everything got sorted and comfy and it was a good lap. Actually it was probably the fastest because when Grems rides with you he makes you ride faster than you normally would. On my night lap he pipes up and says how well I’m doing because there were sections the speedo registered 13-16km. Now that’s fast for me, but you must understand how kind he is … He’d been doing speeds of 25-30km/h during the day. We were riding at half his pace and he says I’m doing well.
We finish the 1st morning lap and I say I’m going for another. Grems has been suffering with knee pain since yesterday afternoon so he heads back. I quickly pop to the loo and when I get back on my bike this silly spray nonsense has started all over again. I remember what Grems did on the night lap and I do the same, and it seems to seal up. But it’s lost some pressure so I decide to go back to camp and just check it all out before I head out again. Just as well. There’s a small slit in the tyre. Seriously. Grems ends up plugging the hole (another thing I’ve learnt now). But like I said before, it’s best not to go back to camp because it’s hard to get going again. The butt is seriously protesting. In that short space of time my legs have turned into concrete and they do not want to budge. Turning the pedals is not on their list of things to do, but fortunately they settle down, warm up and we’re off. I can feel I’m tired now and my wrists and thumbs hurt. This route has been : gear up / gear down / lightly brake. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. It’s a much slower lap than earlier – probably because I don’t have Grems to keep up with.
I make it back and spend R10 the best way ever : on a bike wash. Not long after the siren goes and the 24hours has finished. We see Linda and Marc riding in on their last lap and cheer them on. Linda is the leading solo lady with 15 laps! That’s a lot of distance. And surprisingly I came 3rd. I heard later through cyberspace that I’d won a prize or something, my name was called out at prize giving. My first thought is that it was one of those fun prizes like longest lap, best tutu or something. But no, it turns out I was 3rd. A podium. Wow. And more surprising is that there weren’t only 3 of us in the race. There were 11.
So a real podium in my first year of mountain biking. Just under a year ago I got myself a mountain bike and thought I’d play around a bit with it. Well I got hooked, have met the most fantastic people who have helped me along the way just by being themselves, being friendly, being willing to let me tag along. I remember my first time at the bike park and I was soo scared of the 3m tar roll down as you leave the club house to go down to the routes. It was terrifyingly steep. But this weekend you should have seen the roll downs I did and even on the first lap, the exploratory lap, I rode them without my heart in my mouth. Bridges that I just rode without stopping before hand.
So this blog started out with me thinking I may be “just a little unwell” (Matchbox20) and may be I am, but honestly it’s more a case of “now I’ve had the time of my life” (from Dirty Dancing) … or should that be Black Eyed Peas … Dirty Bit. Such a lovely event. Put it in your diary for next year.
Some things I learnt this weekend:
1. My strategy really does work for me but will make a few tweaks (especially in terms of equipment and mechanical skills) but my confidence and skills have grown and I’ve had so much fun.
2. Eat better.
3. Just keep going. To paraphrase Monopoly : Go directly on. Do not pass the campsite – you will never leave.
4. I can ride 72km in 24hours. A huge step up from the 20km rides I’ve been doing. How to convert that into half marathons for next year … I’ll see.
5. Butt and legs actually adjust and riding does get comfy again. Refer back to Pt 3.
6. I didn’t get to get back into cleats – Oh well. Cant do everything in one 24hour race. But that will be December’s project. Learn to ride in cleats.
7. Perhaps consider stronger tyres - seems I’m a bit tough on these ones. Who’d have thought that DrivingMissDaisy here would need stronger tyres.
8. Gas heated showers are the way to go – hot water at 10pm after tons of dirty / sweaty mountain bikers have been through. Brilliant.
9. And always always take your BFF / WBB – never leave home without him. Priceless. Thanks Grems – you rock as always. One day I may be able to do some of those mechanical things. I am watching and learning.
Your not crazy, you are just an awesome COW :)
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