Race report - mt. Verde challenge. Hilton estate south africa. A fun race prior to the championships.
I call this race - monkeys in the mist.
Ok I normally wouldn't put the warmup into a report but this one is special.
The Hilton estates is a gated ranch land about 15k north of Pietermaritzburg. I was there about 90 min early so i decided to do a couple loops of the 12k course. This thing is steep. Rugged. Like mountain biking on a road bike. There's drainage culverts that run across the road. The pavement is broken in spots and uneven. The road itself is narrow chip-seal with a gravel soft shoulder. Because of this, there was gravel all over the place. The course is twisty with 14% grades in spots. It's all up or down. Nothing gentle.
On my second lap, something caught my eye. There in the mist in the forest of trees..... Monkeys! Lots and lots of monkeys. So cool. Made my day. We looked at each other for a while. I tried to take some pictures but they are too good at hiding for an iPhone.
Onto the race. I meet a few people before the race. Exchange stories etc. so these guys from San Francisco tell me they are cat1 elite and another girl says yeah, I was pro last year. Ok. This is what I have here. This is gunna hurt!!
I started with the front pack and stayed with them until we hit the steep grades. There was no way that i could.hold that pace on That grade. I kept it strong and gained some wheel suckers as I passed people who were also dropped. I worked ok with the guys. Only one spoke English. The two strongest in the group could not have been more different. When I was on the front, I took it to the middle of the road so as riders behind me could be well blocked from the wind and not end up in gravel. The other guy was on one side or the other ditching people into the gravel. No English so I couldn't explain this to him. As the race went on I got a little slower on the hills. But only one passed me. The fog rolled in for real on about the third lap. All you could do on the upper third of the course was watch the side of the road. Visibility of about 10 feet. Crap! I kept it fairly hard but safe in the end and ended with a time of around 2:10 I think. Not sure if the placement yet. Almost 1500 meters of climbing over 60k. That's pure punishment. Jet lag over...
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| I'm in 5th here - Sucking wind |
Ok. I don't usually document the ride home but this one was a white knuckler!
I'll keep it simple. Fog now fully rolled in. The light is fading (5:15). I have no lights and I'm wearing black. I have to ride on the wrong side of the road. I have no clue where I'm going. And I'm alone. In the words of Elwood blues: Hit it!
I can hardly see in front of me so i follow a car and try to remember the turns the car took that brought me up here.
I made it down to the main road that I think goes to Pietermaritzburg. I can't take the highway which was how I got there. Remember that 14*% grade they warned me about? Well soon I was flying. Blind that is. I had to ask directions a couple of times. Was passed too close by a bus and probably sweat my ass off worried about getting hit and never to be found again in a roadside ditch in south Africa. But of course this message is evidence that I made it home ....
Monkeys! Who races with monkeys!! :) too frigging cool!
http://www.uwctfinal.co.za/mtverde.html
http://www.cyclenation.co.za/index.php/road/road-news/news/item/9792-internationals-warm-up-for-uwct-final-in-misty-mt-verde-road-race
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