On Saturday the 13th of January Anette and I rode the Century Electrical Cycle race at Vanderbijlpark. It was a small, but very well organised race and I think the time of the year makes it even smaller with people still out of training for the holidays and out of money because of the holidays.
Making coffee at 4:16 in the morning...
As with all things racing in South Africa it was out of bed early to travel and get to the 7 AM start of the 80km race in time. I always prefer to be a bit early and we could get ready to ride without any pressure or hurry.
Anette on her way to the start.
The Giant waiting for me to get moving.
The start and finish was at one of the local churches and all the volunteers were from the church as well.The start was in the church grounds and we had enough time to be relaxed while waiting.
Waiting for the start of the 80km race. Small field.
Even time for a selfie.
After a rolling start we rode passed a few industries and were out into the country roads after about 6km. The whole race is out in the country with only the start and finish in the suburbs of Vanderbijlpark.
The open country route was one of the reasons I entered the race in the first place. It is always great to get out of the city for some time during weekends.
We've done parts of the route a few times in other races. It was good to know a bit about what was lying ahead. Knowing that the route was fairly fast and flat gave us confidence for the ride. With such a small field it was also not long before I found myself on a solo 80km ride.
Crossing the Vaal river.
We crossed the Vaal river to exit Gauteng for a round trip in the Free State. This part of the route was mainly between farms with some cattle and lots of maize fields. The crops are looking good and there was lots of green around us after some good rain.
Crops are looking good.
The only down part of the race was some roads with really bad potholes. Luckily the race organisers filled a lot of them the day before and also marked the worst ones with spray paint. The potholes and the temperature that was climbing towards 30°C fast were the only negatives on the day for me. I was actually having a good time out there! Me having a good time cycling! Who would have thought that a few years back...?
Having a good time!
Before anything got bad or difficult or really warm, I was on my way back to the finish. My best cycle race by far. Anette also had a good race without any incidents.
1st Medal for 2018 in the bag.
4 comments:
It's good to see you are blogging again. I found your blog a couple of years ago, just when I started running and I was looking for information on the Springbok vasbyt.
I know I've commented this before, but it never fails to make me smile when I see your pictures showing opposite seasons of mine.
Nice work on the race! I'm glad you're having fun on the bike. :)
Lookie....I can comment again (I had to change my Google password about 5x, but eventually got in again :)).
It's interesting to see medals in cycling - you do not see them here. I did a century once and I had to pay to get a t-shirt at the end of it. Nothing is timed either - they are just organized biking events (that cost a fortune). There are bike races I think, but they are far and few between.
Regardless of that, I'm digging the new you and I know you really miss running, but so glad that the bike is becoming part of your new identity. Us endurance junkies need a fix....whatever that is.
Congrats to you and Anette :)
Great post.
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