Dischem Ride For Sight - Feeling More Motivated

Last Sunday Anette and I rode the Dischem Ride For Sight race at Boksburg Stadium. This is quite a popular race with 1640 riders finishing the 62km event and 2504 riders finishing the 116km event. We opted for the 62km as we did not feel 100% ready for the longer race.

There was a hive of activity before the start as riders made their way to the different loading pens before moving to the start. Even though it looked a bit chaotic, the organisation was actually very good and everything went smoothly.

Anette in good spirit before the start.

We started in batches of plus minus 350 riders and the road was fine to handle these numbers easily. I am getting used to riding with and close to other riders. It took me some time to feel comfortable with this.

Waiting at the start.

On our way!

The race went very well and I was glad I took the shorter option. This meant I could ride a little faster and get more confidence between other riders on the road.

The first half of the race was fast with lots of downhill riding. Even though this makes things fairly easy you still need to be careful not to go out too fast and concentrate on pacing. I was a master at pacing with running, but I am still learning how to pace myself properly while cycling. I think I did well pacing myself for this race.

Profile

All in all the race was good and I felt excellent the whole way. I definitely have a long way to go still with the cycling. I have to work extra hard on my climbing and with that also get rid of lots of extra weight. No skipping of training rides for me...

Nice, positive experience race.

I need to work on my climbing.

The race was good for my motivation as well. That is part of the reason I did the 62km and not the 116km. I needed a hassle free race where I finish feeling great with only positives to take home. I got exactly that and it lifted my cycling motivation a lot.

Finish line in sight!

This was my 20th cycle race finish. I had a few DNF's due to punctures but the 20 finishes probably means the next target is 50. This is nothing compared to my nearly 1400 race finishes when I was running, but that is just it; I always though it would be nothing for cycling... nothing as in zero. Now it is 20 and that is good.

It is great to be more motivated to cycle and now that I have some number on the board I will work more positively to achieve my goals.

Anette was also in good spirit after her race.

Happy training & racing everyone! Be safe out there!

Bad first Ascent Switchback Gloves

If you ever see the first Ascent Switchback cycling gloves for a good price, be careful to buy them. I can't say if they are all the same, but I had no fun with mine.

first Ascent Switchback gloves

The colour keeps washing out and even sweating out. I thought it would get better over time, but it actually became worse and worse. 

I've stopped wearing them now after some clothing and other things got stained. My hands looks like I burst multiple veins when I remove the gloves after a sweaty ride. Really not good. 

So be careful when buying these and even more careful to wash them together with any other clothing...

Have a happy weekend everyone! Be safe!

Keeping it close to home

As I mentioned before I do a lot of my riding in the neighborhoods around my area, always keeping things close to home. During the week all my rides are in the neighborhoods. This is for safety reasons mainly and also in case of an emergency like a fall or a flat or whatever. I don't have much time during the week so if anything happens it helps to be close to home.

On the weekends we like to go on the open roads a bit more although we still include some neighborhoods as well. We still like to keep things close to home for the same reasons as above. I say we as over the weekends Anette usually joins me for riding. 

We are lucky that we live in an area where we have open roads to ride close to home. A few weeks ago I could do my 105km ride without ever being more than 10km from home. This makes doing long rides alone possible and safer.

We have some lovely open roads literally in our back yard. Lots of cyclists enjoy these roads over weekends as everyone tries to stay safe and away from traffic.

Here are some video clips of the open roads around our area...

Keep it going everyone!

Throwback Thursday

What?! I have a throwback for cycling? Indeed I have...

Throwback to January 1984

This is when I bought my first proper bike. Actually this is when I bought my first bike. Before then I rode on "hand-me-downs" from my brother and sisters. 

In January 1984 I used R800 of the R850 I was paid for holiday work at the Johannesburg Post Office to buy my first proper bike. 

A Basso 12 speed dream machine! It was a high quality bike at the time and R800 was a lot for a bike in 1984.

January 1984 - Proud owner of my new Basso

I bought my Basso from the late, great Alan van Heerden. "The Idol" did the setup himself and it was absolutely perfect.

I still have the bike although it is not in a rideable state. I will have have it restored to its former glory one day. It was an incredible bike and really just great in every possible way; the reason I am still hanging on to it.