The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Tales of A Sub 4 hour tandem Tour Durban

The Tour Durban is a cycling race held annually in Durban. It is the first cycle race in Durban for the year and held around the last Sunday of April. Since the Amashova cycle race in October of last year (2011), myself and my dad thought about doing a longer ride on the tandem and the Tour Durban became the target.

Training did not start “properly” until early 2012 and progressed nicely. We managed to cycle alot of the actual route as we live in Durban and training rides take in some of the race route.

We were pretty keen and excitement started to build. We planned certain parts of the route and what we wanted to do where. We plotted the course time and time again in conversation. Personally, because I have done the distance on a single bike as well as on a tandem, I knew we would make it. It was a question of how long it took us.

The big day arrived and we got dropped at the start by my wife Carrie. She is amazing and always supports us whenever a race is entered. This time she was accompanied by our daughter Makayla for the first time to watch “Team Laister” ride. We hovered around the start and finally got called to entered the start shoot. There were 12 tandems in total and we looked pretty average in comparison. All the others had racing tandem whereas ours is a hybrid. The others also looked far too serious.

We knew the plan was to set off at a pace of no more than 32km/h till the first major climb and go from there. The race started late due to an accident on the route but finally got underway about 15 minutes late. The tandems were batched behind the pro peleton – always nice to see the top guys up close.

We set off at the pace we were happy with knowing there was a monster climb about 20 km in. The other tandem set off very quickly and we just settled into our pace. We were happy with the pace and it worked for us. The only problem with being so close to the front with only 12 tandems in your start batch is that most of the ride is on your own.

We hit the M7 climb and were pretty fresh still. we mentally had prepared to get into a rhythm and stick to it. we did and it worked. The other plan was to go over the top of the hill and use the down to gather some speed back we had lost on the last up. This also worked. We knew the route was to the top of the M7 in Pinetown, then turn right and go down the M13 into town. We thought it was but did not read the route map properly! Instead on turning right we carried on going which also means the hills are not over. Mentally a very tough situation.  Having cycled this part of the route before I had an idea what was coming. This turned when they directed us off the M19 onto Blair Atholl drive. This was a shocking decision on the organizes part and it hurt us badly, both physically and mentally. Effectively, it takes you through a valley and out the other side on a very tight, bending course. The lowest point of the section was almost a right hand bend into a steep uphill.

Uphill on a tandem is a bad idea especially when starting from low speed as happened here. the next section was not great. Going down most of the way, it was an opportunity to catch a break and get some blood flow to certain regions of our anatomy. This section was new to the route and the organizes did not marshal it properly and this resulted in cars and people on the road. We had to slow down numerous times because of this. This irritates me immensely and got me angry! I had to spend the next 10 km calming down and focused on the legs!  We hit the M4 to Balito and started to suffer a touch. it was not as easy as expected. We battled through.

we turned slightly before we had thought so we started on a slight high coming back home. At Umhloti, we joined the route of the fun ride so the road became more congested.

At some point during all our races we always pick up ‘a tail’ of people sitting behind us in our slip stream. This was the time this started to happen this time. The problem with these ‘tails’ is that no one does their share. This also irritates me. Coming south along the M4 after Umhlanga, there is a hill down to the La Lucia area. I was planning to cruise down the hill standing up, again to restore the flow, then hit the flat section home hard. Just before we were able to stand up, a motor bike pulled up beside us and a video camera was put in our faces. We had a choice. We could sit up and smile for the camera or put the hammer down and go for it for all to see in our 2 minutes of fame. We did the latter.

We hammered down the hill at over 50 km/h and the camera stayed with us so we carried on going at it hard. Legs were screaming nad my right knee was giving me trouble now too. We have a computer on our bike and it tell you how far we had gone – 90 km. 15 left. I asked my dad, how long have we got to get home for a sub 4 hour race. His reply? “30 minutes”.

That was it, all we needed to hit it hard and get home. Those 15 km are a complete blur. We have never pushed so hard before and I am very proud of our effort. We had a few people on our back wheel who actually refused to try and pull. we pulled over and I waved them through to pull and they said “no”. Disrespectful riding in my opinion. 3 riders (1 male and 2 females) helped us out. There 1 “hill” we had to conquer. Being a tandem, any uphill, we lose power and speed. I said to these riders – sit on our wheel all day but pull us up the hill. They obliged. I appreciated the respect.

Once over the hill, we knew it was all flat or down from there. we caught a bunch of about 25 or 30 riders. As we passed them, I said to them lets work together. Again, No was the answer. Except one guy who pulled out and pulled us for a bit. It helped. That group sat on our back wheel all the way home and even tried to overtake us on the final bends. They did not succeed – we made sure of it.

In the last kilometer there was an on ramp onto the final road and we used that to gain some momentum into the finish line. We pushed it hard all the way over. The last 16 km were done at over 32 km/h. I say 16 km because the race route was actually 106km not 105km as the organizes said.

We climbed off the bike and moments later my dad passed me the computer to show me the time. 3:59. We had done it – a sub 4 hour race. It was and still is an amazing feeling to accomplish some thing like that together.

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Lessons To Learn From An Undercover Wannabe Street Racer.

The Fast and the Furious movies are probably up there with the best car movies made in a very long time. An undercover cop (Brian) tries to infiltrate the street racing scene in order to crack a truck hijacking syndicate. There are a few things that we all can learn from the first of five movies.

1. You earn respect. You cannot take it.

In his first race, Brian, loses badly but wants the other racers to respect him. This does not work because respect is earned not taken. This is so true. It does not matter whether you are the boss or the person right at the bottom of the food chain, you cannot just take respect. Respect is earned over time.

2. When somebody you trust says something, at the very least follow it up.

Vince had a suspicion of Brian being a cop and Dom just ignored him and carried on with life. Vince was right and it hurt the group later in the movie. If someone you trust or someone who is very close to you says something, investigate it and evaluate the results for yourself.

3. Family first.

Family comes in different forms. For the street racing guys and girls – they were a family. No one could penetrate that family and there was AWLAYS room for family. This is very true in reality. Normal family certainly does not exist anymore so family has become a mix and match situation for loads of people. Your family are the people who are around you at all times, through good AND bad. Chances are your family are the ones who stick with you when things are bad. Keep them close and guard them because they guard you.

 

These are simple but vital lessons we can learn from Brian and the fast and furious cast of the first movie.

The second movie had a few lessons too. Watch for that right here soon…

5 Life Lessons From A Young Wizard.

Harry Potter took the world by storm, first in a ‘children’s’ book and subsequently, due the enormous success, in a series of movies. Apart from enjoying the books and or movies, what can we learn from this wizard from ‘The cupboard under the stairs at 4 Privet Drive’?

1. It pays to keep certain things to yourself.

Even before he went to school, we learn this. Early one morning, Harry collects the post and receives his first letter. He walks through to the kitchen with an amazed expression on his face to hand the post to his uncle and gets the letter taken away and thrown in the fire. He could have (should have) taken it straight to cupboard and keep it to himself. Keeping things to yourself can be a very good thing to do but not too much. Secrets can lead to trouble if kept too long.

2. Fame is not everything.

Professor Snape makes a point of making this clear to Harry in his first Potions class. It is true because fame, even in reality, is not everything and will disappear if there is nothing to back it up. Just go back and look at ‘famous’ people of the 80′s or 90′s that no one remembers to see for yourself.

3. Do not be a hero.

If there is trouble brewing – turn and run the other way. This is Harry’s biggest flaw! This is also the biggest and most ridiculous mistake made in movies especially horror movies. If they are supposed to be going away from danger, Harry, Ron and Hermione will go directly to it leading them into some serious danger at times.

If you are trained for these situations e.g.: police, then do as you are trained but 9 times out of 10 you are not trained for it so get away after alerting the necessary authorities.

4. Friends come from the most unlikely backgrounds.

Harry meets 2 friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, on the first trip to school on the Hogwarts Express. They could not be more dissimilar. Ron from a magical family background, Hermione who had ‘muggle’ parents and who turned out to be super intelligent and Harry who had no parents and had no idea about magic. They turn out to be the best off friends by the end of their first year.

A lot of people who are friends are from very different backgrounds and possibly would not talk. They have something that brings them together and they stay friends forever, growing closer, the more they spend time together. I am sure you have friends like this.

5. A name will only get you so far.

As in the Harry Potter films, your name will only get you so far. Unfortunately in reality, this goes too far. The more connected the family or the fancier the school – often gets people further than it should. However, as in point 2 above, it will catch up with you. Harry did not get through exams because he was Harry Potter. Not even Prince William could do better even when his gran is the Queen of England! Your family name or the school / university will only get you so far.

 

Unfortunately for this blog post, most of these points led to a much more exciting series of blockbuster movies. The principles apply very aptly in the ‘real world’.

The Ride For Cows – My Argus Experience

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would enter and complete the Argus, and I am happy to say that I have done it. In the process, it exceeded all of my expectations!

The one thing that totally made the whole experience was cycling with the Cows.The people organising the Cows made me feel so welcome and part of something great. The support from the Cows and the support on the side of the road was incredible. It shifted the focus from doing the Argus and trying to do an impressive time, to doing the race to help raise money for CHOC. Even though I cycled on my own, I never felt like I was on my own, there were always other cow cyclists around motivating me to keep on going.

The day started at sparrow fart, after not much sleep during the night. But waking up on the Sunday and thinking there are no more sleeps; the day is finally here definitely got me going. I get goose bumps thinking about it now.

The race was going so well until my chain came off. I must have had someone powerful watching over me to remind me to uncleet (take my shoes out of the pedals) before trying to work out how to fix the chain situation. I have a habit of forgetting to uncleet with the result of falling, entertaining to others but can be pretty painful.

I have never had to try and get the chain back on before. To make things more interesting, it managed to come off and get wedged between the gear and the frame of the bike. I managed to get it all back on like a total rock star and I was off again.

The scenery was totally amazing! There were certain parts along the race where there was a slight breeze off the sea and it felt like there was an air conditioner blowing, it was a welcomed addition.

Being from Durban and having never driven the route, I am not sure exactly where we were in the race,  but we had just come up quite a hill and we had reached the flat. We were all going a quite a fast pace, only to see a massive baboon on the side of the road trying to cross the road. That was all I needed, to be taken out by a baboon! Fortunately there were lots of conservation people keeping the baboons from crossing the road.

As the day progressed the heat increased. Some amazing people in the towns were spraying the road with their hose pipes, which was a total life saver. Throughout all the training and the morning I was worrying about Chapman’s peak and Suikerbossie hills. Let me tell you, NOTHING in the world can ever prepare you for Chapman’s or Suikerbossie until you have driven or cycled up it. I was so fortunate to be cycling with another cow at the bottom of Chapman’s peak and he helped me stay focused and keep going. There were many times when I wanted to get off and walk, but he was right there telling me to just put my head down and keep going. What I battled with on Chapman’s, besides feeling like i was cycling in a sauna (it was 42 degrees at the top of Chapman’s peak), was that I didn’t know how long it was. What happens is this: you look and see what you think is the end of the hill, put your head down and go for it, only to get there and see that you are not even half way! I conquered Chapman’s peak and so proud of myself for not giving up!

 

But after all that, I reached the finish line and that feeling of finishing and accomplishing something that I never thought I would have, it was totally worth it!Again the Cows were amazing after the race. There was no one asking what your time was, just congratulating you on finishing giving us a place to sit in the shade, something to drink and a burger.

I will definitely be back next year!

 

This is a guest post. The opinions and views other the writer do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the blog or its owners and as such the blog and its owners cannot be held responsible for them.

“3 darts is just too much!”

“3 darts is just too much!” - Ace Ventura

 

These immortal words were muttered moments before Ace collapses after being shot by 3 poisenous darts of a blood thirsty tribe whilst trying to solve a mystery.

 

For Ace it was 3 darts. For me it was 40 km of climbing ina cycling race that was just too much. The cycling race was the Battery Centre Midmar Notts 2012 cycle race. The race is held in the Kwazulu Natal midlands of South Africa. The road cycling race is 80 km in length and is one of the longest standing road races on the calendar. The race winds itself from Midmar dam to Notingham Road and beyond.

The weather was cool (unusual for this time of year) at the start. I was set to go off in the A batch but the plan was to ride with a friend, Lauren so dropped back into the C batch (ladies) to start with her. Normally you can start in a btach behind yours – not this one. I was questioned by a over zealous commissioner who obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. She told me that I was unable to start in this group because I would be holding the front ladies up and there is prize money involved so it is not allowed! WTF!! The ladies who heard this were smiling because they knew i was not a threat (as I did ).

I was told that  I had to go in the batch in front and wait for Lauren! What is the difference!!! Not one to argue, I politely questioned the reasoning behind the attitude, and once I knew that common sense would not prevail, I left the bunch to start in the B batch.

I started in that batch and rolled to a stop about 500 metres alongside about 10 other men (husbands, friends etc) just beyond the neutral zone.

I rejoined Lauren when she rode past and off we went up the hill. About 5 km into the race is ‘happy hill’ which twists and turns through some picturesque country side. A very nice hill to climb. Some cyclists were hurting and hating life already! I jokingly said to Lauren that we should slow down and keep something in her legs for the remainder of the race. It started as concern for her. It took about 25 km pretty constant climbing for the pain to set into my legs. I repeated the request to slow down – this time for my sake. Lauren was rocking this race and easily riding away from me. Eventually she slowed down and rode with me – not the other way round like I thought it would be.

Unfortunately, we rounded a corner and saw an ambulance, a taxi and a body. A cyclist had been hit head on! From accounts we heard, it was not the taxi’s fault and the cyclist was fine apart from a few broken bones.

The wind and sun came out to play about 20 km in and thats when the fun started. Cycling into wind on the flat is fine – into the wind and uphill is not fun at all. Cycling into the wind, uphill in the summer heat of KZN is even less fun. We had our supporters around 30km up the hill and they were very much appreciated by us.When we passed the marshals on this stretch – they said the race had been cancelled but we could carry on if we wanted. Lauren did and I would have turned around immediately. The plan was to ride together and I never drop a brother (or sister). I soldiered on.

The last 5 – 7 km before turn around were probably the hardest because there some sneaky ‘false flats’.

One of the encouraging aspects to this tough section was that we had a head wind, so the return trip was with the wind. This was found to be true and was very relieving to my legs. Because it up hill on the way out – it was downhill on the way back. The average speed at the turn around was 19.9 km/h. This quickly increased and carried on climbing all the way to finish and was 22.4 when we rolled to a stop. There was a little hiccup on the return trip. A lady clipped a back tyre of the person in front and went down hard. We stopped but after seeing that traffic slowed down and an official car was there, we could nothing to help, so we carried on. She was taken to hospital and is recovering.

Overall, a tough race but a beautiful part of the world. Due to the lack of road closure, I will not be repeating the feat next year – its too dangerous with large amounts of traffic using the very popular route on the weekend. Unfortunately too many negatives to outweigh the positives.

 

Back To Basics

In a recent conversation at a coffee shop, with a long time friend, he highlighted a crucial, yet simple, truth when going through a tough time. This hit home hard as I have been unemployed after retrenchment for the last 2 months.

The truth is this: get back to basics and do the basics correctly.

The basics consist of the following elements:

1. Physical.

Get into a routine. Get up and have a shower and breakfast. Go to gym / go running / go cycling (or whatever you like doing).

The reason behind this? If you are physically unhealthy – you already are one step behind on everybody.

2. Mental. Keep your brain going by doing mentally stimulating activities. These include (but not limited to): reading, studying towards a certificate, diploma or degree. I have 2 family members that in their 50′s decided to go for their degree! This area also involves keeping your brain mentally rested. Hours in front of the TV do not give your brain a rest. In fact, it is probably the opposite! If you keep nodding off to sleep in front of the TV in the evening – go to bed. Do not try and fight sleep. The program you are watching will be repeated and or is not very important anyway. Rather take your body’s hint and get some rest.

3. Spiritual.

I am a Christian so this entails certain things to get closer to God. However, this can apply to which ever god you serve. Practice the religion (or even the discipline) in whatever way is necessary for you to be more at peace in regard to your spirituality.

 

The above basics are like the foundations to your life. With unstable foundations, your life will eventually crumble. It may not happen immediately but it will in the long term. It starts out very subtly and ends (if not corrected) with an almighty collapse.

Catch it early and it is a maintenance issue. Leave it too late – it is a major rebuild from the foundations upwards!

Once a Year?

It is that time of the year again when all the shops go from the usual colours to red, covered in hearts and full merchandise that is supposed to indicate love. Yes, it is Valentine’s Day!

I have a question for everybody around this time of year. Why spend all that money, time and effort on this man made day of love?

I do not think that the whole tradition of the day is whacked out – it is just the commercialism that has taken it too far and really taken the true spirit out of the day.

For example. The florist down the road from where I live normally sells single roses for about R5. Come Valentine’s Day they up close to R20 per rose!

Another example. In South Africa, there are people at the traffic lights that sell various items to motorists. Normally a bunch of roses is R30. Around Valentine’s Day they sky rocket in price!

This is where I have the problem. Why only buy these (over priced) gifts once a year? Why show love once a year?

Love should be showed all year round. I agree that showing your love for someone by giving of gifts is a good thing but do it more than once a year?