More! MOre! MORE!!!!! On 8 March 2010 10:21, <[email protected]> wrote:
> Day 1 > > Me and Flash with our partners arrived at Underberg School just in time to > catch the last few minutes of race briefing . Undeterred by the rain we > got our boxes and goodie bags and settled down for a few cold beers . It > was very cold outside and the very first item to make its way out of the > crate was the S2C jacket . After chatting to a few regulars and scouting > the competition we headed back to our lodge for a nice supper and another > few cold ones . > > None of us really thought of bringing stuff like arm warmers or warm > jackets and panic was about to set in when we discovered that we also got > a long sleeve cycling shirt in the goodie bag . So we go to the start > looking like a 4 man team with our nice new shirts . But getting to the > start we see that there are a lot of other team mates with the same shirts > all around . > > Me and my partner got into our starting group 20 minutes before our start > and made a tactical decision to start on the right hand side of the road . > Hopefully this will help us get closer to the front as we head down the > district road as we all know that slower riders always keep left . > > Needless to say it helped nothing and we had to push and bully our way to > get closer to the front . After about 5km we did manage to get to the > front and we knew that the 10 minutes lead that the next group had on us > would be sufficient to ensure we got open single tracks most of the way . > But they changed the route a bit and we had to go through what I think > must be a cattle feeding area . The mud looked very much like cow dung and > also tasted a bit like grass . A few people decided this was an ideal spot > to hop of the bikes and stand in the mud having a nice chat . Needless to > say it did cause some congestion but we spotted this in time and just went > straight through the farms yard . Although the mud was deeper on the route > we took we did not have to get our shoes dirty . > > It felt like it took forever to get to that first single track but once we > hit it I knew the fun has started . Going right would give you a smooth > track with not a lot of roots or rocks while the left side had all the > stuff roadies hates . So I took the left . Saying that is was slippery > would be an understatement . Keeping the front wheel from not loosing > traction was the name of the game , the rear just had to follow . Lots of > brave souls went down on this first part and part of the challenge was to > get over them without falling off yourself . At the meeting point on the > other side of the single track section it sounded like a hen party . If I > could measure the excitement on a Richter scale I am sure it would have > measured around 8 . > > When we got to the bridge I was surprised to see that there was nobody > else on it . This meant a smooth fast crossing as the bridge was stable > and not bouncing up and down as it normally does when there are a few > cyclists on it . A few long steep climb eventually got us to the first > water point . a Lady jumps at me grabs my cycling glasses and runs of into > the crowd , at first I was shocked that such a thing can happen in such a > crowded place but since I could not see through them anyway did not really > care to much . After a quick rinse of the bike and oil on the chain we had > a few doughnuts and flapjacks . At this point the little thieve returned > with my clean glasses and handed them back to me . > > Lots of single track and mud later we filled up at the second water point > and decided to make a run for home . It was getting colder and we wanted > to get into our warm S2C jackets and have a nice meal . After about 5:11 > we cruised over the finish line for day one . A quick shower , lunch and > off to the pub I went . My partner felt like an afternoon nap so I got > myself a nice spot on the veranda out of the rain sipping on a few cold > ones . > > That evening at race briefing we got the terrible news that Nick’s pass > will be closed because of the continues rain . There will also be no > seeding the next day and it will be a mass start . I was very, very > disappointed and started drinking again . > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > South Africa's premier free email service - www.webmail.co.za > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > For super low premiums, click here http://home.webmail.co.za/dd.pwm > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "DarkAndDirty" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<darkanddirty%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/darkanddirty?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DarkAndDirty" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. 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