Nice, thanks dude :-) I've done the route the other way 5 times now, and didn't feel like it again. I only heard about the route change long after entries had closed. I also therefore hope they do it this way again next year :-)
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: 18 May 2010 14:14 To: [email protected] Subject: [D&D-chat] Lionman 2010 I have been waiting now for 2 days to read a report on this race !!! It seems I will have to bore you all with my account of events . It was a chilly pre-winters morning when we headed for the start of the 10th Mabalingwe Lionman Race at 06:00am . We got there just after 06:30 and found a parking spot not too far from the start . We performed the normal pre-race checks before taking of our very cozy Sani2C jackets . By his time the starting chute was about halfway full and I picked a spot next to the barrier since I was waiting for Flash to come past . We planned to ride together but by the time the race started I have still not seen him and assumed he was somewhere closer to the front . The neutral zone (no racing allowed) split the field . I still am not sure what the speed limit in these zones are but it seems to be close to 40kmph , apparently it is not about how fast you going , just don't overtake anybody . The first 20km was very fast and a lot of riders did not make it to the first climb . A few dislocated shoulders and broken bikes lined this first section . It is unfortunately a fact that riders that are not very skilled (and roadies comes to mind) insists to start close to the front . They will go flat-out till they encounter the first ant-droppings in the road at which point all brakes are applied resulting in a dead stop . The rest we all know and I will therefore not ponder this very sensitive point . A long rocky climb saw most of us get of our bikes at some point on the hill . Apparently the 35km riders did not enjoy this too much as it was not in last year's race . Once over the hill it was back to big blades and long fast stretches with the odd piece of single track thrown in .Flash came flying past me with the news that his partner will not be doing the full race . But somewhere around 50km the road started to go upwards , a very gentle climb and nothing that would make you want to change up a gear . But after about 10km this road still kept on going up and legs started to complain about the constant abuse . At this stage the sun also did not take too kindly to us . Along the route cyclists could be seen standing under trees trying to get some life back into their legs or just to have a quick fag (ok that was me) . Just when I thought we will never see a water table again the music from the Warmbaths School could be heard about 2km from their actual position . But at least I knew there were other people out there in the bush somewhere . What felt like forever I reached this water hole and found an oasis out there in the bundus . Shade , cold water and coke , boerewors and bananas and lots of friendly people . This looked like a good place to pull lager and I spend about 20 minutes there eating and drinking . At this point I also got the first warning about a coming hill that's going to test my sense of humor . At this point I really thought that they have decided to let us rather go around the hill , I mean who in his right mind would put that hill 6km before the finish ?? After another 12km I found another water point and again everybody helping there was too eager to tell us about THE HILL . A few riders just could not bear the fact that they will have to go over that hill and decided to wait for a sweep vehicle . Myself and a few Cycle Lab gentleman did what any decent , self respecting , mountain biker would do . We headed for the hills !! We all stuck together and soon found the turnoff leading up to the climb most of us have always done from the other side . From previous races I remembered that there were no concrete bits on this side of the mountain and that it was very rocky . I soon lost my new comrades when they decided hiking would be easier . To my surprise I found going up not to strenuous and on my first stretch went about 3km up the hill . At this point I disembarked , found a nice shady tree and enjoyed a puff . The rest of the crowd soon caught up and I joined them again . Although they still walked and I was on the bike , our speed was about the same and we stayed together till close to the top . Going down the other side I not only lost the rest of the team , I also lost 3 spokes , one water bottle , and a few brain cells (now I got almost nothing left) . It was absolutely amazing . I again proved that if you take your hand of the brakes and just steer your bike you will get to the bottom in one piece . Ok not entirely true , I had to brake very sharply on the concrete sections after I went into a corner way to hot . But luckily the grip on those patched are very good and slowing down was not a problem . It was over way to soon , the downhill , and I crossed the finish line in a now slowest time of 05:49 . I think this route is much tougher than the previous years and it is interesting to note that DNF's was at 25% . I hope they keep the route like this for next year so I can at least try a sub 5. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------ 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]. 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