Heya DirtRider, Been hearing some rumours of AR - TEAM : HAVE BEER making a come-back...
any truth there? C On 18 May 2010 14:13, <[email protected]> wrote: > 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]<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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