Ride for Sight, a boring day in the saddle

So I woke up this morning with a pretty sore stomach and puffy eyes. The past few days I haven’t been sleeping well, got sun burnt and been skipping meals. Didn’t have breakfast before the race, not the brightest thing to do considering that today’s race is a little longer (116km’s) than the usual one day races, so preparation was not quite there for this one.

The race got underway with Johan Pretorius (Club 100) and Werner Moolman (Mr-Price) pushing hard up the first drag and opening up a small gap of around 10 seconds in the first 3km’s. At this stage the guys were not too concerned about the move as it was still early days. They were later joined by Marco van Biljoen (Bulk Pack Trek), Johan Labuschagne (Cyclelab), Alwyn (Cyclelab), Danie Mare (TCS) and a Harmony rider at about 10km’s. I just didn’t have it in me in the first few km’s or make that first 60km’s. The body was not interested and with not much happening attack wise I was somewhat relieved that I wasn’t called upon to cover any real big attacks. So with Marco in the break we (Bulk Pack Trek) were happy with the situation. At this point the race was pretty much set and sitting 5th wheel for most of the time in the chase, I was happy to watch the chaps roll through in an effort to try close the gap to the leaders. Most of the work was being done by Club 100 which I found strange as they had a man (Johan Pretorius) upfront in the break. With the km’s ticking over and Donovan Jackson trying hard to motivate his men to chase and the gap at 1min 20s we picked up one of the first riders, Danie Mare (TCS) who dropped off the lead group going through the bumps out towards Heidelberg and then later Johan Pretorius (Club 100) and Alwyn (Cyclelab).

I was feeling good on the bumps and with the only real “climb” of the day (1.5km at 4%) David Labuschagne (Cyclelab) put in a BIG effort, trying to split the bunch up a bit. He was closely marked by Craig Harvey (Bulk Pack Trek) and they had a slight gap on the rest but later gave up as there was no point in trying to close the gap down with their riders upfront. The race came together with about 10km’s to go which saw David Labuschagne and myself jump off the front opening a small gap of around 5-10s, but all in vain. The last 2km’s is always fast with everyone trying to enter the S bend first. Werner Moolman for one last time tried to go and I quickly hooked his wheel. Coming through the S’s in 2nd position I noticed Moolman struggling, I immediately reacted and tried to go but misjudged the sprint and had to settle for 12th.

Not a good first 60km’s for me but one positive I can take out of today’s race was the climbs/drags, I felt really good. An excellent effort by Marco van Biljoen who was in the break for 100km’s. Still no podium for us, but things are looking good, so maybe next time. To sum it up, the race was boring, sitting and watching the chase for 100km’s is kind of like watching paint dry, but a good effort by Club 100, Donovan and the boys! Next weekends the Carnival, another fast one with a few kicks here and there; hopefully my race prep is a little better.

Later

Vets 30+ Results:
1. James Louter (2:42)
2. Mark Davel
3. Donovan Jackson
4. Tijl vd Winkel
5. Koos Klopper