2009 CANSA Lost City

An early start to the day, up at 03:00am, breakfast, packing and then driving through to Sun City for a 07:08am start. The VA group was well represented with all the BIG teams (Black Rock, Bulk Pack Trek, Club 100, Cyclelab and TCS just to name a few) making an appearance. Always good to have a strong field makes for hard and exciting racing. We didn’t have the numbers; Craig Harvey and I were the only ones representing Bulk Pack Trek so we had to be very careful and selective as to when a move went and make sure that if we followed it was an effort that would be worth it.

We finally got off and after 5km’s, Koos Klopper (Cyclelab) decided to spice things up and launched an early attack but with the route being so flat it was going to be very hard to stay away. Cyclelab had a plan obviously and once Koos was brought back David Labuschagne (Cyclelab) countered but was quickly swallowed up. After 20km’s Johan Labuschagne (Cyclelab) went and took Jeffrey Kriel (Club100), Hannes Botha (TCS) and Hennie Pelser (Speke/Bio-anabolics) with him. With the move going so early on, I didn’t think at the time it was a real threat so for me it was OK to let them go. The gap grew steadily and 40km’s in I flatted. Luckily Jaco was there riding support, so a quick wheel change had me back in the pack in no time. The gap grew with no one really committing to closing the gap. Craig Harvey then headed up the front and started driving to try bring back the break. I soon joined and shortly thereafter Black Rock joined. We started working well together and just before the first bump the leaders were caught. A few attacks off the front thereafter but nothing threatening.

The next big move of the day came up the 2nd drag just before the long decent down towards Sun City. Jaco Ferreira (TCS) the current vet’s South African champion slid off the front and started opening a slight gap on the group, with no reaction from the pack I decided to follow and chase Jaco, I knew if I joined forces with Jaco we could work together and maybe just maybe last to the end. We were later joined by Jacques Fullard (Black Rock) and a Di-Data rider and things looked promising, but with a slight head wind coming from the right it was a lot harder than what we anticipated and we we’re back in to the pack with 10km’s to go. Once again a few attacks off the front but all in vain. It was down to a sprint finish, which was pretty much guaranteed at the start of the race. Gary Rabie took the honours followed by Craig Harvey and Jacques Fullard claiming 3rd spot.

I always enjoy this race and even with the route being so flat with a few drags here and there it’s always a tough one. BIG gears ticking over, attacks and the wind really starts taking its toll after a while and 9/10 times it’s always going to come down to a sprint finish. To sum up my performance I was happy but still lacking a bit of power on the flats. A tough 2 weeks of training lined up and looking forward to this weekend. Cycling out to Bronkhorstspruit dam Saturday, water skiing, jet-skiing and some time off the bike to relax and reflect on the next 2 months racing.

Later,

Vets 30+ Results:

1. Gary Rabie (2:26:33)
2. Craig Harvey
3. Jacques Fullard
4. Jeffrey Kriel
5. Dippenaar, Alwyn