Craig, Carl Calverly and I had a long drive up to Sabie on Friday 20th, and after a quick warm up ride, we were off to my aunt and uncles house near Hazyview. Fortunately Marilyn, my super-aunt, had left all the necessary food ready for us (they were at the Drak Canoe Race in Underberg) so we had a restful evening.
The race got going at 7.00am the next morning and as usual the field split up on the 1st short climb. I settled into a comfortable pace as it was going to be a long day – 100km in the rocky mountains around Sabie. I was pleased with my form, especially given my lay off from my shin injury, and was riding in about 7th place at the 40km mark. Then a rear wheel puncture struck (inevitable on the ultra rocky downhills exposed by lots of rain), and the hole refused to seal after one bomb. It turned out to be a long mission tire change of about 20 minutes when the tubeless valve seized on the rim.
Eventually I got going again and joined Craig and Ben Melt Swanepoel who had had similar tire issues. The day turned even longer when I got another puncture and had to wait for another friendly cyclist with spares (mine, Craig and Melt’s were all out), and I was very relieved to get to the end after some 5 odd hours and a very long day.
Despite the mechanical difficulties I loved riding my new bike, the Specialized S-Works Epic. Weighing in at about 10kg it was awesome on the uphills, and simply unreal on the rocky flats and downhills. Bumps just aren’t an issue and I could aim to make up time whenever it got rough. After racing a full suspension for the first time, I never want to go back to a hardtail!
No comments:
Post a Comment