Follow us on our journey from Joberg2c. Get daily updates as we train in preparation for the Joberg2C and then follow us from start to finish for 9 days on our 910km adventure on mountain bikes
Time: 17:00 Weather: Temperature 25deg and sunny Distance: 37km Duration: 1hour 45min Route: Kyalami Agricultural Holdings, mostly single track and dirt roads Conditions: Ground Spongy and still very muddy in places Ave Heart Rate: 70% of max Roll call: Jason du Toit Nutrition and hydration: 1 litre of water Comments: Incredible evening and plenty of birdlife around the Helderfontein dams
Time: 06:30 Weather: Temperature min -17deg and max 25 deg, overcast (Thank goodness) Distance: 84km Duration: 4hour 37min Route: Breedts neck, District and farm roads Conditions: Compact and in places very rutted from the rain. Breedts neck is really not passable with a standard saloon. Roads a bit beachie close to the turn around point Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 80 % of max Roll call: Jason du Toit, Stephen Louw (all other interested parties were unsure so stayed away ) Ride Nutrition: Started the morning with a bowl of pronutro with chopped banana. Took a Banana, Jungle energy bar and Gu along with me on the ride. Drank 1.5 litres of Energy Dynamics energy drink and one litre of water which was bought from a little shop during the ride. Comments: I said this would be hard and hard it was. Thankfully it was overcast. If I had remembered how tough the hilly climbs were, I would have been less likely to have done the ride at all. It's incredible how quickly one forgets the lows and remembers the highs
Time: 08:00 Weather: Temperature 26 deg and clear skys Distance: 45km Duration: 2hour 30min Route: Kyalami, Riversands, Helderfontein, Glenferness, Crowthorn, Beaulieu, Mostly single dirt roads. Conditions: Mostly compact with a few muddy sections Ave Heart Rate: 70% of max Roll call: Jason du Toit Nutrition and Hydration: 1 litre of water Comments: Change of plan as there were no takers for Northen Farm this morning so went out later on my own. I really felt good today after the hard ride yesterday. I fitted my new saddle for the third time and for the third time a took it off as the new just does not feel right. It is the Fizik Tundra , a very flat saddle and to me feels like a plank. When sitting on it ,I never quite feel properly seated.
Time: 05:10 Weather: Temperature 19 deg (Once the season turns the days very quickly get shorter. Basically it was dark when we started riding this morning) Distance: 35km Duration: 1hour 40min Route: Kyalami, SunValley, Crowthorn, Beaulieu . Conditions: Mostly compact with a few muddy sections Ave Heart Rate: 70% of max Roll call: Jason du Toit Stephen Louw Nutrition and Hydration: 1 litre of water and an apple. I was starving when I got back from the ride and had three boiled eggs and two slices of toast and some fruit. Comments: Vaughan never pitched so it was just Stephen and I again. The pace was thankfully calm as we were still a little exhausted from Saturday. Here's to another beautiful day in paradise
Time: 05:10 Weather: Temperature 18 deg and misty Distance: 35km Duration: 1hour 45min Route: Kyalami Agricultural Holdings, and Sunvalley - Mostly dirt roads Conditions: Ground Spongy and still very muddy in places Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 75% % of max Roll call: Jason du Toit and Stephen Louw Nutrition and hydration: 1 litre of water and a banana Comments: Phase II - Started with interval training today. We did 8*30sec intervals in between our usual morning ride. There is one serious hill in Beaulieu that we will in future use for interval training. Have a great day and happy training
Time: 16:00 Weather: Temperature 27 deg Distance: 35km Duration: 1hour 50min Route: Kyalami Agricultural Holdings, Mostly dirt roads Conditions: Ground mostly dry now Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 75% % of max Roll call: Jason du Toit and Stephen Louw Nutrition and hydration: Plenty water Comments: Rode in our big ring the entire ride. So spent most of the time pushing really hard gears. Did some serious hills in Beaulieu. It's probably the second biggest 'mountain' in the Kyalami area. We're both starting to lose weight which is much sooner than what I thought we would.
Time: 16:00 Weather: Temperature 25 deg Distance: 55km Duration: 3 hours Route: Northern Farm and Renosterspruit conservancy Conditions: Ground mostly dry now Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 75% % of max Roll call: Jason, Carl and Roland Nutrition and hydration: Plenty of water. Nut and raison bar. Admin: Carl broke his rear derailleur probably as a result of getting wire caught up in his wheel. We had to replace the hanger and panel beat his derailleur cage as well as use his bike pump Velcro strap to keep the whole derailleur together. Other than having less gears to ride with, it held. Comments: We all seemed to take tumbles today. Fortunately there were no injuries just a few bruised ego's. Our bike chains sounded very thirsty midway through the ride. I was expecting a few water crossings so decided last night to apply wet lube to my chain yet it still needed relubing. If anyone has the answer to proper chain lubing techniques I would be very interested to hear from you.
Time: 06:30 Weather: Temperature 18-25 deg Distance: 71km Duration: 3.37 hours Route: Kyalami Northern Farm Conditions: Outer ring fairly dry although it did rain the night before Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 75% % of max Roll call: Jason, Stephen, Jason Duffin, Vaughan, Donavan (Boskak) Nutrition and hydration: 2slitres energy drink. 2*Nuts and raison bar. 1 muffin Admin: 1 squeaking break (For over a month) fixed by jason Duffin by simply tightening the rear skewer. Hmmmm. One noisy rear derailleur fixed by threading the chain correctly through it. Comments: I forgot to update Roland on the change of plan to only go to Northern farm after a shorter circular route in kyalami. Needless to say, I was very embarrassed and Roland if you happen to read this, I'm very sorry for messing you around. Oh, and I'm sorry about your fall across one of the overgrown paths in Northern Farm too. Jason Duffin finished the inaugural Cape Epic in 19th position. It was clear the way he was riding that he doesn’t believe that that race is now over.
Time: 05:10 Weather: Temperature 19 deg Distance: 38km Duration: 2 hours Route: Kyalami , Crowthorn Conditions: Dry, Single track overgrown Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 75% % of max Roll call: Jason, Stephen, Vaughan, Donavan (Boskak) Nutrition and hydration: 1 Litre Water plus banana Admin: None. Comments: It's #%#@ dark. By the time the race starts most of our training will probably be in the dark.
Time: 05:05 Weather: Temperature 19 deg and over castish Distance: 38km Duration: 2 hours Route: Kyalami , Crowthorn Conditions: Dry, Single track overgrown Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 75% % of max Roll call: Jason, Stephen Nutrition and hydration: 1 Litre Water plus banana Admin: None. Comments: New Wheels arived last night from Chain reaction Cycles so very excited. I've still got to put them on. Passed a whole bunch of guys, all with mounted lights. They appear to be either training for the Sani2c, Joberg2c or Cape Epic
I overslept and missed the training ride this morning. A few bodily changes are starting to take place. 1) My pants are starting to fit they did when I was in my 20s. 2) By 3pm every day, I feel the need to crawl up into a ball under my desk and have serious power nap. I even find myself nodding off in traffic jams. 3) My conversation with the rest of the family in the evenings has become very limited so we try catch up in the mornings. 71 days to go. Phew!
Time: 04:30. Received an SMS cancelling ride due to lightning and thunder. Unfortunately Stephen has a fear of lightning similar to others who have a fear of heights or flying. So there I was in my riding kit at 4:45 blogging instead of training.
Time: 04:45 Weather: Raining cats and dogs. 17 deg Distance: 90 km of which many were in the mud Duration: 5h27 Route: Day 2, Joberg2c Conditions: Wet, muddy, and in places very pleasent Ave Heart Rate: All over the place Roll call: Jason, Stephen. And many other joberg2c and Sani2c entrants Nutrition & Hydration: 3 x 750ml bottles energy drink and 4 x 250ml cups of Water 2 Gu's, 1 Biogen energy bar, 2 large boiled potatoes, three mini vet koeks and 1 quarter mielie Admin: No front breaks, chain kept jumping between spokes and cassette. So was limited to gears I could use. Probably caused by all the mud Comments: This was a great ride to practice ones mud handling skills. Mine need more honing. A lot more honing. I really struggled through the clay mud while others just seemed to glide past me. I wonder if tyres make such a difference or is riding through mud just a skill like riding up a mountain or being able to wiggle your ears without your hands?
Time: 04:45 Weather: Clear, 15 deg Distance: 37 km Duration: 2h Route: Kyalami, Crowthorn, Sun Valley Conditions: Very Dark, almost a new moon. Cold enough to wear arm warmers. I'm not looking forward Ave Heart Rate: 65% - 70% Roll call: Jason, Vaughan Nutrition & Hydration: 1 litre water and a banana Admin: None Comments: What in incredible sunrise this morning. The view back towards Johannesburg over Sun Valley was breath taking and so was the lttle climb to get their
Time: 06:05 AM Weather: Clear Warm to Hot, 19-26 deg Distance: 74 km Duration: 4h Route: Kyalami to Emmerentia via Braamfontein spruit Conditions: Dry and dusty Ave Heart Rate: 65% - 70% Roll call: Jason, Stephen, Roland Nutrition & Hydration: 2 litres water, 1 banana,1 Gu, 1 Nuts and raisin bar Admin: None Comments: I was really disappointed with what I saw riding up the spruit today. I haven't ridden the route since December last year and it has become so overgrown between Riverside and Republic Road. In places the weeds on either side of the single track stood twice the height of Stephen on his bike. The stream running from William Nicol near St Stithians towards the Field and Study Centre is polluted with raw sewerage. I struggled not to gag as I hopped from rock to rock across the cesspit. Vagrants are still to be found in pockets all the way along the route to Emmerentia Dam. If this is what we call a world class African City, then I would hate to know what anything less would be like. Anyway, enough of that, the ride was still great and I was exhausted afterwards. To add insult to injury, as Stephen finished ahead of me on one of the last climbs, he said that he remembered it being steeper previously. Hmmm. that training he's been doing in the gym seems to be paying off.
Training for Joberg2c
ReplyDeleteFriday 04 Feb 2011
Time: 17:00
Weather: Temperature 25deg and sunny
Distance: 37km
Duration: 1hour 45min
Route: Kyalami Agricultural Holdings, mostly single track and dirt roads
Conditions: Ground Spongy and still very muddy in places
Ave Heart Rate: 70% of max
Roll call: Jason du Toit
Nutrition and hydration: 1 litre of water
Comments: Incredible evening and plenty of birdlife around the Helderfontein dams
Sat 05 Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteTime: 06:30
Weather: Temperature min -17deg and max 25 deg, overcast (Thank goodness)
Distance: 84km
Duration: 4hour 37min
Route: Breedts neck, District and farm roads
Conditions: Compact and in places very rutted from the rain. Breedts neck is really not passable with a standard saloon. Roads a bit beachie close to the turn around point
Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 80 % of max
Roll call: Jason du Toit, Stephen Louw (all other interested parties were unsure so stayed away )
Ride Nutrition: Started the morning with a bowl of pronutro with chopped banana. Took a Banana, Jungle energy bar and Gu along with me on the ride. Drank 1.5 litres of Energy Dynamics energy drink and one litre of water which was bought from a little shop during the ride.
Comments: I said this would be hard and hard it was. Thankfully it was overcast. If I had remembered how tough the hilly climbs were, I would have been less likely to have done the ride at all. It's incredible how quickly one forgets the lows and remembers the highs
Sun 06 Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteTime: 08:00
Weather: Temperature 26 deg and clear skys
Distance: 45km
Duration: 2hour 30min
Route: Kyalami, Riversands, Helderfontein, Glenferness, Crowthorn, Beaulieu, Mostly single dirt roads.
Conditions: Mostly compact with a few muddy sections
Ave Heart Rate: 70% of max
Roll call: Jason du Toit
Nutrition and Hydration: 1 litre of water
Comments: Change of plan as there were no takers for Northen Farm this morning so went out later on my own. I really felt good today after the hard ride yesterday. I fitted my new saddle for the third time and for the third time a took it off as the new just does not feel right. It is the Fizik Tundra , a very flat saddle and to me feels like a plank. When sitting on it ,I never quite feel properly seated.
The Week in Summary 31 Jan - 06 Feb 2011
ReplyDelete11.5 hours in the saddle and my butt is feeling a little tender.
JUST SHORT OF 12 WEEKS TO GO!!!!
07 Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteTime: 05:10
Weather: Temperature 19 deg (Once the season turns the days very quickly get shorter. Basically it was dark when we started riding this morning)
Distance: 35km
Duration: 1hour 40min
Route: Kyalami, SunValley, Crowthorn, Beaulieu .
Conditions: Mostly compact with a few muddy sections
Ave Heart Rate: 70% of max
Roll call: Jason du Toit Stephen Louw
Nutrition and Hydration: 1 litre of water and an apple. I was starving when I got back from the ride and had three boiled eggs and two slices of toast and some fruit.
Comments: Vaughan never pitched so it was just Stephen and I again. The pace was thankfully calm as we were still a little exhausted from Saturday. Here's to another beautiful day in paradise
08 Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteRest day at last. I never really understood the concept of a rest day but I think I'm getting it
Wed 09 Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteTime: 05:10
Weather: Temperature 18 deg and misty
Distance: 35km
Duration: 1hour 45min
Route: Kyalami Agricultural Holdings, and Sunvalley - Mostly dirt roads
Conditions: Ground Spongy and still very muddy in places
Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 75% % of max
Roll call: Jason du Toit and Stephen Louw
Nutrition and hydration: 1 litre of water and a banana
Comments: Phase II - Started with interval training today. We did 8*30sec intervals in between our usual morning ride. There is one serious hill in Beaulieu that we will in future use for interval training. Have a great day and happy training
Friday 11 Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteTime: 16:00
Weather: Temperature 27 deg
Distance: 35km
Duration: 1hour 50min
Route: Kyalami Agricultural Holdings, Mostly dirt roads
Conditions: Ground mostly dry now
Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 75% % of max
Roll call: Jason du Toit and Stephen Louw
Nutrition and hydration: Plenty water
Comments: Rode in our big ring the entire ride. So spent most of the time pushing really hard gears. Did some serious hills in Beaulieu. It's probably the second biggest 'mountain' in the Kyalami area. We're both starting to lose weight which is much sooner than what I thought we would.
Sat 12 Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteTime: 16:00
Weather: Temperature 25 deg
Distance: 55km
Duration: 3 hours
Route: Northern Farm and Renosterspruit conservancy
Conditions: Ground mostly dry now
Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 75% % of max
Roll call: Jason, Carl and Roland
Nutrition and hydration: Plenty of water. Nut and raison bar.
Admin: Carl broke his rear derailleur probably as a result of getting wire caught up in his wheel. We had to replace the hanger and panel beat his derailleur cage as well as use his bike pump Velcro strap to keep the whole derailleur together. Other than having less gears to ride with, it held.
Comments: We all seemed to take tumbles today. Fortunately there were no injuries just a few bruised ego's. Our bike chains sounded very thirsty midway through the ride. I was expecting a few water crossings so decided last night to apply wet lube to my chain yet it still needed relubing. If anyone has the answer to proper chain lubing techniques I would be very interested to hear from you.
Sun 13 Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteTime: 06:30
Weather: Temperature 18-25 deg
Distance: 71km
Duration: 3.37 hours
Route: Kyalami Northern Farm
Conditions: Outer ring fairly dry although it did rain the night before
Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 75% % of max
Roll call: Jason, Stephen, Jason Duffin, Vaughan, Donavan (Boskak)
Nutrition and hydration: 2slitres energy drink. 2*Nuts and raison bar. 1 muffin
Admin: 1 squeaking break (For over a month) fixed by jason Duffin by simply tightening the rear skewer. Hmmmm. One noisy rear derailleur fixed by threading the chain correctly through it.
Comments: I forgot to update Roland on the change of plan to only go to Northern farm after a shorter circular route in kyalami. Needless to say, I was very embarrassed and Roland if you happen to read this, I'm very sorry for messing you around. Oh, and I'm sorry about your fall across one of the overgrown paths in Northern Farm too.
Jason Duffin finished the inaugural Cape Epic in 19th position. It was clear the way he was riding that he doesn’t believe that that race is now over.
The Week in Summary 7 Feb - 13 Feb 2011
ReplyDelete13.5 - 14 hours in the saddle and beginning to lose weight. Carring less weight certainly helps with climbing
Mon 14 Feb 2011 Valentines day
ReplyDeleteREST DAY!!!
Tues 15 Feb 2011 Valentines day
ReplyDeleteTime: 05:10
Weather: Temperature 19 deg
Distance: 38km
Duration: 2 hours
Route: Kyalami , Crowthorn
Conditions: Dry, Single track overgrown
Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 75% % of max
Roll call: Jason, Stephen, Vaughan, Donavan (Boskak)
Nutrition and hydration: 1 Litre Water plus banana
Admin: None.
Comments: It's #%#@ dark. By the time the race starts most of our training will probably be in the dark.
Wed 16 Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteTime: 05:05
Weather: Temperature 19 deg and over castish
Distance: 38km
Duration: 2 hours
Route: Kyalami , Crowthorn
Conditions: Dry, Single track overgrown
Ave Heart Rate: 70 - 75% % of max
Roll call: Jason, Stephen
Nutrition and hydration: 1 Litre Water plus banana
Admin: None.
Comments: New Wheels arived last night from Chain reaction Cycles so very excited. I've still got to put them on. Passed a whole bunch of guys, all with mounted lights. They appear to be either training for the Sani2c, Joberg2c or Cape Epic
Thurs 17 Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteTime 05:07 and still in bed. Aarrrgh!!!!
I overslept and missed the training ride this morning. A few bodily changes are starting to take place.
1) My pants are starting to fit they did when I was in my 20s.
2) By 3pm every day, I feel the need to crawl up into a ball under my desk and have serious power nap. I even find myself nodding off in traffic jams.
3) My conversation with the rest of the family in the evenings has become very limited so we try catch up in the mornings. 71 days to go. Phew!
Friday 18 Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteTime: 04:30. Received an SMS cancelling ride due to lightning and thunder. Unfortunately Stephen has a fear of lightning similar to others who have a fear of heights or flying.
So there I was in my riding kit at 4:45 blogging instead of training.
Sat 19 Feb 2011 : Bielie Mielie Fees - Free State
ReplyDeleteTime: 04:45
Weather: Raining cats and dogs. 17 deg
Distance: 90 km of which many were in the mud
Duration: 5h27
Route: Day 2, Joberg2c
Conditions: Wet, muddy, and in places very pleasent
Ave Heart Rate: All over the place
Roll call: Jason, Stephen. And many other joberg2c and Sani2c entrants
Nutrition & Hydration: 3 x 750ml bottles energy drink and 4 x 250ml cups of Water 2 Gu's, 1 Biogen energy bar, 2 large boiled potatoes, three mini vet koeks and 1 quarter mielie
Admin: No front breaks, chain kept jumping between spokes and cassette. So was limited to gears I could use. Probably caused by all the mud
Comments: This was a great ride to practice ones mud handling skills. Mine need more honing. A lot more honing. I really struggled through the clay mud while others just seemed to glide past me. I wonder if tyres make such a difference or is riding through mud just a skill like riding up a mountain or being able to wiggle your ears without your hands?
Sat 26 Feb 2011
ReplyDeleteTime: 04:45
Weather: Clear, 15 deg
Distance: 37 km
Duration: 2h
Route: Kyalami, Crowthorn, Sun Valley
Conditions: Very Dark, almost a new moon. Cold enough to wear arm warmers. I'm not looking forward
Ave Heart Rate: 65% - 70%
Roll call: Jason, Vaughan
Nutrition & Hydration: 1 litre water and a banana
Admin: None
Comments: What in incredible sunrise this morning. The view back towards Johannesburg over Sun Valley was breath taking and so was the lttle climb to get their
Sat 12 Mar 2011
ReplyDeleteTime: 06:05 AM
Weather: Clear Warm to Hot, 19-26 deg
Distance: 74 km
Duration: 4h
Route: Kyalami to Emmerentia via Braamfontein spruit
Conditions: Dry and dusty
Ave Heart Rate: 65% - 70%
Roll call: Jason, Stephen, Roland
Nutrition & Hydration: 2 litres water, 1 banana,1 Gu, 1 Nuts and raisin bar
Admin: None
Comments: I was really disappointed with what I saw riding up the spruit today. I haven't ridden the route since December last year and it has become so overgrown between Riverside and Republic Road. In places the weeds on either side of the single track stood twice the height of Stephen on his bike. The stream running from William Nicol near St Stithians towards the Field and Study Centre is polluted with raw sewerage. I struggled not to gag as I hopped from rock to rock across the cesspit. Vagrants are still to be found in pockets all the way along the route to Emmerentia Dam. If this is what we call a world class African City, then I would hate to know what anything less would be like.
Anyway, enough of that, the ride was still great and I was exhausted afterwards. To add insult to injury, as Stephen finished ahead of me on one of the last climbs, he said that he remembered it being steeper previously. Hmmm. that training he's been doing in the gym seems to be paying off.