I’ve been rather quiet - work has been pretty busy, and I’ve been trying to do a lot of riding.

League races have gone relatively well, with Paul grabbing one win, and both Paul and myself with the front group over most of the climbs. We rode Sani2C together and managed 20th overall. We’re pretty chuffed with that, since neither of us are at peak fitness. In fact Paul was giving me a push up some of the climbs on the last day. Sani2C has by far the most spectacular course of any mountain bike race in South Africa. There was soooo much single-track. And mostly nice fast, flowing, non-technical stuff, which was a lot of fun.

Yesterday was funride world champs, and the VA group had a very smooth (and crash-free) ride to come in around 2:47. Not the fastest time, but I’m not complaining. I managed to sneak in with 17th place in the very long sprint.

Cycling will take a bit of a back seat now as I try to prepare for the 7-day hike we’re doing in Scotland in early April. The average day is over 20km, and I’m carrying the tent and everything. Looking forward to it!

As a beginning to the training I need to do for next year’s Sani2C, I rode the 35km route at Lourensford yesterday. The rain was threatening but luckily it stayed dry the whole ride. I’m a bit stiff since its the first time on the MTB since May. I only managed 4th after 3 youngsters went a bit too hard for me up the initial climbs, before I was warmed up. Still waiting for the results to see how far behind them I finished. I received a gap of about 4mins just past half way.

Legs were pretty stiff this morning and I grovelled on my training ride today, which did not escape the rain. It was wet, cold and altogether miserable.

One of the flyers in our race packs at yesterday’s Argus MTB race, was from Dirtopia, advertising AMA - the African MTB Association. Meurant from Dirtopia has been heading in this direction for many years, and finally we have our own IMBA-style advocacy organisation.

I’ve just signed up, and I hope that many of my MTB buddies will do the same. Meurant and Arina have done more for mountain biking in this country than anyone else, and their vision and plan for taking things to the next level really deserves our support.

Just looked at the results from yesterday’s MTB race. My estimate of approx 15mins loss looks about right. I overtook Guy Pike (comprehensively) about 45mins into the race, and he came in 24th in 2:29. So 2:24 is definitely about where I could/should have been.

My CTL has just edged over 80. Looking back at spring season I started feeling really good in races as soon as CTL>80, so hopefully I experience the same thing with this weekend’s Argus Subvets race!

Rode my first MTB race in a while today - the Argus MTB race at Boschendal. I arrived at the startline a little late and ended up starting at the back of the bunch, which didn’t bode well for my chances of staying with the front guys. As expected within 2ks the front guys were out of site while I was still blocked in. I eventually found a rhythm and was passing people continuously but steadily for the first hour. Until I had a puncture which I didn’t really have the heart to try and repair quickly. But I got it done and set off again, having to pass many of those that I’d passed already. I ended up stuck between small bunches for large parts of the flat jeep track, which isn’t ideal for my light frame. I grabbed a few more places up the final climb, then got stuck behind some hardtails on the descent which was very frustrating. Eventually I got past and opened a big gap quickly. Race was over by then though, and I finished in 2:39. I reckon the puncture and other hold-ups cost me about 15mins, which puts my pace at about 2:24, which would have been top 20 or so. So I definitely have some mountain biking legs and I’m looking forward to the next MTB race. Hopefully a little fitter, and hopefully I get a proper start.

Just completed the Vigne a Vigne, the 1 day race that takes you over the course of stage 8 of the Cape Epic. Unfortunately it does so just 10 minutes after the Epic competitors have gotten underway, with the result of a big traffic jam and conditions that don’t really make it possible to race.

So I went hard at the start, until I realised what a fruitless exercising trying to race would be. The remainder of the race was nice though, chatting with mates who were completing the Epic. The course was good too, with lots of neat singletrack that I’d never been on before. Mostly it was pretty slow though, as one got stuck behind skill-less Epic competitors.

I don’t think I’d do the event again. R120 to enter, you can’t actually race it, you don’t get anything special, and you feel like you’re crashing someone else’s party since most of the riders around you have been riding hard for seven days already.

So I took the MTB to Bowmans on Tuesday to get the front brakes sorted. “No problem” they say. And they notice that the pop-loc control on my forks is stuck. “Let’s sort that out for you” they say. “Sure, I never use the thing, but go ahead” I reply, thinking that its just going to need some oil to loosen it up.

So Friday I collect the bike and I’m presented with a bill for R700. The mechanic tells me that he had to strip the forks to sort out the pop-loc. And it took 2 hours of his time and therefore cost R300. Well, thanks for phoning me before you decided to open the forks up, buddy. So instead of a R300 bill for a brake bleed, which I was expecting, I get whacked with double that. Not impressed!

On the +ive side though, they really gave the bike a good clean. Even the tyres. I would have paid 50 bucks just for the cleaning job.

Hitting the trail today so hopefully brakes are working perfectly…

Rode the Cape Argus MTB Race at Boschendal last Sunday. I was really looking forward to racing the mtb again.

So I’m standing in the startpen waiting for the off and I squeeze my front brake lever… all the way to the bars! Woah! Not supposed to do that! Problem… and we’re off… Ok, so I figure I’ll stop at the top of the first proper climb and adjust things to get them working again.

So I stop and fiddle with brakes and calipers for about 5 minutes. The only result being that I make it even worse and now I have no front brakes at all. I descend very gently contemplating my next move, and hit a rock and get a rear pinch-flat. mmmph. Not a great day, is it? Mentally I’ve given up on the race now, so I fix the puncture at a leisurely pace and carry on the ride with some hard riding mixed with the occasional stop to help others with their punctures. Then I get another puncture about 1.5km’s from the finish and cross the line on a completely flat rear.

Nice ride, but crap race.

Never have had much luck with my Marta SL brakes. I’m going to try bleeding that front brake one more time, and if that doesn’t fix things for good I think they’ll be looking for a new home somewhere else.