Rode the Argus Cycle Tour last Sunday - I started in the VA (30-39 yrs old) group, but had a puncture just before Smitswinkel Hill and then joined the B who were 5 minutes behind. I rode the rest of the race with the B group and finished with a group of about 10 of them that got away on the Suikerbossie Climb.
Peter’s posted some interesting power stats on his blog. Its clear why I’m not a pro - how about David George’s figures?! Stupendous!!
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.
Rather overdue, but here goes with the diary from our December trip to Thailand with SpiceRoads.
We flew out of Cape Town on Wednesday 13 December with Qatar Airways, flying to Bangkok via Doha. Then a short hop from Bangkok to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. We arrived in Chiang Mai late afternoon on Thursday 14th and were collected by the very helpful people from Tour East, who took us to the Novotel Chiang Mai, a rather business-like hotel just north of the old city. There weren’t many westerners staying there, mostly it was Thai tourists from Bangkok who were up for the flower festival just outside of Chiang Mai.
We had 2 full days in Chiang Mai before we connected with SpiceRoads for the bike tour, so we took the opportunity to explore most of the town by foot. We also visited the temple of Doi Suthep which is above the city. Very interesting and one of the best temples we saw on the entire trip.
Turns out we’d short-booked one night at the Novotel so we spent a night at the Royal Princess hotel which is in the main part of the new city, and right next to the famous Chiang Mai night market. Probably the best hotel we stayed in the whole trip, apart from our first night in Bangkok. The night market was quite nice with a huge open-air seafood restaurant section and lots of unique northern Thailand goodies.
We met up with the tour group on Sunday at the Imperial Mae Ping hotel, and went out for a warm-up ride to get bike setups sorted out. Our bikes were Trek 7200 hybrid bikes in pretty good condition. We headed south to a small tourist village with lots of arts and crafts. I managed to fall over quite clumsily when I couldn’t unclip from my rather tight cleats. Rather embarrassing and a giant hole in my leg from my pedal. But not painful luckily and lots of anti-septic ointment seemed to keep it under control.
(pics of the trip at http://picasaweb.google.com/nic.coyne/TheScenicRouteThroughThailand?pli=1)
To be continued… 
As part of our team sponsorship I managed to organise myself a nice new bike. A lovely Schwinn Peloton Ltd. I’m getting rid of the Ksyrium ES wheels since I’ve got the PowerTap and existing race wheels too. The bike is a beautiful metallic blue with lime green around the seat tube area.
I built the bike up last night, moving pedals, saddle, wheels and bottle cages across. The new bike is 0.8kg lighter than the old one. Hopefully the extra weight saved will make up for my current lack of fitness on the climbs.
PowertapGeek made some predictions at http://stevenwagner.typepad.com/powertapgeek/2007/01/watt_happened_i.html that I think are very true.
I’m seeing these two:
in action in our sub-vets league (30-40). Average speeds and average powers are increasing every race, and there’s more and more guys riding with Powertaps, Ergomos or SRMs. Those guys without power-based training are going to be a step behind. I’m very thankful that I’ve got mine already and am seeing the benefits at the expense of those who still don’t have. And thankfully, not everyone who has one knows how to use it properly yet. I’m sure the advantage won’t last long though… 
2nd League race of summer today. With my CTL hovering at 63 before the race, I wasn’t expecting to last the hilly route. So my plan was to race as though I was fit for the first 55km, which would get me up to Red Hill. Then I’d back off and to the rest as a training ride/warmdown.
And that’s pretty much how it went. I chased down a few breaks, and even had a go myself at one point, then I exited the bunch very rapidly at the foot of Red Hill when the power spiked to 500w.
Paul stuck with a group of about 20 over Red Hill, and tried attacking several times on OKW. Unfortunately he couldn’t get away, and he climbed his way to 4th place. Another win for Dave Garrett, who seems to be in a league of his own, with Mark Moir taking 2nd and Andrew Studer 3rd.
It turned out to be quite a hot day too, and I was planning to ride home to get an extra 90mins in. But by the end of the race I was pretty exhausted and I decided the car home was the more prudent option. I think I would have been couch-bound for the rest of the day had I deciced to ride. I still managed to rack up 226TSS, and with yesterday’s 165TSS from a nice ride to Stellenbosch, CTL is starting the slow, steady climb back to normal levels. If all goes to plan I’ll be back up at CTL of 80 by the end of the first week of Feb. That should be good enough to let me race properly, and for the full duration of a race.