Wednesday, July 12, 2006
MY IMPECCABLE RACE RECORD: MAY 20
Since I’ve been in South Africa I have yet to enter a mountain bike race (or get ready for one) and race it…This was further substantiated by the Klein Karoo Classic, a 100 km mountain bike race through a barren and beautiful part of South Africa called the Klein Karoo.
I was invited by my coworker Froneman and his family. They were also the great people who invited me to do the Cape Argus with them. It is great to attend events with his family because his wife is great at organizing all the things I don’t think about…like food and towels…Virna also works with our company as a lead administrator and accountant. So when it comes to logistics—you can count on the experts.
Unfortunately Virna could not coordinate better weather. Winter weather advisories, record amounts of rain throughout the week, and howling winds set the probability of racing to about .0005%... I showed up at the start, ready—in case the sun broke through, and mud dried up. It just didn’t happen—no matter how much I hoped. The rain had paused and it actually warmed to about 60 F and I contemplated until the rain started pouring and in dropped to 50 F…I soon found that several others shared my opinion as they just shook their heads. Froneman and I watched the start…maybe 20 riders take off into the mud filled country side…We caught up with them an hour later in town. I didn’t regret missing the event one bit.
Too bad I don’t have any pictures either.
So, I went back to our little farmhouse and sat in front of the fire and enjoyed the rugby, discovery channel, and suffered. This is in addition to the Oyster Festival 85km, and the Homtini 70km… I didn’t suffer as badly as with the previous missed races…ouch.
I was invited by my coworker Froneman and his family. They were also the great people who invited me to do the Cape Argus with them. It is great to attend events with his family because his wife is great at organizing all the things I don’t think about…like food and towels…Virna also works with our company as a lead administrator and accountant. So when it comes to logistics—you can count on the experts.
Unfortunately Virna could not coordinate better weather. Winter weather advisories, record amounts of rain throughout the week, and howling winds set the probability of racing to about .0005%... I showed up at the start, ready—in case the sun broke through, and mud dried up. It just didn’t happen—no matter how much I hoped. The rain had paused and it actually warmed to about 60 F and I contemplated until the rain started pouring and in dropped to 50 F…I soon found that several others shared my opinion as they just shook their heads. Froneman and I watched the start…maybe 20 riders take off into the mud filled country side…We caught up with them an hour later in town. I didn’t regret missing the event one bit.Too bad I don’t have any pictures either.
So, I went back to our little farmhouse and sat in front of the fire and enjoyed the rugby, discovery channel, and suffered. This is in addition to the Oyster Festival 85km, and the Homtini 70km… I didn’t suffer as badly as with the previous missed races…ouch.
