The funrider’s day of victory

The funrider’s day of victory

The second weekend in March will for many weekend warriors be the single most important one of their cycling calendar. Its Argus weekend! There is always a marked increase in cycling activity from January on our roads, the spinning classes are full and the buzz steadily increases as race weekend approaches. The build-up is always just as exciting with South Africa’s biggest cycling Expo’s where cycling enthusiasts can go and drool over the latest bike-porn, stock up on much needed (or much wanted) supplies, talk shop with like minded cycling geeks and plan and strategise on how to justify spending R80 000 on that Dogma with your name on it.

We visited the Expo on Saturday afternoon, and by then the rush was mostly over. I particularly enjoyed the Mavic stand (love those wheels) as well as the Vermarc clothing stand.  I’d like to get the figures on what the sales turn-over was at the expo. I’m guessing well in excess of R50 million.

The Expo is probably the one area where the Cape Town Cycle Trust can still grow the event. As exciting as it was walking through the stands, there were many  brands that was not represented at the Expo. I think that a change of venue to the CTICC may stimulate interest from a wider audience as well as getting more players in the cycling field onboard.

Saturday evening was spent packing and prepping for the big one and Sunday morning we watched the start at home, before heading into Town. We parked in the V&A and made our way to the start with time to spare. My wife seemed relaxed next to me and everyone was in good spirit as we set off for what promised to be a perfect day in Cape Town with close to 40 000 other riders.

All too soon we were ascending Edinburgh Drive and with a little help, my wife was free-wheeling down Blue Route all smiles. At the top of Blue Route I stopped to help a desperate lady repair a flat tyre. 2 minutes with the right equipment and lots of practice, and I was off chasing my wife. I caught up with her at the bottom of Boyes Drive and with a little more assistance, we were cruising through Kalk Bay onto Simons Town for our first scheduled stop. The ride up Smitswinkel proved too tough for Rochelle and we decided to pack it in just before Misty Cliffs. As we picked up other survivors in the PissieBussie, new resolutions were made by under prepared and unfit riders around me to do better next year.

I must admit that this was by far my most enjoyable Argus ever. The odd rider that passed me on my left or stopped right in front of me as we ascended Boyes Drive was ignored or laughed about. I really had time to take in the vibe and the scenery and it was great sharing the experience with the person that means more to me than anything else in this world. Doing this Argus with her made all the hours on the bike, early morning rides, hard Gym sessions and other sacrifices worth while as there is a real sense of pleasure when you share your experiences with people that matters to you.

We’ll be back next year to finish the ride and this time there will be much more training rides together to make sure that both of us are properly prepared for the ride.

To all of you that finished your Argus, whether you’ve done it in 2h33 or whether it was 6h58, well done and see you on the route next year.

The Gym session that (nearly) killed me...

The Gym session that (nearly) killed me...

On Monday I was invited by my training partner to partake in a training session with his personal trainer. Over the last few months he has steadily improved, where I stagnated. We both do the hours on the bike, we both lost quite a bit of weight, we both are going to Gym regularly. The only differences were that he had a personal trainer with a dedicated programme and he managed 2 tough multi stage races since October where I had a moderate stage race in December. 

I was early enough to get a 2 minute warm up in before the session started. She looked friendly enough, and was quite pleasant as she took us to an unused corner in the Gym for the start of the routine. 

Very soon I realized that I was in for a fight. I was fighting the weights, I was fighting the trainer and I was fighting my partner who was obeying her instructions unquestioningly. As we worked through the routine I realized that I was in a comfort zone regarding my gym work. Here not even Chris knew what was coming next. The focus was simply to execute every instruction as well as you could. 

I put up a brave fight, but ultimately I was beaten. I had no control over the routine or the weights used. Only thing I had control over was the reps I ended up doing, but even this boiled down to a matter of pride. I couldn’t compete with my partner, but I could try to avoid total embarrassment. 

Not a moment too soon 50 minutes was up and we proceeded to the 10 minute stretching session. “Good!” I thought, at least I’ve been stretching a bit more than before and I’ve been trying to get to the odd Yoga and Pilates class. This should not hurt as much as the work-out. I was wrong again. I made a huge mental note to do some serious deep stretching more regularly, as it was apparent that I was merely scratching the surface with my attempts at stretching too. 

On Monday night, I knew I was going to be in trouble. By Tuesday morning I was walking like a constipated duck and by Wednesday (today) it felt that someone has hit me with a sledge hammer on my sternum and abs with the abs routine that I was subjected to. At least I managed to get 2 good commutes in, but at recovery ride pace. Hopefully I would have recovered sufficiently by tomorrow to be able to get up from my desk without having to focus all my attention to the task at hand. I also figured out that using the paraplegic toilets at shopping malls is a good idea when you need handles around you to get up from the toilet. Just a pity that the disabled parking bays are still off limits. 

I will have to take this week to recover and will be focussing on guiding my wife through her first Argus on Sunday, but next week I will have to face the music and devise ways to be moved out of my comfort zone. I have already acted on this resolution by entering the Knysna 1/2 marathon in July. I intend to mix up my riding a bit more with good hard tempo rides and intervals, and I am eagerly awaiting the Wednesday night rides orginised by Chris Willemse cycles that was such a hit last year. I will also have to book a series of sessions with the personal trainer to help me with my gym routine and my physio has also offered to help me with a routine for when I am working on my own in the gym.

Until then I will be sleeping in my compression pants and living on cataflams.