Tango Cycling Diva Ride

On Saturday we had our monthly Tango Cycling Ride again. Marie & Sara who rides with me often and my university friend, Marize came along.

Marize was riding on my 'new' bike and I was riding on my old bike as it needs a bit of maintenance and I didn't want her to suffer more than what was needed. :-) 

She absolutely loved it, moaned when we had to go uphill, but thankfully my recent fitness came in handy and I was able to give her a needed push at times. 

I love seeing and hearing how people enjoy it and it was an absolute joy to introduce her to mountain biking. 

Marie was trying out her new Specialized bike in Surrey for the first time. Marie started riding on a hand-me-down heavy bike with v-brakes and hardly any suspension, but it did not stop her from riding. 

Riding with my girls is so much fun and something I look forward to every time. We ride hard, chat even harder and love hanging out! 

Celebrating Women in Sport Week with my story!

This week is Women in Sport week. In my books every week is women in sport week, but seeing that we are getting a week to celebrate it I thought I’ll tell you a little bit more on how I got into sport.

 

I always competed in sport whilst I was at school. I was never really good at a particular sport, but I loved trying things and being part of a team and hanging out with people. At university I had a bike for transport, but never really cycled for fun apart from the time I cycled next to my friend Helen whilst she was running. I was barely able to cycle at the speed she was running on our way to Jonkershoek. :-) On our way back I cycled past a friend and he was holding his hand out for a high five, but instead of clapping my hand he held my hand and as a result I landed flat on my face with 2 touch rugby teams witnessing this spectacle.

My bike took me everywhere on campus, but I got negligent by leaving my bike locked up at the student centre for weeks whilst I was driving around with a university vehicle, needless to say by the time I wanted to cycle it back to my halls of residence the one pedal was stolen off. The next time I walked past where my bike was parked, it was gone. Months later we retrieved the bike after I spotted a young kit riding around with it as we were on our way to church. Unfortunately it got stolen again as my tight university budget only allowed me to buy a dog collar as a chain. Seriously what was I thinking, but so you live & learn from your mistakes?!

I moved to England after university and I lived here for about 2 years before I started doing any exercise. I literally lived next to Wimbledon Common for 2 years, but didn’t know nor had any interest in what it could’ve offered me. I was one of those people that thought exercise is for other people, definitely not for me!

 

As I have a bigger bust than most women this was one of the things that held me back from running until a friend introduced me to Bravissimo! I was no longer able to use that as an excuse. My friend Elisca told me how important it was to run with the correct running shoes and offered to take me to Sweatshop in Teddington. I was still running with my 7-year old trainers needless to say every run almost ended in tears. I bought the ugliest and most expensive shoes I’ve ever owned, but decided that I would get my monies worth from the £85 I spend, in order to do so I had to run!

Shortly after that I started a training program that a friend from work, Ali gave to me. My roommate, Hilda and her sister Cecile started this with me and we literally started from 0 minutes – 30 minutes in 12 weeks. In the beginning 1 min of running felt undo-able, moving up to 2 and 3 minutes running was a huge mind battle! Eventually we did our first 5km race before the end of the 12 weeks and never looked back. This was revolutionary!

Four things that I am most grateful for and that I think contributed to the success of this training program

• Training partners - we never cancelled on each other even when we really didn’t want to go we would meet and go
• The weather - we met at 6:30 and somehow that summer we missed the rain every time
• Training program – the loading was perfect, we never got stiff or injured
• Experienced friends who encouraged us and making us feel that we are doing great even though they were training for marathons

Since this training program in I ran a few 5km races, a 10km race and eventually a half marathon! Running is certainly not my first love, but it was the beginning of getting me into exercise! I still enjoy running with others or on my own. This training program was the one of the best things that could’ve happen to me! This is where it all started for me!

Looking back at where I've started in 2007 today makes me so thankful and incredibly proud of the things I've taken on in the past 8 years! I would've not done many or any of these things if it wasn't for the friends I've made along the way.

Hilda, TC & Cecila about to run our first 5km run in week 8 of our training program

, 2007 

 

 

2nd 5km run with Elisca (trainer buyer advisor) & Wilma!



JP Morgan chase with Sasha, Ali (giver of the amazing program), speedy Flora & Pippa



Hellrunner South with Beatrice, 2008

2 years later and I run my first Half Marathon, Surrey Badger at Leatherhead with Jeannine! 2009

 

Bath Half Marathon earlier this year with Jules, 8 years later and I am still not looking back! 2015

 



 

Peaslake MTBO April 2015

This past weekend Liezl and I attempted our 2nd ever orienteering event. The first one we did back in October started disastrous. We planned a route and then decided in the last few minutes to change our route and follow the sequence Simon & Albert worked out. This was not a good move for as as we didn't have time to check where we should go and lost them.  Needless to say we got lost and ended up giving up on one of the points. There were 2 things counting against us. We couldn't really read maps and I certainly was somewhat arrogant in my approach thinking I know the area like the back of my hand - clearly I didn't. 

In November I went on the MTB-Leadership course and had to suddenly read a map, I had to take a bearing and heard of the term hanger for the first time in my life.

The knowledge from that course came in very handy as we decided which checkpoints we were going to aim for. We marked 11 and wrote down step-by-step instructions on how to get to each of them. 

We had our plan and we were going to stick to it. 

Our master plan

We had to start by 10:45 and we literally checked in whilst still making our own makeshift map holders by attaching the map with cable ties to our handlebars. 

The long hill up Hound House Road towards Pitch Hill was a rude awakening for our legs. We managed to pick up 4 checkpoints within 30 minutes. I started making calculations in my head whilst cycling up the dirt climb of Barry Knows Best and came to the realisation that if we manage to pick up our 11 points we will have an hour to spare which meant we could pick up more checkpoints. Liezl suggested that we think about that later once we had them all. 

I did have time to wrote down how to get an additional CP after the last one on our original plan. 

Everything went so well until after the 2nd single track CP. It was placed on one of the You should Goco's on Holmbury and what made it difficult was that you are not sure on which fire road you would be popping out onto on the map. We lost a bit of time on this one, but quickly realised our mistake, found the CP back at the top of the hill and carried on from there. 

One of the markers were placed on Tunnel of Love and thankfully we didn't go down it at our normal speed as we might've missed it completely! 

We picked up our 11 checkpoint in 1h40mins and had the potential to pick up another 3 points which were the closest to where we ended our original plan.

To Liezl's dismay I started getting a bit competitive and excited so pushed for the extra 3 checkpoints. We picked up 2 of the 3 easily and we knew that the last one will be our biggest challenge for the day as this was in an area that neither of us knew really well AND we knew that a steep uphill would be between that CP and the finish. We now had 35 minutes left to find the last CP and be back at the Finish Line.   

We followed our noses for a bit as we were not sure if there were an actual route down to the checkpoint from where we were at the top of Greensand Lane as all we could see on the map was a footpath leading towards the CP which were placed on Alderbrook Copse. We were contemplating taking the footpath but when I saw how steep and overgrown it was I said no way am I going down there. 

Thankfully towards the right there was another path. We started following it, and before we knew it we were on quite a technical single track. We looked to our left where all we could see was these MASSIVE crazy big build jumps! We reached the bottom unharmed and quite pumped with our new discovery. We found the last checkpoint after some deliberation. Home time, the clock was ticking we had 20 minutes left. 

This last checkpoint was located on the back of Winterfold Hill down Greensand Lane, I am sure that to the roadies amongst us Barhatch Road will bring back some painful memories. Well that is where we had to go up! Liezl had her climbing legs on her where as for me my bus doors went open and it was a real slog! 

I asked Liezl if we could stay on the tarmac instead of going back via Supernova to the finish as I knew it would be quicker and less risky as by now my brain was fading. 

We arrived back at Peaslake Village Hall at 13:47 and got a 2 minute penalty which meant we would lose 20 points from our total. 

Our aim was to get 875 with our 11 checkpoints, with our additional 3 checkpoints we were now onto 1145 minus 20 penalty points and we ended finishing on 1125 out of 1760 that could've been won if you cleared the course! 

We thought that we might've been the first ladies team and our thoughts were confirmed. We won a helmet, cycling top, 2 pairs of shoes sponsored by Howard from Pedal and Spoke and also 1:2:1 coaching session with Rich from B1KE. Two years ago we had a skills session with him and we are looking forward to have another lesson with him. 

What we have learnt and did better this time:

1. Planned (Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail)
2. Stuck to our plan
3. Looked around, observe the terrain and place names there are so many clues around by just being observant
4. We were better at map reading including contours etc

Our biggest personal achievements of the day: 

1. Trusting our map reading skills and not relying on our local knowledge
2. Discovering new ways of getting to places where we have been before
3. Not fighting once
4. As an added bonus on top of our personal achievements we won a prize :-)

Strava file below in case you want to check out route planning skills.  

https://www.strava.com/activities/293075650

Next time we are going big... we might even venture over to Leith Hill. 

Thank you Peaslake MTBO for organising this local event we love supporting it.

Prize Giving - Tango Twins take the Win

Our lovely prize - I still giggle when I read our Team name, Tango Twins, fondly given by Lizzie & Iain. 

The normal procedure for when we get back home. Bike wash and food!

Directly translated from Afrikaans, "The one hand washes the other" 

Liezl loves washing bikes and I love cooking, so she washes my bike and I make the food, it is a win-win for both of us. :-)

Peaslake MTBO 2014

I originally had other plans for yesterday, but it got cancelled so Pokkeltjie & I decided to go for a fun ride on Sunday instead. Simon then suggested this event, Peaslake MTBO that I sent out in my recent newsletter & we decided to support this local race instead and entered as a team.

Simon sent out links with tips for us to read/study before Sunday, we soon realised that our fun ride might be a little bit more serious than what we had in mind originally.

For those of you who know us, the team dynamics were more than interesting, 1 gadget map reading loving male, 1 female who rides on memory & another female who are happy to follow most of the time. :) We are all good friends and knew that this event might put a test to our friendship. I prayed that I would be 'not' myself just for a day & just follow the lead. :-)

On Saturday we had a quick catch-up meeting to talk strategy & to just get an idea of how orienteering works.

Shucks my head wanted to explode with all the route options, there were too many decisions to make.

On Sunday Simon continued to quiz us in the car. One of the questions was, if it is mid-day and the sun is on your right which side is North? I continued driving and left Liezl to answer the question. Needless to say we all knew who the weakest link in the team was before we even started ME! I can't even tell left from right, how would I be able to work that one out.

Albert joined us as a last minute add-on. He is fitter than most of us so we decided it would be best to make one female and one male team.

Simon kindly made us all some DIY perspex map holders by drilling holes into plastic photo holders which we then mounted on our bikes.

Pokkeltjie plotting points

At registration we received our maps with all 21 check points marked. We sat down and transferred some check points over to another bigger picture map of our own. This was exciting, I recognized most of the points were near areas we knew and have ridden before.

Unfortunately we didn't keep a closer look on the time and had only 15 minutes left to plan our route, decide which check points are not worth going to etc. There were 21 check points & we had 3 hours to get to all of them.

Team work, Si plotting points & Albert working out their route

Simon & Albert offered us their sequence of points and due to the lack of time we decided to go with that. Unfortunately we missed the first turn off and had trouble finding our first CP. Eventually we saw others with maps flapping around their necks and got our first CP.

I was confident that the next check point could've not been far away, it was almost in a straight line from there. But this one was the elusive one. We wasted so much time cycling up and down in the same road not finding it. So close, but yet so far. We then decided to give up hope to find that one. We have ridden for an hour already and only had one CP. We went over to the summit of Pitch Hill where we quickly got the next point. The next point was located on single track, now I know a few single tracks on Pitch Hill and didn't want to go down the wrong one as then we would need to climb back up. Thankfully Pokkeltjie was able to tell which way was North so we bagged this one quick-quick. We then hit it over to the bottom of BKB to grab some points on Holmbury Hill.

Here we bagged one of the big ones very quickly BEFORE getting horribly lost in our search for number 10. We were desperate to find 10 as without 10 we won't be able to find 11 & 8. After many junctions Liezl suggested going up a steep rocky climb. In my head I hoped that it would be worth going up there. It was! Not too far away we saw the tiny grass triangle with the bunting on marking CP10. We blitzed down the wide fire road to pick up 11 before going left in search of 8. I knew 8 was potentially going to be near one of the other memorable trees that I get teased about. Thankfully I saw some people to our right and we found 8. We took a single track section we know and did with Richard from All Biked Up back to Peaslake and got back with 8 minutes to spare.

The winners of this event have done it plenty of times before and we can tell that there are some really fit people out there that are able to combine their fitness & map reading skills very well. The Men’s Winner cleared the course in 2:10! #Machine!

I am glad we were able to support an event hosted by the community of our local weekend playground. In all honesty I think I prefer a way marked route, but it was good to do something outside my comfort zone & I am walking away knowing that I can learn the following from this event.

TC’s Tips & lessons learnt:

1. Buy the same map for each team member so both are on the same page

2. Keep an eye on the time before you start

3. Plan your OWN route

4. Teach yourself the difference between left & right, then NORTH, SOUTH, EAST & WEST :-)

5. Then LEARN how to read a map correctly

Links Simon sent that might be useful if you ever wanted to an event like this:

Some good tips in the "Techniques" section of this pdf:
http://gphxo.org/Events/Intro_to_bike-o.pdf

Simon’s Strategy Advice:

1. Accept that we have zero chance of visiting ALL checkpoints, so weigh up which are the "least bang for buck" and cull them early

2. Long uphills come at a price, so plan our route to minimise them and do them on road where possible

3. Decide on your plan A CP grouping - "definites"

4. Decide on your plan B CP grouping - "ambitious maybes" if you still have the time after done with A

5. Start with plan A and then re-assess along the way if B going to happen or perhaps a scaled down version of it

6. Key knowledge is familiarity with the fastest and easiest routes between checkpoints, which will often be at the tops of hills. Obvious, but worth thinking about.

7. Make sure the stronger person at least even if they are apparently slower with being unwell :)) has a good map and holder. This will allow them to plan the route while they wait for their partner(s) to catch up at the top of hills after clipping the checkpoint card.

All done & ready to go home!

It's my birthday and I can TRI if I want to‏...

Exactly what I had in mind...

So on Sunday I did my 2^nd ever triathlon. You will remember that last year Steph van Niekerk taught me the breathing technique of swimming for the event. This year my aim was to swim without stopping, ie no resting, no head above the water, doggy pedal or breast stroke.
 

I swam three times in preparation for the XTERRA not because I planned it that way, but I got a stupid virus a month ago and haven’t been able to train so also downgraded from entering the Championship originally to do the Sprint again this year due to my health & fitness.

 



Killing time before the swim
Photo: Julie Meyer

Dropping my stuff off & getting ready for transition was so much different from last year, last year I was still putting my wetsuit on at the race briefing, this year it felt like I forgot something as I had time to spare to take photos with Jules & muck about with other athletes. 

 

I came 2^nd last out of the water, but I didn’t stop once and that is all that mattered to me.

 

Onto the bike, now this was going to be fun. Zane put word out on Saturday that the bike course was a lot more technical than last year and it made me slightly nervous, but more excited.

 

Pokkeltjie pulling me through on the bike leg
Photo: Zane Smith

Somehow I didn’t have jelly legs once I started out on the bike, it is probably down to the fact that I hardly kick when I swim, my 2 legs are just a heavy weight dragging along with me.

 

The bike course had so many twists, turns, bunny holes which I almost discovered the hard way as I tried to overtake someone on the single track. I quickly started picking up a few people. I think years of riding awesome trails in the Surrey Hills & the ultimate Sellaronda Hero training ground in the Dolomites this year helped a lot. It felt like every switchback turn was towards the left. My left hand side is my dumb side… got to improve! My brain started getting tired towards the end and I knew it was time to finish the bike before I crash doing something silly.

The bike was so much fun and I started experiencing FOMO having to still run whilst all the others had been able to support me, I also wanted to be able to hang out, but I still had 5km to run.

I didn’t escape jelly legs, they were there as soon as I started the run leg. I knew that the ditch jump was waiting for me and unlike me, I didn’t want to get my new shoes dirty. I also have a bit of vertigo and although it isn’t that far down into the ditch, I didn’t look forward to it. The course is great, but the fact that your legs are tired makes it a lot harder. I felt like walking, but said to myself I’m not allowed to because I know I’ll be beating myself up about walking. I did walk a bit just because I could and didn’t want to run. After the water point and back over the field I thought we would’ve covered 4km already, but I then saw a 3km marker, I prepared myself to still go back into the woods where we were last year and thought I still had 2.5km to go so saved some energy for that. I got to the tree trunk crossing and thought yay I have an excuse to walk again, but no-no the ‘bossy’ photographer from Lighttrapper (who I now know as Rob who is a friend of friend) encouraged me to climb over and carry on running. J Before I knew it, I was out of the woods and onto the finishing straight. I was a little bit confused and felt like I cheated as I then felt that I still had loads of energy left.
 



Sprinting to the Finish line
Photo: Zane Smith

As I approached the finish line my friends started singing Happy Birthday to me, all of them & Carl & Terry from Squirtlube gave me high 5’s as if I was a celebrity in town. It was a special one & I will savour the memories for a long time to come. Thank you I wouldn’t have wanted to spend the day in any other way.

 

 



Hanging out with Carl @ Squirtlube and
The Winning Specialized Machine!
Photo: Zane Smith

We also had the opportunity to see Conrad Stoltz, XTERRA legend, 7 time World Champion race in this race. I’ve known Conrad from back home when I was still in university. Two of the things I can remember about him is that he was always riding his bike in Jonkershoek and washing it, I thought he was a little bit crazy. Little did I know that I would join this crazy hype of mountain biking & XTERRA a few years later.


I was so excited when I heard that he was coming to race in the UK as I’ve been following his career via his blog & other social media postings. Conrad & Liezl stayed with Carl from Squirtlube who we got to know through XTERRA England 2013 actually. Squirtlube has been sponsoring Tango Cycling since last year’s race. Carl also took Conrad out on our local trails and it is so nice to hear that someone who has ridden all over the world think that our local trails are fantastic.


Conrad smashed the bike course and like we would say in Afrikaans, he rode the rest of the guys kas toe! He won with a lead of 5 minutes over his next competitor and also won 50^thXTERRA title in his 22 year long career.


Caveman winning his 50th XTERRA title!
Photo: Zane Smith




Liezl, Simon, Jason, Willem, Paula, Lee-Anne & Myburgh
Photo: Tharina Cronjé

Jason, Lee-Anne, Liezl, Myburgh, Paula & Willem represented Tango Cycling in the Championship Distance. It was so great to be able to support all of them the same way they supported me. I have to say the Tango Cycling Support Crew made such a noise whenever we were not all together we just had to listen to the noise to know if one of our members went past.

 



Paula receiving her spot for Hawaii
Photo: Zane Smith

As preparation for Half Ironman World Championships Paula entered the XTERRA as a mountain bike newbie. Underplaying her mountain biking skills she was a complete wild card. She completely smashed it and proceeded to not only just complete her first off-road triathlon, but to win her age group category and qualify for XTERRA World Championships in Hawaii in October.
Congratulations Paula, we are so impressed and very proud of you. You are one of ‘us’ now!

 

Tips:

1.     Ear plugs – for the swim. Myburgh told me about this, it was actually the first time I swam with them but it worked because it doesn’t sound like you are going to drown all the time.

2.     Turn up on time & set up your transition at your own pace and well in time before the start of the race

3.     Don’t carry heavy stuff around the day before the race or over commit yourself

Thanks :
 

1.     All my lovely friends for supporting me.

2.     The man who said ‘you don’t have far to go’ from his canoe when I started to battle towards the end of the swim – you got me there!

3.     Sam & Richard for an awesome bike course, thank you for taking the ‘hornet sting’ out of it as well (Sam I hear you took one for the team J).

4.     Richard Campbell for his memory of an elephant & being so complimentary towards me & the rest of the gang over the announcers microphone.

5.     XTERRA for putting on this event amidst all of the uncertainty, I will continue to come back for as long as I live on the mud island.

Results:

 

http://www.stuweb.co.uk/events/2014/08/24/1800/

Photos:

 

The face of Tango Cycling, Zane Smith took a back seat this year and moved in behind his camera lens to take some awesome on the day event photos for us.

Click here to view the photos.

Tango Family (minus Simon & Milli), Conrad, Liezl, Yolandi, Carl & Terry!
Photo taken: Carel du Plessis with either Paula or Zane's camera



Beer & Bike - 26 July 2014

A day of fun awaits

On Saturday 26 July I finally arranged an event for the guys. I’ve been neglecting them since I started the ladies rides last year. So last Saturday was their turn. Iain & Lizzie who live locally in Dorking led the ride and showed them some new trails.

Carl, from Squirtlube told me about this race, the Iditarod Trail Invitational he did in Alaska a few times at the Skills weekend last year when he kindly joined us. He degreased each of our chains and re-applied/induced our chains with Squirtlube. So I’ve been trying to think of when and where to host an event where he can get the opportunity to talk to us about this extraordinary race which he has completed twice, and even WON.

A group of 11 keen, energetic guys met at Dorking station on Saturday morning. I joined the ride for the first hour just because I didn’t want to miss out and it is more fun to ride with people than on your own.

We did a new trail at Denbies before we hit over to Whitedowns lane. I was in a bit of trouble over here as the last time I rode this area was about 3 months ago with a few of the guys and I threw a proper tantrum as it is very steep and rooty. The long, steady climb on the tar road up Whitedowns Lane to the start of the trails as well as a leaking Camelbak contributed to this bad start. Poor Rich Hemmings got the brunt of my strop and were mocking me on Saturday as suddenly I rode down it and didn’t make as much as a peep about the steepness etc. In my defence, I’m stronger & more confident now than I was back then - might be these rides with the boys, I’d never admit that to them though!

The Pack: Wynie, Carl, Iain, Jono, Willem, Rich, Lizzie, J & Roelof
Photo: Zane Smith

I left the group at route 22 as they were heading back towards Dorking and I went right onto the 22 towards Abinger before I joined Hoe Lane to pick up the key for Peaslake Village Hall. I booked the hall the week before with a lovely lady called Marg who has been living in Peaslake all her life. What a lovely place to grow up in?

Our beautiful playground
Photo: Zane Smith

Jules & Nicole met me at Peaslake where we quickly set up the hall for the afternoon activities. We went for a walk towards the bottom of “Barry Knows Best” to show Nicole where we usually ride. From there we went over to Death Star and turned right at the top down to the graveyard before we got back to the Village Hall to start the fire before the guys got there.

We had cold beers ready for the guys on their return (which they were VERY grateful for) and we all sat round the fire as Louis braaied the boerewors for us. The guys were tired out as Iain & Lizzie dragged them up & down hills and showed them new trails around the North Downs Way and Shere. A few of the guys who know these trails said they felt like they had now conquered every single hill to conquer in the Surrey Hills. It may have been a bit of a shock to the system for some of the newcomers.

We headed inside once had all refuelled ready to listen to Carl from Squirtlube talk about his experiences of the gruelling Iditarod Invitation Trail ride. This ride is an unmarked route covering 1000 miles over the snow covered Alaska. It includes riding your bike over snow, frozen lakes, frozen rivers and even frozen sea. Carl attempted this ride 5 times, completed it twice, won it once where he also set a new course record! This is a no jokes ride. The effort and planning that goes into this race purely on how to survive and move forward in this race is astounding. Things that I would never even think about but what he had to prepare for. Things like: defrosting snow so that you have enough drinking water, blowing the water in your camelbak pipe back once you sipped from it so that it doesn’t freeze in the pipe, not wearing 2 pairs of socks to keep your feet warm, but rather having more movement in your boot.

The Audience

Carl told us afterwards that to do this race it is better to undertrain and be overweight then over train and have no fat on you. It is about being mentally prepared to carry on when the elements are against you.

Carl's Bike & equipment

The talk was really inspiring and made us realise again that if you put your mind to something, you can do it, anybody can attempt something like this.

I would like to thank everybody who joined in on the day. Iain & Lizzie for taking the lead on the ride. Carl for taking the time to join the ride, prepare the presentation and share it with us. Julie, Nicole & Louis for their help in setting up, cleaning up & preparing the food.

Saturday's route
http://www.strava.com/activities/171207056