Burry Stander Memorial Ride

On Sunday, 13 January 2013 we did a tribute ride of one lap around Richmond Park for Burry Stander. It was a freezing cold 3 degrees in London. 

We were all shocked about the news of Burry's passing and didn't want to belief it. I was so excited to see him in action at the ABSA Cape Epic and couldn't imagine the Epic without him. He was our hero and his combative performance in the Olympics was still fresh in our minds. I think we were all so deeply upset that nobody really spoke about it as it was to emotional for us. 

I personally just realised how out of control we are about our lives, God is ultimately in control of everything although it is still so hard to deal with the heart ache and loss of people close to us. 

Burry has left such a legacy behind and he was our hero whether we knew him personally or not. The one thing I noticed in all the articles that I've read about him before his tragic death and afterwards is that he was always the same. I've shed many tears about him whilst reading about tributes and articles of whilst watching all the complimenting tribute videos people have posted about him like this one. 

Burry Stander - If I Die Young

Rest in Peace Burry. Our thoughts and prayers are with Cherise & all of his family. 

We had a moment's silence before the Start @ Roehampton Gate, Richmond Park

Warmth, tea & toast at our house afterwards
Julie, Liezl, Jason, Nicole, Jamie, Paula, Bronwen, Simon & Johan

Burry Stander Tribute - If I die young

How to get TC quiet?

Captain Bonty arranged for us to explore Surrey Hills.

Christiaan & I was about to embark on our first maiden voyage to the hills on roadbikes... Nerves was all around, but we were rest assured not to worry if we get dropped etc etc.

11 of us met on the bridge. Richard Hemmings our token Brit was there in his baggies and as expected did not get the nod of approval from Captain Bonty.

We went through Esher, Cobham up Hungry Lane & Staple Lane & onwards towards Peaslake.

Today I was riding on Saartjie's bike after Gerhard van Niekerk's recommendation on Boxing Day. Also a Specialized. It is the size of a child's bike & looks like a toy, but it strangely fitted me better. I was well chuffed as I fitted the pedals myself this time.

Like Julie's highlight on her first mountainbike trip was when Christiaan's chain broke, mine was when I had a flat tyre. I can not say how much I welcomed the stop. In Peaslake I was allowed to fill up my water bottle, but had no time for chitchatting or even a cheesestraw.

I've discovered that my hands are short. So when I'm trying to pull the brakes when my hands are on the bars I don't seem to feel in control at all. That freaked me out a little bit as I knew I'm pulling the brakes flat out, but not in control, it was also very frustrating as I want to go faster, but didn't feel confident enough. After the 2nd steep downhill I've decided I had enough of that, so I started practising going down in the drops when I go downhill, that was much better.

Gerhard Bonthuys decided to get us home, we have to do only one more hill, Whitedowns... Seriously a 20% gradient. Are you crazy people??? And with NO granny gear! I'll admit I got off & pushed my bike until Christiaan played psychological games with me & said you can do it... I maybe could've done it, but the problem was I didn't want to do it. So with the help of Christiaan & Bonty I made it to the top.

The home stretch was nice and flat and I was very relieved to get to Hampton Court in one piece & still alive.

Thank you so much for your patience & encouragement Gerhard Bonthuys, Christiaan & Steph.

Jules - if you are reading this, this is where you should stop reading!

We met up with the A-team at Hampton Court for coffee & cake & the C-Team also blessed us with there presence. Here I made the mistake to ask Bonty for a cuppacino with an extra shot of coffee. It ended up being a double espresso which I drank out of desperation. I was silenced for the first time in my life, 90km of road cycling took it out of me... In my need to be able to speak again I ordered another cuppacino with an extra shot just to get what I wanted the first time. Needless to say I overdosed on coffee & was shaking from all the coffee by the time we left the shop.

I got home still shaking & nauseous... Julie threatened me that I'm not allowed to go cycling again if I come back grumpy again to which I've said I'd rather be grumpy from cycling than from NOT cycling... If only she knew the problem was that I had about 7 espressos on that day. Sorry Jules. It won't happen again. :)

A-Team: Simon, Louis, Gerhard van Niekerk, Lee-Anne & Myburgh, Rich Hemmings & Dawie

B-Team: TC, Gerhard Bonthuys, Stephne & Christiaan

C-Team: Paula & Jason

Closer to home... or at least it felt like it

In December my aunt & uncle came to visit, she treated me with these. They brought all  nine of us much joy over New Years on our cottage breakaway in Dorset. It made us miss the motherland a little bit less on the cold, wet miserable island.

Thank you for such amazing magazines. Thank you Rheta for using your baggage allowance on these.

#proudlysouthafrica #tread #bicycling #ride #sarie #rooirose




Albert, Gerhard van Niekerk, Christiaan, Zelda & Rochelle

2nd Roadbike exploration...

My ma se woorde sou wees, "My kind wat het jou besiel?"

Well that is what I felt like on my 2nd ride, I was a little bit to keen to quickly, but on Christmas eve sommer the day after my first roadride I went for another ride. There was nothing wrong with the ride, but I should've maybe discerned a little bit more with who I was going to ride with.

Jason & I met Dawie at Robin Hood Gate... Boy oh boy, these guys just wanted to go FAST, sadly for them I was on cruise control, so they had to slow down.

I had the privilage to sit in the diamond, thats what I'm told it is called UNTIL we went round a corner with a strong wind from the front... & I realised this is where the chaf is being seperated from the wheat and what a privilage it was to sit in that diamond. I begged them to just go & leave me so that I could go at my own pace, but they insisted to hang around...

Did I mention that roadriding is constant & consistent all the time... No time to play around or stop to even smell the roses.

We did a few laps of the park & went to Richmond Hill Bakery for coffee & awesome cake. #highly recommended.

If you know me well, I'm not known to sit still for to long or take afternoon naps, I was so exhausted from 2 days riding in a row that I HAD to just lie in my bed that afternoon before I headed out again.

Lessons learned from the day:

1. Choose your company wisely :-) (ride at your level of competance)
2. Always finish a lap... the start of overcoming some mental issues

Dawie, J & TC @ Richmond Hill Bakery

Joining the "Darkside..."

Like my ouma said, never say never as never is a very long time.

On 23rd December 2012 I did my first ever roadride.

I don't really know why I decided to do it, but seeing that I've been rebelling for a long time, I've not been out riding for a long time & probably mostly because one after the other of my friends started to break the trust & joined the darkside, so I had to see for myself. Lets blame #FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)!

Lindie Gericke kindly borrowed her bike to me & with the help of Jason we put on some clip in pedals the night before.

It was with great fear that I embarked on this very first ride as the panic levels were high as I didn't know how to change the gears & couldn't reach the gears... PANIC!!!

Thankfully on the day of the ride I didn't have a handbag swinging around obstructing the front wheel.

I asked Christiaan along to be a witness of the spectacle & he agreed straight away. If only I knew earlier that it will take me on a roadbike to get him back on his bike. His suprize was big when he found out that we were planning to go to Windsor & back. :-)  Thankfully pride has its time & place & he went with us all the way. Cecilia also thought we were just going to Richmond Park so joined the spectacle to Hampton Bridge & back. Steph & Gerhard joined us from Hampton Bridge onwards.

Paula nearly fell over when she realised I was on a roadbike, I'm not sure whether it was the fact that I was on a roadbike or the fact that she now knew she will be running out of excuses to join us on our mountainbikes.

I've been asked how many times during the ride how is it? Are you enjoying it? I managed to avoid the question by pulling faces, but here is the honest answer.

1. It was definately not love at first sight
2. It was a good workout
3. It was great to to ride again - regardless of the discipline
4. It gets boring
5. It is not as sociable whilst you are riding
6. It is scary & fast - I don't like the cars
7. It is polite i.e. you have to handle the bike politely, no room for error :(

I'm grateful for:

1. The set-up tweaks (also known as phaffing) to the saddle by Gerhard and even wearing full gloves after the halfway mark helped as the frame of the bike is definately to big for me & my index fingers got sore. It was good to go through that as I was able to feel the diffence after each tweak especially as I didn't know how it should feel on a roadbike.
2. Lindi's commuter brakes on the handlebar, maybe not acceptable for proper roadies, but a blessing when you can't reach the brakes in the drops. :)

How was the pace for you?
Mmm, a few more rides & we would be able to keep up a bit better

What did I miss the most on the ride?
My camelbak

Will I do it again?
Yes, I will. Well technically I've been out again since that day.

Will I buy a roadbike?
Maybe...

Quote of the day
Talk less & pedal more - Jason Wentzel

We clocked 80k's and 2 coffee stops. Thank you for your patience guys & giving us some slip. See I even know some of the lingo. :)


Spot the Mountainbikers in their camouflage
FLTR: Paula, Jason, ?, Stephné, Gerhard & Christiaan
Photo taken by: Stranger in Great Park, Windsor



Big Ring Chicks
Hampton Court Café

Can you guess which 7 of the top 10 Olympic Finishers will compete in the Absa Cape Epic 2013?

The top 10 Olympic finishers:

1. Jaroslav Kulhavy
2. Nino Schurter
3. Marco Fontana
4. Jose Hermida
5. Burry Stander
6. Carlos Coloma Nicolas
7. Manuel Fumic
8. Geoff Kabush
9. Alexander Gehbauer
10. Todd Wells

TC's Pick:

Burry Stander (5) with Christoph Sauser - Team Specialized
Jaroslav Kulhavy (1) with Todd Wells (10) - Team Specialized
Nino Schurter (2) with Florian Vogel
Jose Hermida (4)
Marco Fontana (3)
Manuel Fumic (7)

Absa Cape Epic 2013

Next year I will have the great privilage to be part of the Cape Epic in the capacity as a volunteer.
 
I am so excited to be part of this top class event. Especially as most of you know how much I love mountainbiking & events organising, being part of the 10th edition is an added bonus plus the the race is so local to where I've spent my school & university years. It will be great to be back in SA in March after 9 years in the UK.

The route has been announced this morning & it looks stunning. Apparently from what I've heard in theory the climbing is more do-able, but I've also heard that it is not the distance of this race that matters, but rather the terrain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tFjAR6-acM&feature=youtu.be

New things that will add to the 10th anniversary celebrations.

- R1 million prize money
- A prize for the highest top team that stayed in the tented village during the race
- 2 new stage towns
- A complete new entry into Lourensford finish with no compulsary portage
- 7 of the top 10 Olympic XC Mens finishers will be racing

Personally I would love it if Raelf Naef (XCE World Champion) and Conrad Stoltz (4 x XTERRA World Champion) competes too. But also looking forward to see local heroes such as Burry Stander, Kevin Evans, David George & Max Knox & also international athletes like Burry's teammate Christoph Sauser & Karl Platt from Team Bulls. #bigcalveoverloadonitsway

As part of the volunteering scheme, you are guaranteed an entry to the next year's race. 

When I told my mom this, her reaction was:
Ma: "Aggeneeee! Tharina dis mos heavy."
TC:"Wat bedoel Ma met heavy?"
Ma: "Julle sê mos altyd heavy."
TC: "Ooo, bedoel ma hectic?"

Well heavy or hectic, they are both very descriptive of what one could expect of this race.

When I told Elisca, her reaction was:
Elisca: Gaan ons dit doen?
TC: As jy vir ons 'n sponsor kry?
WATCH THIS SPACE...

Looking forward to work hard as a volunteer & contribute to the Absa Cape Epic 2013 from 16 March 2013 - 24 March 2013.

http://www.cape-epic.com/



Team Bulls, Stefan Sahm & Karl Platt
Photo by Gary Perkin/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS Gary Perkin/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS

Hectic... Kuite
Photo by Sven Martin/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS Sven Martin/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS

 

Epic
Photo by Sven Martin/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS Sven Martin/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS




Heavy!
Photo by Sven Martin/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS Sven Martin/Cape Epic/SPORTZPICS