Die 24hrs of Oak Valley begin.
My eerste 24hr was einde 2003. Toe het ek met ‘n duiklig op die handlebar en ‘n 4AA padfiets lig op my helmet gery.
Die jaar daarna het ek geupgrade en met ‘n Petzl koplampie gery. ek kon net sowel ‘n kers in ‘n konfyt blk gedruk het.
Nou ry ons met ligte wat my bakkie skaam maak en word die Petzl in die
Kamp gebruik.
In 2006 het ek gery met ‘n drivetrain wat shot was, dit het op my laaste lap die gees gegee en ek het die baan gehardloop.
2jaar terug het ek dit gery met ‘n fiets wat die aand voor die tyd eers opgebou is. Dit was ‘n stressvolle week. En ‘n goeie manier om ‘n nuwe fiets te leer ken.
Venue het gewissel van Malmesbury, Wiesenhof en nou is dit Oak Valley
Ons kamp het verander van die Mavericks Cycles bussie waar ek onder die sterre geslaap het, tot my pa se bakkie met ‘n gazebo waarvan ons die pale met harke se stele gelas het, tot die Falcon Sports span se compound met vrieskaste en krag tot nou waar ons so gekonfyt is dat als wat ons nodig het in een bakkie pas, en dit goed soos hangmatte, gazebo’s, gas stowe en kamp ligte insluit.
Een ding wat konstant was oor die jare is die pret, die uitdaging, die feit dat jy deur jou eie denkbeeldige fisiese grense moet stoot en die ongelooflike kamaraderie onder die mense, ondersteuners en ryers ingesluit.
Ek is gepak, my batterye is gelaai, fiets is perfek, my bene voel goed en vanaand eet ek ekstra pizza en gaan slaap vroeg.
Dit gaan ‘n lang naweek wees, maar ek sien vreeslik uit!
Vrede
Phlip
Friday, January 20, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Totalsports Terra Firma Challenge 2012
The Totalsports Challenge has for the last three years been my first event for the season. this year was no different.
I always do the mountain bike leg for the Sportsmans Warehouse team. 25km that I ride with the aim of killing myself and passing out just after the line. Luckily it is a relay and I can pass he baton onto someone else for the beach run.
For this year I had a great support team behind me. My dad took me to the start at Arabella where I got ready and the two of us bonded as we waited (ridiculously early as usual.) pretty soon we were joined by my mom and the lovely Alicia.
As the athletes stated rolling in I got angsty and really hated waiting for my turn.
The moment Jacques pulled in from the run and gave me the wristband and sent me off. the adrenaline started pumping immediately and I chased out of the transition area like a scalded cat.
About 800m later we entered into the first piece of singletrack. In this singletrack I just started praying. Asking the Lord to protect me, to bless me, and to give me great legs and to join me, effectively turning the whole ride into a worship session. I prayed, sang the only worship song I know by heart (Awesome God by Michael W Smith) and just chatted to the Lord about stuff, about how i felt on the ride and just worshipped him. He in turn blessed me amazingly. Everything just clicked and worked smoothly, I ate at the right times, drank when necessary, chose perfect lines in the technical sessions and had absolutely no mechanical issues, flat tyres, cramps or falls. Everything went brilliant and smooth. Truly a blessed ride.
As we left Arabella we turned onto the Highlands road. a couple of km's later we turned left into the plantations. the first 15km was climbing, and then in the plantations we had a couple of flat roads with rolling hills. I climbed strongly and still had a lot left in the tank when we hit the plantation and promptly turned up the pace substantially. it felt amazing racing along in the big gears on top of the mountain and not feeling knackered and slightly out of control in the technical stuff. The fires in Kleinmond last year raveaged parts of the courses, and the rocky tecnical sections became rocky technical sessions with lots of loose sand. It was rough, fast, loose and hard. I loved it!
With most of the technical stuff out of the way I realised I only had one short, but steep climb left. Last year this climb hurt me a lot, and I had to push the last bit. This year it was totally different. I motored up the climb, and went over the top strongly. I loved it!
on the other side you could see Kleinmond and the sea and I put the hammer on, reaching 60km/h on the descent and averaging above 30km/h on the last gravel roads into town. Racing into town like this hurt, and I was sucking in air through my mouth, nose, eyes, ears and even my gills. Anything to get enough oxygen into the muscles in my legs to keep up with the effort I was demanding of them. it burned, it hurt, it almost led to cramp, but I loved every painful moment of it. the sadomasochist in me reared his ugly head and made me hammer myself the last 5km's. just before the transition zone I spotted my dad, Alicia and my mom, Alicia snapped a piccy of me and I almost fell right in front of them. Real classy.
At the transition area I handed over to Ryan and nearly collapsed right there. luckily there was Coke to get some suga back into my bloodstream, and James Willis our HR manager and team coordinator showed up to help me out of the transition. I was spent. broken. felt sick, dizzy and wanted to puke. But at he same time I felt great. I rode about 1h19mins, slicing about 5mins off last years time. the next half an hour is a bit of a blur. I remember sitting down, chatting to a couple of people I know, drinking Rehidrat and taking a cold shower.
All in all it was an epic day. Our unofficial time is 4h28, and I have no idea where that places us, but it does mean the other guys in my team did great times.
Thanks to Alicia and my parents for supporting me, thanks to Sportsmans Warehouse for entering us, thanks to James for organising everything for us, and lastly, thanks to the Lord for blessing me with so much on this day.
Next week it is the 24hr at Oak Valley again. I will have the same support crew, with more friends joining and camping with us. And with the Lord blessing me on the bike so much lately I honestly can't wait.
Peace
Philip
I always do the mountain bike leg for the Sportsmans Warehouse team. 25km that I ride with the aim of killing myself and passing out just after the line. Luckily it is a relay and I can pass he baton onto someone else for the beach run.
 |
| Me and my dad at the start of the MTB leg. |
As the athletes stated rolling in I got angsty and really hated waiting for my turn.
The moment Jacques pulled in from the run and gave me the wristband and sent me off. the adrenaline started pumping immediately and I chased out of the transition area like a scalded cat.
About 800m later we entered into the first piece of singletrack. In this singletrack I just started praying. Asking the Lord to protect me, to bless me, and to give me great legs and to join me, effectively turning the whole ride into a worship session. I prayed, sang the only worship song I know by heart (Awesome God by Michael W Smith) and just chatted to the Lord about stuff, about how i felt on the ride and just worshipped him. He in turn blessed me amazingly. Everything just clicked and worked smoothly, I ate at the right times, drank when necessary, chose perfect lines in the technical sessions and had absolutely no mechanical issues, flat tyres, cramps or falls. Everything went brilliant and smooth. Truly a blessed ride.
As we left Arabella we turned onto the Highlands road. a couple of km's later we turned left into the plantations. the first 15km was climbing, and then in the plantations we had a couple of flat roads with rolling hills. I climbed strongly and still had a lot left in the tank when we hit the plantation and promptly turned up the pace substantially. it felt amazing racing along in the big gears on top of the mountain and not feeling knackered and slightly out of control in the technical stuff. The fires in Kleinmond last year raveaged parts of the courses, and the rocky tecnical sections became rocky technical sessions with lots of loose sand. It was rough, fast, loose and hard. I loved it!
With most of the technical stuff out of the way I realised I only had one short, but steep climb left. Last year this climb hurt me a lot, and I had to push the last bit. This year it was totally different. I motored up the climb, and went over the top strongly. I loved it!
 |
| Almost done. |
At the transition area I handed over to Ryan and nearly collapsed right there. luckily there was Coke to get some suga back into my bloodstream, and James Willis our HR manager and team coordinator showed up to help me out of the transition. I was spent. broken. felt sick, dizzy and wanted to puke. But at he same time I felt great. I rode about 1h19mins, slicing about 5mins off last years time. the next half an hour is a bit of a blur. I remember sitting down, chatting to a couple of people I know, drinking Rehidrat and taking a cold shower.
All in all it was an epic day. Our unofficial time is 4h28, and I have no idea where that places us, but it does mean the other guys in my team did great times.
Thanks to Alicia and my parents for supporting me, thanks to Sportsmans Warehouse for entering us, thanks to James for organising everything for us, and lastly, thanks to the Lord for blessing me with so much on this day.
Next week it is the 24hr at Oak Valley again. I will have the same support crew, with more friends joining and camping with us. And with the Lord blessing me on the bike so much lately I honestly can't wait.
Peace
Philip
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