Sabie, a Race of Attrition.

As a new Lowveld local, I knew it had been wet for the past few weeks and with solid overnight rain it was sure to be a mud bath of note! The Sabie Classic has been a highlight of every year for since I started racing. This was my 4^th Sabie Classic but 1^st ever in these conditions, I was looking forward to the challenge!

Because Sabie had been selected as a UCI sanctioned event all the biggest names in South Africa and even some international heroes such as Bulls riders Karl Platt and Urs Huber were lined up ready for the battle against each other and the elements! Looking around on the start line made me nervous, my goal: top 10.

There was a slight drizzle which was a relief since I know how swelteringly hot it can get here. After the neutral zone (by which time I was already doused in mud) we started to go up. We then continued to go up for what seemed like a lifetime and a day. The uphill part of the race took up the most part of the first half of the entire race with the Mamba switchbacks slap-bang in the middle! 

My legs were screaming at me and I found myself in 9^th place. “Focus Doogle!” I told myself, “keep pushing, anything can happen.” I passed Dalene Van Der Leek and shortly after, Janine King in the technical “Eagle Run” I was now lying 7^th. I tried to keep my teammate Samantha Sanders in my sights but she slowly pulled a gap on me. When I reached the Epic Sports tech zone, I breathed a huge sigh of relief, it was almost downhill from here! I picked up 2 fresh bottles and had my chain nicely lubed for me.

A few k’s of climbing later the next challenge began, the steep Rocky Horror descent. The rocks are jagged and treacherous on the best of days, never mind in this wetness. Shortly after the descent began I had a sinking feeling when I came across Sammy who was off her bike holding her arm. I stopped to see if she was ok but she had crashed badly and her race was over. I took a small tumble on the way down but got off lightly grazing my elbow and knee. I knew that today was not a day to take risks and took it slower and more carefully than I usually do in the technical sections. I was now lying in 6^th but kept in mind that in conditions like this you can’t get complaisant. I must say that although I came short a couple of times I thoroughly enjoyed the technical sections, the slimy mud making it particularly challenging! 

I passed Lourens Luus twice, he had suffered two sidewall cut and was forced to retire. Shortly after I came across a walking Darren Lill who had also sidewalled. I then passed Erik Kleinhans who had no breaks and a sidewall cut. Waylon Woolcock, Charles Keey and Max Knox were all forced to pull out due to mechanicals. It was carnage out there, left right and centre were riders who had crashed out or stopped to fix a mechanical.

Half way down a technical descent, I found a shaken Yolandi Du Toit who had crashed and landed head first, she still finished the race like a trooper. This meant that I was now in 5^th. I pushed on feeling motivated to keep my spot in the top 5. At about 45km in I caught up to Candice Neethling and passed her when she had problems with her chain up a climb. I pushed harder, knowing that the tech zone was in a few kilometres and then the final stretch to the finish.

When I reached the tech zone I was greeted by my cheering support crew. My coach Bosseau expertly got my bottles to me while ordering me to peddle backwards as he lubed my chain. As quick as I was in I was off again, a new wave of motivation washing over me. About 3 km later I spotted Cherise in the distance as I passed her I saw she too had suffered a sidewall cut, my belief in my Conti tyres was sealed! Oh my goodness, this meant I was in 3^rd!! By this point I so ready to see the finish line. There was one more biggish climb before I eventually reached the final piece of single track where I could hear Max Cluer doing what he does best. I kept peering over my shoulder as I counted down the km to the finish, still in 3^rd! The single track spat an Amy shaped ball of mud out into the finishing straight and I was greeted by an amazing crowd and Max welcoming me to the end of an incredible day in the office!

I went into the race hoping for a top 10 and due to perseverance, some luck and some mad skill, I pulled off a 3^rd which is far more than I had hoped for. I was super happy! Frans from Powasol was ready and waiting to give my unrecognisable Scott some much needed TLC, it came back looking good as new!

My move to Nelspruit has been a great experience. I can feel my form coming along with the help of my coach Bosseau Boshoff from Infinita and the endless k’s of kick ass riding at my back yard! The Valencia crowd is full of awesome people and I am loving being part of their family.

On that high note, next up on the Calendar for me is XCO provincials this coming weekend.

Until then!

Ending the National Marathon Series on a high.

Crater Cruise: Totally not my idea of a mountain bike race but somehow I enjoy it for the mental and physical challenge. You’re on the rivet for 4 hours + in the scorching heat and this year a howling wind to contend with. If the heat, wind and dehydration don’t break you, the seemingly endless and monotonous corrugated and bumpy roads would easily do the job… Challenge accepted!

Our race started at 7:30, just after the Elite men, and the temperatures were already hitting the 30’s. It was going to be a scorcher! Once the Elite men were off, we were ushered into the start chute. Standing alongside me was the series leader and SA Marathon Champ, Robyn de Groot, Swiss marathon champ Ariaan Kleinhans and our XCO Olympian, Candice Neethling. I had never beaten any of these girls and I felt strong but wasn’t too sure of my form as I haven’t been following a structured training program... All I knew is that I’d be in the hurt box for 103km. Hopefully my hours in the Cradle and Suikerbosrand would pull me through! My plan of action was to do my best, stick with them as long as I could and finish with an empty tank.

Once the gun went off we meandered through the quaint town of Parys chit chattering behind the lead vehicle for about 7km of neutral zone. Once out of town we followed the car along an undulating tar road. There was an MTN sign board pointing left, the car stopped, the chatting stopped and we were left to fight it out for the 95km. Our speed picked up with Robyn and Ariaan setting the pace up front. We soon dropped most of the field and I was surprisingly comfortable so I made an effort to do my fair share of helping up front. The wind was pumping and being in front was hard work.

Ariaan, Robyn, Candice and I were working comfortably together for the first 30km or so, with Liesel Lourens just managing to hang on. The pace started picking up especially on the climbs and we dropped Liesel and Candice. I stuck with the two national champs but was hurting, we hit a concrete climb and I was dropped. I kept Robyn in my sight for the next few km but just didn’t have the legs to catch her. My CycleOps showed that my heart rate had steadily been sitting in the mid 180’s and stayed there for at least 2 hours before dropping into the 170’s. I started getting worried about bonking, my max is only 188 and to keep it as high as I did was not ideal. On top of that I was dehydrated, I had to stop at every water table with an empty bottle and downed as many cups of liquid as I possibly could within the time they filled my bottle. I’m sure I broke a record ;-)

I made sure to take my High 5 gels every hour which definitely helped me keep energised and able to push through!

When my CycleOps measured 80km, I knew I needed to put my head down and just do it. I was hurting, fighting against the heat and strong wind. Km after km of a long stretch of corrugated road was causing sense of humour failure; there was nowhere to go! I felt my brain rattling in my head and was ready for the end. Eventually I reached the last water table. A sigh of relief. The worst was over, now it was just grassy dual track a nice big rock to climb over and homeward bound along the railway.
I filled up and stole a quick glance behind me, expecting to see Candice closing in on me. Thankfully no one was in sight. I zooted off not wanting to get complacent and hey, maybe I could even catch Robyn or Ariaan, you never know!

I dug deep, a few more kms and I could chill…. I was so happy to eventually see the bridge that signified the end of the race, I ramped of the other side and pedaled over the finish line. I rode through the hall with a smile, 3^rd at Crater Cruise and 2nd in the series! I was happy and I knew I had done my best. The 29er definitely made the bumps more bearable and I was grateful that the Dogma ran flawlessly for the 103km, helping me along! 

I got of my bike only to find my left foot was in spasm and I could barely walk. I must have looked like a complete wreck as I hobbled off to the fountain where a few other broken looking cyclist were cooling off and comparing notes on their race. The water was a manky brown colour with floating grass and other unidentifiables but I didn’t care, it looked divine! I slipped in, dunked my head and chatted to a few guys I knew. It didn’t take long for the slimy floor and floating things in the water to gross me out. Time to get clean and start feeling human again.

I am happy with my result at Crater Cruise, it has been an up and down year and it was good to end it on an up! 

My main goal for the day was achieved; I kept my 2^nd place overall in the series and 1^st in my age category. My fasbyting and consistently “ok” results throughout the series paid off! I have learnt a lot in this season of marathon racing and am looking forward to using my experience to kick ass in next year’s season!

Provincial XCO #3 Thaba Trails 18 May 2013

I had heard rumours of new, technical trails having been built in Thaba Trails, and pictures of a scary looking gap jump. My poor span maaitjie, Jacques Pretorius took a bad tumble when he over shot the gap and landed on the other side of the berm the Thursday before race day. The crash resulted in a broken helmet and slightly rearranged face but he is fine otherwise and even came to cheer us on!

Not having seen the course before, I was racing “blind” this could be fun! I looked at the gap, took some advice and knew if I could do the gap at Cascades, the chances were good that I’d make it. 

For some reason I was in a heavy gear on the start line, so I got a really bad start (which I got teased about) and got into the first single track in about 4^th place. The race starts off with a long and steep climb.

I quickly got into 1st place but struggled to get into a rhythm in the first lap and felt like I was hitting every rock. I took a tumble that opened up an old scab which bled profusely making it look a lot worse than it actually was! Halfway through the first lap, I had a good lead but still was not feeling comfortable. Finally, I reached the gap, and with a small tug of the handlebars flew over and landed smoothly, yeehaa! That was fun!!

My second and 3^rd lap were easier as I got into more of a rhythm, but in the 3^rd lap, my back wheel kept going flat.

I got to the tech zone, where Stephan quickly and efficiently swapped the wheel and I set off for lap four, the last one. We usually have 5 or 6 laps in XCO races but I was glad that this was only four.

It is definitely a toughy! I am glad I got to race the course before next weekend’s nationals!

MTN National marathon #5 Wellington 11 May 2013

My new teammate Stephan Reyneke and I are both doing quite well in the MTN National Marathon series and decided it was worthwhile going down to Cape Town. We also decided that driving down would be the most economical by a long stretch!

I have cousins in Cape Town who always welcome me, and whoever is with me to stay with them if we have a race. They were hugely accommodating as I gave them 2 days notice, thanks cuzz’s :P
The Thursday prior to the race began our long journey. Stephan picked me up at 6am, and eventually reached my cousins at 22:00, after getting slightly lost in Cape Town. We were exhausted from the trip, so after introductions and some catching up, we headed straight to bed.

I must have slept ‘til about 9am, it was fantastic! We took a spin around the beautiful suburbs, with a few sprints to loosen up the legs and rested for the rest of the day.

We had to leave for Wellington at 6am to get there in time to enter and get ready. I had flash backs from last year’s race in Wellington when Yolande and I were driving in the dark with pouring rain and howling wind. This year was much more pleasant, it was a sunny cool day without much wind. There was a much bigger field that day than there was at Clarens, I could see that it would be a hard day of racing!! 

 

The race starts on a steep climb and the pace quickly increased. To my surprise, I dropped Catherine Williamson, and then Cherise Taylor. Mariska Strauss, Robyn de Groot, Jenny Stenerhage and Sam Saunders were just ahead. I settled into a steady pace, knowing full well the hard climbs I still had to conquer and down hills that required focus!

The downhills had names like “Roller Coaster” and “Rodeo” and were crazy fun on the Pinarello! The uphills were less fun but also aptly named, like “The Wall”. At about half way through, I saw Catherine closing the gap behind me, nooo! We rode together for a little while and I tried to get away but she is so strong, and dropped me like a rock. I put my head down and tried to not let that get me down, when a few km later Cherise came past. 

We played cat and mouse for a while, and worked together on the flat bits, but she too pulled a gap on me eventually. After taking my third High5 energy gel and sipping sparingly on the High5 2:1 in my bottle, I seemed to get a second wave. I reeled her in bit by bit, but she always seemed just out of reach. I didn’t give up and even though my legs were screaming at me, I gave a last push towards the end. She seemed to be sitting up, and when I sprinted past her on the finishing straight, she didn’t respond. Which, I found out later, was because she didn’t realise we were competing for age category. Sorry Cherise J. 

I came 6^th overall and 1^st senior lady.

Stephan had a great first race for the academy, also coming in 6^th overall and 5^th U23. He too had tough competition against the local Contego team and a strong international rider or two! Overall, we decided that it was worth the mission and long trip, the riding was pheonominal, and we are both doing better in the overall standings, which is where consistency is key!

Next MTN National is in Rooiberg, and inbetween that is Provincial XCO, National XCO, SA Marathon Champs and a USN Cup I think. 

Busy busy busy! :D

MTN National marathon #4 Clarens. 4 May 2013

I did Clarens for the first time in 2010, it was my first big Marathon. My previous experience included, the very tough, Babbas Lodge J. To my dismay, I noticed that I was seeded in one of the last batches. This was unacceptable, I re-seeded myself into the A Batch where I belonged, with the Elite ladies, after all, I had won Babbas Lodge! I got dropped, in the neutral zone. I dug deep for 78km, only to get passed by riders the whole race, EVENTUALLY the trauma ended. I was broken.

I regard that race as my biggest wake up call race, I finished 1 hour and 12 minutes behind the leading lady, Yolande Speedy... I had work to do!! In retrospect, I’m not sure what I expected, with a few hours of spinning a week as training and a 13kg steel bike. But anyhoo! I missed 2011 due to my full time job and 2012 due to a broken collarbone. Now, in 2013, I would be back with a vengeance, now a sponsored rider with an amazing team and a kick ass Carbon Pinarello 29er!

Paul Cordes, Marcel Marais, Edwill O’Niell, Jacques Pretorius and Arno Du Toit went down as representatives of the ASG MTB Academy. Paul, Marcel, Sarel and Marietjie (Marcel’s parents) and I stayed with Arno’s parents in Ficksberg, who were super hospitable and friendly. We had an amazing home cooked meal and I passed out early on what was one of the most comfortable mattresses on the floor I have ever slept on!

Our breakfast discussion the next morning revolved around the temperature gauge in the kitchen which read “-3” Ouch.

When we arrived at Clarens, it was still cold but bearable, I was excited for the exhilarating trails that Clarens is renowned for. I got my racing machine, the Pinarello Dogma XC ready and begrudgingly peeled of the many layers of clothing I had myself covered in. After a quick warm up, I headed to the start chute where I instantly got cold again.

The lead motorbike led us out in the neutral zone which was about 8km and as soon as we turned onto the district road, the pace increased. The group quickly split up with 4 of us in the leading bunch. Sam Saunders, Christine Janse Van Rensburg and myself taking turns to lead as there was a strong head wind. Kendal Ryan sat comfortably behind us happy to let us do the work. After about 20km I saw Sam, Christine and Kendal slip away, I fought to stay with them but just didn’t have the legs. For a long time after that, I was alone against the wind on km upon km of boring district road.

Eventually the fun part came: the infamous sand stone climb with the most amazing technical descent down the other side! I managed to ride up much easier than I expected. The descent, along with the sight of Kendal in the distance brought on a second wind. I used my technical skill to my advantage, careful not to make mistakes, and passed Kendal. I tried to get as big a gap as possible before the next flat road. Slowly she reeled me in on a district road, the wind was pumping and I was struggling to keep up the pace and was starting to loose heart as she was sitting in my slip stream and had not helped once. This gave me a 3^rd wave, I managed to shake her and opened a gap between us in the last 10 km. I pushed through, determined to keep my 3^rd place. The finish line was a welcome sight.

3^rd is a good result, but I wasn't happy with my time. A lot of the fun technical sections weren’t in the race which was disappointing, but I still had fun on the parts that were!

Next year I’ll be back with another vengeance!

Next up: Wellington!

Riding a rainy running race and winning a mountain bike race: cold, wet, muddy fun!

I was prepared and strangely excited for a rainy day at the Cradle Mountain Trophy, I love the riding out there and the rain and mud would just add to the challenge! However, waking up to the sound of torrential rain, I poked a toe out from under the blanket and quickly retracted it. It was freezing!! I would be lying if I said that curling back up into bed didn't cross my mind a couple of times. But no, I said I would do the race and I knew I would enjoy it once I was out there, so I dragged myself out of bed and phoned my friend Michelle awake. We were going to do this! The drive along the N14 was treacherous, we had to leave at 5 30am and it was pitch dark for the entire drive, the rain was still pelting down and the roads were full of aqua planes that couldn't be seen. Eventually we arrived at Maropeng, the sun had come up and rain died down, but it was still freezing cold. I heard that the start had been postponed ‘till 8, maybe the rain would clear up by then. A lot of people who made it to the race changed their mind and went back home, what ever happened to HTFU?

Day 1 was cancelled anyway due to overflowing rivers, not even the support vehicles could cross them. I was really disappointed that it we weren't going to race, I was all psyched!! Chatting to Rob Jackson from Leverage Corporation and the other race organisers, they were getting ready for the trail run and needed a lead mountain biker. “Amy will do it! She’s crazy enough.” Couldn’t argue with them there. I’ll do it! May as well, I was all dressed with nowhere to go and this would be fun, something out of the ordinary and at least I’d get to ride!
Michelle volunteered to ride as the sweeper for the 8km, soon after we agreed to this the rain started full force again and we were shaking with cold. An impressive die hard bunch of 50 runners gathered under the start gazebo. There were two distances, 8km and 16km (2 laps). All I had to do was ride ahead of the leader and follow the blue arrows, easy enough! Luckily the leading guy was so fast, he won by miles and even had some breath to chat, we finished in 1:10 minutes but they needed a sweeper for the rest of the 16km runners, so off I went again, lap 3, caught up to the last runner / walker and kept him company till the end, turns out he is an Epic Sports club member and keen mtber. I must say, I haven’t been that cold in ages and a hot shower, lunch at Papachinos and nap was the best thing ever!

Leverage Corporation made the best compromise they could for us, postponed the 75km for the 2 day riders till Sunday and kept the 45km for the 1 day racers. I was happy we at least got to do the 75km.

Sunday morning was nippy and shrouded in mist but soon cleared up and turned out to be a stunner of a day! The neutral zone was a long stretch of tar road, finally we turned onto a dirt district road where the pace went up and the small lead group consisting of Lourens Luus, Henry Uys and a few other guys disappeared into the distance. I kept a comfortable pace, 75km in Magaliesberg is not to be underestimated! I made sure to start eating and drinking my High 5 early on to avoid bonking. After a super fast start on the district road, we headed into some awesome single track with river crossings and a portage section over a bridge crossing a river. My Sidi cycling shoes were wet and muddy, so I had to tread carefully carrying my Pinarello Dogma XC over the slippery bridge and onto a cement wall which had a massive gap in it, most people could probably step over it but short legs me had to hold my breath and jump across, bike in hand. Phew, made it! I scrambled up the muddy rocky uphill that followed and got back into a rhythm through some more single track and had to portage up a section of another rocky climb as my muddy tyres slipped out from under me.

At about 49km in, I saw an arrow pointing down a small road off the district road we were on , it didn’t seem right but I went down anyway. I carried on for a km or 2 and when I saw no one behind or ahead of me I turned back, uphill the whole way. At the split, there was another confused cyclist, not sure what to do, we waited and got passed by a guy who told us not to go left but carry on straight. I was super frustrated at all the time I had lost but I was still winning luckily. After the race I heard that loads of people made the same wrong turn, due to a badly placed arrow. That was comforting; I wasn’t going completely mad ;).

I was happy to cross the line in 1^st place. The route had a great mixture of single track, river crossing, challenging technical sections, rocks, mud and fast district roads. My Pinarello is looking forward to a good TLC session with the trusty mechanics at Epic Sports!

Overall I really enjoyed the weekend, the Leverage Corporation sure know how to run an event! The running race was an interesting experience and, if anything, makes for a good story J. The mountain bike race was just amazing, riding the Pinarello is dreamy :D.  

Next up is Clarens, yiesh! Until then, later!

Night Rider Series #3 Respect the dark.

There is something so magical, almost taboo about night riding. When everyone else is performing their mundane night time routines; sitting down to dinner, watching TV, or tucking the kids in, we are riding our mountain bikes, having an adventure, with only a small mounted light as a guide.

The night is alive with the sound of crickets and evening birds and the steady crunching sound of our tyres against the gravel. It is a totally new world. Mere trees during the day become ominous shadows of night time monsters, watching with beady eyes. A rock during the day is a rock, solid and unmoving. But at night, they come alive. They play tricks on you, one will hide in the shadow of another, popping out just when you are about to go straight into it. You have to be quick, you have to alert, you have to respect the dark. If you don’t, or lose focus, (like I did almost a year ago, breaking my collarbone), you will come out second best!

Every Thursday, our night ride used to be the highlight of my week, followed by a scrumptious meal and a few beers at the famous Ed’s Diner! Our title sponsor; a[s]g Sports holds a monthly night race at Rosemary Hill in Pretoria. I was ecstatic to hear that I was entered and would be representing our a[s]g MTB Academy, this would be my first night ride since the crash, I couldn’t wait!

The weather was chilly but the vibe on the start line was electric, everyone lined up with their lights shining, chatting away keen for the challenge ahead. There were hundreds of riders participating; I imagined that the the start chute must have looked like the Milky Way from above!

When the gun went, the front guys set off in what seemed to me to be a flat out sprint. I went out hard but kept it steady. Up the first drag, I somehow found myself alone, the leaders a few hundred meters ahead of me and the galaxy of blinking lights a few hundred meters behind. This was how it was for most of the remainder of the race. I passed a hand full of guys but otherwise it was just me, and the magic of the night! The single track was twisty and turny with about 5 bridges; the corners would catch me off guard at times adding to the thrill! There were a few minor drops, some stairs, some challenging rocky parts and loads of fast forest single track, My Pinarello 29er was lapping it up! After the floating bridge, I started to worry that I was lost. I could literally see no one behind or ahead of me, so every a[s]g reflective arrow came as a relief. I was still on track! Or was I...?? It can get quite ominous out there!

It seemed far too soon that I rode through the gates at Rosemary Hill; 21km was definitely too short for that much fun! As I rode over the start line, the commissure congratulated me for being the 10^th man in, uh excuse me? I decided not to take it personally and blamed the dark ;)

I was greeted by a group of my fellow Academy members, Arno had come third in a sprint finish with Adolf Krige, Byron Ferreira taking the win, just 10 seconds ahead of them. Marcel had an excellent result, coming 4^th, Kyle Wool was 6^th, Jacques Pretorius 7^th and Edwill came 9^th. I was happy to see Angie come in 2^nd and Petru 3^rd, the ladies podium was fully fluo!

As usual we had our “Chill Zone” the Academy trailer set up with Epic Sports gazebos and chairs. There was coffee, refreshments and food for sale, and bonus: there was a bon fire which was a saving grace as I was freezing!

After prize giving my friend Jason and I went to join my old night ride group at Ed’s Diner for a scrumptious dinner and good catch up session.

A well organised event with great company and, of course, awesome mountain biking made for a really fun night out! Thanks to a[s]g and our Academy, I am looking forward to the next one!