At last, the Burger: got up at half past four only to queue from the N1. People stopping 5 km from the start to get there in time. Lucky I had a junior already at Nelsons Creek that told me to keep driving, lots of parking there. Starting a road race is very weird. People go off as they please in the last batches. Lots of kill-the-cyclists drivers on the way to Hermon. Then to Riebeeck Kasteel and then the fun started. Suddenly there was this mountain ahead of us and we have to go over it. About 5 km non-stop climbing and then the 10 km downhill on the other side with a stiff breeze in our faces. Whenever you ride a bicycle it doesn't matter which way you go - the wind is always from the front.
Malmesbury arrives and the wind is increasing. Four hours on a narrow seat is not fun any more. Have to go to a surgeon to have the seat removed tomorrow. Now we turn right to Wellington, wind at our backs, sore bum, cramping legs and more hills. A hill I will normally breeze up is now granny granny, time 6km an hour. Then some clever guy came back from the start and told us the last 8km is all downhill. One should never believe or listen to anybody who tells you something like this! At least the last 1.5km was downhill.
Then the end with a screaming southeaster on our backs. This is where the 5km parkers had more fun riding into a screaming wind back to their cars. Lots of grumpy faces. We finished in about 5h 15, not too bad for knobbly mountainbike riders.
Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Feel a bit like the dog next door to us, howling in the wind.
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