We arrived at the start, knowing it was going to be a windy day, but still shocked to see the wind had already caused havoc with the various branding that normally decorates the start area. All that was left were a few shreds of fabric blowing in the wind. Rather than the usual high adrenalin ‘pedal to the metal’ start, we found ourselves barely being able to walk once the start gun went… let alone get on our bikes. Even more disconcerting was the number of cyclists on the N2, cycling back to the start as we were busy conquering the first hill. We were in for a tough ride …Luckily I had nothing to prove this year as I had decided to accompany Hans – a first time rider whose experience is limited to a daily 5K bike ride to work - and make this a fun ride (how convenient!). Well... fun it was!! Every hill was a battle, and we found ourselves having to pedal hard even on the down hill sections which are normally great opportunities to catch your breath. The best part was coming around the corner at the top of Chappies. Though it was a down hill, it was so windy, I’m afraid I would have been going backwards had it not been for the effort put in pedalling.
The good news was that the atmosphere was amazing as usual, I managed to see more of the scenery than any other year, and I even took the time to stop for a nice shoulder massage on top of Chappies. A first! The second piece of good news was that we managed to get to the finish in 6h56m … which was just good enough to get a medal (7 hours is cut off time) and certainly more than good enough for Hans to be able to cross ‘riding an absolutely crazy race’ off his list of Top 100 things to do. Not that it was on the list in the first place …
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