Good day my readers,
Have you forgotten my name? I wouldn’t blame you if you had! It’s been a long time since my last blog. In fact I am embarrassed to say it has almost been a whole year! I am sorry. This year has just been incredibly busy. In fact when I looked at the first five months of this year at the beginning of 2023, I, and those around me, were worried about how I would cope with what was on my calendar. At the moment I have two weeks off from work so I will try and catch up on my blogs amongst other things. Writing these blogs has a dual purpose this year as I have another project taking place later this year that that I need my blogs for. So without further delay, lets get into it!
As per usual my racing season started early in the year as I had Western Cape Champs on the 14th of January so much of my December holiday was planned around my training. I knew how important road training was to my performances both at Western Cape and SA champs in February, especially because I was still trying to get used to the upgrades that we did to my trike in June/July of 2022. (Recap: we had upgraded my gears, and due to the new system, the way I changed my gears with my hand had changed. The first training session after the change, I lost control of my trike and had a bad fall. Months afterwards, I was still struggling not only with the physical changing of the lever and keeping my finger on the brake and steering the trike all with my left hand, but also with a lack of confidence that was only just starting to return.)
During the holidays I went to stay with my mom in late December and early January so she could help me get out on the road more often. For me getting up at 5:30 in the morning to get out on the road while most people are not yet out on roads is definitely a sacrifice, especially during my holiday, but I knew I was setting myself up for the year.
As I was still getting used to the new set-up on the trike I knew a period of solid road training was very important to my racing season. Getting out on different roads to which I usually ride was also a nice change and a good exercise. We got five rides and one session on my trainers in during the two week period as well as a nice Christmas lunch. I was a bit concerned that I was still not reaching the speeds that I wanted to during that period but my coach, Carol, kept asking me to trust the process and not rush my progress. The goal for this period was to get comfortable and build confidence on the trike.
I returned to Stellenbosch just seven days before my first race and on the way home we went to drive the route that I would be racing for Western Cape champs. I was very grateful that the race was so close to Stellenbosch (only about a 40min drive) because it gave me the opportunity to drive the route as well as reduced the costs of taking part. People who don’t know me so well and don’t understand how my coordination and balance issues affect me, may underestimate how important it is for me to at least drive the route in the car, if not cycle the route, so that I know where the problem areas for me will be. As my mother drove the route I took my Garmin and recorded the route so that I could view it later and Carol, sitting in Australia, could see and advise me on a race strategy. From the recon I knew it was game on! We were only racing 10km but the climbs and the amount of elevation in those meagre 10km would definitely make up for the short distance!
The week of the race was a balancing act – I was back at work, trying to prepare for my own race, and was fulfilling my role as Maties Paracycling Club coordinator and making sure the younger / newer athletes knew what to do on the day, had racing kit from the club, and providing a set of parents with important guidance. Thankfully I made the decision during the week to ask one of the fathers who was familiar with the arrangements for the day to act as our team manager at the race so that I could focus on my own racing. It turned out to be a prudent decision as a new cyclist wasn’t at the warm up area just before the starting time and I could ask Trevor to find the cyclist while I continued my warm up.
I had John and Almarie as my support team for the day, as well as assistance from Jaedan’s parents, Lynn and Trevor, who were there supporting Jaedan. Lynn graciously, but not without our usual banter, did a few stretches with me before I got onto my trike to warm up. Almarie and John had been involved with my weekend training but this was the first time they were supporting me at a race. Unfortunately, for me, Almarie decided not to ride as my support rider but both of them followed me in their bakkie.
Much of the race has since faded from my memory but I still remember tackling hill after hill, each one looking more like a mountain than the last. I knew that the last two were the toughest and Carol had also pointed this out to me from viewing it on my Garmin the week before. Unfortunately I had some issues with a few of the abled bodied juniors passing me on the wrong side, and a very rude parent/coach/trainer causing havoc by blasting his hooter and almost causing an argument with my follow car and the motor bike marshal that was covering me on the route. (The marshal actually told us he would report the person to the race officials – no idea if he did). Such an incident can really upset one’s focus and speed during a race. At the time I actually had to slow down because I didn’t know who this person was shouting at or why someone was hooting like that. Was there danger that I hadn’t seen ? Had something happened? Were they wanting me to stop? What was going on?
As I saw the last two hills coming closer I knew I had to slay these dragons before me and I did. What was more important to my team than my time or average speed was that I had finished my first race with my new gears and new set-up which we had changed in July 2022. This was a very hilly race and so I had to keep changing gears as I went up and down the hills and I had successfully passed this test. From not being able to ride around the ‘Specialised Shop’ car park in July and having to train in a very sheltered environment for a few months, to successfully completing a race on an open road! The process that Carol and JC had nagged me to trust was starting to show. I now had three weeks until the big SA champs. . .
To my readers, as you can see I have not put any photos in this blog. Sadly this free site is not allowing me to upload any more photos to this site. I am wondering if there isn't anyone willing to sponsor me an upgraded site? $8.50 per month would give me 3GB of storage space. I would love to spice up my blogs with some pics!