Vasbyt

You know you're suffering from acute sleep deprivation when getting up, and getting dressed in the morning is as difficult and mentally exhausting as a Trigonometry Exam. This morning was the second morning in a row that I left home chronically sleep deprived, and as it would turn out, I'd pay a fairly hefty price later in the day.

A, H and me left Houghton at about 5:30am and headed towards Bronkhorstspruit - that's the Pretoria side of Johannesburg. These guys both work at high levels at Standard Bank so we talked [in confidence] a bit about Billiton firing the bank for a comment someone made. We had an idea to better deal with load shedding - have an sms system in place that alerts particular regions (it just so happens that networks are based on regional infrastructure too) - via sms - that they are about to exceed their capacity. People in that area can then respond immediately to this direct communication.

Anyhoo, A and H went off to do their 146km race just before 7am. I did the 107km |(which, unless my HR is faulty, turned out to be just under 104km).
On the very first hill I felt cold and tight and stiff, and the guys pulled away right away. A group of us chased them, but they slowly drifted away. Then at about 20km or so, if not sooner, two teams - guys in orange and guys in red, white and black - all with deep rims, all in good shape - cruised by us at high speed. I jumped on, and so did another guy in a white Eskom shirt. We motored. For a short while we all took turns working together - this is the beauty of cycling. It looked and felt like a team time trial, and those rims all parting the wind like blades.

Riding in this group I realised how hard the first bunch were going - the bunch that pulled away on the first climb. We sucked in the ladies bunch, and kept right on going. I think we only caught the bunch we'd lost in the 1st kim at 50km - this was with very strong riders.

I was feeling good at this point, and it felt especially good to be the first rider to connect with the bunch. The guys made a few stabs, but in the end I put in the last effort. And as I say, at that point I was sitting pretty.

When I reached 60km I said to the Eskom dude that I was fast approaching my endurance limit - that in the next few km I'd have to start gritting my teeth. Even I didn't have any idea how true that was. If you'd been watching from above in a helicopter it must have looked quite interesting, if not funny. I'd cruise down on the downhills ahead of the pack (this is the original spoedvark bunch fortified with the time-trial team) and so build momentum up the drags, which I was finding to be getting tougher and tougher. Then on the drags almost all the guys would slowly drift by me, but by the time we reached the top, I'd be at the back, but still in touch.

I don't know how many times it happened, but it happened a lot. I realised once again just how much heavier I am than these guys. I mean there's no way it's just a question of being more aero on the downhills.

At about 70km I just couldn't stay in touch, and then I went backwards badly, and quickly. Up until then my average was about 36km/h. On the HR graph you can see my heartrate starts to slip downwards at this point, and at the same time, there is a constant upward climb. My legs just couldn't handle it; and I couldn't figure it out. Am this freaking unfit? The last 10km were a nightmare. A muscle on my inner left leg was threatening to pull, and that is very very eina. I used my easiest gears for the last few kilometres and limped home in 3:03. Averaging 33.9km/h (in other words, with fewer uphills, I did this slower than the Argus.

It was only when I arrived home that I noticed my seatpost was about 2-3cm lower than it should have been. See, I'd taken my bike in to the bike shop for a service, and the guy must have removed the seatpost to clean it. He'd put it back a lot lower. I only picked this up when I got home - my legs totally wasted. It's some consolation that the last 30km of vrotness wasn't due to lack of fitness, but my muscles trying to figure out how a racing bike had suddenly become a knee buckling BMX.

A had an incredible ride. He broke away at 50km (with 100km to go) and stayed away with 4 or 5 other guys. Quite amazing how strong he is. H came in about 10 minutes after A - and wryly thanked him for making the ride so tough.

More cycling news: Fietstoer is at Burgersdorp right now. Maritza had a pretty nasty fall on a downhill. She says her whole left side has dark blue bruises. And the rider behind her basically rode over her. I said she must put ice on the bruises, when the skin is cold massage till it is warm, and repeat a few times. Just gets more blood into the tissue to accelerate tissue restoration.

Also spoke to Lizaan - shame she has laryngitis. Not nice to start off and your voice is gone. I know, I had the same problem last year. But it got better.

We're thinking of going down to do the Kimberley to Bloem ride, end of May I think - 180km. Need to start getting the basics right in the meantime, like enough shuteye.

Boks Parade Route + Times

Pretoria - Today

10:00 Springboks meet President Mbeki at the Union Buildings in Pretoria
11:00 Springboks depart the Union Buildings

11:10 Victory parade busses meet at Southern Sun Pretoria, corner of Beatrix & Church Streets; 11:20 Departure for ticker-tape parade in Pretoria; Exit down Leyds Street and turn right (west) into Church Street; Left (south) into Prinsloo Street; Right (west) into Pretorius Street; Left (south) in Schubart Street; Schubart flows into Ben Schoeman Highway (N14);
12:30 Proceed on the highway & take the M1 South.
Turn off for drive past Vodaworld in Midrand; Proceed back to highway (M1 South); Take the Glenhove Offramp right towards Rosebank over Oxford Road; Right into Sturdee Street.
13:15 Arrival at Sasol office complex; team lunch
14:00 Team departure from Sasol offices

Joburg

14:15 Team heads for Johannesburg CBD, past Absa HQ in Rissik Street; Proceed through CBD towards M1 South; Takes the N12 (Bloemfontein) highway until the N3 (Pretoria) highway; Proceed in the direction of Pretoria until William Nicol off-ramp; Right into William Nicol and proceed for approx 2.5km; Right into Montecasino Boulevard.
16:30 Squad arrival at Montecasino

Above info from Highveld.co.za

Bloem - Tomorrow

09h00 Team departs to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Houghton, Johannesburg
09h30 Arrival at the Mandela residence
10h00 Team meets former president and Nobel Peace winner Nelson Mandela
11h00 Team departs to the O.R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg
12h30 Team departure to Bloemfontein (BA chartered flight)
13h30 Arrival at the Bloemfontein airport

14h00 Arrival at Grey College
Mayor of Bloemfontein to deliver opening address
Q & A with Jake and John

15h30 Team departure to Vodacom Park
17h15 Halftime of Absa Currie Cup Final
Team to perform lap of honour

Durban - Sunday

19h30 Team departure to Durban
20h30 Arrival at Durban International Airport
Sunday 28 September
09h00 Team depart hotel to commence ticket-tape parade from City Hall
11h30 Team arrival at hotel, lunch
12h00 Depart for airport

PE

14h00 Arrival at Port Elizabeth airport
14h15 Departs for Greenacres Shopping complex
Team appearance and entertainment
15h15 Depart Greenacres for PE airport
17h30 Departure to Cape Town

Cape Town

18h30 Arrival at the Cape Town International Airport
19h00 Departs for team hotel
Monday 29 October
06h15 Selected Springbok players to SABC
07h00 Morning Live interviews
10h45 Team departure to City Hall, Cape Town
11h15 Team arrival at City Hall
11h30 Players greet Capetonians from balcony of the City Hall
Mayor to deliver speech

12h00 Players board bus, start of street parade
From Darling Street right into Adderley Street
Along Adderley, right turn into Strand Street
Up Strand Street and left into Long Street
Along Long Street, right into Buitensingel
Up Buitensingel and right turn into Loop Street
Along Loop Street and right into Hans Strijdom Avenue
Left turn into Heerengracht at the Fountain Circle, right turn into Hertzog Boulevard
Along Hertzog Boulevard, onto M3 to Woolsack Drive turnoff

13h15 Woodsack Drive turnoff, down towards Main Road, turn right into Main Road
Along Main Road and left turn into Boundary Road, Newlands
13h45 Arrival at Newlands Rugby Stadium
Team enters the stadium, parades World Cup to Capetonians
Handing over of Webb Ellis Trophy by John Smit to SARU president, Oregan Hoskins on the field
Team enters the Function Room for brief function
Above schedule courtesy saru.co.za

Pretoria motorists should brace for heavy rains

NVDL: By the time you read this, it may be too late...

From the Sowetan:
The Tshwane Metro Police have issued a warning to Pretoria motorists that heavy rains are expected over the city and especially the CBD on Monday afternoon.

On Friday, similar rains caused traffic chaos in the city with motorists caught in a gridlock lasting well over two hours.

“We are asking those motorists who could head straight home to do so,” spokesman William Baloyi said.

He warned motorists that roads would be slippery and that they should keep a safe following distance to avoid bumper bashings.