The Ride Is Over

Well, kind readers, I didn't get to finish the race.  I decided to stop at 74 km.  I know, I know, 20 km short!  How could I?  Well, I did some quick calculations and realized I was going to be swept up anyways, so why not get a start on the post-ride soak back home.  Besides, my legs had been cramping up for an hour, and I just couldn't handle any more hills.

If you remember the map I posted last week, I stopped just short of the turn-off from the N14 to Summit.  (And believe me, it was a summit.)  I got in the back of a truck with my bike and 3 other people, and off we sped.  Until the last water point, where we all got out, put our bikes in the back of a trailer, with about 20 other bikes, and boarded a large bus.  As I sat on the bus, I felt a little sad that I didn't finish.  The thrill of crossing the finish line with everyone cheering me, getting a medal, and the feeling of accomplishment was something I wanted.  However, I thought some more on it.  74 km is WAY longer a distance than I probably should have done.  I hadn't trained hardly at all, and was a little unprepared food-wise.  (I gotta say, though, that the peanut butter packets were AWESOME!  Since I'm not allowed to have any in the house do to a lethal nut allergy from Lovely Little Girl, this was heaven.)  Plus, on the way to 74 km, I saw a lot of people being swept up before I was, and many of them looked like they were in much better shape than I was, so this was quite the accomplishment.

A few thoughts:

1) Johannesburg is HILLY!  I'm talking major, San Francisco style hilly.  It was crazy.  I was in low gear pretty much the entire time going up these hills, and 4 times I had to get off to walk because it was 3 km long climb that just kept going up, and one time because I mis-timed my gear change and the chain came off.  Not fun at all.

2) Riding through Johannesburg Central Business District was eye-opening.  Looked like any major inner-city.  Run down, falling apart infrastructure, public housing estates. But the people came out and cheered everyone on.  It was very nice.  When we moved into the city to go to Gandhi Square, I heard loud music.  Not unusual, since many groups set up along the route and blast music, but there wasn't anyone around.  It was then I realized that it was Sunday, and these were church services.  That was very heartening.

3) This town LOVES this bike ride, even though it disrupts traffic.  People all over cheering you on, offering water, food and even a place to stop for a beer.  (Not sure anyone took them up on the offer.)  Kids came out to slap your hand, and everyone cheered for you no matter who you were.  (I was wearing my Arkansas Razorback bike jersey, and one woman cheering me on yelled, "C'mon Kansas!  You can do it!"  I was tempted to stop and explain it was Arkansas, not Kansas, and that we came first and that it should be pronounced "Kansaw", but I never look an encouraging word in the mouth.)

4) The route took us past some of the roughest areas surrounding Jozi.  Lanseria and Diepsloot are but two, and man was that eye-opening.  They also came out to cheer us on, but it was slightly different.  While the adults stood and cheered, the kids further down kept asking the riders for chocolate.  (Kudos for knowing that the bikers use chocolate to keep themselves going, but sad that they kept asking.)  Really underlined for me the disparity in this country.  People were driving past them on bicycles that cost $4-5k, and these kids hardly had anything to eat.  Sad really.

5) The people that threw this event REALLY now how to do it.  Each water point was like a party.  They had mechanics there to help with the bikes; water tables with water, Powerade and Coke; ambulance crews for injuries; and physio-therapists to help with muscle problems.  On occasion they had tunnels for you to go through with water spraying down.  Really well done, and a great race.

So I didn't finish the race, and yeah I feel bad that I didn't.  But I did finish the majority of it, in very high altitude, without really training for it.  In temps on the road approaching 45 degrees centigrade.  I can safely say that I am proud of what I did.  It wasn't pretty at all, but I'm glad I did it. Now if I can just get an ice pack to sit on for the next two days, I'll be fine.