Cape Argus 2011 - Ian Lowe
Well just back from the Cape Argus.... What a race, It just makes the hairs on the back on my neck stand up every time I am waiting on the start line for that countdown.
Well this year I had not done as much training as I had in previous years so was automatically seeded in the "D" batch.
With 2 weeks to go to the event I felt rather good on the bike and decided to ask if I could be bumped up to the "B" batch based on my previous good Argus rides.
I was waiting to hear from the organiser but nothing.....Oh well I tried.....
I then raced my first race of the season the Surrey league race at Dunsfold which was 8 laps and got dropped at the end of lap 1 and then finally punctured near the end of lap 6.
I just could not understand it why ? I just had no oomph or power in the legs. Ok so I had been on diet for 7 weeks and lost loads of weight - down to 94 Kgs.
Now well and truly feeling down I received my new seeding - "B" batch - oops....Maybe I have bitten off more than I could chew what with my bad day at Dunsfold.
Well I decided all I could do was my best and have a go. I knew I would get dropped by these "B" batch racers as I had not done enough training to stay with the leaders but decided if I could stay with them as long as I could and then ride home either on my own or in a small batch which had splintered off the main batch I would be OK, in theory.
Well race day came and the conditions were perfect - No Wind - Temp cool but would be getting hotter as the day moved towards midday - which suited me.
Bang! and off we were..... Up the first climb out of Cape Town and I was hanging on for dear life as the pace heated up at the front.
Riders were slowly falling off the back of the batch 1 by 1 by I did not want to be part of that statistic.
I eventually crested this climb still attached to the back of the batch - Thank god - and more importantly my legs felt good - a lot better than the previous Sunday at Dunsfold.
Now to recover which I did quite quickly and then into the next climb and the pace went through the roof. I was now struggling to hold on which was disastrous so I kept at my pace steady still banging away on those pedals and then crested with a few stragglers from the back of the "B" batch. I recovered for 20 seconds and then open it up down the other side passing most of the stragglers ahead of me till I could see the main "B" batch way up ahead and a smaller batch between myself and the main batch. The distances were about even 250 metres apart but I was still on the hill with the momentum so gave it 110% to jump across to the first batch taking about 8 others with me.
Once across I was pretty knackered so lurked around the back of the bunch allowing the others to get themselves together to make the next hop back onto the back of the "B" bunch, which we did. Now it was a cruise to just before the half way mark where our next climb was awaiting. I was pretty well rested and recovered by now but knew that the light youngsters would again scamper up this climb splitting the bunch yet again, so I started to look for strong riders who could not go like myself but would work together once over the top and chase down the bunch once again. When nearing the top I saw a tandem about 35 meters ahead of me going at about the same pace as myself so I upped my cadence to get closer to them and sit on their wheel. When I was nearly there another rider had made the same decision, so I sat on his wheel as he was tight up on the tandem.
Well once over the top the guy on the back of the tandem was telling everyone to get onto his wheel and within 10 seconds of cresting the climb they put the hammer down and the train started - Yipeeeeee!
Suddenly I noticed the rider in front of me was losing the tandem's wheel so I shot around him to hug the tandem's back wheel as they upper the pace with a light tail wind we were soon flying maxed out. We passed many other lonely riders and soon could see the back of the "B" batch in the distance. It took about 5 km to get back on and once we had I thanked the tandem for the tow and looked over my shoulder..... Nothing,
We had lost the other riders, well that was a shame as they were all on my wheel but I guess when I hopped around they did not follow. My plan was working out and I was getting closer to the next point would be where "B" batch would put the hammer down yet again up the climb of Chapman's Peak
Sure enough it happened and my legs were now crying out with pain with any more effort above the norm. I decided that when it happened I could not go and then it happened. So I made my own pace up this second last climb near the back of the "B" batch bringing up the rear. Once over the top I again opened up the throttles and flew down the other side the longest downhill of them all, 5 kms, passing many a knackered rider on the way, I counted about 20 or so just to pass the time while chasing my own goal. It was across the bottom for the final climb which usually catches most people out with cramp and I could feel my thigh and calf of my left leg cramping on any extra effort. So it was to be a gradual paced climb which I worked with a few other riders and then again over the top for that fast downhill stretch where I tried to catch and pass as many riders who were fading after this last climb. I eventually found a bunch of about 12 riders and decided this was a good place to sit and ride to the finish with them and I now needed company to get me home
Job Done.....
I was hoping to do a time between 3 hours 10 mins and 3 hours 15 mins. However, when I looked at my time on my watch I made it about 3 hours 06 mins.
Official time was 3 hours 03 mins and 41 secs. (Just some 9 mins and 48 seconds behind Vaughan Luff who is on fire this season).
Finishing 1262 out of 28,884 riders overall.
Finished 121 out of 3020 riders in my age group.
Finished 145 out of 284 riders in "B" batch.
Average speed of 35.93 kph
So chuffed to bits to put it mildly.