Face of the month

Well done to Elzet for completing a 6 hour solo ride!

I think the picture at the end says it all!

Pure determination through sun, sand and rocks, gritting her teeth and making it in style.

Elzet is actually a runner and not a cyclist. She has done about 300 races of which the Ficksburg Cherry festival (23km) and the Nylstroom race ( 28km) are her favourites. She has also swam the Midmar Mile a couple of times, but, she says she will never do the Comrades, it is just too far!

She has been part of the gym now,for almost 2 years. Here is what she had to say:

Linker brein by uitstek.......geen verbeelding of kreatiwiteit nie.

Sport: Swem

Hardloop (verkieslik saam met my optel-hond, Lisa)

Spin en nou en dan buitelug fietsry.

Gunsteling aktiwiteite:

Perd Ry

Hike en biekie bergklim

4x4

Hardloop al vir ongeveer 10jaar, het eers op universiteit begin hardloop en sosiaal deel geneem aan wedlope. Doen dit absoluut vir die lekker daarvan! Is glad nie "competitive" nie. Genot is die hoof doel!

Het seker al ongeveer 300 wedlope gedoen, waarvan die Ficksburg Kersiefees 23km en die Nylstroom 28km van my gunsteling wedlope is en enige Cross Country. Het ook al die Midmar myl 'n paar keer geswem en 'n Duathlon gedoen. Hardloop is egter my gunsteling.

Wil NOOIT die Comrades doen nie, dis hopeloos te ver!!!

Het begin spin om variasie in my oefenprogram te bewerkstellig en dit het na amper 2 jaar onherroeplik deel van my oefenprogram geword-het selfs 'n spinfietsie aangeskaf om by die huis voor die TV ook te kan peddle! En het vriende ook bygekry!

Het net 'n bergfiets en verkies ook meer die off-road as die pad, maak my bang al hierdie Gauteng verkeer.........

Na een glas rooiwyn te veel het ek my begewe in die deelname aan die Baviaans se MTB in Augustus.......dit het noodwendig gelei tot 'n 6 uur solo ry in die Colour Press se MTB in Parys tydens die Paas naweek. Ek was so bekommerd oor my sitvlak, dat ek nooit oor enige ander liggaamsdeel bekommerd was nie.....amper 2 weke na die wedren kon ek steeds nie hande ten volle gebruik nie! Al die geklouery aan die fiets het sy tol ge-eis! Gerda het my nie gewaarsku nie......tipies. Moet se, dit was heerlik om haar en Rodney vir die volgende 6 ure te support en nie met die boud op die saal te sit nie!

Om te oefen is deel van wie ek is en ek doen dit vir niks en niemand behalwe myself nie, dit is al hoe ek my kop kan 'skoon' kry na 'n lang dag op kantoor voor die rekenaar en veeleisende kliente. Balans is natuurlik baie belangrik en ek ooreis myself nie sommer nie-less is more- soos Bruce Fordyce altyd se!

Wat ek nog wil doen:

Die Knysna 21.1km

Two Oceans 21.1km

Harrysmith berg wedloop

Himalayas tot by Everest Base Camp 18dae klim

Gunsteling:

Sport gear brand: Nike

Drink: Sprite 0

Kos: Pizza en hoender

Drankie: Chivas Whisky en goeie rooiwyn

TV: Enige sport, CSI & Everwood

Musiek: Enige iets, solank dit sag op die oor is....

Wiele: Audi ofkors en 'n goeie 4x4......

What have we been up to?

This is the April newsletter and the first bit of May too. I know it is not quite on time, but my PC was playing up a bit. I will therefore jam pack it with loads of interesting bits and pieces.

We were in Paris!! Or was it Parys??

Firstly, the long weekend of the 7th April, a few musketeers from the gym set off to break some personal records. They were taking part in a mountain bike 6 hour solo lap race and a 12hour 2man team lap race. What is a lap race? The course was a 5.9km ride over all sorts of terrain, rocky, sandy and the BRIDGE, which we had to do over and over and over, lap after lap after lap. We had a wonderful support team, cheering us on and who made sure we had enough to eat and drink and sunscreen and lip ice etc. In the 2man lap race the 2 team members were not allowed to be more than 2min apart, meaning , riding together. So that was a good lesson for some and a hard lesson for others. The 12 hour race did include some night riding and it was a very good opportunity to check our lights for the Baviaans Marathon.

There was on the course a deep sandy ditch which we had to manoeuvre ourselves through every time we did a lap. Our support team was there to capture our different styles. Firstly, the "I wanna be a pro":

Then the "I can walk faster than I can ride":

And "oops......... aaaaggghh.......eina.......":

Great news is that the face of the gym will change, hopefully by the beginning of May. The garage doors will be exchanged for real sliding, folding doors and am sure will look just so much better. Of course the gym is also 8years old this year and with the new look we will have to celebrate. So keep your ears to the ground and your diaries ready for the announcement of a big celebration! The date will be set as soon as the gym is upgraded.

Very exciting news too is that some of the spinners are now at last also trying to fit a ball class in. So congratulations to the new faces at ball class. It is great isn't it?!! If you haven't tried a ball class yet, it is all about core stability, muscle toning and strengthening and of course sport orientation. Give it a go and tell me what you think.

The BelaBela is the next road race coming up, on the 26th May, a Saturday. It is a fairly easy ride with only 2 little hills. Only 98kms or so, no real mountains and a fantastic O'Hagans at the end. It would be nice to see a whole road full of Bulla participants and because the race is just at the beginning of winter, a very good time to keep that body into shape.

Talking of winter. That is the time for soups, sweets and sherry and unfortunately adding weight to the shape. Don't fall into that trap. Stick to your regular time slots and keep on training. After all, you are doing it for yourself!

Not such good news is that one of our regular ride together friends has been involved in an accident. He is in hospital waiting to be operated on. Keep going Peter Kemp, we are all watching you and willing you on to health again.

New on the blog is the mini poll. Vote please and tell us what you think. Also if you think of a relevant question to ask, please do. We will put it on the mini poll and see what the people have to say.

Tip of the month: Keep training, you are doing it for yourself.

And the winner is.......

Christo!!!

Now we know what he is doing while we all spin like crazy! He is watching every one's feet or is it shoes.
The first picture is Riaan's cycling shoes.
Second picture was Mario's and the third you all guessed it, Hano and Gerda's.
Christo is our first winner on our blog and he won himself an entry ticket to Northern Farms to the value of R120. Sure he will enjoy the rides there.

We do have another competition lined up. Two of our regular spinners Tanya and Francois Dekker are moving to Sabie. They have donated their unused spinning card (except for 1 class) to the gym. So it is up for grabs! 10 classes can be yours for free! Value of the prize is R200.

Here is the question: In the recent 12h event held in Parys, the Bulla team came?

Click on "comment", fill in your answer, and hopefully you will be the winner.

Night Riding

Night riding is different and fun - and we have done night riding on the Colorpress 24 and 12 hr and on the Baviaans. For night riding it is very important to have good lights, and to ride a bit slower - except if you are young and fearless as some of the people on the Colorpress 12/24 hr were.

There are a whole range of lights available for night riding, although it is difficult to get some of the good (and expensive) lights in South Africa. Common brands appear to be Cat Eye, Night Sun, Night Rider and BLT. We use NightHawk lights - the older digital emitter on the Baviaans and now the new K2 digital emitter as well. These lights were excellent.

The main problem with night lights are the power (or light produced) and the battery life. Many of the Halogen lights give excellent light - up to 30W. But, these lights usually only last 2 or 3 hours, and are not suitable for a 6 or 12 hour night ride.

The more common lights are High Intensity Diode (HID) systems, which give longer burn times. The older NightHawk digital emitter is equivalent to about a 10W halogen and has a burn time of about 8 hours using Lithium AA batteries (which can be replaced during the ride if necessary). The new K2 digital emitter produces 20W for just under 5 hours or 10W for just under 12 hours using a rechargeable battery pack! That’s more than enough to get one through the night.

Although more expensive, the digitally controlled lights are far superior. Conventional lights get dimmer as the batteries loose power, but the digitally controlled lights keep a constant brightness throughout the ride (but shorter burn times) - it's not much good to have your lights only half as bright halfway through the ride!

Another factor to take into account is whether the lights should be mounted on the handlebars or on the helmet (or both). A handlebar mounted light provides a stable view of the track in front of your front wheel - but does not let you see around a bend until you have taken the bend! A helmet mounted light allows one to scan from side to side. Most riders use both handlebar and a helmet mounted lights. An 8 LED DuraStar headlight is a good option for a helmet mounted light.

Another tip - single track and jeep track riding is more difficult than dirt roads at night. Remember, try to get around in one piece - we had some hard falls on the Baviaans and on the 12hr!

Some useful information on night riding and on bike lights can be found on the Biking Hub and MountianBikeAZ.

But - if you are still confused about what light to get, you could make your own, or even try one of these.