Well done to Moyra Sheard for finishing in 13th position in the 80km Hi-Tec Puffer on Sat in a time of 09:10:42. Kevin Balfour had to take it easy due to the flu bug, but still managed to finish 21st in a time of 09:53:28. This was the first race that saw Team NCC athletes displaying the new company logo on their running kit.

BTW, the race was won by Ryan Sandes in a time of 06:57:25.

www.puffer.fishhoekac.com

Tuesday 24 August…….  32days till the start of the Southern Storm!

It has been a while. A couple of weeks I think since I last wrote an update on my preparations for the now closely looming, Southern Storm. 32 days in fact till the prologue – YIKES! I did have a good weeks holiday in Cape Town though which resulted in a lot more partying and playing than training. I am not one who generally lacks motivation to get outdoors and do what I love most, but the change of scenery for a few days did wonders for the renewal of enthusiasm and motivation.

The weekend before I left for Cape Town, I participated in the Momentum Health Duathlon held at Giba Gorge here in KZN. It was a perfect training race and my first off -road duathlon. I so enjoy the run-bike thing that sometimes I wonder why I ever thought Triathlon was so great.  I seriously get so nervous about the swim that my race only ever becomes fun and enjoyable once I am out of the water! That said, I was pretty nervous about this off road race as only the week before I had crashed my Mountain bike properly and this had definitely sent my confidence levels to an all time low. The race went off fine in the end and luckily I managed to stay upright on my bike (except for one REALLY lame fall which even embarrassed the bugs and the birds in the surrounding bushes). Unfortunately though, the brake issue was still a problem and I have had to accept the fact that my brakes have to be replaced. The guys at Giba Gorge did the most incredible ‘operation’ I have ever witnessed on my bike in the hour before the race.  My brakes had been working fine the day before the race, but true to form, on the morning of the race, the back brakes were nothing…..zip….nader! This was too much for my nerves (already shattered from the previous weekend’s attempt to race without brakes). I took my bike to the bike shop at Giba and I promise you, I watched a real life operation that could have been a scene out of ER.

If you can imagine this: The bike was up on the stand and there were 4 guys working around it. One of the guys was at the head of the bike, taking the old brake caliper off, one guy was in the middle of the bike stripping the cables and there were two working with the rotors and pads at the back of the bike. They passed allen keys, spanners, cables, and other tools between them with the swiftness and speed of a number of doctors performing open heart surgery. I watched in amazement as the rear brake was taken off and a temporary replacement put on, adjusted, set and then finally (to add to the medical drama thing), bled! For those who have not seen this happen, it is a necessary operation for Hydraulic brakes as the fluid is pushed through the pipes, using a syringe, to ensure necessary pressure so that the brakes actually work when the lever is pulled. The team declared my bike ready to ride and with minutes to spare, I rode to the start line with a complete and working set of brakes!  Truly wish I had taken my camera to the race to photograph that work on my bike.

My bike is now awaiting a new set of brakes so that this weekend’s race can go ahead smoothly and without any further glitches. I am now realizing why you need to have serious disposable cash around to be a mountain biker – that machine is a little money muncher! This weekend sees us heading off to a festival of sorts here called the Howick Highlander. There are many different races and events, but we are doing the 20km trail run on Saturday and a 45km Mountain bike on Sunday. I opted NOT to attempt the night race……. I thought that maybe if I learnt to ride my bike in the light first and complete a race without falling off, maybe then I could allow myself to think about a night race. Not just yet though!

This morning was a trainer session again on my road bike which most of the time, is probably the safest option for me as there is just simply no way I can crash anywhere. Tonight is the last session of Land training which I explained previously and is SO much fun! I’ll keep you posted with results of this weekend’s races! In the meantime, go outside – it’s a fabulous world out there!

Ross won the race on Saturday 21 August 2010 in Beaufort West, in a "leisurely" (for him) time of 2hrs4min.