MidVaal Vets Tour Results

Results are out for the MidVaal Vets Tour here .

Stage 4: Four laps anti-clockwise

Stage 4 : 2oKm Criterium: The main reason why I had been hanging onto the back of the peleton for three days had arrived. I needed to make it to day four and the criterium. Four laps around a 5km loop in an anti clockwise direction was why I had entered. This would be the tester for what to expect in two weeks time, at the Manhattan beach grand prix. It's been years since I've done a criterium and I was not fooling myself that it was going to be fast. I arrived early and did some warming up on the rollers before a practice lap!

The start/finish was ontop the highest point of the cource with a long 2km drag up to it. The first lap would be a Hotspot for points and KOM points on the second. From the the gun the pace was set , fast!!, I made it into the first corner at about mid pack and moved up to the front ten in the next two corners. Things where going great untill . . . the wheels fell off . . . half way up the drag, the pace kicked up another notch and my legs seized after three days of punishment. I slid off the back and by the time I finished the first lap the peleton was already gone !!. So once again I joined the "life raft" of riders who had missed the move and kept it at a respectable pace on the back sections for the next three laps. On the second time up the drag , there was a brief glimmer of hope that we could bring them back, but this was short lived and they moved further away after collecting the KOM points.

The remaining two laps where kept high and my heart rate did not drop out of the red zone of 170bpm. Unsure how far back I finished , but today has highlighted that I will have to work on my power kick if I wish to stay with the next criterium group up a slight drag!! This has been a wonderful experience and I'm sure I will come off the back of it stronger . . .if anything I should be peaking for my US trip.

At the time of posting I did not have the full results after today, but will keep you posted as to how I finaly did in th GC.

Stage 3: Don't break the elastic band !!

Stage 3: 125Km: Yesterday sitting next to the Bulk Pack team table, I overheard Jock Green (the team captain) pound the table firmly with his fist, emphasising the statement " tomorrow boys we put the hammer down!!". And that's exactly what they did for the first hour of today’s stage. Breaks where continuously trying to go off the front, and at the 25km KOM the field was strung out up the short climb. I was in danger of being spat out the back at this point but managed to dig deep in order to get over the top and hang onto the nearest wheel. My heart rate recovered from it's max of 178bpm on the run into Heidelberg but was back up there again as soon as we turned south towards the Vaal. Kicks where going off the front continuously and at the 45km mark four riders got off the front (one MTN, Bulk Pack and Mr Price). The yellow jersey, missing out on the move must have been threatened by the presence of Craig Harvey (Bulk Pack) in the move, and put the whole Mr Price team on the front. At the back, this strung the peleton out into a thin line, and it became a case of gritting my teeth and following the wheel in front as it twitched all over the road. (thankfully the wind was mostly from L to R so I did not spend to much time in the gutter )

There are certain time's I'm glad I don't have to work for a team leader, and this was one of those. MTN domestiques where dropping back to the convoy for drinks bottles (one bottle being dropped infront of my wheel and narrowly missed). The Mr Price team worked like trojans keeping the pace high, this kind of intensity would kill me, as it was I was barely hanging in, there was no way I could do that kind of work!! Occasionally shattered and broken team riders would drop off the front to recover at the back.

Things started to heat up at the 90km mark, when the yellow jersey called all his men forward (even the broken an buggered guys) in an attempt to bring the break back. Vicious attacks now started to go off the front and 5km later my psychological elastic band that had been keeping me in contact, snapped!!

The remaining 30km where agonising, the rolling hills had shattered the group and I picked up the littered remains of those riders who had also been spat out the back (some highly placed riders on the GC). Our small life boat of 5 riders disintegrated on the last climb and I ended up time trialling to the line by myself. I forfeited 13 minutes to the lead group, which was not ideal, but in my book finishing 27th was respectful and I moved up the GC.

Stage 2: Staying Alive

Stage 2: 101km ; Mission accomplished, keep my head down , stay with the peleton and keep the gaps closed!! I had myself pysched up for this stage and was worried that I would be dropped on the first of the 3.5 laps! Surprisingly I found the first lap fairly comfortable and was able to move with the surges in the peleton. The wind was not that much of a factor as I sat comfortable in the peleton , recycling from the back to the front third every now and again. Occasionaly I would pop my head over the top of the bunch to see who was away every time the pace picked up. Thankfully the Mr Price team who had Werner Moolman in yellow where happy to control the front. Attacks would routinely go off the front but nothing got more than 500m up the road. Even then the peleton was happy to leave the break dangling, instead of cranking the pace to bring it back. The adavantage of being in the bunch is that you pick up on all the side action, the cyclelab rider crashing to the ground trying to take his leg warmers off whilst on the move, or the Bulkpack vs Cyclelab punching/pushing match when the one refused to work with the other in the break. My only concern was to stay in there and I was feeling surprisingly good in the last 5km. The race came down to a bunch sprint and I was able to follow a few wheels to the first 10 places in the sprint. My aim was not to let any gaps open up as I crossed the line behind the sprinters and I was chuffed that I acomplished this. So we will have to check tomorrow but I'm sure I've moved up the GC, not quiet to 15th but a bit closer.

Who the hell is "Matthew Harris"??

Well that was the question everyone was asking this morning when checking the prologue results , who is Matthew Harris? neatly sandwiched between the top contenders in (15th) place was my name at 09min 54". It took me a whole 2minutes to find my name that high up on the GC and as soon as I saw it I knew that it had to be a mistake. The yellow lightening bolt that took a minute out of me was James Louter in 9th at 9'43" , so there was no way that I managed to pull it back to 11" in the last Km. I have to be the first rider in history to lodge a complaint that I would like to be moved down the GC to 10'54 placing me 43rd!!

Prologue: Bolting from the Barn

Stage One: 8 km prologue, downhill, what could be more difficult? Maybe a head wind. My start time was 16H07 with one minute intervals between riders. I was bouyed by a comment made by the rider two infront, that this has a short, fast cource and there was no chance of being caught. Understand my horor when no more than a Km from the finish I have a yellow lightening bolt shoot by me in the form of my chasing rider, I was crushed!! I had left the start house and immediatly kept the speed up to over 50Km/h for the first km, I dropped down to about 45km/h as I straightened up into the head wind, but kept my head down for most of the way. Occassionaly the wind would buffer me about pushing me across the road , the speed would drop and I would scramble to find a lighter gear. As I rode I constantly berated myself when ever I felt my speed slacking off. Unofficialy 10min 50 sec. (The wining time was Just over 9min).

Conclusions; I'm not a specialist time trialer!! But the experience was well worth it. Did the TT bike help. Yes , in the head wind by keeping me low I am convinced I limited the damage. Will have to wait to see by how much.

Set up, Set up, Set up

Picked up a TT bike yesterday that is on loan for the prologue of the Midvaal Vets Tour. The prologue is only 8km and I could probably do it on my standard bike . . but this GT bike with cosmic deep section rims just looks faster !! (it's all psychological and I'm convinced I can shave off a few more seconds than what I would probably post). Used as a TT bike in this years iron man , I have spend this evening adjusting the set up. It's previous owner (who very graciously offered it's use) is only 1,9m but must have a leg the length of a street poles. I had to drop the saddle a whole 3cm just to touch the pedals. . . and I still cant touch the floor. I'm sitting so far forward I feel like I'm going to flip over the bars!! I'd better do a few dry runs tommorrow to prevent any embarisment.

Mid Vaal Vets

This weekend is the Midvaal Vets Tour . Looking forward to it, but hoping the weather would have warmed up a tad by this friday!! If it keeps going like this I'm going to have to skip wearing a thin TT suite for a set of full winters !!