In cycling as a sport you also have a rest period, of which I just had mine these past few days. It wasn't fun being off of the bike for 10 days, but it's all part of cycling and the experience. It gave me a lot of extra time in which of course I studied a bit for the upcoming exams in November. When I got to the 5th day of not being on my bike, my legs started asking me why I am not pedalling? Literally - They started moving up and down as if they were on the bike when I was sitting in class trying to do some maths. I decided to give them what they were asking for and went for a nice group ride in Howick with my dad, mechanic- Bjorn, my coach and some friends. It is always a privilege to ride in such wonderful mountain bike single tracks and I just love it when I am riding there; from very technical stuff to smooth flowing-forever tracks on every type of terrain. I ended up doing a 3 hour ride and 50km's which I didn't plan and in the middle of my resting period it was super good. I must say, to me riding a bicycle sets me free and there's nothing to hold you back, it's just you, the bicycle and nature at its best!
Overall the rest did me good, gave me a lot of time to sort out problems, to sit back and also relax. I also read a few books in this time: Heaven is For Real -Todd Burpo, Every Second Counts-Lance Armstrong, The Elephant Whisperer-Lawrence Anthony and I'm currently reading LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS-Nick Vujicic. All of these books have inspired me in my sport and also in my faith. The Elephant Whisperer is really an amazing book of how a wild herd of elephants gets saved and rehabilitated in a game reserve in Kwa-Zulu Natal. I never knew that elephants communicate with their stomachs by making rumbling noises- its so amazing! Every Second Counts really explains a lot about riding in the Tour de France and all the dificulties that a professional cyclist has when being married and also having kids and moving around the world. Heaven Is For Real is a blessing of a book. This book is the real life story of a boy, aged four, who had a heavenly experience and his father tells what the boy saw and experienced! After reading this book I really felt inspired and motivated.
My last race of the 2011 season was on the 16th of October, the Amashova Durban Classic. A road race and also my first ever road race. There are a lot of distances, but the main one is the 106km race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. I took part in the u/16 road race and our distance was 76km's. It was a whole different experience to a mountain bike race, the big bunches of groups were fascinating and getting caught up in one of those was such an adrenaline rush! I finished in the top 10 of the u/16 age group. It was also very wet and slippery that day and I saw how dangerous the white lines could be around a corner when riding over them when a fellow competitor slipped and somehow managed to save himself from falling! I would go back and do the race anytime even if its just for the riding on a highway where we normally ride with our cars..
Well now it's exam time again, I guess it is part of growing up, haha! In this time I have met another great friend, Anna-Marie Maartens! I'm truely blessed with my friends!
Catch you riding up the next pass.....
Till next time.
