His and Hers
With five weeks remaining until the start of the 2019 FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz, Joanne and Sean Badenhorst of Team TREAD both had solid training weeks. Sean upped his game properly! They’re a married couple with full-time work and family commitments. They have been cycling for over 30 years and are tackling some mid-life bicycle riding challenges together. This won’t be their first stage race as teammates; but it will be Joanne’s first Wines2Whales. Sean has done three previously.
His
After only riding twice last week due to recovery from a gash in my left knee, I put in a proper training effort this past week! Four sessions at Power Lab (two HIIT and two Tempo). A rest day Friday was followed by two solid outings on the tar on the weekend. On Saturday I did Cycle Lab Group Leader road cycling duty with the Absa Tribe riders, who are being supported/guided by Cycle Lab in their efforts to do the Discovery 947 Ride Joburg in either 5 hours or 6 hours. It was rather slow going for me, but good to be out on a spring morning.
On Sunday, my Wines2Whales teammate, Josie B, and some of our friends, Rob, Bev, Deidre and Beth tackled one lap of Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve on our mountain bikes (it’s a tar route).
It was a solid ride! We managed 60km with 1250m ascent. The route is refreshingly safe (we only saw two cars) because it’s single-direction with a 50kph limit in a Nature Reserve. The climbs are many, some long, some steep; and some long AND steep (up to 15% gradient on some)! It also got quite hot (according to my Garmin Edge 530, up to 36 deg C). My Garmin also showed that we climbed up to 1945 metres above sea level, which is pretty decent to condition the cardio system…
I also got a chance to push (physically push her with my left hand) Joanne a few times on the steeper climbs as this has always been our stage race modus operandi… I’ve definitely lost some strength when it comes to pushing her (she’s even a bit lighter than previously) so I’m going to have to work on that over the next few weeks… It’s not so much upper body strength as my own strength to be able to pedal steadily, push her for up to a minute, then recover before pushing her again – where the terrain and route allow.
Mine and Joanne’s training for the past four weeks:
| His | Hers | |
| 8 weeks to go | 115km/4h25m | 172km/10h14m |
| 7 weeks to go | 135km/5h15m | 177km/10h43m |
| 6 weeks to go | 85km/4h2m | 159km/9h42m |
| 5 weeks to go | 273km/11h2m | 205km/12h5m |
| AVERAGE | 152km/6h11m | 178km/10h41m |
My week:
Monday: 40.37km, 1hr17min Power Lab Tempo Session
Tuesday: 37.12km, 1hr10min Power Lab HIIT Session
Wednesday: 38.03km, 1h13min Power Lab Tempo Session
Thursday: 33.18km, 1hr3min Power Lab HIIT Session
Saturday: 65km, 2hr46min road ride in The Cradle
Sunday: 60km, 3hr29min MTB ride on tar at Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve
Total distance: 273km
Total time: 11hr2min
Hers
Another week of steady training is complete. I had a few occasions this week when I wished that the event, Wines2Whales was finished. I feel like I am constantly fatigued, and I also feel like I am chasing my tail. I just want to ride for fun and not worry about, if I am fit enough or strong enough for the hills at Wines2Whales.
I have been fine-tuning the set-up on my Momsen Mia this week at Cycle Lab too. The shocks were set to better suit me, and a small adjustment to the handle bars and saddle height. My back seemed to cope a bit better on our training ride at Suikerbosrand.
A small challenge that I still need to figure out is carrying fluids. The Mia can fit one large bottle. In a stage race with regular water points, I can usually cope, but in training for 50+ km, this is not enough. I really do not like carrying a hydration pack. It puts extra strain on my back, and I just don’t like them. I have resorted to either carrying a small bottle in my pocket or a fellow rider taking my extra bottle (as they usually have a hydration pack). Neither is ideal, but it’s a temporary solution. I plan on getting the small adapter that will allow me to carry my own small second bottle on my bike asap.
My week:
Monday: 9km golf course ride, 46mins and 23km, 1hr16min Power Lab leg loosener
Tuesday: 30km, 1hr9min HIIT session at Power Lab
Wednesday: 20km, 1hr42min CLAW Ride at Avianto
Thursday: 31,4km, 1hr6min session at Power Lab
Friday: 11.48km, 1h05min Singletrack Session at PWC Bike Park
Saturday: 19km, 1hr26min CLAW Beginner Ride at Northern Farm
Sunday: 60,7km, 3hr33min Suikerbosrand training ride
Total distance: 205km
Total time: 12hrs05min
Limited entries are still available for Wine@Whales Pinotage and Shiraz, https://wines2whales.com/riders/entry-information
