His and Hers
With four weeks remaining until the start of the 2019 FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz, Joanne and Sean Badenhorst of Team TREAD tackled a two-day stage race close to home as their final preparation event. 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 my biggest training week last week, I tapped back a bit this past week as we were entered into the Cool Ideas Magalies Adventure, a two-day stage race in the Magaliesberg region, which is only an hour’s drive from our home.
We planned to use the event as proper race preparation for the FNB Wines2Whale Shiraz, in terms of riding strategy, supplementation and gear.
Because Wines2Whales is a two-rider team event, we rode the Magalies Adventure as such, even though it was a solo-entry format. We confirmed that I need to lead on the descents to show Jo the best lines. Well, my best lines, which aren’t always THE best, but are mostly solid choices. I can’t go my fastest, but Jo is a very capably descender, so I only need to slow slightly to ensure she descends as fast as possible. Downhills offer free speed, so we drink descents up eagerly!
On the singletrack climbs, we mix it up with her leading when it’s smoothish and me leading when it’s roughish, again helping her see the best (most firm) lines. On wide climbs, I push her when possible. There are two types of push, hard for a short period (10-30 seconds or so) and steady for a longer period (around a minute or so). I always push with my left hand, so Jo has to choose lines that allow me some space on her right that’s firm, although I can also push when it’s not firm, but this results in the occasional handlebar brushing her right thigh which can be disconcerting for both of us.
From a supplementation perspective, we both use Biogen Cytogen for on the bike (I drink half a bottle before too). We each carry one large bottle and top it up at the water points with water and add a sachet of Cytogen for steady energy. I also carry a smaller bottle only with water for both of us, when needed.
Afterwards, we drink a full serving of Biogen Recover as soon as possible. If we’re still feeling stuffed, we’ll have another full serving a few hours later. We also have Biogen Glutamine a couple of times a day. At the water points we aim to nourish with boiled potatoes, which is real food and quite a welcome savoury intervention. I’ll discuss my gear next week.
Mine and Joanne’s training for the past five 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/12h05m |
| 4 weeks to go | 211km/10h55m | 210km/12h59m |
| AVERAGE | 164km/7h8m | 185km/11h8m |
My week:
Monday: 35.18km, 1hr5min Power Lab Tempo Session
Tuesday: 25.82km, 1hr23min Short Ride at Buffelsdrift
Thursday: 35.19km, 1hr10min Power Lab HIIT Session
Saturday: 66.44km, 4hr19min Cool Ideas Magalies Adventure Stage 1
Sunday: 48.88km, 2hr58min Cool Ideas Magalies Adventure Stage 2
Total distance: 211km
Total time: 10hr55min
Hers
Some nice solid riding under the belt this week, sprinkled with some easy pedals too. We ventured out to Buffelsdrift for a different ride on Heritage Day, we being some of the CLAW squad and families. I did enjoy a ride with very little climbing, and the singletrack that was there, was sweet. I will not wait three years again before I return. My work rides this week were very tame as we had some fairly new riders with us. So, Wednesday and Friday were basically additional rest days. This was not a bad thing, as I knew the weekend’s two-day event, Cool Ideas Magalies Adventure, would make sure my training did not falter.
Sean and I used the event as a nice bonding and training session together. I, for the most part remained composed. My lower back did take strain on the 66km Stage 1, and I also struggled with my “hot feet” at around the 50km mark. We stopped whenever my back got too sore, just for a minute, to stretch, and I managed the “hot-feet” by pouring water into my shoes or un-cleating and shaking my foot (mostly my right foot). Stage 2 was shorter with less climbing, so the body behaved a little better. Sean got to practice his pushing too. My signal to him when I need a push, is a double glance over my right shoulder, because I usually can’t get any words out at that point. It works like magic.
All in all, not a bad week of training – 30 days to go! I need to keep as focused on keeping healthy and rested, as well as keeping the momentum with the training. Keeping my fingers crossed.
My week:
Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: 50.11km, 2hr40min Flat steady ride at Buffelsdrift, Nguni Trail
Wednesday: 8.85km, 55min CLAW Beginner group ride at Cradle Moon
Thursday: 28.33km, 1hr1min Easy session at Power Lab
Friday: 7.20km, 48min Singletrack Session at PWC Bike Park
Saturday: 66.69km, 4hr30min Cool Ideas Magalies Adventure Stage 1
Sunday: 49.05km, 3hr03min Cool Ideas Magalies Adventure Stage 2
Total distance: 210.2km
Total time: 12hrs59min
Limited entries are still available for Wine@Whales Pinotage and Shiraz, https://wines2whales.com/riders/entry-information
