His and Hers
With just over one week remaining until the start of the 2019 FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz, Joanne and Sean Badenhorst of Team TREAD hit the road and got in a few rides on some classy KZN trails. 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 a pitiful training week last week due to my dental specialist’s orders to not ride for a while after the traumatic (for me) extraction of a molar from my mouth, I was determined to get right back into my groove.
I did one indoor power training session at Power Lab on Tuesday and then was fortunate to be able to do three rides in KZN, as I headed there for a work trip. Cool thing was, Joanne was with me as it was a worth trip for her too. We did a short, sharp (23km) ride at Karkloof on Thursday, a steady 30km ride at Holla Trails on Friday and then a more challenging 50km ride at Holla again on Saturday. All superb rides on some incredible trails!
It was three successive days of riding together on some reasonable gradient, which is important, as the climbing at Wines2Whales is still scaring the hell out of Joanne. We also got to ride a high percentage of quality singletrack (also a W2W feature) and toil away in hot weather, which may come in useful if it’s hot during W2W. Joanne also rode at a steady pace throughout each ride, which is good because often she’s soft-pedalling on her rides as she’s helping beginners or weaker riders on the Cycle Lab Active Women rides.
I mostly soft-pedal with Joanne, but did push her at times when necessary on wider climbs, which definitely elevates my heart rate somewhat. It’s good because we both get in a good workout. I always recommend male-female teams to ride like this as it moves you, as a team, through the stage faster and keeps you both challenged throughout.
Mine and Joanne’s training for the past six 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 |
| 3 weeks to go | 165km/7h5m | 128km/8h9m |
| 2 weeks to go | 109km/5h52m | 200km/10h45m |
| 1 week to go | 153km/8h23m | 162km/11h08m |
| AVERAGE | 156km/7h07m | 177km/10h43m |
My week:
Tuesday: 40.29km 1hr17min Power Lab tempo session
Thursday: 23.9km 1hr48min Ride at Karkloof Trails
Friday: 30.6km 1hr53min Ride at Holla Trails
Saturday: 50.2km 3hr25min Ride at Holla Trails
Total distance: 153km
Total time: 8hr23min
Hers
This week was a great week for a few reasons… We got to ride at some different trail parks on our travels, it was my birthday week and I discovered that the route for Day 1 of Wines2Whales had a slight change, the distance is now 65km with 1700m of climbing, when it previously was 1900m of climbing.
We are almost ready to do this. Bike transport is booked and paid for; human transport is booked and paid for. I have booked my post-ride massages, and I have prepared as much as I ever have for an event, if not more.
It was really awesome, challenging and fun to ride on the KZN trails this week. A hot Thursday afternoon ride at Karkloof, was short in distance, but was moderately challenging from a technical and gradient aspect. Friday morning we hit the familiar and popular Pink Trail at Holla. A few new sections since I last rode it, but it never disappoints. A fair amount of sugar cane roads with some flowy singletrack leaves you smiling at the end of the ride.
We decided to get some more climbing in on Saturday. The Yellow Trail at Holla was our choice and we had a solid, steady ride. The climbing wasn’t too hectic, and I found that I managed to get up most of the climbs without too much discomfort. I really enjoyed the Yellow Route, so scenic and a good mix of shaded singletrack, cane roads and farm roads.
Even though I am still dreading the amount of climbing at W2W, I am feeling that I am going to make it to the end of each day, if the weather plays along.
My week:
Monday: REST Day
Tuesday: 30.1km 1h191min Power Lab Session
Wednesday: 26.13km, 1hr51min CLAW Outride at Modderfontein
Thursday: 24.13km, 2hr10min Karkloof
Friday: 31.34km, 2hr07min Holla Trail Pink
Saturday: 50.6km, 3hr39min Holla Trail Yellow
Sunday: Rest Day
Total distance: 162.3km
Total time: 11hrs08min
Entries are now closed for the 2019 FNB Wines2Whale, but you can find out more about the event for 2020 at www.wines2whales.com
