Selati Stage 2

Well day 2 dawned and we were wondering what the old legs would be like after the long hard day in the saddle the day before. It was a fairly short stage planned but had a bump called Boulders after about 35km’s.

The days start was at one of Selati’s mills so the air was filled with the sweet smell of Molasses. The weather was once again perfect, hovering around the 30 degree mark with very little wind. The racing started fairly aggressively back along the same stretch of road that brought us into Malelane the day before. The first sprint point was at 25k’s. Neil was riding right near the front and I was thinking that he had a chance of winning the sprint but thing all got rather confusing as there was a toll gate and a water point about 200m before the line. In the end I think Neil got 3^rd at the toll and improved on that by getting 2^nd at the water point. Unfortunately by the time the real line came Team Cape Storm wasn’t in contention!

The road then made the dreaded left hand turn and Boulders had begun. Neil was climbing comfortably while I was suffering like a dog on the steeper sections. When Pierre came cruising past in the car shouting “HOU VAS” I was hoping he meant onto the car! I was definitely glad I had put a 25 on the back. For those of you who have done the Jock, we went up Boulders the opposite way. Once over the top we had a group of about 8, and with a lot of effort got “through and off” going. One thing that really peeves me off is when people stuff it up, especially when they aren’t prepared to work but come through anyway and then pull over before reaching the front. My next blog entry will have to be “Though and Off 101 the very basics.”

The day started at 340m above sea level, got to 956m on top of boulders and finished at 670m. Ave speed was just on 30km/h for the 77km’s to Nelspruit.

We had learnt from the day before, and put a bag in one of the following cars, so we could change out of cycling kit and relax in the selati tent after “showering” under a tap. The Selati tent was stocked up on Doughnuts and Chelsea buns. Oh yeahhh

We were staying in Nelspruit for 2 nights so we could really relax in the awesome accommodation that is Bundu Lodge. The poor Maties were holed up in a place called The Funky Monkey!!

Our room at Bundu Lodge had a pool almost right outside our door which was great before our afternoon nap.

The only small prob at Bundu was that because breakfast only opened at 6:30am they decided to deliver our breakfast the night before. This consisted of 2 cheese sandwiches on white bread, a dodgy sausage, and a hard boiled egg. Mmmmm Yummy.

We didn’t end up eating it but went to the proper breakfast instead. Now that was worth it!

What awaited us at the end of the race!