Selati Stage 3

Selati Stage 3

 

Stage 3 was meant to be a “Rest” day as it was the shortest of the tour being a shade under 50km’s.  The race though was a time trial.  Because Neil and I were in a team we could ride the TT together.  This sounds like a bigger advantage than it was because the course they sent us on had so much climbing that slip streaming just didn’t help much.

 

The first rider was meant to be off at 8am but this coincided nicely with Nelspruit’s peak hour traffic so the route was changed and the start time was delayed.  No worries here as we could spend the hour wait drinking coffee in the Garmin tent. 

 

The plan for the day was to ride it at a comfortable pace keeping the legs ‘fresh’ for the 4 days that still had to come.  Due to the course it was still a tough stage but it was nice to finish the stage with a full afternoon left.  One boerewors roll and a massage later and we were ready to leave.  The rented car was left in Nelspruit the day we arrived so we had our own transport while we were back in Nelspruit.  It was nice not to be dependant on the organisers, it also gave us time to pop into town to restock on GU and energy bars as well as get a jar of shammy cream!  The Cape Storm bibs were damn comfortable for the entire 7 days, but never having been on the bike for a solid 7 days before was taking its toll.

 

A quick dip in the pool and an afternoon nap later and it was time to head to dinner and see which pro’s and vets were going to join us for the remaining 4 days.

The dinner was in the same place as the night before so at least we knew where it was this time.  No frantic calls to Meridy asking for directions needed this time!

 

Some of the top riders were there including MTN and Harmony.  David George was there too looking a little worse for wear after arriving back from the tour of Korea that morning.  If you think he moves quickly on the bike you should have seen him rush for the front of the food queue.  The Korean food obviously wasn’t that great.

 

Having our own wheels meant we could leave early and get an early night.  Going to bed that night we didn’t take enough time to appreciate our accommodation, we would when we arrived in Lydenburg the following day!!!