Hi All,
Bianca and I finished our 24 hour Qhubeka bike ride at Heron Banks Golf Estate.
All went well and the bikes were great. Light, responsive and super fast ( for a Qhubeka bike that is! ) on the 3 km circuit we rode around the estate.
We had fab back-up from Maggie, Lene and Shaun who fed us, watered us and generally giving support at the low points. Also riding with us at various times of the day.
Many thanks must go to Annatjie Andrew at Heron Park for allowing us the opportunity to ride inside a secure village. They supplied a house for us to use as a base and security was roaming the estate all night long looking after us as well as the residents.
We started at 11 am on Saturday and steadily rode at an average of 20 kph through increasing heat which topped out at 36 degrees. As evening came the wind got up and obviously was a head wind on the uphill section! The night riding was brilliant as it cooled down and the wind abated. Just Bianca and I going round and round and round and………under a full moon.
We rode side by side ( OK, sometimes I did a bit of sneaky drafting! ) until we reached 200 km, about midnight. At a short stop we discussed tactics because I was fading a bit. We came to an amicable agreement that I would ride 7 lap blocks and Bianca 8 laps. That way we kept meeting every hour or so and could ride together a bit. Bianca was now pushing an average speed of 21 kph and for me 19 kph.
A couple of hours after dawn broke we hit our target of 302 km which was the furthest we had ridden Qhubeka bikes previously ( 4 years ago ). As we were both feeling good we pushed on for Bianca to reach an incredible 350 km and me 331 km at the finish at 11 am Sunday.
All in all, a perfect day on a perfect bike
Love and hugs to all our supporters
Colin and Bianca
Or should that be Qholin and BianQha?
