Hayley, Woolrich & Smith - Duo Normand - 2 Up Time Trial
November 21, 2015
This year was the fifth time I have visited Cape Town to race the coronation double century. I really look forward to this race, I have met some awesome friends over the years and Cape Town is a beautiful place.Tthe last two years we have had members from team sky and local pro development cyclists racing in our team of 12. The race is over a 202km loop and each team starts 1 minute apart. This year we were missing our pros through injury and other commitments and with the popularity of this race increasing teams such as MTN Qhubeka entering it was always going to be a tough time getting on the podium. The great thing about racing with Hot Chillee is that we are a mixed bunch of guys who all love to cycle and we cycle together once a year.
Over the course of 202km you have two designated stops with your support vehicles waiting to give you bottles and food. You have 30 minutes to roll through change and roll out again. We try not to use the full time or you seize up, especially this year with the rain and wind making it an even tougher day in the saddle. The aim is to not push too hard as it can bite you in the backside the second half of the race and have as many riders left after the second aid station to really push on. Unfortunately we lost a few guys early on and it always puts pressure on the other riders. I was feeling strong this year and so took longer turns and had nothing at the end of the race but I would be disappointed if I had something left in the tank. With 30k we were down to seven riders and with 15k to go it was what we like to call the "sacred six" left. The rain was coming down hard and by that time I wanted to be home with a beer in my hand so I got on the front and went as hard as I could. We finished sixth which was a great ride considering who else was racing. We will be back next year with our sights set on the podium.
More info here -