Prologue

Distance 20km

Total ascent: 600m

Weather: Sunny 23 degrees.

Plan: Go steady, loosen the legs, settle in the bike skills. How did it go?

Start was a little hectic, leaving the hotel, the transfer bus decided to wait 15mins longer than I anticipated. Some kind friends took our bags and we ran to the start – ouch my achilles!

In the end we had plenty of time and off we rolled down the ramp. With a back drop of Table Mountain, the route was a mix of mostly double track with some nice twisty single track and steep ascent and loose descent sections.

Michael did well, working hard on the ascents and hanging on for the techy descents. I was conscious of him not going too hard at this stage, the minutes gained just aren’t worth it, for the effect on time loss later in the week can be exponential. I was also very conscious of unnecessary crashes and falls at this stage.

Now to watch the UCI women – go Annie & Mariske!

Summary.

Lovely ride in the sun.

Stage time: about 1h 20m