Reliving the pain!
Well that is what I remember for the last 140km of this race, pain, especially the last 30km! I made a crucial mistake by not sticking to the game plan early on in the race. Stopping on "Op-Tredouw" at 60km, was not scheduled and the team was not waiting for anyone!
Chasing your team is not recommended, but realising my mistake, I had no choice. After 50km of hard chasing with little to no help, hopping from one team to the next, I was exhausted but there was light at the end of the tunnel. A team came by, moving faster than me, yeeeha! I grabbed on and stayed on with everything I had left!
Finally I could see my team further up the road, no leggs to jump across, I was patiently dragged along.
Now the 3 last climbs before Swellendam still lied ahead. Unfortunately my chasing effort depleted my energy levels and I could not add much to the team effort.
This was a team effort and the team helped me tremendously! Luke Pheiffer is a machine and not our SA Time Trial Champion for nothing! After his own 170km effort, pushing, carrying and dragging me along those last three climbs was incredible. I don’t know how he managed that?!
What a relief crossing the finish line! And a hard lesson was learned!
