First canoe triathlon

Yesterday I did my first canoe triathlon with my friend Sylvi. It was hosted at Rietvlei Dam in Centurion by TrailAdventure (Shane Gouldie is the organiser). We entered under the name "Parys Poppies" hahahaha

The event started at 07h00 so we slept over in JHB to have a quick drive to the start. We got there just after 6am. Very early! It was around 10 C, so not too cold. By the time we started at 7 I was in short sleeves.

The paddle
Sylvi and I have paddled four time trials together in her K2 and we're rocking. We had to paddle four loops of the course - around buoys. When we set off there was mist above the water - very pretty. We had an excellent paddle and were one of the first boats off the water.

The MTB
Neither Sylvi nor I bike very often but we were game for this 20km bike ride. It was just right for us with a bit of jeep track, dirt road and not too much technical. We lost our lead in the women's race to the pink pair, who were way better mountain bikers. 20km is a really great distance for a short and fast race.

The run
The final leg was a 5km run. This was on a grassy track cut into the side of the hill. It wound and meandered and made up the distance. Not very exciting but not terrible either. We took it very chilled and rocked in at the finish.

We clocked in at 2:39 for the course and were the second women's pair.

We didn't take any photos and thought we'd find a few from the event. Nothing up yet. But I did see this on FB -  a pic taken by a supporter of the pink pair. I'm hiding in the shadows; Sylvi is next to me.

Thank you teammie - that was fun!

K2 paddle time trial improvements

For the past few weeks I've been doing our Tuesday paddle time trial at our Likkewaan Canoe Club in a K2 with my friend Sylvi. She's a very good paddler and we'll be doing a canoe triathlon together on Sunday 7 May at Rietvlei in Centurion. 8km paddle, 20km mtb and 5km run.

My first two time trials in the K2 felt quite unstable - not terribly bad but not comfortable either. I hadn't been in a K2 for a long time and not one this fast before either. By our third session, last week, I was a lot more settled and tonight even more so. It is a good thing because we're probably in for a lot of turbulence at the race.

Last week we bettered our time by a few seconds and tonight we took 20 seconds off our first lap and finished 30-odd seconds faster than last week - even with a bit of chatting on the second lap. Last week and this week we didn't have anyone in front of us to chase so we're still chuffed to have maintained pace. Paddling with Sylvi has definitely made me focus more and she's working me over nicely with a fast cadence.

I'm really enjoying our sessions and improving each week in speed and synchronicity is satisfying.

Photo taken after tonight's time trial.

Sylvi and I did a 35km mtb ride together on Sunday afternoon and we had a good ride. We'll be nice and warm for the 5km run on race day.

Celliers will be doing the paddle tri with Ruben, who is turning 9 in August. They rode the 35km route on Sunday too - taking 30 minutes off their time from the week before. The smaller wheels of Ruben's bike on the rough road make it a far harder ride for him than for us - and he was still trying to bounce over bumps near the finish. He should cruise the 20km distance of the race. Ruben is paddling really well too and he loves being in the K2 with his dad. He has also been coming more often to parkrun too. He was only a few minutes behind Celliers this past Saturday. The boys will have a good one.

A fine Sunday

Weekends whizz by too fast and all too often they slip away with too few adventures. Despite living a block from the Vaal River and 25-minutes from the Vredefort Dome, I get out too infrequently to play.

I had a good Sunday this past weekend. After nailing some work in the morning, I met my mom and her dog Tansy to talk Rusty for her first post-sterilisation operation walk along the river. She loved being out and although she is not allowed to run or jump yet, she was energised by just being there.

My mom and me.

with my Rusty girl

This route is part of our Parys parkrun route. When she is all recovered Rusty will be coming to parkrun.

My mom's dog Tansy.

In the last afternoon, Celliers and I climbed on our bikes to ride a super 35km loop on the Vaal Eden side. It felt good to get out, which I haven't done much of lately. The cosmos flowers are all over the place. I didn't see any game - of which there is a good deal in the area - as I was too busy watching the road!

I need more weekends like this.

And some mountain biking too

With two days of rafting achieved in the past few days - and a bunch of runs for me, we took to the trails at Deelfontein for a dash of mountain biking on Monday. I've been out there once before to ride (and once for a run). It is a stunning property on the Parys side of the Vaal River - about 25 minutes from town. The trails here are extensive and cunningly crafted. There is a good mix with varying difficulty - from smooth cruising to rocky technical.

We took the children out there. Kyla has been resistant to biking but after seeing photos from a ride that Ruben did with Celliers a few weeks ago, she was keen to give it a try. She did incredibly well.

About 4.5km in Kyla got a puncture and unfortunately our repair kit hadn't made it into our backpacks (doh!). We had a brand new spare tube, still in its box. But the tube in the box was the wrong size - not the size on the box! She and I walked back while Ruben and Celliers completed the loop.

I think the puncture was actually an advantage because the section we rode was superb and she managed to easily ride the route with all but two short pushes. The next section would have been a bit more tricky with more rocks. The bonus of riding only what we did is that her confidence is solid now and she is keen to get out there again. We had a good walk back and enjoyed the scenery. The area is green and lush after recent rains.

We were only back at the finish for a few minutes when Ruben came riding up. Celliers was nowhere to be seen. Ruben said he'd left Celliers at a gate, which he was closing behind them. I waited a few minutes and still no sign of him. I ran along the road towards the gate. Nothing. I ran back and got the bakkie. No sign of him at the gate. I asked Ruben to guide me to the gate where he'd last seen his dad.

As it turns out, Ruben had left Celliers a bunch of gates back - like 2.5km back. While we were waiting for Celliers, he was riding back and forth looking for Ruben, fearing that he'd taken a wrong route. Minutes later, a short way up the road, we found Celliers, who'd decided to head for the finish to get me if Ruben hadn't made it there. While Celliers was worried about Ruben, I was worried about him -imaging him lying in a diabetic coma on the trail!

Of course we were cross with Ruben for leaving Celliers in the dust and not telling him that he wanted to ride ahead to the end, we were chuffed that he has gained the confidence to ride on his own, for 2.5km of trail, choosing the correct route - which he has only done twice before - to the finish.

Note to ourselves: instruct children on riding off on their own (which we don't mind if we know what their plan is) and drill them on protocols for getting lost / losing us.

Both children are keen to get out there again soon. MTB mission successful.

A spot of dirt road mountain biking

At every point of the compass outside of Parys town, we have dirt roads. They just sit and wait for people to run, ride and dirt bike them. I haven't done much mountain biking at all but with Celliers back in the saddle and preparing for Crater Cruise (a big mtb event out here in September), we set Sunday afternoon aside for a ride.

The route we chose is a 25-kilometre loop on the Sasolburg side of town. It's a five kay ride from home to bring the distance total to 35 kilometres.

We took the loop in a clockwise direction. The first 3/4 of the route is definitely the most interesting and I delighted in seeing the numerous properties - accommodation places and farms - that line the route. We also had some quick sightings of the Vaal River and saw a lot of game - hartebees, springbok and, I think, reindeer. And two donkeys.

As with most things, I really should get out on my bike more often. It's always a timeshare issue with running and paddling and biking - of course running always gets first priority.

As an aside,  I ran a really good time at parkrun yesterday despite feeling a bit off - I've been surrounded by sick people all week as a result of a bug going around town. It is good motivation to put in a bit of speed work in the week... One of the ladies told me that she's peeved that I turned 40 recently because now I've moved up an age category so she is no longer first in her age group. Hahahaha.

The area is very attractive with the wide dirt road, game, vegetation, hills, koppies and rock outcrops. But, within another two weeks, Spring will have sprung and everything brown will be dressed in green. Can't wait!