Ghana has not much of a cycling culture, but there is a cycling group. The reason I don't cycle with them is because they start at 6.30 on Saturday morning; at that time I am not alive.
I do follow some of the member on Strava (famous cycling app) and of course the Facebook group.
So they posted this flyer:
I did ask what the expected fitness level was. Average 25 km/h. I did 100 km once before in Accra, I did one of the hills before; should be possible.
So, Lon watched his food for a few days, cleaned the bike, lubricated the chain and set the alarm.
The meeting point is about half an hour drive from our house at the Legon Botanical gardens.
Bike out the car, checking bike, helmet on. Ready.
I was on time, but this is Ghana, so waiting for an hour is normal. Luckily it was not too hot, so it was not so important what time we started.
We road in convoy with police escort to the starting point.
There was a total of about 40 riders. At the start the difference became apparent. 20 or so guys were out of sight within seconds. I was towards the back doing a reasonable speed. I found a couple of guys doing about the same speed, so we made a small group. Ended up pulling them a bit too long (lesson 1). But averaging over 30 km/h was nice.
Then came hill 1. 30 minutes average 12,5 km/h, heart rate and breathing of the scale.
The view was stunning, in the distance Shai hills. Unfortunately I was more concentrating on the road.
Logic dictates that after an up there comes a down.
What logic doesn't say is that there is a second shorter, but fierce hill just after a short decent. This one 'Lartey 2' is a killer, I (and many others) had to dismount. Yet the hill was conquered in 10 minutes.
Going down Mamfé hill I saw the front-runners coming up the hill, knowing I had to do about 10 km and come back.
This was a lovely stretch of road, with some nice hills, but after 50 km you can feel every % of incline.
After a short break at the turning point it was clear that I was one of the last ones. Some people behind me stopped in the knowledge that there was another big climb.
It started raining slightly, which is not a problem as it is not cold rain, as long as it doesn't come down in buckets as it sometimes does.
Now came the big test. Hill 2, Mamfé hill. I started it with difficulties in a low gear.
I had mixed feelings after taking up the offer of the ambulance to take me up the hill. Disappointed, but glad, I also didn't want the others to wait an extra hours for this last man to arrive.
At the top of the hill I decided to get out and cycle again. This road I know and has some smaller hills and good road surface, there should be no more big climbs and only the big decent at the end.
My legs were not too happy with me, it felt hard and the rain increased. Later the app showed an average speed on this bit of 24,4 km/h, which I was surprised about.
This is a photo of another guy in the rain.
I couldn't see much with or without my glasses.
Not far from the final decent an organizer's car offered to take me on board, as I already had forfeited the race I gladly took the offer.
We gathered at the finish. I did get some compliments, don't know if they were serious.
We cycled the 5 km back to the meeting point, felt like a walk in the park after the 92 km I already did.
Road bikes don't have stands people find alternatives to park them.
I do follow some of the member on Strava (famous cycling app) and of course the Facebook group.
So they posted this flyer:
I did ask what the expected fitness level was. Average 25 km/h. I did 100 km once before in Accra, I did one of the hills before; should be possible.
So, Lon watched his food for a few days, cleaned the bike, lubricated the chain and set the alarm.
The meeting point is about half an hour drive from our house at the Legon Botanical gardens.
Bike out the car, checking bike, helmet on. Ready.
I was on time, but this is Ghana, so waiting for an hour is normal. Luckily it was not too hot, so it was not so important what time we started.
We road in convoy with police escort to the starting point.
There was a total of about 40 riders. At the start the difference became apparent. 20 or so guys were out of sight within seconds. I was towards the back doing a reasonable speed. I found a couple of guys doing about the same speed, so we made a small group. Ended up pulling them a bit too long (lesson 1). But averaging over 30 km/h was nice.
Then came hill 1. 30 minutes average 12,5 km/h, heart rate and breathing of the scale.
The view was stunning, in the distance Shai hills. Unfortunately I was more concentrating on the road.
Logic dictates that after an up there comes a down.
What logic doesn't say is that there is a second shorter, but fierce hill just after a short decent. This one 'Lartey 2' is a killer, I (and many others) had to dismount. Yet the hill was conquered in 10 minutes.
Going down Mamfé hill I saw the front-runners coming up the hill, knowing I had to do about 10 km and come back.
This was a lovely stretch of road, with some nice hills, but after 50 km you can feel every % of incline.
After a short break at the turning point it was clear that I was one of the last ones. Some people behind me stopped in the knowledge that there was another big climb.
It started raining slightly, which is not a problem as it is not cold rain, as long as it doesn't come down in buckets as it sometimes does.
Now came the big test. Hill 2, Mamfé hill. I started it with difficulties in a low gear.
I had mixed feelings after taking up the offer of the ambulance to take me up the hill. Disappointed, but glad, I also didn't want the others to wait an extra hours for this last man to arrive.
At the top of the hill I decided to get out and cycle again. This road I know and has some smaller hills and good road surface, there should be no more big climbs and only the big decent at the end.
My legs were not too happy with me, it felt hard and the rain increased. Later the app showed an average speed on this bit of 24,4 km/h, which I was surprised about.
This is a photo of another guy in the rain.
Not far from the final decent an organizer's car offered to take me on board, as I already had forfeited the race I gladly took the offer.
We gathered at the finish. I did get some compliments, don't know if they were serious.
We cycled the 5 km back to the meeting point, felt like a walk in the park after the 92 km I already did.
Road bikes don't have stands people find alternatives to park them.
I don't think it was meant as the Dutch proverb 'aan de wilgen hangen' which means to quit.
Lessons learned:
Go slower in the start, even though finding a group was a good thing.
2 big hills AND 100 km is too much. (for the record I still did 1275 meter elevation)
Train for hills
Excuse: I only saw one other without a road bike, my hybrid is 15 kg a road bike about 9 kg, big difference on hills.
The winner finished in 3h 17min, averaging 35 km/h.
