14th of August 2010. Middle of winter. For many, this will be their first race of the season. For some, this is their first ride in a while.
Am I sounding melodramatic? Well, the race was anything but. The majority of the Mozambique expat cyclists joined the Swazi boys and girls for the race, and a lone Mozambican, Ricardo Trinidade was also there. The Moz crowd set out early in the morning and met on the Goba climb. Border formalities were quick, there being almost no other people at that hour. Mario and Ricky opted to leave the car at the border and cycle the 14km to the start line as a warm-up. However they weren’t expecting the wind or the rolling and rather steep hills on the Swazi side. In compensation the tarmac was an absolute pleasure.
After the formalities of signing in and getting race numbers on our bikes we assembled at the start line at the entrance to the Magandzavane Lodge, which would also serve as the finish line.
At 8:15 we were off and right from the bat there was a fast and furious pace at the front with a group of about 10 riders staying close to the pace car, and immediately created a gap with the main field behind. I managed to work my way to the front, my warm legs able to push through the heart-rate barrier.
The group of 10 started whittling down on the steep inclines and a breakaway of two managed to ride away. Soon I was in a paceline with 5 other riders chasing down the leaders, but as the km’s went on we went down from 6 o 5 and finally just 4 of us at the Goba border, where we turned around on the return leg.
The leaders were still in our sights but our group wasn’t interested in pushing too hard and we were finally joined by another group, including Ricky, who managed to bridge across to us. Now with more legs we tried to organize an assault on the lead group but only a few were really pulling turns at the front, and even when they did the pace seemed to get slower and slower. Still, we did have the wind against us, but as we neared Siteki were surprised to see the leaders speeding away in the opposite direction. They’d already reached Siteki, and we still had a way to go. The pace quickened a bit as we reached Siteki, and went around the town and rejoined the main road. The wind was now on our backs and new legs at the front really increased the pace. We were flying along in an ordered paceline. We crossed the other Maputo riders on their way into Siteki, but our concentration was now on the finish-line.
Now a word about the race distance. Some spoke of 65Km and others of 60km. In my Google measurements it looked closer to 60km, but I wasn’t sure how much the loop in Siteki would end up being.. In any event as we neared the 55km mark I though I might have a few more km’s to play with, time enough for an assault, perhaps enough to split the field and dispute the line with just one or two other cyclists. However, on a fast descent I looked up and there was the orange tent and the finishing line looming?! All of a sudden a flurry of activity as everyone kicked up a gear and cyclists started flying from all over the place. To add to the confusion a car ahead was driving along at our own speed and blocked our road, so we had to fly around it, with slower cyclists and photographers in the left safety lane and oncoming cyclists in the right lane. It was a recipe for disaster but thankfully we all made it to the finish line in one piece. One of the younger Swazis (Calvin) made it through in front of me with a powerful sprint finish, while I managed 4th, with Ricky hot on my tail in 5th. Other top 10 Maputo finishers were Chico Nobrega in 8th and Simon Wright in 9th, while Mr soon to be Bionic Ian came in a credible 17th overall and 4th in his (Methuselah) age group.
Official race results can be seen here.
Overall a very nice atmosphere, and really smooth tarmac made up for the sharp hills and wind. A word to the organisers though - photo-finish next time? Also a 1km to finish line marker would be useful. It really was a pity about the episode with the car on the finish line because otherwise traffic control was excellent the whole way, as were the water points. Last item.. a route map available on-line would be another useful addition for next year's race.
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