This morning I woke up at a mind numbing 5am, to get ready for my 1st ever “proper” mountain bike ride out at Holla Trails here in Ballito. The ride was the first of my #Project2011 where I am aiming to try and change my lifestyle completely and lose some (read:lots) weight. Thanks to the guys over at Cannondale, I have a shiny new bike to ride, and today I really put it through it’s paces.
I met up at 6am with my mates Rich, Sean & my brother in law Roy. I warned them all ahead of time that there WOULD be walking, and even some moaning :) But suffice to say, I didn’t moan…walked yes. Rich planned a great route which involved some uphills(the walking) and some really cool single track riding along side a river, which meant some mud.
In total we did about 10.5KM in an hour and half. It may not sound that great, but the ride was pretty “technical” in terms of riding on the single track, which is a narrow path where you really need to concentrate and watch what you doing. I have to admit, I really enjoyed the single track riding which made for a lot of messy fun. The last stretch of the ride was pretty tough for me, as it was just “carry on cycling” riding, along a flat road, which meant pushing myself, which was good.
After the ride, I really felt good and expected myself to flake out, but didn’t feel that way at all. I think my healthy eating plan that I started this week has hugely contributed to this, and I can feel I had loads more energy. What a difference !!!
I used 2 apps on my iPhone to keep track of our progress. I will be doing a post soon on some of the apps I have been using to keep track of my health and fitness.
You can check out my Runkeeper activity log of the ride, which shows a map, speed, altitude etc. I really enjoy seeing after the fact where we have been and analysing the ride.
I know that in the next few months, I will be putting a lot more effort into the riding, and set myself a goal for the end of the year of doing an actual race, so expect a few more of these type of posts popping up soon :
8 replies on “1st ride on my new Cannondale out at Holla Trails”
Awesome lifestyle / fitness / tech blog post. looking forward to seeing your progress and I am inspired to do more with sport and tech. Run keeper looks awesome just need to take it out for a spin now.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Marc Forrest. Marc Forrest said: New blog post – : 1st ride on my new Cannondale out at Holla Trails http://iguy.me/f49agf […]
I look forward to many more of those rides, it was a well planned route, with a little of everything for everyone. It was definitely a momentous occasion.
[…] a fantastic eating programme, taken up Kettlebells (post about this soon), Mountain biking on the Cannondale at least once a week, swimming and generally trying to restore order in my life. So far, I can […]
Hi. I am planning to go out to Holla trails this weekend for my first ever ride on a trail (an my first ride in 10 years). What kind of advice can you offer? I don’t have an expensive bike or special clothing/shoes. Do you think that those are compulsory?
Hey Yusuf. Thanks for the comment. Nope. No need for any of the fancy stuff. Just make sure you have a helmet & R50 and you good to go. The green route is great for beginners and is around 15km, and a very simple and scenic ride.
Good luck & enjoy ;)
[…] the ideal goal is to shed the KG”s and start leading a much healthier lifestyle. The riding is really going well, and I have to admit I have really improved since starting out just over a […]
@Marc – I did the 15km green route today. I think I did fairly well, 1h30 minutes but had to push the bike up 1 or 2 hills but I’m totally looking forward to next weekend. All the best with your riding :)