Monday, August 10, 2009

Playing Dodgebottle

This morning while doing my 3 hour bike session it was a case of dodging beer bottles everywhere. And it was broken beer bottles and there were plenty. I guess the people really enjoyed Women's Day yesterday. Luckily I did my bike ride early this morning and I can just guess what the streets will look like this afternoon, broken beer bottles and drunk drivers. That is not cycle friendly.

I can't believe I didn't get a puncture as I had to ride over glass on more than one occasion to avoid being hit by a car. I've never seen so many broken beer bottles in a while, think the people really enjoyed the celebrations. With today being a public holiday it was nice having some free time and not waking up at 4am.

After some time my new P4 has finally got a name and it is Matilda. My mother came up with the name and I think it fits the bike perfectly.

When I was just over 2 years old our family went to Cape Town on holiday. That is a 1600km journey from our hometown. My father decided to stop in a small town called Bethlehem at a road house to get some hamburgers for the family. Those days you didn't get children's menus and my father also ordered a hamburger for me and my sister(4 years).

My father was not a patient person by nature and he went to the counter to order instead of waiting for a waiter. The burgers weren't coming quickly enough so he would go to the roadhouse counter and asked the overweight lady, who did not move from the chair she was sitting on, "Are the burgers ready". The lady would then without moving shout at the lady who was working in the kitchen, "Matilda are the burgers ready". Then Matilda would shout back , "No not yet".

My father, according to my mother would go back to the lady every ten minutes and every time the same story, word by word.
This carried on for more than a hour and by then my father was so frustrated but could not leave as me and my sister was now crying for something to eat. Just to add, Bethlehem is a very small town and not close to other towns, all on its own.

My mother say, eventually close to one and a half hours later Matilda emerged from the Road House, bigger than the lady who was manning the till and as black as the night with our burgers.

For those who read my blog frequently will know that I waited more than nine months for my P4 after paying the deposit and looking at the bike with only the P4 sticker on it, this pitch black bike is quite striking. Therefore I think the name suits the bike perfectly. May me and Matilda have hours of fun and pain while we train for IM's.

I can just imaging my Dad getting all worked up at this roadhouse waiting for Matilda to make four hamburgers.

I decided not to do my swim training yesterday. When I went to the Gym( Hometown) the swimming pool was 15c and I am not going to swim while the temperature is that low, maybe in summer but not in winter. Doing a few laps is OK but not 4km and I don't want to get sick again.

Yesterday's Training:
Run: 2h40, 32.6km, 139 bpm, 4:54m/km, 2498 kcal.

Today's Training:
Bike: 3h04, 92.1km, 128 bpm, 30 km/h2515 kcal.

3 comments:

  1. Nice! I really hope she is not so slow as her namesake!lol! Well done on keeping to your training programme!

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  2. Hi Warren
    So far she is still moving fast
    Johan

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  3. That's a great story and a great name. Before you even told the story I like the name.

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