Well what can i say.... the advertised ride " Fit Beginners/ challenging ride" at Wadi Daikyia, lived up to every fear and promise. The weather in Muscat was horrendous as we all awoke to alarms at "Stupid oclock"
on this Friday morning, frantic phone calls,dismal weather put many off attending. It was a gamble, but what else do you do on a wet day in Oman, mop floors, moan about the rain, or as we did , grab your picnic and pile in the cars anyway.
Everyone eventually rendevous at the start, at after the elated dry car journey..not a drop of rain after Al Amerat..!!
Approximately 0900 am, we all set off, 12 riders and an amazing line up of 5 support vechiles, they obviously thought the occassion was more attractive than mopping floors in Muscat..!
Bob and Margaret, again saving the day for one lost rider waited and would join us after the first 6 km of climbing..personally many of us wondered was this a deliberate ploy to avoid the challenging start...well you never know..!!
I will at this point apologise for a lack of named riders as like any woman i was only interested in their wheels..but needless to say there was a huge contingent from France...riders, family and family dog, he obviously didnt want to mop the floors back in Muscat either ..i heard numerous dutch and german converstaions as we ambled around, and of course there were my usual little english gems flying around..!
Well the ride you ask, dry apart from 10 minutes of rain, which caused joy amongst some riders and horror to others, lots of black cloud, and yes wait for it perfect cycling conditions, as the temperature stayed around a shady 22c..We all enjoyed a welcomed rest and picnic in the Wadi with our tireless supporters and families, half way through the ride..
Paul and i counted a total of 45 ascents throughout the ride ,over 1200 meters of climbing, some were little blips and others as promised mind blowing. The 3 ramps after we got to the coast were quite clearly the worst..it was great to see Frans being one of only 3 riders to scale the "FB" , 3rd hill. It was at this point raining quite hard making it a mega challenging ascent.It was at this point acouple of riders took the opportunity to rest in a support vechile , again getting out to ride, strangely it had also stopped raining at this point, so there was no mud to contend with..!
After these climbs and the muddy patch, everyone dug deep and concentrated on getting back , some who had started strongly had now plateaud..giving confidence to the others who had just saved that little bit in reserve..everyone was encouraged and cheered on by all involved riders and supporters and we all finally got back to the cars and start approximately 4.15 to 4.30 hours of physical riding time later . to the cries of Bravo..
To conclude..well done Frans, Bob and Margaret, for yet again another fantastically organised event.. A huge thankyou to all the supporters and families that came along ..And well done evryone who rode, you all deserved your "cloud nine, cyclist high..! "
Lorretta
on this Friday morning, frantic phone calls,dismal weather put many off attending. It was a gamble, but what else do you do on a wet day in Oman, mop floors, moan about the rain, or as we did , grab your picnic and pile in the cars anyway.
Everyone eventually rendevous at the start, at after the elated dry car journey..not a drop of rain after Al Amerat..!!
Approximately 0900 am, we all set off, 12 riders and an amazing line up of 5 support vechiles, they obviously thought the occassion was more attractive than mopping floors in Muscat..!
Bob and Margaret, again saving the day for one lost rider waited and would join us after the first 6 km of climbing..personally many of us wondered was this a deliberate ploy to avoid the challenging start...well you never know..!!
I will at this point apologise for a lack of named riders as like any woman i was only interested in their wheels..but needless to say there was a huge contingent from France...riders, family and family dog, he obviously didnt want to mop the floors back in Muscat either ..i heard numerous dutch and german converstaions as we ambled around, and of course there were my usual little english gems flying around..!
Well the ride you ask, dry apart from 10 minutes of rain, which caused joy amongst some riders and horror to others, lots of black cloud, and yes wait for it perfect cycling conditions, as the temperature stayed around a shady 22c..We all enjoyed a welcomed rest and picnic in the Wadi with our tireless supporters and families, half way through the ride..
Paul and i counted a total of 45 ascents throughout the ride ,over 1200 meters of climbing, some were little blips and others as promised mind blowing. The 3 ramps after we got to the coast were quite clearly the worst..it was great to see Frans being one of only 3 riders to scale the "FB" , 3rd hill. It was at this point raining quite hard making it a mega challenging ascent.It was at this point acouple of riders took the opportunity to rest in a support vechile , again getting out to ride, strangely it had also stopped raining at this point, so there was no mud to contend with..!
After these climbs and the muddy patch, everyone dug deep and concentrated on getting back , some who had started strongly had now plateaud..giving confidence to the others who had just saved that little bit in reserve..everyone was encouraged and cheered on by all involved riders and supporters and we all finally got back to the cars and start approximately 4.15 to 4.30 hours of physical riding time later . to the cries of Bravo..
To conclude..well done Frans, Bob and Margaret, for yet again another fantastically organised event.. A huge thankyou to all the supporters and families that came along ..And well done evryone who rode, you all deserved your "cloud nine, cyclist high..! "
Lorretta
MTB ride Daiqah-Suway-Dibab-Daiqah 21-Jan-2011
