Only one person has completed every one of the Old Mutual Wealth Double Century races, and that’s Johan le Roux. And at 52 years old, he still has plenty more to come.

“Yes, the novelty of doing the event has worn off, but I still love doing it,” says Le Roux, who will be riding his 31st DC this year. “I’m not going to stop, even though my focus these days is more on ultra-distance trail running. It’s one of those events that I’ll continue to do unless sickness hits me or I get too old.

“I guess I’m a sucker for records and pain.”

With a best time of 6 hours 27 minutes in 2012, Le Roux has put up respectable times in all of his finishes; this year he and his team are planning to shrug off their social mantle, and take the event more seriously.

“We have a core team of eight, all of them from my hometown of Worcester. This year I threw the cat among the pigeons and suggested that we officially become a racing team. So, we’re aiming for sub-6 hours.”

“I guess I’m a sucker for records and pain.”

Le Roux’s new-found passion for ultra-trail running has kept him in good shape; which, he says, makes the DC a relatively easy assignment.

“I’m used to running on the trails for 10 to 12 hours, so six hours on the bike is fine,” he says.

He’s still his team’s captain and handles much of the logistics for the weekend, as well as laying down the law on the road. “I guess because I have the DC experience, I call the shots,” he says with a laugh. “A lot of guys don’t always like it, but someone has to take charge in an event like this.”

Despite his racing ambitions, Le Roux still plans to keep his team intact and finish with as many guys as possible.

“In previous years we’ve had riders being pushed up the climbs, but this year I told everyone that we can’t continue doing that. Everyone needs to take the training a bit more seriously, and commit. I’ve also had a few bad days over the years; but as long as everyone knows what they’ve signed up for, they know what the team is working towards.”

Training

Le Roux admits he’s likely to take his own DC-specific training seriously only about a month before the event, as he has a 50km trail run to focus on in October. But he believes a mixture of interval sessions and a long weekend ride will be enough to get him up to the right level come DC weekend.

“I generally do two interval sessions a week, and then one or two long weekend rides. My main goal is to get my butt used to sitting in the saddle. The other guys are more committed cyclists, and should be strong.”

Le Roux’s two interval sessions include a block he’s named the Super LT (Lactate Threshold) session, which includes six intervals of four minutes each, flat-out on a flat road, with a 90-second rest between each. The second interval day includes six hill repeats of 6:30 each, to get his legs used to pushing up big hills.

Memories

“I remember the first event – it was a shocker! It was so hot, and I bombed out on the way up Bainskloof Pass. We knew nothing about seconding or getting our vehicle to the right spot, and we ran out of water as a result – we had to drink from the streams on the mountain. 

“With about 5km to go, the medics wanted to put me into an ambulance because I had such bad cramps. But I told them that even if I had to walk, I was going to get there. I ended up riding anyway, because I was worried that my brand-new Look carbon road shoes would get buggered!”

“The Ceres course that included Swaarmoed Pass was the most difficult course they ever had. It was insane.”

“I’m a sucker for stats. I’ve kept a record of all my rides on a spreadsheet, which I still keep up to date. I find it’s good for motivation.”

 

 

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