When Edward Greene isn’t at the finish line of my races, I’m at the finish line of his. Here’s a look at the other half of my life and what it’s really like being an amateur roadie trying to make the break in to the pro ranks. Making The Break returns as Ed opens his 2015 season with the Tour d’Ardeche in France. He learns you can take the boy out of South Africa but you can’t take the South African out of the boy as he suffers in rainy single digit temperatures. Watch both e

It was pretty clear right away the Mézilhac was going to be “the” climb this season. I arrived in France and, since I had spent two months in the area last year, didn’t expect to find many new roads let alone new climbs. How could I have missed a 21km climb in my backyard? No idea. “It’s called the Mezilhac,” Edward explained. I immediately liked the name of the climb. Riding for the local amateur team here, Edward had first been taken there on team training ride. “It’s just

First race back: Triathlon des Gorges de l’Ardeche What’s longer than a year? 350 days of rehab. But I’m back. And I’m racing. It’s been almost a year since my last race. Frankly, I haven’t felt like much of an athlete because what’s athlete who doesn’t race? Even when I felt good enough to enter an event, I had pulled out of so many that I stopped thinking about racing all together. I just didn’t want to get my hopes up. But the long term plan toward building into triathlon

Wanna know what it’s really like as an amateur cyclist trying to make the break into the pro ranks? Check out this cool video…hopefully more episodes to come! The team heads down to the French coast to take on a testing circuit race, GP Vence. It’s Ed’s first race back after a break from the bike and the race pushes him hard in the search of a good result. #GPVence #ProfessionalCycling #Vence #training #Athlete #Cycling #Sport #Ardeche #KamilMigdol #SouthAfrica #EdwardGreene

A little video I put together for Edward‘s French Team, UC Aubenas. #training #Cycling #Ardeche #TeamTimeTrial #EdwardGreene #SarahKimBonner #UCAubenas #RoadCycling

It was a long way to drive for a small race but for amateur riders every chance is an opportunity. I squeezed in the car with four riders and ten wheels and, being the least entitled to leg room, I was in the middle. For almost four hours we drove in convoy, our Fiat with 250,000km struggling to keep up with the lead foot of the Direteur Sportif driving ahead with the rest of the team. Edward Greene, a South African racing for Team UC Aubenas We arrived in the small town of V

Mmmm…pain au chocolat. I’m pretty sure I’m the only cyclist leaving France in July but my time in the Ardeche has come to an end. My experience in France wouldn’t be complete, however, without last week’s dinner party. From escargot to macaroons, it was a French affair from start to finish and a great way to say au revoir to the Ardeche. As the only non-bilingual person at dinner, I spent the majority of the evening lost in translation, catching only the odd drift of conversa

Sunny afternoon on the Ibie river. Rest feels like a death sentence to many athletes. Most athletes are obsessive about training and resting is often ignored, seen as being lazy, or taken begrudgingly. I was in the begrudging camp, only taking rest when I was told, perhaps indulging in another sport on my rest days to get a hit of endorphins. I definitely had my fill of rest, however, moping around in bed eating biscuits while I was injured but injury has given me an new appr

Back at the bottom of the Meyrand for redemption. The last time I was on the slopes of the Meyrand, it was 8 degrees, pouring rain, and I was forced to turn back after only 6km. Meyrand 1, Sarah 0. I had a score to settle. Round two was going to be different. First of all, the weather was favourable. It was 20 degrees, the sun was out and there was hardly any wind. Second, I was going prepared with pockets crammed full of food and warm clothes. Off I went summit seeking and a

Our “dryer.” My dad always says “tough ride, tough rider” and although the last ten days of riding in torrential rain were tough, it was putting on wet shoes day after day that really tested my toughness. With no tumble dryer and no sun, our apartment turned into one big drying rack; every handle, railing, and hook was covered in some piece of kit and the area in front of the heaters became prime real estate. Pretty soon, the whole apartment smelled like wet cycling shoes and

My new French home! I always had this vision of moving in with my boyfriend since I was a teenager: a modest but modern apartment and, since we would just be starting out, it would be complete with hand-me down furniture, second-hand appliances (except a new Kitchen Aid mixer) and a small garden for me to kill plants. A realistic achievable dream in my books. While life never matches fantasy, living with Edward couldn’t be farther from what my teenage self originally dreamed

Getting here was no easy task! Over the past two weeks I have been busy relocating my life to France. With last year’s move to Holland under my belt things were going quite smoothly. I managed to pack up the house and get my life into a 23kg suitcase and, along with my bike, I was ready to go. My itinerary was long: Cape Town to Johannesburg to Amsterdam to Lyon to Montelimar to Aubenas. No big deal, however, it would be a full 24 hours and I would be in my new house and reun