Hello and Welcome

Enjoy the ride and listen for the scream of joy on the trail.

 

OFFENBURG World Cup

1.06

Well Offenburg didn’t go quite as planned. I was really looking forward to the awesome course, with drops and sweeping trails. It was quite rooty but that added to the technicality. The weather was also way better than England, with temps hitting 30 degrees. A shower on friday just made the course nice and compact.

The start loop was better than in Dalby and then I just went backwards. Well not quite, I was sticking with this group but that was that. I connected a tree in lap 3 and had to stop to straighten my handlebar again. Afterwards I was able to ride back to the group but then I couldn’t pass then. The legs were just not there. Disappointingly I got pulled off before my last lap.

I see a lot of pros struggling at the moment so I guess I cannot be too hard on myself, I just doesn’t go everytime.
Strange how you have so little to say when a race goes bad. So I hope to be able to write more next time again after we battle in the 3rd round of the SA league which will be in Pietermaritzburg this weekend.

 

DALBY FOREST World Cup

24.05

 

Cold is the way to describe England. My connections on the Island where pretty wrong in telling me the weather was great. But hey, it didn’t rain, yet.

Philip and I checked into a cosy B&B out of town in a little one street settlement that seemed more like farm that town. It had its own little Inn and we had dinner there once, with food I can only recommend. We had such lovely hosts who even took us up into their private life and served us lovely dinners. Thanks Michael and Heather at Rectory Farm in Levisham.

Luckily we had a rental car, as the course itself was quite a distance from anything around there. The course was fast and fun, and nothing too crazy to ride. PMB has the upper hand. The climbs where long and steep. On race day we made an agreement with a female rider from South Africa that if we would feed her she would help us out in our race. It helps to know some people if you travel without a crew like the big teams.

As we watched the ladies race the weather was nasty with gusty winds and a few light showers as the clouds rushed past. I was starting to feel the cold on my skin even with 2 jackets.

Luckily the clouds stayed away from luchtime onwards and we warmed up in the sun. By the start of the race it had warmed up somewhat but I was still racing with armwarmers, even though I was the only one.

The gun went and I thought I had kept my position of 70 something through the start loop. After the first lap I was a bit shocked to see I was in 96th place. The race was extremely fast, but I felt held back on the climbs. I was never ahead on the switchback climb, where I guess I could have made up most of my time on the course. I was tense through most of the race, partly to the coldness and partly to being nervous I guess. I had some stiff muscles and felt like I was riding with my upper body instead of my legs. I only slowly passed riders. In the end I crossed the line in 74th place, two places down from my starting place. That doesn’t sound like much. But I was still only 11 min off the pace, which is the closest I got in a world cup. Next Sunday in Offenburg can only be better. Phil and I are now both in the WC vibe and Offenburg is a course we know already. We will fight our way through the start lap and are better prepared for things.

Luckily we made it to Germany yesterday as the Ash Cloud is causing a bit of distress again.

 

 

 

 

 

PMB XC

17.04

Getting up with rain falling down in Pietermaritzburg is never a good thing. If that is the case you know it will rain the whole day. Such was the case yesterday, the day for the first XC series race. A big field was expected, with the world cup here next week lots of international riders came down earlier to check out the track and conditions, and probably to get some sun. What they got was their own euro weather.  

Our start was at 14:30 and the wait seemed long. Early twitter notifications of top riders notifying they weren’t racing also brought up some wondering. Nevertheless I thought I needed some intensity and test the racing in case next week will be in similar conditions.

I struggled to get my ass into gear and had a sluggish warm-up. To my surprise there was quite a field, about 25 riders turned up. Of that, only 4 were locals! The gun went in rainy weather and after the first incline I was fighting for last position. Soon though I noticed plenty riders struggling in the slippery mud and with my mud tyres fitted, started passing riders. On the climbs though I felt my legs were completely stiff. I decided ok, let them warm up and I can start going after a lap or two. Gaps started forming quickly and the course was really a slip and slip mud fest.

The course is really world class, with designers throwing in some rocks and creating really technical pieces. Single trails and drops add to the classiness and when dry, this course, in the pine plantations of maritzburg, is really a treat to ride.
In lap three I noticed my front brake fading and immediately thought back to Clarens marathon, where my complete pad had worn through and I was braking with calliper against rotor. Not wanting to turn this silly race into an expensive one and my legs feeling really the worst since a long time, I decided to limit my losses and abandoned the race. I was running my personally bought Merida hardtail and didn’t want to break it now.

Today it was my job to start cleaning what I had dirtied for nothing yesterday and it seemed to take forever in the cold weather. I really hope this weather turns soon! Now we are hosted by Andrew and Raeanne in the beautiful Karkloof valley, and I hope to find my legs on the trails here during the week.

 

ABSA CAPE EPIC

Stage5

So after taking it easy the last two stages it was Phil and my goal to really try and rip it up on today’s TT, but things went bad for me on the first corner heading out of the stadium. My legs just blew up again and, trying to right through it, just extended the time for my legs to come right for me to have a lekke ride. I struggled every meter while Phil was keeping on checking where I was staying.
Too bad though as today could’ve really been our day. We still ended up in 10th so I wonder what would have happened if my legs where good.
We will keep on fighting the good fight till the last stage.  Tomorrow we battle on towards Grabou with a 142km monster. I think we will be taking it easy again.

 

Stage 1

The real racing started today with a seemingly short 89km, but word had it that it was the toughest stage. A hotspot after 26km really made the pace hard and it never seemed to calm down until we decided not to take part in the sprint for the hotspot. We took it easy from then and just really enjoyed riding the trails. After the craziest downhill, with soft sand, rocks and roots, very steep at parts and all the way down the hill we had just gone up, we saw David George back tracking the course, mentioning he had lost his partner Kevin. It turned out he broke his collar bone.

After that we slowly got to the conclusion that, if we rode faster, we could ride into the African jersey today. Not knowing how far ahead the other contenders were, we half went fast but still enjoyed the race and the trails. Only in the last ten 10km we heard our team mates were just up ahead and the next in-line for the jersey. Phil and my goal is not to race for an overall but try to podium on a stage or two so If we had gotten the jersey today, we wouldn’t have kept it till the end as we want to take a few stages easy. But still we thought it would be nice to have the jersey for just one day. In the end we came short by 30seconds.
Now it is on the worthy shoulders of Mannie and Adrien, still in the team then.

Till now it is really a good experience, this whole epic thing.

Till tomorrow

 

Prolog

On Saturday Philip and I prerode the prolog route together with team mates Mannie and hired Adrien Nyinshuti. I really enjoyed the trails and started to look forward to the race.
Once at the venue on race day many spectators made their way up to tokai forest and I knew we were in for a treat.  Off we went, chasing Brandon Steward and Shan Wilson, being chased by our own team mates. Philip took the lead and really made me work hard to keep up, but I didn’t go to hard as I knew we were racing for a good our. After half the stage I started having a clear view now and then, not only seeing number 15-2 in front of me the whole time. We got into a good rhythm and started catching teams. The last downhill was quite fast and I took to the front on the second half and really let the brakes go, loving the crazy trails in tokai. In the end we managed an 8th place which we were happy about. We missed our goal, the African leader jersey by 50sec though.

 

 

GRAPE ESCAPE

Day 3

Day three was much better for me. I woke up quite tired and wondered how i would go by the day but warming up for the race felt pretty good. Once again the pace was kept a bit high so not every tom dick and harry would come ride in the front. There were two or three riders that helped pace that weren’t there the previous days. Mannie and Burry were the main pacemakers and the burry punctured and was off.

 

On the first proper climb Kevin set a hard tempo with david and Karl directly on his wheel. I was behind some riders and was only able to get free after a small gap had opened already. My legs felt good so I decided to follow suite and soon I was on my own, chasing the 3 leaders. That was also the last we ever saw anybody else during the race, as the course winded through the vineyards of Boschendal. I managed to bridge the gap to the leaders after the first and only tech point, after they had stopped playing their cat and mouse games for a bit. Us 4 continued our way to the next and longest climb where David set a hard pace upfront making karl suffer a bit and opening a small gap which karl couldn’t follow. He did most of the work the previous days so he must’ve been tired by now. Kevin sat behind me and as a press moto passed us Kevin took the momentum of the bike and jumped across to david. I thought I had to save a bit as I didn’t really know if there was another climb after this one. I knew this climb though. I decided to move infront of Karl to follow the two leaders, hoping to motivate Karl to keep going. At one stage I had a bit of a gap and Karl called to me to wait for him and I did. Together we made our way all the way up to the top and down the awesome technical downhill with added singletrack. We winded through some more jeeptrack, seeing the leaders here and there. On an open road Karl got his legs back and took to the front. Now we were pursuing the leaders in earnest but the pace was now hard again, the flat open roads once again making me suffer.

Then we saw the 5km to go board, which we were told to look out for as the course distance was miscalculated. Karl once again saw the leaders and went even harder and I couldn’t follow. I tried to hang on with my own fast pace but the finish came quick and 4th was the best I could do on the day. Nonetheless I was pretty happy to be able to ride with the leaders again for a stage, showing that form is there, I just need to fix my head a bit.
So the Columbia Grape Escape comes to an end, successfully for me, disappointing for my team mates Mannie and Francois. They were leading the team event but unfortunately a broken deraillure hanger saw them lose plenty time. They still finished in high spirits though, so hats off to that.

 

I’m chilling in Hout Bay at the moment with family friend Uwe. Great host, thanks for the bed.

 

Day 2

 

Today we started a bit earlier than yesterday, so the heat didn’t play a roll. Or at least not to me coming from Namibia. It was fairly easy riding for the first 15 km, the dust being the only thing that made riding bad. Sitting in 15th place was way bad a position already, nevermind the guys further back. Once we hit the side of the mountain though the dust settled and the pace picked up a notch and soon it was racing time. My legs weren’t any good today though, just like the second day on any other stage race. I decided to ride with Mannie and Francois who were leading the team category. Up ahead I saw the riders attacking each other so I don’t think I would have stayed on long anyway. From there I went through fazes, enjoying riding while in the rough technical bits and feeling numb on the flat open roads. From halfway I basically rode on my own just trying to have fun in the rough cape.

We finished in the beautiful Boschendal Wine estate, a lovely cycling friendly wine farm host to the popular Argus MTB race. Tomorrow we join the 5000 riders taking part in this event but we will be doing an extra 10km loop, just cause we are special.
I trust that the legs will be good again tomorrow so that I can play with the big boys.

 

 

Day 1

 

What a pleasant day to start the first stage of the Columbia Grape Escape. We started on the lawn at Eden on Bay in Bloubergstrand and headed east away from the coast.

Some soft patches were the first places to sort out the slower riders from the fast. We started climbing up bare cornfields, bone dry in the summer season.  Millions of thorns started causing havoc in the field and Sauser and Burry where the first to show signs that their product wasn’t as good as our Joe’s. One rider told David George that his wheel was squirting too which he replied:”So what must I do, put my finger in it?” Some humour is always good.

Sauser was the first to stop to inflate his tyre and then Burry. Karl, David, Kevin and myself where left up front but Burry soon returned and now we were on flattish gravel or tar..all the way to the finish basically. Everyone else was riding 29 wheels, and it seemed like they were having it easier than me. I can’t really say much though as I have never ridden one. I had to stop too now after just too much air loss on a bit of tar that the pace eased up a bit. I was already battling to stay with the lead so I took this opportunity. The pace picked up again though and that saw the end of me in the bunch of 6. I tried to pace back the next 5km but bent my legs quite a bit in the process and then decided not to kill myself any longer and eased up.  I really just rode to the finish from there, tired and hot and thirsty.

Francois recorded a 43.5 degrees Celsius on his Garmin so a number of riders will probably die out the today.

Karl Platt won a sprint finish against Kevin with David rounding up the podium.

 

MTN SABIE CLASSIC ULTRA

27/02

It was a to and fro between what bike to take for me the day before this year’s Sabie Classic Ultra marathon. We all bought new Merida O.Nine bikes for those not so rough races where a light bike counts in your favour. And with a whopping 3300 altitude meters to climb in the race the decision was difficult for me, as the route was a bit rough for me, at least the last loop we pre rode on Friday.

I decided on the Hardtail though, thought that everyone else will be riding hardtail as well. This decision was definitely the right one in the end. Overcast but still hot conditions were good to us as we started heading up the first long climb of 3. Team mate Phil took the liberty to make pace together with Adrien and visitor Karl Platt. Mannie and I were trailing some 10-20 seconds behind but joined the front 4 as we reached the top. Then we started the long descend and I was in the front for three corners> Karl then came past with his mad downhill skill and opened a gap on us. Close to the bottom Phil and Adrien overtook me and I had a lapse in concentration and was thinking of other things when we got to a singletrail. I was a bit stuck behind Adrien, who after the trail simply rode over to Karl and Phil. Not being the best rider in the flat, I just kept my pace to the first Tech zone and the start of the 2nd big climb. I started together with Mannie but soon decided my legs where good and the leaders weren’t too far off and wanted to bridge the gap slowly. I just didn’t make it and the leaders, now Karl, Phil, Adrien, Max and Paul, headed downhill some 40 seconds ahead of me. As a pack they descended a bit faster than me. I also had some grass in the gears close to the bottom of the climb and had to stop.

Now my energy was slowly depleting and even some food didn’t seem to make a difference. I kept riding on on my own toward the last and also the roughest part of the course. Once again the flat roads slowed me down. As we started climbing the last lap Mannie came from behind and I was battling. According to the race data a tech zone would come shortly and I was already looking forward to getting some more food and juice. But the distance marker came and went, and we were in the thickest of forest, with no road access for a feed zone the next few kms. Luckily there was a neutral water point and a banana gave me some energy again. 3 more riders passed me as I tried to keep it together. Then I got the energy kick from the banana and some coke again and started chasing the riders. I managed to catch 2 more riders by the end of the race as I really had good power back at the end. I finished in 8th only though.  I was a bit bleak that the organisers managed to stuff up the race data. All three tech zones were off the mark. The first by 5 km, the next by 7 and the last by 10km! As a UCI accredited race this should definitely not happen. Other than that the race was well organised. Marshalls in place and signage tip top. It’s always great to ride in sabie, true mtb heaven.

Now it’s time to start focusing on the next goals, some world cup racing! Can’t wait for those to come.

 

 

 

 

 

MTN CLARENS ULTRA

22/02

 

A day comes where you wake up and you couldn’t be bothered that it rained the whole night, that it is still dark when getting up, where the oats actually taste good. I looked at my bike, I remember, and got a good warm feeling that this bike wants to be ridden and it’s such an awesome bike.

It wasn’t as cold as previous versions of this race, but there was more water, more mud. I felt good for this one, although my week had been very lazy training wise. It didn’t faze me though and knew I could still have a good marathon. I didn’t bargain on first place as these long races are tough on me.

I had put in new brake pads at rear brake, metal ones, for the mud. By the time we hit the first tech point my rear brake faded. I decided it was just temporary and yes now and then it came back. Luckily there was still my front brake. The first lap through the reserve was good, I followed max’s pace comfortably and then opened a gap on the rocky downhill to lead the race for a while on open roads. Reaching techzone 2 I realized the rear brake was gone, break surface was gone, it was still breaking though, when I pumped it a bit. Brake pad against rotor, sweet. Luckily there was still the front brake...

Going up slick rock I was up at the front again, feeling good going up. After the King of the mountain came a short steep downhill and oh no, there went the front brake. But this one really disappeared completely. From then on I wished the route went all uphill to the finish. Phil, who had outsprinted me and Adrian, was now in the lead in the mountain trail with me right behind me. Even with no brakes I thought we could open a gap on Adrien. And sure enough that happened, but then we had to get off the hill, Phil was gone, Adrien was closing up on me again, my downhill was sketchy. At the bottom though we were all together again, Phil had cramped, Adrien had brakes. (Yes, sometimes you are faster with brakes)  

Adrian had the freshest legs from there and slowly rode away from me as I had to follow own pace. By tech 3 he had 1.5 minutes on me. I refuelled and started feeling better and better again. 15km to go Mannie came up from behind to try and catch the strong Adrian through the toughest bit of the course. I tried to follow Mannie as good as I could but he rode more conservative through the race and had more left. The last technical hill was a monopoly but a must. Brakes were tickets and Phil was just behind me who surely was able to catch me. But I had a good enough gap to reach the bottom in front of him and come in 3rd in 5hours 50. For the first time in ages the leader wasn’t 20min ahead but just 5 min or so of me.
I am happy with the result. Conditions were really tough. I could go on and say yeah had I had brakes I could maybe have won but everyone had issues in the mud. This was the outcome, and well done to everyone that could finish this gruelling race.

 

 

AFRICA XC CHAMPS

14.02

 

Africa champs, lots of UCI points, Olympic qualifying. Pressure? Nooo. This was one of my bigger events of my career till now as it has always been my life goal to go to the Olympic Games.

My preparation toward this event was highly focused for a change, I went all pro most of the time to try and get my body into perfect shape and I managed to do what I thought was almost mint. Hard structured training, proper nutrition, no alcohol, all of that stuff. Together with my girlfriend Steffi, I spent the week preceding the event in Stellenbosch as the weather there was quite different to anywhere else in South Africa. Hot.

The course was tough from the start and I thought tracks would be ridden out through the week and during the morning races before our race at 2 PM, but everything just got rougher. The climb was barely rideable through all the rocks that were ran out from riders pushing. It was shorter than what we normally ride in SA with the lap only being 4.4 km long. It was basically up to the top and down again with 80% single trail with lots of rocks and roots where no passing was possible unless you got off the track. We had to ride the loop 7 times during the race. But everyone had to ride the same course and with my skills I knew I was better off than most riders.

The start was furious as always but this time I just hung on to the leaders, not wanting to make the pace like normal. The heat would take a lot out of everyone. Once we hit the first single trail I knew this would be a good race as I was comfortably following the first 3 riders. On the climb I passed Renay who had spent too much on the start and now there were only main rivals Burry Stander and team mate Philip Buys ahead. Burry quickly opened a gap and I just kept Phil’s wheel. I managed to hold him on the downhill and on the climb of the second lap, saw that I was faster than him. At the top I passed Phil and as such was in second place, from then I never looked back and kept my pace hard but not too much as to blow up with the heat. Superb feeders handed me bottles of water to hose myself and cool off every lap. I tried to ride as smooth as possible on the crazy rough downhill as not to puncture. Later in the race it felt as if my suspension had seized so bad was the course. All I can say thanks to my Merida full suspension.

With everything going so smoothly the race was over faster than ever and I kept it going till the end and managed to secure the 2nd place, and such, claiming a spot for Namibia at the Olympic games. The thought of that is still sinking in.

I would like to say thanks to everyone who supported and motivated me on the build up to the race. My girlfriend, family and Friends, sponsors, Thanks, it’s never a single effort.  Work is not done though, results need to stay up to prove my worth.

 

MTN Crater Cruise

12.10

After having seen the calendar for 2011, we decided short notice that this year’s crazy dash for cash, the crater cruise, would be our last race of the season. This year it was part of the MTN marathon series and the last one of the series, so it would be a good race to finish of well.
After the 50 miler I picked up some head flu bug which was cured fairly fast but that left me with a mean cough. If anyone knows a cough you know that coughs take time to go away and this one didn’t disappoint. My training rides weren’t very good as the doubt whether it was even good to ride with a cough was always present. Nevertheless I kept my mind at it and the cough had nearly disappeared by Saturday. My form was good up until 50 miler and I knew I could carry this over till crater and I was looking forward.
Heat was the order of the day but that didn’t put me off one bit. It was all plain sailing up till the first climb up suikerbossie when the pace lifted as riders started to attack. On the top of the climb Kevin did exactly the same thing as last year and put in a big surge approaching the concrete strips to the first little descent which lead to the technical climb on the game reserve where the break of the day would come. I struggled up the climb and had to let the leaders go. Mannie caught up with me just before we went down the rocky descent and he actually rode some fear into me. Half way down on a sharp corner my chain dropped and had to stop, which broke my rhythm following mannie on the downhill.  At the bottom I was left on my own trying to follow mannie, who was ahead of Jacques who was just ahead of me trying to bridge the gap to the leaders. After the halfway mark their pace eased up a bit and I managed to latch on the back. Then it all went downhill for me, try as I may, PVM gel, drink, I couldn’t recover to a comfortable level. Mannie scratched out power from I don’t know where and led the pack through the next 25 km with no signs of tiredness. Then I made a mistake, Kevin stopped at the 3rd last water point and I wanted to, then hesitated as the pack moved on and I decided I have to stick with them. By the time Kevin did a carbon copy attack from last year I was spent with no water left. I had to stop at the next table and it was survival to the finish from there. Disappointed I rolled over the last finish line of the season in 8th place and took a dip in the famous water fountain.

The afternoon had another fun activity in place, the Ketathlon, an event which I have won twice. I put my mind to it to at least come in the first 2. My team mate Phil showed good shooting skills and pulled off the win and me coming in second.
So now the rest time comes which I am going to utilise to full extend. I’m going to visit my girlfriend for the last two weeks of her 3 year working stint on a nice little 300 square metre island where the day and night temperature changes one degree, the ocean is crystal clear and one feels like swimming in a box of colouring crayons.

 

Photos: Zoon Cronje

 

 

 

 

 

 

MTN 50Miler Marathon

26.09

One comes to a point where you know you are good enough to be on a podium. I’ve had that feeling lately and this weekend I managed to pull it off.
It was the second last marathon in the MTN series this weekend after the Hill2Hill last weekend. It was also held in the same area so I stayed in the great MTB valley of Karkloof, thanks to great hosts Andrew Nicholson and Raeanne Paul.
Brandon and Max took me and Phil onto the route on Wednesday. It’s always good to know the course a bit so you know what’s coming.

We woke up to thick wet mist, a totally different picture to what we had the whole week, but it didn’t put me off one bit. Sadly there weren’t many participants but still the racing would be hot for the podium. The start was a bit slower than normal but soon we were chasing Brandon through the single trail as he made a first dash for it as technicality was a need for winning the race. There was an abundance of really sweet single track all along the route. The route comprised of 3 laps, one 30km a 40 km and then again the 30km lap to the finish. By the end of the first lap it was only myself, max, Brandon and Adrien left up front, with team mates max and Brandon having Adrien and myself on the rivet with constant attacking. I decided I need to set a steady pace upfront to stop their games as all the attacking would see me off soon.  The 40km lap finished off with the major long climb out of the valley again and I knew this is where shit would hit the fan. As soon as the road tilted up it was Brandon who upped the pace and I had to follow my own pace from then after doing most work up front till there. After some corners I saw that Brandon was off and coming around the next corner I saw that the bombs have exploded. Max had attacked and Adrien was chasing off aswell, chasing down max. I saw Brandon was battling and I set my mind to it then that I could get a podium today.

There were still 30km to go though and I had slightly blurry vision already as we crested the long climb. I chowed down on the bars I had left, hoping they would see me through to the finish. I caught and passed Brandon on and uphill but he closed again on the technical downhill trails, so I decided to put all the eggs into one basket and try to lose him after the last downhill, about 6km to the finish. It was basically a mind game between us after I had caught him, I didn’t know when those cramps would finally kick in after I had felt some twitches but this time they stayed away and I managed to roll into the finish in 10m vision due to the thick mist in 3rd place behind winner Max and Adrien.

I’m fairly happy with a podium as it was a long time coming and I am so motivated to do well in future races as I am really getting the hang of the professionalism that is absolutely necessary in today’s ever increasing racing standard.

 

 

Photos courtesy Zoon Cronje

 

 

 

 

 

 

SundayTribune Jeep Hill2Hill

21.09

Off we were, sent off onto one of my favourite routes, one of my goals of the second half of the season. It was warm already at 6 in the morning, just a taste of what was to come during the day.

Up front Max, Brandon Craig and David were letting their legs do the talking and I was hanging on. Just. The single trail to the first downhill was just a Kilometre to late as I had to let go. I went back to the chasing pack with Melt and team mate Phil and a couple more. Phil and Andrew Warr entered the trail first while I was hanging back. Once we got out of the first trail Phil and Andrew were gone and melt took lead up front. And then we missed the next trail. I laughed a bit inside, sarcastically probably, as it was ironic for melt to get ‘lost’. (No offence melt) But I mean we all could have looked were to go. It’s just when one is in the haste of hanging on to the furious start pace that one just follows.

I then told myself not to panic. I took up the task at hand and set my mind on it. We had lost about 90 seconds on our detour, on a downhill where the leaders are all for taking a few risks. Melt, HB and I took up chasing back the group we were in first. We got that done by the first long climb up the first King of the Mountain. From then I wanted to lose some baggage and decided to put in a surge up the following climb as well, which was followed by a longish section of singletrail. Once I got out of there I was on my own, chasing down Andrew, Craig and then later team mate Phil. I only saw the leaders once more up bartlett’s climb. They were then 4 minutes ahead and it was about 25 km to the finish. By this time the body was feeling all the hard riding already and the ever occurring cramps were letting their presence felt. I never let them take the better of me though and somehow managed to get home. Up steep climbs I had to take it easy but was able to go on the flats.

I got home not too far behind a podium spot but still quite disappointed as I really wanted to pull something off. I need to get everything working perfect the next time for a chance of a box spot or even a win.

Just want to say many thanks to Raeanne, who on short notice jumped in to drive our Car as well as be at nearly every water point to assist Phil and myself with Bottles. Much appreciated. Also thanks to Andrew Nicolson for taking us up in his home.
This week I am staying in Natal as the next marathon is this weekend also here in Hilton. Have already checked out the superb trails of the Karkloof. You gotta come ride here!

 

Garmin Connect File

 

 

 

 

 

MTN Cullinan Marathon

29.08

Not even a ninth place can bring my current confidence down. I know I can do it. If everything works out right it will happen.
A 7:30 start to the Cullinan Marathon was a tough test to what my training has produced.

 

It went well at the start. I lead out the riders for the first 10km as I think I was the only rider there that had ridden that part of the route the day before (there were no tracks the day before) Going up the first climb, Adrien Nyonshuti passed me with a hard pace, only 6 other riders managed to hold on, including me. We slowly opened up a gap and I was happy that I was able to hang on to a furious pace for a change. After we had gone down the valley it was time to get up out at the other side. This is when Kevin and David forced a hard pace which I couldn’t follow this time round. Hanging 30secs adrift I kept it going as I knew there was a ‘very technical’ piece coming up, according to route planner Wessel. So I bargained on it to ride back there. I first caught Jacques from DCM then David who had crashed. Not far in front where the rest of the guys but the technical piece was just too short for me to close, back on open roads for 3km I kept it going as another rough part, including the king of the mountain was coming up. It was on the downhills after the king, 12km later that I had caught back up. I knew I had spent some pennies but was happy to be back as the pace had relaxed a bit. David had passed me on that 3km open road section to ride back, so now it was us 6 again, Kevin Adrien, Max and Brandon, and David and I.

Together we rode through more rough terrain and I started to feel the strain of muscle cramp lightly again. At the 60km technical zone we loaded up and as we were starting the 45km lap I was hit with a triple wammy. 3 guys had ridden back to our group, Jacques, Erik Kleynhans and another young rider whose name I don’t know yet. Seeing this, David and Kevin put in a strong effort and, trying to follow, the cramps started hitting me. So now I was passed down to ninth, was forced to ease up and the front was riding away. I knew the last 15km again and it was quite a hard finish so I hoped to recover and pick up some strugglers on this piece. But it was not to be, I never saw anyone in front or behind me till the finish. I was physically broken. I had a don’t-give-up-till-the-end attitude that I am still learning to master.

I know the podiums will come.

For the cramps, I still don’t have an explanation. I definitely took enough magnesium, sure that I trained enough. Maybe it’s the long racing edge my body needs to get used to again. We’ll see next week..

Results:

1. Kevin Evans

2. David George

3. Max Knox

4. Jacques van Rensburg

5. Adrien Nyonshuti

 

GARMIN CONNECT FILE of the race

 

Cycle tour

23 August

Last week I went on a spontaneous MTB tour organised by cycletec, windhoek’s premium bike shop. We headed to the Remhoogte Pass on Wednesday where everyone rode down and on into the desert vlaktes. With the sun setting behind us we loaded the bikes back onto the car and drove to our first overnight at Büllsport camp site. Together with the crew I slept in my sleeping roll under the stars. Some of the tourists (all from South Africa) were only on their 2nd camping excursion ever and where fascinated by the fact that we didn’t sleep in tents.

The next day I rode up the Naukluft plateau to where the rest were driven up by cars to head back to camp by hike. I went on to do some intensity on the district road passing the farm. In the afternoon the trip went on and we drove to Tsauchab Camp. Definitely worth a visit, even if only for a few hours to check out the creative scrap welding works to create animals and other funny works of art. A 4x4 route by bike was tackled by everyone the next morning. After beautiful scenery and 4 punctures later we got back to camp, packed up and headed to Kulala Wilderness Camp. Thanks to Wilderness we were allowed to ride through this scenic concession. One feels so remotely far away in these areas. The last day we left at 6 in the morning to get everything crammed in for the day. We rode into the sossus channel in between the dunes, with the mist over our heads we saw things we wouldn’t see in a car. 2 different snakes and spectacular views.

Once we got to Sossusvley the guys walked up big daddy, the massive dune behind dead vley. I took my bicycle there for some photo opportunities. The tourists thought I was crazy, I could hear then talking about me in their languages and some took pictures. I had to convince some tour guides I was to do no harm and that I was Namibian.
Then we headed back to Sesriem where we had some lunch, packed up the bicycles and headed home back to Windhoek.

I definitely had a good time with the people and learnt quite a few things. Wednesday it’s off to South Africa again for the last bit of the season. I’m sure this motivation will help a lot.

 

If you would like to do a organised bicycle tour through namibia please visit their website. They have a lot to offer and can do a few things to accomodate about anybody.

 

 

It's alive!

16 August

After our awesome trip to Europe, I came back to Namibia to race our national XC champs, which was the final race in the half year chapter for me. After this there would be a week of complete rest which I was looking forward to very much. But first the last hurdle had to be overcome. I was very focused for this race and all the prep paid off as I won the race, not really comfortably as it was a hard battle with the dry Namibia conditions, but I did win by a margin. It is always good to win a national title. I had fit competition, Mannie can always be surprising in a race like this, I had to go all out all the time.
My week off I spent time together with my lovely girlfriend in scenic south of Namibia, a really beautiful place out of this world.  I was really revitalized after this little break and came back really motivated to perform well for the rest of the season.
And with my recently obtained Powertap I was able to start from scratch a bit to see how the form increased with the training and the new methods. And I am loving it. Just what I needed.
I took part in a test race, the Illovo Eston race in Pietermaritzburg and that showed me positively that what I was doing was good.
After heading back to NAM the next Monday I took it easy a bit but still knew I had to get some distance into the legs and the best chance to do that came right the next weekend. I rode all the way to NamibGrens where a race was organised the Saturday. It is 170km from Windhoek and a really good MTB ride there. After the 70km race I went on and still rode another 2 hours to get used to the long marathon stuff coming up. On the Sunday I went down the Spreetshoogte Pass, a stunningly scenic place, rode the 500altitude meters back up and carried on back home till I got 130km on the clock. So that was a good weekend’s training.
Last weekend the local bike shop organised a 40km ’marathon’ on a game farm just outside Windhoek and I went to test my legs. Since mannie is still in Germany I managed to win both events.
The next this that is coming up is a 4 day corporate bike tour, starting on Wednesday. We will head out to sossusvlei area  and I am really looking forward to it, riding bike and camping outside under the stars.  After that, the real racing in South Africa starts again and I’ll be there for the next 2 months. I hope to be able to hire a MTB powertap to see what that is like.

 

NamibGrens file: Garmin Connect

SpreetHoogte file: Garmin Connect

 

 

EuroTrip '10

 

Windhaag

21 June
I was looking forwards to this race, after we had a good practice session on this ultra technical course. It was fairly dry still and we were all stunned by the steepness of “Höllenloch” and Burgruine.  It took me a few attempts before I finally got down the burgruine drop.
It was a whole different ball game on race day though, it also rained through the night but didn’t stop like the previous day. No sun to dry out the course a bit and what we rode through was worse than Albstadt the weekend before. I didn’t ride down one of the long drops, it was just too scary for me. Mannie still organized us some better tyres to ride the mud after I had forgotten my mud tyres in Karlsruhe. But even with these was I not going to take a chance. On the climbs I went well for a change but the rhythm was gone. Slipping and sliding through the corners was not bad as one got a feeling for it as the race went, what was bad was the chainsuck. Riding in big blade seemed to be the only option but at parts it was just too steep.
After they had shortened the race one lap before the race and yet another during, I finished in 17th place after 7 laps. Luckily today it is still raining today otherwise I would have freaked.

 

Albstadt Bundesliga XC

13 June
Today I was not feeling great in the race. I don’t have my normal physical or mental push that I normally have in XC race. Maybe the reason for this was that it had rained overnight and the course was just one mud bath. Team mates Phil and Francois raced in the morning as there was a separate elite and u/23 race and then already I saw how the guys just pulled out of the race due to breaking stuff on their bikes and it was still raining so the course didn’t change over the day.
I was pushing on nicely the first two laps after a slow start again and then my troubles also started. Slipping gears, me slipping, bending drop out, jumping gears, having fun though. I used this race to practice my riding skills in the technical mud.
In the end I was lapped and pulled from the field in 32nd place, making my day just a bit grey. Luckily Germany played their first WC game and 4 nil after we had a good time chilling with the organisers.
This week the team all go separate ways as it is ‘do your own thing’ week. I will be going to my good friends Gaby and Ralf in Karlsruhe to catch up on two years absence.

 

Saalbach

11 June

We are deep in the mountains. Saalbach-  Hinterglemm is where we are. This is a mountainbiking mecca in summer and of course a winter paradise for skiers. But of all the biking valleys in summer this has got to be the best. Home to adidas freestyle, people here do lots of work to attract riders of all ability to come visit. Hotel guests get a Joker card with which they can ride any ski lifts as many times as they like, for free. This comes in really handy if you love the downhills more than the uphills.
Famous bike guide Reini was there again and together with him and other guests we criss crossed the mountains like goats. And reini never shows weakness. We basically rode all day leaving at 10 and only returning at 5 or later, visiting the Alp huts for the best food and drink this side of the Mediterranean Sea. But now the legs are tired, I’m sure the hill riding will pay off soon.
Thanks to Bike Hotel Conrad for having us again. The most biker friendly hotel in the world!

 

Alpen Tour Trophy

6 June

It is a great feeling to finish a tough MTB tour, especially when it is in terrain that is pretty unknown to the ones I normally do. Together with my team I took part in the 4 day individual stage race AlpenTour Trophy in Austria from Thursday 3 to Sunday 6 June.
What seemed to be short stages in comparison to what we normally ride in South Africa was a shock to the system at the end of each day. Coming into the finish exhausted after 65 km just tells you that, even on pretty smooth terrain, riding uphill all day is not easy.
Day one started uphill immediately and the road didn’t point down for the hole first hour and some. The stage was altered due to snow on the next mountain so we were sent on the finish loop, just to ride the first hill up again, luckily only half way. It was enough for the day. I finished in 16th position, way off to what we all expected to achieve in this race.
Day two was a shocker, after a bad start I went backwards all day. Luckily Francois still came from the back half way up the hill and together with him I struggled through the day. Even after going through a better patch from half way, Francois still thought this was too slow for him and left me for dead the last 10km. After having seen Philip at the front of the race at the start of the first climb I thought yes, this will be a good day at least for the team. But unfortunately I also caught Phil with 3 km to go. I finished somewhere in the 40s.
After such a bad day I just concentrated on the next day and even dreamt how I was riding uphill the net day. I could feel that this day would be good. This was also the Queen stage of the day with 70km and 2600m climbing. I decided to start a bit slower to avoid my lately regularly appearing bad starts. I was climbing much better and after the big climb of the day I heard some guy say the group I was riding in was riding for 9th place. I was still feeling good but there was still some climbing to do and the man with the hammer waits just around the corner in the Alps. After catching and being caught again by some riders and a battle between riders of my group I still ended up 9th and was pretty happy as it was only 7 minutes off the pace.

On the last day I was still on a bit of a high and was not feeling too bad but couldn’t produce the same results. It was the shortest stage with ‘only’ 52km and 1800m. There was one big climb and the finish was at the bottom of the downhill. Unfortunately I crashed in the snow at the top. Not serious but it wiped the chances of catching slower riders as the gap was too big now.
In the end I finished 21st overall. Not quite what I expected but I was still good riding and great experience once again. 

 

The first report from good ol’ Germany.
The first impressions were not so good as we landed with 7 degrees cold and rain. Luckily that was quickly forgotten as we were visiting our co-sponsors adidas at the Headquarters in Herzogenaurach. We went on a little tour in the walk of fame and also had good lunch and coffee in the ‘Stripes’ canteen.
After spending a day and a night in a fancy hotel we packed our cool Renault bus and headed for Offenburg where we were to race our first world cup. One more day in the cold and the weather turned for the better luckily. Francois Philip and I went to check out the course while still crazy slippery and had a bit of an eye opener and also bought some real estate in some real shitty places. The next day was much better and the course dried up well and everything was well rideable and the drops much more manageable.

The race itself on Sunday did not go well at all for all three of us. Phil broke his chain after half a lap, Francois trashed his tyre on lap 2 and me, well I just went backwards. Highly frustrated I was pulled off the course after 5 of 7 laps. Only in lap 3 I felt like I was going somewhere but it didn’t last long. I always pushed on but there was really a form low.  But still a great event to race with so many spectators, it’s absolutely mind blowing. Working on it to get out of this form hole though.

On Monday Karl Platt invited us to join him at Nürburg ring. This is the famous race track where, on open days, every dick tom and harry can come with which ever car and race. And obviously this place makes any motorshow in Africa a joke to visit. We were surrounded by Porsche and Ferrari and Lambos as if this was the factory. We all went for a spin in Karl’s GT3. Now I’ll try to give you an idea but I know I’ll fail horribly as I can actually not do it. I always thought it was somewhat manageable to do this but now I know that I will never be able to drive a lap like that in a race car to be totally honest. And no not even you! In the first few corners my vision literally blurred from the G-forces and the speed. What a rush, It was absolutely awesome. It looks so slow on TV. Anyone who has witnessed Phil go down a downhill will know he is a bit crazy and you would think he would love the thrill. He nearly threw up in the car!

Yesterday we went for a good bike ride with Karl again and then drove to Garminsch-Patenkirchen to take part in a marathon this weekend. We decided to skip the XC in Switzerland as it was way off route and logistically a little complicated. Luckily there are a few options on weekends here so a marathon it is.
Till the next post.

 

 

Mr Price Karkloof Festival

A MTBikers favouride festival (at least it should be) took place this weekend in Karkloof again. This superbly organised annual event is sponsored by Mr Price, synonymous to mtbiking in sa for a long time already. There was one change this year...the morning cold was gone! Thank you global warming.  (just one time I don’t mind) Normally we would freeze our asses off on those beautiful green polo fields but this year it was so pleasant. And you could see the appreciation of the weather by the turnout of people. I mean there are always plenty but this year there were more. The access was a bit annoying this year but I’m sure the organisers noticed and will change that again.
Our team was staying luxuriously on the farm with family Stubbs, what great hosts they are. Thank you for letting us take over. Luckily we are all well mannered and are not a hand full.

Racing wise it was a rollercoaster ride for me. I had food poisoning Wednesday night and slept the whole of Thursday to recover. I thought I was back to my old self but soon noticed I had only half the power. On lap one of the XC I thought I was going fast with pulse on the max when both team mate Francoise and Melt just rode away from me without saying good bye. There was nothing I could do and soon was handed down the ranks to finish disappointed. During the rest of the day I chowed down on take away spur burgers and some fluids to try get my body back into shape while watching the furiously fast freds battle it out in the sprint shoot out. It was pretty boring this year, the field spread out like an uncontrolled virus.

On Sunday I was loving the fact that I felt my long sleeve jersey was too much clothing already while warming up and was looking forward to the marathon. People were talking about all the sweet singletrail, which I missed last year due to injury. I missed the split in the start loop. Caught behind technically disadvantaged riders in the first trail, while technically super advanced riders, like my team mate Phil, went for a sprint prime back at the start finish, made me loose contact and the field once again split quickly. Soon I felt like I had some good power again and rode back to a group that was riding for 4th place. In this group were Melt, Brandon, Rourke and David George to name some. Melt pulled hard up the first climb and soon we caught Phil, who couldn’t follow the crazy pace of Burry and Kevin.

A friendly character had kindly loaded the track for me on my Garmin and it showed me where the start of key points in the race where. Brandon then picked the pace and I saw that we soon where to hit “the gauntlet”, a real mtb rollercoaster ride. That trail was way too short but we were immediately back into sweet forest singletrail, carrying on forever. Popping out at the other side we were heading straight on the mayor climb of the day, no more of those boring district roads like I remember.

Only me, Phil and Brandon were left and Brandon sat at the front all the way up to the top of the climb. On every corner I thought come on just go, but I held back cause I knew there was still lots of chance to blow, I’ve seen and felt it too often. I also already started to feel a little pull in my quads and I knew immediately, still low on minerals from my toilet hugging Wednesday night. Passing through more heavenly trails we were soon close to heading down the hill and then bang, I was forced to walk up a small climb due to cramp. Once that dissipated I was following a good pace and was catching back to my race mates. One more looong sweeping trail was another joy of the day, but was to no advantage in catching up proper, as both Phil and Brandon are excellent bike handlers. Back on the last district road home bang!...the cramps hit again, this time hard. I could see the muscles forming balls and as I stretch the quads, the hamstrings do the same. Horror. But that also went away and I was able to quickly dice home before another bunny was able to catch me. And so I finished 5th...which I am happy with. Was this story to dramatic? I was in the mood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MTN Marathon # 4 Clarens

 

It’s always the same with these cosy little towns like Clarens, it’s so beautiful and all the coffee shops and art galleries just feel like one could live there. Thing is, the weather is normally not my favourite. Maybe for a day or two but I love it warm, into the night. But that’s why we visit there right.

I wasn’t there to chill though, it was racing time again with the MTN Marathon #4 to be conquered. Mostly new route meant racing blind again. And luckily, my teammates and I pre rode the last 20km loop the day before. I knew we were in for a tough one. Basically riding on cut grass paths only ridden over with a motorbike 2 or three times. Hail to the Full Suspension.
I was really motivated for this race, knowing a top 5 was in it. The pack raced off on the gravel roads towards the Golden Gate Park, another new part, through soaking marsh land we went. It had rained during the night and even still when we all woke up. This did not hamper me though. Over eagerness/ bad luck stopped me dead though when my tyre came off through the first river crossing. I kept my calm but struggled a bit with putting a tube in to get going again. Afterwards I was just loving the mud bits to keep spirits high.

Then we hit the Golden Gate climb and I could see that the field had been ripped apart already which was good for me. I just rode my own tempo and slowly but surely reeled in the strugglers. The golden gate loop was also really brutal with no prominent paths, just mowed strips of grass, draining the energy out of you.

Thee second part was great as we rode this last year, it has really good technical singletrack. Only thing was that we came across the half marathon here this year which really spoilt everything. Still keeping the last loop in the back of my mind I kept it steady on the district roads and constantly picked up riders that went too hard. Cramps made a short appearance as I started the last bit. A quick stretch and a lot of drinking and the climb was a breeze. I saw Melt and Paul up on the climb but they were just too far ahead.
My efforts got me an 8th place, showing once again to never give up. I would have liked better, but that’s gonna come soon.
Results:
1: Kevin Evans
2: Mannie Heymans
3: Phil Buys
4: Francois Theron
5: Adrien Nyonshuti
6: Paul Cordes
7: Ben Melt Swanepoel
8: Marc Bassingthwaighte
9: Jacon Venter
10: Justice Makhale

 

The Garmin connect file:

 

 

 

 

MTN XC 2

I’m just gonna skip the epic part and go straight to the next race.
This weekend saw a race of my favourite discipline again. Off we drove to Pietermaritzburg again for the second round of the SA cross country series.
After a good rest and recovery in Namibia after the Epic, my spirits where a bit higher again, much needed to get a good result at a cross country. I was ill the whole week after Epic and was still battling a little bit with gastro last week. My body didn’t want to sort out this one on its own.  I really had no idea what to expect this time round, not really haven done any good riding other than recovery rides.
Once we were on the track on Friday I had a little taste of what I was capable of the next day and motivation picked up once again. Even the grey weather on race day didn’t bother me. This turned out to get better just before the race leaving the course in a perfect racing condition. Laps where cut from 8 to 7 laps due to weather, which wasn’t really an issue anymore. But this turned out to be a good thing as all ‘epic riders’ where suffering. I had a bad first lap but kept the front 3 riders in sight. After tasting blood for the next half lap I just forced a slower tempo and managed to find a good rhythm again and maintained the gap to the front, but never really gaining time. On lap 5 I decided I had to up my tempo to try close the gap only to have the momentum broken a lap and half later to re-inflate my rear wheel which had gone soft on me. A quick bomb and I was on the chase again but knew in the back of my mind that is was going to be tough especially with the fact that I couldn’t really push any gears up hill like I’m used to.
Unfortunately for team mate phil, and luckily for me, he had to stop just before the last singletrack due to cramps, which also made their presence felt in my own legs. This gave me the 3rd place overall and second in the elite cat. Matthys Beukes took the win about a minute ahead of me with Rourke Crouser following shortly.  Phil rolled through behind me and Mannie rode a good XC, with noticeable downhill fears to round off the podium. Mannie cracked his wrist at the same time last year here and that was where all his trouble started, so it is a good thing that it went flawless.
This week hopefully the legs will return to their good old self and maybe even a bit better, cause it’s a Marathon again next week!

 

 

 

Sani2C

Crazy how fast the races go by this year. Once again another Sani2C behind the rubber tread. Bad experiences where experienced, good times where had. It wasn’t the best Sani this year, one race where one tested more than the form again.
Unfortunately I came down in a high speed downhill. The tyre came off in the process and the tube we put in was flat soon after again. Luckily I wasn’t hurt too bad and I was able to carry on riding. Proof that one can learn how to crash. Funny enough it was right in front of the ambulance and the farm I crashed on was for sale too.

It was also my muddiest race I a long time but I won’t complain. I can take any on any condition and the bikes took a good beating without any hassle through the mud. Crazy how the equipment holds up in those conditions.  Day 2 was totally crazy, we basically raced each other blindly down a hill. There was so much mud in everyone’s eyes that we could have relocated that part of the forest to the finish line if we tried. Mannie and I missed out SKS shockboards there. We could have easily taken out 2 minutes on that part.

Day 3 was once again furiously fast and luckily also dry. Normally I am tired come day three but I had good power which is a good sign. Now I just need to work on my slow starts then things are looking much better already.

The Sani organisation once again lived up to their reputation and delivered us a superb event. The people there really know what the riders want, and they give without question. Lunch is served, coffee with OUMA rusks mind you! Or banana bread and doughnuts to feed the nation. Dinner of highest quality and a breakfast where you can choose from whatever you choose at your local food store. It’s all there. Queue at the flushing toilets or waste no time on the porta loos. Your choice in the morning. I already know now that this will be my favourite race for the year, again.

My form is not quite up there with the others yet, but I’m sure after the recovery time now that that will improve still. This year I am skipping the Giro and somehow think it is a good call. So many tours are tiring and I am testing a new way to be as fresh as I can be for Epic.

 

MTN XC #1 Rietvley

How results can change from one weekend to the next. But there are a few things that influence a good ride. It was finally time for a cross country race, the first of the MTN series.
During practice the day before I was already enjoying this time of riding again, technical single trail at high intensity, playing with other rider’s mentality. So I was well motivated.

The route was laid out on the Rietvley Zoo Farm in the south of Gauteng, a new course for many riders. It’s a great venue with lush green lawn everywhere, farm life, an awesome bike shop in a barn and a well run family cafe. 

Standing next to Burry on the start line was once again something special, even though I’ve raced him plenty times. I had the number 1 board, from winning the overall series last year. Something I’ll probably not see in a while now that burry is also elite.
I had the best start off the line and went all out from there, till I was totally broken half way through the lap. I had to give way to team mate phil who stuck my wheel, burry and rourke and a short while later Craig Paul. On the downhill later Brandon also passed, but never really got away. After recovering a bit and riding behind Renay and Oliver for half a lap, I made my way forward again and soon was back in a good third position behind Burry and Philip, who had built up a good lead in my absence. It was my goal to try and catch phil again but in the mostly singletrail route, which suits phil very well it was up to the power endurance to try and catch him.
The gaps came only down slow but in the last lap it came down fast but had to be happy with third just 20 seconds behind phil.

Yet I was totally happy with the way I was riding the race, always on the gas. That’s what I love about this racing, short and sweet and loads of fun. Burry showed us all again, finishing 5 minutes ahead.

Next I’ll be going home to my real home in NAM for 2 and half weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MTN Marathon #2 Barberton

 

After having felt what racing is like at the Attakwas 2 weeks ago I knew what to do this time round again. Stick with the front as long as possible at the start as the pace normally settles a bit later on.
The Barberton route has quite a technical start and the bunch is frantic to get to the first single track. Lose the front here and it’s hard to catch back to the front by the time the climb starts.

Burry Stander and Brandon Steward where pushing just a gear too hard for me here and although I could hang on, I had to follow my own pace at the start of the climb, losing the front. After a few vertical meters I managed to get a good rhythm and was able to hold the gap but not close it. This really is still soon in the season and I was happy with the way I was climbing up the first mountain.  Climbing between 20 and 10 seconds behind Ben Melt I had a good pacemaker and goal in front of me.  I wanted to catch him just as we crested the 1000m climb but a few turns in the last km made me lose sight of him. He must have upped the pace.  On the next really muddy downhill I also wasn’t able to catch up, rather seeing how the bike was going and not risking it here, only to lose a minute or two to melt.
Once the fog cleared and the road evened out I could see Jacques Rossouw close to me as well as melt ahead of him and Renay just ahead of Melt. Unfortunately Melt caught Renay just before a long open downhill and together they opened the gap a bit more as I was on my own still. Chasing hard down the rocky reserve part I spent a lot of energy and my levels were running a bit low once I hit the feed zone at 75km. I had also lost my bottle with pvm through the rough start trails.

I felt like I was crawling towards the second big climb just as long and hard as the first one. I was passed by a flying Matthys Beukes just before the climb. Once again I found a rhythm but not quite one as comfortable as at the start. I could catch a glimpse on Melt about a minute ahead on the climb but that was the last that I saw of him. Motivation held me back to finish the race off I a good manner and I was still passed by 3 more riders, including team mate Mannie, who showed no signs of a sore wrist and arm. That shows you how hard that man is. Don’t know any tougher guy in the field.  My shocks didn’t work throughout the race either so that also didn’t help to really love the rough terrain that was the last 30km of the race.  At least Joe’s no flats and maxis made sure I didn’t have any punctures this time.
In the end I had lost the race. I’ve learnt again though. I got tougher again. It took a day to put the puzzle pieces together again, but I’m ready for the next one!
The race was won by a flying Max Knox who apparently left Burry and Kevin looking for parking. Still it takes lots to come 2nd and 3rd.

 

 

 

 

MTN Marathon #1 Attakwas

Here is my 5 cents worth of the MTN Attakwas Extreme MTB Race. It is also my first web update for the year so I first need to get some rust off the typing fingers.

I can’t really tell you much how the racing went as I was spending time practicing puncture repares. My two days prior to the event were also not really any motivation as I had picked up a strange infection in my foot, some sort of tendonitis. I was struggling to walk but on the bike in the fixed shoe it didn’t seem to bother. It’s just not so cool when you wake up before a race and you can’t walk. I also had a tooth flesh infection which also brought the comfort level down a few notches. Nonetheless  I was looking forward to the race as I knew it was going to be hard and therefore also a good test for the body, a good prep race for the next races and all the other positive things a hard race brings too.

The punctures started early, about 5 k into the race already and they only stopped after 7. My legs were still fine at the finish but then again I only got to the finish an hour later than winner Kevin, who knew the route like the back of his hand and using all this to his advantage.

I have prepared my wheel s from scratch to make the tubeless seal leak proof since and of course on the training rides it kept in the air just like before the race.  So we’ll see at the next race. But this time i’m confident things will turn out differently.