As always with these big XCO races the build up to this event was
enormous. With all the hard training efforts and physical prep done we
headed down to Pietermaritzburg for the first round of the 2014 XCO
World Cup Series.
Mentally I was in a good place after a couple of nice results the past
few weekends here in Gauteng. Winning the 3rd GP Provincial and also the
3rd USN Cup was really good for my confidence before heading down to
KZN.
After arriving at Cascades and checking out the course on Thursday with
team mate Gert and coach Paul, I was slightly nervous to say the least.
The course designers had once again out done themselves and created a
tough and pretty scary loop. Luckily we had lots of time to over think
and over analyse every single corner and all tricky sections before the
big showdown on Sunday.
I felt more and more comfortable with each day of practice. The Dogma
handled this modern day XCO course very well. All the rocks and jumps,
no issues. Pure pleasure!
Lining up in the start chute between most of the best u/23 bike riders
in the world was quite intimidating as always. I was nervous, but also
excited to get out there and do the job. I had a good start and felt
comfortable sitting just outside the top 10 during most of the first
lap.
The pace however was really hot and I battled through a rough patch on
lap 2 and 3 losing ground on most of the climbing. Towards the end of
the race I noticed that I was sitting on the edge of a top 20 with team
mate Gert right behind me fighting back after an unfortunate flat tyre.
I gave it my all and with the help of some High5 fluids, I managed to finish in 19th after 5 gruelling laps.
After all it was a very lekker weekend with the gang. Always nice to
have someone like Paul as manager / chef / mechanic etc. Big thank you
to him for making it easier for Gert and myself and also the other a[s]g
PYCycling friends for all the support.
This weekend we are racing the 2nd leg of the SA XCO Cup series at
Afriski Resort in Lesotho. Looking forward to burning some lungs!
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