SA XCO #3 - UCI Cat1:

With an unplanned for, but rather successful Sani2c experience behind me, it was once again time to prepare for another little 90 minute showdown. Round three of the SA XCO Cup Series, this time held at Mankele MTB Park just up the road from Nelspruit. 

I realised my team mate and friend Gert Heyns must have been bored with riding in George or very excited after he booked accommodation for us at Sudwala from last week Tuesday already. Even though I had the opportunity to practice the course like a mad man, I knew that Sani was still in my legs and tried my best to take it easy for most of the week.

Friday morning Gert and I followed Matthys Beukes (Scott) around the technical and rather old school 6.9km lap. Confidence was running high with a couple of guys racing World Cups in Europe, we all knew this was a chance to gain points and crawl up the UCI ranking list. With this in mind I decided to use the bullet proof Continental X-King tyres front and back.
Also the endless amount of grip wouldn’t do any harm on the kind of terrain we had to conquer.

The pro elite field was quite small, but I’m sure the racing didn’t disappoint. Between Gert and Brendon Davids (Trek) throwing punches at one another I just kept my head down and tried to stay in contact. Half way through the first lap Brendon had opened up a slight a gap over Gert and I, but we managed to bring him back on the downhill. 

From here on things were slightly tactical. I didn’t really play any cards early on, but with Travis Walker (Kargo) yo-yoing behind us and Matthys not far off, I knew we couldn’t sit and look at each other.

On lap 4 I started the climb in front hoping to set a steady pace, but Gert had a different idea. He sprinted past and as we went into a tricky section about half way up the climb in 1^st and 2^nd, we noticed whoever was following me had made a mistake.  Towards the top I looked back and saw that we had the other 2 under pressure with a slight gap. Gert let me through and I somehow managed to open a gap on the downhill. 

Rolling through the start/finish for the last time, I gulped down another High5 gel and after a quick look over my shoulder, I gave it all I had. After 5 grueling laps crossing the finish line of a UCI Cat1 XCO in 1^st place was a very special moment for me. Seeing ASG MTB Academy team mate Gert right behind me in 2^nd, made it even better.

 Big thank you to everyone who made it possible and for all the support. 

Till next time

Adt

Clarens - my first proper ultra marathon:

With the Marathon World Championships being hosted in SA a bit later on this year, I realized it will definitely be a good experience to take part. However you need to qualify which meant I had to finish inside the top 20 at a UCI Marathon series event. Basically the MTN National Marathon at Clarens was my last chance. As a XCO focused rider I would normally not event consider racing these ultra-marathons, so I was a bit worried about the time in the saddle and my ability to “vasbyt” for that long.

Last week Jacques Pretorius joined me in Ficksburg during his school holidays for a bit of a training camp. He also learnt how to work a spade. We fixed up some sections on my XCO course for the rest of the a[s]g PYcycling crew to look at on our pre-race ride on Friday. 

Saturday morning. 07:15 start. 120km with 2700m ascent.

 After a few nervous moments in the big eager peloton things started to stretch out as we hit the first climb of the day at around 20km or so. Unfortunately for me I got stuck in the single track behind some riders that couldn’t quite match the pace being set up front. As the group split I realized that I had to get myself back up there, but also knew in the back of my head that there was still a long way to go. 

The XCO mentality took over and for the next 5 or 10 minutes I gave it all I had to get back up there. Just after settling in at the back of the lead bunch I was ridden of almost straight away. I went to deep. With many negative thoughts running through my mind I lost ground with every pedal stroke. Soon though the next little group caught me and with some teamwork we got back to the sharp end once again. 

From the 55km tech zone things got real. Nowhere to hide. The group split up properly and according to my calculations after watching my Joule, I went over the summit roughly 4 minutes behind the leading trio of Karl, Nico and Erik. Descending back in to Clarens I was in my element. The Conti rubber gave me the confidence to really push on over the rough terrain and soon I caught and passed Timo and Brad.

All on my own I rolled into town, topped up the High5 and back out on the half marathon route. Back on the gravel roads with nowhere to tuck in I battled through another bad patch.

Eventually Timo passed me again, Rourke caught me and we then rode back to Timo on the technical stuff. By this stage I was really feeling the effects. The Epic Sports neutral tech zone at 20kms to go was a blessing. Mechanic Mike Squirt'ed my chain and after a quick picnic the three of us continued working together. Just before the finish we noticed Adriaan and Andrew not very far ahead.

As we hit the final single track I gave it my all to close the gap and maybe open a gap between myself and the other 2.

In the end it wasn’t enough, but I managed to cross the line in 6^th place. With this being my first proper Ultra marathon, I was rather happy with this result.

Big thank you to Paul and the PYcycling team for all the support. Was nice having a couple of you in my valley for the weekend!

Till next time

Adt