Trailseeker #1 - Tyger valley:

We all know the Nissan Trailseeker series is very popular amongst the Gauteng riders, so for me this was a good oppurtunity to test myself against some of the biggest names in SA marathon racing.

It was a rather chilly start so for once being from the Free State actualy helped a bit. However the racing was soon very hot at the front with a few guys constantly trying their luck. Somehow Gawie Combrink managed to get a gap and everyone thought it would be fine to let him hower infront for a little while.
Gawie had a different idea! While he rode a steady pace at the front, the racing in the chasing pack was a bit negative for mountainbiking. It was like a road race. There were a lot of furious attacks, but with the route being so flat, no one was able to get away.

Even though we didn't have the time to stop at the neutral tech zone, the support from the Epic Sports guys was really amazing! Sometime that extra motivation can really change the outcome of your race.

I must say I was irritated by the way the guys attacked and then sat up and looked at eachother so I went and tapped out a steady pace at the front of the chasing pack. I recon this is a nice way to gain some respect from the bigger names in the business. Unfortuanitly no one wanted to role through and help, but atleast the attacking sort of ended for a while.

In the last quarter of the race, things got pretty aggressive! They realized Gawie's gap was bigger than expected so once again the attacks began, but only this time there were no sitting up inbetween.
I felt really good on the day and even though the race was rather short for a marathon, it wasn't exactly short enough for me...
I got dropped from the chasing bunch of 6 with about 8k's to go. Don't know what happend, I just suddenly had nothing left. Luckily I had a USN Vooma gel so I could get my body over the line without losing to much time.

I was happy with 8th over all.  

Mid year update:)

During the past month or so, I had a couple of good races, but there where a few misfires aswell.. After joberg2c, 9days of breaking my legs, I had to take some time to recover with about half of the season still lying ahead. This is not an easy task to pull of if you want to race almost every weekend! Luckily I can depend on Paul to get this balance just right and if my legs doesn't pitch, I have someone to blame;)

So I did Mabalingwe, aka The Lion Man, and it went pretty well. I tried to make the racing hard after the first 10k's and I was suprized to see that only about 3 guys could follow. Then Lourens Luus destroyd everyone on Vodacom hill! Taking a few risks, I managed to pull him back on the decsent and from there on we rode together for most of the race.
With about 10k's to go he opened a gap on a portage section. Even thou my Giro shoes are really great and comfortable, walking isn't one of my talents... The gap opened a bit, but luckily we were close to the finish, or so we thought! At the last water table we sort of took a wrong turn and ended up doing almost 100km instead of the 70km as planned.
Must say I was happy with 2nd place and after a few USN Spikes, the extra 30k's didn't really seem that bad anymore.

Marathon podium; L-R: Myself, Lourens Luus, Jan Withaar

 
Back to XCO racing! I decided to do a CGC Provincial, thought it would be a good oppurtunity for some high intensity training, just to get back into aggressive race mode. I think it was the first time I ligned up at the start of a xco race without having done a practice lap.
Well let's just say it was pretty interesting. After some amature riding I was lucky enough to leave with minor injuries and a silver medal. Well done to Stephan Reyneke for taking the win.

The Epic Sports wolf pack

All and all it was a fun outing with the guys from Epic Sports!


After living out of a few bags for more than a month, I was happy to get home for a change, even though it was only about 3 days until the next road trip. This time the 3rd leg of the National XCO cup series at Addo Elephant park near PE.
The course had a couple of really nice sections. It was obvious that the organisers put a lot of effort into building most of those trails.
Race day came and everything was as ready as can be. I soon found out that my legs wasn't bad, but they were only going one speed, I couldn't follow the sharp attacks. This is a problem when you're racing xco...
After the first lap it was all still pretty much together, but then we ran into some juniors and the next lap some youth riders which made it hard to keep a steady pace.

Passing slower riders was also a mager problem on this course, espesially if you don't have that kick in your legs! At the end of the day looking at my lap times, the last lap was my second fastest lap which means there is nothing wrong with my fitness, just needs a bit of sharpening!



Gert Heyns leeding us into the first lap!



Joberg2c

I must say I was a little worried about this one... 9days, 910kilos! Something different and new for me! Luckily I had Paul Cordes as my partner, he is also currently my coach so I was sure that he wouldn't try to break me.

Day 1, apparently a neutral day and we were already taking shots. Things didn't look so great anymore. 

Day 2 went even worse with Paul having issues with his pedal just before the last waterpoint. We decided to sit up and enjoy the rest of the day out there. 

Ok, so maybe it wasn't really going that bad, but then we got our act together or maybe rode into some shape, suddenly we were both feeling pretty good.

Even thou we planned a steady ride down to Scotsburg we got invloved in a few serious battles out there. Some beter riding and a bit of luck saw us moving into 4th over all after day 6. Game on!

We came close to jumping on the podium the last day. Itec got us with less than 10k's to go. Our legs wasn't really working anymore by this time. Anyway we made it all the way and finished in 4th place, must say i've never been so happy to get on the beach!

Thanks transact for making this experience possible for us and to Paul for some great riding and motivation when needed and Andre Cordes from Epic Sports Cycle shop, our mechanic / team managment for making sure everything and the bikes ran smooth all the way!

Stuff and 2nd National:

After a bunch of races down in KZN were I managed a few average and some beter results in the Momentum International xco series and also the PMB world cup, I was really excited for the second national at fountains!

I took some time off before this event seeing that it was a good time to rest the legs after a few hard weeks of racing. This was during the Epic and I had the privilege to go on this "epic" journey with the guys from Epic Sports Cycle Shop. Great fun and a very nice experience!

Back to reality! I enjoyed the holiday, but needed some quality time on the bike before the 2nd leg of the national xco series.

On the day I felt fresh and excited, maybe to excited... It's never a good time to crash, but half way through the first lap! Don't really know what happend there, we were flying and all of a sudden, I wasn't flying anymore...

I tried my best to pick up the pieces. It took a while, but once the worst pain disappeared and with the support of the crowd I caught a few guys and managed to pull of 2nd u/23.

SA XCO National #1

It was as always a super long drive down to Cape Town for the first leg of the XCO National series. We only arrived at the venue on Friday afternoon and I was amped to get on the course. Practice went well. I followed Matthys and Gert for a couple of laps and felt comfortable with the dry an dusty conditions.

The confusion before the start made it hard to stay  focused on the race ahead, but when the whistle blew things got real intense. I managed a proper start and even with a few mistakes the first lap flew by.

Half way into the 2nd lap I cut a sidewall on my rear tyre and I tried to plug it. For about 30 seconds it felt fine until the plug shot out. I had to run the rest of the lap or destroy my rim. Running it was! 

In the tech zone Andre Cordes from Epic Sports helped me out with a wheel. The new goal was not to get lapped. Unfortunitly the course was really short and fast and after losing more than 7 minutes...

The legs felt fresh but I just didn't feel comfortable on the day. I managed a steady pace but Rourke passed me before I could start my final lap.

Till next time!

A

How to fix a cut:

Barberton, one of those days...

It was exciting to see who is wearing what on the start line of the first national race of the season. It was my first proper marathon ever and the start was rather easy compared to the shorter xco or even half-marathons i am used to.

Things changed once we hit the bottom of the climb. I knew it was going to be hard, so I stuck to a comfortable rhythm. After about 1h10min of pure climbing my rhythm wasn't so comfortable any more, rookie error!

It took me a while to get the legs working properly again and just as things started looking better with 20kilos to go.... 

Well the photo speaks for it self

I used an empty USN Vooma gel to keep the tube inside the tyre. still had to ride it pretty soft which made the river crossings very interesting.

Glad I managed to finish the race! 

Getting started!

Hey guys

It's a new year with new experiences for me so I decided to start a blog to keep everyone posted on my activities in the pursuite of happiness as a cyclist! 

I am very excited to be joining Matthys Beukes and Gert Heyns this year racing for MTBdestination. I'm sure we will be an exciting team to watch in the future.

keep those cranks turning

A