uban rage

hey all,

this last saturday was sure to be exciting and full of exciting events as it was time to race through a specially built technical course around the waterways near ushaka in the city of durban.

the weather was gloomy with rain forecasted for the day but that didn't get my hopes down.

i registered with my good mate, michael hughes, and chilled out until it was time for the walk through. it looked awesome and was sure to be demanding on the body.

i was seeded in the second batch of the day against gary flint. it was starting to drizzle ever so lightly on the start ramp as we waited to start. the gate dropped and we sprinted off like race horses determined to win! little did we know that the course was going to play rough. the first obstacle was a bridge over water with a 1m high roller and then two huge berms. gary was first onto it and both of were going way too fast! gary went straight over bars and landed on his head and shoulder with his bike bouncing violently into the air. as i was close behind him i flew into the air and went straight over the bars as well with my bike landing in the water. i had to dive in to save it which was pretty cool though. this was my most hectic crash ever and i'm sure it looked great.

i was given the opportunity to go again at the end which i thank max cluer for. i took it chilled and was a little scared but went any way.

the team event which i entered with michael was going well and we were doing well until my pedal unscrewed itself and fell off. we missed out on 3rd place by 20 seconds but hey? that's racing.

i made it into the 2nd round, the top 100 lying 14th overall. i was stoked with that result and set off on my lap determined to make the top 10. i took the risks i needed and managed to secure 7th overall. i was in the super cats final! i was beyond stoked.

for the final the course was now longer and harder. we raced through the aquarium at ushaka marine world. the course was difficult but i enjoyed it thoroughly. i was off 4th and went balls to wall giving it my all. i pieced together all the mistakes i had made earlier that day and had a near perfect run. the finish line was when you rode into the water, obviously the quickest way was to ride straight in.

i had set the fastest time of the day and held it all the way up until craig paul pipped my time by one second to take over the hot seat which i had held for quite a while. phillip buys then beat that time by a further 5 seconds which was incredible. i was so excited with my result as 3rd overall!

1st place: phillip buys
2nd place: craig paul
3rd place: luke roberts

until next time

keep the rubber planted

csa cyling camp in stellies

hey everyone.

on the 2nd of december myself and brendon davids left for stellenbosch. i was pretty excited as what exactly we were going to be doing. that night we all had a meeting, about 28 of us, to discuss our individual programs.

we all had unique time slots and activities through out the day starting and 9 and ending at 6. we only had about 5 sessions each day so we had plenty of spare time.
it was difficult to find time to ride as we all had different sessions.

i would be here forever if i told you exactly what we did but they included things such as: body composition, flexibility and power; Vision; Core; Gym; ice baths; Massage; Spinscan; Nutrition; Biodex; Psychology; Shopping (how to read the labels in a store) and Muscle Activation.

the testing, i found was not really suited to us(juniors) as we know have to improve in many places, it is more suited to an elite athlete who is at the pinnacle of their training and cant do anything else to get better. it was a unique experience and i will definitely be going back, only because i had such a jol and made so many new friends.

the riding there is utterly unbelievable, on the sunday a group of us, about 10 riders, rode out to gordons bay to climb this 4km long mountain, which really hurt after racing it twice at full race pace! but ay. . . if it doesn't kill you it only makes you stronger.

until next time.

keep the rubber planted

outsurance race

nearing the end of the week it had been rainy and wet but cleared up nicely on saturday and sunday.

i arrived at inanda dam early and chilled till the start of the race. it was getting really hot and looked to be a tough day.

we set off slowly with a 2km or so neutral zone which is an awesome feature as it allows our legs to warm up nicely.

we turned off the tar road onto the dirt road and the racing began. after the 1st climb of the day myself and myles van musschenbroek, a good mate of mine, had a good lead on the bunch and kept the pace high.

i managed to open up a slight gap on one of the single track sections and kept it for a while, myles later caught me. a river crossing was awaiting us and as soon as i dismounted i attacked and ran full pace through the river and up the very steep incline on the other side.

the race was a fast course but had a little too much tar road and the single track near the end was really bumpy on a hardtail.

i finished 1st with a time of 1hr 45m.

1st luke roberts, 2nd aston davies, 3rd myles van musschenbroek


after the race i had an interview with phil liggett !
it was just so amazing to be talking to the voice of cycling.

racing 94.7 with u12 gears. . .

Hey guys,

i have just got back from the gruelling six or so hour drive back down to durbs. we arrived at the expo midday on saturday with Joahnn Wykerd and Adriaan Louw to go and register and check out the expo. the expo was awesome and really jam packed with people. i was fairly nervous for the race as we had traveled so far just for a road race.



the weather was looking good on the morning with an expected rain forecast, it turned out to be a cloudless day with temperatures nearing the 40 degree mark. i warmed up with an hour to go as we had to be in our start pens 30mins before the start. we had our gears checked and we set off on our journey at 6:25 sharp.

i obviously was not accustomed to jhb road racing and the attacks came quick and hard with no time to recover between the blows.

i seemed to spinning more than my competitors but i quickly got over it and carried on wit the race. with about 60km on the clock i found myself in a break away of 5. we worked hard and managed to fend of the prowling bunch behind us.

it came down to the last short climb of the day with a technical finish and an uphill sprint which was set to be exciting. i attacked with 200m or so to the summit of the climb and managed to get a substantial gap when it flattened out on top. we swung a sharp left and then a technical right at the bottom carrying loads of speed. i attacked the final corner aggressively and used the whole road to my advantage. now in the lead with james fourie breathing down my neck, i pushed the pain to the back of my mind and continued to spin up the hill while he slowly closed the gap i had timed my break precisely and won the 94.7 cycle challenge.



oh and by the way, the reason why i was spinning so wildy was because i had to have a whole drive train replacement on friday. i had ordered junior gears as this was my last race of the season, i would adjust my limit screws so that my smallest two gears would be blocked out. i did not check the cassette and assumed it was correct. it had actually been an u16 cassette which i had now changed into an u12 cassette with my smallest tooth being an 18t!



i effectively raced the 94.7 on u12 gears (52/18 )

Keep the rubber planted. . .

Luke

last 2 weeks

these last two weeks have been really hectic and intense for me. i have finished base and i am in my second week of the build phase. i have been really busy with school with exams starting on the 11 november. there havent been any races of interest for the last few weeks.

this weekend is the hilton 50 miler, i am most probably going to race so i hope it is going to be good one.

i am trying to get into a habit of updating my blog every week so hang in there . . .

keep those tires planted

amashova

this last week i took it pretty chilled as to give myself the best chance at a podium finish. i warmed up on the trainer for about 20 mins then made my way to the start. i saw my good mate and fellow mtber jac-johann steyn on the start line who made his way down from pretoria . the race commenced with us racing up fox hill and splitting the bunch. toyota cycle lab where the team who forced the split with 3 of them and 1 mr price rider and myself. we kept the pace up , on the descend of inchanga i found myself with a 30 sec gap to the bunch and decided that i was going to brake away, belmado (mr price) came with and we soldiered on to hold our gap.at about the 80 km mark the two cycle lab riders caught us. i recovered for about 10 minutes and on the last ascend going up and into durban i pushed the pace on the hill and looked around to see who was feeling good, or who was taking strain. i decided to attack again and with 15km to the finish on a flat road this would not be easy. i managed to hold off the bunch to secure 2nd place, behind devlin white who broke away early in the race.

im really stoked with my result and keen to race michael house this weekend.

until next time,

ride safe

hill2hill and past week

the h2h was looking to be a stunner with rain predicted all the way ip to saturday making the course hardpack but not too dusty.

myself and my good friend, james reid, set off at 6 am sharp in a batch. the pace was hot in the beginning with james and i just realxing at the back while the big boys faught out front. it was so fun in the beginning because james and i were commentating on the bunch we were in and havung such a jol. as soon as our heart rates exceeded 80% while still in the group we dropped off and waited for the next group. this was a base ride for me and i was taking it easy and riding slow.

group after group pasted us while we kept our hr down. i stopped to help a few cyclists with mechanical issues and slowed to chat with some mates whom we saw.

i really enjoyed this ride with james and hope to have many more with him. we bonded for 5 hrs talking absolute rubbish and playing around in the single track.

my official time was 4:52 wihich was a little faster than what my coach asked for, Johann Wykerd, but we had a jol and that was the main thing.

this last week it was raining alot and i went for two rides in the rain( one of them i punctured which wasnt pleasant but got on with it.) i also gave blood on tuesday which meant i skippe dmy training on tuesday. riding in the rain is the so refreshing and enjoyable.these rain rides are the ultimate training rides and are so fun to talk about to your mates the next day at school.

keep it real and will write soon

last few weeks . . .

hey guys,

im really sorry about being so lazy and not updating in like forever but here i am and doing it now.

i have jus come off a three week rest period and started training last week monday after crashing on my bmx and damaging my head. there was blood that was in my sinuses and run down to under my eyes for about two weeks but it is nearly all cleared now.

as i said already started training on monday and i can really feel that i have not ridden in a long time. im feeling good on the bike and am starting my base training for the next 8 weeks. i have never done base before and believe it is quite boring so we will see. . .

i raced the margate centenary cycle challenge which proved to be my toughest road race so far, the menacing wind and hilly terrain made for a hard day in the saddle. i finished in third place nearly cathing rhyno beukes who broke away with about 40 km to go with dustin kilpatrick. dustin won with runner up rhyno and then myself in 3rd place.

it was awesome training today and i am looking forward to the rest of my year training hard and focusing on the my long term goals of next year.

last two weeks

this last week has been pretty chilled as im still recovering from my hectic race season. the rides in the morning have been super cold and early (0430hrs), but really enjoyable.

ENGEN DYNAMIC CYLE CHALLENGE

today was my second, really competitive road race. it was held up in pmb which gets freezing in the morning. my dad and i drove the course yesterday and checked all the climbs and flats aswell as the smooth sections of road and descents.

race day came and we left hillcrest at 0600hrs so we could watch the 100km racers leave. it was really cold and i didnt really warm up as i was dying from the chill. anyway i removed my warm clothing minutes before we left as we started up fox hill which would warm us up nicely.

i had a bad start with my cleat slipping out as some of my toe cap was covering it. i managed to catch up as the pace is slow in the beginning. we hit fox and brendon davids and myself pushed the pace to split the field early on. brendon, dustin kilpatrick and myself forcing the

break as we flew up the 1st hill. brendon attacked around a corner near the middle of the race a

nd opened up a gap. dustin and myself left him out there to sizzle in the sun until he sat up and rejoined the pack. poll shorts was nearing and we started to prepare for the gruelling ascent. we hit the climb slow but upped the pace dramatically. dustin slipped back a few seconds and when the hill kicked again near the end i attacked brendon opening up a gap of 10

-15 seconds which i retained down the descent untill a cop car lead us wrong and we rejoine

d as the trio. brendon started the sprint very early and i didnt think he would make it but he was holding us off. i started my sprint and tried to catch brendon. less than a hundred metres from the line brendon saw me and boxed my into the side causing me to slow down slightly as he pipped

me on the line, later the commissaires reversed the decision.

dustin 3rd brendon 2nd and myself 1st

continental champs at mankele

as you guys prob. know the african continental champs were held last weekend at mankele, nelspruit.

i left my home in hillcrest early (0315 hrs) to leave for mankele as the trip is about 8hrs, and i wanted to ride the course on thursday afternoon. we had to go into nelspruit before i went for my laps as my bike needed a few last minute adjustments. i then headed off for some laps.

we arrived at mankele at brendon david's cottage to see what was happening there. i then went off into the trail for two easy laps. the course was much easier than earlier in the year at nationals with the long grass climb being made even shorter. nonetheless the course was awesome with a knarley rock garden and fast smooth singletrack.

friday i woke up late and chilled through the morning and then went down to the track at about 1230hrs. i did one super chilled lap and when i had finished the lap i met up with my coach, johann wykerd. i then did two more laps and flew home to watch the end of the tour on tv.

race day dawned with the track and weather holding up. i raced at 0920hrs so it was much earlier than normal (1330hrs). i took in all my liquids and started warming up at 0830hrs on my trainer. we were called to the line at 0900hrs. i was feeling confident, knowing the course well.

the whistle blew(i think it was a whistle . . . or gun???) and we flew down the dirt road into the first section of singletrack about 800m from the start. arno, brendon and me hit the single track flying a short climb in the first few kms. arno managed to open a gap between myself and brendon but i chased hard and caught him in the rock garden near the middle of the course. when we exited the singletrack onto the field it was arno then myself with brendon chasing us down.

we onld did 3 laps so it was pretty much a sprint the whole way. i entered the singletrack at the end of the long grass climb 1st. when we hit the rock garden (which claimed many crashes) i pushed it too hard and couldn't control the bike and smashed into a rock on the left giving the lead back to arno. i chased as hard as i could through out the rest of lap with arno just in sight.

the 3rd lap was tough with arno sustaining his 15 or so sec lead till the finish. which left me in 2nd and brendon in 3rd.

brendon crashed hard on the 3rd and final lap and had to be taken to hospital. i wish him a speedy recovery.

the following day james reid and myself went out on the road with burry stander for a 2hr recovery ride which was absolutely awesome. i learnt alot from burry and he was just awesome to ride with.

james stayed overnight with me on sunday and we left at about 0515hrs on monday morning . . . long and boring drive definately.

over n out . . .

safire insurance super classic

this week end it was time for the safire insurance super classic. i arrived with the riggien's, as my parents were at a wedding. we arrived and as soon as i got out the car i realised how cold it was, i entered quickly and then made my way back to the car for warmth. i just chilled in the car until race brieffing at 0830hrs . then we were all called to make our way to the avenue of trees in which we would be starting.

today was not a race for me but rather a fairly fast ride as i did not want to burn my legs before africa champs next weekend.

the weather was perfect with a great day ahead of us. we started off fast along the dirt road and then veered into the avo trees which was quite interesting. after the first 25 km we headed back to the start to commence with our 2nd lap. this is where we met james reid, he had had a technical problem and lost about 10mins. i stopped to check if everything was ok but, he had fixed it and was just getting back onto his bike. he took off with a blistering pace with michael and i following closely. unfortnately michael hughs crashed just infront of me and we never saw james again. . .

i finished the race in a time of 115mins.

it was a well organised race with good markings except that the single track felt like it had been built the day before which wasnt so nice on a racebread hard tail as it was really bumpy.

next weekend is all africa champs held in mankele bike park, nelspruit which should be really interesting.

over n out. . .

pic from xc in george

this is just a pic by eric palmer taken at george during the national xc cup earlier this year.

training ride in the cold

i woke up at 0430hrs this morning to go for my training ride with a bunch of guys at 5. it was freezing freezing cold but as soon as you get going the temp. becomes very comfortable.

ive been riding with my dads' old shimano sora front wheel because i buckled my front ec90slx road wheel a few weeks ago when i hit a rock on the yellow line. it was so bad the rim was touching both sides of the brake pads. ive sent that in to maverick cycles in hillcrest to be repaired but easton will only let me retain my warranty if they repair it, so mavericks have sent it directly to them and i should be recieving it shortly.

over n out . . .

Giba Gorge Birth Day race 27 June

giba is about a 10 minute ride from which is really cool as i got to sleep in slightly and warm up my legs on the way down. it has been really cold lately and it was no different on sunday. i got kitted up with lots of warm clothing and took a ride down to giba at about 0745hrs . it was absolutely freezing when i got down there so i concerned myself with keeping warm as not to lose to much energy.

i met up with my good mates james reid and aston davies down there and chilled with them while we waited to start.

it started to slightly warm up at 0830hrs and by 0900hrs it was a comfortable temp. to race in.

we started off quite chilled as everyone was cold and needed to warm up. james, david and roan opened a slight gap near the end of the first dirt climb and i found myself chasing them down willie brink. i rode with willie the whole 1st lap and behind cucumber exiting the dirt road on the 2nd lap i attacked and managed to open up a gap of 1min or so. i pushed hard up gravity and managed to hold off willie to the end.

it was one of my favourite courses with 2 laps of about 22km long suiting my riding style.

i enjoyed the fast flowing single track with some technical sections here and there, it was really fun and challenging. i was stoked with my 4th overall result behind roan exelby.

over 'n out . . .