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 . . .