Some Catching up

Ok so I know its been a while since my last post, I have spent my time either training or in a uniform at school. 

SA champs at Mankele was a really nice race, awesome organizing, great vibe and amazing course. The World Championship's team was announced a week prior to the race and I was glad to see my name on it, one of my dreams since I started racing in 2010. Back to SA champs. The weekend prior to the SA champs was the KZN champs and unfortunately due to my error I found myself in Hospital and out of the race because of a concussion. A real lesson learnt. 

The Build up to SA champs went very well and unfortunately I wasn't able to perform how I wanted to and left me in second place. A big upset however I was extremely glad to be able to bag a few UCI points for a better seeding at the World Champs.

This past weekend i participated in the Illovo Eston MTB challenge, known for its mass in riders. I decided to race the 60 km, as it would be some good training. The race kicked out at a hot pace with the king of the mountains only 3km's in and from there on I settled into a comfortable pace and rode with Travis Walker and Guylin Van der Merwe, being my first 60 km I didn't know what to expect but I raced as hard as I could and managed to win the Junior race and come in 9th overall competing in a sprint finish.

Another exciting part of my life is the journey of my schooling career is quickly coming to an end.

I am currently in the last building phase of my training ahead of World champs with coaches Johann Wykerd and David Low and everything is running smoothly.

My next race will be at the Tour de Krantz, a race I really enjoy.

Until next time

Cheers

PMB xco national

Prior to the fourth and final leg of the National XCO series I was lucky enough to stay at my coach/mentors house- 5 minutes ride from the track. The week leading up to the race I rode the course ample times and knew that I had everything dialed. The course was not seriously demanding but would be a brutal race due to the jarring of the unsettled track.

On the morning of the race i had a perfect warm up and rode to the course 30 minutes before the start.

With a rather dissatisfying start i was left in about 5th place. I luckily had more than one game plan and quickly switched from "plan A" to 'plan B'. After the first lap i was 50 seconds down due to some irritating spills. 2nd lap left me 1 minute behind. I knew that if i didn't shift to full throttle straight away my race wouldn't be satisfying. I changed my mindset and hit full throttle. I managed to bring the time gap down to 35 seconds in one lap, going into the last lap, one of the spectators said i was 15-20 seconds down so i knew it was possible to catch the leader Patrick Belton ( team jeep). Unfortunately for him he punctured and i rode off with a win with my fastest two laps being my last two laps.

Preparation for SA champs is going very well and I am looking forward to it more every single day.

Big thanks to KZN MTB for putting on such an amazing event and fun course, never disappoint.

PE nationals and Howick Classic

Ok so I know it has been a while, but I have been occupied by the likes of matric exams.

Last weekend I was in Eastern Cape for the third of four national cross country races. The event was put on spectacularly and was by far the best nationals i have attended. My race however was not great where I snapped my chain in the third lap. So a DNF for me which leaves me no other option than to perform well at the last national in worlds view.

As for this past weekend I was in Howick for the much spoken about Lizzard Howick Classic. The race had a reputation of strenuous amounts of single track and I was excited to check it out. The race set off at a serious pace and I found myself in 4th and 5th position overall. After a long week I limped home to 4th overall and 1st junior.

Next week I will be racing the sardine classic up in the south coast and really look forward to the traditional hard climbs and fun single track.

Until next time
Ride safe

Africa champs

It was a big surprise when we found out that the African Continental champs was going to be held in Mauritius. Everyone thought it would be an easy course, but everyone was far from correct.

We arrived on Wednesday and rode the course on Thursday.  The course had one super steep climb and some rocky sections, it was a lot more technical than what everyone had told themselves.

The day before the race i crash during my warm down and hurt my shoulder badly which meant that on the race day riding downhill was extremely painful and slow. 

On the start line I was very nervous and rightfully so. With a dropped chain in the start i had some catching up to do. I caught the lead group again and up the climbs I was going fast and felt good, but down the hills I was painfully slow.

I fought my best and ended up coming in second. Not what I wanted but hats off to Patrick Belton who rode away from me to win 3 minutes ahead.

Pretoria Fountains National 2012

After two weeks of no racing my mind was eager to get out there and fight, however my body was a little bit confused as it was forced to take a week off the bike due to illness.

My legs however felt more than ready and I drove up to Pretoria on the day before my race and went and rode three laps, at the time I felt as if the course was brilliant and perfect.

On the morning of the race it was the usual dragged out few hours before my race.  With a quick warm up it was time to start lining up. With a horrific world cup I was seeded 4th, which meant I was on the front line so this didn't bother me at all. With a fast start I was in second position going into the first piece of single track, little did I know that the course that I thought was tremendous had absolutely no overtaking space. The lead group consisted of Patrick Belton, Paul Rodenbach, Dylan Hattingh, Richardt Fereirra and myself.

After the first few laps I realized that there was no place to pass and this left me in a panic, I tried my luck a few times and almost caused a couple of crashes but in the end the result was the same, Patrick first and me second with no room for a sprint finish either which left patrick with the deserved win.

Rather unfortunate course but the man with the right tactics won, learnt a lesson and will hopefully correct my few little mistakes.

My net race will be an elimination race at cascades and there after I will be off to Mauritius to race in the African Continental champs.

Photos above were taken by Zoon Cronje and Lee ann Cantrell
Until next time
ride safe

Euro trip

So I am excited to say that I am in Europe and here to experience the racing over here.

We left on Tuesday morning to drive to O.R Tambo where after we would climb on a flight to the cycling headquarters of the world " SWITZERLAND". We were then off to Germany for the night and the next morning arrived in Zobing, a beautiful town in Austria where we would spend a few nights and race.

We stayed less than 500 meters from the course, which meant it was an easy trip to the course. Traveling with my coach Johann Wykerd and Willie Pelser and friends Jaco Pelser, Candice Neethling, Savannah Vosloo and Ashleigh Parker-Moffat.

Course was very simple, very little single track with a ridiculous 330 meters of climbing per lap. Very intense and hard

On the start line nerves were high and temperatures were low, very low. With an awesome start I managed to lead the large, testosterone filled juniors in the start loop, all 67 of them. 

I managed to settle in to realize I was in 6th position. I quickly lifted the pace and moved to 5th then 4th then 3rd and was closing the leaders in. 


On the last lap I put in a huge effort and managed to bring the leaders back and take the lead, 300 plus riders on the course meant I started overtaking the woman riders from their behind. Going down the last downhill one of the woman riders change her lines and cut into mine throwing me off course and leaving me deep in the dry Austrian bush. After another huge effort I caught up to second again and then a “rookie error” occurred when I dropped my chain, which meant I came in as the third junior 30 seconds from the leader.

For my first European race I was very satisfied. Jaco Pelser also having an out of body experience. Racing over here for the locals is simple, ride your bike fast despite the weight/components. We now in Switzerland to race this weekend again in the BMC racer bike cup. Staying in a hotel away from all society high in the mountains with thick snow everywhere, very beautiful place here. Trying to absorb all the experience at once.

Here are a few snaps of this place and this passed weekends racing.

This is a vending machine where you can purchase schwalbe tubes. Amazing

The very narrow roads going through the towns.

Start of the Junior men

Prize giving

That’s all for now. I will keep you posted on twitter

Karkloof falls XCO

This passed weekend was the second of the three momentums international XCO races. Being two weeks before the first round of the World cup in Pietermaritzburg and also have a Cat 2 ranking, it attracted a lot of international athletes. KZN mountain biking and Max Cluer marketing hosted the event and what an event they put on.  Majority of these athletes were U23 or elite, however there was one international junior from the UK based Orange monkey cannondale team. It is always good to have international competition and I looked forward to some fast racing.

With a good start I started out by taking the lead in the first. Less than halfway through the first lap my seat shifted down to the lowest possible position and I was pedaling with my knees against my ears (my fault entirely). I stayed calm and managed to build a +- 20 second lead and stopped in the tech zone to adjust it. In a panic I rushed the job and ended up tightening my seat far to high and quickly rode off again, I lost quite some time and was in about 6^th position going into lap two. I was quickly back in the leading group with Alex Baker (OMC) and Patrick Belton (Jeep). I attacked near the top of the climb and managed to take the lead again.

My back started hurting due to an unfamiliar seat height during the second lap and on the back section of the course I crashed with no apparent reason and quickly got up and began to ride again. I managed to go into the tech zone with a 30 second lead and managed to fix the seat height properly and then I was off again in about 5^th position.

I began chasing hard again and managed to catch and pass the leaders in the first lap so I got the lead AGAIN and from then on I managed to maintain my lead.

I finished in first position and managed to win by 2 minutes.  Good race on the whole and many lessons learnt.

The world cup fever is kicking in and I am beginning to get really excited. Next weekend will be hard and fast and more juniors are expected. Rain is predicted throughout the week so hopefully I will be able to get a few days on the Cascades course

Until next week

Cheers