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 6th 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 5th 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
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