Hypersure Toti 69er

Finally something different...a road race to add something new to my blog. And i always enjoy a bit of a skinny wheel dice to get some speed in the legs!

Well the morning started off in a bit of a panic as i had decided to ride from home to the start of the race, but forgetting to set my alarm meant i woke up late and had to jump in the car and rush to the start.
I made it in time and even had time for a quick warm up before lining up for the start.
Standing on the start line it was clear that Mr Price was going to be a force to recon with as they had huge numbers. Other teams on the line were Fego, Cycle lab and our team Marty's Cycles among a few others.
We head off and the pace was chilled for the first 1km or 2, but then the attacks started going early one after another as we headed through Toti and Illovo. The attacks were all short lived, but then a few riders got away and in that group were Sean Merridew (Mr Price) and Deano Van Heerden (Fego). I decided i needed to get across to the break so 1km before Scottburgh i attacked the bunch taking with my team mate Ashton Davies and we bridged the gap.We rode hard up the Scottburgh hill with Ashton and i on the front, but then half our breakaway sat up forcing us to rethink our situation, so we sat up. It stayed together till the turn around, where shortly after that a group of four riders got away, the group consisted of Rowen Tyler (Fego), Stefan Van Eck (Mr Price), Ashton Davies (Marty's) as well as another Mr Price rider. This group of four would ultimately stay away except for Rowan (Fego) who was dropped and the bunch caught and passed him. With the podium being decided by the breakaway it was down to who would win the bunch sprint, so i decided to attack on the last hill and try go as hard as i could. I lead it till about 300m to the line where i just ran out of legs and some riders came around me before the line.

Over all a decent race and if nothing else a good speed session.

I look forward to the next MTB race!

Crossing the river to the finish of the Scottburgh Race

DusiMfula 2011

This past weekend was the last edition of the DusiMfula MTB stage race.

As the name suggests the race runs along the Dusi river and even crosses the river a few times, which it winter can be rather cold!

I am very grateful this year as i was given the opportunity by Senqu Outdoor Clothing to race the DusiMfula for the first time. I was entered with team mate Robert Du Preez, who is formally a road racer but has made that ever popular move to the off road version of the sport.

Day 1
Day 1 of the DusiMfula started in the Lion Park area in PMB, which all of us now know can get really cold in winter as it was 3degs on the start line. Day 1 would take us down into the valley following the Dusi river all the way to Inanda dam, which would be the over night stay for those willing to brave the cold.
There were some big names on the start line and there was no doubt we were in for a tough day on the bike. We started off on a short tar road section before turning off into the single track and dropping all the way down into the valley on fairly technical but fun single track.
Rob and I started off well and were riding in the top 5 teams, but in some of the more technical single track we were passed by a team or two. We continued to push hard and Rob was quickly learning how fast the guys go on the mountain bike. At about the 30km mark we came across a team young guys from JHB standing at a fork in the road, they had a puncture and were asking for a tube. I shouted to Rob to carry on and i stopped to give the guys my tube, Rob rode off to the right. After getting my tube off the bike i jumped on and chased down Rob, but after catching him i soon realised that we had gone the wrong direction. And worst of all the two young guys i gave the tube to had failed to tell me that my partner had ridden off in the wrong direction! In the end we lost around 15mins and a few positions.
Once back on the correct route i started to chase down really hard but unfortunately Rob had reached his limit, the hard chase and gear problems had left him tired. We rode on trying to consolidate and not loose any more time.
We crossed the line in 11th place and a long way down in time... but at the end off the day we had fun in the awesome single track!

Day 2
So the second day arrived, which started and finished at Inanda Dam. However the catch was that the start was on the opposite side of the dam! Once kitted up and ready to go we had to get into our batches and then get a ferry ride across the dam to the other side.
Once on the other side we went for a small warm up ride and then lined up. Standing on the line we knew we were in for some serious single track riding so we would need to stay near the front before we hit the track, which we did. Rob had found some strong legs over night and was riding hard as we manged to hang in just behind the leading teams.
The single track on day two was amazing so we were having good fun will chasing down the finish line. We rode really hard and manged at one stage to ride ourselves into 3rd place, until i had a huge crash flying into a storm water drain which i never saw. Once i had composed myself and got back on the bike we chased back again and crossed the line in 5th place just seconds down on 3rd and 4th place.

In the end we finished the event in 7th place just minutes behind 6th and 5th place. Overall a great two days of racing and it's this type of racing that makes one stronger!

A huge thanks to Senqu Clothing for giving us the opportunity to race in these races.

Next up for me is the Toti 69er road race. I'm looking forward to a road race after a good few weeks of mountain biking!

Sappi Saffire Classic

The Sappi Scottburgh Classic

This past Saturday was the 3rd edition of the Sappi Scottburgh classic race which starts and finishes at Scottburgh beach, an amazing venue for a bike race and of cause the finish of the 2011 Joburg2c.

Over the years the course for this race has been getting better and better and this years race really showed that. We had the neutral zone as normal out on to the district road where the official start of the race took place, but we would finish across the beach.

Greg Knox and Bruce Hughes from UCT cycling team were both there and would be the competition for the day. The race started on a long straight district road before turning right and heading up the first big climb of the day only 1km into the race. Up the first climb Bruce put in a small attack and started to open a gap on the group, so i bridged the gad and the two of us pushed hard up the climb and manged to open a decent gap on the bunch. Over the top we continued to push hard and we increased our lead.
At the top of the next big climb was the first KOM which i wanted, so i rode easy and sat on Bruce's wheel till half way up the climb i put in an attack and rode away taking the KOM. After the KOM i kept the pace up and got away from Bruce, but he rode hard and quickly reeled me back in. I realised that i probably wouldn't be able to ride away from him and stay away so i eased up slightly and we rode together. At the second KOM hot spot i rode hard up the hill with Bruce on my wheel, but i was Bruce that took it in the end. Then we hit the awesome single track through the Sappi forests, which the course designer had really given us a treat by building berms on all the corners and adding in some nice technical sections. In the single track Bruce managed to get away a little and once out the trees i was forced to chase really hard to catch up again which i did.
In the last 10km we started riding into some of the 25km riders making it pretty interesting as Bruce and i raced each other and negotiated our way past them, as well as getting through some really muddy sections after the rains the night before. Then we hit the second last climb of the day and knowing we were close to home i decided to make my move and rode really hard up the climb opening up a gap on Bruce. I kept the pace high and on the last climb i put in more time between Bruce and i. All i needed to do then was hold that gap to the finish which i did and was the winner of the 2011 Sappi Scottburgh Classic.

It was really a great race and the organisers did an amazing job on hosting the event. One other awesome feature of this race was that it goes through croc world, so if you not racing up at the front you get a glance of the huge crocs bathing in the sunlight.

The race will be broadcast on SABC 2 on Pedal talk next Sunday, so check it out and put this on your calender for next year.

Once again thanks must go to Senqu Clothing for making my racing possible.

Also a big thanks to Powasol for the bike wash at the event! Nothing better than having your bike washed for you after a hard race.

Sardine MTB Super Classic

The Sardine Classic is always a great event, held at the Pont on the South Coast of KZN. The Pont, Beaver Creek coffee and Clear water trails are all linked by some really amazing single track made by Jan Abbott, owner of Clear Water Trails. Jan has put a lot of work in over the years to create some amazing trails...

With the huge amount of rain we have had in KZN over the past few days it was sure to be a muddy morning on the bike.
The race starts at the Pont and heads straight up the Old Pont Tar road which is a fairly big climb for the start of a race. With the huge and really competitive field at the event the start was going to be a tough one. I decided to ride on the front up the hill as to not get caught out at the back, and my plan worked as i crested the hill first and rode on down the dirt road. 2km later we hit a really steep dirt climb and a few of the riders had made their way past me. I held the wheels up the climb and we now had a gap on the riders behind, but we then hit a very muddy section and i was forced to dismount which opened a gap between me and the group consisting of Burry Stander, Andrew Hill, Ty White, James Reid and Luke Roberts. I was caught by Guylin and the two of us were chasing the bunch.
The race was a two lap event and when we came through the start finish area after the first lap the now split lead bunch where all within a minute of each other. After the start finish area we hit the tar road climb for the second time, which felt a lot tougher the second time around. On the steep climbs and in the mud i managed to pull away from Guylin but was unfortunately caught by Dave Leiman (thule) and Kyle Dorkin (Wsquared). Dave pushed hard and left myself Kyle, together we road on till the last stretch on single where Kyle with his downhill experience left me behind.

I eventually crossed the line in 7th place and 2nd Sub Vet just a few minutes down on the Winner Burry Stander

Overall another great day of MTB racing in KZN... and with Powasol bike wash it was easy to clean all that mud off the bike before the next ride!
Back to training tomorrow as there is always work to be done...

Cane to Coast MTB Race

I decided to race a local race today, the race was the Blythedale Cane to Coast which took place just up the road in the Blythedale area. This was only the second year the race has been held and it promised to be a good one.

I arrived at the start around 7:30am and in true North Coast style the weather was beautiful and warm. Start time was 8:30 so i kitted up and myself and Rob went for a little warm up ride and checked out some of the single track that we would be racing on.
We lined up and as always the usual suspects had rocked up for a dice out for the podium, it was going to be a ding dong battle.

The gun went off and it was go time. We took off up a slight climb before dropping down onto a fast flat section of district road, and this is where Sean Merredew put the hammer down. The pace was full gas and he started to pull away with Ty White holding his wheel and getting away to. Then we hit a serious steep little climb and i pulled back up to them, Ty went to the front and i followed and we stayed in that position down the first bit of awesome single track. Once out of the track we hit a fire break road where once again Sean coming flying through and pulled away again taking Ty with him.
I was now on my own until i was caught by Wener Moolman from the Cycle lab club, he is extremely strong on the district road and come to the front and started pulling. We started to close the gap on Sean and Ty till we hit the single track and they opened the gap again. Myself and Wener stayed together and road as hard as we could, i pulled away once or twice in the single track but he caught up on the district road.

Coming in towards the finish i kept the pace high and tried not to make any mistakes. Wener held on and lucky for me he didn't try to sprint with me for the line, so i crossed the line in 3rd place behind winner Sean Merredew and Ty White.

It was a great race and a great course.

A big thanks to Senqu clothing for making my racing possible.

This afternoon i decided to another little ride out to Stainbank nature reserve for some super technical skills in the hope of improving my skills.
Tomorrow a well deserved rest day!

Conpemdium Derby

This past Saturday was the Compendium Derby Cycle race held in the Hillcrest area, a really great area for mountain biking with huge amounts of single track and jeep track trails.

The race starts at the polo pony fields in Hillcrest and being the end of May it was a chilly 9degs at when i arrived there. But the temperature did not stop the hundreds of riders that showed up for the event. Being a popular event there was sure to be a good strong field in the 40km main race for the day, and so there was. This strong field even included Neil MacDonald and Waylon Woolcock of Team RE CM (team Bonitas) recent winners of Joburg2c and a second overall at Sani2c just a week ago. And of cause all of KZN's top mountain bikers turned up for the event.

We started off along a district road and very soon in we turned right and straight up a hill where the attack went from the BMC guys. Very soon 7 of us had broken away up the climb, and it stayed that way for the first 10km till the RE CM riders picked up the pace. The pack split up and we started to get a little strung out, i then found myself sitting with Tyronne White, Luke Roberts (BMC) and Andrew Hill (TIB). We kept a really hard pace to try to limit the gap to the leaders, till Andrew Hill decided he had had enough as a result of being sick the previous week. Tyronne and Luke the picked up the pace and i dropped off, i rode a steady pace to conserve my place in the field.
The race then dropped into Giba gorge for a bit of fun in the single track all through the park, which would unfortunately mean we would have to climb out of Giba all the way back up to the polo pony fields. On the way out of Giba i was caught by Dave Leiman and Matt Goutsch, and Dave attacked so i went with him and we pulled away from Matt. Dave then kicked again and i just couldn't hold his wheel, i chased him till the finish line where i finished just behind him and claimed 6th place and 3rd sub vet.
At the finish line the Klint from powasol grabbed my bike and whipped it off for a wash, such awesome service from a great company and great brand.

It was a good hard race and i was happy with my result.
A big big thanks must go to the guys from Senqu clothing for making it possible for me to race the Compendium Derby. There are a great company who make some really awesome out door clothing.

Powasol and Multitergent

I have been lucky enough to get a helping hand when it comes to keeping my bike clean and shiny and ready to race! The guys at Multitergent have hooked me up with some of their products, and of cause Powasol bike wash is one of those great products!

Powasol bike wash makes washing your beauty just that little bit easier and gives you the results you looking for.
It eliminates all that stubborn dirt and leaves the bike with an amazing shine, and best of all it does all this without completely drying out the lubrication in your bearings and on the chain. So once washed all you need to do is put some Waxo lube onto the chain and it's ready to go for the next days ride!

The Waxo Lube is a great dry lube, and a long lasting dry lube at that! I always lube the chain the night before and then give it a little splash of lube before heading out on my ride.
To fight the wet conditions Multitergent has come up with a Wet lube which they will be releasing soon. I had the pleasure of testing out that wet lube at Sani2c this past weekend, and it was an absolute life saver when we hit all the river crossings on day two...especially seeing some of them were ridable which meant i flew through them at full pace which obviously washed all the lubrication off my chain!

Another great product from Multitergent is the Helmet Refresher... On those multi day races this is the perfect product. It's a foam based product which you would spray into your helmet (or shoes) and it foams up then dissipates killing all germs and bacteria in the helmet. So the next morning your helmet is ready to go and it's dry!

To combat punctures i ride with a can of Weld fast, it's a latex based product and the can is filled with co2. So in the case of a puncture you would attach the can to your valve and spray the sealant into the tyre sealing off the hole, and getting you to the finish in no time!

Sani2c 2011

What a week of racing...
My brother Justin and I were sponsored an entry for the 2011 Sani2c by Subaru and we raced as the Subaru Suunto Cebe team.
Justin had just come off racing Joburg2c so we knew he would have the endurance, especially for day two the 100km day.

Day 1
As was to be expected in Underburg in May...it was freezing! probably about 2 degs when we woke up and think it got to around 8 when we were standing on the start line at 7am.
The race kicked of behind the lead car for the first few km's and the pace was full gas! We rode in the lead bunch till  we hit the first set of dual single track where things got seriously fast as the top teams attacked to try make a break. Once out the other side of the track things started to regroup and we got into group consisting of the Garmin, Thule and BMC teams. We rode in the group for awhile till all three teams got away from us in the single track, it was slippery and i was not having a good time there. Once out of the slippery track and onto the district rode we chased hard and managed to catch and pass team Thule in the final 2km finishing in 14th place in a time of 3h3mins, 3mins down on team BMC and team Garmin...a very good first day of racing!
Of cause we then indulged in all Sani2c has to offer, from the endless food, the endless Milk and Juice, the Chill Zone's with free beer, the massage tent, the Itec connect zone with free internet....plus a whole lot more! One other really nice extra was the USN team handing out an Epic Pro sachet (to top 50), Recover Max (rest of field) plus a USN tornado shaker to all the finishers, real big up to USN for that!

Day 2
This is the big day, and the one that worried me a little. It started off as always with a furious pace, i felt i did well to get into the single track just behind the lead bunch as we started the decent into the great Umkomas Valley. Unfortunately i was lacking confidence and dropped off the back of the bunch and got left behind by my brother too, it was going to be a big chase once i hit the bottom of the valley, which it was. The chasing took it's toll on me and i very quickly started to suffer, luckily my brother was feeling super strong so i sat his wheel and he literally pulled me for around 70km... in the final km's we managed to catch a few teams as they started to suffer after the long day.
We finally crossed the line after the gruelling 100km's in 11th place, an awesome result and all thanks to Justin as he rode so strong the whole stage!
Our 11th place and great time of 4h20mins put us into 13th place overall.

Day 3 and the final day
This day is always super super fast day and it starts off with a down hill and straight into single track in the first 2km. Justin and I had a bad start and found ourselves fairly far back in the bunch, i felt good and pushed hard over taking riders till i was in amongst the top 12 teams. Unfortunately doing all the work on day 2 had obviously taken it's toll on Justin as he was quite a way back still and i was forced to sit up and wait for him. Quite a few teams passed me as i waited for Justin to catch up, when he did i could see he was battling and it was now going to be my turn to do the pulling. I sat on the front and worked for around 20km's, but much to my disgust i was just pulling 3 other teams to the finish line and they were not even willing to help, obviously roadies... I then had my first problem, a piece of sugar cane leaf rapped around my cassette forcing me to stop, and i shouted to Justin to carry on going. I pulled it all out and started to chase again, when i caught him i again when to the front and started pull the bunch. We rode really hard through Vernon Crooks nature reserve and the into the Jeep/single track that lead us down to Sea level. It was in this single track where i had my next problem, we were flying in the single track trying to get away from the teams we had been pulling when i hit a bump and had a huge crash... i hit the ground really hard, luckily i never broke myself or the bike. I jumped up got back on the bike and chased hard, again catching my brother.
We rode the final km's extremely hard and managed to still finish in the top 20 teams and held onto our 13th place overall.

It was an amazing 3 days of racing at the Sani2c and was once again an extremely good job done by the Sani2c team and Farmer Glen. A truly world class event...
A big thanks must also go to Dave Harrington from Ultimo and to the Subaru team for giving us the opportunity to race this great race.

Big5 MTB Weekend

This past weekend was the start of the Big5 series in Zululand up the North Coast of KZN.
For the first year this year they started off the series with an Expo to show case cycling brands and brands around the Zululand area.
I was invited up to the Expo which i was very happy about and decided to go there with three brands, Merida, USN and BuzzRack. Rodney Fowler from BuzzRack came down for the weekend which was a huge help.
The Expo was a good success and a nice idea, and i'm sure it will grow from strength to strength each year.

At the expo they had a small sprint shoot out style race which i decided to give a go! It was a 2,2km circuit consisting of urban and off road track. Tyronne white had set the fastest time so far and it was fast so it would be a serious sprint! Sean Merredew then went and beat Tyronne's time by a mere two seconds making it even more of an ask. I then had my turn on the circuit and raced it with Sean on his second go at the record! There is not much to say other than that it was a flat out sprint from start to finish, and unfortunately i was not able to crack the fastest time and came in with the third fastest time 10 seconds down, non the less it was great fun!

On the Sunday was the first of the Big5 series races, the Zini classic help in Mtunzini just 40km south of Richards bay. The event this year was held on the Mtunzini golf course which was a really great venue.
The 50km  race started just after 9am and already the temperature was soaring...we were in for a hot day on the bike.

The race started on a steep tar down hill into the Mtunzini estate, we were led down the hill by a lead motor bike and as we hit the dirt it pulled off and let us free to race.
The pace in the beginning was mellow as no one wanted to come to the front leaving myself and Tyronne White to set the pace for the first 4km till we the hit the first climb. Ty went hard on the climb trying to break up the bunch which he succeeded in doing and myself, Dave Leiman and Jeremey Tompson were the only one's to hang on. Ty then went hard again at the top and Leiman got on his wheel and i was slightly behind with Tompson. I pushed hard to try and stay in contact with Ty and Leiman but i wasn't able to, although i kept the gap at around 500meters till around the 20km when i slowed the pace slightly to recover. I was then caught by one of the Zululand cycles riders and i sat his wheel as he tried to go past...i hung on and once recovered i attacked and opened up a gap between him and myself.
I continued to chase hard and try to limit the time between myself and the two leaders, i then entered the awesome single track layed out for us and quickly forgot about the chase to enjoy the reason i ride MTB in the first place.
I ended up crossing the line in 3rd place, 7min down on Tyronne and 2mins down on Leiman. Over all i was happy with my race and my result and the legs felt good...just in time for Sani2c which starts this Thursday morning.

Overall it was a great weekend.
A very huge Thank you has to go to Zululand Cycles and especially the Dalton family who really made me feel welcome in their part of the world and went out of their way for me.
I would also like to thank Shane and Daryl Webster for accommodating me and putting on a great event!

I will definitely be back to Zululand for the next events.

Tour Durban Road Race

Tour Durban road race took place today.
I was given the opportunity to race for the Marty's cycles Top Club, which was really great as it gave me the chance to race in the Pro/Elite bunch.

The race started at 6:15 at the Moses Mabida stadium and headed out through town, along umbilo road and then up the M7. The M7 is where it got really tough as the Top Teams tried to break the bunch and split things up, they succeeded in this as we shed quite a few riders off near the top as we crested the climb into Pinetown. Then it was down the M19, this got a bit hectic as we hit about 86km down the hill which i'm not that used to being a mountain biker. I managed to hang in and made the bottom of the climb with the bunch.
It was then on to the M4 where the pace picked up as the attacks went one after the other, we hit the turn around point and everyone sat up as the riders collected drinks from the team cars. Once all was settled things got hot again and the teams started to set themselves up for what was surely going to come down to a bunch sprint. We turned into the stadium for the finish and the sprint went, not being anything of a sprinter i managed 16th and 2nd Sub Vet...
Really happy with my result in a National Road Race, especially being a mountain biker.

Well the legs are now super tired after the weekend's racing, but lucky for me tomorrow is my anniversary and myself and my wife have got a really nice relaxing day planned!

Next week i'm back to more serious training...

Tour Durban MTB

Tour Durban weekend...
Well last night i decided to go and support the guys racing the Crit race around the Gateway Boulevard. It was a really good event and well supported. The racing was fast and was great to watch the guys do their thing!

Today was the Tour Durban MTB race and i decided to give it a go and shake up the legs before tomorrows 125km road event.
The race started and finished on the Gateway Boulevard and took us out into the cane fields around the Umhlanga area. A great new course was built for this years event and the guys really did a good job providing us with a good race route.Unfortunately the marshals on the route extremely poor and caused havoc out on the course.
We set off from the start, winding through some of the surronding streets of Gateway before heading into some nice newly cut single track, through a school grounds and off into the cane fields. The racing was super fast with a lot of fast district roads in the first half of the race, but eventually when we hit the first climbs the attacks went and a group of 4 riders went free. They were Rouke Crouser, Brendan Davids, Ty White and Andrew Hill...I found myself in a group of 4 riders chasing down the leaders, the 4 of us rode hard to limit the loss to the front bunch.
Over the last 3km of the race i rode a hard tempo to try to break my group of 4 down by the time we hit the line. It came down to a sprint between myself and one of the ASG road riders and unfortunately he managed to get half a wheel in front of mine. But this is where we realised the problem, the front 4 riders that we had been chasing down were not even at the finish... They had taken a wrong turn out on the course, finally getting a lift back to the course and then making their way to the finish!
There was obviously now a lot of confusion at the finish and the decision was finally made to award those 4 with the first 4 places...in my eyes not the fairest decision I've ever seen made and certainly not following any sort of rules, never mind UCI rules...but hey, guess that's how life goes!

In the end i was awarded 1st Sub Vet in a time of 1h32min and i think 6th over all, not even sure about this as i don't think anyone really knew what was going on.

Tomorrow is the Tour Durban road race and I'm racing for the Marty's Cycles Top Club, in the Cat 1 race. It should be a good race and hopefully i have the legs to hang in to the end. At least there shouldn't be any riders taking a wrong turn out there.

Easter weekend

Well Easter weekend has come and gone in the blink of an eye...
I at least managed to get in some good miles this weekend. friday i did a good 130km on the road bike with two mates Wayne and Lee. Was a good ride with apparently a bit of TT to Ballito, with a quick breakfast and then a nice steady ride home.
Saturday we hit the dirt, i love these days as i get to put he Merida 96 through it's paces...love it! We rode out in the back of Illovo on some fun but wet trails. After the ride we shot up to PMB to check out some real MTB at the World Cup, what an afternoon of racing...was amazing to see. Unfortunately our main man Burry had a bad day in the office and suffered with carshes (which he seldom does) and technical problems.

Easter Sunday i took super easy and bearly moved of the couch, besides a little walk on the beach.
Today (Monday) i rode the Tour Durban route with the Marty's cycles bunch. Was awesome to ride the route before next weekends race, which is going to be crazy!

Well as i mentioned next weekend is the Tour Durban, I'm racing in the Cat1 on Sunday's road race and am going to give the MTB race a good go on Saturday... Going to need some good legs this weekend!

Well that's it from me.

Business in JHB

Today i flew up to Joburg for the day to spend the day with the guys from Nsquared distribution to look at some new products in their range, and learns the ins and outs.

The day started off with the plane being delayed from Durban due to mist over Joburg delaying the plane coming to us. As a result of this the planes all day have been delayed and i am now forced to sit at the airport for 2h30min... I suppose giving me time to do things such as updating my blog! Never a bad thing.

After all that the day turned out well and it was great to spend the valuable time with the guys from Nsquared catching up on business.
We were also very fortunate to meet with Dr Jeroen Swart from Science to Sport and learn about some new products he has to offer the cycling world. It's always great to meet with him as he has such great knowledge about the side of the sport that not many people in the world know so much about! When it comes to the Science of sport he is the best...

Lets hope in the near future i can spend more time with him and learn lots more.

Boxlee Golovane Xplore

This past Sunday was the Boxlee Golovane Explore, an 85km team mountain bike race starting and finishing at the Holla trails mountain Bike Park. You could enter as a two or three man team, with two man teams being the popular option. Individuals were also allowed to enter but would not qualify for podium.

I was asked by former Springbok Rugby player Jeremy Thompson to join him in a two man team and I jumped at the opportunity as I knew it would be a great day out on the bike. Jeremy has had a fair amount of time off the bike and wanted to use the event to build on his fitness.

Race day arrived and it was raining and slightly chilly which no one was ready for as the weather in KZN has been amazing in the past weeks. The 85km course would more than likely be extremely muddy but that never stops mountain bikers as could be seen by the numbers of riders on the day. There was some stiff competition on the start line but we were there to have fun and get in some training.

The race started and almost immediately there was a split in the very big bunch as about 5 teams and a few individuals broke off the front in the first few km’s. The pace was high as Team TIB insurance leads us up the first long climb only 2km into the race, this is where we decided to slack off and conserve our energy for the 80km still to come.

Very soon though the mud started to play havoc with our bikes causing chain suck forcing us to stop continuously to clean the chains and put some lube on. However it then got worse as Jeremy’s back break had stopped working due to the mud. We continued to just soldier on taking caution on the downs and nursing the chain suck on the up hills. Will still kept our cool and were maintaining 3^rd place, until we came across Team TIB who had had some bad luck of their own by breaking a derailleur which now put us into second place with 40km still to race.

At about 60km we hit the awesome single track section of the race we had been waiting for, however it wouldn’t be that fun as Jeremy had to take it easy without back breaks. Eventually we were caught by Team Cycle lab PMB who caught and passed us as we then had more chain suck after the single track. Knowing they were not far ahead we chased hard and caught them at the next water table and stuck with them until the dreaded chain suck attacked again forcing us to stop and clean the chain once more. It would now be a serious chase to the finish line with only about 10km’s to go.

We chased hard on the last we km’s of smooth district road and slowly we were closing the gap to the Cycle lab pair. With 1km to go we reeled them in and it was a scramble to the line, unfortunately for them Tyron took a slight wrong turn into the finish and we managed to sneak across the line first, leaving us second overall.

It was a great day out on the MTB besides all the hassles. A good event and a great 85km track.

SA Marathon champs

So i have to say better late than never...
It's been a week since SA Marathon champs and I've recovered nicely after a seriously tough but awesome race in the Inanda valley.

The build up to race day was not the best i've had but it was going to have to do as i had a goal in mind and that was to get on the podium in the Sub Vet Category.
Race day was here and i had work to do as well as race...we were launching the Bryton GPS unit at the race. We had Gazebo's set up and we had Bryton babes who's job it was to select ten riders out the masses to race with the GPS on their bikes. They set up the units on the riders bike and set then off, then on their return collected valuable feed back on the GPS. All which was a very successful exercise.

Then it was time to race, the elite's went off followed 5 mins later by the ladies and a further 5mins back was us Sub Vets. The race started off up a small gradual climb which stretched out the field slightly. There were around 5 of us setting the pace for the field and 5km in the 5 of us rode away from the rest of the pack.
My legs were feeling really good and decided to set the pace up the first few climbs of the day. Then there was an attack from Gedden Ruddick up the one climb, he opened a gap which he would manage to hold to the finish. The next to get away was Hennie Kriek and Hendrik Bester, they opened a gap on myself and Sean Merridew. I didn't chase too hard as i knew the finish line was still a long way away and there was a lot of single track to come. Then we were caught by Brett Dickson who caught us as we were negotiating our way up a slight rock face, Sean managed to get away with Brett and left me behind. I again just held my cool and kept a steady tempo.
Once we hit the long sections of single track i knew this would be were i would reel them in, first i caught Sean and Hennie who were not able to stick with me. Then i closed down on Hendrik and passed him up a short steep climb. It was now onto Brett Dickson who i chased really hard and caught just before the final water table. We stopped at the water table together and then it was a race to the finish, we rode the last long district road together and then hit the final section of single track. Unfortunately for me we caught an Elite rider just before the single track and he managed to get in between us and ended holding me up while Brett rode away. Once i past the elite rider and started chasing it was just to late, i would have to settle for 3rd in a time of 4h6m02s.

I was extremely happy with my 3rd place on the podium at SA Marathon champs, as i had fulfilled my first goal for 2011.

FutureLife KSwiss Midlands Ultra Tri

Today I took part in the Midlands Ultra triathlon at MidMar dam. I was asked to race in the GU Energy team with Tyron Potts from GU and Shepard from Mr Price.
The Individual event is the main event, but we decided to give it a go and have a joll. The individuals and teams start together with the swim being the first leg of the event.

Tyron was our swimmer and he would take on the 1.9km swim in MidMar dam. He had a good swim finishing in around 30min and coming out the water in the top 15 and 2nd team! Then it was up to me on the bike, the cycle being 90km with no drafting, luckily for me i had a TT bike to make life that little easier. The course a 22.5km loop which we did 4 times, and a fairly hilly loop too which played into my favour as a mountain biker as the genuine triathletes battled on the climbs. I rode a good 90km TT riding a 2h18 at a 37km average.
Shepard was next on the run and had a lightning fast run starting 10mins down on the leaders of the individual race. He managed to catch the leaders and pass them, crossing the line 1st in the team Cat and 1st overall.

It was a great day and a rather enjoyable event.

Vincero design

The latest and greatest in cage and bottle design... Lightest on the market!

Bryton GPS

I am so stoked to announce that i am now representing Bryton GPS in the KZN area... super stoked!