Hey guys!
Well yesterday was the Barberton National XCM (marathon). Ryan and I entered the half marathon. With Team mates Craig and Pete hooking the Ultra Marathon.
We were up really early in the morning as the other guys had to get ready for their race at 07:00. We took a drive across from our accommodation and made our way toward the start.
After a good thorough warm up with Ryan we took our place on the front row of the grid with fell Natalians, James Reid (Mr Price/Specialized) and Trav Walker (DCM). The nerves kicked in with a few minutes to go and I became really keen to scope out the form of the national competition. We began our ride slowly but a few hundred meters down the road James attacked. I managed to get onto his wheel, with Ryan following close behind. We went through the town really hard and by the time we reached the main climb (11km long) I knew I had to back off. Travis bridged the gap, and I fell off the lead pack and rode on my ace.
I chased hard to close the gap and eventually after 8km of climbing I reentered the bunch,as I made contact I went really hard around the side to see if any of the riders would drop off. I held the pace for a while but soon slowed to let the others come through. James and Trav came through extremely fast and I found myself off the back again with only 2km left of the climb. Ryan soon dropped off and I managed to catch and drop him. At that point shear determination took over and I started to reel in the gap very slowly. By the time I reached the peak of the climb James and Trav were only 62seconds ahead, but had managed to increase the gap on the descent while I was climbing the final few meters of the climb. I pushed myself to the absolute limit on the descent, scaring myself to death on some of the loose rocky switch backs. By the time I had reached the bottom I had closed it back down to 60 or so seconds. The gap sat between 1 and 2 minutes for most of the race, but as I got nearer to the 40km mark my back went into an immense pain. This was caused by my frame being too small. I tried to push through the pain, and was nearly forced to pull out at the final water point, but I received news that I had a good gap over 4th place so I just chilled the last two or so kilometers. I crossed the line in 3rd overall and a few minutes down on James and Trav. Ryan brought home a 4th. KZN had a fantastic day, with the top 4 positions going to us.
The race was super hard but it was good to race and see how the national competition's form is as well as the way that they race. I am totally over the moon with my result. Well done to James for the win!
Craig and Pete had a good race. Pete brought home 11th, Craig 12th and Carl Calvarley was 14th. Well done guys!
The trip back this morning was awesome! It was great to get to know Carl a bit better It was a totally amazing experience! Thanks to Jeep for lending us the vehicle, which just made the experience all that more unforgettable!
This weekend is the first national! I absolutely cant wait! New course, new venue... should make for some interesting racing
Until next time
B
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