Hey Guys, just wanna give a huge shout out to two bike shops!
WSquared - Gordon Wilson - Managed to organise a rear swing arm for my mtb within the blink of an eye, after finding out that my frame had cracked. Really impressive to see how quickly and efficiently they were able to get the swing arm. He also made a fork available for me to use after discovering my fork was cracked on the steerer tube! Thanks Guys
Adrenaline Cycles - Grant Dinkel - Made a spare fork available to me after we found out that my fork on my mtb was cracked on the steerer tube! Grant always goes out of his way to help out any customer! Thanks Guys!
B
Monday, March 29, 2010
Jowetts Super Classic
This weekend was the Jowetts super classic, which was held at the Cedara Agricultural College just outside Hilton. The course is renowned for the amazing single track that it follows in the hills of Hilton.
The start was slightly earlier than normal, around 08:30. We rode in a neutral zone for the first kilometer or two, the lead vehicle peeled off the front and the race took off! I tested the legs on the fist climb and put in a small attack to see how they were feeling. I opened a gap but knew it was far to early in the race to go on a solo break. I backed off an the main lead group caught up. But before we even hit the first single track I heard a loud "hiss" sound, and soon felt metal bouncing on the tar. I quickly stopped and bombed it. I didn't lose much time, but it was enough for me to lose touch of the lead group.
I raced hard and started to real back the riders one by one, but then disaster struck again, while pushing hard through one of the long grass sections, my rear derailleur got jammed up with grass. With the applied force of the pedaling, it caused my chain to snap. Fortunately it snapped just behind the 'quick-link.' I broke the chain and undid the quick-link and put the whole thing back together. I had lost a heck of a lot of time, and was now down in the 20's. I fought hard and managed to close up to 9 or so before catching James Reid and Trav Walker, who had both stopped due to mechanicals. I stopped helped James out with his mangled chain and waited while Trav took a natural break. We took off together, but at a very chilled pace. James had really hurt his nose and face in a heavy crash, and he soon backed off. Trav and I caught up to another group of 3 riders. We went past and started closing in on 8th position (team mate Matt Goetsch). After catching him, Trav soon dropped off, leaving myself to chase down the next guy in front of me which was Dave Leiman. With 5 or so km to go I caught Dave, and managed to bring Matt and youth rider, Evan van der Spuy with me. 2km from the finish I bit the bullet and opened the taps to get away and managed to put a gap between myself and the other riders.
Performance wise, it was definitely one of my best races so far. The race was super hard, and was a really good opportunity to get to test the legs before the national.
The start was slightly earlier than normal, around 08:30. We rode in a neutral zone for the first kilometer or two, the lead vehicle peeled off the front and the race took off! I tested the legs on the fist climb and put in a small attack to see how they were feeling. I opened a gap but knew it was far to early in the race to go on a solo break. I backed off an the main lead group caught up. But before we even hit the first single track I heard a loud "hiss" sound, and soon felt metal bouncing on the tar. I quickly stopped and bombed it. I didn't lose much time, but it was enough for me to lose touch of the lead group.
I raced hard and started to real back the riders one by one, but then disaster struck again, while pushing hard through one of the long grass sections, my rear derailleur got jammed up with grass. With the applied force of the pedaling, it caused my chain to snap. Fortunately it snapped just behind the 'quick-link.' I broke the chain and undid the quick-link and put the whole thing back together. I had lost a heck of a lot of time, and was now down in the 20's. I fought hard and managed to close up to 9 or so before catching James Reid and Trav Walker, who had both stopped due to mechanicals. I stopped helped James out with his mangled chain and waited while Trav took a natural break. We took off together, but at a very chilled pace. James had really hurt his nose and face in a heavy crash, and he soon backed off. Trav and I caught up to another group of 3 riders. We went past and started closing in on 8th position (team mate Matt Goetsch). After catching him, Trav soon dropped off, leaving myself to chase down the next guy in front of me which was Dave Leiman. With 5 or so km to go I caught Dave, and managed to bring Matt and youth rider, Evan van der Spuy with me. 2km from the finish I bit the bullet and opened the taps to get away and managed to put a gap between myself and the other riders.
Performance wise, it was definitely one of my best races so far. The race was super hard, and was a really good opportunity to get to test the legs before the national.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Bushmans Classic - Estcourt
This weekend was the Bushman's classic, held at the WagenDrift Dam. The early start meant we'd be racing in some cooler conditions, and that we'd definitely beat the heat! There were some big names like Trav Walker, Andrew Warr, Carl Calvarley and Andrew Hill.
After a very brisk warm up we hit it to the start line. A brief riders briefing took place and then we set off on the brutal 50km course. For a change the start wasn't to quick but as soon as our tyres touched the dirt it was game on. Carl took to the front and drove hard. I managed to follow his wheel and by the time we hit the first single track we had a decent gap over Travis and Andrew Hill. Unfortunately some ignorant lead motorbikes went into the single track ahead of us and cost us our gap.
Trav and Andrew H caught us and we rode together for most of the race. At around the 20km mark I could see Andrew was hurting a bit so I made my move up a long rocky climb. Trav followed and we opened up a gap. We hit a single track section an my bike began to make a very heavy knocking sound with every pedal stroke. We hit another dirt road and the pace slowed which allowed Carl and Andrew to catch back up. We hit the next climb and the pace heated up. The knocking got louder and louder and I began to worry that it might be causing damage. I decided to bite the bullet and carry on racing. Trav put in ferocious attack and Carl followed... after 5 or so seconds a decided to go and managed to drop Carl after catching him and slowly began to close in on Trav. We got to the bottom of a very long single track and had opened up a good gap on Carl and Andrew. The knocking had now become very bad, I pulled to the side of the track, letting Trav passed, and began to make an attempt at fixing the problem. After knocking the cranks with my hand it went away slightly but, it had allowed Carl and Andrew to really close the gap. I got on and before I knew it, they were on my wheel. Carl put in an attack and Andrew was able to follow, I chased but the knocking got worse still. I stopped and hit the cranks again to try and get the knocking to stop. I jumped back on and chased as hard as I could on the following 5 km district road. With only 5 or so km left I hit a mighty mushroom cloud, and quite frankly blew. I did damage control to the finish and managed to hold onto 4th overall and 2nd Junior.
It was a super tough race, but really good prep for the National XC coming up !
Until Next time
B
After a very brisk warm up we hit it to the start line. A brief riders briefing took place and then we set off on the brutal 50km course. For a change the start wasn't to quick but as soon as our tyres touched the dirt it was game on. Carl took to the front and drove hard. I managed to follow his wheel and by the time we hit the first single track we had a decent gap over Travis and Andrew Hill. Unfortunately some ignorant lead motorbikes went into the single track ahead of us and cost us our gap.
Trav and Andrew H caught us and we rode together for most of the race. At around the 20km mark I could see Andrew was hurting a bit so I made my move up a long rocky climb. Trav followed and we opened up a gap. We hit a single track section an my bike began to make a very heavy knocking sound with every pedal stroke. We hit another dirt road and the pace slowed which allowed Carl and Andrew to catch back up. We hit the next climb and the pace heated up. The knocking got louder and louder and I began to worry that it might be causing damage. I decided to bite the bullet and carry on racing. Trav put in ferocious attack and Carl followed... after 5 or so seconds a decided to go and managed to drop Carl after catching him and slowly began to close in on Trav. We got to the bottom of a very long single track and had opened up a good gap on Carl and Andrew. The knocking had now become very bad, I pulled to the side of the track, letting Trav passed, and began to make an attempt at fixing the problem. After knocking the cranks with my hand it went away slightly but, it had allowed Carl and Andrew to really close the gap. I got on and before I knew it, they were on my wheel. Carl put in an attack and Andrew was able to follow, I chased but the knocking got worse still. I stopped and hit the cranks again to try and get the knocking to stop. I jumped back on and chased as hard as I could on the following 5 km district road. With only 5 or so km left I hit a mighty mushroom cloud, and quite frankly blew. I did damage control to the finish and managed to hold onto 4th overall and 2nd Junior.
It was a super tough race, but really good prep for the National XC coming up !
Until Next time
B
Monday, March 15, 2010
Momentum health XC Provincial #3- Uvongo
Hey guys! wow its been a while since I updated my blog! Not a lot has happened over the past 2 weeks or so. No racing besides this past weekend.
We travelled down to the South Coast on Friday afternoon to get booked into our accommodation in Uvongo itself. We chose to make a weekend of the race, just to give us a mini 'holiday'. After a chilled Friday evening, we made our way to the course the following morning.
I did a couple of laps around the short, fast course and then decided to hit the road and chillax the rest of the afternoon. My brother and his mate arrived later in the afternoon and we all decided to go cliff jumping into the lagoon just down the road. Well all I can say was it was an extremely exhilarating experience!!! :)
After a good, stress relieving afternoon, we all settled in to enjoy the light afternoon drizzle that pulled in while we sat around a braai. A few good laughs were had, which really helped towards the 'chill factor'
Sunday dawned, and with a 12:30 start time, I was fortunate enough to watch a bit of the Argus! I lounged around until it was time to suit up, and then made made my way across to the venue, which was only a 5 minute ride away from our house. I arrived an registered to race up a category in the u23's. What lay ahead of us was 10 laps of flat out racing, on a tight twisty, bumpy and rough course!
After a nice chilled warm up around field, we lined up on the start. with a minute or so to go the field became quite anxious. At the sound of the whistle Andrew Warr took to the front, with Carl Calvarley and myself in tow. As we entered the first single track Andrew made a mistake, which in the end cost him the race. He burped his back wheels and ended up damaging his tyre. Carl and I took to the front and pushed the pace really hard. I tried to get rid of him a couple of times but just couldn't manage to as he'd close the gap down on the flat sections. After two laps of an intense pace I began to hurt, at this time Carl pushed past me and began to open a gap. I chased for the remainder of the race (8laps or so) with him opening around 10 or so seconds each lap. On lap #10 however, I managed to get a burst out of nowhere, but I was only able to take 10 out of his 2minute lead.
All in all it was a FANTASTIC weekend! The racing was great, the weekend was amazing and it definitely gave me a break from school and work. Well done to team mates Eszter and Ryan on there awesome results! A huge thanks to the Bundu bashers club for putting on such a fantastic event!
until next time
B
We travelled down to the South Coast on Friday afternoon to get booked into our accommodation in Uvongo itself. We chose to make a weekend of the race, just to give us a mini 'holiday'. After a chilled Friday evening, we made our way to the course the following morning.
I did a couple of laps around the short, fast course and then decided to hit the road and chillax the rest of the afternoon. My brother and his mate arrived later in the afternoon and we all decided to go cliff jumping into the lagoon just down the road. Well all I can say was it was an extremely exhilarating experience!!! :)
After a good, stress relieving afternoon, we all settled in to enjoy the light afternoon drizzle that pulled in while we sat around a braai. A few good laughs were had, which really helped towards the 'chill factor'
Sunday dawned, and with a 12:30 start time, I was fortunate enough to watch a bit of the Argus! I lounged around until it was time to suit up, and then made made my way across to the venue, which was only a 5 minute ride away from our house. I arrived an registered to race up a category in the u23's. What lay ahead of us was 10 laps of flat out racing, on a tight twisty, bumpy and rough course!
After a nice chilled warm up around field, we lined up on the start. with a minute or so to go the field became quite anxious. At the sound of the whistle Andrew Warr took to the front, with Carl Calvarley and myself in tow. As we entered the first single track Andrew made a mistake, which in the end cost him the race. He burped his back wheels and ended up damaging his tyre. Carl and I took to the front and pushed the pace really hard. I tried to get rid of him a couple of times but just couldn't manage to as he'd close the gap down on the flat sections. After two laps of an intense pace I began to hurt, at this time Carl pushed past me and began to open a gap. I chased for the remainder of the race (8laps or so) with him opening around 10 or so seconds each lap. On lap #10 however, I managed to get a burst out of nowhere, but I was only able to take 10 out of his 2minute lead.
All in all it was a FANTASTIC weekend! The racing was great, the weekend was amazing and it definitely gave me a break from school and work. Well done to team mates Eszter and Ryan on there awesome results! A huge thanks to the Bundu bashers club for putting on such a fantastic event!
until next time
B
Monday, March 1, 2010
SA Marathon Championships-Sabie
On Friday the Jeep team piled into the Jeep Patriot, along with Candice Neethling, and began the long trip up to Sabie for the SA Marathon Champs.
After a really long trip we arrived in the tiny town and went straight to the venue to register, and hit a ride to wake up the legs for the following days racing. After the quick spin we headed out to Hazyview, where we stayed at Pete's aunt and uncles farm. It was really cool of them to let us stay in their house while they were away, and even better... they gave us some awesome food :) After supper we all had an early night after the really long day of travelling.
Saturday Morning dawned and the weather looked fantastic for racing. We packed our bikes onto the Jeep and headed straight to the venue. As we arrived Craig an Pete went straight out for their warm up. Ryan, Candy and I all chilled at the jeep and pumped up some tunes to try get psyched.
After a VERY thorough warm up we all made our way to the start for our 45 odd km race that lay ahead. All the big names were up from KZN and the other provinces, like James Reid, Trav Walker, Adam Reyneke and Arno du Toit. James was decorated in the new leaders jersey and his presence was definitely known amongst the riders. Straight out of the starting blocks it was James who made the first move which began to string out the bunch straight away. We hit the first climb and the pace got even hotter. James managed to get away, with Trav Walker bridging across the gap. They began to open a gap really rapidly. My legs were absolutely screaming, and was really putting in a effort just to stay with the chase bunch. I dug super deep and went to the front to see if I could try and get rid of some of the guys in the bunch. Fortunately it worked and the bunch whittled down to 3 of us, being Adam Reyneke and Xander Botha.
We began to work really well together and as we hit the biggest climb of the day Adam dropped off, but the gap had closed to James and Trav. It was just under a minute as we hit the climb. I eventually managed to ride Xander off of my wheel and chased as hard as possible to catch James and Trav. It didn't seem to be working, but near the top I saw a red shirt in the distance... I thought it was the camera crew but soon realized it was James and Trav. They were around 30-40 seconds ahead but I was now absolutely red lining. I managed to close a very slight amount before the top of the climb, but they were just much too strong... As soon as the descending started, the gap stayed pretty much the same, but once on the flats and undulations they left me for parking, and rapidly opened a big lead. I rode out of my skin, and tried everything to at least make a dent in the lead that they'd made but in the end they were MACHINE!
I settled for 3rd overall and 3rd Junior, and man was I super stoked with the result. James took the win, with Trav a minute or so behind, and myself or so minutes down. Craig and Ryan had a bummer, with both of them pulling out. Ryan Had a huge crash and Craig just didn't have the legs, and decided o rest up for Sani2C. Pete had a scorcher and finished an awesome 7th overall in the ultra! and Candy got 1st juior lady and first lady overall in the half marathon!
Thanks to Pete's relatives for the awesome accommodation and to TJSA for the Jeep! it was really an awesome experience.
Now its time to hit some speed work and get ready for the national in April
After a really long trip we arrived in the tiny town and went straight to the venue to register, and hit a ride to wake up the legs for the following days racing. After the quick spin we headed out to Hazyview, where we stayed at Pete's aunt and uncles farm. It was really cool of them to let us stay in their house while they were away, and even better... they gave us some awesome food :) After supper we all had an early night after the really long day of travelling.
Saturday Morning dawned and the weather looked fantastic for racing. We packed our bikes onto the Jeep and headed straight to the venue. As we arrived Craig an Pete went straight out for their warm up. Ryan, Candy and I all chilled at the jeep and pumped up some tunes to try get psyched.
After a VERY thorough warm up we all made our way to the start for our 45 odd km race that lay ahead. All the big names were up from KZN and the other provinces, like James Reid, Trav Walker, Adam Reyneke and Arno du Toit. James was decorated in the new leaders jersey and his presence was definitely known amongst the riders. Straight out of the starting blocks it was James who made the first move which began to string out the bunch straight away. We hit the first climb and the pace got even hotter. James managed to get away, with Trav Walker bridging across the gap. They began to open a gap really rapidly. My legs were absolutely screaming, and was really putting in a effort just to stay with the chase bunch. I dug super deep and went to the front to see if I could try and get rid of some of the guys in the bunch. Fortunately it worked and the bunch whittled down to 3 of us, being Adam Reyneke and Xander Botha.
We began to work really well together and as we hit the biggest climb of the day Adam dropped off, but the gap had closed to James and Trav. It was just under a minute as we hit the climb. I eventually managed to ride Xander off of my wheel and chased as hard as possible to catch James and Trav. It didn't seem to be working, but near the top I saw a red shirt in the distance... I thought it was the camera crew but soon realized it was James and Trav. They were around 30-40 seconds ahead but I was now absolutely red lining. I managed to close a very slight amount before the top of the climb, but they were just much too strong... As soon as the descending started, the gap stayed pretty much the same, but once on the flats and undulations they left me for parking, and rapidly opened a big lead. I rode out of my skin, and tried everything to at least make a dent in the lead that they'd made but in the end they were MACHINE!
I settled for 3rd overall and 3rd Junior, and man was I super stoked with the result. James took the win, with Trav a minute or so behind, and myself or so minutes down. Craig and Ryan had a bummer, with both of them pulling out. Ryan Had a huge crash and Craig just didn't have the legs, and decided o rest up for Sani2C. Pete had a scorcher and finished an awesome 7th overall in the ultra! and Candy got 1st juior lady and first lady overall in the half marathon!
Thanks to Pete's relatives for the awesome accommodation and to TJSA for the Jeep! it was really an awesome experience.
Now its time to hit some speed work and get ready for the national in April
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