Hey Guys
I've been trying out the new Nokian NBX Lite 2.0 Tyre. All i can say is... WOW!!! its a lighter version off my previous Nokian NBT tyre. The new tyres are around 500g a tyre and are fully tubeless! They're probably the best handling tyre I've ridden to dat, its got low rolling resistance, and doesnt lose any grip when pushing through corners!
I seriously recommend these tyres! Go check them out! Stocked at W Squared Cycling up in Hilton!!
Ciao
B
Friday, July 23, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
South African XCO Championships - Pretoria
Hey guys, this past Saturday was the South African Championships held at the Fountains Valley, on the outskirts of Pretoria.
I went a week early and stayed with some close family friends in Pretoria not to far from the event. The Steyn's were really welcoming and very helpful the entire week, taking me backwards and forwards to the track. A massive thanks needs to go out to them for their hospitality.
After a good week of prep race day dawned. I felt really good, and was super amped to hit the track. The early morning chill was still lingering in the air as we arrived at the venue. We got there just in time to catch the final few minutes of the womens racing! Well done to Candice Neethling, Mariske Strauss and Yolande Speedy for winning their races.
With around half an hour or so to go, I set up my station on the trainer, and began to warm up the legs. I warmed up until the absolute last minute before we were called up onto the start grid. The junior field was really big, and went 5 rows deep. Fortunately I was seeded on the font row and had a prime line into the first corner. Out the start blocks Arno du Toit lunged out front. I dived in for the 3rd wheel and had a really good position going into the first single track.
Arno began to open the gap almost instantly. I tried my best to get past the rider between Arno and myself, but unfortunately he would not let me through and this enabled Arno to destroy the race up front. We entered the toughest section of the race, and riders began to make mistakes. I made the most of the opportunity and began to try and close the gap back down to Arno. Going onto the 2nd lap I moved over and took on some fluids in the feed zone allowing James Reid and Ruan du Toit to come through to share the work load. Unfortunately Ruan then began to suffer stomach cramps, which then allowed the gap to open between James and I. I eventually got passed him, along with Travis Walker and Gert Heyns in tow.
We stayed like this until lap 4 where I made a couple of mistakes which allowed Trav and Gert to get through and Trav put down the hammer and slowly but surely started to get away. I chased hard over the final two laps but couldn't close back up to the top 3. I was really stoked with my form and my ride, even though I didn't end up on the podium as I had planned to do.
The biggest bummer of the day is the fact that my spare wheels went missing from the event , so if anybody has loaded them up by mistake or saw somebody take them from the KZN gazebo, please deop me an e mail. They are ZTR Olympic rims with American classic hubs, red KCNC skewers, Sram XX cluster and brand new Nokian NBT tyres.
Well the XC season is now over together with the long school holidays and it is back to school tomorrow. Once again a huge thank you to Sias and Nettie Steyn for all the help. I was also fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time with the guys from MTN and particularly Paul Cordes who showed me some neat lines during practice. It was also great to get to know, Adrian, Justice, Yolande,Paul and Mariske a bit better. You guys rock.
I will now be turning my attention to the Classics and Marathon races as well as a few road events in preparation for the 2011 season.
Till later
I went a week early and stayed with some close family friends in Pretoria not to far from the event. The Steyn's were really welcoming and very helpful the entire week, taking me backwards and forwards to the track. A massive thanks needs to go out to them for their hospitality.
After a good week of prep race day dawned. I felt really good, and was super amped to hit the track. The early morning chill was still lingering in the air as we arrived at the venue. We got there just in time to catch the final few minutes of the womens racing! Well done to Candice Neethling, Mariske Strauss and Yolande Speedy for winning their races.
With around half an hour or so to go, I set up my station on the trainer, and began to warm up the legs. I warmed up until the absolute last minute before we were called up onto the start grid. The junior field was really big, and went 5 rows deep. Fortunately I was seeded on the font row and had a prime line into the first corner. Out the start blocks Arno du Toit lunged out front. I dived in for the 3rd wheel and had a really good position going into the first single track.
Arno began to open the gap almost instantly. I tried my best to get past the rider between Arno and myself, but unfortunately he would not let me through and this enabled Arno to destroy the race up front. We entered the toughest section of the race, and riders began to make mistakes. I made the most of the opportunity and began to try and close the gap back down to Arno. Going onto the 2nd lap I moved over and took on some fluids in the feed zone allowing James Reid and Ruan du Toit to come through to share the work load. Unfortunately Ruan then began to suffer stomach cramps, which then allowed the gap to open between James and I. I eventually got passed him, along with Travis Walker and Gert Heyns in tow.
We stayed like this until lap 4 where I made a couple of mistakes which allowed Trav and Gert to get through and Trav put down the hammer and slowly but surely started to get away. I chased hard over the final two laps but couldn't close back up to the top 3. I was really stoked with my form and my ride, even though I didn't end up on the podium as I had planned to do.
The biggest bummer of the day is the fact that my spare wheels went missing from the event , so if anybody has loaded them up by mistake or saw somebody take them from the KZN gazebo, please deop me an e mail. They are ZTR Olympic rims with American classic hubs, red KCNC skewers, Sram XX cluster and brand new Nokian NBT tyres.
Well the XC season is now over together with the long school holidays and it is back to school tomorrow. Once again a huge thank you to Sias and Nettie Steyn for all the help. I was also fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time with the guys from MTN and particularly Paul Cordes who showed me some neat lines during practice. It was also great to get to know, Adrian, Justice, Yolande,Paul and Mariske a bit better. You guys rock.
I will now be turning my attention to the Classics and Marathon races as well as a few road events in preparation for the 2011 season.
Till later
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
First Super Classic win!
This past weekend was the Safire Baynesfield Super classic, the 8th race of the series. All the usual top KZN performers were present,which would definitely make for some interesting racing.
I was unable to warm up properly due to the pretty cold conditions and the traffic on the roads, so I did my best to try and warm up the engine. I got to the start line with 15 minutes to go to try get a good position on the line.
Off the start there were a few small attacks which were quickly reeled back as soon as we hit the open dirt roads. Things began to get a tad hairy as the pace began to increase. Two riders touched wheels and went down not more than 10cm next to me, and took down a couple of other riders in the process. Craig was one of them, but fortunately he stayed positive and was able to catch back up to the lead group.
Now there were 4 Jeep riders (CRaig, Willi, Ryan and I) Andrew Hill and Andrew Warr. We hit the first climb, and the lack of a warm up definitely made me see stars... I got dropped very quickly, but managed to time trial myself back into the group, only to get dropped again as I made contact with the group. Ryan fell off the group with me, leaving Craig and the two Andrew's up front. We crested the climb, and I decided to try bridge the gap on the descent. Ryan had a mechanical, which left me to soldier on alone. After taking HUGE chances on the grassy descents I finally made contact with the lead group.
The pace slowed dramatically after I made contact, which gave me some time to recover. Then came the longest climb of the day. Both Andrew's upped the pace as we hit the first slopes of the mountain. Craig eventually dropped off the back slightly, which left myself, Andrew Hill and Andrew Warr in front. I put in an attack to try split it up more, but I couldn't shake them. We peaked the climb and hit the long single track descent. Andrew Warr hit the trail first, followed by myself and then Andrew Hill. We managed to drop Andrew Hill in the twisty single track, only to be joined by Craig, who is a single track guru.
Andrew, Craig and I now had a very comfortable gap over the 4th place rider, which we almost lost after getting lost for a few minutes. We now entered the final single track, which was a very energy sapping one. It was flat and twisty, which demanded a lot of accelerating out of corners, which definitely tired the legs out. We eventually reached the end of it, and turned onto a long straight road which lead up to the finish. Craig pulled off the front almost instantly, leaving Andrew Warr in the front, with me on his wheel. I sat until we had around 500m to go. I pulled out and attacked really hard, catching them off guard. I crossed the line 1second ahead, with Craig Paul in 2nd and Andrew Warr in 3rd.
I was insanely stoked to have clinched my first overall win in a Super Classic. It also gave me a really good indicator of where my form is for the South African Championships in 2 weeks time!
A huge thanks to Saffire Insurance for a really awesome event.
.JPG)
.JPG)
I was unable to warm up properly due to the pretty cold conditions and the traffic on the roads, so I did my best to try and warm up the engine. I got to the start line with 15 minutes to go to try get a good position on the line.
Off the start there were a few small attacks which were quickly reeled back as soon as we hit the open dirt roads. Things began to get a tad hairy as the pace began to increase. Two riders touched wheels and went down not more than 10cm next to me, and took down a couple of other riders in the process. Craig was one of them, but fortunately he stayed positive and was able to catch back up to the lead group.
Now there were 4 Jeep riders (CRaig, Willi, Ryan and I) Andrew Hill and Andrew Warr. We hit the first climb, and the lack of a warm up definitely made me see stars... I got dropped very quickly, but managed to time trial myself back into the group, only to get dropped again as I made contact with the group. Ryan fell off the group with me, leaving Craig and the two Andrew's up front. We crested the climb, and I decided to try bridge the gap on the descent. Ryan had a mechanical, which left me to soldier on alone. After taking HUGE chances on the grassy descents I finally made contact with the lead group.
The pace slowed dramatically after I made contact, which gave me some time to recover. Then came the longest climb of the day. Both Andrew's upped the pace as we hit the first slopes of the mountain. Craig eventually dropped off the back slightly, which left myself, Andrew Hill and Andrew Warr in front. I put in an attack to try split it up more, but I couldn't shake them. We peaked the climb and hit the long single track descent. Andrew Warr hit the trail first, followed by myself and then Andrew Hill. We managed to drop Andrew Hill in the twisty single track, only to be joined by Craig, who is a single track guru.
Andrew, Craig and I now had a very comfortable gap over the 4th place rider, which we almost lost after getting lost for a few minutes. We now entered the final single track, which was a very energy sapping one. It was flat and twisty, which demanded a lot of accelerating out of corners, which definitely tired the legs out. We eventually reached the end of it, and turned onto a long straight road which lead up to the finish. Craig pulled off the front almost instantly, leaving Andrew Warr in the front, with me on his wheel. I sat until we had around 500m to go. I pulled out and attacked really hard, catching them off guard. I crossed the line 1second ahead, with Craig Paul in 2nd and Andrew Warr in 3rd.
I was insanely stoked to have clinched my first overall win in a Super Classic. It also gave me a really good indicator of where my form is for the South African Championships in 2 weeks time!
A huge thanks to Saffire Insurance for a really awesome event.
.JPG)
.JPG)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)