Been helping Ryan Ellis out with some Promo filming for the Maritzburg World Cup!
Check it out www.youtube.com
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Tyre Shredding Madness - SA XCM Championships
Hey Guys, today was the 2011 South African National XCM (marathon and half-marathon) championships, held at Inanda Dam just outside of Hillcrest. With a name like "The Valley of a Thousand Hills," racing was never going to be easy, especially with a title up for grabs in the Junior/Half Marathon Category.
Having ridden the 90 odd kilometer loop with Burry on Thursday, I felt pretty familiar with the area and felt ready for anything and everything that could possibly be thrown at me. After a pretty brisk warm up, the juniors took to the start line to attack the roads that lead skyward in every direction.
We rolled off the line and onto the long winding road that lead out of the Inanda dam resort at 8am sharp. As we made our turn onto the gravel road around 1km from the start, it was clear that the boys were going to go all out! We hit the first climb and Luke Roberts made his presence known, as he split the bunch into one long line, which slowly broke into a small elite group of 4 or 5 riders up front. We approached one of the steeper climbs of the day - my opportunity presented itself... I put in a hard pull up front and managed to break the group up a little more. Only one rider (Raymond Oosterlaak) was willing to respond and so began our break away. We worked well as we approached the summit, and had managed to open a good gap over the group of chasers. I managed to push myself little harder over the top of the climb, leaving my compatriot behind. From there on I managed to hit the route hard, slightly increasing my lead to round 1minute. Unfortunately I made a stupid mistake by trying to go around a river crossing,which ended up costing me my lead and allowing Luke Roberts to catch back up to me.
Now together,the tactical racing began. Luke would surge to try break the gap, then I would surge to try and counter, a tactical game of cat and mouse. Eventually we found ourselves entering a super fast section a single track where disaster struck. A very dangerous section popped out of nowhere, and to put things into simple perspective, I utterly destroyed my front tyre. A huge hole, the size of my finger had been sliced into my side wall which inevitably forced me to stop, leaving Luke to open a gap. I had to shove two rubber plugs into my side wall to simply try an fix the problem. It was a shocking attempt at a fix, as the air was slowly leaking, but I felt it was enough to last to the finish. Now by this time I had lost my 2nd position and was about to lose my 3rd, By keeping calm and staying unphased I mounted my bike and began my attempt to try reclaim the lead which was now around 2minutes ahead of me.
I soon found myself back on the wheel of Dylan Hattingh (now 2nd) and almost instantly set my sights on clawing my way back to the lead. At the 15km to go mark I got news that I was only 1minute down and could now see Luke ahead of me. With around 5 or 6km to go he was only 35seconds up on me, but now I was also fighting a tyre that was furociously wanting to roll off the rim. With 3km to go the traffic between the 20km back markers became mayhem. I tried to ride around an overenthusiastic back marker, who completely misunderstood my plead for "TRACK, COMMING on your right!" which lead to me rolling my tyre completely off my rim and I subsequently hit the deck,hard. I stumbled to my feet to see a very sad and miserable looking race machine lying in a heap. I straddled the bike once more and went as fast as humanly possible, bearing in mind that riding with a tyre that continuosly rolls both on and off the rim, is like riding on an ice rink, with a few million marbles chucked on for good measure. With only 200-300 meters to go, Dylan Hattingh came blaring passed me leaving me to cross the line in 3rd, 2minutes down on Luke.
A very disappointing day in the office. A much better performance from the previous week, at least I now have my geometery dialled. Time to start preparring for the World Cup in PMB... get down to Pietermaritzburg for this world class event to watch the besthat both South Africa and the World have to offer!!!
Having ridden the 90 odd kilometer loop with Burry on Thursday, I felt pretty familiar with the area and felt ready for anything and everything that could possibly be thrown at me. After a pretty brisk warm up, the juniors took to the start line to attack the roads that lead skyward in every direction.
We rolled off the line and onto the long winding road that lead out of the Inanda dam resort at 8am sharp. As we made our turn onto the gravel road around 1km from the start, it was clear that the boys were going to go all out! We hit the first climb and Luke Roberts made his presence known, as he split the bunch into one long line, which slowly broke into a small elite group of 4 or 5 riders up front. We approached one of the steeper climbs of the day - my opportunity presented itself... I put in a hard pull up front and managed to break the group up a little more. Only one rider (Raymond Oosterlaak) was willing to respond and so began our break away. We worked well as we approached the summit, and had managed to open a good gap over the group of chasers. I managed to push myself little harder over the top of the climb, leaving my compatriot behind. From there on I managed to hit the route hard, slightly increasing my lead to round 1minute. Unfortunately I made a stupid mistake by trying to go around a river crossing,which ended up costing me my lead and allowing Luke Roberts to catch back up to me.
Now together,the tactical racing began. Luke would surge to try break the gap, then I would surge to try and counter, a tactical game of cat and mouse. Eventually we found ourselves entering a super fast section a single track where disaster struck. A very dangerous section popped out of nowhere, and to put things into simple perspective, I utterly destroyed my front tyre. A huge hole, the size of my finger had been sliced into my side wall which inevitably forced me to stop, leaving Luke to open a gap. I had to shove two rubber plugs into my side wall to simply try an fix the problem. It was a shocking attempt at a fix, as the air was slowly leaking, but I felt it was enough to last to the finish. Now by this time I had lost my 2nd position and was about to lose my 3rd, By keeping calm and staying unphased I mounted my bike and began my attempt to try reclaim the lead which was now around 2minutes ahead of me.
I soon found myself back on the wheel of Dylan Hattingh (now 2nd) and almost instantly set my sights on clawing my way back to the lead. At the 15km to go mark I got news that I was only 1minute down and could now see Luke ahead of me. With around 5 or 6km to go he was only 35seconds up on me, but now I was also fighting a tyre that was furociously wanting to roll off the rim. With 3km to go the traffic between the 20km back markers became mayhem. I tried to ride around an overenthusiastic back marker, who completely misunderstood my plead for "TRACK, COMMING on your right!" which lead to me rolling my tyre completely off my rim and I subsequently hit the deck,hard. I stumbled to my feet to see a very sad and miserable looking race machine lying in a heap. I straddled the bike once more and went as fast as humanly possible, bearing in mind that riding with a tyre that continuosly rolls both on and off the rim, is like riding on an ice rink, with a few million marbles chucked on for good measure. With only 200-300 meters to go, Dylan Hattingh came blaring passed me leaving me to cross the line in 3rd, 2minutes down on Luke.
A very disappointing day in the office. A much better performance from the previous week, at least I now have my geometery dialled. Time to start preparring for the World Cup in PMB... get down to Pietermaritzburg for this world class event to watch the besthat both South Africa and the World have to offer!!!
Friday, March 18, 2011
SA XCO Championships 2011
OK this must've been one of the more disappointing races in my cycling career, hard due to the fact that the problems that occurred were out of my control. My preparation for the SA Championships went EXTREMELY well! At the High Performance Camp the previous week I had been able to see that my form was definitely good going into the race.
The week leading up to the race was a fairly chilled one, mainly trying to get used to the geometry of the 26inch bike again - unfortunately I am no longer on the Ellsworth Enlightenment29, but am awaiting my brand new Ellsworth Truth Race Machine!. The course slightly resembled a very short half marathon route... fast open dirt roads, with only two or three hundred meters of single track, and A LOT of climbing. Being out in the open, the course would definitely get hot during the course of the day, which would make for some interesting racing.
Race day eventually greeted us with some sunshine and good news, the chief comm. of the event had granted my new African Continental Champion kit legal to race in! Everything leading up to my race went off perfectly - my nutrition, my training.... everything.
At 12:15, during the heat of the day, the juniors began to line up. The race started off a little slower than usual. Maybe this was because of the mountain of a climb that we were about to throw ourselves into! After topping the climb, the race had completely blown apart with Arno du Toit, Gert Heyns, Luke Roberts and myself making the break. We then hit the second climb of the course, where Luke launched his attack. Gert and Arno sat up and decided to let Luke go, seeing an opportunity I rode across to Luke's wheel as we meandered our way to the top of the course, Gert managed to bridge the gap before the top, which now left 3 of us up front. The group stayed like this until half way through the third lap, when disaster struck, for me... having not being used to the geometry of the 26-inch bike, my back had begun to cramp, which meant I had to push harder just to maintain the same speed... As a result I slowly lost touch of Luke and Gert as they just began to ride away from. Things went from bad to worse as I cant even remember losing my third position to Dylan Hatting... Still thinking I was third I went into cruise control just to try and limit my losses and hopefully recover to try make some sort of come back. Unfortunately that didn't happen and upon crossing the finish line after lap five, I was told I was now in forth, which seriously erked me! Feeling very disappointed in myself as well as feeling I had let down the people who were supporting me, I decided to head on back to my accommodation in Table View, to look back on what had caused the problem during the race, before heading out to dinner with some friends in Stellenbosch.
Definitely a very upsetting race, but all very good experience. A HUGE thanks needs to go out to Craig and Cameron Wright for the use of their awesome race wheels! you guys are life savers!! This weekend is the SA Marathon and Junior/Half Marathon championships, I'm firing on all cylinders and raring to go! Wait for the post to see how it goes!!
until next time
B
Thanks to Mark Austin Photography for the awesome pics!
The week leading up to the race was a fairly chilled one, mainly trying to get used to the geometry of the 26inch bike again - unfortunately I am no longer on the Ellsworth Enlightenment29, but am awaiting my brand new Ellsworth Truth Race Machine!. The course slightly resembled a very short half marathon route... fast open dirt roads, with only two or three hundred meters of single track, and A LOT of climbing. Being out in the open, the course would definitely get hot during the course of the day, which would make for some interesting racing.
Race day eventually greeted us with some sunshine and good news, the chief comm. of the event had granted my new African Continental Champion kit legal to race in! Everything leading up to my race went off perfectly - my nutrition, my training.... everything.
At 12:15, during the heat of the day, the juniors began to line up. The race started off a little slower than usual. Maybe this was because of the mountain of a climb that we were about to throw ourselves into! After topping the climb, the race had completely blown apart with Arno du Toit, Gert Heyns, Luke Roberts and myself making the break. We then hit the second climb of the course, where Luke launched his attack. Gert and Arno sat up and decided to let Luke go, seeing an opportunity I rode across to Luke's wheel as we meandered our way to the top of the course, Gert managed to bridge the gap before the top, which now left 3 of us up front. The group stayed like this until half way through the third lap, when disaster struck, for me... having not being used to the geometry of the 26-inch bike, my back had begun to cramp, which meant I had to push harder just to maintain the same speed... As a result I slowly lost touch of Luke and Gert as they just began to ride away from. Things went from bad to worse as I cant even remember losing my third position to Dylan Hatting... Still thinking I was third I went into cruise control just to try and limit my losses and hopefully recover to try make some sort of come back. Unfortunately that didn't happen and upon crossing the finish line after lap five, I was told I was now in forth, which seriously erked me! Feeling very disappointed in myself as well as feeling I had let down the people who were supporting me, I decided to head on back to my accommodation in Table View, to look back on what had caused the problem during the race, before heading out to dinner with some friends in Stellenbosch.
Definitely a very upsetting race, but all very good experience. A HUGE thanks needs to go out to Craig and Cameron Wright for the use of their awesome race wheels! you guys are life savers!! This weekend is the SA Marathon and Junior/Half Marathon championships, I'm firing on all cylinders and raring to go! Wait for the post to see how it goes!!
until next time
B
Thanks to Mark Austin Photography for the awesome pics!
Living the Dream....
This is where I truely managed to get a feel of the life as a professional Athlete. Although training was harder than ever, it was just amazing to be exploring new roads and training grounds in the process.
Like I said...After the HP camp I pretty much carried on with my major prep for the South African Championships which were fast approaching, only 2 weeks away. I had taken over the house of good friend James Reid, along with his girlfriend Candice Neethling.
The week of training in Cape Town went fairly well... we had a few very scenic rides around what is currently the Argus route, on some of the most amazing roads I've ever ridden. The passes and roads that we found ourselves on would fool you into believing you were riding right through a little village in the middle of Italy.
Having never been able to stay in Cape Town long enough to actually see any of the major attractions, I jumped at the opportunity to explore the different markets, beaches and scenery that surround the city.
The time at James' place was always very chilled, never feeling stressed out or unwelcome. The hospitality of James' parents was unbelievable. To put up with one cyclist is ridiculous, but to put up with three??!!!! A massive thank you to Steve and Janet for an awesome stay as well as James' older brother, Luke for putting us up in his room.
(good ride up chappies with the boys, and girl, after the HP camp)
(one of my all time favourite rides-Red Hill, 6 switch backs leading up, and out of Simonstown)
Like I said...After the HP camp I pretty much carried on with my major prep for the South African Championships which were fast approaching, only 2 weeks away. I had taken over the house of good friend James Reid, along with his girlfriend Candice Neethling.
The week of training in Cape Town went fairly well... we had a few very scenic rides around what is currently the Argus route, on some of the most amazing roads I've ever ridden. The passes and roads that we found ourselves on would fool you into believing you were riding right through a little village in the middle of Italy.
Having never been able to stay in Cape Town long enough to actually see any of the major attractions, I jumped at the opportunity to explore the different markets, beaches and scenery that surround the city.
The time at James' place was always very chilled, never feeling stressed out or unwelcome. The hospitality of James' parents was unbelievable. To put up with one cyclist is ridiculous, but to put up with three??!!!! A massive thank you to Steve and Janet for an awesome stay as well as James' older brother, Luke for putting us up in his room.
(good ride up chappies with the boys, and girl, after the HP camp)
(one of my all time favourite rides-Red Hill, 6 switch backs leading up, and out of Simonstown)Thursday, March 3, 2011
2011 CSA High Performance Camp - SISSA
Ok guys, its been AGES since the last post! Sorry for the lack of communication over the past few weeks. A lot has happened since the last post, beginning with the CSA High Performance Camp at SISSA in Cape Town.
Many of the young up and coming cyclist in the SA MTB fraternity have one goal in mind, to be on the front line of the world circuit, the High Performance Program is one of the tools to help us attain our goal.
Cycling South Africa (CSA) flew us down to the Cape to undergo some of the brutal tests to see if we had made any progress, according to data, since the last HP Camp during 2010. After a late flight, a group of 10 or so off us were whisked away to the awesome Strand Tower Hotel, which was to be our accommodation for the next 3 days. After a massive buffet dinner we headed upstairs to catch some shut eye.
Day 1 of the camp greeted us witha VO2max test, a test that is done on a CompuTrainer (indoor trainer with a power meter). Every minute the resistance on the rear wheel increases and continues to do so until one of the two scenarios happens: 1. You throw up, or 2. Utter exhaustion (fainting).This test analyses both our power to weight ratio, our VO2 max and Lactate Threshold. These tests help us to configure a training program as it indicates our different power and heart rate zones. These tests were then followed by medicals, blood tests and one or two lectures on Psychology.
Day 2- The day that everybody feared, the day of pain, lots and lots of pain, the day of the feared 40km Time Trial, in which you go so hard that your stomach turns, your glutes cramp, your head throbs, every single ounce of energy you have goes into mashing your pedals for around an hour. Now going for a hard ride on the road for 40km doesn't seem like a very tormenting thing, but the fact was this, we weren't going to be on the road. We were going to be on a CompuTrainer, in a lab, staring at Computers telling you if you're going fast or looking for parking, HUGE industrial sized jet powered fans spit the wind at you to try and keep you cool. The course programmed into the Trainer is the flattest road imaginable - for 40km.... BUT the worst thing of this test, is the simple fact that you don't move an inch, you don't go forward, theres nothing to make you feel as if you're moving, the only drive to go faster, is the fact that all this torture would be over, sooner, if you go harder.
None of the above mentioned things were made any lighter after witnessing downhiller, and good friend, Tim Bentley, launching himself towards a basin after his TT... Tim managed to get a time of 01h08min... for an XC rider any time near one hour is a really good time, so for a DH boykie to get a time like that you can only imagine the pain he must've suffered through.
Then it was my turn... with a previous time of 1h02min and Phil Buys having just set a time of 58minutes, the pressure was on to try and get under an hour. I got mounted with the strategy of bettering my previous time... and so began my TT. I started easier than normal but decided to watch my speed instead of my avg wattage. If I wanted to go under the 60min mark I had to average a speed just greater than 40km/h. I managed to do so for the entire TT, with an average speed of 40.2km/h and one shattered body!The day then gradually tapered down until we found ourselves back at the hotel.
Day 3- probably one of the most underestimated days of the Camp. What lay ahead was a morning of max power tests = 5x30second sprints at a maximal effort... from a stand still, and to top it off... up the Rhodes Memorial Climb. These intervals were nothing short of brutal, and definitely contested the TT in terms of difficulty.
So was the end of the HP Camp, a very tough three days in the saddle, but all in all a very good experience. I do however feel that the tests were not spaced out enough, however, it was a very well run and a very professional camp. A big thank you needs to go to CSA and all the people down at SISSA who made everything was possible as well as for making all the equipment available to the HP Squad!!
Many of the young up and coming cyclist in the SA MTB fraternity have one goal in mind, to be on the front line of the world circuit, the High Performance Program is one of the tools to help us attain our goal.
Cycling South Africa (CSA) flew us down to the Cape to undergo some of the brutal tests to see if we had made any progress, according to data, since the last HP Camp during 2010. After a late flight, a group of 10 or so off us were whisked away to the awesome Strand Tower Hotel, which was to be our accommodation for the next 3 days. After a massive buffet dinner we headed upstairs to catch some shut eye.
Day 1 of the camp greeted us witha VO2max test, a test that is done on a CompuTrainer (indoor trainer with a power meter). Every minute the resistance on the rear wheel increases and continues to do so until one of the two scenarios happens: 1. You throw up, or 2. Utter exhaustion (fainting).This test analyses both our power to weight ratio, our VO2 max and Lactate Threshold. These tests help us to configure a training program as it indicates our different power and heart rate zones. These tests were then followed by medicals, blood tests and one or two lectures on Psychology.
Day 2- The day that everybody feared, the day of pain, lots and lots of pain, the day of the feared 40km Time Trial, in which you go so hard that your stomach turns, your glutes cramp, your head throbs, every single ounce of energy you have goes into mashing your pedals for around an hour. Now going for a hard ride on the road for 40km doesn't seem like a very tormenting thing, but the fact was this, we weren't going to be on the road. We were going to be on a CompuTrainer, in a lab, staring at Computers telling you if you're going fast or looking for parking, HUGE industrial sized jet powered fans spit the wind at you to try and keep you cool. The course programmed into the Trainer is the flattest road imaginable - for 40km.... BUT the worst thing of this test, is the simple fact that you don't move an inch, you don't go forward, theres nothing to make you feel as if you're moving, the only drive to go faster, is the fact that all this torture would be over, sooner, if you go harder.
None of the above mentioned things were made any lighter after witnessing downhiller, and good friend, Tim Bentley, launching himself towards a basin after his TT... Tim managed to get a time of 01h08min... for an XC rider any time near one hour is a really good time, so for a DH boykie to get a time like that you can only imagine the pain he must've suffered through.
Then it was my turn... with a previous time of 1h02min and Phil Buys having just set a time of 58minutes, the pressure was on to try and get under an hour. I got mounted with the strategy of bettering my previous time... and so began my TT. I started easier than normal but decided to watch my speed instead of my avg wattage. If I wanted to go under the 60min mark I had to average a speed just greater than 40km/h. I managed to do so for the entire TT, with an average speed of 40.2km/h and one shattered body!The day then gradually tapered down until we found ourselves back at the hotel.
Day 3- probably one of the most underestimated days of the Camp. What lay ahead was a morning of max power tests = 5x30second sprints at a maximal effort... from a stand still, and to top it off... up the Rhodes Memorial Climb. These intervals were nothing short of brutal, and definitely contested the TT in terms of difficulty.
So was the end of the HP Camp, a very tough three days in the saddle, but all in all a very good experience. I do however feel that the tests were not spaced out enough, however, it was a very well run and a very professional camp. A big thank you needs to go to CSA and all the people down at SISSA who made everything was possible as well as for making all the equipment available to the HP Squad!!
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