Lock n Load

Man, sorry for the late post guys!! We've been without electricity for 2 days and it only just came on! So I'll try get in a quick blog post!

Last week was my final grueling week of training, and to end the tough block off I decided to hit up another big local race (Harburg Tour de Krantz) to get some race intensity in. This is one of the toughest local races on the calender and is always well attended. With the likes of Itech Connect/Momsen pro rider Brandon Stewart and Andrew Hill (TIB Insurance) the racing was going to be hard and fast. Just what I had gone to look for.

08:30 sharp the racing started, and unlike previous years, the racing seemed to be pretty slow off the blocks. This was pretty short lived, Brandon put a major surge in as we entered the first single-track, splitting the field to pieces. I found myself clinging onto his wheel as we began to hit some of the more serious climbs. Eventually Brandon managed to ride myself and Andrew off his wheel before the summit of the first really tough climb.

After we summited the climb I pushed the pace to see if I could shake Andrew before trying to close the gap to Brandon. It worked. A section with a series of short, sharp climbs allowed me to get away from Andrew and at the same time, inched me closer and closer to Brandon's wheel.

I managed to hold the gap at around 45seconds to Brandon for the majority of the race. The sight of the Film crew in the helicopter always meant that I could judge how far ahead Brandon was for the entire race. On the longer, more open climbs Brandon would stretch the gap out, making me work super hard on the Short, Punchy climbs (like that of XCO) to try and bring the time difference down a notch. As we made our way through the final feed point I received news that Brandon was now 1minute ahead. I pushed on, trying to make up time wherever possible. I eventually had to settle for 2nd Overall (pro) and 1st Junior (u18) around 90seconds back on Brandon. Andrew Hill rounded off the podium a further 4minutes back. Big ups to Brandon, he is coming onto some amazing form and I wish him the best of luck for the up and coming Ultra Marathons!

I'm super happy with where the form is and how it is coming along. with only 9days to my world Championship race I definitely have a very positive frame of mind. I just have to keep my head clean and ignore any distractions that may present themselves. I leave South Africa with the South African XCO and DHI team on Friday and should arrive on Saturday afternoon! Which leaves plenty of time to check out the course and get dialed in. I also hope to meet up with my Mentor, Burry Stander, to get the "low down" on the course.

Pheww! Exciting times!!

Stay tuned

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