Bits and Pieces

Hey Guys

After the past couple weeks I was fortunate enough to spend some time with my brother, Kyle, who was flown out by Team Sho-Air to come and visit and see what my new avenue in life is all about.

Needless to say, there wasn't a moment we weren't laughing... From the second we picked him up from the airport I couldn't stop smiling or laughing... Over the course of his three week stay we tried to jam in as much as possible to try and make his stay a memorable one. I even got him to do a lap of the absolutely BRUTAL, Fontana City National race course, and if I'm not mistaken, I believe he said, " Dude, I now have mad respect for you cross country guys!" To be completely honest, I didn't think he'd make one lap of the track, partly because he was on a large, 16kg, 29er. I have to give him mad props for grinding a lap out with Team Sho-Air manager, Ty Kady, and I.

Then came our visits (two of them) up to Ventura for a change of scenery and of course, the all important introduction to my girlfriend, Kendall. While up in Ventura we managed to borrow a bike from the Ryan family, which enabled Kyle to get in some good riding. I have to again give him mad props for sticking out a couple 4-5hr rides along the coast to Santa Barbara, not bad for a downhiller!

road tripping to Ventura with Kendall

Kyle soldiered through a 4,5hr ride to Santa Barbara.

The second of our two visits to Ventura was definitely an exciting one. Over the Easter weekend, Kendall's mom, Mary, picked us up from our house in Santa Ana, drove up to Ventura, picked up Kendall and her two siblings, Alexis and Morgan, and made a beeline to Magic Mountain/6 flags to give Kyle a taste of some real roller coasters! The look on his face during the first ride was priceless. His face turned white and his eyes seemed to pop out of his head, he even let out a little whimper as we made the first drop. His state of terror soon turned into one of pure and utter enjoyment and by the end of the first ride he couldn't wait to get onto the next. Unfortunately due to the park being extremely busy we had to wait close on an hour to get onto each ride, but to be able to spend time with my brother was well worth it.

I am extremely thankful to Team Sho-Air Owner, Scott Tedro, and team manager, Ty, for making my brothers trip possible. The time with him was absolutely priceless and definitely gave me that much more motivation as the run into Sea Otter Classic is approaching. Another huge thanks needs to go out to the Ryan family, who put up the Davids' shenanigans for close on two weeks of his 3 week stay. And how could I forget, Johnny and Mari, my amazing room mates, thanks for everything while my brother was here, it really meant a lot!

Now with only 2 days till we embark on our trip to Sea Otter, I can't even begin to describe my excitement. My coach/mentor Burry Stander will be out there racing and my former team manager, and big brother figure, Max Cluer will be doing the honors of commentating. Its gonna be one awesome event, I can't wait to see some familiar faces!

I'll keep you posted over the next couple of days!

Regards

B

Fontana City National

Hi guys, firstly I apologise for not having done my blog post sooner! Things have been insanely hectic these past couple of weeks.

Since the Bonelli Pro XCT a couple weeks ago, I took an easy "recovery" week and went straight into my preparation for the upcoming Sea Otter Classic. In the midst of my hard block of training, the annual Fontana City National XCO was run.

With my brother having just arrived from South Africa to visit, I was keen to put on a good show. But racing on tired legs meant that the racing was just going to be that much more difficult. Sunday came around, warm and sunny, it seemed that it would be the perfect day for some racing. That was until the clouds rolled in, the wind picked up and the rain began to pelt down. The early races managed to make the most of the beautiful early morning weather, but by the time the Pro Men's field was lining up later in the afternoon, the temperature dropped and the rain started to spit.

I made my move off the start, and attacked the first of four brutal laps as hard as I could. On a course with 700-800ft of steep, technical climbing as well as tons of technical descending, I felt that riding the climbs hard would allow me to get a gap before we hit the descents. So the plan was to attack hard, and that's exactly what I did. By the end of the first major climb I had managed to open a gap of around 20seconds and decided to change my tactics up little. I would now be riding the climbs as hard as possible and reserving myself on the descents, keeping myself safe and out of trouble. As I approached the end of the first lap I lost control through a very fast sandy descent and went down like a home-sick mole. Dazed, confused and winded, I tried jumping back to my feet to remount my bike, but fell over gain, I guess I hit my head REALLY hard. Second place rider, Drew Edsall (Kenda/Felt Racing team) came by and thankfully stopped to make sure I was ok, I had fortunately regained some composure and decided to try carry on with the racing.

Going into lap 2 my head still felt a little dizzy, but that aside, I decided to get on with the task at hand. I attacked Drew on the same climb as I had the previous lap and managed to open up another gap. By the end of lap 2 I had a 40seconds gap, and continued to push the pace as I went into the penultimate lap, however, the heavens opened and the rain began to beat down on the rocky terrain. I rode the lap smoothly and made sure not to throw it away as the technical granite sections began to get a little more slick. Although I had taken the third lap a little more cautiously I had managed to extend my lead over the minute mark. I was now heading out into the final lap, and to my surprise, the course was surprisingly grippy. The only mishap was a couple of back markers in the latter stage of the lap which resulted in a couple of awkward/hairy situations while trying to make a pass, but everything went off perfectly and without a hitch. I crossed the line with the win, around 1min40 up on Drew. What made this win so much more special is the fact that it is my first Professional win... A HUGE thank to both Specialized and the entire Sho-Air team, my bike was absolutely awesome and the set up and backing from the team was insane! My brother did an amazing job feeding and supporting and I know that my parents were routing for me all the way back in South Africa! Thanks to everyone for all the insane support, it really means the world to me.

Now comes the final prep for Sea Otter... THE BIG ONE!