2011 Santa Ynez Pro XCT - Race #1 - USA

So this weekend was my first race in the States... in a small town that goes by the name of Santa Ynes-Los Olivios.

Early Saturday morning I left my accommodation in San Diego, and made the 5hr trip up to Santa Ynez with Alex Estrada, World Cycles, and his girlfriend. We arrived at the track, got registered and headed straight out onto the course for some practice. The course seemed like it was going to be a really long, yet super fun course. The loop was around 10miles, and with me racing as a Pro, I would be doing 3 laps.

After just one lap we packed up and made our way across to our over night accommodation, JUST before the heavens opened. The rain set in heavily for the night and didnt let up until just before the race.

It was cold, windy and pretty miserable at the venue, but that didnt stop the spectators and competitors from flooding into the race village to watch the racing unfold. Fortunately for the Pro's, the course had been cut from a 10 mile lap, to a 6,5mile lap, due to the "SUPER Mud" that had formed in places. At 9 sharp we took our places on the start, and man, were there some rather big names amongst the Pro's. Sid Taberlay (5 x Australian national Champ) and Zach Valdez were a couple of the names that would be vying for top honours. I kinda kept a clear head and ust stayed focused on getting the best result possible.

I managed to get what I would classify as, the BEST start I have ever had, managing to get into the lead. With a clear track ahead of me I wound it up. Taking full advantage of the clear track in front of me. I managed, Surprisingly, to put a 10-20second gap between myself and Sid over the first lap, with Zach around 10-15 seconds down on him. With the back markers now scattered all over the track, the gap stayed pretty much the same over the 2nd lap. The rain eventually let up, which actually made riding conditions way, WAY worse! The mud had turned into a clay-ish mud, known as "Peanut Butter Mud" which stuck to everything, making riding almost impossible. The mud had become so bad that I was forced to walk, not run, with my bike. Even on the downhill's it was almost impossible to pedal. Sid caught up and rode clean past me, leaving me absolutely gob-smacked. He literally rode away through the mud. Possibly the only one who could ride most of the last lap. After walking around 5 of the 6,5 mile course I came home 3rd in the Pro/ Elite category. A little disappointing, nut a really good indicator of where my form is at the moment.

A really awesome experience, a huge thanks needs to go out to Mike Mulder for hosting me the whole of last week. A huge thanks to everyone at Ellsworth for all the help and welcoming hand. To Alex for the lift to Santa Ynez and to all the support back home in SA!! You guys rock!

I'm now in Big Bear, an amazing little city that touches the sky. I'm staying with the AWESOME Romero family (Paul, Karen and Jordan). The riding here is SUPER awesome! I'll be posting up some pics of the race tomorrow, I'm off to hit the hay, got a heavy day at the Bonelli Pro XCT Course.

Keep it real
B

USA - Some Pics of Everything

My seat for 16... LONG hours


Train shuttle to the different terminals at Atlanta Int - Sorry for the blury image




Waiting outside San Diego Int


Too big to even fit in the camera


Some Images of inside Mike's house




Mike's Garage












Really cool neighbourhood


Mike's sweet toy in the garage


view from my room














a couple images of Mike Moulders place (my accommodation for the past week)

awesome ride, a view of Tony Ellsworth's "castle"... my destination after 2h30

a view from the "castle"


a couple of the frames in the Ellsworth Castle


some more scenery




if you think the cars are big.... check out the bike rack


sucks I cant eat any of this.... apparently its the best ice cream around!!


New 2012 Fox RP23


The craziest truck I've seen while over here


Thanks to Loaded for the new product!! Super Stoked to be riding under Their wing! waiting for a green stem to match the green rocker.

some brand marketing

Hey guys! My first post from sunny San Diego!!

Check out the awesome pics of my car that just got branded!!

A Very Special Thank you

With my trip to the US just hours away, I feel that a huge thanks needs to go out to a number of people who have helped make it possible!

Johann Wykerd for all his time, effort, advice and input over the years

Allegra Wykerd for all the many hours of her own time ensuring that I would eventually be prepared to follow my dreams

Burry Stander for all his support, advice and encouragement

Team Jeep South Africa for their backing over the last 4 seasons

Max Cluer who pulled some interesting strings and ensuring we were always tops.

Clint Morck who never fails to amaze, working tirelessly behind the scenes

Bronwen Blunden who is such an inspiration and a lady who can get things done

Bex van der Linde for all her support

The guys from 32GI

Craig Wright who has become a source of backup and incredible support. Thanks for the spare wheels

Craig Paul who has been a fantastic mentor and friend since joining Team Jeep

Caitlin de Wet and her family for their help while in Windham

Dellah Paul who helped navigate many a mine field and was always happy to give advice

Lynn Vogel for arranging air fares that I do not think will ever be matched

My aunt- Lynne Davids without who's assistance this trip would not have been possible

Clint Olsen and the Cyclelab team for the awesome tyres

Mike for the super sharp ForEx rates

Tony Ellsworth and his entire team at Ellsworth Handcrafted Bicycles Inc who will be taking care of me while I am in California and in Idaho at the US Nationals.

To all those in the States, including:
Summer
Chiapin
Bryan
Gus
Riley
Joey
Alex
These people who I have yet to physically meet have accepted me with open arms and will ensure that this trip will be one that will remain in my memory for many many years to come.

All the above mentioned names have had a major influence on my trip in one way or another, but the people I owe the greatest thank you to, are my family... My mom, dad and brother. Having their full support makes chasing my dreams far easier and their support through thick and thin has been nothing short of amazing.

I thank everyone mentioned above as well as everyone who supports me out there at the races! If it weren't for you, my next post wouldn't be coming from the US!!

KZN XCO Cup #2

Hey guys, sorry for such a late post on the past weekends race! I've been running around trying to finalize everything before heading over to the States.

On Sunday was the 2nd round of the KZN XCO series and was heald at the Roy Hesketh race track. The track was relatively short and fast, around an eleven minute lap, but super fun!

The new batch format meant that both Youth, Juniors and Elites could all race together, making racing a lot more intense, a lot more tricky and much, much more interesting. "A" batch lined up at around 8:00 and to my surprise, was rather large. A couple of the usual favourites were there, James Reid, Travis Walker, Paddy Belton, racing would be tough.

The whistle went, with a lightning fast start from Travis the racing soon took flight. James and I managed to snake our way through the bunch from around 4th and 5th. James and I sat at the front of the lead bunch for the first lap and then managed to put a hard surge in creating a gap on the rest of the riders.

From lap 2 James and I rode at a really high tempo, just hard enough to maintain the 1minute gap that had opened up between us and 3rd. The laps flew by and before we knew it we were racing into lap 5. We began to race a little harder, pushing it to try and find fault or weakness in each other. This went on until lap 9, the final lap. We tried our luck at dropping one another, but to no avail. A sprint finish it would be. With us entering the last few hundred meters James tried to create a gap once again. Luckily I managed to cover the attack and sat on hit wheel as we entered the last piece of single track. As we dropped off the single track onto the short piece of tar towards the finish, the sprint opened up. James and I kicked at the exact same time, I managed to pick up some speed, but ran out of runway. James pipped me to the line in a very hard fought sprint! Top notch riding by him!

Thanks to Nick Floros for putting together such an awesome race!

Now my final prep for the USA is underway, I'm busy running around trying to organize my visa and flights before the planned departure date of the 29th.

Until next time
B

Back on Track - PE National 2011

Hey guys! sorry for such a delay in my posting! Went through a bit of a lull, got REALLY lazy, but everything is back on track, I'm more motivated than ever before, and I'm amped on life at the moment!

Not much has actually taken place these past few weeks, just one or two small classics, but the main event was definitely the PE National one week ago. After not having a National in PE for over 4 years, it was really great to be back and racing in the city for the second time this season. The new XCO track was a HUGE improvement on the one before, with it being one of my favourite courses of the season to date.

The course was definitely a true XCO one. Short, sharp, technical climbs. Fast, rocky and technical descents, good overtaking spots and of course, FLAT OUT all the time. I got my first ride in on the course on Thursday afternoon, and was quite frankly, blown away by the amazing track! Friday morning saw me at the track rather early in order to get my practice over and done with as well as to check any new lines which may have formed. Once satisfied it was time to chill hard with good friend and TJSA Team Mate-Trav Walker.

Race day..... I'd managed to fix a small problem which I had encountered during practice, with the tremendous help of Craig Wright. The weather took a turn in my favour, the heavens opened just before the start of our race, which would definitely make for an interesting race.

From the whistle I had a pretty crappy start to say the least. I was down in around 8th but managed to work my way to fourth as we entered the first single track. As we hit the first hard climb the bunch split up drastically, with only a few Juniors managing to make the gap. Arno du Toit, Gert Heyns, myself and Luke Roberts were now in the lead group. The bunch stayed really knit together until we crested a climb around halfway into the track. Luke went to the front while we steamed along the road leading to the fast switch back single track. I left my move pretty late, but managed to enter the single track in 2nd. Luke and I managed to open up a small gap over the remainder of the track, having around 20sec. on Gert as we entered the 2nd lap. We continued to push the pace, which in turn increased the time gap to 3rd. The muddy/gritty conditions began to take its toll on the bikes, with me losing all but 3 gears around 1,5km from the end of the 2nd lap. i began to struggle on the gradual uphill to the start/finish, and could only watch as Luke began to open a gap on me. I was forced to run 2 of the 3 steep climbs, which again meant I was conceeding time to the lead. On lap 4 I managed to force the shifter to give me 2 more gears, enabling to ride the climbs once again. Luke's bike had also begun to suffer, with his fork beginning to seize I was able to slightly close the gap, but the gap that he'd opened was just too big leaving me to settle for 2nd at the end of the day, a little over a minute behind.

thanks to Marc Sing Key for the image

A huge thank you needs to go out to Ellsworth Bikes for my amazing Truth SST.2 . Everytime I ride that bike it just feels better and better!

Congrats to the organisers on an unreal XC track! Really top notch! Now comes the final preparation before I head over to the States on a 2 month racing campaign internationally, where I'll be doing a number of the Pro XCT races, National Championships as well as the Windham World Cup!

Until next time
Ciao
B