Hey guys
This weekend was the Michaelhouse Classic, held at the school and it made for the perfect venue. Having been in base training for the past month I was really unsure as to how my legs would be feeling as I only got the go ahead to give it a bash on Thurday, so I was not really geared to race, but it was actually awesome to get the bit between my teeth again.
I did my best to warm up my legs in the miserable conditions, and before I knew it, it was crunch time. On the start there were a couple of hard hitters like Andrew Hill & Craig Paul. As we left the school I put in a series of attacks to try and split up the field as much as possible. A group of 4 went off the front, including Craig, Andrew, Ian and myself.
About 7km in I came to the front at the entrance to one of the single tracks to try and thin the group out a bit more. I managed to get a small gap along with Andrew Hill, but then disaster struck. A stick had flung up into my derailleur and had shifted my chain into the hardest gear. I tried to pedal but the crank would not roll through. I stopped and worked the stick out as gently as possible and then had to try and bring the chain back up into the right gear. After losing a lot of time I jumped back on and found myself in 4th, as Craig and Ian had shot passed and were chasing down Andrew. I pushed super hard and eventually caught up to Craig who was sitting in third.
My legs at this stage were screaming due to the lack of power and the shock of pushing so hard shock to the system but I kept pushing as hard as possible and finally caught Ian at around the halfway mark. We worked together in order to try reel back Andrew but my legs started to pay the toll from the big effort I had put in earlier. I pushed through and tried to shake Ian at the crest of a few climbs but couldn't hold the gap.
With 10km to go I let Ian go, and tried to restore a little power in an attempt to maybe chase down near the end. 6km's to go and I was 1min 40sec down on Ian and decided I had to close that gap, I sacrificed myself and rode myself into the ground, but only managed to close the gap down to a minute by the finish.
I was SUPER stocked with the result as I've done absolutely no power training for the last month or so, so it was quite a shock to find myself 3rd overall. Well done to Kim Phillips on a very difficult but fantastic course!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Energizer Corporate Night relay
Hey alles!
This past weekend was the Energizer Night Relay held at Hilton College. This is definitely one of the highlights on the calender, as it brings a totally different dimension of racing to the scene.
The weather was really off the whole day on Friday, and really turned nasty in the afternoon right before the racing took place. The mist and the rain didn't let up, we all knew that racing was really going to be interesting in the conditions.I ended up teaming up with team mate Craig Paul, hoping to try and bring home a good result for Energizer, which is one of our sponsors.
With and hour or so to the start Craig rigged up my Dassie Blinder (A down Lighter) to my helmet, man was that thing bright. After our quick demonstrations of the Start and finish we were all ready to race. I was the first rider up for our team. I sat on the start line feeling fairly chilled. With 10 sec or so to the start I switched on the light and was ready to go. As we headed out the school I was back in 3rd or 4th position, but managed to hit the front before the end of the tar road. Unfortunately I made a small mistake and came down pretty hard while going through a fence. I managed to get myself up quickly and pushed to reopen the small gap I had opened.
Upon entering the first single track I had a good gap and rode as fast as possible in every technical section I could in order to open up the gap over the next rider. At around the half way mark I sat up and rode at any easy pace and just kept my gap over the next rider until I reached the transition area where I handed over the timing chip to Craig.
While he was out on his loop I did my best to stay warm, and before I knew it he was in and we were back out on the course. We eased into the 3rd and final lap and slowly upped the pace. We pushed hard in the single track once again to open up the gap on the other teams. Unfortunately the battery for my light started to die, this left me riding with minimal light so the pace dropped dramatically. However, the lead we had built up was enough to see us through to the finish.
It was super awesome to win a race that is sponsored by one of our co-sponsors which is associated with team Jeep! It was one of the few races we were actually able to give back to our sponsors and I definitely look forward to the event next year. Thanks to Energizer for supplying the free lights in the goodie bags and to the marshalls, as well as to jeep for the event t-shirts! Lastly a huge thank you must also go out to my team mate Craig Paul. It was the first time we had teamed up for an event and I certainly look forward to another opportunity in the future.
This past weekend was the Energizer Night Relay held at Hilton College. This is definitely one of the highlights on the calender, as it brings a totally different dimension of racing to the scene.
The weather was really off the whole day on Friday, and really turned nasty in the afternoon right before the racing took place. The mist and the rain didn't let up, we all knew that racing was really going to be interesting in the conditions.I ended up teaming up with team mate Craig Paul, hoping to try and bring home a good result for Energizer, which is one of our sponsors.
With and hour or so to the start Craig rigged up my Dassie Blinder (A down Lighter) to my helmet, man was that thing bright. After our quick demonstrations of the Start and finish we were all ready to race. I was the first rider up for our team. I sat on the start line feeling fairly chilled. With 10 sec or so to the start I switched on the light and was ready to go. As we headed out the school I was back in 3rd or 4th position, but managed to hit the front before the end of the tar road. Unfortunately I made a small mistake and came down pretty hard while going through a fence. I managed to get myself up quickly and pushed to reopen the small gap I had opened.
Upon entering the first single track I had a good gap and rode as fast as possible in every technical section I could in order to open up the gap over the next rider. At around the half way mark I sat up and rode at any easy pace and just kept my gap over the next rider until I reached the transition area where I handed over the timing chip to Craig.
While he was out on his loop I did my best to stay warm, and before I knew it he was in and we were back out on the course. We eased into the 3rd and final lap and slowly upped the pace. We pushed hard in the single track once again to open up the gap on the other teams. Unfortunately the battery for my light started to die, this left me riding with minimal light so the pace dropped dramatically. However, the lead we had built up was enough to see us through to the finish.
It was super awesome to win a race that is sponsored by one of our co-sponsors which is associated with team Jeep! It was one of the few races we were actually able to give back to our sponsors and I definitely look forward to the event next year. Thanks to Energizer for supplying the free lights in the goodie bags and to the marshalls, as well as to jeep for the event t-shirts! Lastly a huge thank you must also go out to my team mate Craig Paul. It was the first time we had teamed up for an event and I certainly look forward to another opportunity in the future.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Lake Eland Classic and Getaway
Hey guys
Sorry its been a long time since I updated. Been away from home most of the holiday at my Girlfriends farm in Port Shepstone. It was really good to get away, It was super relaxing and as always had some AMAZING riding!
While down there I took part in the Lake Eland Super Classic, in Oribi Gorge. This was my first race I had taken part in as a training ride and must say it was very different riding so much slower than at race pace. The ride was very enjoyable, mainly because I actually got to take in most of the beautiful scenery around the area.
I rode most of the race with Candice Neethling and managed to help her with a couple technical issues she had with her bike. All in all it was great fun! Congrats to Craig who pulled of the win!
The rest of the weekend up to Thursday, I stayed at the Neethling's farm along with James Reid. Although the weather was pretty mizz we still rode some awesome rocky, super technical single track, and of course some really cool passes in and around the gorges. Unfortunately I snapped my derailleur while riding one of the paths out in the tribal area, which was really a bleak moment... lucky for me it was the last day, I don't think I could've handled not being able to go riding with the others...
It was so amazing spending time away and managed to get in some other form of riding in, it was really a relaxing and relieving experience, now I'm fully into base training in prep for next years season!
Don't forget.... Friday evening is the Energizer Night Relay, which is held at Hilton College. Craig and I will be teaming up, hoping for a good result. Come join in the fun and watch a different form of Racing!!!!
Ciao Ciao
B
Sorry its been a long time since I updated. Been away from home most of the holiday at my Girlfriends farm in Port Shepstone. It was really good to get away, It was super relaxing and as always had some AMAZING riding!
While down there I took part in the Lake Eland Super Classic, in Oribi Gorge. This was my first race I had taken part in as a training ride and must say it was very different riding so much slower than at race pace. The ride was very enjoyable, mainly because I actually got to take in most of the beautiful scenery around the area.
I rode most of the race with Candice Neethling and managed to help her with a couple technical issues she had with her bike. All in all it was great fun! Congrats to Craig who pulled of the win!
The rest of the weekend up to Thursday, I stayed at the Neethling's farm along with James Reid. Although the weather was pretty mizz we still rode some awesome rocky, super technical single track, and of course some really cool passes in and around the gorges. Unfortunately I snapped my derailleur while riding one of the paths out in the tribal area, which was really a bleak moment... lucky for me it was the last day, I don't think I could've handled not being able to go riding with the others...
It was so amazing spending time away and managed to get in some other form of riding in, it was really a relaxing and relieving experience, now I'm fully into base training in prep for next years season!
Don't forget.... Friday evening is the Energizer Night Relay, which is held at Hilton College. Craig and I will be teaming up, hoping for a good result. Come join in the fun and watch a different form of Racing!!!!
Ciao Ciao
B
Friday, October 2, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sunday Tribune Jeep Hill2Hill
This past weekend saw the 4th annual Hill2Hill mountain bike race. Weather leading up to the event was horrid, with rain persisting right up until the Friday morning. Saturday morning saw the sun which quickly dried up most of the course that we were to ride on.
We arrived at the half marathon start Bright and breezy with my batch starting at 6am. On the start I was extremely nervous as I was nurturing a knee injury that I picked up from a heavy fall at the Howick Highlander, which was a couple weeks back. With 2minutes to go until the start Rourke Croeser arrived on the start line. A couple of heavy hitters were definitely there, these included Rourke, Trav Walker & Ryan Ellis.
Straight out the blocks it was Travis who attacked. I gave chase and bridged the gap, this in turn pulled two other riders along with me. As we reached the turn around point of the start loop, it was Rourke, Trav, Ryan and I in a group. Rourke then came to the front and set the pace as we climbed back up towards the golf club.
Unfortunately about 5 or 6kms into the race we took a wrong turn and took a major detour losing all of our places. We eventually noticed the mistake and turned around. We then caught the current leader, Candice Neethling and sat up and chilled, about 12km in we were still all together, riding at only 50% of our heart rate with a few more additions to the bunch. We sat like this until about 15km into the race, suddenly all hell broke loose and the attacks started coming from the boys as we started to hit some major climbs. I dropped off along with Rourke near the top of the climb, but soon managed to close down the gap.
Entering on of the very technical single track sections I went to the front to try and split up the field. I pushed the pace really hard and rode on the limits when we reached the very rocky sections. It worked, I had managed to get a slight gap over Ryan and Rourke, with Trav closely behind me. But stupidly I over shot a corner and crashed heavily trying to correct the mistake. This allowed Ellis to rejoin the group. I pushed super hard to close down the gap that had opened and soon found myself back on their wheels. As we approached the half way point I attacked as we hit one of the climbs, a gap formed between myself and Ryan again with Trav still right behind me, but yet again the gap was closed.
We were now closing in on the climb up towards the Ark. I put in an attack going down one of the single track sections and managed to again get away with Trav. I pushed hard as soon as we hit the bottom of the Ark, but felt a very intense twitch on my right knee. I made the decision to then take it easy and not cause long term damage to my knee as next year is a very big year for me. I nurtured my knee home for 3rd and had conceded 4min to Trav and 3min to Ryan. It was a very disappointing end to the ride, especially after feeling so strong during the race.
Now its time for some good old R&R before the base miles start :) I'll be doing Lake Eland but very chilled, going to ride it as my first base ride...
Until next time
ciao
We arrived at the half marathon start Bright and breezy with my batch starting at 6am. On the start I was extremely nervous as I was nurturing a knee injury that I picked up from a heavy fall at the Howick Highlander, which was a couple weeks back. With 2minutes to go until the start Rourke Croeser arrived on the start line. A couple of heavy hitters were definitely there, these included Rourke, Trav Walker & Ryan Ellis.
Straight out the blocks it was Travis who attacked. I gave chase and bridged the gap, this in turn pulled two other riders along with me. As we reached the turn around point of the start loop, it was Rourke, Trav, Ryan and I in a group. Rourke then came to the front and set the pace as we climbed back up towards the golf club.
Unfortunately about 5 or 6kms into the race we took a wrong turn and took a major detour losing all of our places. We eventually noticed the mistake and turned around. We then caught the current leader, Candice Neethling and sat up and chilled, about 12km in we were still all together, riding at only 50% of our heart rate with a few more additions to the bunch. We sat like this until about 15km into the race, suddenly all hell broke loose and the attacks started coming from the boys as we started to hit some major climbs. I dropped off along with Rourke near the top of the climb, but soon managed to close down the gap.
Entering on of the very technical single track sections I went to the front to try and split up the field. I pushed the pace really hard and rode on the limits when we reached the very rocky sections. It worked, I had managed to get a slight gap over Ryan and Rourke, with Trav closely behind me. But stupidly I over shot a corner and crashed heavily trying to correct the mistake. This allowed Ellis to rejoin the group. I pushed super hard to close down the gap that had opened and soon found myself back on their wheels. As we approached the half way point I attacked as we hit one of the climbs, a gap formed between myself and Ryan again with Trav still right behind me, but yet again the gap was closed.
We were now closing in on the climb up towards the Ark. I put in an attack going down one of the single track sections and managed to again get away with Trav. I pushed hard as soon as we hit the bottom of the Ark, but felt a very intense twitch on my right knee. I made the decision to then take it easy and not cause long term damage to my knee as next year is a very big year for me. I nurtured my knee home for 3rd and had conceded 4min to Trav and 3min to Ryan. It was a very disappointing end to the ride, especially after feeling so strong during the race.
Now its time for some good old R&R before the base miles start :) I'll be doing Lake Eland but very chilled, going to ride it as my first base ride...
Until next time
ciao
Monday, August 31, 2009
Howick Highlander
Hey All
This weekend was the Howick Highlander, and was definitely going to be a really tough race. After riding the course with Craig on Saturday morning, I went home got the bike prepped and ready for the next day.
Sunday morning dawned, and there were some big names that would be contending for top honours, Craig Paul, Roan Exelby, Pete Smith and Travis Walker. A long fairly dusty neutral zone lead us out of the start/finish area. As soon as we hit the district road, Jedson Tooms put in an attack which was short lived due to a snapped chain. The bunch began splitting up slightly as the pace became faster and faster on the undulating roads.
Craig put in a small attack on a really bumpy section, which left the rest of the bunch fighting for the minor places. Craig’s gap increased slightly all the time and by the time he reached the top of the biggest climb of the day, he had close on a minute off the bunch. The bunch was now pushing super hard to close down the gap, and I was soon found in no mans land, just off the back. I stayed as calm as possible, knowing I would close the gap in the super long single track section coming up. I managed to catch back up in one of the super technical single track sections. Unfortunately, being super eager to catch up to the next guys in front, I tried to pass by going around the rider by taking the more technical line. Around 50m or so later I found myself in a heap on the exit of the rock garden, with an intense pain coming from the inside of my right knee.
I got up, looked around for my watch which had been ripped of my arm and tried to piece my race back together. But from there the race just started going backwards, I dropped from my position and soon found Andrew Hill (6th) leaving me to frizzle up. I tried my absolute hardest to push through the pain and try find a good rhythm but as soon as I put any form of pressure on my knee it would feel as though someone was sliding a hot piece of metal under my skin. I eventually made it to a marshal, who notified the officials of my withdrawal, and took a chilled cruise back to the finish.
Congrats to Craig, who managed to pull off the win, with Pete claiming 3rd respectively.
Now to try and recover a bit and get back into the training…
Until next time
Ciao
This weekend was the Howick Highlander, and was definitely going to be a really tough race. After riding the course with Craig on Saturday morning, I went home got the bike prepped and ready for the next day.
Sunday morning dawned, and there were some big names that would be contending for top honours, Craig Paul, Roan Exelby, Pete Smith and Travis Walker. A long fairly dusty neutral zone lead us out of the start/finish area. As soon as we hit the district road, Jedson Tooms put in an attack which was short lived due to a snapped chain. The bunch began splitting up slightly as the pace became faster and faster on the undulating roads.
Craig put in a small attack on a really bumpy section, which left the rest of the bunch fighting for the minor places. Craig’s gap increased slightly all the time and by the time he reached the top of the biggest climb of the day, he had close on a minute off the bunch. The bunch was now pushing super hard to close down the gap, and I was soon found in no mans land, just off the back. I stayed as calm as possible, knowing I would close the gap in the super long single track section coming up. I managed to catch back up in one of the super technical single track sections. Unfortunately, being super eager to catch up to the next guys in front, I tried to pass by going around the rider by taking the more technical line. Around 50m or so later I found myself in a heap on the exit of the rock garden, with an intense pain coming from the inside of my right knee.
I got up, looked around for my watch which had been ripped of my arm and tried to piece my race back together. But from there the race just started going backwards, I dropped from my position and soon found Andrew Hill (6th) leaving me to frizzle up. I tried my absolute hardest to push through the pain and try find a good rhythm but as soon as I put any form of pressure on my knee it would feel as though someone was sliding a hot piece of metal under my skin. I eventually made it to a marshal, who notified the officials of my withdrawal, and took a chilled cruise back to the finish.
Congrats to Craig, who managed to pull off the win, with Pete claiming 3rd respectively.
Now to try and recover a bit and get back into the training…
Until next time
Ciao
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