Hey Guys
I've been trying out the new Nokian NBX Lite 2.0 Tyre. All i can say is... WOW!!! its a lighter version off my previous Nokian NBT tyre. The new tyres are around 500g a tyre and are fully tubeless! They're probably the best handling tyre I've ridden to dat, its got low rolling resistance, and doesnt lose any grip when pushing through corners!
I seriously recommend these tyres! Go check them out! Stocked at W Squared Cycling up in Hilton!!
Ciao
B
Friday, July 23, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
South African XCO Championships - Pretoria
Hey guys, this past Saturday was the South African Championships held at the Fountains Valley, on the outskirts of Pretoria.
I went a week early and stayed with some close family friends in Pretoria not to far from the event. The Steyn's were really welcoming and very helpful the entire week, taking me backwards and forwards to the track. A massive thanks needs to go out to them for their hospitality.
After a good week of prep race day dawned. I felt really good, and was super amped to hit the track. The early morning chill was still lingering in the air as we arrived at the venue. We got there just in time to catch the final few minutes of the womens racing! Well done to Candice Neethling, Mariske Strauss and Yolande Speedy for winning their races.
With around half an hour or so to go, I set up my station on the trainer, and began to warm up the legs. I warmed up until the absolute last minute before we were called up onto the start grid. The junior field was really big, and went 5 rows deep. Fortunately I was seeded on the font row and had a prime line into the first corner. Out the start blocks Arno du Toit lunged out front. I dived in for the 3rd wheel and had a really good position going into the first single track.
Arno began to open the gap almost instantly. I tried my best to get past the rider between Arno and myself, but unfortunately he would not let me through and this enabled Arno to destroy the race up front. We entered the toughest section of the race, and riders began to make mistakes. I made the most of the opportunity and began to try and close the gap back down to Arno. Going onto the 2nd lap I moved over and took on some fluids in the feed zone allowing James Reid and Ruan du Toit to come through to share the work load. Unfortunately Ruan then began to suffer stomach cramps, which then allowed the gap to open between James and I. I eventually got passed him, along with Travis Walker and Gert Heyns in tow.
We stayed like this until lap 4 where I made a couple of mistakes which allowed Trav and Gert to get through and Trav put down the hammer and slowly but surely started to get away. I chased hard over the final two laps but couldn't close back up to the top 3. I was really stoked with my form and my ride, even though I didn't end up on the podium as I had planned to do.
The biggest bummer of the day is the fact that my spare wheels went missing from the event , so if anybody has loaded them up by mistake or saw somebody take them from the KZN gazebo, please deop me an e mail. They are ZTR Olympic rims with American classic hubs, red KCNC skewers, Sram XX cluster and brand new Nokian NBT tyres.
Well the XC season is now over together with the long school holidays and it is back to school tomorrow. Once again a huge thank you to Sias and Nettie Steyn for all the help. I was also fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time with the guys from MTN and particularly Paul Cordes who showed me some neat lines during practice. It was also great to get to know, Adrian, Justice, Yolande,Paul and Mariske a bit better. You guys rock.
I will now be turning my attention to the Classics and Marathon races as well as a few road events in preparation for the 2011 season.
Till later
I went a week early and stayed with some close family friends in Pretoria not to far from the event. The Steyn's were really welcoming and very helpful the entire week, taking me backwards and forwards to the track. A massive thanks needs to go out to them for their hospitality.
After a good week of prep race day dawned. I felt really good, and was super amped to hit the track. The early morning chill was still lingering in the air as we arrived at the venue. We got there just in time to catch the final few minutes of the womens racing! Well done to Candice Neethling, Mariske Strauss and Yolande Speedy for winning their races.
With around half an hour or so to go, I set up my station on the trainer, and began to warm up the legs. I warmed up until the absolute last minute before we were called up onto the start grid. The junior field was really big, and went 5 rows deep. Fortunately I was seeded on the font row and had a prime line into the first corner. Out the start blocks Arno du Toit lunged out front. I dived in for the 3rd wheel and had a really good position going into the first single track.
Arno began to open the gap almost instantly. I tried my best to get past the rider between Arno and myself, but unfortunately he would not let me through and this enabled Arno to destroy the race up front. We entered the toughest section of the race, and riders began to make mistakes. I made the most of the opportunity and began to try and close the gap back down to Arno. Going onto the 2nd lap I moved over and took on some fluids in the feed zone allowing James Reid and Ruan du Toit to come through to share the work load. Unfortunately Ruan then began to suffer stomach cramps, which then allowed the gap to open between James and I. I eventually got passed him, along with Travis Walker and Gert Heyns in tow.
We stayed like this until lap 4 where I made a couple of mistakes which allowed Trav and Gert to get through and Trav put down the hammer and slowly but surely started to get away. I chased hard over the final two laps but couldn't close back up to the top 3. I was really stoked with my form and my ride, even though I didn't end up on the podium as I had planned to do.
The biggest bummer of the day is the fact that my spare wheels went missing from the event , so if anybody has loaded them up by mistake or saw somebody take them from the KZN gazebo, please deop me an e mail. They are ZTR Olympic rims with American classic hubs, red KCNC skewers, Sram XX cluster and brand new Nokian NBT tyres.
Well the XC season is now over together with the long school holidays and it is back to school tomorrow. Once again a huge thank you to Sias and Nettie Steyn for all the help. I was also fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time with the guys from MTN and particularly Paul Cordes who showed me some neat lines during practice. It was also great to get to know, Adrian, Justice, Yolande,Paul and Mariske a bit better. You guys rock.
I will now be turning my attention to the Classics and Marathon races as well as a few road events in preparation for the 2011 season.
Till later
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
First Super Classic win!
This past weekend was the Safire Baynesfield Super classic, the 8th race of the series. All the usual top KZN performers were present,which would definitely make for some interesting racing.
I was unable to warm up properly due to the pretty cold conditions and the traffic on the roads, so I did my best to try and warm up the engine. I got to the start line with 15 minutes to go to try get a good position on the line.
Off the start there were a few small attacks which were quickly reeled back as soon as we hit the open dirt roads. Things began to get a tad hairy as the pace began to increase. Two riders touched wheels and went down not more than 10cm next to me, and took down a couple of other riders in the process. Craig was one of them, but fortunately he stayed positive and was able to catch back up to the lead group.
Now there were 4 Jeep riders (CRaig, Willi, Ryan and I) Andrew Hill and Andrew Warr. We hit the first climb, and the lack of a warm up definitely made me see stars... I got dropped very quickly, but managed to time trial myself back into the group, only to get dropped again as I made contact with the group. Ryan fell off the group with me, leaving Craig and the two Andrew's up front. We crested the climb, and I decided to try bridge the gap on the descent. Ryan had a mechanical, which left me to soldier on alone. After taking HUGE chances on the grassy descents I finally made contact with the lead group.
The pace slowed dramatically after I made contact, which gave me some time to recover. Then came the longest climb of the day. Both Andrew's upped the pace as we hit the first slopes of the mountain. Craig eventually dropped off the back slightly, which left myself, Andrew Hill and Andrew Warr in front. I put in an attack to try split it up more, but I couldn't shake them. We peaked the climb and hit the long single track descent. Andrew Warr hit the trail first, followed by myself and then Andrew Hill. We managed to drop Andrew Hill in the twisty single track, only to be joined by Craig, who is a single track guru.
Andrew, Craig and I now had a very comfortable gap over the 4th place rider, which we almost lost after getting lost for a few minutes. We now entered the final single track, which was a very energy sapping one. It was flat and twisty, which demanded a lot of accelerating out of corners, which definitely tired the legs out. We eventually reached the end of it, and turned onto a long straight road which lead up to the finish. Craig pulled off the front almost instantly, leaving Andrew Warr in the front, with me on his wheel. I sat until we had around 500m to go. I pulled out and attacked really hard, catching them off guard. I crossed the line 1second ahead, with Craig Paul in 2nd and Andrew Warr in 3rd.
I was insanely stoked to have clinched my first overall win in a Super Classic. It also gave me a really good indicator of where my form is for the South African Championships in 2 weeks time!
A huge thanks to Saffire Insurance for a really awesome event.
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I was unable to warm up properly due to the pretty cold conditions and the traffic on the roads, so I did my best to try and warm up the engine. I got to the start line with 15 minutes to go to try get a good position on the line.
Off the start there were a few small attacks which were quickly reeled back as soon as we hit the open dirt roads. Things began to get a tad hairy as the pace began to increase. Two riders touched wheels and went down not more than 10cm next to me, and took down a couple of other riders in the process. Craig was one of them, but fortunately he stayed positive and was able to catch back up to the lead group.
Now there were 4 Jeep riders (CRaig, Willi, Ryan and I) Andrew Hill and Andrew Warr. We hit the first climb, and the lack of a warm up definitely made me see stars... I got dropped very quickly, but managed to time trial myself back into the group, only to get dropped again as I made contact with the group. Ryan fell off the group with me, leaving Craig and the two Andrew's up front. We crested the climb, and I decided to try bridge the gap on the descent. Ryan had a mechanical, which left me to soldier on alone. After taking HUGE chances on the grassy descents I finally made contact with the lead group.
The pace slowed dramatically after I made contact, which gave me some time to recover. Then came the longest climb of the day. Both Andrew's upped the pace as we hit the first slopes of the mountain. Craig eventually dropped off the back slightly, which left myself, Andrew Hill and Andrew Warr in front. I put in an attack to try split it up more, but I couldn't shake them. We peaked the climb and hit the long single track descent. Andrew Warr hit the trail first, followed by myself and then Andrew Hill. We managed to drop Andrew Hill in the twisty single track, only to be joined by Craig, who is a single track guru.
Andrew, Craig and I now had a very comfortable gap over the 4th place rider, which we almost lost after getting lost for a few minutes. We now entered the final single track, which was a very energy sapping one. It was flat and twisty, which demanded a lot of accelerating out of corners, which definitely tired the legs out. We eventually reached the end of it, and turned onto a long straight road which lead up to the finish. Craig pulled off the front almost instantly, leaving Andrew Warr in the front, with me on his wheel. I sat until we had around 500m to go. I pulled out and attacked really hard, catching them off guard. I crossed the line 1second ahead, with Craig Paul in 2nd and Andrew Warr in 3rd.
I was insanely stoked to have clinched my first overall win in a Super Classic. It also gave me a really good indicator of where my form is for the South African Championships in 2 weeks time!
A huge thanks to Saffire Insurance for a really awesome event.
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010
NEW TYRES
Hey Guys,
Just received a new set of Nokian tyres to test out. They look super awesome, if the other Nokian tyres are anything to go by, these ones are gonna be phenominal! I'm really keen try them out and hit the trails!
Thanks to the guys at Nokian for swinging them my way!!! If you guys are interested in them, there are a few dealers in KZN, one of which is WSQUARED Cycling in Hilton!
B
Just received a new set of Nokian tyres to test out. They look super awesome, if the other Nokian tyres are anything to go by, these ones are gonna be phenominal! I'm really keen try them out and hit the trails!
Thanks to the guys at Nokian for swinging them my way!!! If you guys are interested in them, there are a few dealers in KZN, one of which is WSQUARED Cycling in Hilton!
B
Monday, June 21, 2010
Training Camp and Sardine Super Classic
Hey guys
On Wednesday I made my way down to Clear Water trails with Johann Wykerd as well as my best friend and a couple of other people who are coached by Johann. We arrived at the trail centre and accommodation after a quick two or so hour trip, and straight away we were keen to hit the trails.
After getting a little settled, we suited up and 11 or so of us took to the 'Super 8' track, which was around 500m long. Here the guys were shown different techniques when entering corners, as well as how to approach, enter, and exit a berm. We then had a fun elimination race, which definitely got the blood pumping.
We hit the Beaver Creek coffee shop that afternoon, and we definitely abused the system of bottomless coffee! I think I ended up drinking a total of 8 cups, and each cup was a different coffee! It was truly epic!and I would recommend anyone in the area or visiting the area to stop here. It is definitely worth the stop.
That night myself and good friend, Adriaan Davel had to braai some chicken, it was a really chilled atmosphere and everyone generally had an awesome time.
Thursday:
This was probably one of the most difficult days of training I had ever experienced. Johann told all of us to pick a gear which we felt we could ride the whole day, we had to take in account for up hills to make sure the gear would not be too hard, and on the downhills we had to make sure the gear wasn't too easy. We then proceeded to ride for close to 3 hours, and up two monster climbs, which really put me in the hurt box!I also took a HUGE bail when one of the younger riders pulled in front of me, in an attempt to avoid colliding with him I swerved and found myself going off a vertical drop. I could only wait for the impact. I landed pretty heavily on my left hip and shoulder, but fortunately I was able to continue to ride.
By the time we reached camp, I was utterly shattered, but had had one of the best rides of my life, having ridden what must surely be rated as the sweetest trails in the country!
Friday:
Saw Luke Roberts joining us. We had an awesome 3hr ride planned for across the valley in the Transkei. Myself, Candice Neethling, Lee Penderis and Adriaan decided to ride down to the point where we were going to meet up with the rest of the crew, just to try get in some extra time. Unfortunately about 5km in my front derailleur slipped and left me unable to pedal. I told the others to continue on. I then ran around 5 or so km in total and jumped in the bike at every downhill to try and get to the crew as fast as possible.
I eventually reached Johann and the others and he was able to help me, as I need a 'torx' tool for the bolt on my derailleur. The ride then went very smoothly. We did some heavy exploring in the Transkei, finding some awesome unridden foot paths. We eventually got back to where the car was and some of us elected to ride back to the trail centre. Again disaster struck, we were on a descent when my chain dropped off the front chain ring. This some how bent the chain and snapped my derailleur at the back. We were far from the camp site and the only thing I could do was push my bike up every hill. Luckily Lee was carrying a phone, and Johann came to my rescue with the Landrover.
When we got home we quickly made a plan to get the Rear mech working for the next days ride. A huge thanks needs to go out to Johann for that.
Saturday:
We went across the valley again to try and find the single track that rode along the cliff face, which we were able to spot from the camp site. Eventually we found it, and MAN was it so worth the wait! Towards the end of the long flowing single track, came some insane switch backs, chicanes, and awesome rock gardens, much to mine and Luke's liking. We were in absolute heaven.
It was such an awesome ride to end of the week of hard training!
That night saw Luke and Lee have a WRC (world rally championship) death match on the PSP to see who would sleep in our log cabin, and who would sleep in the tent. In the end Luke was the winner, and Lee had to settle for sleeping under some canvas.
Sunday:
This was race day. The Sardine Super Classic had arrived and I knew my legs were going to be hurting after such a heavy weeks training. There were a lot of big names, such as Burry Stander, Ben Melt Swanepoel, Craig Paul, Trav Walker, Luke Roberts, Arno du Toit and Andrew Warr.
Out the blocks I managed to feel pretty good and soon found myself with Burry, Craig and Arno. We rode up front for a while, until Trav bridged the gap and brought luke along with him. I felt fine until around the 15km mark. All of a sudden my legs completely gave way, and began to feel very sluggish. I then began to take things easy and to see how the race would unfold, and to take the race as a hard training ride. Melt then came past me at a rapid rate of knotts. The gap to the others began to grow and by the half way mark they were around 3 minutes ahead of me.
With around 13km to go I decided to push as hard as possible to see if I could make a dent in the gap that had been opened. I pushed super hard down the very technical descent towards the pont. By the finish I had managed to come within a minute of the guys in front of me.
It was really an honour to race against the guys like Burry and Ben Melt, having finished second to Burry at the same race a year ago, but then I did not have a hectic week of riding in the legs !
A huge thanks needs to go out to Jono Downham for fitting my derailleur and my chain on the morning of the race! Thanks dude!! Also a huge thanks to Jono's crew for putting together such a great event. Nothing ever seems to be too much for these guys. Well done!!
Another big thanks to Johann and Allegra(my coach) Wykerd! as well as Willie Pelser for all their help throughout the week! It was fantastic spending this time with you and learning the valuable lessons to tried to teach us. Much appreciated! Still cannot get used to washing tuna dishes though.
Till next time
On Wednesday I made my way down to Clear Water trails with Johann Wykerd as well as my best friend and a couple of other people who are coached by Johann. We arrived at the trail centre and accommodation after a quick two or so hour trip, and straight away we were keen to hit the trails.
After getting a little settled, we suited up and 11 or so of us took to the 'Super 8' track, which was around 500m long. Here the guys were shown different techniques when entering corners, as well as how to approach, enter, and exit a berm. We then had a fun elimination race, which definitely got the blood pumping.
We hit the Beaver Creek coffee shop that afternoon, and we definitely abused the system of bottomless coffee! I think I ended up drinking a total of 8 cups, and each cup was a different coffee! It was truly epic!and I would recommend anyone in the area or visiting the area to stop here. It is definitely worth the stop.
That night myself and good friend, Adriaan Davel had to braai some chicken, it was a really chilled atmosphere and everyone generally had an awesome time.
Thursday:
This was probably one of the most difficult days of training I had ever experienced. Johann told all of us to pick a gear which we felt we could ride the whole day, we had to take in account for up hills to make sure the gear would not be too hard, and on the downhills we had to make sure the gear wasn't too easy. We then proceeded to ride for close to 3 hours, and up two monster climbs, which really put me in the hurt box!I also took a HUGE bail when one of the younger riders pulled in front of me, in an attempt to avoid colliding with him I swerved and found myself going off a vertical drop. I could only wait for the impact. I landed pretty heavily on my left hip and shoulder, but fortunately I was able to continue to ride.
By the time we reached camp, I was utterly shattered, but had had one of the best rides of my life, having ridden what must surely be rated as the sweetest trails in the country!
Friday:
Saw Luke Roberts joining us. We had an awesome 3hr ride planned for across the valley in the Transkei. Myself, Candice Neethling, Lee Penderis and Adriaan decided to ride down to the point where we were going to meet up with the rest of the crew, just to try get in some extra time. Unfortunately about 5km in my front derailleur slipped and left me unable to pedal. I told the others to continue on. I then ran around 5 or so km in total and jumped in the bike at every downhill to try and get to the crew as fast as possible.
I eventually reached Johann and the others and he was able to help me, as I need a 'torx' tool for the bolt on my derailleur. The ride then went very smoothly. We did some heavy exploring in the Transkei, finding some awesome unridden foot paths. We eventually got back to where the car was and some of us elected to ride back to the trail centre. Again disaster struck, we were on a descent when my chain dropped off the front chain ring. This some how bent the chain and snapped my derailleur at the back. We were far from the camp site and the only thing I could do was push my bike up every hill. Luckily Lee was carrying a phone, and Johann came to my rescue with the Landrover.
When we got home we quickly made a plan to get the Rear mech working for the next days ride. A huge thanks needs to go out to Johann for that.
Saturday:
We went across the valley again to try and find the single track that rode along the cliff face, which we were able to spot from the camp site. Eventually we found it, and MAN was it so worth the wait! Towards the end of the long flowing single track, came some insane switch backs, chicanes, and awesome rock gardens, much to mine and Luke's liking. We were in absolute heaven.
It was such an awesome ride to end of the week of hard training!
That night saw Luke and Lee have a WRC (world rally championship) death match on the PSP to see who would sleep in our log cabin, and who would sleep in the tent. In the end Luke was the winner, and Lee had to settle for sleeping under some canvas.
Sunday:
This was race day. The Sardine Super Classic had arrived and I knew my legs were going to be hurting after such a heavy weeks training. There were a lot of big names, such as Burry Stander, Ben Melt Swanepoel, Craig Paul, Trav Walker, Luke Roberts, Arno du Toit and Andrew Warr.
Out the blocks I managed to feel pretty good and soon found myself with Burry, Craig and Arno. We rode up front for a while, until Trav bridged the gap and brought luke along with him. I felt fine until around the 15km mark. All of a sudden my legs completely gave way, and began to feel very sluggish. I then began to take things easy and to see how the race would unfold, and to take the race as a hard training ride. Melt then came past me at a rapid rate of knotts. The gap to the others began to grow and by the half way mark they were around 3 minutes ahead of me.
With around 13km to go I decided to push as hard as possible to see if I could make a dent in the gap that had been opened. I pushed super hard down the very technical descent towards the pont. By the finish I had managed to come within a minute of the guys in front of me.
It was really an honour to race against the guys like Burry and Ben Melt, having finished second to Burry at the same race a year ago, but then I did not have a hectic week of riding in the legs !
A huge thanks needs to go out to Jono Downham for fitting my derailleur and my chain on the morning of the race! Thanks dude!! Also a huge thanks to Jono's crew for putting together such a great event. Nothing ever seems to be too much for these guys. Well done!!
Another big thanks to Johann and Allegra(my coach) Wykerd! as well as Willie Pelser for all their help throughout the week! It was fantastic spending this time with you and learning the valuable lessons to tried to teach us. Much appreciated! Still cannot get used to washing tuna dishes though.
Till next time
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