Back on Track

Over the past few weeks, as you all know, I have been on the road with the team, with the last stop being in Missoula, MT. Home to recently crowned US National XCO Champion and Olympian, Sam Schultz.

The Missoula Pro XCT is renowned for its technical climbing and defending as well as the famous "A-Line" drop. Being one of my favorite courses on the circuit I was super amped on the race that lay ahead. The punchy, steep climbs are very well suited to my riding style on the mountain bike and the technical descents, again, play into my hands extremely well.

The week leading up to the race was perfect. I felt extremely dialed in on the course, although lacking a bit of the explosive power needed for the course, I felt fairly confident going into the weekend. Jordi, Specialized Factory, insured that my bike was absolutely perfect for the race. The rest was left up to me, and me alone.  Race day rolled around, and with the extremely late start around 6pm, it meant I was going to be getting in a lot of "chill time." It definitely provide some sort of new challenge for me. To remain focussed and concentrated on doing absolutely everything to ensure you do not waste any ounce of energy throughout the heat of the day was tough, but I felt I managed to do it well.

The race eventually rolled around, after what seemed like an eternity. There was just one thing that seemed to be bothering me. Having raced so many of the longer, marathon style races, I could definitely feel I was lacking a little of the "snap" I usually had. But, I was quietly confident in my descending and endurance to hold myself in a good position through the end. 

The whistle went, and we sped into the first climb. Somehow I found myself surfing through the bunch with ease, and soon was alongside Todd Wells, JHK, Sam Schultz, Russel Finsterwald and Howard Grotts as we punched our way up the mountain side. A dropped train, due to a bad shift, dropped me down the group a little, but was still inside the top 10. From there, things got very, very difficult for me.    I simply did not have the power to close the gaps back down, I made the only smart decision possible and that was to keep calm and try force mistakes from other rides on the descent back down the mountain each lap. It ended up working. Almost every lap I would make a pass on the descent, only to lose it on the climb, but by staying calm and loose, I was also making up ground of riders further ahead of me too.  On the final lap I was able to force a mistake from Ryan Woodall, and moved into a top 10 position. I ended up crossing the line for my second top 10 finish in a Cat 1. UCI Pro XCT race this season. Although the race was VERY far from good in my books, it was awesome to get a good result after not feeling that great on the bike during the race. A huge thank you needs to go out to Team Sho-Air for helping me get across the country and ensuring that I have a good support structure at the races. Another BIG thanks to Specialized bikes for the flawless machines I am lucky enough to race on! 

Now its a big build up to the final round of the Pro XCT series, at my personal favorite race course, Mt Morris, Wisconsin. I have very fond memories from my success there last year and hope to repeat it. For now though, its train, train, train back here in Cali. 

Until next time.

B

Hitting the drop in practice on Friday.

After two hours of sleep the night before, and a 4hour flight back to Cali. from Montana, I took part in the Pro Criterium in Domiguez Hills. I went on the attack from the word go, and didn't stop.

Road Trippin' and This&That

Well its been a while since I did my last blogpost. I apologize, as I'm sure you all know,  we've been on the road since Colorado Springs. So things have been really busy.

So, to pick up where I left off. We hit the road after an absolutely amazing stay in Park City, UT. and meandered our way to another mountain biking destination town, Sun Valley, Idaho. This picturesque little town, nestled in the mountains played host to both the 2011 and 2012 US National MTB Championships. As I'm sure, many of you are wondering why on earth I would be at the US national champs, since i couldn't race it, being South African. There were still other races that were part of the entire festival the the town of Sun Valley combines with the national champs. The Galena Grinder, the fourth stop of the Pro UET series, was one of the races that were part of the festival.

I was granted free reins for the Galena 50miler and decided to take the race by the horns. With me sitting in third in the series, and the #1 plate only a couple points away from my reach, a good result would leap frog me into the series lead with one round to go. The race went off perfectly. I managed to get a gap on the first climb, and never looked back. The only mishap I had was the need to go for a 'natural break' halfway into the first loop of the race. I ended up taking my first professional marathon win as well as the overall lead in the Pro UET series, ahead of Tinker Jaurez.

Brining it in for my first Pro UET win.

One thing I have to add to the topic of the Galena Grinder, is how well run and how perfectly manicured every detail of the race was. The course made great use of the mind-blowing trail network and balanced the race out with some brutal climbs only to be rewarded with some of the most amazing single track I've ever ridden. Well done to everyone who made such a big effort on this event!!!

Next up for me was the fat tire crit which was again, one of the many festivities put on at the Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival. After getting caught with my pants around my ankles last year, when most of the racers showed up with full road tires on their 29er race rigs, I decided I would do the same. So long story short, the organizers insisted that we race with 'fat tires' since it was a 'fat tire crit' right?? No problem, fortunately for me, team manager, Ty Kady, had thought ahead and brought along a set of super fast rolling Maxxis Maxlite tires.  We slapped them on and headed back to the start/finish area. As we arrived on the start line, to my surprise, there were some guys rolling up with road tires once again. I n act, there were only four of us with mountain bike tires on, Todd Wells, Tobin Ortenblad, Brady Kappius and I. So off the bat there were some very dangerous guys with skinny wheels, Carl Dekker and Brandon Gritters were to name a few. So from the get go, I tried attacking off the front to possibly get them while they were off guard, but I soon established that they had the same idea and within a couple of laps, the bunch had been whittled down to around 10 or so.  Then with around 10minutes (+2 laps) a dangerous attack came from Carl Dekker (Giant Factory Off-Road Racing). He opened up a huge gap on the hard chasing group, which now had been whittled down to 4. Todd and I took turns pulling at the front as hard as possible, but we simply couldn't close the gap. It had become a race for 2nd, and with two laps to go, I got in the perfect position to jump for the line. I came out of the final corner on the back of the group and began to wind up my sprint. Todd had managed to get the jump as we entered the corner, and was now barreling down the finish straight away. I began to come around the riders, but then Brandon Gritters started his sprint, punking all of us at the line.. Third went to Todd and I unfortunately came in 5th. Awesome thing was I got to race against one of the best World Cup XCO racers in the US, got to rub shoulders with him, attacked him, got attacked by him and was humbled by him. That to me was far more satisfying than the actual race.

Working with Todd to try bring back Carl.

I then took on the support roll at the US Nationals, helping out with feeds, moral support and some occasional heckling.

We're now in Missoula, MT. for the 4th stop of the Pro XCT series. Hopefully I can make up for the horrible race I had in Colorado Springs. The course is fun and technical. Should be fun.

Until then
 B

While in Park City I took the win at the Utah State Championship series, and took home a hefty check!

The good and the bad

Hey Guys

So over the last week and a half we've been on the road from California. We started our trip on Monday last week and made our way towards Colorado Springs, CO.  Johnny Muller, team mate , Cody Phillips and I took full advantage of the fairly early start and drove our way straight into Utah, and stopped at a rest stop on the top of some mountain road. We crashed there for the night, got up SUPER early the next morning and began driving. And driving. And Driving. John then decided do a lunch stop at the traditional, Subway. This then turned into an easy spin around the area, which then lead us to some swim bathing in the Colorado River.

So at this point, the trip had gone as follows. We had made unreal progress the first day, covering close on 800miles. Then the second day, well, that was a different story. Once we had made the lunch stop that was only meant to be around 15minutes, we started up with the other activities and ended up losing a couple of hours in travel time. We drove for barely a few hours after that and pull off at a nice little rest stop in the Colorado Mountains. Cody and I went walking around, bought a horribly cheap fishing rod, which in the end didn't end up working, Cody shaved his legs, which is the most rare occurrence on the planet and we actually got him to eat a salad, which is the second most rare occurrence on the planet. Jokes aside, we had a pretty chilled day, got to hang at the river and enjoy each others company.

Day 3 of the road trip came around, and we made a beeline straight for Colorado Springs. We arrived at the Ute Valley Park in the early afternoon and went straight out to check the course for the weekends Pro XCT race. Cody and I went out in search of the course, and after a few frustrating wrong turns, we eventually figured out the course and were on our way.  The course was fantastic. A true XCO course and one of the best I have ridden in the States. It was real technical and had some short punchy climbs, with the longest being around 90 seconds long. Needless to say, I was super stoked on the course, I felt it was pretty much taylor made for me and feeling some really good form coming along, I was super confident heading onto the course.

The more time I spent on the course, the better and smoother I began to feel. I was still stuck between racing the Stumpy or the Epic. The Epic would definitely save some energy and make me faster over the rough slough, but the hard tail would give me some extra snap up the short, punchy climbs. A tough decision, but after some laps on the hard tail, I felt a little beat up from the rough stuff, so I bit the bullet and went with the Epic.

Over the course of the next few days I dialed the course in on the Epic 29 and by the time the race rolled in I was confident in both my ability and equipment. As Im sure you've gathered from the title of this blog post, the race didn't end up going good. I had a call up around 20th, which had me on the third row. I managed to work my way up to sixth on the start loop, and sat nicely tucked in behind Adam Craig, Todd Wells, JHK, Sam Schultz and Finsty. I felt great as we hit the main climb of the day, and held my position through the rough technical single track that made its way to the second climb of the track. We hit the next climb and out of know where it felt as if I were riding in thick, goopy peanut butter. At first I couldn't figure out what was going wrong. At first I thought I had blown my rear shock as the rear end seemed to moving around way more than it should've. I then thought it was all in my head so I just tried riding through the race to try and salvage some points. After pulling back one or two riders on the last lap, I crossed the line in 25th overall. A VERY disappointing result. I couldn't figure out what had gone wrong, was it over training? was it malnutrition? I simply didn't know, and what frustrated me the most, was the fact that I had felt amazing all week leading up to the race. Then, team manager, Ty Kady, noticed something horribly wrong with the rear swing arm of my bike. A massive crack had formed and was flexing a considerably amount, which caused a major loss of power. Unfortunately, it could not change the result of the race, but the race is now in the past. Ive had to put the issue behind me and focus on the final two rounds of the Pro XCT series.

The great thing is, Specialized, being the company it is, replaced it right away and had a swing arm delivered here to Park City. It's really awesome to backed by such an awesome company and I really wanna give a mad shout out to both Specialized and my manager for being so on top of things!!

Sunday was the first ever XCO Eliminator here in the States, and I was excited to make up for the horrible day I had had before. Heat one I was up against the previous days winner and all round powerhouse, Ryan Trebon (Cannondale). I attacked real hard from the gun, but soon was caught by Ryan, who had brought along another rider. I sat up to relax, Ryan attacked, but I knew that there was still one more qualifying spot for the next round. As we approached the "Wall," which so happened to be an 18 percent grade climb for around 35m , I attacked the other rider hard and came in second behind Ryan, and ultimately rolled through into the semifinals.

Semifinals I was somehow up against Ryan again, as well as Rotem Ishay (Jamis Factory) and a rider from the Giant Factory Off-Road team. Off the line it was a major fight for Ryan's wheel. I managed to edge the Giant rider off the third wheel, which was Rotem, who sat right behind Ryan. Ryan attacked again at the exact same spot, but this time we were ready for it. We sat on his wheel as we descended to the foot of the "Wall" which ended onto the finish straight. Ryan kicked really hard, I followed his wheel and managed to get rid of Rotem. Ryan ended up crossing the line with me right behind him. Unfortunately this meant I wasn't in the final, but it did mean I would be fighting it out for the 5th spot.

The "Small" final was the race for 5th overall. It went pretty smooth and planned out perfectly, well almost. I attacked right where I had planned, opened up a gap and held it as we hit the finish straight, but somehow, mud had lodged in my cassette and caused my bottom three gears to jump horribly. I tried standing to sprint for the line, but was forced to sit down and try ride it out as best I could. Unfortunately, I got caught at the line. Although I just missed out and was seriously peeved about what had just happened, I was immensely happy with how good I felt, which definitely made me feel a little different about how the race went the day before.

Monday, lunch time, was spent with my coach, Jim Lehman. It was the first time Ive actually been able to spend some quality, one-on-one time with him. I need to thank him for taking time out of his schedule to go riding with me, and it was really awesome to talk and learn from him, as well as get to know him better.  We got talking about the future and what it may hold, and things look promising. Needless to say, Im excited! That afternoon we did a shop ride for an awesome new place called Cafe Velo. Its a totally rad store, and caters for anyone and everyone. As the name suggests, it has some really good coffee, great food and a really cool bike display. If you're in Colorado Springs be sure to check it out.

We're now in Park City, Utah, and as is tradition with the team road trip, it didn't go off entirely smoothly. While driving through Wyoming, the gale force winds caught the awning of the RV and ripped it open. We pulled over to get the awning rolled back up. Cody and I held onto the awning for dear life while Ty tried to roll it back up.  Well we're now set up here at the foot of the 2002 Winter Olympic mountain, and after having ridden some of the trails here, my mind has simply been blown. I'll definitely be posting pictures.

Until next time
B

Big Bear Pro UET 50

Hey guys

Im writing this post from our accommodation in Colorado Springs as I prepare for this coming weekends US National Pro XCT #3. A short note on the course, the track is awesome, really awesome. Its probably one of the best I've ridden so far, with a rad amount of technical riding.  Theres not as much climbing as I would like, but the amount of technical riding makes up for it. I love it!

So onto last weekend. Although Im not a marathon specialist, myself and the team opted to race the Pro UET in Big Bear last weekend for a number of reasons. 1. Was to help team mate, Eric Bostrom, try to retain his number one ranking in the Pro UET series. 2. To race at altitude before heading over to race my favored discipline of XCO in Colorado, and 3. With the 50miler fitting in perfectly in my new training regime, it would prove to be great conditioning for the up coming XCO races, allowing to build a "bigger engine" so to speak.

I went up to Big Bear right after the Sagebrush Pro UET in an attempt to get used to the high altitude. Needless to say, the training blocks/weeks leading up to Big Bear were absolutely brutal, a few of which were tipping over the 20hr range. The altitude definitely took its toll, but by the time the race rolled around I was confident that I was fully acclimated. The only thing I was unsure of was how I would hold up on tired legs.

Race day rolled around and we were greeted with a glorious day in Big Bear. The sun was out, not a breath of wind and clear blue skies. Team orders were the same as Sagebrush, protect Eric and try follow/pull him up to any attacks made by Tinker or any other championship contenders. Although the weather was absolutely perfect, there was still one thing that would work against the riders, the heat. By the time we started the race, the heat was already becoming a little uncomfortable, couple that with the thin air and the 50miles that still lay ahead, it was gonna be a tough day.

The start was pretty mellow as we rolled out of the parking lot area and cruised towards the first climb of the two lap 25mile course. As we hit the foot of the climb, a surge from Tinker and a younger rider went off the front. I help back, hesitant to see if Eric would be able to roll up to the front of the bunch so we could begin to reel the move back.  Unfortunately after a couple of minutes I had to make the decision to try reel back the gap by myself, I soon found out however, that it was gonna be a very long, tough day for me. My legs felt really heavy but fortunately I was able to hold a good consistent pace and was also able to rely on my technical skills to pull back the break.  Half way through the first 25mile loop, I had pulled back the 2minute gap the leaders had opened up, and managed to get by on one of the steep sections. I unfortunately made a silly mistake after getting my feed bag and dropped all my bottles. I stopped to pick them up, and in the process, dropped bag down to third. Not having much on the climbs, the two managed to open up another gap, I managed to stay calm and rode the gap back over the course of the 2nd lap. Tinker gapped his brake away companion early in the 2nd lap, I began to feel a little better and soon caught the rider in 2nd. I immediately attacked and started to bridge up to Tinker who was around 2minutes up the road. I caught him at the feed station with around 8miles to go, and so began a game of cat and mouse. I started to suffer a little with the distance, which allowed him to put his endurance to good use. He edged away as we approached the final descent into Big Bear, but the super rough, XCO type single track allowed me to eat away his gap at a rapid pace. I soon found myself in his dust and still closing the gap down.

Unfortunately, he managed to hold me off by around 30seconds by the time we reached the finish line. A little unhappy with my result, but still confident after having had such a gnarly training block, i was able to leave the race pretty psyched about the upcoming pro XCT. Pua once again destroyed the women's overall and finished in the top 10 of the men.

Now we're on towards Colorado Springs, where I hope to have a repeat of Texas.

Until then,

B

Sagbrush safari and some general catching up

So a week or so ago I had to man up and do the Sagebrush 50miler Pro UET in order to help team mate, Eric Bostrom, to get a good result and hopefully stay in contention for the overall title. The task seemed daunting. Two laps of a really tough 25mile loop which would end up totaling code on 8000feet.

Sunday came around, and to our surprise race favorite, Tinker Jaurez (Cannondale Factory) was not on the start line. Unfortunately he had suffered from a crash the day before an had broken a rib. Although the news wasn't good, it presented the perfect opportunity to get Eric the win and put some points between the other riders in the hunt for the number one plate.  

By the time we rolled off the start line, the temperature had started rise. This played perfectly into our tactics as we eased our way into the first climb of the day, a steep two mile pavement climb into the first single track. I did a couple of hard surges to split up the field, as well as force Eric's main rivals into the red zone early on in the race. The plan worked perfectly. Eric sat in and waited for the pace to ease up, the other riders followed my wheel and soon fell off the pace, once that happened I eased up just enough to allow Eric back onto my wheel. From there on I paced Eric for the rest of the race, making sure that he felt good and protecting him from mechanics at all times. On the final lap Eric started to lock up a little with cramp, but he soldiered through like a true champion, and some how we managed to keep opening up a gap over the chase group. We ended up crossing the line together, giving Eric the win and the overall lead in the Pro UET Series. With me finishing 2nd, it put some points between himself and the other riders in the chase for the title. So all in all it was a PERFECT weekend. A huge thanks to the team, and to Ty as well as John for all the help over the weekend.

After the race down in Sand Diego, Ty sent me up to Big Bear to stay with my "USA Family" the Williams' to get in some altitude training. The stay here so far has been nothing short of awesome. I've had perfect weather to train in, apart from two days of snow, but other than that its been awesome. This weekend is the 3rd round of the Pro UET series up here in Big Bear, so hopefully we can keep the ball rolling after the awesome success of the last race.

Other than that not much else has happened. Colorado Pro XCT is just around the corner, and preparation is going extremely well, so needless to say, Im excited.

Stay tuned for updates over the coming weeks.

Regards

B

Full Speed Ahead

Hey guys,

Just a quick update to let you all know that Im back on the bike, and have been training  since mid-last week. My knee is holding up really good so far, and it doesn't seem to be causing me any pain. I'd like to thank Dr. Terry Weyman of CSI (Chiropractic Sports Institute) For the rehab done to my knee as well as the frequent readjustments to my body. He has a tip-top facility with a highly impressive Hyperbaric chamber... an injured athletes best friend.  If you're ever in the LA area, head up to Thousand Oaks and have a check up, its worth it, trust me.

Onto racing....This weekend will be my first weekend back racing. I'll be a wingman for Eric Bostrom at the Sage Brush Pro UET 50miler. He is currently fighting it out for the top spot in the series, so I'll be there to help him through the day and to try help him get the very best result possible.

Then I'll head up to Big Bear for some altitude training before my next major race, Ute Valley Pro XCT, Colorado. This will be the major deciding race whether I will be racing in Montana and Wisconsin for the final rounds of the Pro XCT series before flying home on the 22nd August.

There will be some smaller "Conditioning" races, along with some Marathons, to help keep the racing edge in-between the Pro XCT's.  I will also be going to Sun Valley, Idaho. To have some team bonding at the US National Championships, as well as race the Fat-Tyre Crit in downtown Sun Valley. Ive got a score to settle with that race.

Other than that there isn't much news. I'll keep you all updated on how things are going. Keep an eye out for the race report on Sage Brush. Its gonna be tough, my first marathon, should be interesting.

Until next time,
B