Last two weeks wrap up

Once again a busy last two weeks it has been. Going back to Cape Town last week I didn’t take my lap top with me and hence the lack of blogging as I wanted to put up a few more shots from the kids camp. So here they are now.

Talking of which the last two days were a resounding success. I enjoyed working with each and every one of the Kids. They were well mannered and seemed to love it soaking up every bit of information as we went.

 

 The 2^nd day of the camp saw us riding into Hilton College. Our mid morning stop welcomed us with snacks and drinks compliments of Ducle Cafe once again. Next up I taught the kids how to change a puncture using the tyre levers that each of them received in their pack from Cycle Lab. Hopefully they won’t need to be doing much puncture changing in the future with Sludge in their tyres. After munching a few PVM energy bars we set off home to end the day.

The 3^rd and final day of the camp took a different feel to the other two. After arriving I took the kids for a walk on the farm pointing out a few landmarks as they would be doing an orienteering race around the farm. After the kids had lubed up their chains with Squirt, Leonard took them on a short ride while I hid the flags and clippers. The kids went off in pairs finding the flags with clippers all over the farm whilst following their clue cards. Along the way they had to answer questions about things they had learnt over the last few days and shoot katteys (a group favourite).

A short prize giving wrapped up the camp. Thanks to the kids for coming, being sports, enthusiastic and well mannered. I would love to work with kids again and am definitely looking to do another camp next year, possibly two with another for younger children.

A big thank you to my sponsors particularly: Dulce Cafe, Sludge, Squirt, PVM and Cycle Lab for supporting the camp. Thanks also to my girlfriend Mel, mom Linda and Mel’s brother Leonard for their help through the camp.

 

It was then off to Cape Town to do the Leeuwenboschfontein race with sponsor Sean Williams. A disappointing day 1 saw us skip the next two days of the race where we opted to instead explore trails in Montague on our bikes.

Besides that its back to routine or riding and gym. An awesome Christmas with family and friends has come to an end and I now look forward to our training camp up into Lesotho next week, more info to follow soon.

A busy, busy last two weeks it has been!

My preparations for the 2011 season started off with the Mr Price Karlkloof Trailblazer some two weeks ago. A cool race treated as a training ride to get back into the swing of things. This lead into a week of gym work and time on the bike. I have really enjoyed training again and getting back into the routine of it. I am trying a somewhat different approach in my preparation to next year with the guidance and suggestions of my coach Ian. Back to the saying “innovate or die”, taken with a pinch of salt of course. I’m thinking if I do the same thing each year where will the improvement come from?

Dinner at Basic Bistro with the balies.

I have also moved into my new flat with Mr Kriek. A cyclist who will surely make a name for himself in South African racing circles next year. Our new home is just outside Stellenbosch in the Klein Welgevonden area. Our flat has been aptly named the “Zen Den”, you will have to consult Mr Kriek further to find the true meaning of this but it apparently has something to do with Sonja my Bonsai (so named by Mr Kriek) and Christian’s Zen Poetry book…

My other reason for re-visiting Stellenbosch was to go to my graduation ceremony this past Wednesday. Fortunately it was not too long and I was pretty stoked to finally have the piece of paper confirming I do actually have my degree now. Some wise words were spoken by the Chancellor at the end of the ceremony and these can be well applied in life.

My Dad and I.

The Mom and I.

 

It was back to Maritzburg for a couple of days. One, for the HP Urban Rage taking place this past weekend. The Urban Rage is a short urban themed mountain bike course with manmade berms, floating water bridges and jumps. There are many other obstacles including starting on a 5m high start ramp with BMX style start gates and riding over the Man Line trucks.  

One of the water bridges.

Gasping for air after my first heat, felt like we were racing in Joburg not at the beach!

Wooden berm.

It was a great day of racing, albeit I lacked a bit of leg speed. But nonetheless I had a fun day on the bike and the 4 laps I had done in total with the individual heats and the team race had me knackered. I didn’t manage to qualify for the Super Cat finals but Tyrone and I finished up a solid 7^th in the team comp.

 Table Top.

Pushing to the finish.

Today the Kids Mountain Bike Camp kicked off. There are about 15 kids taking part and we had a fun day out in the forests. After a morning out ride we stopped for tea kindly sponsored by Dulce Cafe.

Trying to win the dirtiest kid of the day award.

Recuperating for round two!

Following this the kettathlon took place. A concept in which the guys rode in teams with each rider doing a short XC style lap and then having to shoot with a Kattey, the kids had to hit the target before tagging their team mate who would then carry on. The winning team each got a bottle of Squirt Chain Lube for their efforts.

Kattey Shooting.

Group photo.

Be sure to tune in for day 2 and 3 of the camp!