January 2012

I hosted the second Kids Mountain bike holiday camp this year and think it was a great success. The idea behind the camp is that it is a fun 3 day holiday camp and not a serious training camp. That said I do try and teach the children a few skills and we cover up to 25km of riding a day. We also spent some time learning how to fix a puncture and incorporated a ketahlon into the last days riding.

The camp was run in Hilton, starting and finishing from either Dulce Café at the Quarry or Seven Spring s Farm. We rode on some of the best trails Hilton has to offer and I’m sure the kids enjoyed it. With comments like “I don’t ride unless there is singletrack” I’m sure they did.

I was fortunate to have the assistance of Gavin on the camp. Gavin took a couple of awesome photos of the kids and was such a great help. His efforts were much appreciated by myself and the kids, thank you once again Gavin. Also a big thank you to my sister and Mom for their behind the scenes help and ensuring that they met us in the forest each morning with snacks and drinks.

I am also extremely grateful for the support I received from my sponsors for the event. SW Contracts sponsored the kids t-shirts along with Cycle Lab who also contributed water bottles and a couple of other goodies for the goodie bags. The kids also got some awesome Cube caps which they seemed to really like. Squirt lube ensured all the kids chains ran smoothly and we had no punctures thanks to Sludge Tyre Sealant. Another firm favourite was the PVM energy bars! Lastly but most certainly not the least a big thanks to Dulce café for supplying the kids with snacks and drinks daily and also for the use of your awesome new store at the quarry shopping centre.

I’ll let the photos and smiles on the kids’ faces do the rest of the talking

Opening day registration at Dulce Cafe.

The smiles say it all, Megan and Sarah.

Lunch break Day 1.

Start of Day 2.

Pimping the helmet!

Squirt keeping those chains running smoothly.

Another pimped out helmet.

Ryan and Dustin going head to head in the Ketahtlon challenge.

Teaching Courtney how to use the Kattey.

The final fun prize giving.

The following images are all compliments of Gavin Ryan, should you wish to purchase an image please get in touch with me on my email chriswolhuter[at]live[dot]co[dot[za].

Jonothan

Patrick

Megan

Sarah

Ryan

Dustin

Brandon

Courtney

Ryan

Brian

I arrived back in the mother city last night for what should have been my final preparations for the 2012 season. However things have not worked out as planned. One of my life philosophies is ‘adapt or die’ and I will have to do just that in approaching the season in a different light.

My base training has been hampered by consecutive courses of antibiotics but I finish those today and am allowed to swing a leg over the old steed tomorrow again, 5 days off has felt like an eternity. It also means that I will have to skip Sean and I’s season opener the Attakwas Ultra Marathon next weekend, this doubled as ABSA Cape Epic preparation for us.

In any case onwards and upwards I hope to go and will have to redeem what form possible before the opening XCO races in February. I feel confident having a coach like Ian at my side that my goals can still be reached.

Below are a couple of photos from training in and around Pietermaritzburg with the boys there. Had an awesome time at home on the farm with friends and family, we made some good memories!

Playing in the tree’s during the Kids MTB Camp