The majestic Karlkloof falls played host to the second round of the Momentum Health UCI XCO series this last weekend.  We were fortunate enough that our race was on Saturday and we managed to avoid the rain which seemed to be a knock on effect of Cyclone Irina.

The Venue

The Start

Both Images Credit: Mike Wolhuter

A somewhat more competitive field lined up with the Orange Monkey Cannondale team once again lining up alongside the GT Skoda team from France and Ultra Sports Rose team from Germany. This complimented a strong field of South African riders all eager to prove a point. This they ultimately did with Buys and Reid securing the first two positions on the day.

I unfortunately had a terrible start with my chain slipping but managed to fight my way back a bit through the first lap.

Coming into the feed zone.

Image Credit: Mike Wolhuter

Fun North Shore Section

Image Credit: Gavin Ryan – Quick Pix

Race Video – Very Cool, check it out.

The legs were unfortunately not completely there on the day and I perhaps went a bit too deep through the first 3 laps. This was a mistake I paid for later in the race when I was unable to latch onto a charging Justin Porteous who came through strong towards the end of our dual. I finished somewhere in the top 20, not the result I had hoped for. So it’s back to the drawing board this week with a few final tweaks for the upcoming Momentum UCI XCO race at Cascades this coming weekend and the world cup the next.

I was fortunate enough to be on the Cube AMS HPC 100 full suspension carbon racing machine which Cube have managed to organise for me to use for the upcoming ABSA Cape Epic. I have started using it already to get comfortable on it and make a few final tweaks. It was awesome to be on a dually again especially through the rock gardens where the bike is exceptionally forgiving and allows you to get away with making the odd mistake.

Rock Gardens and North Shore Bridges

Images Credit: Gavin Ryan – Quick Pix

Approaching the last single track into the finish.

Image credit: Mike Wolhuter

Huge thanks to Gavin and my Dad for all the images from the race, to my Mom for her help in the feed zone, to Max and his team for another superb event and all my awesome sponsors for helping me to be on the start line at every race.