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!

For the first time in just under 6 weeks the Cube and I lined up behind the chalk. This time it was different in that we wouldn’t be racing full gas but rather at a more sedate enjoyable pace. Don’t get me wrong I love racing but it was fun to go to a race, not worry about being a few minutes late and enjoying a couple of drinks the night before.

So off to the Karlkloof Country Club on Sunday morning for the Mr Price Karlkloof Trail Blazer it was. The weather in Hilton over the last week has been crappy: misty and drizzly every day but Sunday morning clear sunny skies and temperatures which would soar to 35C greeted us. Awesome!

Good friend Craig Paul (Jeep) and I had decided to ride together in the week before. Our start was so relaxed we were chilling under a gazebo next to the start line as the gun went off and only got moving a couple of moments later.

The highlight of the Trail Blazer is the awesome single track and too the abundance of it. There are so many trails which are all in tip top condition that doing this race is only a pleasure. The track is so flowing and fun it’s just amazing! Highlights include The Gauntlet and Supertubes and about 15 other trails I can’t remember the names of! (No exaggeration)

The Gauntlet

Image compliments Mr Price Karlkloof Classic 

 

 It is hard to explain how great the course is so if you’re a mountain biker do yourself a favour, take yourself and your bike out to Karlkloof one weekend, pay your 20 bucks for your day permit and spend that day having the most fun possible on two wheels shredding up the dirt!

Entries for the Kids Mountain Bike Camp are still open so if you have any smartie gobblers be sure to get those entries in quick!

Date: 13^th, 14^th and 15^th December

Time: 8 for 8.30am-12.30pm every day

Where: Hilton (final venue will be confirmed to camp participants prior to the event)

If you live in Pietermaritzburg or Howick and require transport please contact us and arrangements can be made.

You need: Any bicycle suitable for going off road in good working condition and a helmet. That’s all! We supply everything else you need.

Cost: R250

This includes all your riding for the 3 days. Juice and mid morning snacks from Dulce Cafe! As well as energy bar’s supplied by PVM and a camp pack.

For any more information

Contact: Chris Wolhuter

Cell: 072 445 3963

Fax: 033 383 0050

Email: 15207358@sun.ac.za

 

RSVP by Thursday the 2^nd of December.

Please turn over for entry form.

Name: __________________________________________________________________________________

Address: __________________________________________________________________________________

Age: __________________________________________________________________________________

Phone Number: __________________________________________________________________________________

School: __________________________________________________________________________________

Guardian’s Name: __________________________________________________________________________________

Guardian’s Contact Detail: __________________________________________________________________________________

Email Address: __________________________________________________________________________________

Allergies: __________________________________________________________________________________

T-shirt size:  Small Medium   Large 

If you received this entry form from your school you can hand it in to your sports co-ordinator before or on the 2^nd of December.

Alternatively the entry form can be faxed to the above number or your details emailed.

Please accompany each entry form with your money or proof of payment to secure your spot.

Limited places are available, strictly first come first serve basis. Camp participant’s guardians will be required to sign an indemnity form which will be available on the first day of the camp.

 Last week I joined the corporate world for a week with my Cape Epic partner, Riaan Boshoff at his accounting practice Merlin Chartered accountants. It was an enjoyable week but think I still prefer riding my bike for now 🙂 but thanks to Riaan and Marli for having me and I learnt a lot.

 

Riaan and I at the start of this years Epic.

I also received the goods news that I had passed my last subject and now have my degree, a BCom in Management Accounting. I was really stoked and relieved that the years of hard work has paid off. Next year I will be doing my honours in management accounting and this is the next step on the path towards my final goal of obtaining the CIMA qualification, a Chartered Management Accountant. This still requires me to do 3 years of ‘articles’ type of work and external exams which are done through the head CIMA in the UK.

In terms of bike things I have had a couple of days off and will start training for the 2011 season this coming weekend. Going to be doing the Mr Price Karlkloof Trail Blazer but not at break neck race pace rather a more sedate mid pack cruise.

Mel and I also popped in to Dulce Cafe Somerset West for a lunch and coffee. Dulce Cafe have been an instrumental sponsor to me this year and I always enjoy popping into Elana’s store and supporting them as they support me.

Dulce Cafe Somerset West

My new kit arrived this past week. Loving the new design and colours! It’s super comfy too. Check it out

Front with the sides folded in, the Dulce Cafe logos are actually on the side

 

The back

 

Shorts

 

I also received my new Blackberry phone this past week. It’s an awesome gadget and I almost managed to do this entire blog post(granted there isin’t much writing) on it. This will be quite cool for the future for stage races such as the Cap Epic where doing daily blogs will be much easier.

 

Have a good week and enjoy the weather if you’re in the greater Cape Town area. Summer is here!

What a season it’s been with its highs and lows. So, where to start…

When I start out the new season, , I always aim to, besides my more specific goals, do something new and different; may it be going to races I haven’t done before, riding in new places or experiencing new things.

I believe very much in the saying “Adapt or die…”

This year I can say I have definitely done that. Looking back I have been so privileged to have been able to do what I have, thanks to the awesome support from sponsors, family, my girlfriend and friends.

Having joined the Toyota Cycle Lab team at the end of last year I approached the season thinking that I would be making more of a move from mountain biking to road. This is where the better opportunities seemed lie for me.

The teams focus for the first couple of months was the Virgin Active Pro Classic series and then the Giro del Capo road tour which culminated the summer season. Things went fairly well for me. I found some sprinting legs and learnt more in terms of bunch positioning in the sprint with every race and got a few top 10’s in the league races as well as taking a win at the Killarney mid week criterium in the sprint thanks to a great lead out from my team mate Matt Evans. (A big thanks to Carinus for the countless hours he spent on the scooter motorpacing me, the training was invaluable.)

The Giro.

Image Compliments Torque Pics

The team was also very privileged in having a few high calibre riders join us for the Giro del Capo. This helped us to finish as the best Western Cape team in the team competition and numerous top 20 finishes on stages. To Shaun Ward, Silvio Bundi and Thomas Zahnd; thanks guys for joining us and it was a privilege getting to know and learning from you.

The week following the Giro, I felt like I had good form and after spending time with Silvio and Thom (who were actually out to do the ABSA Cape Epic) I was determined to try and get a ride in the Epic. Erik Kleinhans tried to help me get a ride with a random French guy but that was not too be and after having been in contact with the Epic race office for the week I was told to get some of my things ready and I might get a ride Saturday afternoon kind of thing (the event started on Sunday morning at 8am).

Come 5pm on Saturday and still no call I said to Mel that I didn’t think it would happen. Not fifteen minutes later, I received a call from a friend of mine, Bunnie Loubser.

Unfortunately for him he had not been feeling well and had paid a visit to the doctor who had done blood tests and diagnosed him with glandular fever. I felt terrible for Bunnie but at the same time, I very excited that he was giving me this opportunity to ride.

ABSA Cape Epic

 

I met my partner the next morning, Riaan Boshoff and his wife Marli, about an hour before the start. Crazy in that guys train for months on end with their partners to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses inside out.

But what can I say, the Epic was one of the best experiences of my life and Riaan and Marli will be lifelong friends of mine. I really enjoyed riding with Riaan and taking in the epicness of the epic and Marli pampered and looked after us the whole week like we were winning the event 🙂 You can read all about the Epic here if you would like but I won’t go into detail with it again.

ABSA Cape Epic

 ABSA Cape Epic

The Epic re-sparked my love affair with mountain biking. I decided that this was now where I wanted to go in cycling. The two months following the Epic was spent recovering and then travelling all over the Cape to events. Another highlight was the Klein Karro Klassiek where Erik and I travelled down together and camped for three days drinking numerous espressos and chilling in the warm baths at the Calitzdorp Spa.

Heading back to Pietermaritzburg for the mid year holiday I managed to win an entry into the two day Dusi Mfula race, compliments of Cube Bikes South Africa. I was lucky to find a last minute partner; Hilton Frost, and we did well to finish 4^th in the event. This started my relationship with Paul, Darryl and Jacques from Cube and resulted in them sponsoring me with a bike for the year. It is a bike that I have thoroughly enjoyed riding and I hope to carry this relationship long into the future.

Do yourself a favour and click on their logo to look at their 2011 awesome bikes (which won two design awards at Euro Bike this year).

Cube AMS Pro Elixir R

 It was at this time I met my current coach Ian and we have been working together ever since, and I believe there has been improvement and I’m looking forward to working together into the future

Following this sponsorship I was now more determined than ever to move forward in my cycling career. I raced across the Cape and KZN participating in numerous events such as the MTN National Ultra marathons, Karoo 2 Coast, Potberg marathon and the Riebeck Valley race. I was lucky to have Squirt Lube and Sludge Tyre Sealent join my “team”. Using these great products was vital to my racing as chain suck was a thing of the past and punctures non-existent.

MTN Hilton National Ultra Marathon

Squirt Lube

Sludge Tyre Sealent

 

The Riebeck Valley mountain bike race proved to be a BIG turning point in the year. It was the first mountain bike race that I had won in the season and it was here that I also met Sean Williams. I had been searching desperately for a financial sponsor and after meeting Sean he was extremely enthusiastic in coming on board and helping me out.

 

Sean and Kay.

Restaurant fit out Sean’s company did.

The finances that Sean has helped me with have been fantastic. It has enabled me to travel to many races and expose myself to a higher level of racing that would not have otherwise been possible. We will be riding together towards the end of the year in the Leeuwenboschfontein stage race in December.

PVM Nutritional Sciences.

 

Things started to come together further in this time as two new sponsors joined the ‘team’. PVM nutritional sciences and Dulce Cafe came onboard. I have been using PVM products for a number of years and found them to be a superior product which works incredibly well.

Dulce Cafe, Waterstone Village, Somerset West.

The support Elana from Dulce cafe in Somerset West provides me with is also invaluable. When you’re next in the area, pop in for a healthy meal that will make your taste buds dance.

To all my sponsors: Sean Williams Contracts, Cube Bikes South Africa, Dulce Cafe, Squirt Lube, Sludge Sealent and PVM Nutritional Sciences a big big thank you for your support. It is more appreciated than you can imagine.

Heres to 2011, lets rock n roll…

Firstly apologies for the lack of blogging. I haven’t had much spare time with studying for my last set of under graduate exams. Hopefully in the next few weeks I’ll have a degree behind my name!

Beautiful mountains near Montague on the R62.

Here is a summarised version of my race from the Ladismith Cheese Seweweekspoort mountain bike marathon last weekend.

The race took place just outside the Klein Karoo town of Ladismith. The 80km race would take us up and down the Seweweekspoort with a short rough loop on the plateau at the top. A Poort is an Afrikaans word for a valley type of thing. We then rode on mainly jeep track with a section of tar thrown in back to the town of Ladismith.

The finish line. 

I didn’t have good legs at all and was quite disappointed with how early I dropped from the front split. The legs came back after about 50km where I caught a few people. I went to the line with one of the veterans and managed to take the sprint to finish in the top 10 overall and 7^th in the combined elite and U23 category. National marathon champion Kevin Evans took the win convincingly.

More recently, yesterday in fact, the World Xterra Champs took place in Maui Hawaii. Congratulations to Conrad Stoltz who took his 4^th world title! Amazing! Some thought the balie was almost over the hill, apparently not quite yet! The $20 000 prize can’t hurt the Caveman’s bank account either.

 Unfortunately Dan had tyre problems and finished down in 36^th place. The gamble with the super light tyres didn’t work this time but still admirable of Dan to lay it all on the line. It appears as though his form was good as he was with Stoltz on the bike before the issues started.

This weekend’s racing news comes from the prestigious Nelson’s Creek Wine Estate where the first ever Engen Dynamic Mountain bike race was held.

On paper the route didn’t look too bad, as it appeared flat the whole way apart from a 5km climb in the middle. Surely it couldn’t be too bad as the climb would be a good place to try split up the field, which sounded like a good plan, except when you’re the one who is being split from the front… 

The first 25km of this race took us on flat farm roads and jeep tracks through the vineyards. After a short power climb 10km in, Geddan Ruddock (Schwinn) put the hammer down there were only 5 of us in front. Geddan, Carl Pasio, Adrian Louw (GT/Mr Price), Timo Cooper (Wilde) and I (SWC/Cube). 

For the next few kilometres it seemed as though it was a road race. Flat roads again and attack after attack and a counter attack was launched. I was content to follow the moves thinking I would wait for the main climb. Soon Carl launched a move which seemed to stick. Timo quickly covered with Adrian trying to bridge and me on his wheel. I decided to sit and let him try close the gap but Carl was putting the pressure on. Geddan soon realised we were in trouble and tried to bridge us across. I patiently waited until he brought us back to within 10 metres of the front two and as I saw he was fading I jumped across, taking no passengers. 

At the front we combined fairly well opening the gap to 30 seconds. The climb started to appear in the distance and as we got closer and closer,  soon we were right on the base I looked around and saw no road. I was like “well now where do we go? How are they going to take us up this?” My questions were soon answered.

 In the most difficult manner possible.

The first kick!

Steep!

Very glad I still have a triple chain ring!

The last part proved not to be ride able and we walked. Carl being a tri-athlete ran and opened a gap. Adrian and Geddan came back and kick after kick of 20% plus grades I was taking shots. I clicked into survival mode and kept the front four in sight thinking I could go flat out on the descent, take risks and get back on as the last part of the course was again flat and would most likely be tactical. On the last part of the climb I lost sight of the front four and pushed myself over.

Chasing hard.

John Hishin – Cape Town Sports Photography

I hit the downhill hard hoping to make back time, a bit too hard as I washed out on one of the first corners having a bit of dirt for mid morning tea. Back on again I approached the rest a bit more cautiously.

Eventually on the last flat parts I could see Geddan ahead of me. At first he was a good 1.30 ahead but I pushed and closed it to 1minute and then 30 seconds but I ran out of kilometres and had to settle for 5th position on the day.

A bit disappointing but nonetheless, a solid result. Up front Carl took a good win proving to be  strong on the flats.

Results
1. Carl Pasio
2. Adrian Low
3. Timo Cooper
4. Geddan Ruddock
5. Chris Wolhuter

and then check it again!

They look the same…

 

but actually they’re not…

That was my rookie/amateur/funrider mistake this weekend.   I was sitting in the car after having entered and all for the Degrendal mountain bike race about to change and go and warm up when I realised I had in fact packed in 1 road and 1 mountain bike shoe for the race. Unfortunately this meant no race for me.

Usually when it comes to packing kit for a race I double check everything and even pack too much, taking rain jackets and arm warmers when we end up racing in the blazing sun. You never know what it could be like at the venue though… Don’t know how this one slipped though. Nothing I can do about it now though.

I was back in Stellenbosch earlier than I expected and my sister came over to bake me some birthday cupcakes! Yum yum.

Later that afternoon Mel and I were off to Zorgvliet Wine Farm. Mel had organised a suprise birthday treat for me and we spent the afternoon picnicing under the trees on the luscious green lawns. The food was amazing and so to the Cabernet and company.

And if anyone hasn’t given me a birthday present yet, I won’t say no if one of these beauties arrive on my doorstep 🙂

Apologies for the delayed race report folks, I typed this up on the weekend but accounting has ruled my life this week so havent had a chance to post it.

Once again poor Witblitz had to be left at home this weekend, but this time i swapped him for a Jet plane. On Wednesday afternoon I boarded my flight Durban bound. I was going to be racing the MTN National Ultra marathon in Hilton and spending a long weekend at home catching up with the ballies.

Photo shoot with the bike, nice and clean.

Thursday and Friday was spent chilling out, getting in some rides and trying to study for an accounting test and then finally race day dawned on Saturday. Hilton hasn’t seen rain for a few weeks so I was expecting a dry dusty and very powdery course however Mother Nature took matters into her own hands though and brought us some rain and very thick mist on race day.

As it says “The Lube of Legends” athletes from Conrad Stoltz to Ned Overend use Squirt.

 A small but very competitive field lined up at Grace College with teams from MTN Energade, DCM Chrome, Garmin Addidas, Jeep and Specialized. We set off at a brisk pace with things staying together at first. I sat fairly comfortably until about 10km in when the DCM duo of Knox and Stewart put some pressure on the front. I felt I could have hung on but didn’t want to spend too many pennies too quickly so I settled into my own rhythm. It was to be a long day on my own.

 We were to tackle the half marathon route first (40km) and then the marathon(70km). It was a hard loop with the course continuously either pointing up or down and offering no place to recover, but the singletrack was fun if not a bit broken up in the corners. I ended the first loop in 12th position going past Grace College and then onto the marathon loop.

Nearing the King of the Mountain.

We now made our way onto the Garlick Timbers plantation and the going didn’t get any easier. A lot of short steep climbs sapped the legs. We eventually descended down into the … valley and then started the 10km King of the Mountains climb. This would be going past my parent’s farm so I know this section of the course better than others. My Aunt was waiting on top with a fresh bottle and food which went down so well and my Dad the budding photographer snapped a few pics.

Refueled and ready to go, hurting at this point.

The last part took us back onto the half marathon route. Mentally this was quite tough for me as I knew what was to come and it wasn’t going to be easy. Eventually I finished, some 5hours and 40minutes after I had started, in 12th position for the day. I was happy with this as I had achieved my goal of a top 15.

At the finish.

The course had lead us across 110km and 2400m of ascent with some mud thrown in and a touch of rain, it was brutal! Well done to Max for taking the win, Brandon in 4th and Craig in 8th. One more day of chilling at home tomorrow, and then back to Varsity on Monday.

Don’t think I’ll be riding much this week, got a big accounting test on Thursday!