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| Thaba show girl! |
A couple weeks ago Yolande and I packed up the Volcans and headed down to Rietvlei Zoo farm to join up with the Club 100 mtb gang for a morning of fun. We have been wanting to join up for quite some time now as being on the sharp edge of our sport often neglects us from just getting out and enjoying what used to be considered the reason we love mtb’ing so much! So after a few e-mails and checking the race schedule we were off and looking forward to meeting some new people and riding a few new trails which is always exciting. We had a great morning out and were very surprised with the amount of club members on the day as well as everyone’s enthusiasm followed by eats and drinks afterwards. Also great job by the crew and expert trail builder (and guide) Wendel, a lot of effort has gone into Rietvlei Zoo farm as well as the new Thaba trails so if you have a chance to spend a few hours on the mtb be sure to go give these a try!
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| Pre-ride briefing |
Kaitlyns (and dads) big day!
Last week included a day that I have been looking forward to for a very long time and that was my daughters 6th Birthday! Nothing can really prepare you for being a father but once you’ve become one then all of a sudden your priorities change drastically. Things and feelings you never thought would happen to you become a reality and then you realize there could be nothing more special to you than your little girl and how you are going to try and shape the best future you can for her. What made this weekend so special is that this was going to be her first weekend back at home in over 3years (divorce) so I was super excited! Happy Birthday my girl!
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| Happy Birthday my girl! |
MTN Hilton Dirt Festival 2011
Perfect weather greeted our team when we arrived in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday evening. Yolande and I took a short ride up the hill to help loosen our legs after a few hours in the Crafter. We had a good dinner from our host and into bed early. The next morning we went down to the world cup course at the Cascades where we did a couple easy laps on what is most definitely the best XC course in South Africa. After gaining some technical confidence and a quick visit to Coffeeberry’s it was feet up time, tactics talk and rest up for the big challenge – The Hilton Dirt Festival.
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| Great cycling hangout! |
It was a perfect day for racing and although a very disappointing overall turnout there was no lack in depth in the main field. A change in the route the day before meant that we were in for a hill top finish and the KOM coming later in the race which suited our riders perfectly especially with overall titles in mind. The start was frantic and soon I found myself trailing the lead group slightly but surrounded by the riders I had hoped to run this race with. Up ahead I could see that AD had made the split with Jacques and Charles a bit in no mans land so it felt good that we had a few options covered.
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| Life inside the Crafter |
I stuck with the always very calculated MisterAfrican and a couple of his team mates as well as Nico Bell feeling that we had the combination to ride a good pace to the finish and slowly real in victims of the fast start. Things went a bit astray when Nico and I got separated from Phillip through a series of single track and Manie sliding off the back but he made it back soon enough and our hunt was on.
In a race like this which was very bumpy and had a lot of climbs if you are able to keep a good pace all the way to the line then you are bound to have a decent result. I unfortunately lost contact with Manie just before the last portage section so road my pace up the last climb which didn’t make any difference in the result but just on the time split. However I was only just over 20min behind the eventual winner – the very talented Burry Stander. This result would have put me very high up the ranks last year and as it was it was a huge improvement for me but a tribute to how mountain biking has grown and the level of racing it put me in a 13th position overall.
This was such a hard race on the body that the decision to ride the hard tail has to be questioned and with all the bumpy terrain it made the racing a lot harder however the hard tail at least helped on the two, long smooth climbs and most importantly the one up to the finish which ultimately put Adrien into a really good position which he finished off with an amazing 2nd overall! I was also happy with the result considering two 2 doses of anti-biotics of late and the current lingering chest infection I was still able to offer a 100% effort.
Next up is the season finale in Parys where we obviously will be using quite a different tactic for the race with all to play for in both the series as well as in the KOM competition in both the mens and womens categories. Considering this being such a challenging year our much smaller team has had it will be quite ironic as well as bring some just reward and recognition for all the efforts that everyone has put in be it in leadership, experience, tactics, talent or pure muscle this year and a show off just how tough this sport is. Even if not always strewn in weekly victories I feel proud that we have been able to pull through and ultimately compete and accomplish in and for the biggest rewards of the year!!!
See you all on the Crater Cruise “launch pad”
PC
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| Larry through the eye of a needle! |
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