SA Nationals XCO #1 - Paul Cordes

Hi All,

With the World Champs looming later this year and only having done my last xco race a couple of years ago I decided it was time to get some practice. I headed down to CT with some of the ASG mtb Academy to open our account at the first round of the national xco champs in Willowbridge Cape Town.

The course was neatly spread over the adjacent hill from the shopping centre giving spectators a brilliant view of almost the entire route at any one time. The organisers had put together a good mixture of technical (but nothing mad) with a nice combination of long as well as power climbing to challenge all levels of athlete. After apparently a few days of extreme heat we were lucky enough to be greeted with overcast and eventually torrential rain on race day putting a nice spin on the proceedings.  

The women where the first up for us and Yolande put on a spirited fight back after a difficult start to finish 3rd senior women amongst an international field. Amy also had a good race despite wrestling with some vegetation (and a pole) near the end of her event. 

Then it was my turn, with nerves jittery at the start we got the “go” and it was race on. I was comfortable with the early pace and despite my initial intentions to hang back at first I kicked into race mode and took the lead up the first big climb. The route was open so it gave spectators and athletes alike a good idea of what was going on. I could see that the field split up quite quickly which gave me a chance to breath easier and just focus on the sections that counted and play it safe on the down hills and not make any mistakes. I crossed the line first which was a great way to get back into xco racing and kick start the season. 

The new Dogma XC bike was amazing, it’s been awhile since I've been this comfortable on my equipment so I feel very fortunate this year. Other noticeable products this weekend were the Conti X-King tires that were superb in these varying conditions as well as the Squirt bio bike wash doing a great job getting everything clean again after the mud bath.  Another product that the team members have been impressed with is the High 5 nutrition range. Very palatable and easy to get down so we are extremely happy to be making use of their full range this season.

Next up were the elite and junior men. Unfortunately Joel while hammering with the leaders had a big off and needed to abandon to get medical attention but thankfully will be fine. Then Arno put up a good fight in a very competitive field and after an extremely muddy event finished 5th u23 which is a great starting point to build on the season. 

The other great result from the weekend was a second place at Berg n Dale from Neville loosing out narrowly in the sprint. Also Marcel finished 3^rd overall at the Blue Moonlight mtb race near Pretoria so good to see him getting his first podium for the season.

Next up is Route 66 stage race for our ladies and USN Cup #2 for most of the guys and the week after that we will do battle in Sabie.    

Till then, hope you have a great week.

Paul

ASG MTB Academy