My First XCO National - Nicholas Popich

The week before the National XCO cup #2, I found myself glued to Youtube, studying GoPro footage of every corner, rock and tree root to be found at Cascades MTB park in Pietermaritsburg. Without noticing I would stop breathing for easily 30 seconds… visualising myself riding the treacherous rock gardens and drop offs. I was prepared! 

Arriving in PMB on Thursday gave us a good two days to practice a few laps. Angie and I were dead scared! Never before have I seen such a track… Gap jumps, rock gardens dropping into burms, steep switch back climbs and tight corners around gigantic pine trees. Elements ONLY to be found in Pretoria’s DOWNHILL tracks. I decided (it took me two hours of gazing down), it was DO or DIE… or rather, do AND die! By the end of Friday I had finally concurred every obstacle after hurting Mother Earth with my Rudy Wingspan helmet, taking a tumble or two. That evening “Lights out” came early – we had no electricity!

Rise and shine, it was a perfect day for climbing tree (blue and sunny skies) and… RACING! I watched my team mates push their Pinarellos past the limit, Amy and Paul both finishing with a spot on the box and Arno compete upfront with the Pro Elite riders. Time for me to show what I was made of, excited! Then the disappointment of having to start way back of the pack seeded almost last L. Yolande got me cheered up: “It is just another race, relax and give it your best. You will be fine.” A last HIGH5 Gel for the kick in the start! 

The shot had me sprinting ballistic. Cutting corners and giving all I had moved me up from 20^th into the top 10 within the first 1,5km. The switch back climbs helped me on my mission fighting my way into the top 5. Approaching the Rock Monster’s mouth (rock garden) my arms started shaking, not just on the first approach, every single time! Lap 1: Phew, success... Lap 2: Bail (running down in my SIDI’s – tough stuff)... Lap 3: Bail... Lap 4: BbbbbMADE IT! Halfway through the third lap I was flattened from all the fighting to stay in range of a spot on the podium and simply gave up.

Coming through the tech zone I was honoured to have Yolande hand me my second bottle (“Relax and give it your best. You will be fine.” – running through my head).  The Badger decided to bite back! Using a HIGH5 gel on every lap finally came into play and after zoning the rock garden my confidence was back. One lap left to catch up. In the last km I made my way up to 5^th, right behind 3^rd and 4^th. Tactics came into play making timing crucial. With the last opportunity I zipped past them on my super responsive Pinarello DogmaXC and had a hard sprint in the final few meters of the race to claim the third position trailing second by 30 seconds and Alan Hatherly winning by quite a few minutes. 

Cascades “claimed many victims” in crashes, mechanicals and climbs BUT it was fun. Something out of the ordinary for me and an incredible experience learning from experts and mentors such as Paul Cordes and Yolande Speedy! 

Thank you to a[s]g for supporting and sponsoring our team. Thank you to the team for making it possible and all my team mates for the enjoyable weekend and all the tips and cheers! A last thanks to Angie for the accommodation.

I am looking forward to the next leg of the National XCO series at Thaba trails.

Nicholas Popich   #TheBadger