U/23 XCO World Champs:
This was
honestly the longest build or training block towards a single event I have ever
experienced. After an "okay" result down in PE at SA xco Champs, we
went back to Pretoria for a fun and fast USN marathon at the famous Big red
barn. I managed another win in the series and with that gathered some positive
energy for the last few weeks of prep.
Most of
this time I spent in my home town, Ficksburg, simply because I felt that the terrain
and conditions around there are much better for training purposes. Nothing
against Klapperkop, but yes... I even had the privilege of hosting Coach Paul
and Yolande for a weekend. A few tech sessions and some intervals at 3000m
altitude was great to fine tune some turbo’s before a few easier days.
I decided
to travel down a week before the main event and this way I could support Paul
and some other old guys also racing for rainbow striped shirts. Unfortunately
Paul 'only' managed 2nd :) Even though for me this was the moment
things got serious. Suddenly I no longer felt so relaxed. Standing on the
sideline watching such a great performance from your Coach and training
partner... That was truly special and inspirational.
Course
practice during the week went well and the atmosphere from the whole SA squad
was great. Dinner the night before with Gert and Matthys was great to settle
the nerves and after the doing about 6 race laps in my mind I finally fell
asleep.
Friday,
race day! Longest day of my life. Normal routine was not possible because we
were only racing at 15:15 which is much later than usual. After breakfast and a
light spin, Gert and I still had a few hours to kill before we could suite up,
so we didn't speak to each other while we sat around, over thinking stuff and
stressing about everything.
Being
ranked 51st was not ideal, but after avoiding crashes and other mishaps in the
start straight, I managed to get into the first single track right behind James
in about 12th place. I have followed him around a bit this year, so I told
myself to stay on that wheel and ride it like a National. I soon realised it
wasn't like just another National.
Half way up
the second climb while pedaling my heart out, about 20 guys rode past me. I
knew I went too deep and realized that I needed to get back into a rhythm as
soon as possible. Once again I had to gulp down some High5 gels, knowing that
it would do the trick. The last few laps saw a light drizzle which was just
enough to make the rocks and logs a bit more dangerous. Thankfully the
Pinarello brought me to the line safely and I was rather happy with 35th place
against the best in the world.
All and all
I have to thank Cycling SA for making this possible and also all the a[s]g
PYCyling equipment sponsors and friends for making it so much easier for me.
Onwards
Arno
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