Winning the SSWC 2012 - Amy McDougall

(photo taken from Amy's blog on www.bryton.co.za)

Congratulations Amy on Winning the SSWC 2012!!

You can also read Amy's full story here - http://www.bryton.co.za/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=entry&id=58&Itemid=176

Mankele 3 Towers - Paul Cordes

The past couple of weeks has been quite eventful for the Pycycling gang! The action started last weekend with Amy winning the Single Speed World Champs and earning herself the famous tattoo “trophy” but she will tell us all about it in a separate insert.

To start with last weekend several of our riders packed in their camping gear and headed down to the Isuzu 3 Towers stage race. There were 2 events over the 3 days, firstly the race where there were 2 days of 80km racing and then the Challenge which the first 2 days were 40km stages but both ending with a 50km day 3.

I teamed up with Arno for our 2^nd stage race together with a goal of top 5 overall. This event is fairly technical which we felt suited us well. The organizers put huge effort into building and maintaining amazing trails around the area which is a great test for both man and machine. During this event one is forever diving into some amazing little bush tunnel or a beautiful piece of forest single track and I was thankful for Rudy Project glasses being photo chromatic so I could see perfectly in this ever changing environment. What they also have at their disposal are climbs – kilometers and kilometers worth!!! Somehow I managed to forget about these from the past but after day 1 I was reminded of what was really going to make the racing.

We rode nice and steady throughout the 3 days and kept very consistent but just lacked the punch to truly mix it with the top guys. We finished 5^th behind Gawie and Phillip which we felt was a pretty good effort. Have to say that our USN supplements did their job and I am always so grateful that they have such a wide range to rely on to get us through all the phases of mtb racing!

Our other members had some great success as well and I was very proud of our elite ladies Angie and Petru who were doing their first ever stage race and managed a very creditable 3^rd place overall. Then our junior mixed team of Marcel and Jessica (@slab) finished 2^nd in the Challenge which was also a fantastic effort! Vet racer Francios led his team mate through the mountains for a fantastic 3^rd in cat. And our “dads” team finished their first ever stage race making their own personal goal which was exciting to see!

Other parts of the country we had Catherine Colyn getting a double podium down in the cape at the Engen Dynamic Cycle Challenge on both the mtb and road race. She won both of her events as well as a very high overall finish position. We have been seeing a steady improvement from her this season which has been very exciting!

Amy headed to Voriberg where she took 1^st lady and 4^th overall showing again her good form!

Then Yolande after being selected only a few weeks ago to race in the World Marathon Champs giving her very limited preparation time headed over to France with the S.A. team to have some fun in the mud!! She did fantastically finishing 13^th in the world (only 1 place off her pb) proving that she still is a huge force to recon with both in xco as well as xcm! It was a relief to me to hear that despite the mud her GT Zaskar ran perfectly and the Conti X-Kings kept her upright which is always first prize! I think Yolande and I can be very crateful for our CycleOps Powertaps so we could really put in some much focused training making the very most of our time to get into some great shape!

We are super proud of every ones performances this past weekend and look forward to a lot of exciting racing to come!

Next weekend we will have a few of our riders down at the Crater Cruise as well as Neville and Yolande will be racing at the Cape Pioneer Trek and wish them all the best of luck!!

Till then keep the rubber side down!

Paul

Big 5 plus 1 MTB Super Series 2012 (Event #3) Babbas Lodge: 35km: 30 September 2012 - Edwill O'Neill

On Sunday I ended up going out to Bultfontein with Ben to do the Babbas Lodge #3 race. We decided to hit the road to Babbas on our mountain bikes.

Ben and I left early morning in some chilly spring weather for Babbas. Geared up we hit the road from Centurion to Babbas Lodge, an estimated 45km. We started out nice and easy. Well, it felt nice and easy at the time. We wasted a little time by stopping at a garage to check out an Audi R8… not a good idea but we just had to check out this supercar. Because of the stop at the garage we eventually found ourselves under pressure, and the nice and easy ride to Babbas ended up a fast and furious ride to make it to the start in time.

We just made it… two minutes before the race started Ben and I lined up at the back and off we went.

It was not my intention to race this race, but to take it relatively easy as a good training ride. We just rode at a nice, easy pace. However, as we hit the 1^st climb I managed to climb it pretty well and as I reached the top of the climb I broke away from the group.

The initial plan of having a chilled ride for some reason didn’t happen; I started to pedal hard till the end and finished 1^st in the Junior Men category and 1^st overall… an unexpected win after a looooong, warm ride of +- 45km to Babbas.

I enjoyed the route. There had been a few changes to the route from the last time I was there, one or two technical climbs, some awesome single tracks and then as always LOTS of soft sand! One thing about a Babbas race: it’s fast and hard.

All in all ben and I had great fun! What a ride!

Thank you Reginald for giving us a lift back to Centurion in the Vito… a life saver!

Edwill

Varsity College 12-hour Enduro at Avianto - Arno du Toit with Marcel Marais and Edwill O'Neill

After a couple of hard training weeks, Marcel Marais and I decided to team up for this 12-hour Enduro challenge as a two-man team for some quality time in the saddle and having fun while doing so. We didn't really discuss any team tactics, but after a chat with Coach Paul, we decided to take it on in two-hour shifts at a time. This is probably not the fastest way of doing things, but looking at the bigger picture with a few longer races lined up, it seemed like the way to go.

I haven't done any relay-type races in a while, so I was sort of excited about this idea. Well at least until we had to load the bikes in the rain Saturday morning before heading out to Avianto. It's hard enough to look forward to a normal race once it's wet, but 12 hours in mud... Not my idea of fun!

As we arrived there were some nervous-looking faces, one of which was also a PYcycling athlete, Edwill O'Neill. He teamed up with Ben Viljoen from Epic Sports and also two of the country's fastest juniors, Ferdi Botha and Werner van Heerden, racing in the four-man relay team: Die Frikkies.

Luckily as the start time came closer the rain moved away and the spirits lifted. I knew there were going to be some racing snakes hammering it from the gun, so I let Marcel start while I enjoyed some coffee. I was pleasantly suprised by the consistent lap times he was riding over the first two hours or five laps - not bad for a matriculant currently in the middel of prelims.

It was soon time for myself to get ready and after a proper route recce with Tiaan, better known as Mr Mountain Biking, I started my five-lap journey on the 8.5km course with 150m ascent per lap. I soon forgot that I had to do six hours in total and went out cross country style on the first lap, must have been the excitement of the fast and flowing single track. I tried a new tire - Continental Race King - and it was perfect for the course, and might just be a new favourite for myself. From the second lap on I settled into a comfortable rhythm and managed to keep a decent pace clocking my fastest and slowest lap only 30 seconds apart.

Meanwhile the game plan for Edwill and the other Frikkies was to go out really hard and then swap every lap. They soon realised that it takes about half a lap to get going or to lose the lactate build-up from the previous effort so they changed it to two laps per shift. ''Werner did a great job at the start of the race setting the bar really high on his first lap. Ferdi then didn't have any hassles matching that. Handing over to me the challenge was on to keep the pace high and remain on top of the leaderboard,'' Edwill said.

I must admit they were pretty quick!

As Marcel was busy ticking over the laps for us on his second two-hour shift, I had some time to refill. All the tannies did a great job with the food and kept us well hydrated at all times. Fatigue started to show all-round, but my partner kept fighting and completed another five gruelling laps. Once again as I started round two, I got excited and started racing guys like Bryce Munro and some other fast guys that were doing one or two laps at a time. Even though the legs were burning, I was happy with my consistent lap times.

Back at the base, Die Frikkies called a team meeting. ''The interesting part of the race came when the sun started to set. We got ourselves geared for the darkness with all the lights we had. We had a team caucus and changed our game plan again, from two laps per rider to one lap per rider,'' Edwill said.

After the first eight hours, Marcel and I started to lose the second spot overall as fatigue took over. This didn’t bother us too much; I mean four legs can’t really compete against eight or more.

Marcel managed three more laps in the darkness and I decided to take over with about two hours and 40 minutes remaining in the race. At this point I must admit I was over-cycling, but the adrenalin of riding in the dark kept me going. The first two laps were fun, but then half way through the third or 13th in total the wind started blowing with severe clouds covering the venue. The organisers decided to call it a day after 11 hours, just before the storm hit. Unfortunately for some, they were still out there on the course, including poor Edwill: ''I was caught half way through the course in this crazy storm! Everybody was soaking wet and cold but this did not ruin the riders' spirits. They all waited for the prize giving."

After all it was a fun day out with good results from PYcycling athletes. Edwill and Die Frikkies took the overall win and Macel and I finished 4th overall and won the two-man relay.

"It was an amazing experience. A great 8.5km course with a bit of everything.  A few sharp but short climbs, some tight corners and fast straights - nothing overly technical but challenging. Our mountain biking skills were definitely tested. Fantastic track!" Marcel said.

Big thanks to all who made it possible.

Arno

SA Marathon Champs - MTN Gravel Travel - Yolande Speedy

After a very successful SA XC Champs and my wrist finally on the mend the SA Marathon title was my next goal.

With the level and depth of Elite ladies racing in SA having improved dramatically over the last few years I knew that it would be a tough battle for the jersey and that I needed a really focused and strong training block leading up to it.

Paul meticulously engineered my training plan but life threw a few spanners in the works and before I knew it 2 weeks had passed with very little structured training. I made the last two weeks count and being happy with the numbers from my Cycleops PowerTap booked my ticket to Cape Town.

EpicSports made the final touches to my GT Zaskar ensuring it was race ready with a Continental Race-King rear tire and X-King front to handle the course terrain in the predicted wet conditions and I headed off early Thursday morning with Amy for our flight to the Cape. Owe Paul a coffee or two for the early morning lift to the airport!

We were met by Amy's Aunt who had kindly offered a place to stay for the weekend and spent the next couple of days focusing and preparing for the race.

Waking up a few times the night before to howling winds and rain I knew as predicted we were in for a cold wet race and that was confirmed during our dark early morning drive out to the start at Diemersfontein Wine Estate.

I went through my normal pre-race routine trying not to shiver too much and soon it was time to line up at the start. After a quick race briefing we were off at a pace up the first climb with Araine, Cherise and Therresa battling it out in front.

I hung in as long as I could but soon knew I was in trouble and that I would have to hang back and settle into my own pace.

I fell into 8th place; Ischen, Amy, Mariske and Sam passing me. Keeping a steady pace, all the time hoping I would feel my racing legs coming back I caught Sam further up the climb and seeing Mariske not far ahead I focused on closing the gap.

The hard climb was rewarded with some awesome flowing single-track and my GT with it's Conti tires handled superbly. Unfortunately my nirvana was suddenly interrupted when coming around a sharp corner onto a rocky drop-off and finding two riders portaging I was forced to take a dodgy line to avoid crashing into them consequently sending myself over the bars. As Murphy would have it I tweaked my sore wrist which made any further descending much less enjoyable.

Luckily my bike was unharmed though and I was quickly on my way.

Sadly not even my USN Vooma Gels could help me find my legs and I lost sight of Mariske. With about 15kms to go Sam was hot on my tail and we passed Amy who had stopped with a puncture (Very sad as she had an amazingly strong and had been lying 5th). After quickly asking if she was okay I pushed hard to keep ahead of Sam but it was not my day and I had to settle for a disappointing 7th place.

Congrats to Cherise for a great ride in tough conditions and welcome to the sport of MTBiking :)

A big thanks to all my sponsors and supporters for believing in me, sorry I could not bring home the jersey but I'll be back to fight another day!

Thanks too to Advendurance for an awesome marathon course and event and Powasol for the much needed bike wash!

Till next time,

Yolande

MTN Gravel Travel; SA Marathon Champs in Wellington - Amy McDougall

I was in two minds about doing SA Champs as I couldn’t afford flights and accommodation but really wanted to do it. About a week before the race, I found a special on flights, and my aunt who lives in Cape Town offered for Yolande and me to stay with them over the weekend.
I was excited as I had never raced and barely ridden that side of the world. I love hard marathon racing. I was amped for the challenge that lay ahead!

Yolande and I arrived in Cape Town on Thursday morning at 9 20. The weather was nippy but beautiful and sunny. Looked like a perfect weekend ahead! Right..?

Thursday and Friday’s weather was so stunning in Cape Town, it was hard to believe the predictions for Saturday were all: very cold, very windy and rainy. This would add a nice twist to the already challenging course set out for us!

As I opened my eyes at 5am on race day, low and behold, I was greeted by the sound of rain and wind, and the cold was almost audible! I found myself wondering: Uh, what am I doing?? Parting with my bed was a feat in its self. Half of me wanted to roll back over, but no, over 1800m of climbing and endless amounts of Single Track lay ahead… I had a good feeling about this one; it was going to be epic!

My Team Edition Ghost XX fitted with Ritchey, Sram, Crank Bros egg beater peddles and Continental tyres; was packed, and ready for whatever the elements and Mother Nature (who seemed to be on PMS) had to through at us! 

I slipped into my Decca kit, groggily downed a bowl of oats and coffee with Yolande before setting off on our adventure.
The drive from Cape Town took us an hour and a half; it was dark and rainy the entire way, the car swerving from the wind at times. Uh, what am I doing??

Luckily the rain had stopped and it was semi-light by the time we got to the race venue but it was freezing. All the big names in Mountain biking were there, all hungry for that SA Champ jersey! I was anxious on the start line, the field was super strong and I was not quite sure what to expect.

As the whistle blew we immediately started climbing the longest climb of the day. The leading group of ladies consisted of Cherise Stander, Ariaan Kleinhans, Ischen Stopforth and Therisa Rahlf. I found myself not too far behind in fifth. I maintained this position till about 50km in. I was pushing hard; the uphills were steep and painful, but totally worth the effort when the downhills came! The single track was phenomenal, it was super smooth and bermed so you could just fly through it sometimes literally! This course was very challenging but I was in my element!  

Mariska Strauss caught me and I started feeling the beginnings of cramps in my right leg. Putting less pressure on the right leg only started the left leg going… I carried on for about 10 km before having to stop and stretch it out. 

To my relief the cramps stopped, this was about when the rain started properly. With 15km to go, I slipped on loose sand around a corner causing my tyre to burp. For some reason, a faulty bomb adapter or maybe a combination of nerves and frozen, fumbly fingers, I couldn’t get the thing to work. Eventually I got help from a guy with a broken bike. By the time I got going, I had lost 3 places, the chances of me gaining them back in the last 15km were minimal but I fought back as hard as I could.

I was upset about losing those positions, but I rode my heart out and this was definitely one of the best mountain biking experiences of my life!  I have made huge improvements in my performance since the beginning of the year and I am looking forward to new challenges, more exciting experiences and getting better and better!

The race was extremely well organised by Advendurance, the course was exceptional, no problems with the markings and no bottle necking. Big congrats to Cherise Stander for taking the honours in the ladies race, and Max Knox in the men’s Ultra marathon. Also, Kudos to everyone who dragged themselves out of bed for the race, I’m sure it was well worth it!

Until then, keep the rubber side down, later!

Time to Taper f or SA Champs in Wellington - Amy McDougall

With a tough three weeks of training done; tough because of the howling winds, freezing weather and even some snow. I am glad I managed to grit my teeth and do the base miles regardless!

My training previously, was higher intensity in preparation for SA Cross Country champs in July and since then has been more time in the saddle which has prepared me for the tough Marathon coming up this weekend in Wellington. I am looking forward to the race as I hear it is very technical, which is my biggest strength, not to mention loads of fun!!

My trusty, light and fast Team Edition Ghost bike has just been serviced at Ballistic Bike Trading and is in tip top shape, ready to take whatever this tough course has to offer!

I am flying down with Yolande Speedy and staying with family in Cape Town who stay (conveniently) a few km from Tokai Forest. We are spending a few extra days down there which will be undoubtedly spent exploring and making the most out of the great trails down there!

My exciting weekend (and some) will of course be recorded with my Bryton Rider 40, which I have become completely reliant on during and after my training!

Until then, keep the rubber side down!

Later