Hypersure Toti 69er

Finally something different...a road race to add something new to my blog. And i always enjoy a bit of a skinny wheel dice to get some speed in the legs!

Well the morning started off in a bit of a panic as i had decided to ride from home to the start of the race, but forgetting to set my alarm meant i woke up late and had to jump in the car and rush to the start.
I made it in time and even had time for a quick warm up before lining up for the start.
Standing on the start line it was clear that Mr Price was going to be a force to recon with as they had huge numbers. Other teams on the line were Fego, Cycle lab and our team Marty's Cycles among a few others.
We head off and the pace was chilled for the first 1km or 2, but then the attacks started going early one after another as we headed through Toti and Illovo. The attacks were all short lived, but then a few riders got away and in that group were Sean Merridew (Mr Price) and Deano Van Heerden (Fego). I decided i needed to get across to the break so 1km before Scottburgh i attacked the bunch taking with my team mate Ashton Davies and we bridged the gap.We rode hard up the Scottburgh hill with Ashton and i on the front, but then half our breakaway sat up forcing us to rethink our situation, so we sat up. It stayed together till the turn around, where shortly after that a group of four riders got away, the group consisted of Rowen Tyler (Fego), Stefan Van Eck (Mr Price), Ashton Davies (Marty's) as well as another Mr Price rider. This group of four would ultimately stay away except for Rowan (Fego) who was dropped and the bunch caught and passed him. With the podium being decided by the breakaway it was down to who would win the bunch sprint, so i decided to attack on the last hill and try go as hard as i could. I lead it till about 300m to the line where i just ran out of legs and some riders came around me before the line.

Over all a decent race and if nothing else a good speed session.

I look forward to the next MTB race!

Crossing the river to the finish of the Scottburgh Race

DusiMfula 2011

This past weekend was the last edition of the DusiMfula MTB stage race.

As the name suggests the race runs along the Dusi river and even crosses the river a few times, which it winter can be rather cold!

I am very grateful this year as i was given the opportunity by Senqu Outdoor Clothing to race the DusiMfula for the first time. I was entered with team mate Robert Du Preez, who is formally a road racer but has made that ever popular move to the off road version of the sport.

Day 1
Day 1 of the DusiMfula started in the Lion Park area in PMB, which all of us now know can get really cold in winter as it was 3degs on the start line. Day 1 would take us down into the valley following the Dusi river all the way to Inanda dam, which would be the over night stay for those willing to brave the cold.
There were some big names on the start line and there was no doubt we were in for a tough day on the bike. We started off on a short tar road section before turning off into the single track and dropping all the way down into the valley on fairly technical but fun single track.
Rob and I started off well and were riding in the top 5 teams, but in some of the more technical single track we were passed by a team or two. We continued to push hard and Rob was quickly learning how fast the guys go on the mountain bike. At about the 30km mark we came across a team young guys from JHB standing at a fork in the road, they had a puncture and were asking for a tube. I shouted to Rob to carry on and i stopped to give the guys my tube, Rob rode off to the right. After getting my tube off the bike i jumped on and chased down Rob, but after catching him i soon realised that we had gone the wrong direction. And worst of all the two young guys i gave the tube to had failed to tell me that my partner had ridden off in the wrong direction! In the end we lost around 15mins and a few positions.
Once back on the correct route i started to chase down really hard but unfortunately Rob had reached his limit, the hard chase and gear problems had left him tired. We rode on trying to consolidate and not loose any more time.
We crossed the line in 11th place and a long way down in time... but at the end off the day we had fun in the awesome single track!

Day 2
So the second day arrived, which started and finished at Inanda Dam. However the catch was that the start was on the opposite side of the dam! Once kitted up and ready to go we had to get into our batches and then get a ferry ride across the dam to the other side.
Once on the other side we went for a small warm up ride and then lined up. Standing on the line we knew we were in for some serious single track riding so we would need to stay near the front before we hit the track, which we did. Rob had found some strong legs over night and was riding hard as we manged to hang in just behind the leading teams.
The single track on day two was amazing so we were having good fun will chasing down the finish line. We rode really hard and manged at one stage to ride ourselves into 3rd place, until i had a huge crash flying into a storm water drain which i never saw. Once i had composed myself and got back on the bike we chased back again and crossed the line in 5th place just seconds down on 3rd and 4th place.

In the end we finished the event in 7th place just minutes behind 6th and 5th place. Overall a great two days of racing and it's this type of racing that makes one stronger!

A huge thanks to Senqu Clothing for giving us the opportunity to race in these races.

Next up for me is the Toti 69er road race. I'm looking forward to a road race after a good few weeks of mountain biking!

Sappi Saffire Classic

The Sappi Scottburgh Classic

This past Saturday was the 3rd edition of the Sappi Scottburgh classic race which starts and finishes at Scottburgh beach, an amazing venue for a bike race and of cause the finish of the 2011 Joburg2c.

Over the years the course for this race has been getting better and better and this years race really showed that. We had the neutral zone as normal out on to the district road where the official start of the race took place, but we would finish across the beach.

Greg Knox and Bruce Hughes from UCT cycling team were both there and would be the competition for the day. The race started on a long straight district road before turning right and heading up the first big climb of the day only 1km into the race. Up the first climb Bruce put in a small attack and started to open a gap on the group, so i bridged the gad and the two of us pushed hard up the climb and manged to open a decent gap on the bunch. Over the top we continued to push hard and we increased our lead.
At the top of the next big climb was the first KOM which i wanted, so i rode easy and sat on Bruce's wheel till half way up the climb i put in an attack and rode away taking the KOM. After the KOM i kept the pace up and got away from Bruce, but he rode hard and quickly reeled me back in. I realised that i probably wouldn't be able to ride away from him and stay away so i eased up slightly and we rode together. At the second KOM hot spot i rode hard up the hill with Bruce on my wheel, but i was Bruce that took it in the end. Then we hit the awesome single track through the Sappi forests, which the course designer had really given us a treat by building berms on all the corners and adding in some nice technical sections. In the single track Bruce managed to get away a little and once out the trees i was forced to chase really hard to catch up again which i did.
In the last 10km we started riding into some of the 25km riders making it pretty interesting as Bruce and i raced each other and negotiated our way past them, as well as getting through some really muddy sections after the rains the night before. Then we hit the second last climb of the day and knowing we were close to home i decided to make my move and rode really hard up the climb opening up a gap on Bruce. I kept the pace high and on the last climb i put in more time between Bruce and i. All i needed to do then was hold that gap to the finish which i did and was the winner of the 2011 Sappi Scottburgh Classic.

It was really a great race and the organisers did an amazing job on hosting the event. One other awesome feature of this race was that it goes through croc world, so if you not racing up at the front you get a glance of the huge crocs bathing in the sunlight.

The race will be broadcast on SABC 2 on Pedal talk next Sunday, so check it out and put this on your calender for next year.

Once again thanks must go to Senqu Clothing for making my racing possible.

Also a big thanks to Powasol for the bike wash at the event! Nothing better than having your bike washed for you after a hard race.

Sardine MTB Super Classic

The Sardine Classic is always a great event, held at the Pont on the South Coast of KZN. The Pont, Beaver Creek coffee and Clear water trails are all linked by some really amazing single track made by Jan Abbott, owner of Clear Water Trails. Jan has put a lot of work in over the years to create some amazing trails...

With the huge amount of rain we have had in KZN over the past few days it was sure to be a muddy morning on the bike.
The race starts at the Pont and heads straight up the Old Pont Tar road which is a fairly big climb for the start of a race. With the huge and really competitive field at the event the start was going to be a tough one. I decided to ride on the front up the hill as to not get caught out at the back, and my plan worked as i crested the hill first and rode on down the dirt road. 2km later we hit a really steep dirt climb and a few of the riders had made their way past me. I held the wheels up the climb and we now had a gap on the riders behind, but we then hit a very muddy section and i was forced to dismount which opened a gap between me and the group consisting of Burry Stander, Andrew Hill, Ty White, James Reid and Luke Roberts. I was caught by Guylin and the two of us were chasing the bunch.
The race was a two lap event and when we came through the start finish area after the first lap the now split lead bunch where all within a minute of each other. After the start finish area we hit the tar road climb for the second time, which felt a lot tougher the second time around. On the steep climbs and in the mud i managed to pull away from Guylin but was unfortunately caught by Dave Leiman (thule) and Kyle Dorkin (Wsquared). Dave pushed hard and left myself Kyle, together we road on till the last stretch on single where Kyle with his downhill experience left me behind.

I eventually crossed the line in 7th place and 2nd Sub Vet just a few minutes down on the Winner Burry Stander

Overall another great day of MTB racing in KZN... and with Powasol bike wash it was easy to clean all that mud off the bike before the next ride!
Back to training tomorrow as there is always work to be done...

Cane to Coast MTB Race

I decided to race a local race today, the race was the Blythedale Cane to Coast which took place just up the road in the Blythedale area. This was only the second year the race has been held and it promised to be a good one.

I arrived at the start around 7:30am and in true North Coast style the weather was beautiful and warm. Start time was 8:30 so i kitted up and myself and Rob went for a little warm up ride and checked out some of the single track that we would be racing on.
We lined up and as always the usual suspects had rocked up for a dice out for the podium, it was going to be a ding dong battle.

The gun went off and it was go time. We took off up a slight climb before dropping down onto a fast flat section of district road, and this is where Sean Merredew put the hammer down. The pace was full gas and he started to pull away with Ty White holding his wheel and getting away to. Then we hit a serious steep little climb and i pulled back up to them, Ty went to the front and i followed and we stayed in that position down the first bit of awesome single track. Once out of the track we hit a fire break road where once again Sean coming flying through and pulled away again taking Ty with him.
I was now on my own until i was caught by Wener Moolman from the Cycle lab club, he is extremely strong on the district road and come to the front and started pulling. We started to close the gap on Sean and Ty till we hit the single track and they opened the gap again. Myself and Wener stayed together and road as hard as we could, i pulled away once or twice in the single track but he caught up on the district road.

Coming in towards the finish i kept the pace high and tried not to make any mistakes. Wener held on and lucky for me he didn't try to sprint with me for the line, so i crossed the line in 3rd place behind winner Sean Merredew and Ty White.

It was a great race and a great course.

A big thanks to Senqu clothing for making my racing possible.

This afternoon i decided to another little ride out to Stainbank nature reserve for some super technical skills in the hope of improving my skills.
Tomorrow a well deserved rest day!