Norway trip

Well this was one of the craziest adventures I have been on…. It was one big ride from Tuesday until Monday!

To start off, I was travelling there on my own as the team was not in a position to pay for me and it would have been too expensive to travel with them. Thus I decided to join up with Adi Van Der Merwe and Jonty Neethling after the Chatel IXS cup and travel with them to Hafjell.

I was really looking forward to it and getting a good result at the final world cup of the season. I stayed with Adi and Jonty in Basel for two nights before we set off on the Tuesday evening. We were flying from Frankfurt which meant we had a good 4 hour drive to get there and our flight was at 08:30 on Wednesday morning. We had some fun while driving there when we almost ran out of fuel, we only had 0.5 litres left in the tank! Thankfully we made it and caught our flight the next day.

When we arrived we had to take a bus, train, train and another bus to get to the venue, we arrived there at 15:30 in the afternoon which meant we had to really hurry up finding our accommodation and walking the track etc…

We had a few problems already as our accommodation was supposed to be at the track and it turns out it was 10km up the mountain! Not ideal! This meant trying to sort out other accommodation ASAP…. Luckily my team was there and there was space at their apartment block, so we booked in there and it was all good. That Wednesday evening I built up my bike, had some good food with the boys and got all my stuff together for the next day. It was going to be really hectic as we still needed to register and we had not walked the track yet.

The next morning we rolled down to the track, I noticed that my brakes weren’t working properly and kept fading, so first thing I did was take my bike to Sram and luckily they sorted that out for me. While my bike was there I headed over to registration to get my number etc, however I had just then worked out that my wallet was missing, I was in a state and knew that I was in big trouble without it as all my cards, licences and money was in there! However they did let me enter without my licence when I explained the situation and I tried my best to put it out of my mind because I was there to race and that was first priority.

I got back to Sram and went up for my first run; I was a bit nervous as I hadn’t even seen the track yet. I got out of the gondola and started following some riders down to the start, however they got too far ahead and disappeared into another trail. I presumed that it was the way to the start…

I was wrong; I ended up rolling half way down the mountain and having to grab another chair lift up to the top. Then I took another freeride trail down the mountain and finally reached the start of the DH track after about 45min of searching! Finally I set off and rolled slowly down for the first run, the start was filled with huge jumps, then there were some fast sections with rocks and roots, then bike park, some grass high speed and finally some really steep technical rock gardens. It was a really good challenging track and it would make for good racing.

After riding like a granny first run to check it all out I set off in run two, I hit all the jumps and carried good speed, I felt good and confident that I could have a good qualy on Friday. I got in 5 runs on the Thursday and was ready for Friday! I did get some good news because the bus driver had found my wallet; I was so stoked about this! Friday morning came around and I was able to put in 3 more runs before qualy, I found some good lines and was determined to crack on!

I got up to the top about 30 mins before my run to ensure I had a really good warm up as it was really cold up there. I then found out that there was a 20 min delay which meant more waiting around. Time ticked on and it was getting close to my run, I was working with the numbers as the times were out, Johann was 74 and I was 94, this meant 20 riders between us at 30 sec intervals, 10 minutes. I was warming up until the last moment to ensure I didn’t cool down before my run due to the cold and the way it was set out at the top, you could not see the start area while warming up on the road. I had worked out the time on my watch and when it got to 5 min before my start I headed down to the start only to find out that I was 30 sec too late! I was in shock, I couldn’t believe it, there were seven riders missing between Johann and myself which I didn’t think mattered because they always keep the gaps. NOT today, they closed the gaps and I missed my run, I tried everything to get a run at the end of qualification, unfortunately they would not allow it.

I was so gutted after everything it took to get there and everything we went through. I know that maybe I should’ve been there slightly earlier but I also did not expect something like that to happen, it was the first and LAST time!

I rolled down the freeride track only to be greeted by a very unhappy team manager. I was so upset; I loaded my bike in the car and walked back to the apartment. Little did I know that this would be the last time I ever rode the bike, but I will get to that later. That was about how my weekend went, I was still really happy with my riding and I am glad to have the experience behind me. I still got to grips with the difficult track and I will know what to expect next year. Even after what happened I do not regret going there, I will just make sure things run a little smoother next time.

Anyway I would still like to give it up to my great companies who support me, Seattle Coffee Co, Virgin Active, Leatt, Adidas eyewear, Evoc, Csixx, Flexfit, Red Bull South Africa and my trainer John Wakefield @science2sport. It’s not easy to find good support, so I am really thankful for this.

Until next time….

CHATEL IXS EUROPEAN CUP RACE REPORT

Ok well I finally have some good news!

This past weekend I raced the 6^th leg of the IXS European Cup series in Chatel, France. We arrived there on the Friday morning at 2AM after a long 8 hour drive from Schladming. Needless to say I was a bit tired on the Friday for practice, luckily I had raced there last year and knew most of the track already so I just needed to remind myself a bit J The track was about 2 and a half minutes long with some pedalling at the top, steeper technical riding in the middle and some bike park at the bottom, a good all round track.

We drove down to the track at lunch time on the Friday , we registered and walked the track which looked really good! I was excited to be back here and I was looking for a good result which I know I am capable of. At 14:00 practice started and it was a rough start for me as my brakes had somehow gotten air in them and were not working at all, luckily for me Erich Wiland had some spare brakes on his trail bike which he kindly lent me for the weekend, thanks bud! I managed to get in 5 runs on the Friday and felt pretty solid on track, we then headed back to the hotel for some good food and well needed rest.

Saturday came around and things were looking up, the weather was good and I was feeling very good for seeding. I got in 4 runs in the morning before hand and was having a ball of a time on track! I was keen to see how fast I was because its always tough to tell until you get out there. It was time for seeding and I set off on a good run, I tried to conserve energy and have a smooth run, I came down with a time of 2:40, the leader was a 2:31 and I was sitting in 19^th spot, I was happy and knew that I could go much faster in finals. I went up for a track walk in the afternoon and got some better lines for the Sunday which I was really confident about.

Sunday rolled in and it was crunch time, I got in 4 runs in the AM before the finals which is more than most people do but I am the type of rider that likes to do a lot of runs on a track to be confident in my myself for a race run. 14:02 was my start time and it arrived really quickly, I put aside my nerves and got down to business. I set off and really pushed hard at the start, I pedalled more and focused on good exit speed in the corners, I did have a few sketchy moments but I was determined to keep it together this time. The finish line came into sight and I gave it everything I had down to the line, I knew as I crossed that it was a good one and looked over at the time. I did a 2:34 which was good enough for 15^th spot, less than a second off top 10 and 6 seconds off the win.

I am so relieved to have a decent result in the books after the year I have had, I finally put in a solid run in a Euro cup, it is also my best result in a European cup so far! The field was also stacked as there were riders there like Brendan Fairclough, Damien Spagnolo, Michael Paskal, Josh Button, Florent Payet, Robin Wallner etc.

Thanks so much to all my supporters and all that have stuck by me! Also a big thanks to the LE CANNABIS CANFIELD Factory Team, Seattle Coffee Co, Virgin Active, Adidas eyewear, Leatt, John Wakefield @Science2sport, Evoc, Csixx and Flexfit!

Now I’m off to Norway for the final world cup of 2012, until next time….

Mautern race report

Well this last week I some more issues unfortunately but luckily it didn’t turn out too badly considering…

Last weekend we travelled to Mautern, Austria to do some training on the course before the last Austrian cup race of the season. However on the first run of he day I was rolling down slowly to check out the course and I didn’t see a hole which had me twist my ankle. I wasn’t sure at the time if it was broken or not but I took 5 days off and I was able to ride again, it was still a bit swollen and blue but I could ride so I was happy!

We arrived at the track on the Saturday for practice and for me it was basically the first time riding the course because I had not ridden or raced there yet other than my half run the week prior. I managed to get in 5 runs on the Saturday and then it was time for seeding. I just wanted to put a full run together and keep it on two wheels which I did and I was sitting in 6^th spot, I wasn’t too bothered because I knew I had much more in the tank for Sunday. Sunday rolled in and as always it was pouring with rain, this made the track very difficult as it was covered in roots which aren’t too grippy when wet!

There was only enough time for 2 runs that morning which were super slippery and wild but still fun. I was looking forward to my race run but I knew that it was going to be tough to keep it together. Finally I was warmed up and ready for action, I set off in my run and almost immediately my feet were blown off in the first wood section and I lost all my speed. Then it just spiralled from there, I was all over the place, feet off, ball riding etc….

I got to the finish without crashing but I had such a messy run, it was crazy, but still fun! I ended off 12^th on the day, this was disappointing for me but at the same time I am happy that I kept it on two wheels in the extreme conditions. I know I need more experience in wet conditions to get better in them, that will come with time. I also only had 9 runs in total over the weekend and all the other riders up there had raced and practiced there before so that was a bit of a setback too.

All in all I am satisfied with the outcome and look forward to the IXS EURO Cup in Chatel next weekend!

One last thought, I was so stoked because there was a pump track challenge on the Saturday which I won! The first place prize was a Commencal bmx!

 

Thanks to team LE CANNABIS CANFIELD, Seattle Coffee Co, Virgin Active, Leatt, Adidas eyewear, Evoc, Csixx, Flexfit and John Wakefield @Science2sport for the awesome support!