The Night Harvest!

This past Friday saw the second annual Night Harvest dirt jump event held at Potato trails in Hout Bay. The event tripled in size from 2012 which meant there were loads people there to spectate at the event which created an amazing atmosphere!

I love these types of events as there is no pressure and I am there purely to ride and have fun on my bike. I have to admit I was a little tense when I rolled in for the first run because I had not ridden there since last years event and it was my very first run on my new jump bike. I managed to get a couple of really cool pics from Eric Palmer afterwards. Have a look!

Cant wait until next year!...

2013 SA National Cup 1 - Jonkershoek

The season is well and truly underway for 2013 and what a start!

This past weekend we had the first South African National Cup round of the year in Jonkershoek, Western Cape. We had all the top boys here in the field of 95 including Andrew Neethling, Johann Potgieter, Hayden Brown and Tiaan Odendaal.

After last weekend’s crazy planning and racing I was looking forward to having a good race on the weekend and felt strong and ready J Things did change a bit when it poured with rain on Saturday which made the track very interesting and slick. I was not pleased with this as I have never been the best mud rider, but never the less I had to give my best. I managed to get in about 6 runs on Saturday in the rain which was loads of fun. I also got a nice surprise when I saw Investec’s Raymond Van Niekerk out in the rain to check out the event. It’s fantastic to have my sponsor's support when I'm racing.

When Sunday came around it was still raining and I squeezed in 2 runs early in the wet and slippery conditions. I felt good in the wet but I was still not over confident as I had never had a good run in the wet. However, for some reason, I had a good feeling about the day and I was having fun which is always a good sign J I got behind the gate for the seeding run and conditions were still very slick. I saw both Andrew Neethling and Johann Potgieter kill the start! They were both so quick it made me a little nervous but I knew what I needed to do. I set off and charged into the first 3 corners way too fast which made me lose speed but I did manage to calm down a little and settle into a smooth fast pace. I had a near crash just before the road gap but managed to hold on and surprisingly came across in first place! I was just in front of Johann Potgieter with a time of 2:27, it was such a shock as it was not the best run I could do. Needless to say I was so happy as I had finally put down a good run in wet conditions!  However the glory was short lived as it was only seeding and it did not count for the final. I knew that the top few would step it up for the final, but I was confident that I could too.

After a few stressful hours I was at the start and ready to go. The track had dried out a lot but I kept the mud tire on the front as I was comfy on it even though it might not have rolled the best. I blocked everything out and focused on the task at hand.  Finally after everyone had gone it was my turn and I was off! I was smoother at the start so I maintained more speed in the first 2 corners, but in the third corner I tried to hop up on some roots which failed and I almost crashed. I managed to hold it but lost all my speed and I thought it was game over. I set off again as fast as I could and managed to get down with everything else going well. I looked up and saw that I had gone into second place behind Andrew Neethling which I was happy with after the mistake. I would have liked to be a bit closer in time but I’ll take it J It was a great start to the season and it’s awesome to have strong competition in SA.

The top 5 times:

1.       Andrew Neethling: 2:17:82

2.       Stefan Garlicki: 2:22:37

3.       Johann Potgieter: 2:22:42

4.       Hayden Brown: 2:23:78

5.       Tiaan Odendaal: 2:24:?

I would like to give a huge thanks once again to my awesome sponsors, INVESTEC / Seattle Coffee Co / Morewood / Leatt / Adidas eyewear / Science 2 Sport / Virgin Active / Csixx / Red Bull ZA / Spank / Sun Ringle / ODI / Bell Helmets.

 

I am so lucky to these awesome brands and people behind me!

Until next time…

                                photo credit: Ewald Sadie

2013 Season Opener

The race season started with a bang at my event, the Avis Van Rental Paarl Downhill Challenge!  

This is the event’s 4^th year and things have picked up dramatically. There were 87 riders who attended the event and included current Junior SA champ, Tiaan Odendaal, current elite SA champ, Hayden Brown and fellow KZN rider, Dave Dinkelman. Also present were top riders such as Andrew Neethling (world #17), multi time national champion,  Johann Potgieter and young gun, Adi Vd Merwe.

The field was extremely strong and we were in for a good weekends racing. On Saturday I managed to get in 6 runs of practice after all the setting up was complete and I was feeling good on the track. My trainer John Wakefield really has me in good shape this season and I was ready for Sunday!

We started off early at 07:00 so we were able to get all the equipment set up for the days racing. At 09:00 I managed to squeeze in 4 runs on the course and had a small crash but still felt good and wanted to get things wrapped up J I have to admit I was feeling some nerves as it was the first race of the season and I was running things too which always makes it tough!

Anyway it was time for seeding/qualification runs and I was on track. My run was good, fairly smooth with one mistake but overall I was happy and I ended seeding in 2^nd spot with a time of 1:45. Johann Potgieter was in the lead with a 1:45 too as there were no splits due to a timing error.

I got some rest and food in before heading up for the race runs. Finally it was my turn and I was determined to put in a good run! I set off at the top and focused on being smooth and flowing as it was very windy which made it tough to pick up speed after braking. After attacking the course in the middle section I decided to back off slightly near the end as I did not want to throw it away at that point. However when I saw all the fans on course I had to push for the win and I came into the finish and heard that I had rolled into 2^nd spot with a time of 1:44:40. Andrew Neethling was in the lead with a time of 1:43:98 and just after that Johann Potgieter rolled in with a 1:45:34 which put him into 3^rd spot.

I am really happy with the weekend and it’s great to have a good start to the year! The Mongoose has performed really well in the short time I’ve been on it but I can’t wait to sit on my new, lighter Morewood Makulu in a few weeks! Yes that right, I will be riding a Morewood this year which is amazing as I have always loved the brand and look forward to taking it to the top!

 I would like to give a huge thanks to INVESTEC  for supporting me this year and giving me the opportunity to live my dream and compete all over the globe J

Also a huge thanks to Morewood, Seattle Coffee Co , Red Bull ZA, Spank, Leatt protectives, Csixx products, Adidas eyewear, Bell helmets, Virgin Active and Science 2 Sport for supporting me in 2013! Without all of these great companies this would not be possible!

This coming weekend is the first SA national round of 2013 at Jonkershoek so I will be sure to keep you all posted.

Until next time…