World Cup - Junior Men XCO

Well the World Cup has come and gone and it went decently well. At the end of the day I am very disappointed with the outcome, but not disappointed with the way I rode. The entire experience of competing in the world cup was one I will remember for a long time. What was super disappointing was the lack of international entries into the event, and we only had two Swiss riders who had made the effort to come down and give the SA team a run for their money.

The race was unlike any other XC race that I have ever done. The biggest factor was a strong rain that had dredged the course the night before, creating a slippery, slick paste on the surface that we all had to contend with. Straight out the blocks the pace was not as fast as normal, and I was fourth into the first piece of singletrack. Up the first steep climb the entire field had to jump off and run, changing the dynamics of the race completely. Coming down the singletrack was a different story all together. We all slipped and skated our way down to the bottom somehow and then madly scrambled to clip back in and get going again, only to have the same experience again a few minutes later. I felt good with the new running element and by the end of the first lap I had moved up into third and was having a blast. One Swiss rider was ahead and Rourke Croeser had a gap to me as well. For the next few laps we all held position and the time gaps slowly increased. I was stoked that I was currently in third and on the way to the podium. At the start of the last lap I still had some 'petrol in the tank' and decided that I was going to give it everything.

Then disaster struck. Another brutal jump on the pedals, then a sudden chink and then nothing. Words alone cannot describe the disappointment that surged through me as I stared down to a broken chain and bent hanger. But there was no time for thoughts. I had a 'quick-link' but I could not remove the pins to allow it to work. So I ran the first half of the last lap to the tech zone where the other riders caught me. A quick change, but the damage was done. Three riders had passed and although I chased furiously, the bent hanger caused the gears to slip more and prevented me from making any headway. I rolled into the finish 6th, and very unhappy. 

Although it was not the best time for this to happen, these things do happen, so the best you can do is to accept it and move on. I must say a HUGE thank you to Johann Wykerd, Ann and Trav Walker and to all of my awesome friends and their creative support for the race. The rest of the weekend was a blast, getting to see Burry and the world's best race right here in SA. The Downhill was electrifying to watch, and the sheer energy of the spectators was a wondrous spectacle. Greg Minaar was unbelievably fast, and the entire event was a resounding success.

Till next week...

All ready for World Cup?!?

This last two weeks have been a testing time for me. Training has been tough and I am just not finding the form that I was having in the first part of this year. I feel tired often I know there is something wrong with my training. It can't all be plain sailing can it? After the world cup I am going to take a break and start more carefully. Just another challenge in this super challenging sport, but that's what makes it fun in the end.

This last weekend I competed in the 4th XC National held and Cascades, PMB. I felt decent in the week leading up to the event and thought that the recent lack of form was just a passing thing. I hit the first climb hard and was chasing the eventual leader, Rourke Croeser, and feeling strong. Midway through the first lap things started going backwards. I felt lightheaded and realised that I had gone too hard in the beginning and my legs were not good. Bad turned to worst when I lost a lot of pressure midway through the second lap and had to stop for more air. Thoughts of pulling out crossed my mind more than once, but I stuck it out for an eventual 5th. Defiantly not the form I was needing the weekend before world cup, but that's just a part of life hey? 

I have been looking very carefully at what went wrong, and scrutinizing every part of my ride. I realise that my nutrition was wrong, as well as my setup. Yep, it's a tough, lonely sport when things are going badly. Learning to cope and grow through failure is a very important life skill and it's a journey that I'm going through. 

On the positive side, I am doing things very differently for this weekend at Worlds. It's going to be awesome to race on the course with some of the best juniors from around the world. See you at the action!