XLB RACING

Pommie Madness - off season XC running

2011-01-23T22:07:00.006-07:00

The brits are crazy.

"You head out of the training grounds [military site] through a short forest section and after a couple of kays, you will come across some ice. Don't worry - its only an inch thick and the water is waist deep. We broke through it yesterday with pics and shovels so you will be able to get through. Then you head up ..." Warmly wrapped in his Barbour jacket and wellies, this race organizer didn't seem too concerned that it was 0.5 degrees and snowing!

"Whatever", I thought - typical race organizer trying to hype the event up. Sure enough after 2km, we came across a muddy puddle of ice / sludge. Some fancy footwork around the edges, grasp at a few trees - all good, my shoes are still dry. Nice one! Getting into my stride again, we came around the next bend to this :

"B-loot-e Elle" I thought... but before even having time to chicken out the race leader charged into the Ice Lake promptly falling over and grasping for the only thing which offered a slight bit of traction... the plastic barrier tape ! EPIC.

The race continued in and out of another 3 ice lakes and finally went through some seriously undulating (ie so steep not even "the caveman" would run up them) and then over and over and over and over the "Iraq Desert" sand dunes.

Respect to British Trail running - this was hands down (literally) the best running I have ever done. Great fun! The race organizers certainly lived up to their description of "muddy, gritty and downright knackering." Well done Cat, Ang and Grant on organizing and conquering this broodal run with me - respect! All this snow talk is making me thirsty ... time for a pint of British Tea !

Sani2C 2010

2010-03-15T03:35:00.003-06:00

Mud and Guts

A star studded field appeared in Underberg for the what was to be one of the most challenging Sani2C yet...

Alban Lakata (ex World Marathon Champ) teamed up with Kevin Evans to form a formiddable team - they set a high tempo from the start leaving no doubt that they were here to do business!

Its now a week later and looking back, the conditions were probably on a par with the 2006 event - it rained heavily on the days preceding the event and the riders on the "Sani2C Adventure" event (which took place the day before the RACE event)churned up the ground to form a challenging course. It certainly tested all of us.

The race is as hard as the competition... and there was loads of that - many of the top teams are on form, especially at this time of year. Its just a few weeks until the Cape Epic so all of the Pro's are peaking. Max Knox and Brandon Stewart made a speedy return to form after being really off colour at SA marathon champs, they made life difficult for the Lakata/Evans duo but couldn't match the class of the champs.

Themba put the hurt into me on a couple of stages... actually on every stage! Our Zula's performed faultlessly - its great having a reliable machine that you just spray the mud off of. After a hard days racing, its great to relax knowing that your bike is robust and reliable... and not have to spend the day servicing a multitude of pivots or looking for cracks in the creaking carbon frame! :-)

Our reception at Scottburgh was awesome - Andre and Rich from Morewood were at the finish line with Cath, Caycee and Themba's dad Ken Leiman. I definitely raced a little harder than the previous stages in attempt to impress my loyal fans! We finished 9th overall.

JT had a really solid race and continued to impress everyone with his skills, muscling the "Kwela" (Morewood hardtail) through a tough course. Nice one JT !

KZN Cup #2 - Mountain View

2010-02-24T23:10:00.006-07:00

Jislaaik!

Hot hot hot. We have been having some crazy weather lately - racing in this kind of heat takes some skill to keep dehydration and heat stroke at bay yet still ride at a respectable pace!

The DCM boys were flying this weekend - Brandon and Rourke put in a solid attack on lap 1 (of 9) to stay ahead the entire race.

Andrew Warr (Spider), Andrew Hill (Mountain Man), Carl Calverly and myself had a lekker ding dong. It was lekker throwing the bike around with the okes - KZN racing is fun. We are really lucky to have our own "Swiss Power Cup" here in Natal! The juniors were crushing it too... great to see such a deep local talent pool emerging. A little birdie told me that we may have the World Cup back in PMB in 2011 !? :-)

Brandon won the Elites, myself second and Carl 3rd.

Teammate Jeremy Thompson (JT) won the vets by a convincing 3 min - good job JT !
Julian Jessop - team Thule - came 2nd in the Sub Juniors
Thomas Jessop - team Thule - won the Sprogs

A great weekend by the Thule-Morewood team. Well done guys!

Photo credits to Darren Goddard of Force12Photography

Barberton 75km

2010-02-02T02:14:00.000-07:00

Well Done DAVE!!

Winner of the 75km Barberton Classic.... respect.

KZN Cup #1 Stainbank

2010-01-24T23:36:00.002-07:00

Stainbank Nature reserve was an awesome setting for the first leg of provincial XC racing... I managed to bag my first win for 2010. Andrew Warr rode in his typical attacking style but couldn't hold on - he went off the front with Themba on the 3rd lap and i had to chase hard to reel them in.

Well done to JT for kicking some butt and coming in 2nd in his debut XC race (Veteran category). Respect.

Themba (Dave Leiman) is riding like a madman to come in 3rd. We are going to have a great Sani2C this year, sky is the limit man! :-)

Photo credit: Grant Dekker

Cape Pioneer Trek

2009-10-28T00:29:00.004-06:00

When I saw the images of the route on the CPT website , it was too much to resist. Sure, according to traditional periodisation and old school training regimen, you should be resting at this time of year... but this year has been a bit different for me. And sometimes you just have to follow your heart ! Besides - we do it for the love of biking man ! Who can resist riding in such splendour !??

I rode with Donovan "Powerhouse" Jackson. If you were born anytime in the 70's or earlier, you will recall a clothing brand with a Gym addict, musclebound Bulldog cartoon character as its logo. The brand was "Powerhouse", and that's clearly the image that comes to mind when you see his riding style. He just doesn't let go. Vasbyt, tenacity... call it what you will - this guy just has it in abundance!

The stages were typically 100km long with 2000m of climbing. It was incredible terrain - really rough in parts but totally worth the effort it takes to get up into those fold mountains. "Dankie Katot!"

We had a good battle with the "Memory Foundation" team of Pro's Johnny Kritzinger and Erik Kleynhans... they took the first couple of stages but we managed to counter them with 2 stage wins (after many hard attacks).

Christoph Sauser and Bobby Behan of Specialized added some real colour and humour to the event - they sure know how to party too!

I hope to be back next year... any mtber who has travelled through the spectacular Cape mountain ranges and gone "I wonder if there are any trails up there... ?" has to do this race. Katot Meyer is clearly a sadist, but he took us into some untouched majestic country that few people have ever been privileged to enjoy (!?). Make no mistake, this race was physically very demanding and we took 28.5hours to complete the event's 6 stages but this is an event that will really blow your mind!

Africa Continental Champs (Mankele)

2009-07-11T18:30:00.000-06:00

Mankele certainly raised the bar for XC courses in South Africa - the guys there are doing an awesome job of making permanent trails. The course changed a bit since our National earlier in the year becoming slightly shorter and more technical.

Last time I raced on my Morewood prototype hardtail and this time on the new Full-Sus. Jislaaik what a difference! The bike is so supple, it just eats the bumps up - you can drive the corners hard and brake late - there is just no way you could flow like that on a hard tail... it just wouldn't be possible.

My form has been down a bit and I managed a 6th place. So why was I slower than earler in the season?? Definitely NOT the bike! Here are the excuses... maybe you can use them one day too !!! Hehehe! The season started in January and racing was intense all the way up to the European World Cups in May. Its just not possible to hold form all year (unless you are superhuman :-) ... being pro would also help a bit !) So I think its a good idea to take a bit of a break mid season, build up again and hit the end of the year firing on all 2 cranks (!??) - well, thats the plan anyway!

After the racing, they announced the National Squad for World Champs in Canberra, Australia - I cracked the nod - super stoked - its gonna be a blast!

Giba Gorge Birthday Race

2009-06-30T13:15:00.003-06:00

Giba gorge is a brilliant mtb park, situated just outside Pinetown - loads of fun singletrack - check out my sportstracker file

James Reid (Mr Price/Scott) is riding like a demon and finished 1st, Davie 2nd and me 3rd.

Duzi Mfula Day 2

2009-06-08T11:14:00.003-06:00

Aaaaah bringing home the bacon :-) One of the highlights of the day was crossing this steel pipe bridge crossing over the stinky Duzi river. Check this image taken with my Nokia N79 - quite a nifty little piece of technology!

Duzi Mfula 2009

2009-06-08T10:41:00.002-06:00

Check this http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/workoutdetail/index.do?id=1099514">link to my race stats from the Duzi Mfula. I used my new Nokia N79 mobile phone - its quite a nifty little gadget with built in GPS, Heart Rate monitor, 5MP Camera - its the leatherman of mobile devices ideal for the sports enthusiast!

Themba (Dave Leiman) rode like a king today and had to drag me through the last 10 km - thanks bro ! :-)

SA National XC Pretoria

2009-05-23T11:28:00.000-06:00

Bad luck strikes again!

Tire problems seemed to be the flavour of the day for lots of riders, myself included - I paid special attention to getting a tire that would work on this course. Its quite tight forcing you to use a lightweight tire but the rocky nature of the trail also means that you have to use something with a strong carcass. So its all about compromise - as always, performance comes at a price.

The stakes were high with just a couple of points separating Marc Bassingthwaite, Brandon Stewart, Renay Goustra and Craig Paul - the SA title would come down to the last of the 5 race series. No pressure!!!

The race started out well, I settled into the racing for the first couple of laps then started pushing the pace up a bit, dropping Marc and Philip(Garmin) to take the lead. Then i burped my tire, and again ... and again - forcing me to slow down on the technical stuff to avoid pinch flatting. Marc started clawing back and passed me just into lap 6. I stopped to bomb my wheel, losing around 1min30 sec ... On the last lap, I managed to catch back slightly but not enough! Thats the way it goes.

Marc rode a solid race and deserves to have a good win - he had technical issues at the World Cup and his form is good... its just a pity that a Namibian wins the SA XC Cup ! :-) Good work Bass. But watch out next year! hehehe!

KKC ... KarKloof Classic

2009-05-12T08:24:00.002-06:00

Awesome showdown. These timber/dairy farmers know how to put on an event. Everything ran super smooth. All of the courses were perfectly marked and prepped ... each year it just keeps on getting better.

Burry cleaned up in the Sprint Shootout and cracked Kevin Evans in the last km's of the classic to take home the bacon.

I managed to take the XC race... Brandon Stewart made it tough work for me though! The legs did take a bit of extra time to warm up on the classic as a result. Pete Smith managed to take 5th overall in the classic amongst a star studded field, placing in amongst the full time pro's - nice work brother! Dave had a solid ride to finish top 15, I came 8th.

Shale is riding like a machine - 8th in the ladies - way to go sis! Respect!

Houffalize World Cup

2009-05-11T22:09:00.005-06:00

They say that Houffalize is the Grandfather event in the World Cup - it is definitely the most exciting WC that I have been to! The crowd is insane! It is said that cycling in Belgium has more supporters than football - well, i can believe it! Spectators were 4 deep on the main climbs, the atmosphere was electric... if you ever have to choose a European event to spectate, i can recommend this one!! The Belgians even know how to braai :-)

Preparation for Houffalize WC #3

2009-05-02T13:03:00.008-06:00

Much better! Its been an interesting week for me in Europe – day after Offenberg, I took a relaxed recovery spin and caught up with Michael Broderick and Mary Mc from USA ... we did a yoga session in the birch woods and drank some freshly ground coffee :-) aaah, the simple pleasures!

I then headed back out to Tom's place (old german friend) near Stuttgart to catch up with him and his youngster Luke who is a real character and a typical 2.5 year old! It was good to chill out there, the weather was KAK but I still managed a 3hr ride in the rain... GPS is a wonderful thing when you are in another country! Tom suggested a route and I took to the hills donning a rain jacket and GPS... its awesome to just go exploring trails without worrying about not finding your way home... especially when the sun is in the wrong hemisphere!

Mad Tom took me for a flip in his YAK 52 – an old aerobatic plane... its a good thing I know him otherwise I would have been kakking in my broek... we arrive at the hangar and the engine cowlings are off. Tom puts on his work jacket, out with the pliers, hammer and takes to fixing the engine! At this point, its good to know some of Tom's history – he has flown down through africa from Europe in his Antonov WW2 cargo plane... TWICE ! So he should know what he is doing with the engine covers off.... hopefully!!

Unfortunately there are no pics of our flight – tried to take some before takeoff but they were severely blurred due to engine vibration (or shaking terrified hand!). I thought that I had a strong stomach... before I got into a stunt plane! We pulled 4G's through the bottom of a loop, flew inverted, couple of loops, Axle roll (he flew 2 of them and I flew the other 1 !!) It was all good until about 10 min into the session, you know when you feel flushed and get all hot? Even when its 5 degrees C ? Yip, one of those. I don't know how those jet fighter pilots do it... evidently you get used to it.

Then it was off to Houffalize... sans booked accommodation :-) The accommodation online was either super expensive or full – so it was better to just wing it when I got there... Things worked out in the end – after a lot of searching and asking around, I found a Guest House about 15km out of town with some Dutch speaking hosts. There are 9 kids running around and the little 1 year old has a cold – so its all fun and games! Lots of action and laughter with the kids – speaking zulu and entertaining them... I even had a conversation with the one kid in Chinese !!??!?!!

On the racing side, I did a practice lap with Burry on Friday – he is looking strong, Todd is sick so I think he is a little concerned that he is going to catch it too.... but so far so good. It was lekker to catch up and ride with our local WC superstar!

Today, I did one loop with Hannes Metzler, then managed to shadow Absalon for a lap – its a real privilege to ride amongst these guys – hopefully more South Africans will get inspired to greater heights and come and join in the action! Houffalize is a crazy place – the town is in a valley and the course weaves up and down, in and out cobbled streets, along the river and its pretty technical too. Usually it rains for Houffalize but this year it looks like we are going to have fine weather, Murphy's law now that I have bought a set of mud tires ! :-(

Anyway, its time to hit the hay... life is good here in Belgium – check out my Yoga spot... somewhere near Houffalize !

The course...

2009-04-29T03:05:00.004-06:00

You can't see how steep it really is ... photos always lie! It was techy. Seeeyriaas.

Ortenberg Castle Youth Hostel

2009-04-29T02:55:00.004-06:00

This must be the coolest youth hostel in the world! Every year they have over 20 000 people stay. There was a brass band staying there on the weekend and their Oompah Ooompah's were echoing throughout the castle, it was quite medieval !!

Rapunzel offered to sew my number onto my shirt... unfortunately I couldn't get her to pose next to the sewing machine as her underarm hair blocked the view out the window!

Offenberg World Cup

2009-04-29T02:23:00.003-06:00

World Cup #2

Jislaaik. The pace was HOT HOT HOT! Totally different course to PMB – short power climbs with technical descents and big drops, rooted climbs and just “VOL GASS” (german for FLAT OUT!) all the time. There wasn't really anywhere to feed on the course – if you weren't climbing singletrac, you were descending. There were about 200 starters... I got a start position of 56th and planned on staying there for the first 2 laps and then attacking (don't tell Absalon my tactics... its a secret ;-) ). Um, no. Sorry, no legs today! I just went backwards the whole race – on the 3rd lap, I took a mocha gu to try and give me a bit of a kick but it did nothing!!

Burry had an awesome race finishing 1st under 23 and 5th overall – the awards ceremony was amazing with big screens and the vibe out on the course was incredible. They were expecting 20 000 spectators and there were all of that – Zuper Gut !

Chini's Secret trail !

2008-10-29T14:23:00.002-06:00

Cale and Pete at the top of the "Lung Buster" Its downhill from here... well, almost!

The view out over "Horse Gulch", Durango is in the next valley.

Dry Fork Trail

2008-10-29T14:16:00.000-06:00

Somewhere on the Colorado trail near "Dry fork"... tell me this isn't fun!!??

Moab Link

2008-10-14T12:57:00.001-06:00

Hey guys, check out http://addictedtobicycles.blogspot.com/ and see what my trusty support dog LG had to say... gives you an idea of the wind ! Out.

24 Hours of Moab

2008-10-13T19:21:00.005-06:00

This is a pic of the Legend Larry (LG) from Squirt Lube - Larry has done the race MANY times and been on support virtually every year that he hasn't raced. He did an amazing job of predicting what I needed to eat, charging my batteries, generally sorting everything out for me. Larry, you are a legend. Thanks to Squirt lube for all of their support - this race was an amazing experience - thanks Dewet! Thanks also to Ay-UP lighting systems who lent me some AMAZING lights for the race - Cheers mate!

Actually, 25 hours of Moab! I learned a new american word... BROOODALL! That about sums it up - a brutal course with insane weather.

I managed to sneak onto the podium - click here for images and a movie of the event. There was a really enthusiastic, eccentric cameraman from superhumanmag.com ... he asked some dirty questions and got some appropriate answers... kids block your ears!!

From the Gun, Tostado went out like a man possessed. I decided to stick with Tinker and Eatough - they have a better track record - thought that Josh (Tostado) was going out a little too crazy! The course was incredibly technical - There were places that were severely technical at the start of the race... the track aged and deteriorated and by the time nightfall came, it was impossible to ride everything.

Enduren is the bomb! I couldn't imagine drinking sweet flavoured sports drinks for 24hours - my tongue would fall off! My bike ran like a dream, the only thing that we did was apply some squirt lube every 3 hours or so... everything came together, I was very fortunate. The lights worked amazingly well too - so with far from ideal race preparation, it all came together for me. Mostly due to the support of my family, friends and sponsors - without that network of helping hands, there is just no way that anyone can be competitive at an event like this.

At around 1am, my body was a wreck. If you watch the video on superhuman.com , you will get an idea of how harsh the course actually was - we just don't have trails like this open in South Africa - that I am aware of anyway - if there is anything comparable, let me know because this stuff was seriously challenging! Super fun to ride... when you are fresh and have the right setup!

10am rolled around, LG had a sweet cappuccino ready for me - perfect! ... only problem was that I needed to do 2 more laps, not 1 ! But at the time it was a very good idea - Ben(4th) was chasing me and I had to do a hot lap to keep him at bay and stop him from attacking (very slight possiblity but not impossible). Anyway, I came into the Start/Finish at 11h20. Rules state that the winner is the oke with that completes the most laps, if laps are equal then time counts. You are only allowed out to start a lap if you get through the Start/Finish in under 24hours. This meant that if I stopped at that point, Ben would have to be at least 40min behind me - so I had to soldier on... its seriously difficult after doing a "fast" lap (and 23+ hours of racing!!)

So I took it easy - the course was quietening down, every body part was aching - especially my recently fractured wrist which took a pounding on all of the harsh rocky decents. It was pretty tranquil - taking my time admiring the rock formations and appreciating the spectacular terrain - its easy to drift off and stop racing! On the last climb, about 4km from the finish, this guy starts charging up behind me - number 49 - is this Ben? I wasn't sure an wasn't about to stop and ask - game on! WhaBAM ! Hammer down, full on race effort... phew - 2km later, he is gone! Then literally 1km from the line, here comes #51. How many Solo riders were there again? Well, I wasn't about to take any chances - maybe it was this Ben guy - Whammy! Another sprint - full on interval all the way to the line to be greeted by Pete and LG with an ice cold beer. Pain over, job done. Bliss. Thanks okes!!

USA - Autumn (I've had enough Fall'ing this year!)

2008-10-09T11:28:00.003-06:00

Hey guys,
The USA is definitely heading for a cold winter - temps here are sub-zero every night... rain is predicted for the 24h Moab , EISH!

I met with Larry from Squirt Lube who is going to be supporting me for the race - I stopped over at his pad in Eagle, CO - we rode a trail called "the Boneyard", it was off the hook - absolutely amazing - bermed flowing track that just makes you feel alive. Life is GOOD! Check out Larry's Blog here He is crazy - been racing since 1984 and has done the 24h Moab many times... I am in good hands! Thanks LG !!

Here is a shot of Pete Kenyon, an old school buddy who takes me under his wing whenever I am in Colorado - Thanks Pete! This shot is on the way up to the trailhead... just past Tom Cruize's winter mansion!

Telluride is sprctacular at this time of year, check out the vista from out on the trail... the singletrack contours around into that grove of yellow aspen trees, and then heads down, down, down !!

G4 Challenge Round 1

2008-09-19T10:52:00.004-06:00

ADVENTURE.

4 rounds of selections were held in the Western Cape in order to find the best 10 men and 10 women to go through to further National Selections that will be held in Lesotho. Amazing stuff. Thanks to Land Rover SA for supporting all of us - it was a priveledge to take part in the first round of selections.

Well done to Iain and Su Don-Wauchope for making the automatic selection to the next round - respect!

Jeep Msinsi Multi-Cross

2008-09-07T13:46:00.002-06:00

1st Place
These races are great for crosstraining and getting some intensity training - unfortunately you do need to do some running training if you don't want to have stiff legs for a week after the event !!

Mugg n Bean 24 Hour

2008-08-31T11:54:00.000-06:00

24hours
365.8km
6572m vertical ascent
14 hot cross buns
1/2 packet apples
1 bunch of bananas
3L Grape Juice
3L Enduren Sports Drink
6L Water
2 packets of biltong
8 honey and peanut butter sandwiches
5 baked potatoes
1 crazy cyclist

Is this a recipe for fun!?? Well it was. Painful, but worth it! Prime Circle, Spoon Feedas and some other supporting bands played at a live music concert whilst we rode through the night - well done to Richard Beswick on a great concept, maybe next year we can ride through/above the crowds !?? Or maybe do a compulsory crowd surf at 1am for a time bonus ?!?!

Nissan are giving me an X-Trail to use for a month - its going to be delivered shortly - thanks guys !!

This was perfect prep for the 24 Hours of Moab which is in a month's time. Its held in Moab, Utah which is just a 3 hour drive from where my daughter lives :-) Can't wait to get there and spend some time with Karlee !!

Click here for Maropeng race report.

Howick Highlander

2008-08-24T11:42:00.001-06:00

2nd Overall, 1st SUB-VET !

Hey, at least I won something!! So grey hair has its benefits :-) The trails around Howick are slowly coming to life again - they are being cleared out again and opened up... it will be a while until the forests regrow after the big fire, but its something to look forward to !! Luckily it wasn't too hot, perfect end of winter weather here made for a nice turnout - nearly 900 riders :-)

The venue was a win - the Karkloof farmers market has great facilities, this race is going to grow BEEEEG! Well done to the 1st Howick Scouts (my old troop!) for a professionally run event!

Check out the Highlander website.

TransAlp 2008

2008-07-18T11:31:00.002-06:00

Good weather :-)
This shot is from 1/3 of the way up this climb ! EISH, but I can't believe!
Look closely... those are not ants!!

25th overall, 5th in the last stage :-)

What can I say - Europe is amazing - was great getting back into real racing in the alps. There is nothing like riding uphill for 2 hours solid and then decending for 40km - SICK !

Thanks to Shane, Syd, Braam, Brenda and everyone for making it all happen - respect.

Golovane Classic

2008-07-06T13:28:00.000-06:00

The big W.

Thanks to my teammate - Themba, 1,2 ... lets hit those Alps!! Golovane website

Dusi Mfula 2008

2008-06-06T10:51:00.005-06:00

Dave (aka Themba) is riding like a KING ! Check out the following video for a taste of what we can expect on SuperSport... click here

Day 1
Awesome track. This riding is unique to the Duzi Mfula - totally wild african track... footpaths, goat paths, chicken paths, Nguni paths, even snake paths! I am not kidding - check this photo that I took in the valley... with the camera on my phone - sorry for the bad quality!
No, those are not bonsai trees. Anyway, as I was saying, those snake tracks make a coulpe of nasty sharp turns. I think it was after a shebeen sometime past the Mfula store, we saw some guys in the bushes. They looked familiar... can't think why. Eish. Anyway, I digress. Somewhere in that vicinity, the snakes obviously get thirsty, causing them to drink copious amounts of brown amber. Their trails make some really severe bends as a result. Unfortunately, one of these took me unawares (the bend, not the beer) and I managed to do a Damm-eje to my wrist. Dave rode like a man posessed, I think he had seen one too many snakes in the Valley. We managed to pull a 7 min gap on 2nd place by the finish. "Muchle Impele, Themba!"

Day 2
Not too much action today. No big attacks - we rode off the front a couple of times but I had to pull the reins in and ride smart. The course prep was awesome, GI (the course designer) put in a lot of effort - nice one captain. Ja, so we rode into the finish with Spider Warr and Iain Don Wauchope - a furious sprint to the line got the better of us but hey... who is counting the seconds on GC anyway !!??

Now its time to put in some "high meters", as the austrians call them, in preparation for the Transalps. (we call them Mothers and GRANDmothers)
SALAKAHLE !

Karkloof Festival 2008

2008-05-12T01:43:00.005-06:00

Night Race
This one is always fun! The pace was fast and furious for the first lap (2 lap race). I got switched into a Mud hole 5k into the race and picked up some foliage, nearly taking Dave out in the process. I also did my bit to sweep the course for the riders behind me by carrying a pile of fern leaves hanging from my pedal for a few km!
Guys were all over the place - its easy to overcook the corners when you can't really see whats coming up! Equipment makes a world of difference - theres big advantage to having a good lighting system.
After lap 1, Dave and I came through the Start/Finish together just ahead of Oliver Munnik. Oli chased hard to catch us on the drag up to the first singletrac. Thats when my light mount broke. No worries, I switched on my 'backup' helmet light, but that lasted 5 min. Eish. So Oliver and Dave dropped me in the technical stuff. I brushed through a really soft looking bush ... it turned out to be a tree with a big hard sawn off branch in the middle of it. Ouch. At least the war wounds look cool.

Dave dropped Oli on the final climb, so it was a 3rd and 5th for Fullimput - not a bad start to the festival ! Nice one Themba! (that's dave's nickname... actually his second name).

Cross Country

I woke up on Saturday feeling drained and with flu symptoms and heavy gastro. So I put all the pressure onto Dave to fly the Fullimput banner! He played the wise option of tapping back on the XC, saving himself for the sprint shootout. Barry Hulett, the course designer did an amazing job - loads of flowing singletrac and enough technical stuff to take a couple of victims out there :) Nice one Baz. This is my favourite XC course in Natal, for sure! (I practiced it the week before the race).

Sprint Shootout

Its a tough game. Brandon got eliminated when he burped his rear tyre. Renay snapped his chain. The final was really exciting! Dave got switched into the side of the bridge, forcing him to stop which lost enough time to get him eliminated. Johan van Zyl flew the GT flag high to claim victory in the event - nice one MR.49% !!

75km Classic

The big one. Every year the course gets better. The locals put a helluva lot of effort into making it fun and challenging. This years course was even better than last and is undoubtably the finest marathon course on the South African circuit.

Mr 49% went out hard to claim the Hotspot, setting a hard pace for the rest of us! Mannie was on his wheel with a chase group of 6 of us. On Lebanon, Mr African (Heymans) put the hammer down showing his class to take the KOM and stay away till the line. I fell off the chase group, the pace was just too hot. Dave joined me. Riding the conservative race definitely paid off - I caught JP Pearton at the airstrip (about 25km from finish), Mark Bass 15km later and then Brandon about 3km from the line. Johan took a wrong turn, following the motorbike instead of the course markings which cost him 5th place. So its a 3rd place for XLB ! Super stoked to be on the podium at Karkloof again! Melt rode a solid race to come 2nd. Dave rode a solid race to come in 7th. Lekker.

Panorama Tour

2008-04-28T13:16:00.000-06:00

Sub - Vet tour. Mixing it up with the ballies... well anyone who thought that Veteran racing was easy obviously hasn't raced against these okes - every second biltong man has a list of accolades longer than the Longtom Pass!! Respect to the ballies. AAAAii !

Donovan Jackson was dubbed "POWERHOUSE" by Paul, the race commentator... the name was fitting - this man has some serious form right now. We finished 4th overall and 2nd in the SubVet category on GC. Check out the official results and website here

National #1 Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch

2008-01-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

What an opener! Sauser, Breintjies, Bundi - world class. These chaps really lifted our game. Burry looked set on teaching them a lesson but was forced to retire with mechanical problems. It was awesome seeing such support out on the track - loads of fans (why don't they come when just the SA'ns are riding !!??) Wicked. It really fires you up with all the support -thanks everyone !

Well I had a pearler of a race finishing 4th overall and 1st South African. This is the first time in the last 3 years that I have managed to get a decent base training period under my belt, it seems to be paying off already. Hopefully this is a shade of things to come - watch out - XLB is back ! Gary Perkin took some awesome photos out on the course, images HERE.

Hill2Hill - puncture nightmare!

2007-09-24T04:30:00.000-06:00

4 punctures but hey, thats biking! Finished the race with a smile and a bruised ego :)

Jeep Msinsi - Nagle Dam - Win

2007-09-17T07:07:00.000-06:00

What an awesome dam! Really interesting - thats one of the best things about competing in sport... you get to visit some really amazing places. Nagle dam is set deep in "the valley" just down river from Cumberland Nature reserve.

The Multi-Cross race went well, one team had a good runner who paced me into the finish of the first run.

Well done to Marty and Iain who were both on form. Unfortunately Mart broke his chain otherwise there would have been a tussle for first place within the LRG athletes! Jeannie was once again in a league of her own cleaning up in the ladies division.

Tina had a good race and did really well, despite not training much over the past few months. Shot !

Howick Highlander

2007-08-26T11:48:00.000-06:00

2nd Place

Nothing like a Scotsman playing his bagpipes to see us off ! Unfortunately fires demolished the forests around Howick and Karkloof last month. The course organisers did a good job of finding us some new track to ride.

Andrew Warr took the win - well done "Spider-tjie"!

Jeep Msinsi - Shongweni - Win

2007-08-19T12:02:00.000-06:00

The multicross event is certainly gaining popularity amongst the Natalians - good to see some new faces out on the course! There were a couple of chaps in Orca gear - does that mean that tar is boring !?? I think they have seen the light.

5km run started us off - nothing too hectic or challenging, after the Xterra Shongweni run course my expectations were perhaps a little too high. Thats probably why the Msinsi series is popular - there is nothing too challenging on the courses so it appeals to everyone.

Bike course was pretty good - 2 x 13km loops saw severe congestion with everyone being out doing laps at the same time! Maybe next year the organisers can take advantage of more of the surrounding hills !!??

The second run was short and steep, its always a killer running after pushing yourself on the bike - good brick training i suppose.

My teammates cleaned up, Martin won the run-ride-paddle event men's and Jeannie Bomford won the ladies section.

Thanks to my Tins and Karlee for coming and supporting me today - my girls are the best!

Cowan House Classic

2007-08-12T13:07:00.000-06:00

MUDBATH !!

I exaggerate, it wasn't that bad! It did bring back memories of racing in europe though. A strong field assembled at Cowan House to take on the Hilton singletrack.

Burry took overall honours with Pete Smith hot on his heels. Pete did well to catch Craig Paul who was starting to ease off toward the end somewhat ... but not enough for me to catch them. It was good racing - well done chaps.

Brian Magor and his team did an amazing job on the course, the work and effort put into it was amazing - thanks guys!

Imana Wild Ride - 2nd

2007-07-31T13:18:00.000-06:00

Tyrone White partnered me on this unique pairs team event - he has excellent skill on the bike - we combined well to come within striking distance of the win on a couple of occasions. But it was not to be.

Days 1,2 and 3 were challenging and fun - a lot of playing catch-up for us, trying desparately to keep our tyres on the fastest sneaks.

Day 4 in the past has been quite a demanding day but this year, it all fell apart for us. We had tripped the route one month prior to the event and had virtually everyting in check but unfortunately, at the race briefing after day 3, the organisers changed the rules.

They took out a technical section by allowing "mcDonald's sneak" and then allowed everyone to do an additional "peleton shortcut" to cut out the previously compulsory "charles camp". Well, this put the nail in our coffin, Nick Floros and Pete Smith rode a good day, not putting a knobbly out of line to come out victorious. We rode into the bush a couple of times in search of the "new route", sorry for U-us !! Don't worry Nick, i think I found a new sneak on our wanderings !! HA HA - watch your wheel next year...

I had forgotten how much fun the Imana Wild Ride actually is - its certainly my favourite stage race. The navigation adds an interesting dimension to everything - you win some, you lose some. The guys that do their homework reap the rewards. Well done Nick - your knowledge can only be rivalled by your google-earth-wielding boss "farmer Glen", congratulations on a good race.

R

Jeep Msinsi - Albert Falls - win

2007-07-15T12:56:00.000-06:00

Multicross is a new race format for the Msinsi series. Its an offroad duathlon. 5km run, 20km mtb, 2.5km run.

Tyronne White had a good race coming home in 2nd spot, Land Rover Gear - USN had an excellent day out. Iain don-Wauchope won the main event (run,ride,paddle) and Martin Dreyer was 2nd. Jeannie Bomford won the ladies category too. Pretty much a clean sweep for LRG. Well done team!

Tina did really well and was storming around the course in second place when she unintentionally only did one loop of the 2 loop bike course. Maybe next time we will get to the race briefing on time! Well done Tinski.

Duzi Mfula

2007-06-03T22:29:00.000-06:00

Day 1 saw a chilly start to the 2nd Duzi Mfula stage race. The track takes in endless footpaths through the duzi valley, this is a unique mtb experience. Just watch out for route markers or you could find yourself in a kraal taking a closer than comfortable look at some Nguni cattle... or even worse a couple of "hunting" dogs... or if you are weary, maybe you are lucky to land up in a shebeen!!

Max Knox and Shan Wilson set a hot pace from the gun, the chase pack of 3 Land Rover Gear/USN teams ensued. The Mfula is a pairs race, Shaun Peschl, was my partner. Unfortunately, he had been sick with food poisoning and was a bit off colour for the first hour.

Shaun started settling into a good pace and we dropped the other guys in pursuit of Wilson and Knox, They took a wrong turn and we ended up chasing each other through the thorn trees in the valley around the 40k mark. Then Max's cleat on his shoe came loose, we had the gap and managed to put about 2 min between us. They chased back hard and at the Inanda Dam bridge were only about 30sec behind. That was the turning point. We put the hammer down hard. Shaun's diesel engine suddenly switched on the turbo charger, intercooler and supercharger simultaneously ! Showing his mettle as a stage racer, we rode solidly for the last 15km and managed to put 7 min into Knox and Wilson. My bike again went like a dream, check out the specs here.

Day 2

Today, it was up to K & W to make the moves, they certainly did. An easy start turned ugly at about 10km and the race was on. We made a wrong turn in our pursit but were fortunate enough not to lose too much time there. The TV motorbike blocked the entrance to a bridge for us, hats off to a very ambitious motorbike rider who was trying to get his 300kg, 650cc Paris-Dakar hunker motorbike over a 1m high concrete block, now thats what I call optimism!

We chased hard and managed to limit the damage to a 5 min gap. We lost the battle but won the war! Martin Dreyer and Jeannie Bomford punished the rest of the field on both days to take overall honours in the mixed category. Charl Keet and Tyrone White were very unfortunate to miss third position by mere seconds, well done on some hard racing.

Thanks to Jonsson for a great event. If there was one blemish on an outstanding race, it was that there was no prize money. It is tough to make it as a professional athlete and every bit helps. Thanks anyway for a superb race.

SA Champs - Pretoria

2007-05-26T23:07:00.000-06:00

Every dog has his day.

Puncture on lap 2 cost me the race. I bombed my tubeless tire which actually held out, I wasn't sure if it would hold out for the race so decided to get my spare wheel in the tech zone. All the antics cost me around 1min30.

Kevin won the event, a mere 45sec ahead of me and Johan van Zyl snuck home in 2nd. Not a bad result for me, always nice to be on the podium at National Champs.

My new GT carbon i-drive goes like a bomb. Sucks up all the rocks and was awesome to race, such control - I think i am sold on full suspension!

Karkloof Classic

2007-05-13T23:03:00.000-06:00

The form is coming back. I felt good out the gate, decided not to chase Pearton for the first sprint prime. Bad move in hindsight as I lost my edge after 20km. Falling off the pace, I passed Mannie over the top of Lebanon and rode steadily for the last 30km. The legs don't have enough racing in them yet but watch this space !

7th overall.

Karkloof Night Race - 20km

2007-05-11T23:00:00.000-06:00

Broke my light whilst in the lead with Brandon and Kevin on my wheel. KAK. Finished 8th? with the help of some good 'ol duct tape.

Xterra SA - Grabouw

2007-04-18T07:32:00.001-06:00

YES, ITS KICKING !

This weekend saw the biggest field yet decend upon the little western cape village of Grabouw. Nearly 600 athletes came to flex their muscles and strut their stuff at the final of the SA Xterra series - proof that we certainly have the interest and talent in our country to become a dominant force internationally in this exciting sport!

Note to self: " don't follow someone who is going in the wrong direction" !! The swim was an abortion for me, I decided to "cleverly" follow someone's feet and ended up in the middle of the dam. As Homer Simpson would say... "Dawup!" Anyways, that put me 6 minutes back at the end of the swim - the bike was always going to be tough but this made it even harder!

2007 saw the mtb course designer getting a bit soft - it definitely was not on a par with the previous years' courses but still remains one of the tougher mtb courses on the circuit. (buffelspoort takes the prize) I had a good ride managing to catch back to 3rd overall by the end of the first (+-24km) lap roughly 3 min clear of Anton and Kent in 4th and 5th. On the second 9km loop there was confusion with the marking and lots of athletes unintentionally cut the course. So Anton and Kent appeared on my heels heading out onto the run. JP van der Linde went from 9th to 14th position on the second bike loop without anyone overtaking him... go figure! Its unfortunate but kak happens. Hopefully they up the standard of marking for next year.

The run course was the same as last year and included a river crossing, fire road and a very short section of single track. Iain Don-Wauchope put in the fastest individual run split with an impressive 43:40 for the 12km track. Kent also clubbed it leaving Exelby cramping for death licking his wounds to round off the top 5 !

Well done to all the athletes who gave it stick out there on Saturday - it was great seeing so many people getting out there having fun in the Kaap. See you at next year's event - hope you got to sample some of the cape's finest produce whilst you were there!

Cheers, R

Xterra Shongweni 2006

2007-01-01T06:40:00.000-07:00

From Xlbracing

Clearly, I need to still do some serious work on my swim coming out 7 minutes behind the leaders cut my work out for me on the bike leg. Chasing hard, I managed to climb to 9th place, but it was to be short lived. Toward the end of the first lap of the 2 loop course, I double flatted! Dejavu (sp!??) last year in Richards bay, i had exactly the same problem. So, I rode into the transition zone where athletes are allowed assistance so that i could get a second tube and pump. Eventually, I got back on the bike and got back up to 8th by the end of the leg.

The run course was the best I have experienced at an Xterra event anywhere, it was gnarly and included a 700m section in a tunnel and numerous climbs and technical trails. Naaaaais!

Mudman series

2006-05-29T02:06:00.000-06:00

To all of my loyal supporters: THANKS FOR WAITING !

Everytime I get reports from my website hit counter i feel bad - people are visiting my site but it never gets updated .... well here is some news - at last!

I won the Aquelle Mudman offroad triathlon series. The series consisted of 4 events held over the first few months of the year. I was doing them in order to condition and train for the Xterra series but they ended up giving me more exposure than the Xterra! Thanks to all of the organisers and people who made the series happen.

Cheers for the next 6 months ! :)

Xterra Witklip

2006-02-11T21:53:00.000-07:00

Rain once again greeted us for the 3rd leg of the SA Xterra series.

Result: 2nd overall

Witklip dam is really scenic, unfortunately the organisers changed the bike course at the last minute saying that it was "too muddy" for the competitors !!?? This definitely weighed against the people with better technical skills - the new course was just open fire roads with the occasional slippery patch.

The swim put me 4 min off the leader and I only managed to bike into second place, 1min 30s behind. Pure speed was the order of the day for the run leg. Nothing challenging or interesting at all for the atletes, it was basically a road run.

Well, I am really looking forward to the final event at Grabouw. Hopefully the organisers use some of the awesome terrain and singletrack in the course like they did last year!

Mudman Offroad Triathlon

2006-02-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

Stealing the Biscuit !

1st Overall

Its all coming together - coming out of the water in 6th position, I managed to catch everyone mid way through the 20km bike course. This allowed me to relax (!??) for the rest of the race and put about 5 min into Anton Storm who had JP van der Linde hot on his heels.

Hermansberg school put on an amazing display of hospitality with loads of german "kuchen", "bratwurst" and even an OOOOOOMPAH band to entertain the spectators.

Xterra Gariep

2006-01-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

2nd Overall

Hi guys, my season got off to a respectable start. Terrible weather greeted us on the start line at Gariep Dam in the freestate. Orgainisers were forced to postpone the event when all of the branding and course markings were "moved" or destroyed by the worst hailstorm in the area since 1988.

The swim leg was only 1km long so not too much damage was incurred and I came out the water a few minutes off the leader, Liewe Boonstra. Today's bike course was flat and untechnical with a couple of portages, no singletrack to speak of either but it was tough enough for me to catch up to within 5 seconds of Liewe.

A 2 - lap rocky run challenged everyone's tired legs - unfortunately Boonstra was too fast today but he had better watch out!

Xterra World Champs - Maui, Hawaii

2005-10-23T00:46:00.000-06:00

ALOHA !

This island rocks!

I came 23rd out of about 500 athletes, here are the official results.

It was epic. Went surfing on Hookipa beach after the race and got MUNCHED by some f for big waves, you know you had fun when salt water is still coming out your nose hours later! Cameron, the chap who took me surfing snapped his leash so he decided to bodysurf... catching barrels off the 8 footers. MMM, eez nice!

Maui has beautiful beaches... check it ouwit.

It was great seeing other Saffers venturing out to the World Champs, Pieta Swanepoel and Russel White came over to test the waters. Dit was maar lekker om saam kak te praat. We are having an Xterra series starting in RSA soon so watch the press for details. Evidently there will be 4 events spead over the country with the final in Grabrouw in the Cape in late March.

I have some friends selling bikes here, check out http://www.racemachines.blogspot.com/ or click here. Please feel free to contact me for details on exelby@gmail.com with questions.

Xterra National Champs

2005-10-16T13:28:00.000-06:00

Lake Tahoe, Nevada

Yes, Xterra is a contact sport!!

For full race results, check here
Water condition: 13 degrees celcius and choppy!
Mtb course: Climbing and fun singletrack
Run course: Weaving trail with lots of stream crossings

That's Lake Tahoe in the background - the water visibility was amazing - during the swim you could see the anchors for the course marking buoys way down below below on the sand. I even collected 4 golf balls off the sand floor a couple of days before the race - clearly there are some frustrating holes on the nearby golf course!!

I am currently in Bend,OR getting ready for the Xterra World Champs (Maui,Hawaii). The snow has started to fall here but the training has gone pretty well. Conrad and i have been renovating his Condo and doing some quality training, Bend is an awesome training ground - there is a bit of everything for the outdoor enthusiast... including whitewater kayaking. Now i feel ready for showdown, bring on the warm water of Hawaii !
Cheers, R

Papa Smurf

2005-09-11T21:04:00.000-06:00

Today we rode a sick trail up in Telluride called "Papa Smurf". Can you name any of the celebrities in this group?? Hint : one is american champ and another is a world champ... good luck - you might win a noddy badge if you get them correct. Maybe!

The Aspens are starting to turn... bring it on!

Tour de Fat

2005-09-10T19:34:00.000-06:00

Yes folks, this is what i call a "dik wiel" for non-south africans, that is afrikaans for a "fat tyre", slang for a mtb.

Everyone gets involved in the celebrations here in Durango - the "Tour De Fat" is sponsored by the New Belgium Brewing company Locals and tourists alike dress up in crazy costumes and celebrate the bicycle. Its an awesome carnival atmosphere, there are lots of activities for everyone to join in the fun.

You can test loads of crazy rides, check these ones out...
"SCORPION" is her name, yes, all the wheels turn!

The easy way to "wear-in" your running shoes!

Ever ridden a TRIPLE DECKER bike !? Come to Durango!

Beer + Band + Bikers dressed as hippies = ...

Base Training...

2005-09-09T13:14:00.000-06:00

Hi Guys,
I am in a base period in preparation for World Xterra Champs which are to be held in Maui, Hawaii on the 23rd October. So the Mtb season is over and the bike is hanging up. I am learning to swim and trying to wear holes in my running shoes. Its only a short time to prepare for Xterra but i am going to give it a good go. Last weekend i was in Moab... it really is awesome and is just a 3 hour drive from Durango - photo's just don't do this place justice, it is phenomenal!

This is a view from the "porcupine rim trail" which is really technical - definitely a course for a full suspension bike. The views are amazing and you had better have your wits about you doing this one!!

This is the famous "SLICKROCK TRAIL" its about 10km long and you ride on the rock for 98% of the time, its Killer. Its marked with white dashed lines, you can see them in the pics if you look closely. You ride INSANE gradients, its like riding on sandpaper... just don't overcook the decents or you will turn the white lines into red blotches!

This image was taken on the day of the world champs in Italy. I wore my kit and sent the guys energy! Congrats to all the RSA riders, you did us proud. Wish i could have been there too but it was just not to be. I will save my energy for Xterra!

Here's a high country image taken in the mountains above Durango ... you can check the singletrack in the centre of the image

Xterra Keystone... another photo.

2005-08-19T18:47:00.000-06:00

Near the top of the climb at 11000 ft. Sucking oxygen!

Xterra Mountain Championship - Keystone

2005-08-15T23:16:00.000-06:00

Conrad is a BULL ! Stoltz took 2nd in this race which is the first time in the whole season that he has been knocked off the top step... incredible consistency, the "caveman" lives on... Well done Conrad. Mike Vine took overall honours, he is coming back after a drug ban that he got a while back (as legend has it).

The bike course was the roughest course i have ridden in the USA and it wasn't even a mtb race! The mtbers need to harden up and take some lessons from Xterra. This course was sick. Hopefully we get some images from the official photographers that show the insanity, i will def post them here if i find some!

This is a pic of the sky on the way home... luckily the weather was good to us during the race. Water temp was great and there were sunny skies all morning.

"one minute!" ... the anxious pro field are lined up behind the start buoy and everyone sinks into the water. Suddenly i start feeling nauseous, what is happening? I feel like i am moving backwards and the gun hasn't even gone off. Then i cracked up laughing - everyone is doing doggy paddle trying to sneak in an extra few metres and get a good "line" for the first buoy. It was so pathetic seeing all of the "pro's" pushing the boundary. Only about 10 strokes and 5 kicks in the head later (from the swimmers ahead) did i stop laughing under the water! The swim was in a Square and was 2 laps of a tiny pond which was great for the spectators, especially when i swam into the quay in front of the restauarant. Yes, i have a natural tendency to wander, (not like dog, like Nemo with one eye). Speaking of dogs, check out the collar on this specimen I found in Steamworks, the local Durango hangout... I had to get my pic taken.

Please pay special attention to the hairstyle under her right arm.... PRICELESS ! I wonder if her dad has a mullet?

Sorry, i got sidetracked - it happens... back to the race. Ja, so the bike leg was awesome and I managed to muscle into 12th position by the end of the leg (and ahead of all 10 women who outswam me !).

Beginning the run, I was a bit overeager and passed another chap - 11th position wasn't to be... the 'flat' run course turned brutal. Horse kak on the trail and a couple of steep kicks in the terrain managed to put the hurt into this mtber and i limped home in 14th position. Outside the prize money this time, but just wait - one day i am gonna learn how to swim !

For the official results, go to http://www.xterraplanet.com/race/results_05/keystone_05overall.html

Kabush or Kabush-abie ?

2005-08-10T10:20:00.000-06:00

Here is the view from my rear wheel ... well for some of the race anyway! Is it a Kabush or is it a Kabush-abie? There have been several spottings of Geoff Kabush wannabe's on the NORBA circuit... we call them "Kabushabie's" They grow the burners, get the kit, the bike... its so confusing trying to tell them apart, but i think that this one is a genuine spotting, what do you think ?

NORBA Brian Head - OLD SCHOOL

2005-08-08T14:42:00.000-06:00

Or as the locals say "owild schoowil". One big 26 mile loop. Classic.

Yet another oxygen scarce Ski Resort town greeted the athletes for the 7th leg of the NORBA series. A fierce tarmac pass shook the field up from the gun, a few mild attacks ensued and a selection group of about 20 riders formed. Tarmac faded into gravel road taking us up from 9500ft to over 11500ft. After 20 minutes of climbing, we hit the first singletack and it was well worth the wait. Now that all of the snow has melted the 'high country' is open for action.

Even at this altitude you get pretty big pine trees, its bizarre - in Lesotho or at the top of the Drakensberg, virtually nothing above knee height survives the climate but here the plants must just be tougher. The same goes for us humans! Some of the riders who usually blast their way around the top 10 positions at sea level NORBA races battle to make it into the top 20 up at altitude whilst some of the more mortal athletes just come into their own up at cloud base.

Trails criss cross the patches of woodland and open plains of the high country. Stream crossings and gnarly 'rock garden' sections of volcanic rock slashed tyres, weeding out some the less fortunate (or less technical !) riders. Four days of wet weather prior to the race had turned the lower forested sections of the course into muddy mushes of roots and rock, again challenging the technical abilities of the pack.

The last 5 miles of the course put the hurt back into the legs. Open forestry road allowed riders to regroup and chase each other down, fighting it out to the line.

Results...

Xterra Crested Butte (offroad triathlon)

2005-08-03T17:06:00.000-06:00

Swim: 1km
Ride: 20km
Run: 9km

Swimming at 9000ft above sea level is like trying to run on a treadmill with your mouth duct taped closed. You just simply don't get enough air! As we rounded the first buoy, i knew that it was going to be a tough day. I felt like i was a sardine in the sardine run and there were 50 sharks chasing us... and someone had cut my fins off. I was going backwards fast. The course designers clearly left their tape measures at home when they set up the course, so they just made it a bit longer to make sure we were not deprived of any water time!

Out of the water, the game was on... now it was my turn. (on the bike) Time to catch up to those sailfish. Well, it certainly was hard work trying to pass over half of the field in singletrack and not create any crashes or make too many enemies. The course was awesome, there were some seriously technical rocky climbs which were near impossible to ride. It was just as tough as the World Cup we did a few weeks back and a lot of people were forced to portage. Nearing 2/3 of the way round the course, i managed to get some sense out of one of the marshalls "Five men and one woman up ahead." Whoaaa, i really had to pin my ears back in order to get as much advantage as possible before the run.

Running out of the transition area, I felt pretty good - i was neck and neck with 5th and 6th position. (we had dropped the lady:) so the pace was hot between us. Heading straight down the tar road of the Crested Butte Mountain resort, Will started striding away and i had to slip back into a maintainable pace. The run course was pretty tough, mostly singletrack too with some rocky decents that kept you fighting to stay upright. The Lake was a welcome sight as we completed a lap on the shoreline to finish in front of the crowd in the entertainment area.

I really hope that Xterra grows and we see more than one event per year in RSA - by the end of the race, your whole body is in a state of severe pain... it doesn't get much better than this!

Results:
1st Mike Vine
2nd Josiah Middaugh
3rd Greg Krause
4th Jimmy Archer
5th Will Kelsay
6th Brian Smith
7th Roan Exelby (1st Ameteur... but way back !!)

NORBA Snowmass, Colorado

2005-07-29T00:22:00.000-06:00

Course: Check this out...

This image is taken from the top of the cross country course and looks down on the mountain resort of Snowmass. Sweet. Sooo - the course wasn't so technical, just a bit rough with some high speed decents and a lot of climbing. Last years course was evidently better with a lot more singletrack.

Results:
Pro XC: 1st Geoff Kabush, 14th Roan
Junior Short Course: 1st Burry Stander

"FOLKS, just take a LOOK AT THIS ! ITS AMAZING,HE IS RIPPING THEIR LEGS OFF !! I HAVE NOT SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN YEARS, THIS GUY IS TEARING THE JUNIOR FIELD APART..." The commentators were having a field day at the junior Short course event - Burry put on an amazing performance for the crowds showing the yank kids how to ride FAST. Clearly in a different league, Burry made some really good contacts during his stay here in the states and his form is as good as ever. We look forward to seeing his performance at the World Champs next month.

FYI - Burry cannot race any UCI events in the pro category as this will disqualify him from being able to compete in the Junior category at the World Champs. I think Kabush asked the UCI to put this rule in the book !!! Seriously, he would have given the top Pro's a run for their money had he been able to race with them. My money is on Burry for at least a Podium at World Champs. Vat hom Fluffy!

World Cup Angel Fire NM

2005-07-10T22:06:00.000-06:00

Yeeeeeha!

I had the best result of my career, 19th in a World Cup - its still sinking in. They 'random' selected me for drug testing after the race so i got to brush shoulders with the race winners in the waiting room. It was only after the 4th bottle of water that i realised what a day it had been... kinda like trying to sober up for work after a big night on the town, piecing together the snapshots of what went down.

From the gun we went straight up a 'muscley' steep road, it was mayhem - everyone was all over the road taking crazy lines just to get that 0.5 second advantage and stand the chance of getting into the singletrack one slot ahead. I had almost forgotten what World Cup starts are like, it was a kickstart back into reality - there is no track given and none asked amongst these guys, this is business. Merciless business.

The course was very similar to the Chile Challenge course which i raced a few weeks ago so that was a serious advantage - i knew what to expect... basically 6km of climbing then 3km decent. Its a tough course. We were the last race of the day so the track was all rutted out with braking bumps. Lots of powder dust made you keep a bit of a following distance from the cloud ahead and making overtaking really risky. But I wasn't held up on any of the decents - all of these racers can hold their own on any course. The split between hardtails and full bouncers was 50/50, some of the rock garden climbs were so rough that it was quicker to run them than to bash your way between the sharp rocks and increasing your risk of puncturing.

After the first lap I was hanging onto 25th spot. The pace on the first two laps was brutal and i was suffering to keep my position. On lap 3, my legs came back - something clicked and those jerseys up ahead started looming closer. Its probably thanks to last season's marathon and stage racing that I just seem to get stronger as the race goes on ... its a good way to finish.

On the last lap, I managed to catch and pass 2 more riders, one was Phil Spencer (GB) - I suffered past him in the top rock garden and managed to put some seconds into him by the highest point on the course. It was really important for me to put another commonwealth citizen behind me to increase my chances of selection for the Commonwealth games next year. Over the top I had to keep the pressure on, telling myself to flow the lines and keep the Pom off my wheel. The course marshalls blow whistles everytime a rider comes past them, the silences between the screeching blasts were getting less and less ... the pressure was on ... putting on the gas again my front wheel washed out but i managed to save it and cross the line with a 7 second buffer on Spencer.

A whole lot more than just another day at the office in the leather seat! This was the race of my life.

See official results at
http://www.uci.ch/ucinet/uci.asp?page=rankings&discipline=mtb&l=eng

Firecracker 50 Marathon

2005-07-04T23:15:00.000-06:00

1st Liam Killeen(Spicialized), 2nd Jay Henry (Ford Specialised),3rd Roan Exelby

We went out to pre ride the course on Sunday and it started HAILING and Sleeting, mid summer in the Rockies just does not fail to entertain! Well, i had another ripping race and some of the stars even showed up to liven things up.

Start altitude: 9500ft

The pro peleton gently mozied up the main street of Breckenridge, CO, in a neutral zone along streets lined with people celebrating the public holliday holding lots of beer and letting off firecrackers (why is there a holliday again?!) As we exited town, the pace car pulled away but the pace remained pretty chilled until we hit the mountains, we ascended more than 11600ft (5400ft per lap) today.

Two laps of the course spread the field out pretty well. At the end of lap 1, i was in 7th place after a flat in my rear tyre. Second lap i managed to put the hammer down a bit more and reeled in the guys fast, chasing into third place before the highest point of the course (11500ft). Me happy camper, time to sleep and rest for the World Cup this weekend!

MSC Eldora,Nedderland XC

2005-07-03T22:12:00.000-06:00

Results: 1st Kashi Leuchs(Team Bianchi), 2nd Roan Exelby, 3rd Mike West (Team Maverick)

Start altitude: 10500 ft
Course: Technical power terrain

Miles Venzara's prognosis for the day's racing: "this course is gonna put the hurt into the boys, you are just gonna have to MUSCLE it! "
Yeah Miles, you sure did get that one right. The course was uber technical with some extremely technical bits in it. Loose rocky climbs, open fire road, mud holes, power "walls", it had enough of everything to keep your mind off the pain... well, almost!

I had a great ride and am really looking forward to the Firecracker 50 on Monday... felling good. Will post some pics asap.

Crested Butte MSC

2005-06-27T21:52:00.000-06:00

Location: Crested Butte, Colorado, USA
Series: Mountain States Cup (MSC)
Distance: XC lap race (2 hours)
Altitude: max:3018m, min:2719m
Climbing: 1500m for race
Temp: min 11, avg 15, max 20
Result: 2nd overall in Pro Men Category
Race Link: http://www.cyclecyndicate.com/

go to "http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/smallCB_roan_msc_course.jpg" for a larger view

First podium in the states! I am really stoked, with my result - second in the pro field. So all this living at altitude is paying off...

We arrived a day early in Cresta Butte and managed to pre ride the course. I noticed a rider on a Morewood bike so i went over to him - it was Gerrit! (some of you might know him - he is a machine downhiller from RSA). He is living in Canada now and is ranked in the top 10 in the NORBA DH, it was good to see another saffer out here racing!

go to "http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/smallCB_cale_3.jpg" for a larger view

The race...
Initially the pace was not too bad, i think everyone was a bit weary of the course so nobody attacked really hard to begin with. Slowly we dropped riders off the back until only 3 of us were left up front at the end of lap 1/3. Second lap i could not keep up with the mountain goats and let them get away deciding to push the rolling section of the course and the downhill to chase back. Third lap I came right again and managed to get my HR up again and really put the hammer down, managing to come within 17sec of the leader on the line ... watch out Nick, next time the course might be longer... or i just won't drink so much Guinness on thursday!

The course...
Course designers here have an affinity for ski slopes and singletrac. We did 4 or 5 clover leaf loops per lap (i was dizzy and delirious so can't say for sure), each loop went up to the summit of the ski area and then back down on some fire road or trail. A couple of rock gardens added a but of spice, my Mongoose handles like a dream through that stuff and i always seemed to catch the Full Suspension riders there for some reason... go figure ?? We linked onto the DH course for a bit so we got our fair share of braking bumps and powder dust to help the lungs cope (not!).

After...
Coffee and a bit of fishing in the fast flowing river (ha ha) to chill out after the race. Check out Sager's fish... and his website http://www.jasonsager.com/

go to "http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/smallCB_fishing.jpg" for a larger view

On Sunday, a group of us went out for a ride that would have summited 3 peaks - as we got to the top of the first, the Rockies started growling with thunder and panelbeated us with hail and ice. Nice. Mid summer in the Rockies.

For the best Latte in Cresta Butte, go to...

go to "http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/small_camp4coffee.jpg" for a larger view

Road trip there... how is this scenery ... ??

go to "http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/small_bluemountainlake.jpg" for a larger view

Chile Challenge XC

2005-06-04T22:17:00.000-06:00

Location: Angel Fire, New Mexico
Series: Mountain States Cup
Distance: XC lap race (2 hours)
Result: 5 Pro Men Category
Race Link: http://www.cyclecyndicate.com/

go to "http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/chilechallenge51.jpg" for a larger view

Angel Fire ski village, at an altitude of 8600ft, provided an icy welcome to the mountain bikers on saturday. With about 4000ft of climbing over the race, it was a real lung burning experience.

"DUFF" is how Daniel, one of the local riders, described the trail conditions - this virgin course was very tough and definitely worthy of hosting a World Cup race later this season. Climbing up rock gardens and loose 'duff', ground beneath the trees made for relentless climbs zig zagging over and over the ski piste slopes. The descents were overboard technical, rock gardens, and tight off camber single track abounded as the course wound its way down the mountainside testing everyone's technical abilities. By the end of the day, good berms were forming on the track and lines were forming through the rocky sections making most of the course rideable. Its going to be a very interesting World Cup!

Ned Overend took overall honours in the PRO category on his full suspension S-Works carbon prototype bike - the top 4 riders were all on full suspension bikes. The last lap was eventful - continual chainsuck forced me to stop repeatedly to pull the chain from the frame losing valuable time in the process. As i summited the course, a Team Dean rider was hot on my tail , we were pushing the envelope and he eventually took a fall trying to get past one of the slow riders allowing me to get away. Very exciting racing!

Telluride from the gondola

2005-06-01T13:43:00.000-06:00

Telluride has a free gondola (ski lift). It has just opened up for the summer, check out the view of the town from the lift...

go to "http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/telluride%20from gondola.JPG" for a larger view

Iron Horse MTB race.

2005-05-30T20:14:00.000-06:00

Result: 20th (Pro category)
Dist: 25miles
Terrain: dry singletrack, undulating

Here is what the organisers said...
"Experience one of Durango's premier mountain bike courses, right on the edge of town. The SUBARU Cross Country Course starts at Chapman Hill and crosses over into Horse Gulch with a mixture of terrain including both single and double track and a few rocky technical areas. Ride on the '01 World Cup and '02 NORBA Nationals course -only one long loop & better!"

Durango is home to many mountain biking legends, and it is obvious why - these guys live in mtb heaven! Ned Overend was racing the pro category with us and gave the lighties a hard time - he really is a legend.

From the gun, we headed straight up a loose rocky road climbing up to the top of a little ski run. It really was not bad at all - the pace was quite manageable and things were looking good. I was placed 7th, just on Ned's wheel for the first 20 min and then went through a bad patch for 15 min before picking up the tempo again and fighting back to 7th. The singletrack was really fast and dry with a good mix of rocky sections and hardpack flowing trail. Unfortunately i don't have any photos of the course but will post some here on this blog in a few weeks time...

Bad luck struck when i flatted my front tyre and damaged the rim - the slime in the tyre had dried out and i unknowingly used my only bomb to try and re-inflate it. So i was forced to run the last 5 odd miles which threw me out of the prize money (top 10). But not a bad day in the office, I am quite upbeat with the standard of racing here in the USA - these guys are beatable and a lot slower than the europeans. My form is on the up and i am really looking forward to next weekend's race in Angel Fire, New Mexico.

Iron Horse Road Race

2005-05-28T12:05:00.000-06:00

Result: 27/1200
Climbing: 1700m
Temp: 13 avg
Alt avg: 2578m
Speed: 84.3km/h max 30.3 avg
Dist: 76.4

The iron horse road race is a duel between steam train (Iron Horse) and cyclist from Durango to Silverton. The field was over 1200 cyclists in total with separate starts for each category. Two major category climbs confronted the athletes, one at 15km and the other at 40km but it felt like uphill the whole way! The start was at 6500ft and the finish was nearly 10 000ft above sea level with a max altitude on the course of 10 941 ft. The yanks certainly aren't scared to send the riders into the stratosphere! Last year in Europe, the courses contained a lot of accumulated ascent but this is the highest race i have ever done. Black Mountain Pass (Lesotho), which is the highest point on the Trans Frontier Challenge is marginally less at 10,761 ft. Check out http://www.ironhorsebicycleclassic.com/IHProfile.pdf for the course profile detail.

The pace in the Pro category was initially pretty pedestrian. There was a break away bunch of 5 riders within the first 2 miles, I tried to close them down but nobody came through to help me so i sat up and waited for the peleton. Its really difficult to ride smart when you do not know the ability of your competitors... i am now wiser! On the first climb, the pace erupted into an all out sprint - it was insane. We quickly reeled in the breakaway group and the pace just stayed at a blistering 30-35km/h up the 5% grade. For those of you familiar with power, i recon that i was pushing 350-380 watts (i weigh 72kg) so you get an idea of the intensity. Guys were popping off the bunch like popcorn at the movies on a half price evening! I was one of the unfortunate kernels. The lead group was 20 strong with 15 in the chase group. Just after the split, the lead pace slowed and the leaders maintained a 30sec gap on us. There were just not enough legs in the chase to close the gap.

We climbed and climbed up to snow level, then we carried on up and up into the thin air of the rockies - the chase bunch had strung out by this stage and there were bits of road kill lying all over the place, bleeding from the merciless pace set by the lead group.

The decent into Silverton was awesome - the switchbacks claimed a few blurry eyed roadies, no fatalities but plenty of blood. The finish was up the main street which must have made for an amazing sprint finishes - it was a 1km drag up to the finish banner, a fitting end to an awesome race.

Teluride - Bridal Veil Falls

2005-05-23T13:05:00.000-06:00

Good sense prevailled this weekend and i did not race - have to get over this nagging cold. I went for a cruize up the mountain on sat and took this shot of a waterfall about 5 miles outside town.
Check out the snow that the water is falling into ... the rivers are pumping with all the water from the snow melt and the whitewater kayakers are going abo! It will be a few months before all of the trails are open.

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Pete in Fruita

2005-05-21T12:03:00.000-06:00

This image was taken in Fruita which is near Moab in Utah. We are riding in a national park that is filled with marked singletrak, the pic says it all.
Check out the singletrak to the left of Pete ... and yes, he does have huge power!
For the full size image, go to ... http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/Pete%20fruita.JPG

Grasslands

http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/pete%20fruita grasses.JPG

Colorado River

http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/Colorado%20river.JPG

Singletrak Climb ... yip, its steep

http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/pete%20fruita climbing.JPG

Arrival in USA

2005-05-20T10:48:00.000-06:00

I am through!

What a relief, i was kakking that the border officials were going to give me hell and send me back to 'mud island' (UK). Fortunately, i was able to choose which queue to stand in at immigration and tactfully took the one with the nice young blonde lady... good call !

Peter Kenyon, a good mate of mine from Howick met me at the airport and we headed off to Grand Junction (UTAH). We did some absolutely amazing riding in Fruita, i took some pearler photos and will post them here on the Blog as soon as i figure out how to do it... I am sitting in a library here in Teluride which has free internet access - bonus. We are at an altitude of 9000ft so yesterdays interval training session was interesting... the air is a tad thin up here but after a few weeks i should find my lungs.

Teluride is the playground of the rich and famous, its a very exclusive ski village which is frequented by rock stars and celebs. The locals are awesome, there is a young crowd here and i have not met one person yet who does not get out into the mountains ... if its not on a bike or on foot then its in the air or water. There are some seriously crazy and talented athletes here, intersting folk indeed.

This weekend we head off to Denver to do some short course racing, i still have a nagging cold so will just have to take the race as it comes and pace myself accordingly. (that's for you mom!) Have a great weekend everyone!

British NPS #2 (National Cross Country Series)

2005-05-14T10:12:00.000-06:00

Poor form but good course.

This race formed the second leg of the British National Points Series. Thanks to John Veness(Evans Cycles) who took me under his wing and organised everything for me... from accomodation to food and transport, it really helps having such great support in a foreign race environment. Thanks BRU !

Unfortunately, I only managed to pull an 18th position overall. I am not too dispondent at this result as my lead up to the race was far from ideal - London always seems to cause my training to take a dip and focus on social life takes an upward turn ... thanks to Willo, Rake, Purbrick and all the other Londoners, No regrets - its all good ! Anyway, i was suffering from a bit of a cold at the start so didn't have big expectations for a top result at the event.

The course was pretty tough with 2 major climbs per lap (far more than any of our SA national XC events- roughly twice the altitude gain of the Sabi National). The singletrac sections were very tight and reasonably technical with a few jumps and rooted offcamber sections weaving their way down the Welsh forests. Thankfully the course was dry or there would have been even more spills and pile ups.

My race started off pretty slowly, starting at the back of the pack i managed to work up into about 30th position after the 1st lap. The second and third laps started getting the better of me but I regained my rhythm and finished the race in good spirits managing to move steadily up the field especially in the last 2 laps. Here is a link to the official results for those interested...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb.php?id=mtb/2005/may05/premier05_2

Please send me your constructive crits so that i can develop an appropriate writing style to suit the folk that actually read this blog!

Cheers,
Roan

Setting up BLOG

2005-05-11T11:28:00.000-06:00

... watch this space ...

Lesotho Training Camp-Dec 2004

2005-01-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

Ricket,Marcus and I had to have a pit stop on the way up a pass between Mokotlohong.

For the full size image, go to ... http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/Lesotho%20tarn.JPG

Don't forget your rain jacket in Lesotho!

http://www.MyOnlineImages.com/Members/roanexelby/images/lesotho%20storm.JPG