Sam Bull and Kyle Davids riding the PMB WC track

2012 UCI MTB World Championships - Leogang, Austria

Walking the track with the SA Team on Thursday morning, really got me excited. The track was absolutely insane, and was pretty rough,  even before hundreds of the worlds fastest riders were let loose on it. I couldn't wait to start getting some runs in. My bike was ready with the forks having had some love from the guys at Rock Shox.

I wasn't sure how my shoulder was going to hold up so I took the first day of practice pretty easy, which you actually can't do at Worlds - I have now learnt that you have to get up to speed on the track on the first day. That night it rained, which carried on through the whole of Friday - the muds were on the bike and the tear-offs were on the goggles. I had so much fun riding in the wet. My shoulder was holding up fine and I forgot about it, and focused on the riding. The high pressure hose worked overtime that night to get our kit clean.

After one run on Saturday morning I was ready for my timed run that afternoon. It would give me a chance to see how I stacked up against the other riders. I had a good run - I knew I could go a lot faster in the top corners and on the pedal and I couldn't wait to race on Sunday. I was 49th in the Timed Runs.

The weather was a lot better on race day, with the sun making an appearance. I ended up choosing to switch to my dry tires and I am still not sure if I made the right decision or not. I got into the start gate after a solid warm up and I was ready to go.

I managed to get the top section a lot better than I did in the timed runs which I was really happy about. I dropped into the first wood section with a clean run so far. Unfortunately I slipped out and went down which was a costly mistake. I was back up in no time and I gave it my all the pedal section that followed. Near the bottom of my run I ended up getting a bit wild off the wooden wall ride, and went off-track - a very disappointing race run. After a run like that I knew I would be way off the pace. I ended up 58th.

Although I didn't get the result I wanted, I learnt so much and had the time of my life. I am so thankful to everyone who was involved in making the whole experience so awesome! It is now time to focus on the 2013 season, set new goals, and prepare myself for the journey ahead of me.

World Champs Experience

Arriving in Leogang, and seeing the World Champs track for the first time has got to be one of my highlights of the year. When I set World Champs as one of my goals at the beginning of the year I didn't think that that it would be upon me so quickly.

The first thing I did upon arrival was rip my bike out of the bike box and build it up as soon as possible. I could not wait to get some European riding under my belt. Our accommodation was really nice. It was a massive house with everything we needed, from Wi-Fi to a high pressure hose. We were "comfortable" to say the least. After a wholesome meal of toasted sandwiches and boiled eggs, courtesy of myself and Adi Van der Merwe, we went to bed - 16 hours of travelling tends to make the body a bit a tired.

The next day we were met with sun and the most beautiful views of the Alps - perfect conditions to hit the bikepark. I was told that I would need to stiffen up my suspension before I got there, but I didn't quite believe them, until I rode there. I could not believe how much of a difference it made. 

The riding in Europe is just unbelievable. It takes you longer to get to the bottom of a run than it does to get to the top in the gondola - and the views from the gondola are mind blowing. I really started getting the hang of the riding and was having the time of my life. There is nothing better than riding in the big mountains with good friends. 

Wednesday was Round 2 in the bike park. There was big group of us all riding together - Johann Potgieter, Stefan Garlicki, Adi Van der Merwe and Tiaan Odendaal. It was awesome to ride with these guys. About halfway down the trail Johann and Stefan stopped after a corner. As I was trying to stop, my front wheel just lost traction. It was not a hard crash at all, more like a little slide along the ground, but as I got up I realised something was wrong. My right shoulder was no longer where it is supposed to be. It was not very painful but I knew it had to be put back in straight away. I asked Johann to put it back in quickly, but he had never done it before so he was slightly skeptical about it. He had no need to be though, because after a loud pop it was back in place. I was so relieved that "Dr" Johann was there to help. With my newly relocated shoulder, I rode to the bottom, taking it easy of course. All of this took place before the actual event even started.

That evening was the Opening Ceremony. It was amazing to walk through the streets of Saalfelden alongside all the other riders from the various countries. World Champs was now officially upon us.

SA DHI National Championships - Mankele - 22 July 2012

With Mankele being steep, technical, and rocky all tied together with lots of tight turns, I had set my sights on this race since the beginning of the year.

There was a mad scramble to get my bike sorted out the night before we left, with my practice wheelset only being built up the day before we left. However we managed to hit the road very early on Thursday, and we got to the track at around lunchtime. Track walk really got me amped to ride. The track was everything I had hoped for and more! 

Fridays practice was full of surprises - first of all I was surprised with how loose it was and secondly I was surprised at how sore my arms were at the bottom. Saturdays practice was even harder with the corners getting more blown out. The track was shredding tires as well as riders elbows with lots of guys getting some mean roasties from the loose gravel.

 I felt good on race day and was looking forward to seeing how my time stacked up against the other riders. I was on a good one in seeding until I came into a 180 degree corner too hot and I went down. I hopped straight back onto my bike and finished the run well. I was stoked to see that I was seeded 5th.

A luck would have it, as I got into the start gate for my race run, my nose began to bleed. I was putting pressure on it right until the last few seconds. If anything, this got me more pumped up. I cranked it out the start gate. The next thing I knew I was on the ground, covered in roasties and dust. As I looked back at the wooden berm, I saw the big hole where my front wheel had disappeared into after it broke as I hit it. The picture speaks for itself. I carried on my run but my head was out of it and I had a few more incidents on the way down. I ran the last part of the course and and managed to at least cross the line. I was offered a re run due to the course giving way under me, but with the state of my body, and World Champs to look forward to, I decided against it. I was super disappointed as I was hoping for a good result to end off the SA season. 

I have moved on from it though, and am focused on preparing for World Champs in Austria in September. Big thanks to the guys from Jeep who helped out! Very lucky to have such awesome people behind me.

A closer look

KZN Provincial #4 - Giba - 8 July 2012

With SA Champs just around the corner the last of the provincial series wasn't at the top of my priority list. However I did well on the track last year and so I was keen to race it. My brother and I went down on Saturday to check out the track and get some runs in. The track was super loose and in some sections it was like riding on the beach. I can't say I had too much fun that day.

My prayers were answered on Saturday night when the track received some needed moisture. I did a couple of runs on a much better feeling track and actually enjoyed myself. There was a pretty sketchy line that I tried on one run, but after that, my better judgement took over and I chose not to do it because of the risk factor.

My first race run was fun. I enjoyed myself the whole way down and I had the 3rd fastest time. My second run went pretty much the same although the track was a bit drier. I improved on my first time by about half a second. Finished up 2nd Junior and 3rd overall. My goal for the weekend was to finish the race safely and come out 100% healthy. Getting the result I did is just a bonus so I am stoked. The provincial series has really been a lot of fun this year and I am stoked to see the increase in riders and the growth of DH on KZN.

National Series Wrap-Up

With all four of the national series completed I am super stoked to finish in 4th overall and 2nd Junior on points. The only race left is National Champs in Mankele later this month. I can't thank everyone who has helped me out during these races. Special thanks to Team Jeep for all their help and support! Couldn't do it without them.

SA DHI National #4 - Worlds View - 24 June 2012

The last time we rode the Worlds View track I was really stoked with my result and with a whole new section added to the bottom, I couldn't wait to get the weekends racing underway. This was the last national of the series and I wanted to get as many points as possible.

The event had very efficient shuttles running, so I was exploiting this by getting in as many runs as I could during Fridays practice. Come Saturday morning, I was super confident on the track and I didn't really have to look at many new lines. I spent most of Saturday doing runs with my good friends, helping my younger brother (first race on a DH bike) get his lines dialled and having tons of fun while doing all of this.

I have yet to race at Worlds View when it hasn't rained. Lots of rain on Saturday night made the first run on Sunday a little bit slippery, and I was only planning on doing 1 practice run, but I was enjoying myself too much to limit it to that. As luck would have it, I had my first and only experience with the ground that weekend, on my second practice run. It was merely a slide out and so after some food, a change of kit and a good warm up, I was ready for my seeding run. I had one of the wildest rides of my life. I sent it far too big of the rock drop at the beginning which set the tone for the rest of my wild ride to the bottom. I was all over the track which isn't how I usually like to ride. I managed to be seeded 4th overall which I stoked with.

I calmed myself down after that seeding run and was soon ready to do my race run. In the start I overheard that fellow Junior, Adi Van der Merwe, had posted the fastest time of 2min:30sec. I knew I would have to push it to beat his time and I absolutely cranked it on the peddling section after I had got through all of the technical sections cleanly. I was super stoked to find out that I had set the fastest time with a 2min:29sec. I ended up finishing 3rd overall behind Jonty Neethling and Tiaan Odendaal. 

Huge thanks to everyone involved!

KZN Provincial #3 - Rico's - 10 June 2012

My weekend didn't get off to a great start, when I trashed my rear wheel on my first run down the track. I managed to hit a very solid stump while rolling down, and scouting out the track. After a quick drive home and a wheel change that a F1 team would be proud of, I was back on the track busting out some runs.

The shuttle was super quick and so I did quite a few runs, not because I was trying new lines or anything, but because I just love being on the bike. The jumps weren't huge and there weren't tech sections, but it flowed really well and was good fun to ride.

A lot of water was dumped from the sky on Saturday night and didn't affect the dry sections very much. However, the small forest section became very slippery and managed to claim a few riders on their first runs. I also had a nice slide on the dirt in the first corner, when my sneaky inside line on the grass turned out to be slicker than expected.

My first race run was good. All went according to plan, and I had a clean run. I was in the top 5 and was happy with that. I was feeling good at the top while waiting for my second run because I knew I had more in the tank and I knew where to try and push harder. I had a great run which was a couple of seconds faster than the previous one. I finished in 4th overall, with less than half a second between myself and 2nd place and a mere 0.01 sec off 3rd. I was 2nd fastest Junior on the day. Really stoked with how well our provincial series races have been run this year and I hope this efficiency and great event co-ordination will continue into the future.

SA DHI National #3 - Port Elizabeth - 27 May 2012

Last year we didn't have the best experience at the PE National (with the race being called off due to rain) so I was hoping for something a lot better, track and weather wise. We arrived after a 12 hour long road trip in the Jeep. 

The track walk was probably one of the worse experiences in my life. I walked the track pretty early on Friday morning and was met by about 1000 big spiders - and I don't do spiders! In between being the "track spider web removal guy" I managed to find a few good lines on what looked to be an awesome track.

My thoughts were right - the track was a ton of fun to ride. It had tight, awkward, flat, drifty corners the whole way down. I haven't had that much fun on a first run down a track this whole year.

I managed to get everything on the track done before the end of Fridays practice. The one thing that I couldn't do was remember the whole track. With so many tight corners and thick bush a lot of it looked the same. But I did manage to catch a few runs on GoPro so I studied the track using this footage.

Race day was rather cold, although the sun was out. My one and only practice run of the day didn't quite go according to plan. During the latter part of Saturdays session, somebody must have destroyed the take-off of one of my lines - the line hopped over this massive deep rut near the bottom. Thanks to the take-off not being there I came up short and cased the rut hard and went over the bars. I got down from my accidental head stand and pushed back up the track to give it another shot. This time I boosted and cleared the rut with out a problem. To add insult to injury, my tire burped in the next corner, sending me over the bars again. After sorting out my tire and icing my swollen ankle, I then found that my cranks had shifted over slightly. Mark Hopkins from cSixx helped me out and got everything sorted just in time for me to get on the shuttle for my seeding run.

My seeding run was good. I was stoked to be be seeded 3rd overall and after some more ice on my ankle, I headed up to the top for my race run. 

Everything was going great in my run until I drifted a bit wide in one of the corners and came into contact with a tree that stopped me dead in my tracks. I put my feet down and luckily didn't come off the bike. I charged hard for the rest of my run and tried to pull back some time. I ended up 6th overall and 3rd Junior. This wasn't the result I was hoping for, but I had such a fun weekend on the bike and an awesome time in PE. Huge congrats to the guys from Hayterdale Trails on making a super sick track and to everyone involved in the event. 

Busy few Weekends of Riding

These past few weekends I haven't done much other than ride a bike, which to me is a weekend well spent. It all kicked off with the Karkloof Classic Enduro on the 15th of April. This was the first event of its kind in the country and I definitely  think there will be more to come. In short, riders ride to the top of the hill and are not timed. We then are timed on the way down a piece of single track - we then repeat the process for a second time. This gives us two timed runs which are added together to form our final time. I found that the 6 inches of travel on the Morewood Shova was a bit too much for this event as I really battled on the up hills. I was finally placed as 2nd Junior and 8th overall the following day after a slight disaster on the race organisers part - they lost my time and so I wasn't counted in the overall standings or awarded with any prize money on the Saturday. I then did the Karkloof 40km along with Travis Browning. We really worked hard but still had lots of fun on the many pieces of single track out on the route. I was rather surprised to find out that we finished  20th out of 610 riders. Not too shabby for a bunch of downhillers haha!

The following weekend saw another Enduro event, this time at Cascades. The course was not very suitable for a 6 inch travel bike and so I am afraid to say that I was beaten (in one case, quite convincingly) by some xc riders on their carbon xc bikes. Definitely not my finest hour! Never the less it was a really great event and I had some fun on the bike. I then raced home and packed for the journey to Newcastle, where the Vulintaba MTB Experience was being put on. I met up with my legendary Team Jeep team mates and we camped for the night. Sunday morning, and we were up bright and early, ready to quickly lose a few golf balls and then ride the 40km. I can't begin to explain how much I absolutely loved the course! It was about 80% single track and I was riding with some good friends which made it even better.

This weekend has already gotten off to a great start, riding wise. I had an awesome session at the bmx track with TJSA team mate, Kyle Davids, today and I am looking forward to spending a lot more hours on two wheels this weekend!

SA DHI National #2 - Pretoria - 15 April 2012

After seeing some helmet cam footage of the 139 Track in Pretoria I wasn't too sure that the track was going to be any good. The video didn't do the track justice because it was such an awesome, fun track. I walked and rode the track on Friday and I enjoyed it the more I rode. Leading up to the event I wasn't feeling that great. I had a throat infection which caused my chest to tighten, and after only a couple of runs on Friday I had no energy so I called it a day.

Saturday's practice went really well. I got all of the jumps dialled and I finalised all of my lines. I didn't want to stop doing runs because I was having so much fun on the bike, but I had to conserve as much energy as I could for my race run the next day.

I did two runs on Sunday before my seeding run. I felt awesome on the bike so I sat back and re hydrated with some GU Brew. My seeding run felt good. I was seeded second fastest overall behind fellow Junior rider Tiaan Odendaal.

My chest was feeling a bit tight before my race run but I put that out of my head and focused on my run. I pedaled hard on the top section and felt smooth through the middle sections. When it came to the bottom section I really pushed on the flat bit. I made a slight mistake on the final corner and nearly lost the front wheel but I managed to recover. This set me up slower for the final straight. I crossed the finish line in a time of 2:09.67 which placed me in 2nd Overall and 2nd Junior. This was definitely my best result of the year, and I hope that this is just the beginning of it. Congrats to Tiaan on an absolutely awesome ride for 1st place. I am super stoked with 2nd.

A huge thanks must go out to Patrick Morewood for helping me out with my suspension set up. Its great to work with such a knowledgeable and passionate person. Thanks to everyone at Team Jeep for all of their support and to GU Energy for all of their nutritional support! Lastly thanks to Marnus Swanepoel and the event oranisers for putting together an awesome track and a good event. Looking forward to the next one for sure!

Overall Podium

KZN Provincial #2 - Worlds View - 1 April 2012

The Worlds View race is always awesome. This year, my good friend Shane Martin decided to rebuild the old track with some nice new changes. We really worked hard on the track, and the entire thing was handmade. The  finished product was a fun, challenging track that everyone would enjoy.

Saturday poured with rain, and so I put the full spike mud tires on the Morewood and got out all the wet weather gear. I woke up to sunshine on Sunday, but the track didn't dry out too much in the beginning of practice. My spare wheels had just been built up and so on my third practice run, all of the spokes came loose. I thought there was something wrong but I carried on riding, which was a mistake. M wheel was so loose and was flexing so much that when I hit the rock garden I lost control and did a complete 180 and nearly crashed. I put on my rear wheel that had my dry tire on and did another run. The track was so tacky that I ended up putting my dry wheel on the front as well.

My first race run went according to plan. I hit all my lines and got to the bottom in a time of 1min:45, which put me into 3rd place overall. I was really happy with that but I knew that I would have to step it up to hold onto that position.

My second run went pretty much the same, except I pedaled harder than before and I felt a bit quicker in some sections. I posted a time of 1min:43 and was super stoked with my run. I managed to keep 3rd overall and I couldn't have asked for a better result!

I finished 2nd Junior behind Tiaan Odendaal, who rode awesomely, and 3rd Overall behind Tiaan (1min:40) and Greg Minnaar(1min:37). It was super cool to have a world class rider such as him attending the race. It was a great weekend and I loved riding the track. The race organizers did a great job once again and a special thanks must go out to Adrenaline Cycles for all the pre-race bike prep.

Overall Podium

Junior Podium

2012 UCI DHI World Cup Round 1 - PMB - 18 March 2012

My favourite time of the year was back again! The vibe created by World Cup is one that no other event can match. It was such a nice surprise to be selected for the South African Federation team and to be told that I could ride, because I didn't expect it after my performance in Cape Town.

We had ridden the track the previous weekend so I knew it well, and didn't have to do too much practice. I still needed to clear both N3 tables and the huge hip at the end, Money Maker. I got the tables dialled in the first couple of runs during Thursdays practice. I decided to attempt money maker on my last run of the day, and it went smoothly so I was feeling confident on the track.

On Friday I did two practice runs and everything went according to plan. Qualifying runs started in the afternoon and so I sat in the car, relaxed, and listened to some good music. I headed up to the top with my mechanic (aka my brother Josh) who had my spare wheels with muds, in case the weather turned. Thankfully I didn't need them. Andre van Aarde also helped me so much at the top, and I am so grateful for all his help.

My qualies run was going really well right until I slipped a pedal and unclipped in between the first and second N3 tables, so I rode over the second table and got back on the gas for the pedal section. I finished my run strongly and felt good until the finish line.

I was so disappointed to hear that I wasn't fast enough to qualify for the final - top 80 men went through. I was even more bummed when I heard that I had missed qualifying by 2 seconds! I did a 4min:27 and the guy who was in 80th did a 4min:25. In the end I was 91st. The riders this year definitely stepped it up a lot from last year.

A huge thanks goes out to everybody who helped me out - Andre from Rush Sports, Adrenaline Cycles, Pat Morewood for my suspension set up, Mark Hopkins from cSixx for letting us pit with them, Conrad Davies for his help and to everyone from Team Jeep South Africa. I had so much fun and it was such a great experience.

KZN DH Champs - Cascades WC track - 11 March 2012

Having a once off KZN Championship was a new thing to downhill this year. The event took place the weekend before the first round of the UCI MTB World Cup in PMB. We had put tons of work into the track, on a number of weekends before, prepping it for the world cup. The track was awesome and we had great weather for Saturdays practise. It rained heavily on Saturday night and the first practise run was super slippery and I decided to put a mud tyre on the front. Cloud 9, the steep section, was so slippery that the officials advised riders not to ride it.

The mud tyre was not necessary for my seeding run as the track had dried up a lot. It just provided some nice rolling resestance on the pedal section. I took the officials advice and rode the chicken run at Cloud 9 because I didn't know if it had dried up. I pushed hard in my run, but held back a little to conserve energy. I was seeded 2nd Junior.

After talking to some of the riders who had ridden after me, I decided that I would just ride the slower line of Cloud 9 to be safe. Track conditions were actually perfect but I had already commited to the slow line so I stuck with it. I was so lucky to have used Andre from Rush Sports' dropper seatpost which made a huge difference on the pedal section. I made a slight mistake on the hip table and lost control and broke through the tape on the side of the track, but luckily kept it together and only lost a few seeconds instead of a lot more if I had creashed. I finished srong and there was some good support at the bottom of the track,

 

I finished 2nd KZN Junior and 3rd Junior Overall. Also stoked to have finished 28th Overall in a field full of international riders. Huge thanks to the race organisers for the awesome job they did, to Andre for all his help with the bike prep and Max Cluer/Team Jeep for all their input.

Contermanskloof DH Track

Chilled practice run at Contermanskloof filming Kyle Davids using a GoPro Hero 2.

SA DHI National #1 - Contermanskloof - 12 February 2012

The first national of the year is always an exciting one. Contermanskloof was used for SA DH Champs last year, and I really liked the track. During the drive down on Wednesday evening, we had a car accident. We were about 2 hours into the trip, so we fixed the car and trailer and made our way home. I spent Thurday sorting out and fixing my bike - the fork needed to be replaced, and we managed to find a temporary replacement. We booked flights at the last minute and flew down to Cape Town on Friday morning.

We weren't able to practise on Friday, but I got in 5 solid practise runs on Saturday and I was feeling good on the track! The track was very dry and dusty on Sunday morning and there was a very strong headwind blowing. On Sunday I did one practise run and waited for my seeding run.

My seeding run went really well. I posted a time of 2mins:18secs which seeded me as the 3rd fastest Junior (1 sec off second) and 6th overall. I knew that I had more in the tank and that I could step it up in my race run.

I started off my race run and from the get go I felt good. As I entered the first left hand corner, the front wheel lost traction and the bike disappered from under me. I got back up to my feet as quickly as possible, turned my bike around and tried to get going again. I was in a hard gear and had to peddle really hard to get back up to speed. The rest of my run felt good. I hit all my lines and felt quick on the bike. I crossed the finish line with a time of 2mins:23secs. I ended up 4th Junior, just 4 secs behind 3rd place.

It is really disappinting to not have had a clean run, because it was a track I was feeling confident on and one that I enjoyed riding! At least I know my form is there, and I am looking forward to the next one. Thanks to everyone for putting on a really cool event and to the guys from Faith Wear and Leatt Brace for hooking me up with the insane new kit!

KZN Provincial #1 - Top Section of WC Track - 29 Jan 2012

I am so stoked to have finally got the 2012 DH season under way! Going into the first race, you never know what to expect. It's where you see how hard everyone has trained during the off-season.

The weather on Sunday was perfect - slightly overcast in the morning, but the sun soon took over and it became rather hot. I did 2 practice runs and was feeling good on the track, so I sat under the gazebo and relaxed until my race runs.

My first race run was really good. I was hitting all my lines, and not making many mistakes. As I neared the bottom section on the track my upper body and hands started to take a beating as the track became super fast and rough. At the end of all the race runs I was sitting with the fastest time for Juniors and 4th fastest overall. I knew that staying in these positions would be difficult because the other riders were riding so well!

After some refreshments, I headed back up to the top of the track and waited for my second run. I started off well, and I gave everything I had in the short pedally section. There was quite a few people at the bottom, which pushed me even harder towards the end. Unfortunately I was about 1 second slower than my first run. Tiaan Odendaal really stepped it up and posted the fastest Junior time of the day.

I finished 2nd Junior, and 5th overall and I am stoked that I have started off the season in a good way. Huge thanks to Team Jeep and Gu Energy for keeping me going throughout the day and to Morewood and Rush Sports for helping me put together an awesome racing machine for 2012. Lastly I want to thank the race organisers and everyone involved for making it such a successful event.

                                2- Sam Bull         1- Tiaan Odendaal      3- Kyle Davids

 Cycho Media :  2 of the 3 pics