IXS European Cup #5 - Chatel

I had managed to ride the Chatel race track once, earlier in the year, and I loved it, so I have been waiting for this race for a while. We decided to stay in Morzine at Riders Refuge because we had enjoyed it there so much a couple of weeks before. This meant that we had a 45min drive into Chatel each morning, but this was a sacrifice we were willing to make to stay in really comfy accommodation.

After track walk on Friday, I quickly got on the lift to smash out some runs. Conditions were perfect and I was loving it. There were a few rain drops that afternoon, but it didn't look too serious. The track was a bit wetter on Saturday morning, but it was definitely ridable, and pretty fun actually. The weather managed to hold out a bit for seeding runs and I rode a cut spike up front and a dry tyre on the rear. I had a good seeding run on the whole, I made a few mistakes in the rooty sections in the woods, but other than that it was a solid run. I was stoked to see that I was seeded 25th, just 3.5secs off a top 10.

On Saturday evening it poured and so things got pretty interesting come Sunday morning. The rain didn't let up the whole morning. I got my IXS rain suit and decided the brave the cold, wet chairlift and do a run. I had such a good time, even though it was sketchy in places. I did a second practice run, and was blown away with how difficult it had gotten. The ruts were deep and all over the show and it was a lot slipperier. I knew then, that race runs would be rather tough.

The rain stopped a bit over lunch, and I made the decision to take my dry goggles up with me - BIG mistake! About 5 mins before my start, it began to rain again. I accepted that my vision probably wasn't going to be great, but I was still hoping to put together a good run. As soon as I got into the first few corners, I got sketchy, with the track being a lot more churned up and muddy than I had expected. A big off-track, a stall against a tree, and a crash later, I was finally out of the steeper, more technical root sections and into the open section. I just tried to have some fun until the bottom. That run wasn't the best end to a great weekend. To top it all off, the only gust of wind that weekend managed to break a leg right off our gazebo/pits when we were at the bike wash.

I decided that I will give Hafjell WC a skip and rather head to Schladming to get some riding done and prepare better for Leogang WC which is up next!

IXS European Cup #4 - Wiriehorn

After two consecutive races with mechanicals, all I was hoping for going into Wiriehorn was to have a clean race run. Straight after Ilmenau we went to Christian Textor's place. Christian is a good friend and top German rider, and has some really good riding right in his area. We got to ride some dirt jumps, do some flips into a foam pit, shred pump track and send some massive downhill jumps. After a week of riding almost every type of bike, it was time to get back into race mode for Wiriehorn.

After my pedal mishap in Ilmenau, I decided to change pedals. I was really battling to stay clipped in during practice on Friday and Saturday. I thought it was just because I wasn't used to the pedals yet, but after I uncleated a number of times, one time right before a big jump, during my seeding run, I had to change something. I put new cleats on my shoes that evening, and straight away felt better during Sundays practice - I still don't know what the problem was with the other cleats because they were also brand new. My seeding run obviously wasn't that good due to all of my problems. I seeded 38th.

My practice runs on Sunday went a lot better because I actually felt confident that my feet would stay on the pedals. I didn't make any costly mistakes during my finals run, but as I rode sections I knew that I should and could be hitting them faster. As a whole I had a very mediocre run, which reflected in my result. I finished 37th which is far from what I was hoping for. I think spending some time is Morzine, just riding, chilling and training will really do me some good as I have been getting pretty frustrated with all of my bad luck with regard to mechanicals and my race run in Wiriehorn.

I am really looking forward to tackling my last 4 races here the best I can.

IXS German Cup - Ilmenau

German Cups always seem have the craziest crowds, but Ilmenau fans were on another level. After switching accommodation on Friday morning because the place we booked wasn't what we expected, we got practicing straight away. The track was pretty flat and you needed to pump a lot for speed. It got more difficult as practice went on, with the turns getting more blown out as hundreds of riders came through.

An unexpected rain shower, right before seeding on Saturday, didn't affect the track as much as expected and the track was pretty much dry for most of my run. I had an alright run in seeding, but made a couple of costly mistakes which reflected in my time - I seeded 27th.

The next day I finalised my lines, and got ready for my race run. My bike was prepped and I was ready to go. I had a good start, but managed to make a small mistake in one of the turns up top, but I quickly got back into the swing of things. About half way down, my pedal snapped off at the spindle and sent me over the bars. After that, I rode down to the bottom of the track on one pedal and seat bounced most of the bumps to the bottom. I couldn't believe my luck. This was my second race in a row affected by a mechanical, which isn't ideal. Hoping my luck will change soon!

IXS European DH Cup #3 - Pila

I had heard so many good things about the Pila/Aosta area, leading up to the race, that I had high expectations about the riding. When we arrived, I took a little evening jog up the race track, and it looked awesome.  After the first day, I can safely say it didn't disappoint. The race track was really fun, but the really good riding was the long 13km DH trail from Pila down to Aosta. 

The first day of practice on Friday went really well. I learnt the track pretty quickly, and managed to get most of my lines dialled in. The track was was loose and dusty, but all of that changed on Saturday afternoon right before the Elite men's seeding runs. The weather turned so suddenly and a massive hail storm with extreme wind forced race organisers to postpone the seeding runs to sunday. In the mean time I was getting soaked while trying hold our pits down and stop them from blowing off the mountain.
After drying and cleaning my kit, even though I didn't even ride, I prepared for sunday.

The weather was beautiful on race day, and the track was drying out as the day went on. The first run or two down the track was a bit sketchy in the rocks and on the roots, but it got better each run. My seeding run didn't go as well as I had hoped, and I made a few mistakes. I also didn't push that hard in the pedal sections, because I knew that my race run was coming up next and I wanted to be fresh for that. I seeded 30th.

The top section of my race run was going a lot better than seeding and I was feeling really good until one of the wooded sections where I felt something go wrong with my rear end. I also couldn't really pedal, and I thought that my derailleur had snapped off and gone into my spokes. I slowed down a lot so that I could have a look and see what the problem was. I looked and couldn't see a problem although I knew something was wrong. I carried on to the bottom, pumping where I could and still attempting to put some pedal strokes in. I crossed the line in 50th, 14 seconds off the win. I then worked out that problem was a spoke from the left side of my rear wheel, which snapped and somehow wrapped itself around my cassette, under my chain. I am super disappointed that my result didn't get to reflect the way I felt I was riding, but a mechanical is out of my control. 

Although the race didn't go according to plan, I had the best week of riding in Europe so far on the trails in the area. We even stayed 3 days longer to do more riding. Ilmenau is next, for a round of the IXS German Cup. 

UCI World Cup #3 - Vallnord, Andorra - 28 July

The Andorra World Cup track definitely lives up to the stories that I heard before coming here. Things like "it's one of the steepest track around" and "bring your brakes" come to mind, and after walking the tack on Wednesday afternoon, I have to agree with what was said. The track is very interesting and starts off pretty mellow at the top, with a few off-camber sections, and some bridges over the roads. It gradually gets steeper and more technical, until the bottom third, where it just gets ridiculously steep and tough to ride. I suppose you know its a gnalry track when Sam Hill describes it as "the best downhill track he has ever seen" after track walk.

I was really excited to start riding the track after raising my front end a bit more to make the steeper sections a little easier. Missing out on some of the national races back at home at the beginning of the year due to my shoulder injury, I don't have enough UCI points to part of A group practice, which is the top 150 elite men based on UCI rankings. So basically my first day of practice was spent just trying to learn where the track went, because the lines only form properly after A groups practice. I managed to get a few runs in, and in my last one, I slipped out and dug my shoulder into the ground. The bottom of the track was still pretty muddy and slippery from a storm a few days before, but gradually started to dry out as the day progressed. I walked the track again, later that afternoon, and was pretty surprised and how the lines had formed and changed. I scoped out a few new lines and went home to ice the shoulder and prep my bike for qualies the next day.

I was up early for start of practice because I had quite a few things that I wanted to try on track before my qualification run. The track was a lot drier but I still decided to keep my full spikes on just so that I could have as much traction as possible. I managed to get 3 runs in, and then the five and a half hour wait for my qualy run began. I sat in the van trying to pass the time a bit but I just wanted to get out there and do my run. 

Finally it was time to start warming up, and before I knew it I was in the start gate. A slip of my gears right out of the start gate didn't help much but I was soon back on it and pedalling as hard as I could up top. I was feeling good, not as as good as I felt during some practice runs, but a loose rock or two  just before the open section caught me off guard and I went down hard in a cloud of dust. I got back on my bike as soon as I could, and when I got the chance I hit my brake levers straighter, so that I could at least ride to the finish. I ended up having another crash, this time less high speed, as my brake levers were not where they were supposed to be. 

I am very disappointed with how my qualification run turned out because I really wanted to qualify at this track. I was really beginning to enjoy myself on track and I would have loved to make it to finals on Sunday. Sometimes things just don't go according to plan I guess. Its onto Pila next week and I am really looking forward to that one.

Austrian National Champs - Schladming - 14 July

If there is anywhere in Europe that feels like home away from home to me, it would have to be Schladming. After the WC in Val di Sole, Schladming became our go to spot in between races like Leogang and Spicak. The people there are great, and it is an awesome place to get some training done. Not to mention that the track is amazing!

I decided to base myself in Schladming for the first 2 weeks of July because I didn't have any races and I wanted a bit of downtime. However, I couldn't not race the Austrian National Champs when I found out that they were being held at Schladming when I was there.

The weekend started off really well, and I made some changes to my suspension on Friday which made a huge difference. I then took part in the whipoff competition later that evening which was a ton of fun. I feel that I was robbed to not make the final haha - kidding.

The weather was very unusual for a race in Schladming, and the track was super dry and dusty. I was loving the conditions but things got a bit wild in the turns when you pushed the limit too much. I felt confident on track and after some runs with Schladming's adopted son, Johann Potgieter, we went back to the apartment and rested up. I was so excited to see that the sun was shining on Sunday morning and it didn't look like there was any chance of rain. Practice was short and it was soon time for seeding runs. I had a good run and was seeded in 7th.

The long wait for finals was on and after prepping my bike multiple times and getting some food in the system, the only thing to do was sit around and wait for my run. Finally it was time to race, and I managed to have a good, solid run. I was so stoked to cross the finish and go into the hot seat because I knew that I was going to get 7th or better. I ended up 6th, quite a few seconds back from 5th but all in all I am very pleased with how the weekend went and I had such a good time. Next up, Andorra World Cup!

Photo by: Raffi DieWaldfee

IXS European DH Cup #2 - Spicak

This last weekend, we were in Spicak, a small Czech village, just over the German boarder. We ended up arriving a little bit later than expected on Wednesday night, and after driving through the lights from the casinos and strip clubs, we got to our apartment around 11 o'clock. The lady who owned the apartments wasn't too impressed when she got a phone call from 2 South Africans who were outside the apartment. Anyway, after getting inside, we finally got some sleep.The next day, we headed to the track, to do some recon, and find out exactly what we'd be racing. The track was a lot tighter and slower than expected. I knew that it was going to be a challenging weekend, especially if the rain clouds overhead were anything to go by. We then decided to set up our pits so that we could secure a good spot. 

The slow rock gardens, and super tights turns took a little bit of time to get adjusted to. Over the past few weeks I had ridden Val di Sole, Leogang, and then Schladming in between, so as you can imagine, my bike wasn't quite set up for Spicak. From the word go, I battled to find flow on the track, and I struggled to find a setup that I felt really comfortable on. The rocks were a bit slippery during Saturdays practice, but some mid day showers made it very slippery and wet for seeding runs that afternoon. My seeding wasn't great and I knew that I would have to improve come race run. I seeded 62nd.

The next day the sun was out but heavy rain during the night made the first few runs of the day super slippery and sketchy. I looked for new lines and for places where I could make up some time. Things just weren't going my way, and I hurt my braking finger after I crashed trying to avoid another fallen rider in front of me. By the time race runs came, the track was a lot drier and so the cut spike I had on the front wasn't necessary. I felt better in my race run than I did in seeding, but it was still far from a good run. I finished up 72nd, far from where I wanted to be, but it was just one of those weekends I guess. I am really looking forward to some downtime here in Schladming after 6 weekends of consecutive racing.

IXS European DH Cup #1 - Leogang

Going into Leogang was a bit different to any of the other races I have done in Europe so far. I had raced there before, and so I kind of knew what to expect going into it, which was awesome. After Val di Sole, we went straight to Schladming, and we got some amazing riding done while we were there. This was perfect preparation for Leogang.

The track in Leogang was relatively unchanged and was running as fast as ever. The loose, gravel corners combined with the high speeds of the track, saw a couple of stoppages in practice as riders were airlifted out. I got into the track very quickly, and we got a couple of South African whip trains going on the jump sections. Fridays practice as well as Saturday mornings practice were dry, but some afternoon rain made seeding runs on Saturday interesting. My seeding run was at 17:30. Just before my run, I was told that one of the sneaky lines that lots of us were taking had been taped off - which wasn't ideal. I didn't know how the rain had affected the track, so I didn't push it too hard. I seeded 56th with a time of 3:44.424. There was an exciting moment in my run though, when I was nearly seat bounced over the bars, because I took a tear-off off in a stupid place.

I got my bike and lines dialed in on Sunday morning, and because it wasn't raining, the track dried up pretty quickly and there was a ton of grip come race time. My race run went really well, and I had a lot of fun in it - probably the most fun I had the whole weekend. I did have a sketchy moment when I over jumped one of the tables to flat when I hit it at race pace though. I finished 46th with a time of 3:30.896, in a field stacked with top World Cup racers.

All in all, my first European Cup experience was an awesome one, and I am really amped for the next one in Spicak, Czech Republic, this weekend.

UCI DHI World Cup #2 - Val di Sole

Val di Sole, Italy was the venue for the second round of the UCI World Cup Series. It was also where I would do my first World Cup of 2013. The track is known as one of the gnarliest, most technically challenging tracks on the circuit, and I think it would be hard to disagree with that. After walking the track, I had a few doubts in my mind about how to even go about riding some of the sections. Val di Sole is steep, rough, rocky, rooty and loose the entire way down.

Thankfully the weather was perfect, because I have no idea how you would ride the track in the wet. We missed registration on Wednesday by like 5 minutes, so after registering early on Thursday morning, I headed up straight away to try and get as much time on the track as possible. The track wasn't as tough to ride as I had thought during the track walk - emphasis on RIDE, to RACE the track is on another level. It took some time to get into it, but by the end of Thursdays short practice session, I was really enjoying the riding. Myself and Adi walked the track again that afternoon, to look for any new lines that had formed. One thing was clear, and that was that the track was so much more beat up and rougher than when practice started - and it was only the first day.

After another short practice session on the morning of qualies, it was time to get the bike and body prepped for my qualification run that afternoon. I went off right near the end, because I was seeded 160th. By this stage the track was just brutal. I wasn't 100% sure that I had been able to spend enough time on track going into my run, but nevertheless, I was extremely excited to race.

I started my run off well, and I felt like I was getting into the groove of things, until Val di Sole decided to make me ride where it wanted me to ride. It seemed as if I was riding any lines that I possibly could, not necessarily the ones I wanted to. It was so tough to hold on to the bars near the end, my arms and upper body had taken a hammering. I crossed the finish line to see that I was out of the top 80 and so I hadn't qualified. I ended up 136th.

 That definitely wasn't what I had wanted to see, but I made it out of Val di Sole alive, unlike many others, and I learnt so much from just riding that track. A positive of not qualifying was that I got to watch the top guys ride some of the sections, which was educational to say the least haha.


I have taken so much out of my experience on one of the gnarliest, most humbling tracks out there, and I can't wait to go back and race it again in the future - its definitely one of my favourites.

 Leogang up next!

IXS Swiss Cup #1 - Morgins - 9 June 2013

My second stop of the season was in one of the most famous riding regions in Europe. Morgins bike park is so close to Morzine, Champery, and Chatel, so I knew it was going to be a good track. We managed to book an awesome apartment in Chatel, which was just over the French boarder and so quite a bit cheaper than Switzerland. 

After walking the track on Thursday afternoon, I was pretty excited to ride. The track had loads of corners, some fast traversing sections, one or two sick jumps up top, some rooty sections and a very tech line where you could hop over a stream. 

Fridays practice runs didn't quite go according to plan. About half way down our first run on the track, I was riding behind Adi Van der Merwe, when we both over jumped one jump to flat - coming from SA both of us were used to having to hit jumps as fast as possible haha. The jump was on a bench cut section, which traversed the mountain. Adi ended up hitting the bank on our right and crashed afterwards, and I then hit him and went over the bars to the left, and down the mountain. Luckily neither of us were hurt and we went up for some other runs. Being Europe, it had to rain during the weekend, and Saturdays practice was a wet one. After a couple of runs, and some sketchy moments in the roots, it was time for seeding. 

The track dried up remarkably quickly, and so we didn't actually need the mud tyres that were on our bikes. I seeded 35th.

The weather on race day seemed to stay pretty good and the track had some grip. I did 2 or 3 runs and just got my lines dialled and then went back to out apartment, and waited for race runs to start. My race run seemed to go a lot better than seeding and I felt better on track, than the day before. I somehow managed to smash the bash ring on my chain device while hopping over the stream in my run, so I am glad that it didn't affect the rest of my run. I ended up 37th with a time of 4:53.67. I had hoped to do better, but I had such a fun weekend. At least we got to hit some jumps on track, I was starting to miss those. Val di Sole World Cup up next.

IXS German Cup #2 - Steinach - 2 June 2013

Mud, rain, ruts and even some snow is what my first bit of European riding consisted of. I had been told that it was a bit colder than usual but I was in for quite a shock. We got in a quick track walk, in the rain, on Wednesday and I was a bit disappointed to find that only half the track was being used. The part that we were racing looked rad though! That evening, something I had eaten didn't agree with me and so I was up the whole night, sick. I spent the whole of Thursday in bed and tried to catch up on some sleep while the others got in some runs on the track.

Friday afternoon saw the first official practice session go down, and it was crazy to see how the track got rutted out so quickly. The one cool thing was that we had to ride down through the bike park to get to the start of the track. This gave us a bit of a warm up. Although it was raining a lot and super muddy, Adi and myself stayed on our dry tyres right up until seeding on Saturday afternoon. I ended up racing seeding and finals on a cut down mud on the front and a dry tyre on the rear.

My seeding run on Saturday afternoon was good, although I managed to completely ruin my tear off system, when I accidentally pulled all of them off, right near the beginning of my run. I was seeded 44th and I knew I could improve in my race run.

The guys at IXS hooked us up with these amazing DH overalls that kept us dry and clean during practice which was a major help. After two runs on Sunday morning we headed home for lunch, and to prepare for race runs that afternoon. Unlike seeding, I actually managed to stay dry and warm during the ride down to the start. After a good warm up I started my run. I felt a little cautious, and slower in some of the technical sections than I did in practice, but overall I put down a solid run and I improved on my seeding run's time by over 7 seconds. I ended up 35th with a time of 4:11. Its so cool to race and be a part of downhill races that have the numbers that this race did - over 400 riders with 200 of those being elite men. I can't wait for the next one in Morgins.

New Sponsor for 2013 - Moveo Safety

I am super stoked to be riding with the new Moveo Concept neck braces for 2013.

SA National #2 - Cascades WC Track

Cascades was once again the venue for my next race. This time however, we raced the full WC track which is definitely one of my favourite tracks around - its very fast and the jumps are massive. On top of that, the weather for the weekend was absolutely perfect, with the track being in the best condition its been in for a while. On top of all of that, I was riding my new Morewood Makulu, which is a size bigger than my previous one. This set the benchmark for an awesome weekend.

I walked the track, late Thursday, with Adi Van der Merwe and Stefan Garlicki, both of who were staying with me. After walking, I decided that Fridays practice couldn't come any sooner.

My first run on the new bike during Fridays practice felt amazing. As the day progressed, I just kept having more fun. Saturdays practice went pretty much the same and I was confident that I was up to speed on the track, and that I would be ready come race day.

We woke up on Sunday to a beaut of a day. The sun was out early, and I could barely contain my excitement. I smashed out a quick practice run as I arrived, and then put my feet up and waited for my seeding run. At the top while waiting for my seeding run, I decided that I would tuck through most of the pedal section and try and conserve as much energy as possible. This tactic clearly was faster than expected and I ended up being seeded 3rd with a time of 4min:03sec behind Tim Bentley and Stefan Garlicki who both sat with times in the same second on 4mins:00sec.

I knew that I could post a competitive time if I put together a good top section, combined with a big effort on the pedal, for my race run. I managed to have a good warm up before my race run, and I got into the start gate feeling warm and ready to go. Things seemed to go according to plan in my run and I felt good on the technical section up top. I entered the pedal after getting a good drive over the N3 tabletops and pedalled as much as I could from then on. I finished strong, feeling happy with the effort that I had put in and was really stoked to see that I ended up in 6th overall.

The weekend went a lot better than expected and I am really glad to feel like I am back into the full swing of racing, with both my mental and physical aspects of my riding coming along nicely. Huge thanks to Morewood bikes and Spank Industries for kitting out the new bike, and to the race organisers for putting on a great event. Looking forward to the next one and to the European season ahead.


Results:
1 EM Jonty Neethling 03.56.34
2 EM Stefan Garlicki 03.56.59
3 EM Tiaan Odendaal 03.59.38
4 EM Alasdair Fey 03.59.56
5 EM Hayden Brown 03.59.81
6 EM Samuel Bull 04.01.84