Sunday, September 11, 2011
SA National #3 - Cascades - 5 June 2011
Cascades WC track was the track used for the third round of the national series. After the first national at Cascades and the second at P.E both being rained out, my fingers were crossed that this race would at least take place. That Friday, during practise, I had a nasty crash in the notorious Pebble Beach rock garden. I ended up injuring my ACL in my knee and somehow during the crash, I bent my swingarm. This was definitely the biggest crash I have had so far. Luckily I didn't fully tear my ACL because that would have put me out for at least 6 months. Morewood have definitely helped out loads as they have already replaced the swingarm, and my bike is ready to race at the next event. I am really disappointed that I wasn't able to race, but I am looking forward to coming back strong at the next race.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Greg Minnaar/Mongoose DH Series #4 - Rico Racing Track 22 May 2011
After helping put the Rico Racing track together some weekends before, I was really keen to race this fun track. The weather was good, the bike was perfect, and now it was up to me to get the result. The shuttle to the top of the track was very short, so I had put in enough runs to know the track well.
I did a few practice runs on race day and was feeling confident. I sat under the trees at the bottom, refuelled my body and had a couple of good laughs, as we always do, and then headed up to the top of the track.
My first race run went well, and I had no serious problems, except for one error coming out of a corner which might have cost me a second or two. As I neared the bottom half of the track, the amount of spectators increased and there was a really cool vibe at the end. I had a good, solid time which put me into 3rd Junior after the first runs.
After a short break it was time for the second race run. I really thought I could improve my time on the track, and I seemed to be going much faster on the top section. I obviously was pushing too hard, because after the top road gap there is a step down into a berm, and I came in too hot to make the berm, and overshot it. I was really lucky to stay on the bike and I managed to roll back onto the track, and try to get back onto the gas. After a mistake like that I knew my time would be slower, but to add to that, my feet blew off the pedals on the last corner. I then rode the last rock garden with my feet unclipped and no momentum at all. My first time was faster, and so it stood.
My teammate Kyle Davids then narrowly beat my time and I moved down a spot. I finished 4th Junior and 6th Overall. I was very pleased with my result. 4 out of the top 6 riders overall were juniors, so it shows just how competitive the age group is!
I can't thank Andre from Rush Sports enough for all the help with the mechanical that I had over the weekend. My Morewood felt so good on the track, and I loved every second riding it. Big thanks to the race organisers for putting on a really great event.
I did a few practice runs on race day and was feeling confident. I sat under the trees at the bottom, refuelled my body and had a couple of good laughs, as we always do, and then headed up to the top of the track.
My first race run went well, and I had no serious problems, except for one error coming out of a corner which might have cost me a second or two. As I neared the bottom half of the track, the amount of spectators increased and there was a really cool vibe at the end. I had a good, solid time which put me into 3rd Junior after the first runs.
After a short break it was time for the second race run. I really thought I could improve my time on the track, and I seemed to be going much faster on the top section. I obviously was pushing too hard, because after the top road gap there is a step down into a berm, and I came in too hot to make the berm, and overshot it. I was really lucky to stay on the bike and I managed to roll back onto the track, and try to get back onto the gas. After a mistake like that I knew my time would be slower, but to add to that, my feet blew off the pedals on the last corner. I then rode the last rock garden with my feet unclipped and no momentum at all. My first time was faster, and so it stood.
My teammate Kyle Davids then narrowly beat my time and I moved down a spot. I finished 4th Junior and 6th Overall. I was very pleased with my result. 4 out of the top 6 riders overall were juniors, so it shows just how competitive the age group is!
I can't thank Andre from Rush Sports enough for all the help with the mechanical that I had over the weekend. My Morewood felt so good on the track, and I loved every second riding it. Big thanks to the race organisers for putting on a really great event.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
SA National #2 - Port Elizabeth - 8 May 2011
The second round of the National series was held about 70 km outside PE. The drive was extremely long, and I was so disappointed when we were told on the morning of the race, that due to the medics having trouble accessing certain areas of the track, the race would have to be cancelled. Fridays practise was wet, and Saturdays practise was very wet. The rain poured down down almost every night. The track was relatively flat at the top, with a few steeper, off-camber corners nearer the bottom. There were small jumps, with a tricky rock drop right at the bottom. The bike handled the wet conditions really well, and I can`t fault it. Very disappointed with the weather, and the fact that we spent so many hours in the car with no race results to show for it.
UCI World Cup Round 1 - Peitermaritzburg 22 April 2011
The UCI MTB World Cup had finally arrived, and with it, an excitement I had never had before. This was my first experience at riding in an international event alongside some of my heros of the sport. The weather had been looking good the whole week and was no different on the weekend. The sun was shining, and the track was dry. The course walk on Wednesday went well, and I managed to find a few good lines.
Thursdays practice started off rather early for me, because the top 80 had timed practice runs in the afternoon, so I did as much riding as I could in the morning. I had a few good runs, and I was feeling rather good on the track. The Morewood Kalula was abolutely perfect, and it felt so good! I went home that evening, and prepared myself for Qualifiers the next day.
Friday morning couldn`t have come sooner. I managed to get one or two runs in, just to see what the course was looking like. Everything seemed to be the same, I felt good and I refuelled myself. The shuttle ride to the top felt so long. The sound of stationary trainers, as riders warmed up, was all over. I waited until about 15 minutes until my run to start my warm up.
My run started off well, and I was feeling good on the top section. I started to feel tired just before the peadally section. The timing couldn`t have been worse! I pushed down on my pedals as hard as I could, and as I entered the lower section of the track I was battling to hold on. I crossed the finishing line, not knowing whether my time would be in the top 80, resulting in me qualifying. Unfortunately I didn`t have a good enough run, and my qualies time put me in 94th.
I obviously would have loved to race in the final on Sunday, but I am just so thankful to CSA for giving me the oppotunity to partake in the event. It was such an amazing experience. Big thanks to Andre for all the help with the bike.
Friday, June 10, 2011
SA National #1 - Cascades WC Course - 17 April 2011
With only a week until the first round of the UCI World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, and the first race of the SA National series being held on the world cup track, the race entries were overwhelmed by international riders. All of them wanting to get a chance to ride the track before the WC. This was the first time I had ever ridden alongside international riders of such a calibre, so my excitement levels were through the roof. I imagine that the other SA riders were very excited as well.
As usual, the week before, mother nature sabotaged another one of our DH races and gave us heavy rainfall. Friday`s practice was also ruined by rain, and I didn`t end up doing any practice runs. Saturday morning arrived, and brought the sun out with it. I took advantage of this and immediately loaded the Morewood onto a shuttle to do a run. Having Aaron Gwin join us the shuttle was a complete bonus. The track was still very sketchy after the rain, and the top sections seemed like they had not seen the sun. Cloud 9 and pebble beach were very slippery, but throught the day it got better, and I managed to do some solid practice runs. After a great day on the bike, I was really looking forward to the race. Just as I left Cascades, it started raining again.
Sunday morning was overcast, and due to safety reasons, the race organisers had been forced to start the race just above the N3 tables. During the seeding runs, it started pouring with rain, and did not stop. Some very lucky riders were able to do theirs before the rain, but my run started after about 45mins of constant rain, so the track was an absolute mud bath. I decided to just get to the bottom of the track, and not push too hard, and conserve my energy. This was a big mistake. My run definately wasn`t that great, and I couldnt even peddle into jumps to clear them because of the thick mud.
My seeding run seeded me in 4th in Junior. I rested up, had something to eat, and then got onto a shuttle. The rain hadn`t stopped yet, and so the driver had to do some rally driving to get us up to the top. I sat around in the rain and prepared for my race run. I had the energy, and the Morewood was all dialled in, ready to race. The starters were informed that the race had to be cancelled due to the fact that shuttles with some of the top riders couldnt make it up. Very disappointed, a couple of us rode down the track in one huge train. That was good fun.
We were unsure as to what would happen in terms of results. In the end it was decided that seeding run times would count. I wasnt very happy because I didnt have a great seeding run, and I knew that I could have do a much faster time.
Huge thank you to the race organisers, but especially to Grant from Adrenaline Cycles, and Andre from Rush Sports for their help.
As usual, the week before, mother nature sabotaged another one of our DH races and gave us heavy rainfall. Friday`s practice was also ruined by rain, and I didn`t end up doing any practice runs. Saturday morning arrived, and brought the sun out with it. I took advantage of this and immediately loaded the Morewood onto a shuttle to do a run. Having Aaron Gwin join us the shuttle was a complete bonus. The track was still very sketchy after the rain, and the top sections seemed like they had not seen the sun. Cloud 9 and pebble beach were very slippery, but throught the day it got better, and I managed to do some solid practice runs. After a great day on the bike, I was really looking forward to the race. Just as I left Cascades, it started raining again.
Sunday morning was overcast, and due to safety reasons, the race organisers had been forced to start the race just above the N3 tables. During the seeding runs, it started pouring with rain, and did not stop. Some very lucky riders were able to do theirs before the rain, but my run started after about 45mins of constant rain, so the track was an absolute mud bath. I decided to just get to the bottom of the track, and not push too hard, and conserve my energy. This was a big mistake. My run definately wasn`t that great, and I couldnt even peddle into jumps to clear them because of the thick mud.
My seeding run seeded me in 4th in Junior. I rested up, had something to eat, and then got onto a shuttle. The rain hadn`t stopped yet, and so the driver had to do some rally driving to get us up to the top. I sat around in the rain and prepared for my race run. I had the energy, and the Morewood was all dialled in, ready to race. The starters were informed that the race had to be cancelled due to the fact that shuttles with some of the top riders couldnt make it up. Very disappointed, a couple of us rode down the track in one huge train. That was good fun.
We were unsure as to what would happen in terms of results. In the end it was decided that seeding run times would count. I wasnt very happy because I didnt have a great seeding run, and I knew that I could have do a much faster time.
Huge thank you to the race organisers, but especially to Grant from Adrenaline Cycles, and Andre from Rush Sports for their help.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Karkloof Classic DH Race
The Karkloof Classic is one of the biggest mountain bike festivals in SA, and this year they finally came to their sences and introduced a DH event. I was really excited for this event because I knew the track would be really cool, and it wasn`t part of any series.
The track was of an international standard with tons of effort been put into it. There were big jumps after pretty much every corner, 15 in total. You can imagine my disappointment when the rain showed up again! The mud tyres were put back on the bike, though this wasn`t a problem seen as I had put them on for the previous two races, so I was getting pretty good at it.
It wasn`t raining on race day but I thought that mud tyres would still be necessary. I caught the first shuttle up, and started to make my way down the track for a practice run. I crashed twice that run, thanks to the mud tyres which were actually not needed, so I changed back to my dry tyres, and headed back up the track.
I didn`t have many expectations for this race as my main focus is the World Cup being held in Pietermaritzburg. I didn`t do all the jumps on the track and I took things easy.
I didn`t have any problems in my race run, but I did have a rather heart-stopping moment when i nose-dived the massive rad gap, but I made it to the bottom in one piece so it was a successful race in that regard.
I finshed 2nd in Juniors and I can`t thank the race organisers and Adrenaline Cycles enough!
The track was of an international standard with tons of effort been put into it. There were big jumps after pretty much every corner, 15 in total. You can imagine my disappointment when the rain showed up again! The mud tyres were put back on the bike, though this wasn`t a problem seen as I had put them on for the previous two races, so I was getting pretty good at it.
It wasn`t raining on race day but I thought that mud tyres would still be necessary. I caught the first shuttle up, and started to make my way down the track for a practice run. I crashed twice that run, thanks to the mud tyres which were actually not needed, so I changed back to my dry tyres, and headed back up the track.
I didn`t have many expectations for this race as my main focus is the World Cup being held in Pietermaritzburg. I didn`t do all the jumps on the track and I took things easy.
I didn`t have any problems in my race run, but I did have a rather heart-stopping moment when i nose-dived the massive rad gap, but I made it to the bottom in one piece so it was a successful race in that regard.
I finshed 2nd in Juniors and I can`t thank the race organisers and Adrenaline Cycles enough!
Greg Minnaar/Mongoose DH Series #3-Cascades-27 March 2011
The third race in the series once again took place at Cascades, but this time the race saw us starting at the top of the world cup track, and ending just after the N3 tables tops. This was the top section of the world cup track and was a really fun and challenging track with many big jumps, and a few nice technical rocky sections.
The rain showed up again, and turned the event into another "mud race". It was time to bring out the mud tyres again. The sun half showed its face on race day and the rain thankfully stayed away, but most of the track was in the cover of trees so it stayed pretty much muddy and slippery.
My first run went well, I managed to keep everything together and luckily I was able to get to the bottom with no mechanicals or injuries in those treacherous conditions. I did however case the one double slightly, but as usual, the Morewood Kalula took it in its stide. This run put me into 3rd in Junior.
My scond run also went well. I felt like I went a little bit faster, but the stopwatch showed otherwise and I was in fact a few seconds slower than my first runs time.
This was a really fun race, and as usual everything ran smoothly. The shuttles also were really good and quick. Thanks to Adrenaline Cycles for keeping my bike in order and to the race organisers for a really good event.
The rain showed up again, and turned the event into another "mud race". It was time to bring out the mud tyres again. The sun half showed its face on race day and the rain thankfully stayed away, but most of the track was in the cover of trees so it stayed pretty much muddy and slippery.
My first run went well, I managed to keep everything together and luckily I was able to get to the bottom with no mechanicals or injuries in those treacherous conditions. I did however case the one double slightly, but as usual, the Morewood Kalula took it in its stide. This run put me into 3rd in Junior.
My scond run also went well. I felt like I went a little bit faster, but the stopwatch showed otherwise and I was in fact a few seconds slower than my first runs time.
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