When all the hype was about the Absa Cape Epic this past weekend, I was getting ready for my own weekend of racing- the Gauteng XCO Provincials and the Northern Quickie- to prepare for XCO Nationals in a week’s time and get my head off not being at the Absa Cape Epic this year. The Provincials started very well, from the sprint to the first hill I opened a bit of gap from the group, then on the first downhill I got a mechanical which saw me losing a lot of time. When I got to the tech zone I was deep in thought on whether to continue or not, but before making my decision my bike was fixed and I was chasing back. On the second lap I had another minor mechanical which carried on the whole day- haha it was just not my day!
The good part is that I know what went wrong; just the small things which can be fixed before the Nationals. Anyway I was still chasing and was catching up a lot. On the last lap I saw Alan (not my teammate Alan haha) who was 2nd, on the last hill finishing and then I rode like never before. We finished on a sprint and I came 3rd. I was very happy about how challenging this race was for me psychologically and my overall performance.
Northern Quickie- this was a short one, legs didn't came to the party when I invited them (that's rude of them). The race was at Northern Farm where I learned how to ride a bike so I knew the route very well. I started well but at 10km to the end my legs felt heavy. I finished 4th overall and first senior. That was my weekend.
Thanks to everyone who shouted their lungs out for me at the Provincials, it kept me going, appreciate it!
On Monday morning I was deeply saddened by my Teammate Emil who broke his arm and ending their first Absa Cape Epic journey. Wishing a speedy recovery to Emil and hope the operation goes well.
Good luck to everyone at the Epic, only a few day to go; and to the Diepsloot MTB Academy boys for the Exxaro Development Jersey- no pressure!
Thanks to the team and all it's sponsors for their continuous support on my journey with Kargo Pro MTB Team.
The good part is that I know what went wrong; just the small things which can be fixed before the Nationals. Anyway I was still chasing and was catching up a lot. On the last lap I saw Alan (not my teammate Alan haha) who was 2nd, on the last hill finishing and then I rode like never before. We finished on a sprint and I came 3rd. I was very happy about how challenging this race was for me psychologically and my overall performance.
Northern Quickie- this was a short one, legs didn't came to the party when I invited them (that's rude of them). The race was at Northern Farm where I learned how to ride a bike so I knew the route very well. I started well but at 10km to the end my legs felt heavy. I finished 4th overall and first senior. That was my weekend.
Thanks to everyone who shouted their lungs out for me at the Provincials, it kept me going, appreciate it!
On Monday morning I was deeply saddened by my Teammate Emil who broke his arm and ending their first Absa Cape Epic journey. Wishing a speedy recovery to Emil and hope the operation goes well.
Good luck to everyone at the Epic, only a few day to go; and to the Diepsloot MTB Academy boys for the Exxaro Development Jersey- no pressure!
Thanks to the team and all it's sponsors for their continuous support on my journey with Kargo Pro MTB Team.